Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Alberto

Monday nights I drive home from work between 10 and 11 PM, so I listen to the local news on the radio (why can't NPR be 24/7 in Alabama?). Of course, the only news that's on is my absolute least favorite TV Channel. Their weather people are some of those ultra-dramatic people that drive me batty. They also have no skill at actually forecasting the weather, but that's another subject. Well, last night they were talking about Tropical Storm Alberto. And right before the commercial break that comes before the weather, the weather guy says something along these lines: "And coming up after the break, we'll take a look at the last storm named Alberto. That was in 1994. We'll give you the latest information on that storm, as well as a look at our local weather, coming up." And all I could think was: Why in the world do I need updates on a storm that happened 8 years ago, when there's a tropical storm a few hundred miles away NOW? How about you give me some local weather predicting for tomorrow? This is a NEWS program, not a retrospective! And why do you need to say the phrase "coming up" 3 times before every commercial break? Are you afraid that we'll think you've suddenly just quit broadcasting? We know how commercial breaks work, already! And then, just when I think that I've misunderstood and they're actually going to discuss the storm that's happening right now (because this is a news program, not the History Channel), they come back from a commercial and talk about Tropical Storm Alberto from 1994 and how it hit Alabama and produced lots of rain....and I keep thinking "Hooray for the people that lived here in 1994! I live here now, and I want rain this week! Can you tell me what my chances are on that while I go work on a time machine to take me back to 1994? Please, can you just give me the weather forecast?" I need to get some new CDs to keep me busy in my car.

1 comment:

K.A.S. said...

I'd really like it if you kept working on the time machine...