April 28:  I'm under a freeze warning tonight here in Grinnell.  I should note that I live in the Grinnell "Soccer House," which means my buddies and I are toughing this one out with minimal heat...picture the dump from "Animal House" and that's where I live.  I can't believe we survived the winter (Temps down to -18 and winchills in the -30's) in this shanty, which resembles an oversized cardboard box with a nice front porch.  Our furnace kicks on automatically when the temperature in the living room drops below 40 degrees, and maintains that temperature to prevent frozen pipes.  40 degrees makes for a cold walk down the hall after the morning shower.  Despite our poor quality of life, we still shelled out upwards of $500 in heating bills in February alone, but with mean temps for both months around 16-17 degrees, it takes a lot of gas to maintain 40 degrees inside, especially when your house is in such poor condition.

I also thought I'd post a couple pics from the July 19th, 2006 storm in St. Louis, which knocked out my power conveniently on a 100 degree day, followed by another 100 degree (heat index 114).  The National Guard was out in force in the city that week, cleaning up and trying to help people stay cool.  It was such a memorable event...I actually saw power lines being whipped off their poles, sparks and trees blowing across streets, etc.  All followed by a magnificent sunset over miles and miles of brick houses and apartments lit only by candles and flashlights. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lfc02TKp1ow shows video of someone getting hit by a blowing dumpster at the baseball game that night, and http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lsx/?n=july_2006 is the NWS website dedicated to that storm and heatwave. 

And finally, I changed my picture to show my support for the team I love.  Seems like everyone on this website is a Phillies fan.  Someday, Ryan Howard is gonna come home to St. Louis.