The Fellowship: The Hurricane

Katerina came through Miami ahead of schedule on Thursday night. We all went to work Thursday expecting it to arrive Friday. How surprised were we when we got sent home early? It was already raining when I finished moving the lab computers and headed out to my car for the drive home. I was all packed for the trip so all I could do was sit around and hope the airport would be open by 3 on Friday.

The last few hurricanes I went through did not hit near me and were only tropical storm strength. This was a full fledged hurricane. The center passed just north of Miami. Wow! It was intense. Of course power was out. I sat in the dark with my downstairs neighbors, Ryan and Andrea sipping scotch and watching the trees across the street fall down.

The rain was coming down so fast I watched the front walk get covered in six inches of water in about fifteen minutes. The wind was shaking everything! Leaves and branches were flying through the air. You couldn’t tell which direction the wind was coming from. We ventured out from the house at one point and I was getting hit on all sides by flying debris! It felt like the rain was coming up, I was soaked through in no time. And it was loud! There was thunder and lightning! The wind in Miami was 70 miles per hour. That is fast and loud. It sounded like a highway outside! It was thrilling and terrifying at the same moment to be watching it all. It made me feel very small and inconsequential.

My street was wrecked. I took a walk around first thing Friday morning and surveyed the damage. Trees and branches were down everywhere. I took a lot of pictures below. It took me 45 minutes to get to the airport that afternoon, usually a 15 minute trip. I had to keep detouring to avoid roads blocked by fallen trees. I made it to the airport and miraculously my plane was on time for departure! The airport was filled with people screaming at airline employees. I felt for both sides. Mostly I was euphoric that I would be able to get out of Miami, get to the Badlands. The Fellowship would be complete!


The house across the street


The house behind mine


A downed light post in center Grove


The roof is on the ground!


The leaning royal Palm of Cocowalk

Katrina Cometh

Friday I Leave Miami to meet with my companions Dave and Craig in South Dakota. We are backpacking in the Badlands National Park for four days. What a great trip! I’ve bought a handheld GPS because the region where we will be camping is backcountry wilderness with no trails. We’ve planned at length to have a low impact, low weight excursion. There is no potable water in the backcountry so we’re going to have to carry all the water we need. The GPS is programmed with a nice two day loop, past a stream and over hills. I have been looking forward to this for weeks.

On Friday the Airline Industry made their bid to stop me. The Mechanics Union at Northwest Arilines went on strike. By Monday I felt better when I learned that despite the strike, Northwest Airlines was still flying and making 98% of flights. I, of course, am flying Northwest out to Rapid City, South Dakota. I am flying Miami-Memphis-Minneapolis-Rapid City. It’s the scenic route. At least they are flying and I will get to the Badlands and the fellowship shall triumph!

This morning I learn that the tropics have cooked up a little surprise of their own. Overnight a tropical depression decided to get serious and become a tropical storm. They named her Katerina. She is tearing through the Bahamas and should be a full blown hurricane by Friday. Incidentally, that is also when she is predicted to make landfall. Guess where she seems to be headed? Miami! If it makes landfall within 100 miles of Miami they will close the airport on Friday, I won’t be able to get out, and the fellowship shall be doomed!

Curse the fickle finger of fate and its repeated attempts to poke me in the eye!

The Fellowship of The Jumbos

In the fifth year of the new age of man, a call for heroes rang forth from the Great City on the Eastern Sea. A journey was needed across barren and broken lands. The Badlands. In the heat of the summer six courageous souls from the corners of the great land answered! In the final moment, the mighty three set out on the perilous journey. The Fellowship was formed. The Fellowship of the Jumbos!






Samwise couldn't make it. Band has a gig.


Gandalf couldn't make it. Doctor stuff.


Legolas couldn't make it. Needs more schooling.

(Credits: Dave Lipsky came up with the concept and made the pictures of Brad, Dave, Craig, and Sam in the funniest powerpoint ever. Dave Garrett made his own and I made Bryants.)

Drive!

I was reading Sports Illustrated this weekend. I read about Lance Armstrong. I read about training regimens of the NFL’s best players. I read about a bunch of hotshot up and coming lady golfers. I read about Ed Viesturs, one of the few guys in the world to have climbed all 14 of the world’s peaks above 8,000 ft without oxygen. Wow, these are all extraordinary people!

Then I got to thinking about what really separates them from me. What is it that separates anyone who excels in their field from me? The answer I came up with is drive. They are all driven. I know people like this. They are the ones who train for marathons. Who always know everything in depth about their subjects. They are always at work getting more done than me or at the library studying harder than I am. They are always fully prepared. They can juggle lots of things while being great at all of them.

So great! What is drive and where can I get it? Well, I think a lot of it is determination and discipline, with a little obsession thrown in. I have determination, but I tend to the lazy side. I generally don’t have the discipline to study all night, or rise at 5 am and run for a few hours before work. I’d like to do those things and I try to but I’m good at finding excuses. People who are driven say things like “There is no excuse not to….” They can’t rest unless they have done all they need to be the best. I want to be that guy.

So I’m thinking that I can maybe train myself into getting drive. I need to do this if I’m going to compete with the elite of the world some day, in whatever field I decide to get into when I grow up. They say that 20 days is what it takes to form a habit. I’m going to try for 20 days to get up and go running. I’m going to try for 20 days to make optimistic lists and plans and force myself to follow through. I think this is a good little exercise. One item on my list is to update the Blog three times a week. You can follow this action from home faithful readers.

Silly Brad, Tricks are for Magazines

I was reading Sports Illustrated this weekend. This used to be one of my favorite pastimes, but now it leaves me with a sour aftertaste. They basically held me for ransom last year. As one subscription ran out I didn’t want to re-subscribe at that time. I had class and a lot of other things going on and the issues were just piling up on the table. Why pay for it if I don’t have time to enjoy it? Instead of just ending, they sent me one of those sneaky, we’ll-sign-you-up-again-no-hassle-if-you-just-don’t-do-anything notices. BMG music used to do this to me in college and I ended up with Yo-Yo Ma CDs.

I didn’t even open the letters that came from SI because I knew I didn’t want to re-subscribe. I don't have to tell them, they just know when they send the last paid-for issue! That's it, transaction terminated! Then three months later I start getting notices from a collection agency on behalf of Sports Illustrated. What? I called them and SI said yeah, that’s the way it is done now. What? Is that even legal? Apparently it is. The worst part is that somehow I felt that they were above this. I felt let down. A quality publication shouldn’t be hoodwinking its faithful. I have blanket and a sweatshirt and T-shirt, for crying out loud!

Now I have SI again. Now I open all the mail that comes for me right away, especially mail from magazines. Don’t trust the Press.

Triumphant Return

Well, After my long time off I don't know how many people even check this blog anymore. I apologize for not keeping up, life intervened to keep me busy. Which is a good thing in my opinion. In addition to my regular 40 hr a week jobby job, I've had a few projects going on.

I took a summer course in Public Health Law. Whew, was that a lot of work! Class on Tuesdays the Thursdays for 3 hours each, lots of reading, and legal research. I have new respect for lawyers. The professor was a guy with an M.D., J.D., and MPH. I thought I had spent a lot of time in School! It was good class and he was great to talk with. He brought a great perspective to things, having been both surgeon and a lawyer. The issue is more complex than I had considered.

Tuesdays and Thursday evening has found me dancing the night away. I've been taking Salsa lessons at the UM wellness center. It's going great! I am a dancing fiend. The whole point is for the guy to make the girl look sexy. This is what my teacher says and I believe it. If you've never seen real good salsa you should search it out. It's amazing! The girls get spun and twirled at a dizzying pace! The guys are sort of lost in the whole thing. I'm not at that level, but soon I'll be spinning with the best of them.

Wednesday is rock climbing. For many who aren't aware, I've become a big fan of climbing. I go down to a huge indoor rock gym in an old airplane hanger. Me and the rest from Extrememiami climb for about three hours before they kick us out at 10. Yet another check on my secret agent skill list. Next up, scuba or skydiving!

Much of my weekend time has been taken up preparing for my Internship which starts in the fall. It's the last big hurdle to my finally graduating! Yay! With luck I'll get it funded and be able to graduate in May. It suddenly seems so soon! Actually it seems like it's taking forever.

Well that's the update to what I've been up to. Not as glamorous as you may have imagined. Life as usual here in paradise. I'll write more as events occur that bear telling.