If you own a weather radio or read the NOAA updates, you have probably heard or read the end tag “Spotter Activation will not be needed” at the end of a report. Or the ever worrisome “Spotter Activation will be needed at…..” and wondered what it all meant.

Those are the lines that put me and other spotter/chasers in to action each night on a alert level. Without muddying the waters I get called for other items but those lines are a “Heads up!” alert for all the spotter organizations in an area to be ready, we think it is serious. These individuals, groups, and teams- all volunteers, will spring in to action and spend their day, evening and often nights trying to keep the various NWS offices appraised with scientific data, visual cues, and imagery to help us send alerts, balloons, and warnings to the national media and direct systems like weather radios.

The price was heavy in keeping folks appraised over the weekend. Three men whom I have had the pleasure of working with since my start in the weather industry Paul Samaras, Tim Samaras and Carl Young residents of Colorado and California, died while trying to plant a measuring device in front of the Canadian County tornado. http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/06/02/the-stunning-tornado-videos-of-storm-chaser-tim-samaras-who-has-died/

It is one reason I seldom directly chase anymore. The storms are getting more unpredictable in the last 2 years (from my perspective anyway), and the influx of what we call “storm lice” or folks who are not professional storm chasers but throw themselves in front of storms recklessly because they think it fun, or cool has increased three fold. So you no longer are simply concerned with just a storm, but with endangerment of those around you. It’s a nightmare scenario, personally. However, I do chase, and did that night from Tulsa, through Bella Vista, Exeter, Cassville and in to Springfield and past in to Marshfield. We were spread too thin, with too many storms, and too little chasers.

I know how many folks will react, pointing out that storm chasers take risks. I wanted to say that Tim did not take risks. Tim was as cautions as they come. The storm made a hard jog north as Tim tried to place instrumentation in its path and his safety zone became a danger zone. One, that with a tornado that spun up as rapidly as this one did, he could not escape. Even with 4 weather centers, and over 12 people watching the storm, and the radar, myself included, none of us could contact Tim fast enough to have him change course…the storm moved that fast.

These were folks I have shared coffee with, talked with, swapped E-mails with and spoke with. They were not nameless entities on a computer or celebrities on a TV screen. What they did saved countless lives in other places and their information that night went directly to NWS Norman to call for the cover of at least 3 cities before they were struck. In any occupation, you have the risk takers…from snowboarding to boating. I just wanted to set the record straight that they was none of these, as they were good people trying to do something good to help others.

Moreover, the fact of the matter is the casualty rate was much lower than it could have been in OKC, people were prepared despite the mass chaos and dangerous storm going through a heavily populated metropolitan area. All of that is directly because of people like Tim, Paul and Carl. Because of them, we could coordinate, identify damage, and send out warnings to the places that needed them. We received measurements, visual identification, pictures, video, and calculations. None of which we would have without boots on the ground in a dangerous environment.

We have more storms coming this week. Starting tomorrow night most likely and again at the end of the week. As we measure the back build I’ll let you know what’s coming. Right now, count on hail, and high winds. And Spotters being in the field

It’s a work in progress. We’re still unpacking in fact, a slow and tedious process with our work and school schedules.

Since procuring the home place, we have painted the entire interior of the house. I have also discovered a lot of water damage that I have been working feverishly to repair. New doors. New carpet. New fridge.

New start.

One thing is for certain: it’s quiet.

From the inside you can’t hear any noise from the highways and main roads. Visitors are few and far between and easily noticed by ourselves and our neighbors one of whom served in Vietnam with USMC, the other with the US Army in Desert Storm.  We have jokingly started referring to the valley as our compound. All in jest however, but still amusing as few others are willing to live in such a rough area.

The road is not county maintained, and is semi brutal. I am in dire need of acquiring a tractor specifically with a bush hog, but sadly I lack the funds to do so at current.

The challenges offered the place are many and not cheap. I have managed to offset a variety of the costs by doing it myself. Years of working on farms, and being a general country boy have paid off in having a decent idea of how to do many things. Unfortunately it lacks the finesse of an expert.

But the home has much potential. If we can get through this year we should be able to solidify the work to a bare minimum and concentrate on the things we want to do to the place instead of need to do, like putting a concrete floor in the shop instead of having to replace floors due to poor water drainage from the roof.

In time.

For now however, it is home, it is ours. Without a doubt, it is also beautiful

An Leargaidh The Slopes    3 Votes
An Dun Hill Fort   3 Votes
Monadh Liath Grey Mountains  2 vote
Cair Ceann Tulaich  Fort of the hillock 1 Vote

And lets not forget an honorary mention for Caisleán Critter 

Don’t forget to check here for the full list.

I was going to finalize this on the 10th, but frankly I have not been able too.  As May 4th we should actually be able to start officially relocating in to the house I will probably make the naming ceremony then.

We have gotten a lot done.

All of the rooms are painted, about 90% of the trim and touch up work is complete as well. The old carpet has been ripped out.

The chimney sweep will be out Tuesday. The carpet is being installed on Wednesday, the new water heater, fridge and exterior doors are coming on Thursday. So I’ll start transporting stuff over Thursday night most likely as long as the weather holds.

I am so ready for all this moving and construction to be over.

Still will have a busy summer. Entire outside of the house needs to be stained, and there are a lot of repairs still to make.

But at least now we can see light at the end of the tunnel!

An Leargaidh The Slopes    2 Votes
An Dun Hill Fort   2 Votes
Monadh Liath Grey Mountains  1 vote
Cair Ceann Tulaich  Fort of the hillock 1 Vote

And lets not forget an honorary mention for Caisleán Critter 

Don’t forget to check here for the full list.

Vote tallies will end the morning of Saturday April 20th.

As for me? I’m trying to maintain decorum. Of course inside I’m screaming.  5 and a half hours and it will be all over.

So here’s something to set the mood. Caoineadh Cu Chlainn, probably one of the prettiest songs I know of, as performed by Bill Whelan and played on a Uilleann Pipe.

It’s odd for me really. I have spent most of my life moving in one form another. By age 14 I had already lived in almost every state on the Eastern Seaboard thanks to the US Navy. Since then I’ve moved well over two dozen times again. Packing, and moving, is something I can almost do in my sleep.

My daughter however, is not used to this. My wife either really. Before she met me and fell victim to my southern charms she had never lived anywhere but New York. Since then she’s moved to Arkansas and then Missouri. This next move will make her practically a veteran mover.

But my daughter is stressed. She doesn’t like putting her toys in boxes or her animals in bags. She doesn’t understand that she will see them again in just a few weeks. I find myself regularly having to take a deep breath before reacting, namely because I moved so many times that I can’t comprehend this problem. Yet while I experienced it myself, I find myself forgetting that experience, and responding not with understanding but rather exasperation. It’s troubling to me.

With any luck she will never have to grow up a nomad as I did. I try to not allow myself to become frustrated with her, but I digress.

The point of this, dear readers, is the Naming.

I mentioned previously how Gaelic names work as well as how our current home came by its name of An Creagan.

My wife is not caught up in any of this. She has never named homes, never named vehicles. I asked her if she had ever named any of her family pets and she just glared at me.  I think my family has always named places and things.

So it is that it comes time for us to name our new home. I had considered taking the name of our current home to the new house, but its not fitting. The new home earned its title, and sheltered us from wind and storm for almost ten years now. It deserves to keep its name. Further, as my mother has purchased it for herself, it should retain its character in good cheer.

Thus a new name must be given.

So as I mentioned, I am taking votes. As most of our readership haunts Facebook, I imagine a goodly number of the tally will be placed there. However, I will be counting votes placed here as well.

So with no further adieu, here are our choices!

• Bad an Eòin Knoll of the Birds
• An Dùn Hill Fort
• Monadh Feith Hill of the Deer
• Sgarba Hilly terrain
• Taigh a’ Bhealaich House of the Pass
  
• An Leargaidh The Slopes
• Tulach Cultraidh The hill at the back of the country
• Cair Ceann Tulaich Fort of the hillock
• Monadh Liath Grey Mountains

The home is situated on a small hill in a valley of much larger ridges and mountains.  There are a variety of trees in the vicinity, but immediately to the back of the home is a large slope of the hill heading to the bottom of the valley.

Here are some brief views to assist in choices

The first is the view from the back of the house. Our land ends just shy of the road at the bottom of the slope.

This is the view of the house from the bottom of the hill

The front yard our land runs the to the distant tree line.

The side yard, our land runs to the base of the mountains.

Please leave your votes in the comments or on Facebook!

Yours may be chosen!

We have just received a new shipment from the manufacturer and is now awaiting a signing session by the composer. Your order is near the top of the priority list so should be sent out on this shipment. Please keep a look out in your email for a confirmation and Tracking number

It sounds really important and special.

Except that same morning I received my CD.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy I got my disks, and I’m happy too that my wife enjoys the music.

But the customer service was, as demonstrated, beyond out of touch and horrific. So much so that they might as well not be engaged at all. Were my own company to employ such a method of customer service it would be on CNN by tomorrow morning.

I won’t be doing business with them again, but at least its good to know that I didn’t send my money to some mad Nigerian General by accident.

Back in November of 2012 I ordered my Bride a copy of the Skyrim game music. We both like orchestration, and the music was good. DirectSong.com is the only place you can get it, as the company is owned by none other than the composer, and his brother.

It’s now April. And I still have not received  the CD’s.

I have been sluffed under every rock you can name by customer service.

On February I was told:

I completely understand your concern and apologize for any Inconvenience. Unfortunately there has been a hold on shipping due to manufacturer delays. We are expecting the arrival of product any day now, Once received they will be ready for a signing session with the composer. Your patience understanding and cooperation thus far has been greatly appreciated. Once your order has been dispatched you will receive a confirmation email and USPS tracking number

We will be sure to keep you posted!

I still have heard nothing. But my ticket? Is closed. Any day apparently means something entirely different in their organization than it does mine.  At this stage I am beginning to think I would get the music faster if the snail mailed it to me one byte at a time on a post card.

A quick look around the Internet, and lo and behold I am not the only one who has experienced these problems.

Frankly, after reading some of these other complaints I have to wonder if I would have been better off giving my finances to a Nigerian general to manage.

I sent a request for a refund today, as almost 6 months is entirely too long to wait for anything short of an Aston Martin in my book.

I’ll be the first to say the music for that we wanted is highly impressive, but it will be a cold day in a hot spot before I ever make the mistake of sending this company my funds again.

I’ll keep you updated as this unfolds, but frankly based on the responses i am seeing online, I don’t expect a pleasant turn out.

• Boating and threatening- This will continue until China reaches from around the curtain and drags them back stage whereupon they smack them in the head while saying “Nice Doggie” until they halt.
• Hot war – Playtime is over.

I notice a lot of folks from my generation, the so called Generation X, asking “Why are we there? Why are we sticking our nose in it?”

Given the past two wars, and the politics that have played a part its not a entirely invalid question. Admittedly I may be biased: I had two uncles who participated in the Korean conflict.  One as a Air Force bomber pilot, the other on the deck of a Navy carrier.

The failure to hold free elections throughout the Korean Peninsula in 1948 deepened the division between the two sides; the North established a communist government, while the South established a right-wing government.

The short version is South Korea has always been a large US supporter. They are and have been extremely pro West. Following World War II, and with the hostilities with the former Soviet Union beginning to warm, the so called 38th Parallel DMZ was formed. North Korea has such been supported for over 100 years by the former Soviet Union, and China in varying forms. The South has been protected and supported by us.

On June 25, 1950, the Korean War began when some 75,000 soldiers from the Soviet and China funded North Korean People’s Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south. This invasion was the first military action of the Cold War.

For my generation, this would be akin to China, or Al Qaeda launching a full scale, military invasion of a allied county like Britain in today’s world. For our parents and grandparents it was a big deal, and resulted from dealings of the World War II dividing lines.

The Korean War officially ended in 1953. Over 20 countries were involved in defending South Korea so it was not a US only action.

The United States suffered 33,686 battle deaths, along with 2,830 non-battle deaths during the Korean War and 8,176 missing in action. South Korea reported some 373,599 civilian and 137,899 military deaths. Had the US an other allied countries not involved themselves, without a doubt the civilian deaths would be easily triple that number. However, note that South Korea fought with us, and were willing to stand beside our own troops. Their sacrifice was no less than our own.

Today, with the fall of the Soviet Union, and China becoming an economic power, North Korea is still effectively the barking dog. Admittedly a barking dog with ties to a very large master, but one nonetheless.

As a boy I watched a neighbors small terrier pick fights with other dogs in the region. Invariably and without fail, that dog would run to my neighbors other dog, a brooding Mastiff, for protection. China and North Korea’s relationship is based on similar such. A good cop/bad cop drama that allows North Korea to play the aggressor and China to play diplomat. While the real power lies not with the former but the latter. The fact is, due to our downsizing, and reduction in DoD funding we can easily handle a conflict with North Korea. But we can not hold both Korea and China at bay together, and whats more China’s military prowess is almost equal to our own.  Furthermore, should China institute a military draft, they out number us easily.

Is it hard to take North Korea seriously? Absolutely.

But never underestimate a young military genius with an army at his command, who has made public boasts. The need to save face, will trump that of good sense every time in an Asian war.

TSO over at This Ain’t Hell spearheaded the way, and enough cant be said for what he did from my point of view, frankly. Milblogging isn’t what it used to be so the fact the he was on the tip of the spear proves the brotherhood, both militarily and internet linked, still exists.  A big thanks nonetheless to everyone who stood up and added a voice. Sure it may be from behind a laptop, but then look at how many folks said nothing. Point made I think.

He got a hold of key individuals at the USO, and found out that it was simply a communication breakdown.

So stand down the war dogs, all is well. I’m glad that this came to a happy conclusion for The Sniper. I always liked his work and have had him on my blog list for a number of years. I just wish I had more time to blog as I used to. Maybe once I finish graduate school I’ll have more of my life back.

This March has been brutal, not weather wise but just in general.

We lost a good friend, and military blogger in Carroll LeFon AKA Neptunus Lex in 2012. My whole family was nearly killed in a car accident in the same year. My daughter has been plagued with one sick spell after another. The list goes on and on.

But in the end it is still the seasons, and just plain luck that goes wrong even though sometimes it is fate itself that has turned against us.

Irish American relations have been sorely taxed these last few years. The recent immigration laws are not helping, giving obvious favoritism to folks from Asia. Meanwhile Ireland, a country with arguably one of the most educated immigrant groups per capita is inconceivably been ostracized and had their numbers reduced.

Effectively what this American government seems to be saying “Don’t send us those whom can stand on their own two feet, send us your indentured, your submissive and your dependent.”

In more than just a heritage fashion it is disgusting. For the third time in history the Irish are being treated like second class citizens while people scream racial profiling based on skin colour. Thats not to say they are wrong, but rather that racism takes more forms than just simple colour of skin.

The American media stereotype of the drunken Irish brawler has become so ingrained in to our psyche that our communities have no desire to seek the truth. We have become a nation of American Idol, what is spoon fed to us by the “boob tube” we believe, and what is told to us we accept, never seeking information or truth on our own.

As for myself I tell my daughter stories of Conchobar mac Nessa, St. Finian, and Tuath mac Cairrill. For if we do not pass these stories down they will be lost to us save for history books that will go unread.

Those of us in America are caught in a cross roads: not Irish by Irish standards, not American by American standards. Not a “minority” by government standards nor a majority by populace. I wager there are less than 20,000 who can speak Gaelic in the state let alone the region here for example.

Politically we are also centered, our families having came here due to either the more recent economy or (such as in my own families case) the Troubles. Cowards by ones accounts, and noble by others there is no easy road for those who mask their voices, and their words.

Its been said that the Irish are all at once prepared for nothing, and proud just the same