rivercityvibe   “Puerile, smutty, schoolboy nonsense” – My Mom

The ridiculous weather conditions, which saw thick ice forming on my boat and forced me to break out clothes that I usually reserve for skiing vacations, are past. I have spoken to one of my assets at NOAA and they have confirmed that the summer starts here. We’re easing it in with a few days in the low seventies. Back to shorts, y’all (though I’ll kind of miss my Inuit Fishing Cap).

I will swim in the Ocean before February is out.

One side effect of the weather is to bring humidity levels to record lows at Bones HQ. These old Florida houses are designed to stay cool – not an ideal attribute when it’s BALTIC outside. Worried about my dog’s skin, I blew fifty bucks on a humidifier.

It was crap. It raised the humidity not at all. If any eggheads are reading this and can explain to me why the Vick’s Ultrasonic Humidifier does not work, I’d be grateful.

God. That was so boring I feel honor-bound to give you a picture of Lindsay on the beach:

It's nice and warm again.

Occasionally we get members of the faithful sending in links with simple messages that show they 100% ‘get’ rivercityvibe and all it stands for. One such reader, Elizabeth, did this today, sending me a link and following message:

“Great for rivercityvibe. Even got a German in it”

That was it, that was the whole message. And do you know, she is right! It is great for rivercityvibe.

The link is to our good friends at Gawker.com. They are running a video montage of weather man fuck-ups in honor of the fact that today (With BALTIC temperatures in North Florida) is National Weatherman Day.

Weathermen, I have written about before. Germans, I write about constantly. There are both here:

Priceless humor.

Now perhaps they can stop goofing around and do something about humidity levels in 32210 (23%, currently. Unhealthy).)

Apparently, yesterday was “a nine” according to WOKV. Today is expected to be “a ten” when the fog burns off.

What does that mean?

It means 86 degrees and sunny, that’s what that means. In other words, the kind of fall day that makes you glad to be Floridian.

Returning to the Island. 7.30 am

Aha. If I may quote George Harrison (and I think I can), here comes the sun……

I know we are supposed to take severe weather seriously, and OBEY law enforcement, FEMA, Florida DEM etc. when they give us instructions. It is, after all,  for our own good.

But it’s always nice to come across a crazy old fellah who’s prepared to tell authority, in effect:

“Kiss my swingers. I am staying put.”

This Texan puts Floridians to shame:

Crackin' a PBR and enjoyin' the show...

Former marine (68-74), Ray Wilkinson decided he wasn’t going anywhere when Ike poled up at his beach house. The Houston Chronicle puts it like this:

Wilkinson said that he felt his home shaking badly in the fierce winds as he sat there drinking beer, but the gusts were so loud he couldn’t hear much else. “It was too much noise from the wind,” he said.

He was never scared, just entertained. He did not pray for help.

“I figure I put me in this position and God couldn’t get me out,” he said.

Though he came through unscathed, Wilkinson didn’t think others should follow his example.

“I don’t advise it unless you’re nuts,” he said.

Apparently he is a cancer survivor, too.

This evening, I will be raising a glass to you, Ray Wilkinson.