she's
actual
size

Wow. Didn't think I was going to make it online tonight. We had a majorly huge storm blow through.

While I was at work, I felt the trailer shaking slightly. When I opened the door it was almost ripped out of my hand by a gust of wind. An incredible light show was going on north of me, and I watched the lightening for a few minutes before taking shelter in the garage.

I weathered the weather chatting with the mechanic. It was windy and very rainy, but other than some close lightening strikes it didn't see out of the ordinary. Then a driver who was north of town called in saying that a transformer had been hit, and there were downed wires and explosions all over.

And yet, that driver is prone to exaggeration. I dutifully called in the report to the sheriff and disregarded it.

Later tonight, I had to drive north to pick up the Poles at the park to go home, and I saw the damage done by the storm. Trees were ripped out of the ground. Wires were down all over the place. Nothing north of downtown had power, not even the traffic lights. One of the main drags through town was eerily darkened. Cars crawled cautiously through intersections that weren't manned by cops.

While I hesitate to say it was a tornado, the damage I saw while driving through was reminiscent of a tornado. It was either that or a very strong microburst, a downdraft from a storm that can level houses. I couldn't see if any of the buildings were damaged because it was so dark, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn someone had lost a roof.

We Got Space Shuttles!

Well, I think they look like space shuttles, anyway.

We're not sure if we've bought them or we're leasing them, but we have in our possession two 1990 Orion II low floor buses. They look very strange, and they drive even stranger.

I keep telling the Maintenance Manager that we need to add wings and a tail to the Orions so that they will look like the Space Shuttle. He keeps vetoing my idea.