Hey, what's up with me?

Not much.

Playing some softball. We lost our first two games, but have stormed back to win 5 straight, including beating both of the teams that beat us. We're currently 3rd of 7, one game back of the leaders. I've been playing very very badly.

Our rotisserie team was horrible this year. 7th of 13. Pitiful. Our widely panned Volquez trade ended up being a net positive for the O'Jimmies, but it wasn't enough.

I'm thinking about doing another "Life Episodes" soon ... if I can think up anything else interesting that's happened to me.

The Reds season is finally over. Anyone who thinks they'll be any better next year than this year needs their optimism levels adjusted.

The beautiful KMD and APD are psyched about the ChiSox.

All this sounds negative but it's not. Things are fine here.

Looking back through old yearbooks ....

Fun day today. APD's team lost again (0-5), but he got his first ever hit to the OF on a fly. He ripped it pretty good. Then yard work. Then went swimming. It was 90 again here today.

We spent the evening looking through some of our old yearbooks. Check this link for more.

Here's APD in 1952:

The beautiful KMD has gotten better looking everyday I've ever known her. Here she was in 1966:

Surprisingly, Dolberry hasn't changed much. Here I was in 1972 in my Grand Funk Railroad days:


Finally, here's Cherish from 1996. Looking stylish.

Oh Mamma Mia!

In yesterday's blog I opined on songs that I like by bands/singers that typically do not meet, or come close to meeting, Dolberry's high standards of rockitude. This was before I had any idea of the debacle of a day that I was going to have today. You will notice there is no ABBA on the list below. I could have listed a top 500 and there still would have been no ABBA. Honestly, and this is from the heart here, I think Sweden should be listed w/ Iran, Iraq, and N. Korea in the Axis of Evil for foisting the abomination that is ABBA on the world.

It is my off Friday. And it started out fine. I did a talk on weather for 2nd graders. Came home from that and took a nap. Lunch ... it was fine.

The day went flying off the tracks and slammed into a wall of flaming debris when the beautiful KMD (tbKMD) suggested we go see a movie. Since I had chosen our anniversary movie (The Dark Knight), it was her turn to pick. She suggested Mamma Mia! because it was one of the few films that didn't appear to involve a lot of people shooting one another. After a minimal amount of research I figured out that it was a chick flick and a musical, but I accepted my fate w/grace and good cheer, because that is the way Dolberry! rolls when it comes to the marital relationship.

SPOILER ALERT -- About to reveal plot of movie




Ok. That was the plot. Worse than that ... they sang ABBA songs the whole time. Worse than that Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep were in it. The whole movie careened from one ABBA song to the next with no apparent plan for what was to come next. The lead actress had a smile that was far more sinister than Heath Ledger's Joker. One old guy showed his butt for no reason. There was a scene in which Meryl Streep jumped on a bed like it was a trampoline and went through about 200 costume changes in a 90 second span, all the time singing, and that was probably the "best" scene in the movie. The estrogen was literally oozing off the screen and pooling in the aisles (if estrogen does such a thing) in a massive 12 foot storm surge of girlyness.

Anyway, the league office has handed tbKMD an eight movie suspension from picking our off-Friday matinees. She plans to appeal.

It did give me an idea though. The whole thing might have worked had they set the songs to a more accomplished band ... like, say ... Def Leppard. Picture this:

John Goodman as Gunter;
John Travolta as Glieben;
Vin Diesel as Glauten;
and Winona Ryder as Globen.

Gunter, Glieben, and Glauten are competing chefs in a fancy French culinary competition to see who can make the best cake, but they need some extra sugar, and a cute singing goat tells them that there's this lady in Majorca who has this special confectioner's sugar that will guarantee them a win. They race to the island and meet the beautiful Globen on a picturesque beach and they all start singing "Pour Some Sugar on Me".

After that, they all get their picture in one of those booths you find in the mall while singing "Photograph".

But after that, Glieben makes a pass at Globen which is rejected, so he sings "Love Bites".

We need something upbeat after that pathos-saturated scene, so Goodman/Gunter sings "Animal" while (why not) walking through a zoo.

Hmmm, Globen can't believe everyone wants her special sucrose/fructose mix and in a touching scene sings "Hysteria".

Then ... I don't know ... um ... let's say there's a big wave which wipes out half the island and the whole cast sings "Armeggedon It" while dancing.

But then it turns out that was a dream sequence, so the whole cast sings "Foolin".

In the climatic scene, there's a choreographed fight scene on the Rock of Gibralter where Gunter, Glieben, and Glauten fall to their deaths while dualing/singing to "Rock of Ages".

Globen then sings a reprise of "Pour Some Sugar on Me" but sadder this time, because she'd grown to love those crazy French chefs. And then she sings "Too Late for Love", because there's still about 10 minutes left in the movie.

But then the three chefs triumphantly emerge from the surf below and are tearfully, but still dancingly, reunited with Globen. And Gunter proposes to her. And she accepts. And they all sing "Pour Some Sugar on Me" again with fireworks in the flaming sunset.

As the credits roll ... over "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" we'll toss in a scene in which the actors sing and throw cake at each other with super-huge grins.

I might go see that ...

Top 10 songs that you wouldn't think Dolberry likes, but he does

10: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - Joan Baez
9: You're the One that I Want - Olivia Newton John and John Travolta
8: Forever in Blue Jeans - Neil Diamond
7: Beer for My Horses - Toby Keith and Willie Nelson
6: Falling Down - Atreyu
5: Hey Ya! - OutKast
4: Wide Open Spaces - Dixie Chicks
3: I Got You Babe - Sonny and Cher
2: Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson
1: Staying Alive - The Bee Gees

Just so you know ....

Circus Boy

So ... I turn 42 in a few hours.

I think it's reasonable to expect that I've lived about half my life at this point. And I'm ok w/ that. I've always considered myself to be a second half team, anyway. I just need to make some halftime adjustments. Here's what I'm thinking:

First, I'm thinking I need to be a little less conservative. Air it out a little bit. Maybe press a little bit in the backcourt. It seems to me that life favors the aggressive. And being aggressive doesn't have to equal being obnoxious. I think I need to reach out a little more. I'm guessing that 95% of all people, if they have regrets at all at the end of life, regret the things they didn't do more than the things that they did do. I think sometimes I'm governed by my fears (rejection and failure, primarily) ... in the second half I'm going to swing for the fences occasionally. I may strike out some ... but maybe I'll get a hold of a few.

Second, I think I've done a pretty good job of sticking to my game plan ... provide a good return on the talents that God gave me by making the world a marginally better place ... but the execution has been poor at times. I've missed some opportunities to do good. Need to keep my eyes open to where I can help and step in accordingly.

Third, I need to get in my face a little bit here at halftime. My greatest shortcomings are still selfishness and laziness. A friend of mine said recently "Why accept mediocrity? Why?" (He wasn't talking about me ... but he might as well have been.) I need to move the puck up the ice a little faster, finish some checks, start blasting some one-timers. The race may be half over. I have the stamina to finish it. I can pick up the pace a little. I simply need to start giving 100%.

Before closing w/ a section from a really cool book I'm reading, I want to say how much I love my teammates down here. tbKMD, APD, Mom, Dad, Kathy, Kris, Carrie, GMa Fitz, the rest of my family, and all my friends ... thank you, thank you, thank you .... now let's go get 'em.

"Sometimes I feel as though I were born in a circus, come out of my mother's womb like a man from a cannon, pitched toward the ceiling of the tent, all the doctors and nurses clapping in delight from the grandstands, the band going great guns in trombones and drums. I unfold and find flight hundreds of feet above the center ring, the smell of popcorn in the air, the clowns gather below, amazed at my grace, and all the people chanting my name as my arms come out like wings and I move swan-like toward the apex, where I draw my arms in, collapse my torso to my legs, roll over in perfection, then slowly give in to gravity. My body falls back toward earth, the ground coming up quick, the center ring enormous beneath my falling weight.

And this is precisely when it occurs to me that there is no net. And I wonder, What is the use of a circus? and Why should a man bother to be shot out of a cannon? and Why is the crowd's applause so fleeting? and ... Who is going to rescue me?"

Tropical Storm Hanna did not disappoint

Best weather day of the year! Wind gusts topped out at maybe 35-40 mph. The airport got over 5 inches of rain and I'm sure we did too. It's ramping down here, now. Here's a video summary.

Tropical Storm Hanna #6

The Dolberry Tropical Weather Centre is online early this morning. Hanna came onshore near the NC/SC border ~ 3:30am. Most of the highest winds have been detected by offshore buoys. The highest wind gust I've heard of was a 67 mph gust at Wrightsville Beach.

It was raining hard here when I woke up (slacked off some now), but there's been very little wind (< onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5L0GEQVDOoj64cgxMPv95WOJx6DxFsyXvsf-TW7vtsLGrrZVcUzNjN_xeN6Hs5gUyeLYTQdeKAnHU8pjZKkAj0-t5DHLqMdlTYJfIPi2MA2fG0Px9AsLKQJpGW21YDAzBxgFqvQ/s1600-h/doppler1-640x480.jpg">

Tropical Storm Hanna #5

Hanna is approaching. In an ominous sign, the first rain from the storm occurred in my office when drops of water started falling from the ceiling around 3:15 this afternoon. (I called EPA building support, but they still hadn't come by the time I left. It eventually stopped dripping.) The real rain started around 4p w/ some squally showers. It apparently rained hard while the beautiful KMD & I were at a movie (celebrating our 16th anniversary ... Dolberry is a lucky dude). It kinda sprinked while we drove to dinner. Winds were maybe 7 mph or so.

Anyway, the official forecast here is for gusts of up to 40 mph around sunrise tomorrow. The Weather Channel has us w/ a low risk for power outages.

It looks to me like Hanna is starting to form an eye ... and the hurricane hunters have found that the pressure has dropped to 974 mb. But they haven't found any winds above 74 mph, so it's still a tropical storm. When it gets closer to shore, the Doppler radars should be able to sample what the strongest winds truly are.


There was a tornado warning for a county about 100 miles from here, but that cell dissipated rapidly. We're in a High Wind Warning. The wind is just now starting to pick up some, blowing the blinds periodically.

I'll probably wake up early tomorrow to get some pictures and for APD and I to have our traditional "Hurricane Race" where we race each other around the yard in the height of the heaviest rain and wind. I'm 0-4 in these races, but I haven't had a shot in a few years. Tomorrow is my day.

Tropical Storm Hanna #4

Hanna is still projected to come onshore early Saturday morning near the NC/SC border. The primary change is that the models and the NHC don't see much chance that Hanna strengthens into a hurricane. But it'll be a strong tropical storm. And it'll be fast moving. And it is has a very large wind field. All that should conspire to produce a brief (~6 hours) period of fairly significant winds tomorrow night and early Saturday morning. Could see gusts in the 30-40 mph range which hopefully will do no more than scatter some limbs.

Will be interesting to see how much rain we get. The HPC says Hanna will dump a quick 2-3 inches in our area. Also the SPC says we're slight risk for severe weather, tornadoes presumably.


Tomorrow should be an interesting weather day in Apex. It may even surpass the Great Non-Sticking Blizzard of January 19th as the biggest weather day of the year.

Then all eyes turn to Hurricane Ike. The models have started to lock into a southern track, which is bad news for Florida or Cuba. Climatologically though, most major hurricanes (9 of 10) that are where Ike is tend to miss the U.S. (recurve to sea). I tend to trust climatology more than the models at days 5 and beyond.

Tropical Storm Hanna #3

The models continue to shift ever so slightly east and delay Hanna's passage. The NHC is thinking landfall near the NC/SC line early Saturday morning, but then tracking due north and eventuall northeast. This would likely leave us on the west side of the storm which will be calmer and drier. There's still some spread to the models, so it's not a done deal that we're off the hook.

The NHC expects to issue a hurricane watch for the Carolina coasts tomorrow which will likely cancel Mrs D's girls youth group retreat.

Should have a better idea tomorrow night. Maybe worse news is that the models are starting to show Category 4 Ike making a NWward turn toward day 5. We'll see.

Tropical Storm Hanna #2

Hurricane Hanna got ripped up by shear today, but is still hanging on as a tropical storm. If it can make it another 12-24 hours, the shear should relax somewhat ... allowing Hanna to restrengthen.


The models today seem to have moved the storm south w/ the cluster centered around Savannah GA. Due to the angle of approach of the storm, a small deviation to the south could mean a central FL landfall; conversely, a small deviation to the north could mean a NC landfall.


For reasons not clear to me, the NHC are predicting a landfall near Charleston SC, w/ a track right over Apex around 2am Saturday morning. Anyway, until the storm gets its act together and starts actually moving toward the U.S. ... it's too soon to get too excited.

Hurricane Hanna #1

The above graphic shows the various weather models' predictions of Hurricane Hanna's path. There is a slight shift north in the predicted tracks w/ 4 of the 6 models predicting a South Carolina landfall on Friday afternoon at a strength of ~ Cat 2. Unfortunately, the models aren't that good at days 3-5. Further, the models have struggled w/ this storm thus far. (Maps from the Weather Underground.)


If and when HH hits the Carolinas it's projected to be racing inland pretty quickly. Using NOAA's inland wind model, a Cat 2 hitting the East Coast at a forward speed 12 knots (14 mph) could bring 50-65 kts (57-74 mph) winds along its path well inland (e.g., Apex).

We'll see ...