Couldn't Stand The Weather . . .

[DMoriarty]

So I was enjoying an afternoon picnic at the Getty with my family yesterday, reading the New York Times and the lead story regarding the winter storms which are wreaking havoc in the MidWest and East this week . . . .   Hundreds of thousands of airline passengers stranded and/or unable to travel to business meetings, vacations, family emergencies . . .  States of emergencies declared in three states so far . . . Highways and roads impassable and closed . . .  Schools closed . . . Businesses closed . . . State workers told to stay home . . . Beaches washed away . . . Crop damage in Florida . . . Winterkill throughout . . .Power outages . . . hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage so far . . . death toll at 15 and rising . . . FEMA already on the scene in the hearty midwest, dolling out out our tax dollars in the form of "emergency" relief . . . even the always reliable railroads were disrupted . . ..

While my sympathy goes out for all those in the storm's path, I still wonder about a few things . . .

What is with you guys in the MidWest in East?   It storms every year, yet you cannot figure out how to keep the roads and airports open, keep people from dying as a result of the storm, keep property from being damaged  . . . Long ago winter towns such as Aspen managed figure out a way to keep their roads dry and industry functioning almost all the time, yet the entire East and Midwest cannot manage to deal with annual storms?   A few feet of snow and half the country is paralized?  

And how about the golf?   You guys lose months every year to the weather.   Surely you ought to have been able to engineer your way around that one by now.   I am not an engineer and I do not live out there, but I am sure with a few million dollars or so, one could run hot water pipes and extensive drainage under a golf course so the snow would melt away and drain way almost instantly, keeping the course open even when it is 30 below!   Apparently common sense engineering solutions don't apply out your way.  

Do not get me wrong, I absolutely love your great courses-- they are truly a national treasure-- but for how much longer can the golf industry survive out there with courses which are closed for months at a time while your competition in the Southwest enjoys a year round season?  

More generally, how much do these storms cost us each year in dollars and lives, anyways?

To paraphprase my friend JakaB . . . Does anybody in the East or MidWest ever hire a Civil Engineer before they build things that freeze, fill with snow, flood, break, close, or otherwise malfunction?  

To paraphrase my friend Patrick . . . Civil engineering and common sense don't seem to mix in that part of the world . . . since this happens frequently, isnt living back there a disaster waiting to happen? . . . Isn't this theme repetitive in the East and Midwest?


To paraphrase my friend TEPaul . . .  From where we sit in the West the thought keeps recurring about our Eest Coast brethern of whether or not they'll truly come to understand the significance of the old cliche; You just can't f... with Mother Nature!

Don't just take me for tryin' to be heavy
Understand, it's time to get ready for the storm.

-srv

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

hmmm me thinks you have a revenge shelf life of at least 30 days. It was 76 and very nice here sat and sunday as well.

[JESII]

Yeah, well the Eagles are going to the Super Bowl. Ha

[JakaB]

David,

Havn't you visited JakaBGolf yet today..I have a round with Barney up for grabs for any and all...my treat..It is going to be 49 and perfect.   Honestly...given my sweat factor I would prefer playing at temps between 35 and 55 every day of the week...the heat makes it difficult for me to walk....Fazio must hire some damn good Civil Engineers because my little course is perfect 12 months a year...and sometimes better the worse the weather gets..yes better than perfect because you know as well as any how perfect has been dumbed down as of late..

[Steve Lang]

 

very nice here in houston too, a "frigid" 55F right now but sunny,.. will still go for nine before dark.. should be 74 tues and 78 on weds..

tiger,, been through the bayou city lately?

[Scott_Burroughs]

Don't just take me for tryin' to be heavy
Understand, it's time to get ready for the storm.

-srv

First thing I thought of when I saw the title...SRV.  His first album (tape) is sitting right next to me.  Couldn't Stand The Weather was #2.

I'll be playing this weekend if I get the hallpass.

[TEPaul]

Typical Moriarty! Sounds like a mixture of satire and sour grapes---at least I sure hope it's satire. Winter conditions and the results of them in the Northeast and Midwest have been going on for time immemorial, we expect it, don't fight it and really don't complain about it. And it's certainly not f... with Mother Nature! To me the way we all handle it is a lot different than some spoilt rich SoCal idiot on national TV who bitterly complains about the police not giving him sufficient warning as his multi-million dollar house on an earthen precipice overlooking the sea at Malibu slides headlong into the road below for about the fourth time in ten years, and he complains it's all their fault and that he might've been killed and his dog can't make his pyschiatrist appointment!  

[Joe Hancock]

If I sent my axe from Michigan to SoCal, how much would it cost to get it ground?

 

[Carlyle Rood]

[pdrake]

That is why we go to Florida in winter..........so we can play golf all year round!!  And the last time I looked, there may have been a blizzard in the MW and NE, but what about the floods that just hit California???

But I guess we can just blame Bush for all the bad weather everywhere.........including the tragedy in the Pacific.

[Lou_Duran]

Ed,

What are you trying to do to poor Moriarty?  The man has already confessed that he can't even enjoy an idyllic setting with his family without having to consult with the English version of the Communist Manifesto.  To suggest that he also read Bobby Kennedy is near criminal.  Why don't you take your ehru (or whatever it is you are playing these days), a nice bottle of wine, and maybe some Prozac and go down to console this afllicted man.  And if hog excrement leads to severe flooding, what should we be looking for in Arkansas and all its chicken shit?  

[Lou_Duran]

PDrake,

Did you know that Bush and Rees Jones are friends?  Makes you think, doesn't it?

[Dan Kelly]

I did find it interesting that in NC hog farming country they have had 3 "100 year floods" in recent years.

Guess they miscalculated, eh?

[Joe Hancock]

The man has already confessed that he can't even enjoy an idyllic setting with his family without having to consult with the English version of the Communist Manifesto.

Lou,

That was the first funny thing I noted in Daves post. Although, I figured he meant his family was enjoying him because he was busy reading the paper.....

Joe

[TEPaul]

"Did you know that Bush and Rees Jones are friends?"

Then there's no doubt Bush is to blame for the worst of containment mounding in golf architecture!!!

[Carlyle Rood]

Carlyle, if that is actually LaTour in that glass (and I don't care WHAT the vintage is), I am Prince Charles.

It's actually a painting!

[pdrake]

I do have to think about that one.......Bush and Rees friends??  I guess GW's friendship with gentle Ben balances it out!  

As far as Bush's destruction of the universe or his policy of not protecting any of the universe.........consider the source of this Kennedy before bashing Bush.  This guy is a real clown........Hannity ripped him apart for his taking private jets everywhere, when he was saying SUVs were the ruination of the universe.  The guy has a screw loose...........

[Patrick_Mucci]

Dave Moriarty,

You probably believe everything the West Coast media tells you about what's happening in the rest of the world.

Did you not see the Eagles - Falcons game ?
Did you not see the Steelers - Patriot game ?

Did it look like a disaster ?

The West coast media is just trying to convince you that California is the place to live, that worse things happen in the Midwest and East.

It was a beautiful weekend.

Lot's of snow, some toboganing, sleigh riding, ATV riding, a nice fire, time well spent with family.  What could be better ?

The roads were fine.

As to airports and airplanes, from everything I read in the newspapers, heard on the radio or saw on TV, no planes slid into homes and damaged or demolished them.

There were just some delays, like you get when the smog rolls in every morning.

And, no avalanches were reported to have wiped out any golf courses in the area.

You should consider moving here.

[Doug Siebert]

The media likes to sensationalize the weather.  It makes a good story and keeps them from having to talk about war and politics all the time.  I'm sure that most of California was just fine during those heavy rains, even though they might want to lead us to believe that it was a disaster nearly equal to the Asian tsunami given their pictures of houses sliding down the hillside, a tiny chunk of PB falling into the ocean, and so on.

Likewise they exaggerate the effect of this blizzard.  Yeah, a dozen people died, big deal.  A few guys with weak hearts exert themselves too much shoveling snow and drop dead.  If it didn't happen then, it'd happen a month later when they were trying to carry their new plasma TV upstairs, but it wouldn't make the news.  Some people die due to storm related traffic accidents or getting stuck in their cars and freezing to death.  Well, how many lives were SAVED because the storm kept people off the roads and thus avoiding dying in run of the mill traffic accidents that wouldn't make the news?  That blizzard almost certainly kept more people alive than it killed.

[Jeff Fortson]

PDrake,

Did you know that Bush and Rees Jones are friends?  Makes you think, doesn't it?

Somehow, this doesn't shock me.  Actually, it brings a smile to my face.  It makes PERFECT sense.


Jeff F.

[DMoriarty]

Tom P . . . Sort of a satire, but really more of a parody, mockery, or caricuture.   Adopting another's point of view to demonstrate it's unreasonableness.

Of course it storms in the winter and of course those storms sometimes cause damage.  Likewise, while they are more rare than your "winter conditions,"  fires, flash floods, mudslides have been going on in the West for "time immemorial," we expect it, don't fight it and really don't complain about it.  We just do our best to survive in a somewhat harsh environment.  And by most accounts we are surviving, at the very least.

So you see it is not "f... with Mother Nature" out here, either.  Far from it.   We have no illusions of taming Mother Nature; of accurately predicting her erratic tendencies or defining her indefiniteness.   We are not be so arrogant so as to assume that we can see around every corner and prepare for anything she may send our way.

To the contrary, we leave those delusions of grandeur to those outside the West who patronizingly lecture us about our perceived lack of preparedness and common sense.  

As for your "spoiled rich SoCal idiot," I don't doubt he exists, but I have never met him nor many like him.  He doesnt even remotely resemble the Californians with whom I am familiar.  Don't get me wrong, I trust you when you tell me you know his kind.  Perhaps he is just a bit more comfortable in your social circle than mine.

[DMoriarty]

Shivas as you note I am familiar with the concept of a winter storm;  I assure you I  remember that they are temporary.    But last I checked so were flash floods, forest fires and mudslides.  While mansions sliding down a hills may make for better television, the costs of a winter storm are just as real.  

Patrick, your definition of a disaster seems to have drifted a bit in the past week.  Last week you declare California a disaster because part of Rustic Canyon washed away, and this week there's no disaster even where FEMA and the President declare one.   I guess if the Chargers had made it to last week and played then there would have been nothing to speak of here either.  

P Drake and Lou Duran and whomever else.  Thanks for injecting partisan politics into the thread.   It wouldn't be complete without it.  

And P Drake, let me try to explain this to you.  My post was not meant to be taken literally.  To the contrary, I attempted to use a literary tool to mock the condescending attitude of a few of the posters (named above) with regard to California's recent flash floods.    


Lou Duran and Joe Hancock, you are 100% correct about my lack of devotion to my family.  I probably wouldn't even recognize my own daugher if I did not dress her in her "Earth First," "Down With America," leftist Tee Shirt.]

[TEPaul]

DavidM:

Regarding your post #27----that's nice, glad you're all happy safe and sound out there. As for the spoilt rich idiots whose multi-million dollar houses slide down the cliffs onto the road and into smithereens for the fourth time in ten years and then rail against the police for not telling them in time they aren't in my social circle unless seeing them on national TV is in my social circle. But if I do get to know them I'll tell them they shouldn't concern themselves with mere bagatelles like that because it's just part of the exciting lifestyle of living with SoCal's Mother Nature and a friend of mine on Golfclubatlas.com from SoCal assures me that's their case.  

[Joe Hancock]

DavidM,

I'm sure you're a fine father. It was your satire/ parody/ MOCKERY/ caricature in post #1 that fostered my sarcastic, smiley-face comment.

If you post something in an attack-like tone, and you are only targeting three people, wouldn't email or private messaging be more appropriate? The comments about why anyone would build a golf course in our part of the country hardly made it an architectural post, either.

I apologize for interfering with another GCA.com playground fight by trying to interject some levity.

Carry on,

Joe

[Patrick_Mucci]

Dave Moriarty,

My memory seems to have temporarily failed.

Could you remind me how California voted in this last election.

The mudslide at La Conchita certainly looked like a disaster to me.

In case you're not familiar with east coast weather patterns, we do get snow, including blizzards in the winter.

But, I haven't seen any homes or golf courses built at the foot of a glacier, have you.