It's Snowing!?! Run for Your Lives!!?!? 

or how local television yahoos try to scare the bejesus out of the public 

Okay, so here at the big K we use a weather service called Accu Weather whose accuracy is, shall we say...suspect. Seriously. This "weather expert" is wrong almost as often as it is correct. Hence we have dubbed it "In-Accu Weather". A fair moniker considering its track record. Although some would argue the inaccuracies are a result of the fact our little hamlet is snuggled between elevated topography which makes the actual weather event outcome unpredictable. yadda yadda yadda  Yeah, right. Pussies. 

Anyway, we live in the North East. The North East in the winter gets...wait for it... winter weather! You know like snow, ice, hail whatever. Go figure. So when the forecast calls for, oh say...3-6 inches of snowfall, there's no need to panic. 

Au contraire, mon frere! 

We loves to cause a panic! A mere dusting to two inches is enough to spur the public to rush to the nearest grocery store and stock up on toilet paper and milk, because...you know one might actually be trapped in the house, shut off from society for a grueling hour or two. Three to six inches (of snow--get your mind out of the gutter) and your staring down the face Armageddon! Run for your lives!! Break out that Y2K generator and the survivalist supplies. Load up the gun and position yourself by the door to fight off the inevitable anarchy and lawlessness. It's Accu-Scare!!

Now that's not to say we haven't had some major storms blow through our (deri)area. We've had actual blizzards. The real ones where we've all had to dig out from under two feet of snow and roads were actually closed for a day or two. All of us trapped at work for the weekend because our relief couldn't make it in to the station. But most of the time the "big weather event" doesn't come to pass. It's just hype to get ratings, and we look like schmucks for breaking into programming to report the storm that isn't. Reminiscent of the boy who cried wolf.

All that said, In-Accu Weather is calling for a relatively large amount of accumulation between now and tomorrow evening. It's been snowing that fine, quiet powder that suddenly is three inches thick for that last two hours...with no sign of stopping.  

Hmmmmm...  Could it be? Could they actually be...right this time? Are we headed for an honest-to-goodness, cross-your-heart-and-hope-to-die winter storm? We'll see tomorrow. Hey, even a broken watch is right twice a day. 

Friday Photo #9 

chair Jenga 

So where I work, the Mother Ship is so cheap she rarely ever forks over the dough-re-mi to buy us new chairs. Ergo, we are left to pilfer, er.. "liberate" chairs from other areas of the building.  On certain occasions, we've picked over the office equipment bones of defunct sister companies like hungry hyenas. We're not proud. Just need a place to sit our ever-expanding carcasses, is all. Don't be judgin' us. 

This particular type of chair is always blowing a tire, pitching the unsuspecting occupant hither and yon in the most ungraceful fashion. Okay... it is kind of amusing to watch. In true cynical newsroom fashion, someone put forth a naming challenge. The winning entry says it all.