Dude, Where Are My Pants?

This has not one single thing to do with the Georgia Coast, but I found it intriguing anyway. And it's my blog. So there.

This just in via Google NewsAlerts:

Nudist German flights scrapped

BERLIN (AFP) — Despite being fully booked by naturists wanting to take off and strip off, a German travel company said Thursday it has decided to scrap a special nude flight that had been scheduled for this summer.

The July 5 flight was due to be the first of many and was aimed at east Germans nostalgic for the naturism that was authorised and extremely popular under communist rule.

But OssiUrlaub.de, the firm organising the service to a picturesque Baltic Sea island, said it has had second thoughts after "moral objections" in the media and from visitors to its Internet portal, a spokesman said.

The 50 people with tickets would have boarded the flight in the eastern city of Erfurt fully clothed, but once on the plane would have been free to undress and enjoy the rest of the journey as nature intended.

They will now receive a full refund as well as a voucher for other products offered by the company, whose core business caters to holidaymakers who keep their clothes on, it stressed.

# # #

There's a lot that intrigues me about this story. First, that "naturism (nudism to us non-Europeans) ... was authorised and extremely popular under communist rule." Really? Wonder why? Perhaps the powers that were figured out that if they let their citizens run around in the nude, they would forget how truly bad life was under an authoritarian regime. 

Then there are the "moral objections." Please. It's not my thing personally (and won't be until I develop a bod like Charles Atlas), but I have a hard time seeing what is immoral about being unclothed. What you choose to do while you're larking about in all your glory may be immoral, but that requires a bit of imagination now, doesn't it?

Perhaps some people need to get their minds out of the gutter.

Finally -- and this is truly a niggling point -- the writer notes that after the plane is airborne, the passengers would have been "free to undress and enjoy the rest of the journey as nature intended." 'Zat so? Being enclosed several miles in the air inside a large metal cylinder with wings seems to go against nature.

Then again, what do I know?

There once was a handsome young dude

who liked to fly in the nude ...

Oh never mind.

We're not in Kansas ...

... but you might have thought so Mother's Day afternoon.

A "small" tornado (relatively speaking, they think it was an F1) crossed the marsh from Brunswick and came onto St. Simons Island up around Sea Palms. There was a lot of damage, though most of it seemed to be tree-related. From what I read in the paper, no buildings were destroyed on the island.

Not the case in Darien, about 20 miles north of us. There, several large buildings were destroyed including a shelter for women and  children. Thankfully, there were no deaths or serious injuries.

Tornadoes are nothing new to me, having grown up in the midwest. My hometown, in fact, was struck by seven tornadoes in one evening back in 1980. People were killed and many, many homes and businesses were destroyed. It made a huge impact on the town and the people who lived there -- whether they suffered directly or not.

There is a big difference, however, between life on St. Simons Island and on the prairie. 

Except for the marshes, much of the island is covered by trees. If a tornado is heading your way, you might not know it until it is practically on top of you. 

Not so in central Nebraska, where you can see storms coming from miles away. There, you can watch them from a safe distance (my wife would say the safest distance in that situation would be in another galaxy.)

Another difference -- and this is a HUGE one -- is that there is no reliable early warning system in place here in Glynn County. Many cities and towns in the midwest -- and here in Georgia -- have sirens to warn of approaching storms and other dangerous conditions.

According to the Brunswick News, Glynn County has a system -- an emergency "phone tree" of sorts that can dial 60,000 calls in an hour. It was essentially useless, however, on Sunday because the EMA staff "didn't have time to activate the system," according to the EMA director. 

That's not a surprise, but when you think about it that points to a MAJOR WEAKNESS of the program (dubbed the CodeRED System).  Actually, two come to mind:

- People may not be near a phone when "the call" comes in to advise of danger.

- Fast-moving storms (such as tornadoes) can render the system useless. A funnel could be here and gone by the time the first number is dialed.

This doesn't strike me as the best situation, and frankly I wouldn't want to rely on EMA or the local media (radio, in particular) to be of much help. Sunday, our information came from the police scanner which provided a real-time report on things as they happened.

Sirens might not be a bad idea. I hope our intrepid County Commission and staff will give this the attention it deserves. Next time we might not be so lucky.

Gone With the Wind, indeed.

(Thanks to Wayne Rentz for allowing me to post this photo. Had I seen something like this approaching me, I would have been cowering in the closet.)

Fun with Windows

For the past week, I've been dealing with computer stuff.

To keep a long and somewhat complicated story short, we bought a new wireless mouse for the Mrs.' laptop. The software that came with the mouse apparently included a bonus -- a virus! 

Evenings have been spent in Task Manager, stopping rogue processes; running Norton Antivirus (which freezes when it hits the "bad" files); deleting junk files (except of course the "bad" files -- they won't let me erase them. Cute.

I've come to the conclusion that the only way to overcome this sucker is gonna be to reformat the drive and start over from scratch. What a PITA. 

I can think of lots and lots of ways to spend an evening, and this ain't one of 'em.

That brought to mind a collection of "Computer Haikus" that someone sent me years ago. Some of them are actually pretty funny. I suggest you print them out -- or just a few of your favorites -- and post them near your computer. Then, when the little darling starts to give you a hard time, you can pause and reflect.

Order will return. Even if it takes a sledgehammer.

And now, without further ado, Computer Haikus:

Windows NT crashed.

I am the Blue Screen of Death.

No one hears your screams.

------------------------

A file that big?

It might be very useful.

But now it is gone.

------------------------

The Web site you seek

Can not be located but

Countless more exist.

------------------------

Chaos reigns within.

Reflect, repent, and reboot.

Order shall return.

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ABORTED effort:

Close all that you have worked on.

You ask way too much.

------------------------

Yesterday it worked.

Today it is not working.

Windows is like that.

------------------------

First snow, then silence.

This thousand dollar screen dies

So beautifully.

------------------------

With searching comes loss

And the presence of absence:

"My Novel" not found.

------------------------

The Tao that is seen

Is not the true Tao, until

You bring fresh toner.

------------------------

Stay the patient course.

Of little worth is your ire.

The network is down.

------------------------

A crash reduces

Your expensive computer

To a simple stone.

------------------------

Three things are certain:

Death, taxes, and lost data.

Guess which has occurred.

------------------------

You step in the stream,

But the water has moved on.

This page is not here.

------------------------

Out of memory.

We wish to hold the whole sky,

But we never will.

------------------------

Having been erased,

The document you're seeking

Must now be retyped.

------------------------

Serious error.

All shortcuts have disappeared.

Screen. Mind. Both are blank.

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