ARRL Day in the Park, McKee Park,
Starksville (MFJ Hosting)-September 29
Happiness
We convince ourselves that life will be
better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we're
frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more
content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have
teenagers to deal with. We'll certainly be happy when they're out
of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete
when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer
car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.
The truth is, there's no better time to be
happy than right now. If not now, when?
Your life will always be filled with
challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be
happy anyway.
One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred
D. Souza.
He said, "For a long time it had seemed to
me that life was about to begin-real life. But there was always
some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first,
some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be
paid. Then life would begin.
At last it dawned on me that these obstacles
were my life." This perspective has helped me to see that there is
no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.
So, treasure every moment that you have and
treasure it more because you shared it with someone special,
special enough to spend your time with ... and remember that time
waits for no one.
So, stop waiting until you finish school,
until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you
gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the
house, until you start work until you retire, until you get
married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday
morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home
is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter,
until you're off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your
song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up,
until you die, until you're born again to decide that there is no
better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey,
not a destination."
I know not with what weapons World War III
will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and
stones.
-- Albert Einstein
May they
always be...
Sometimes they talk late at night.. Men, no
more but energy eternal.. With no shapes but that of light and
storm clouds..
Still they are, they exist and they call me with the flash and the
cricket code.. Asleep in England no more or France or Moscow..
Far away and in my head..
Old friends of gold and those never met of
tube and key, skipping over the ocean and bouncing from the sky..
Riding the tail of a comet, playing among aurora, then back to the
deep blue water, the mighty mirror of the Sea..
From the flickering screen or the magic of a
sky wave, in my earphones for no apparent reason with their
"Donald Duck voices or with the happy whistling song of a
telegraph key.. May they always be...
KB5DKW
More hurricanes in the forecast... till at least
2010
Weather analysis indicates we’re
beginning long-term upswing in severity
By Kathleen Wren
WASHINGTON, July 19 — Since
1995, hurricanes have come rumbling over the Atlantic Ocean more
often and with more intensity than during any other time in the
last three decades. The catastrophic losses of life and property
have prompted many to wonder whether this turn of events reflects
a real trend, or just a weird run of bad luck. A study in
Friday’s issue of the journal Science concludes that the
recent upturn is no coincidence: Atlantic hurricane activity seems
to have entered a busy period that could continue anywhere from 10
to 40 years.
SUCH A SHIFT would have serious
consequences. Lulled by the mild hurricane record of the 1970s and
1980s, people have moved to vulnerable coastal areas in
droves.
“There’s been so much
buildup (along the coast). People have not experienced these
storms recently and they’ve forgotten what it’s
like,” said the study’s lead author, Stanley Goldenberg
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s
Hurricane Research Division.
HAVE HUMANS PLAYED A
HAND?
According to the researchers, the hurricane
system swings like a pendulum between more and less active modes
of operation, each lasting several decades.
In contrast with previous 24 years, which
have been relatively quiet, the
last six years have seen a doubling in overall hurricane activity
coming from the Atlantic Ocean, with
a fivefold increase
specifically in the Caribbean.
A commonly asked question is whether this
increase might be due to global warming. The new results suggest
that the answer is no — at least not primarily. The hurricane
track record of the last six years looks similar to the one from
the 1920s to the 1960s, when major hurricanes were also relatively
common. Goldenberg and his colleagues think the recent upsurge in
hurricane activity is more likely the latest swing in the
long-term cycle.
“Saying that this increase in activity
is from global warming is like saying that it’s getting hot
right now because of global warming. Actually, the real reason
it’s getting hot is that it’s summer,” Goldenberg
said.
The scientists aren’t exactly sure yet
what actually drives the cycle that causes hurricane activity to
wax and wane periodically. Some researchers have proposed that the
global system of ocean circulation may be responsible, but more
research is necessary to be certain.
It’s also conceivable that global
warming might intensify the current conditions, making the
pendulum swing a little higher, so to speak. Goldenberg did notice
that this last shift has been more extreme than any other on
record. Then again, the difference might also be the result of
improved record-keeping.
“These
last six years were the most active of all
recorded. So, the question is,
‘Gee is that also because it’s also a little warmer than
ever before?’ If we’re going to be honest scientists, we
just can’t answer that now,” Goldenberg said.
SETTING THE STAGE FOR A
HURRICANE
A hurricane’s center is organized like
a chimney, with warm moist air entering at the bottom and then
spiraling upward. Two
key conditions enable a storm like this to develop.
First, sea surface temperatures must be
relatively warm, in order to feed the hurricane with thermal
energy. The second factor, called “vertical wind shear,”
is the difference in wind speed and direction between the upper
and lower atmosphere. If the vertical shear is too strong, the
hurricane can’t assemble itself vertically.
Goldenberg’s research team analyzed
historical records of both these conditions. When the scientists
looked at how the sea surface temperatures had changed over time,
their first result was a collection of haphazard wiggles,
seemingly without any logical structure. They used a statistical
model to untangle distinct modes, or patterns, in their data, like
distinguishing the sounds of individual tones in a piece of
music
Once the global effects of the El
Niño cycle — officially known as El
Niño-Southern Oscillation, or “ENSO,” had been
removed from the data — the authors could see another
regularly occurring cycle in the Atlantic. For several decades,
the surface waters would be slightly warmer, meaning conditions
would be ripe for hurricane formation; then they’d cool down,
switching over to an anti-hurricane phase for several decades
more.
“When you go beyond ENSO in the
Atlantic, this mode pops out. It’s very strong. These things
stick their nose at you,” said Alberto Mestas-Nuñez of
the University of Miami, another author of the study.
The timing of the sea surface temperature
fluctuations matched similar fluctuations in vertical shear, as
well as the actual hurricane record since the 1940s. Thus,
Goldenberg’s team may have found the keys behind the
long-term waxing and waning of hurricane activity.
More research is still necessary to
understand the complex behavior of hurricanes, however. In a
commentary article that accompanied the study, Lennart Bengtsson
of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology cautioned against
drawing conclusions about long-term trends from the relatively
short hurricane record.
HOPE FOR THE BEST, BUT…
In their study, the Science researchers
called on government officials, emergency managers, and coastal
residents to prepare for a period in which the hurricane threat is
much greater than it was in the 1970s and 1980s.
A particular concern, according to
Goldenberg, is that in many coastal areas the buildings have not
only become more abundant, they’ve gotten taller as well.
Recent observations have shown that hurricane wind speeds can be
much higher several stories up than they are at ground level,
Goldenberg said. So, the upper stories of a 30-story building
could sustain far more damage than the lower floors or a shorter
building right next door.
“The saying ‘Hope for the best but
prepare for the worst’ really describes the situation,”
Goldenberg said. “We can’t say that one particular area
is going to be hit by a major hurricane, but these data tell us
that there will continue to be more activity and that we certainly
need to take the hurricane threat very seriously.”
© 2001 by the American Association for
the Advancement of Science
Have a great
month
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July / August 2001