FOW Archive: Of Dolphins and Downbursts

This article was originally published in The Dolphin Talk Newspaper in April of 2012.

Downburst:

If you were up early enough on the morning of April 2nd, you might have noticed that we had a thunderstorm that got a little out of control. That was especially true if you rode out the storm in Port Lavaca.

That was because Port Lavaca fell victim to a weather event called a ‘downburst’

The April 2nd downburst created winds up to 80 MPH along a ½ mile wide radius, causing damage to trees and windows in the area while also knocking down telephone poles and damaging the roof of a Port Lavaca business.

A downburst is created on the interior of a thunderstorm. A downburst can also create damage similar to a tornado, as some downbursts can contain winds over 150 MPH. Unlike a tornado, however, a downburst spreads out from the spot it touches the Earth, giving it a sort of ‘roll’ effect.

Fow Archive: Explosions and Pranks

This article was originally published in The Dolphin Talk Newspaper in March of 2012.

Since 9/11 we have become a country that (rightly so) has become a bit more wary of some of the dirtier aspects of modern warfare, such as suicide bombings, booby-trapped explosives and what could be inside our daily mail, something we have sadly seen in action before with the Uni-Bomber and Anthrax attacks.

There is also another enemy we have to combat when keeping our local area safe, one that does not have the backing of a major foreign power or makes it to CNN.

Pranksters.

On March 13th, someone called in a bomb threat at the H-E-B store in Port Lavaca at the Calhoun Plaza. Although nothing incriminating was found at the store and no one was hurt, the bomb threat itself was most likely just a prank probably played by local youth, it does not take away from the seriousness of the matter.

How do I know?

I’ve done it before.

When I was around fifteen or so, myself and a couple of friends decided that the best way to celebrate the Fourth of July weekend was to run around with firecrackers and a few cherry bombs, causing mayhem and destruction about town.

One target for our mischievous ways was a local McDonalds where we had the bright idea of leaving a pack of firecrackers out on the floor of the men’s room, with a lit wooden match laying across the fuse so we could leave the restaurant with our ‘bomb’ primed and then run across the street outside to watch what might happen next.

FOW Archive: Spotting Storms and Fighting Fears

This article was originally published in the Dolphin Talk Newspaper out of Seadrift, Texas in March of 2012. 

I’m not really too sure of exactly when I became phobic of severe weather, but I do know that it is something that has shaped my life deeply over the last two years. Imagine watching weather reports days in advance, letting the weather severely impact your daily activities and also being embarrassed that you hold this overwhelming fear of something that most people would find silly.

While the truth is that the problem is one that affects a far larger number of people than is reported; there are ways to fight it as well. Besides trying to raise awareness of the problem online and starting a support group, I have found that one of the best ways to fight the phobia is to learn as much as I can about severe weather and what causes it.

It was with that in mind that over the last year or so I endeavored to become a Skywarn spotter for the National Weather Service. I figured it was a chance to get information on severe weather as well as to help others impacted by severe weather events. I wanted to know even more about what I was looking for in the skies and on the radar, I wanted to be able to trust myself as a source for when the weather got too dangerous.

FOW Archives: 419 Scams

I have written for the Dolphin Talk Newspaper out of Seadrift, Texas since 2012. These are the articles I have written in this time as it went from a bi-weekly publication to a monthly. This article is from the twenty-third of February 2012 and can also be found here. 

419 Scams:

Have you ever checked your email and found a letter from a poor refugee who is suffering in another country and needs assistance? Ever received a letter stating that an American soldier serving in the Middle East has a trunk stuffed with cash from a terrorist compound and he needs your help to get it into the United States? Or how about a letter stating that you have won the United Kingdom Lottery drawing, even though you never entered?

Chances are if you have a public email, such as a Gmail or Hotmail account, that the answer is most likely yes. These letters are called 419 scams, named after the part of Nigerian code that governs such criminal activity in that country and they have been around for over twenty years.

Top Ten Things on Melania Trump’s Birthday List:

If you want another top ten based on Donny, click here.

10: Any birthday ‘dinner’not on the McDonald’s value menu.

9: Asylum.

8: For any other man to jump out of her birthday cake.

7: Another ‘Russian Probe’ rather than shrunken American sausage.

6: Access to Michelle Obama’s ‘speech vault.’

5: A cure for Stockholm Syndrome.

4: Armor against those monthly ‘stomach rashes’ from sex.

3: Ruby Slippers.

2: Divorce.

And the number one thing Melania wanted for her birthday was:

“A stable penis.”

-Thomas Spychalski

Wise Thought of the Day #15

“…The man’s nervous nobody wants to be around this guy.”

“If I felt no one wanted to be around me, I’d be…nervous too.”

-ST: TNG-Hollow Pursuits

Wise Thought of the Day # 14:

“Love is something that can be held but never kept if you hold too tightly, love is a mixture of two breathing souls that must learn to breathe in rhythm, love is like painting a landscape with two brushes, not quite knowing what valleys and mountains the other party might paint, but just knowing you have to see the finished picture.” – TWS18

Wise Thought of the Day # 13

“…For something to be born so dark, it must have fallen from a great source of light.”– TWS Fish Out of Water column/Feb 2018

Wise Thought of the Day #12

“The best tool a creative writer can have is his five-year-old self in his head, the kid that imagined they were in space floating in zero gravity when jumping on the bed and had tea parties with his or her best imaginary friends.” – Thomas Spychalski 

Wise Thought of the Day # 11

“If one feels privileged to stand in the light of the master, one should realize he is a student on his way to BECOMING a master.” –Thomas Spychalski