Traffic, Weather and 24 Hour News

Last week was so hot they canceled school. This week it's so cold, I'm wearing a fleece. And man, you should've seen the storm that came through last night. The thunder shook the house and we're pretty sure the lightening must have clipped a cat or squirrel. Why the power even went out. But today the sun is out and it's going to dry everything up.

I can't stop talking about the weather. This could mean one of two things: 1. I haven't had much chance to obsess about the weather since Bangalore is a pretty consistent 75-80 degrees and sunny. Or, 2. I'm spending too much time with one of my roommates. Next thing you know, it'll be the traffic.

George and I have discussed and we're pretty sure that obsessing about the weather is an affliction that strikes somewhere between ages 50-60 and is more prominent in women. Is it the hot flashes or just our "fragile" nature? I thought it was just my mother, who inherited the gene from her mother and has, I fear, passed it on to me. But George insists his mother is the same way. It's either too hot or too cold or so windy you better stay inside...and on that rare, beautiful day, you just have to keep repeating what a gorgeous day as if you might forget (which could also be due to the menopause). There is not a dark cloud that passes without a comment about a possible impending storm and not a day that goes by without asking, "what's the temperature?" My 94 year old grandmother explains, "we don't have much going on but there is always the weather to discuss." Point taken. So by this logic, I have as much going on as a 94 year old. I think I would be ok knowing that it's just the quintessential topic of conversation but I fear that in my case, it's something more than a universal conversation starter. My mother not only likes up to the minute reports on the weather here in the 06460 but she likes to keep tabs on what's happening from Miami to Fargo to Tokyo to New Delhi. So, I think the only thing that distinguishes my obsession with the weather and the OWW (Obsessed With Weather) disease that strikes females later in life is that the OWW is usually accompanied by OWT (Obsessed With Traffic). Thankfully, I show no symptoms of OWT, yet.

What's funny about my mother is that neither the weather nor the traffic have much impact on her day to day life. It doesn't really matter if it is 104 in Jakarta and 40 in Juneau or if there is an accident on the Merritt Parkway. But still, these details can provide us with endless hours of conversation (and I don't think hours is an exaggeration). Don't even bother heading to the Interstate 95 - there might be traffic. If there isn't, you should start worrying about the traffic that you might hit. In the good old days, we could consult one of our favorite stations, Channel 12 News, Traffic and Weather but since my frugal father, switched cable companies, Channel 12 became a casualty. The horror. Now we have to rely on the signs posted by the on-ramps to the highway that usually read, "ccident Exits 4-54. Expec elays." We can expect delays but that doesn't stop us from complaining. "Aw, geez. I tell you, it's always something. You can't go anywhere anymore. Too many people on the roads. If only they'd stop working on the roads." I think menopause makes you cranky too. If only we had Channel 12. (Forget The Weather Channel that's like turning on MTV expecting to see music videos.)

But what's worse, no Channel 12 or no MSNBC. We sure do miss that too. We get about 700 channels but still, it's not enough. We need the People magazine of news programs! (I'm not sure why CNN won't do but I think it's the same reason why one should only drink Diet Coke out of a can.) knows what we missed in regards to Tim Russert coverage. Probably the interview of his best friend from grammar school's second cousin.

I suppose if worse comes to worse, we can always go hang out at the gas station. Driving by our local Shell station the other day, I heard what sounded like a TV blaring. (I had plenty of time to further investigate seeing as the Shell station is at the corner that just all backed up now that they've suddenly stopped working on the underpass adjacent to the corner. "Why have they just stopped worked? They had two different contractors. Why would they do that? Now, that corner backs way up." Traffic, traffic everywhere...) More importantly, I think, is that in an era when you can get up-to-the-minute news at any hour of the day, on our TVs, computers, phones, PDAs and now even, at the gas station. What's next? TV's in public bathrooms? Would it be so bad if I didn't find out until Saturday morning that Tim Russert died? Wouldn't that give people more time to react and prepare for the onslaught of The Media? Is there such a thing as too much news? I think maybe. Of all of the 8 zillion news outlets, why wasn't there one, any one, small mention of Flag Day?

Tiger Woods is unreal. It's about time the Celtics get a title. Tim Russert will be missed. And all father's should be honored. But in this time of war, as it still is (Obama hasn't won yet), doesn't the flag deserve a shout out? After all, it's not just a piece of fabric. God bless the USA.