Northern Chill

There isn’t much I want to write about today involving politics.  I will dedicate this video for the people in the northern United States who are currently going through this arctic blast that the Canadians dumped on us.

It reached 18 degrees today here in southern Delaware and a low tonight near 0.

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Staten Island Chuck

I don’t know Staten Island Chuck’s lifetime record is in Groundhog Day predictions, but for 2012, he beat Punxsutawney Phil 1-0.  While Phil had predicted six more weeks of winter, Chuck predicted an early spring.  February was the warmest month on record in the northeastern US and March looks like it will be the warmest March ever.

Those in the northeast will be happy to know that I will not be wasting my time going to Punxsutawney next February.  I will instead go to Staten Island.  It is a much shorter drive and it will be easier to get access to Chuck to spray pepper his eyes so he won’t see his shadow.  This will allow another early spring for next year.

Thank you, Staten Island Chuck from the entire Ahmnodt Heare for President campaign team for making this the nicest winter ever.  I promise I won’t go overboard with the pepper spray next Groundhog Day and I’ll chuck the wood you would have wanted to chuck while you are recovering.

Choosing Staten Island over Punxsutawney is not without its side effects.  I will have to pay to cross the Goethals Bridge.  (The toll to cross the bridge is $12.)  I will have to pick up a pair of earplugs to drown out Michael Bloomberg’s whiny voice.  And because the Groundhog Day thingie is done in the morning, I will have to fight rush hour traffic pretty much the entire route.  (70 miles or at least 1 1/2 hours of rush-hour traffic)

Punxsutawney Trip Canceled

I will not be making my annual trip to Punxsutawney, PA this year.  I had been making the trip the last couple of years since I watched the Groundhog Day ceremony on TV in 2009.  It was then that I noticed that the sky was cloudy and dark.  There should have been no way Punxsutawney Phil would have seen his shadow.  He saw it.  He saw his shadow because of all of the lights that were shining on him.  Those lights came from television cameras.  The media was to blame for six more weeks of winter in 2009.

2010 – I had to do something about this.  I made the trip to Punxsutawney and spent the night before at a local hotel.  My plan was to get there at about 6:30AM and get there before sunrise.  The plan included walking up to the cameras and filtering the lights enough to block the shadow caused by lights but not so much that people watching at home couldn’t see the groundhog.  The only problem was that I was unable to get to the cameras because there were over 10,000 people in attendance.  Phil ended up seeing his shadow.  A few weeks later, my town was hit with 2 1/2 feet of snow.

Shoveling 31" of snow made it hard to place the snow and the banks were over 7 feet high.

Last year I had everything planned perfectly.  I arrived at 3:30AM to a sparse park.  I had the filters for the lights and also brought pepper spray to spray in the groundhog’s eyes.  As I was making my move, I was approached by security.  They asked what I was doing.  I told them I was walking around and trying to get a better view.  They let me go but kept an eye on me.  Fortunately, Phil did not see his shadow.

There are a few reasons why I am not going this year.  The first reason is that winter has been mild this year with little snow.  This is a concern because I am walking distance to a ski resort.  The tourists who come here to ski drive me nuts, but they’re a necessary evil as more skiers equals more money for the town and fewer taxes I’ll have to pay next year.  The second reason is the campaign.  I will be in eastern Pennsylvania on the 1st and Connecticut on the 3rd.  Punxsutawney is too far out of the way.  Gas prices are too high for me to go anywhere but a straight line.

My apologies to anyone who had planned on meeting me this year in Punxsutawney.  It’s not a good year for the trip, but I will more than likely go in 2013.  (Hopefully as President of the United States.)

Trip Canceled

The trip to Punxsutawney, PA, which was supposed to leave tonight, has been canceled due to bad weather.  The weather isn’t too bad here, but it will be soon.  Punxsutawney is experiencing freezing rain and it will continue to freezing rain there until tomorrow afternoon.

My hunch is that if there is going to be falling precipitation, then it will be too dark for Punxsutawney Phil to see his shadow.  If he does see his shadow, it will be because of the lights from those TV cameras like in 2009.

If it turns out that it is dark and overcast and the groundhog still sees his shadow, then I will be spending the day calling all of the television networks providing coverage and tell them my intent to boycott their major commercial sponsors.  The media prolonging winter just because they can will no longer be tolerated.  It is about time we had an early spring, especially with the brutal winter many Americans have experienced.

Keeping an Eye on the Weather

Groundhog Day is Wednesday.  Although it is not a state or federal holiday, I will be taking the day off and tentatively heading to Punxsutawney, PA tomorrow night.  The weather might be suggesting otherwise.

Below is the weather predicted for here in New Jersey tomorrow:

Cold with snow, accumulating 1-3 inches; sleet and freezing rain mixed in late in the day.  Sleet and freezing rain at night.

This is the weather that will be waiting for us in Punxsutawney:

Sleet and freezing rain in the evening; rain and sleet, some heavy late followed by morning icy mix; cloudy and breezy.

And the weather I can expect on my way back home:

Breezy with snow, accumulating an inch or two; sleet and freezing rain mixed in early in the day.

The weather is going to be rough from the moment I leave until after I arrive back home.  The trip round trip will encompass (I always wanted to use that word) almost 600 miles.  If the weather turns out to be as predicted, then the trip will be postponed and we will go with Plan B.

Plan B involves being awake at 7:15 AM and sending telepathic messages to Punxsutawney Phil discouraging him from seeing his shadow.  I do not know if Plan B will work as I have never had a telepathic conversation with an animal.  If you have had a telepatic conversation with a groundhog before then you are invited in joining us in sending a message to Punxsutawney Phil.

Tough Road Trip

I am looking for some people to go to Punxsutawney, PA with me.  Groundhog Day is Tuesday and I want to make sure Punxsutawney Phil does not see his shadow.  I don’t normally ask for help, but this is complicated in a number of ways:

• Sunrise on Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney is 7:26AM.
• We’d probably need an hour to get a good spot.  We should leave there at 6:30
• It takes a bit over 5 hours from Jersey City.  I am planning on meeting on Exchange Place at 1:00AM.

We should be in Punxsutawney at 6:30AM.  This will give an hour to get a good spot and to come up with a plan to take the lights from the TV cameras who will be fixated on Phil the groundhog.  The lights need to be taken because those lights make Phil see his shadow no matter how cloudy it is outside.  It is important that we return the lights after Phil does not see his shadow and we have an early spring.

We would have to leave soon after because it is supposed to snow that afternoon in New Jersey and I want to return home before the snow hits.

Let’s do this,  We’ve already had over 50 inches of snow.  That is enough snow for the winter and many of us here want spring to come ASAP.  Let’s make sure Phil does not see his shadow this year.

Odds and Ends and Stuff

A lot has happened this past week and things have changed this week.  I was campaigning in New York State and felt the wrath of Mother Nature (Believe me, it was a mother!)  Many of my campaign stops had to be postponed or canceled.  I decided not to moderate a debate on global warming and climate change because it was in Rochester, NY and every time there is a big conference on global warming, it gets canceled due to snow.  They were calling for snow in Rochester over the weekend and I didn’t want to get stuck.

Saturday was my travel day (back home).  Sunday was football, football, and more football.  The traveling I have done in recent weeks has paid a toll on my car.  It will be in the shop tomorrow for car repairs, an oil change, and one of those pine-tree scented air fresheners.

Tomorrow is the State of the Union Address.  When I conducted a poll last week, I was under the impression that the address was going to be at 8PM Eastern.  I was mistaken.  (It happens)  The speech will be at 9:00PM Eastern.This will be my schedule:

• Tuesday 9PM Eastern – I will blog my reactions to the State of the Union address as well as the Republican response by Rep. Paul Ryan and the Tea Party response by Rep. Michele Bachmann.
• No radio show Tuesday Night – it has been moved to Thursday Night 9:00PM Eastern.  The show will start off with my “State of the Union Address.”  I will also summarize President Obama’s State of the Union address as well as responses by Reps. Paul Ryan and Michele Bachmann as well as the homeless guy from down the street.

I am back home and things are starting to return to normal.  (By “normal”, I mean the way things were two weeks ago.)  I will try to blog every day, but cannot promise it will be in the “Post-a-Day 2011” campaign by WordPress standards.