Okay, more of a rant…

Why is there a keyboard short cut for help? And why does help launch a whole separate, and very slow, program? Seriously, there are two keyboard shortcuts on a Mac to launch the help program. the Help key and Command question mark. Now don’t get me wrong, having help on a computer makes sense. But why the keyboard commands? People that need help regularly are not going to know or use the keyboard shortcut, they are going to use the menu. People that know keyboard shortcuts are rarely going to use the help menu. And when they do they will probably go to the help menu and not the keyboard to get there. On the other hand the number of times there is an errant bump of the help key going for the forward delete or the number of times you get command-shift-slash (aka Command Question mark) instead of command-shift-period (Command closed angle brackets,) makes the slow to load help viewer much more annoying than many other shortcut mistakes that can be fixed with a quick command-z. All and all quite vexing.

And the other problem is that the help key is becoming vestigial. Some times it works and some times it doesn’t do anything at all depending on the program. How much sense does that make… if you are going to have a key labeled help, it should do it invariably–and should be the only thing that does it. Of course it is a hold over from console days when there was no gui and faced with a keyboard and a blank prompt a key the read help could be quite useful. But now it tends to be this some times working vestigial waist of space on a keyboard. Might as well just make it what it is… another function key and make it easy to map to a user selected command.

The latest post in Jeff Masters’ Blog indicates that TD 5 will be announced as Ernesto in the NHC’s 11am advisory. The storm is heading west quickly towards Jamaica, and may eventually become a threat to the Gulf Coast. The deciding factor appears to be a large area of wind shear (50 knots or so) near Jamaica that is heading off to the west, but much more slowly than TD 5. If TD 5 catches up with it, it may weaken and die. The wind shear is associated with a upper level trough of low pressure. This through is expected to split on Monday, and then an area of much lower wind shear will form. So the timing of TD 5’s arrival in the Carribean appears to be everything at this time.

ATTENTION FELLOW NDLS STUDENTS! (and others with football season tickets in the Law/Grad/MBA student section!)

I need ONE student-section ticket to Penn State. (Don’t worry, this is for a friend who will be rooting for the Irish!)

I will pay face value (including exchange fee), or trade some combination of the following:

• 1 Purdue ticket (student section)
• 2 North Carolina tickets (section 17, row 28, seats 11 & 12)
• 2 Army tickets (section 17, row 28, seats 11 & 12)

If anyone is interested (or might be interested, but wants to talk things over), please contact me at bloy [at] nd.edu!

Do you ever get in a mood where you really, really want — almost need — to hear a particular song, but you can’t figure out what song it is that you need to hear?

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

I’m feeling a twinge of sadness at the moment, brought on by a number of things, and brought to a head by an e-mail that got me thinking about Sarah’s death last fall (the anniversary of which is fast approaching). I feel like there’s a song out there that will perfectly fit my mood, and perhaps in so doing, make me feel happier, or at least content. But, search though I might in my extensive iTunes Library, I can’t figure out what song it is. Bah.

UPDATE: Aha, I figured it out! It’s a Sugarland song, but not the one that I associate with Sarah (”Stand Back Up”), which I tried right away and which didn’t fit my mood. The song I was looking for, even if I didn’t realize it, is “Just Might Make Me Believe.” It has nothing to do with Sarah, or death, or losing friends, or anything like that… it’s about relationships, getting through hard times, and the power of true love, and as such, I actually associate it with Becky. (”If you can look in my eyes / and tell me we’ll be all right / If you promise never to leave / you just might make me believe.”) But that’s not really the point. It fits my mood. Something about the instrumentation, the harmonies, the lyrics, the tone of the lead singer’s voice, etc., all combined into one grand harmonic convergence of beautiful music that’s precisely what I needed. And now I do feel a bit better. I think I’ll listen to it again. :)

The National Weather Service has declared that the damage in Michigan City and environs yesterday was caused by straight-line winds, not tornadoes. But I wonder, did they see these bleachers? I don’t see how straight-line winds could possibly have caused this. Watch the whole video to understand why I say that:

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It’s those wooden posts that seem like the “smoking gun” to me. Here are some photos that make the same point:

I could be wrong, of course. The NWS certainly knows more about this stuff than I do. But I wonder if their inspectors even saw these particular bleachers. I’d love to know how straight-line winds could blow large, heavy metal bleachers into a set of wooden spikes — at an impact velocity of 100 mph or whatever it was, and with 50 yards’ worth of forward momentum — without bending the spikes.

Looking at the damage, it seemed clear to me that the bleachers had landed on the spikes from above, coming from a vertical, not horizontal, direction. I’m not convinced by the NWS’s statement that my interpretation was incorrect.

Via Google Maps, here’s a satellite view of the location of the bleachers in question. The red line indicates the path they took:

Closer view here. Wider view here. Map of Washington Park here.

More photos of the bleachers after the jump.

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Here's a picture from Michigan City earlier of Brendan standing on an uprooted tree, taking pictures.

Power's still out in Westville. Methinks the power company prioritized Michigan City.

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Get this m*****f***ing branch off my m*****f***ing car! :)

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Tropical Depression #5 has formed near the Windward Islands. This is that same storm that has been getting more attention lately than Debby.
Read the latest advisory here.

This gazebo in Michigan City's Washington Street Park has definitely seen better days.

Or leaning tree, rather.

Another shot of the big uprooted tree.

[NOTE: The first photo of the big uprooted tree, titled “Storm damage #2,” never posted, for some reason. -ed.]

Lots of downed trees in Michigan City's Washington Park, and the hum of equipment cleaning up the mess.