Friday, October 26, 2007

Rain: Different Than Sun

Happily employing this blog's first Wizard of Oz reference, allow me to pull back the curtain. The way this blog gets written is as follows:

-First priority for posting goes to time-sensitive and/or breaking information, or ideas that I want to talk about and/or have recently thought about.

-Second priority goes to posts that are inspired by issues that surface while I am reading newspapers or other blogs. When I am really busy, I read through sever days' papers at the same time.

-Third priority goes to posts that have nothing to do with anything, like this one and this one, which are written if and when I cannot come up with any material using priorities #1 and #2.

The point that I am getting to is that my time is somewhat valuable. Consequently, when I am perusing the newspaper for the 'hot' issues, I needn't be burdened with articles that do not serve a purpose.

And here we finally are, arriving at the focus of this particular post--a remarkably useless bit of reporting about the weather.

Here is the headline:

RAIN CAUSES NUMEROUS ACCIDENTS; CAUTION URGED.

This just in: WATER CAUSES WETNESS; TOWELS SUGGESTED.

Terrible.

It would be one thing if the headline was, perhaps, at the top or bottom of the front page, and left to be. But the whole article is basically common sense dribble. If I were being interviewed for this article, I would probably try to verbalize my responses while moving only my upper lip, just to make it interesting.

All of the following excerpts were deemed newsworthy enough to be printed in the article. Enjoy:
With rain forecasted through Saturday morning, drivers can
expect to be faced with challenges during their commutes and trips during much
of the week.


Weather has a 'significant impact' on the number of crashes.

Several factors contribute to the increase (in crashes), with
visibility, traction and speed being the most prevalent.


A driver's rate of speed has a direct impact on visibility and
traction.


Cpl. Shawkey
advises that drivers give themselves additional travel time when it
rains.


It is never advantageous to be in a hurry speeding while it is
raining.

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