Day 33 - Homeward Bound

Usually, when I reach the end of a workshop I have one of 2 states of mind.....either I am really sad that the experience, the visit to the new location, or the friendships and day-to-day contact with these new friends are over....
or....
I am really glad to get out of town.

This one poses mixed feelings. The workshop itself wasn't bad. The briefings by all the Weather Service bigwigs were exceptional and I have learned a great deal about weather. On the other hand many sessions, those taught by the ed staff and the modules (which were little more than worksheets) were exceptionally boring.

Kansas City is a terrific place...one I would like to come back and explore, but not having my own car here put a real damper on the trip....
And as to the people....there were a number I truly liked and would have liked to know better....one or two I never got the chance to know and really wish I could have had the opportunity...but there were a few that I simply could not stand, and one I was forced (with shackles and duct tape) to work with on a project.

All in all, I miss being home, I miss Mary Anne, I miss Molly, and really am looking forward to going back. And I really do wish I didn't have to leave again next week.

Day32 - Nearing the End

Well in the past 2 weeks we heard from
the Education Director of the American Meteorological Society,
the Director of the National Weather Service Training Center,
the acting director of the National Weather Service,
the Director of the National Center for Environmental Protection,
the head of the American Meteorological Society,
the Lead Forecaster from the Space Weather Prediction Center,
the Senior Hurricane Specialist from the National Hurricane Center,
the Operations Chief from the Storm Prediction Center,
one of the heads of the Aviation Weather Center,
one of the heads of the National Weather Service Topeka Regional Office,
the Climate Program Manager of the National Weather Service,
and some other folks....

We created a lesson (seen in the pics) where students made tornadoes, and learned how to make a room sized one with a few fans, incense and dry ice, and traveled around Kansas City eating BBQ. Its time to come home!

Plane leaves tomorrow at 3:25! I am so ready.

The problem is I head to another workshop in Sarasota next Thursday.....

Day 30 - Winds aloft!

After a few lackluster days, we finally hit the big time! The morning was spent with the head of the National Hurricane Center, learning all about the "big ones" and why that hurricane in 2004 (Charley) turned away from Tampa just 3 hours before hitting land....then in the afternoon we walked across the building to visit the National Aviation weather Forecasting Office, those fine folks that do the forecasts for pilots and airports around the world....pictures included!

We are in the home stretch now....just 3 days left before the third road trip of the summer comes to an end.....I have to admit...I am ready to get back home and watch episodes of NCIS in my own house once again!

Day 27 - Field Trip, the sequel

WOW! What a day! First we dug in dirt, then we dug in rocks, then rode around in a bus. Well, its a little better than that...First we took off to an outcrop of loess, the unique soil foundation of the Midwest....followed by a visit to Missouri City, which lies on the banks of the Missouri River, and was the site of a devastating flood back in 1993, that was the costliest in terms of property damage in the history of the US. You can see a picture of a sign showing the water height (about 5 feet) on the opposite side of a raised portion of railroad along side a really wide river.

We the stopped to dig fossils out of an outcropping after visiting a storage area called Subtropolis (Google it!), which is built in an old limestone mine. You actually drive into the mine to the businesses and storage areas inside...lots of pics above... then we capped it all with a side trip around Independence, Missouri, home to Harry Truman. We drove by the library, his house, the ice cream coned shaped Mormom temple, and Harry's statue downtown.

The to cap it off I had a wonderful dinner with a Planting Science partner, Teresa Woods, who is as delightful in person as she is on line handling intenational Skype conferences.

And I got a present for Addison on top of it all...so I am delighted with today. Just wish the lightning hadn't struck the tree at home until I got back....

Day 25 - Field Trip!!!!

What a day! Started wit a 2 hour briefing with the Director of the National Storm Prediction Office learning all about the process of collecting, analyzing, and, if needed, issuing watches and warnings concerning tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and rainfall, flash flooding, and winter weather. Saw some awesome video of destructive weather.

You know those movies where the killer is in the basement and the young college girl starts walking down the basement steps to see why the lights went out, and you are screaming, "Don't go down to the basement!!!!"

Well we were doing that as the idiots were driving into the flash flood waters because they thought they could get across. Wicked cool!

Then we took off to the National Weather Station in Topeka, Kansas to watch the deployment of the daily weather balloon which provides updated temperature and pressure before returning to stately Wayne Manor. Hurricane Center briefing still to come!!!

Day 24 - Plans

One BBQ place down, several to go! Smokehouse BBQ (Monday), will hit Jack Stack on Sunday....and who knows on Friday night.....

Lots of sitting on our butts in these workshops but, while I am getting very little I can take back to the classroom, I am gaining a tremendous understanding of how weather works.

Not if I only learned how the lottery works....

Tomorrow....ROAD TRIP!!!!

Day 22 - PAID!!!

Allright! First day of the workshop and they handed me a check for the stipend AND food allowance = $950. And with Chase deposit it over your iPhone app...the money was credited before the day's session ended!!!

Gosh I LOVE this workshop!!!!

Trying to book tickets to Robyn's wedding, but prices went up again....got the Dallas flight at $350...over $30 less than last week!

Oh...you wonder about the workshop????

Not a bad day....we received a module easily adaptable for 6th grade classes, and got to examine all of the various Weather Service equipment that is functioning at more than 900 airports around the country....AND...had BBQ at the smokehouse which was not bad!

And I heard from Teresa Woods about getting together this weekend, while I am waiting on Beth for the same...

Gosh I love summers....just wish Mary Anne were with me....

Day 21 - Kansas City

Started the 2-week long American Meteorological Society, Project Atmosphere workshop with about 17 other teachers from around the country with a nice dinner and a brief round of introductions. I honestly do not believe I have encountered a livelier group of workshop participants since the first Planting Science trip a couple of years ago. There is one woman from Dallas, and a gentleman named Bryan who will give me run for my money as being the outrageous attendee of the moment. It should be a fun couple of weeks....and I hope I get to see some new and old friends while I am in town.

Some observations...flying in and landing at the International airport I notice no real city here...just a lot of open land and a few clumps of newer developments. We are, of course, northwest of the downtown area, but it really much more rural than I would have anticipated.

Secondly....I really miss having a car....being here in the room and "stuck" (to put it mildly, is way boring. I want to be free, spread my wings, explore, examine....shop!!!!
That's what I live for!!!! Pictures are of the very nice suite of rooms and my view of the pool area.

Molly...you take good care of Mary Anne!

The Halfway Point

It has been a week since returning home...and only a week from my departure for the AMS workshop in Kansas City (where it was 106 degrees yesterday - guess I won't need that jacket I was planning on taking). I really enjoyed seeing old friends and making new ones at Texas A&M...it is always the high point of my summer since I always come away with so much I use (or share with others) in my classroom. NSELA in Austin was really much better than I expected...and look forward to the new standards to invigorate science teaching in a way the new evaluation never has.

It was quite a productive week, we gained a new dog (who is made of velcro since she surgically attaches herself to any human coming through the door), I gained a storage unit and moved 5 huge containers of dolls, My Little Ponies, and stuffed animals, Anne's collections of Harvard Classics and college textbooks, Meg's 2,463 containers of Playmobil and college paraphernalia, all stuff boxes (yes, I am a packrat and never, ever throw anything away), all unused wooden chairs, 15 containers of Xmas decorations, and filled up a 5' x 10' x 10' container space.

Now...maybe...I can actually find stuff in the garage. I will enter the abyss tomorrow morning, so if you don't hear from me in a few days, you might want to send in a crew to find me...there might be a cave in....and I could get trapped.

"Have you seen my wife, Mr. Jones? Do you know what its like on the outside. Don't go talking too loud you'll cause a landslide, Mr. Jones" Beegees 1967.