Moped Tank, Reds Opener, Severe Weather

It is amazing what vinegar and salt can do. I finally took out the vinegar/salt acidic solution out of the moped gas tank and as you can see it ate away at the rust and grime right out of there. I made sure to neutralize the acid with baking soda and plenty of soap and water before a little rinse of gasoline.... and now as good as new. I liked taking my time with this one. Now I just have to wait for new tires to get it out on the road so others can ride with me.

I made sure to get done wrenching in time to head back inside to watch the Reds Opener. It was a little disappointing to have the first batter up from the Brewers knock one over the yellow line for a home run. The good news is that the story didn't end that way. Dawn got home in time to watch the bottom of the ninth with me and watched Hernandez hit a walk off home run. What a way to start the season! Come back kids! I love it!

Temperatures staying in the mid and upper 40's for the next few days for highs, and a slight chance for rain late Friday into early Saturday. It does not look like a lot of rain, but Monday into Tuesday we will see a much better chance for rain and much warmer temperatures. As a matter of fact we may see a decent shot for severe weather on Monday. The atmosphere may be setting up just right for strong winds, large hail, and even a few tornadic storms. I will keep a closer eye on things, but make sure to watch out for dangerous weather on Monday. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Rare find

Every now and then there comes along a really rare item. Whether it be ancient artifacts or something like the “Heart of the Ocean” in the movie Titanic. Well someone uncovered a MINT Puch Magnum moped from a warehouse that used to be used as a showroom moped a few decades ago. This bike has only 23 miles on it and not a speck of rust or dirt. There are still four hours left on the bidding and it is up to $1400. I would never pay that much for a moped. Mine are normally closer to $100 or $200, but then again, I never get mine in great shape, I have to put some elbow grease in them. Is it worth that much money?!?! Obviously someone thinks so. I am interested in seeing how much money the auction ends at.

Today turned out fairly snowy. While most of the snow melted as soon as it hit the surface, it fell at times fast enough to leave a dusting in spots, only to melt again shortly later. This all is leaving the area and the next few days we will remain in the mid and upper forties. I think we may be hard pressed to break the 50 degree mark for the weekend. Later Friday and early Saturday another system will bring cooler air into the area and a chance at rain, maybe mixing with a little snow. Monday and Tuesday look especially wet with the potential for quite a soaking. The good news…. Still looks mild and partly cloudy for the Reds opening day tomorrow. Go Reds and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

New Switch, New Friend, New Desire to Ride Mopeds

Well after a lot of consideration, I decided to take the second headlight off of my Maxi. It just looked scooter-ish, and the output of light was nothing greater than the single headlight. I ordered a kill switch from Treats and installed it cleanly on the dash in the old hi-beam light switch hole. Very easy to do and worked great. Wes showed up this afternoon and we went over to Shawn's house to help him on his Tomos. Wes is a great guy, but lives on the north side of town so its hard for us to ride together in a group, unless it is a special occasion....luckily Shawn lives like two neighborhoods over. Anyway we went over to meet Shawn for the first time and help him get his bike running. The previous owner tore the bike apart. The spark plug hole was badly stripped out so I ran home to get an a3 head to throw onto the a35. It looks hilarious, but it held compression and that's what matters. Wes and I messed around with the wiring a little bit to finally get spark while Shawn worked on installing new handlebars. Shawn was waiting on his low 50's jets to arrive to run it, so I grabbed a 71 in my bag and tried it...just to get it to turn over, we knew it would foul the plug. We got it to fire up! Very exciting. I have rode through his neighborhood before and it will be much closer to get together to wrench and ride. I am excited to get another moped enthusiast on the road in Dayton. He even mentioned getting another moped in the near future...he said for his girlfriend, but we all know it is for him. Either way I am stoked.

I got home from that and I made dinner for Dawn and I as the repair man took a look at the furnace. I guess a sensor went bad and that is why the heat hasn't been running properly the last three days. We wake up with the house in the upper 50's...which isn't sooo bad, but when you jump out of the shower...it's downright chilly. He will be back tomorrow once the part arrives. We also put together the archway for the wedding and while doing so I got a call from work. I guess Jeff threw out his back and was told to take the rest of the night off so I came in to do the weather for the late shows. It works out great because it was either work tonight or work Thursday. Now I will get Thursday and Friday off.

This afternoon turned out really nice. A little sunshine, but at least the temps were mild. We still stand to see a few flurries overnight, mainly south of Dayton. Temperatures will remain in the 40's for highs for the rest of the week, but into the 50's for the weekend. We still have a slight chance for rain/snow Friday night, but a much better chance for rain later Sunday into Monday. The weather is looking GREAT for the Reds Opening Day on Thursday. Partly Cloudy with light winds and a high of 50. Go Reds and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Tuesday Night's System Knows We Want Spring

The system is really taking the hint that we are sick of the snow for the year. The entire storm has shifted about 75 miles to the south, with the heavy snow band in north-central Kentucky. I think the Southern Miami Valley may see a flurry or two, but for the most part we will stay dry for the middle of the week. Fine with me. I am ready for warmer temperatures and even a few thunderstorms. Next few systems tend to take the same Southern path and we slowly will warm into the 50's for next weekend with a chance for rain next Sunday-Monday.

I might have told you about my Where You Live story on the Dayton Dragons... I worked on it today and it is AWESOME. If you want to see the true side of my creativity, this is it. Make sure to catch the story. After work, Dawn and I picked up a new couch and love seat.... well kinda. It used from a friend of the family. They decided that they needed a new couch because their old couch didn't look good because the brown leather turned tan where everyone had warn off the darker color. Great couches, just a little discolored, fine with Dawn and I. I couldn't sit on our old couch because it threw out my back. Despite two new huge pieces of furniture, we still made room for it and put the old couch in the treadmill room for guests to sleep on.

Enjoy a beautiful Tuesday and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Another Beautiful Day...

Despite being chilly again today, there were blue skies and plenty of sunshine. Dawn and I went to a birthday party for one of her cousins and it was quite funny to watch a three year old open up presents and say "Thank you." I don't know if it is my size or what, but little kids are scared of me... perhaps not when I have my own....one day.

I am still cleaning out the rust in my moped gas tank. You can see in the picture that the vinegar/salt acidic mixture is slowly eating at the rust and grime inside the fuel tank. The picture is taken from where the fuel cap is located. It looks like most of the rust is gone, unless the acid turns it into that grime-looking-stuff. There seems to be places where the grime is thicker and chunkier and some of those are missing later... I assume just sinking to the bottom of the tank. I am not sure how many more days I am going to let it sit, but I am trying to think of good ways to get something in there to wipe down the inside walls... maybe some fabric and a wire coat hanger?!?! I will have to rinse it out well with baking soda to neutralize the acid... maybe when it bubbles (baking soda and vinegar) it will clean some of the grime out of there. I think I like using a mild acid like this more than stronger muriatic acid, which I used on my last two bikes. Muriatic acid can only sit in there for about 30 minutes or it will eat through the metal. At least this attacks the rust slowly and evenly.

Well the far south saw a little snow overnight and some places around the Ohio River had a couple inches. Temperatures will slowly warm up through the week with Wednesday the only day where we will see a dip on the thermometer. This is because another system will likely swing through later Tuesday into Wednesday with cooler air. Right now we are on the rain/snow line....maybe a little closer to the snow line. This could mean an accumulating snow for early Wednesday. I will keep you posted on the track of the storm in the coming days, but man.... I really want spring to arrive....despite my allergies being out of control. Forget it, I want summer because by then at least I can breathe. Anyway a few more systems will roll near the area Friday and Sunday, we are right on edge of each system. Well enjoy the coming sunshine and warmer temps and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Snow is almost here

Well I spent yesterday running errands and then working on the new moped in the afternoon. I managed to find a few surprises in the gas tank. I pulled out the rusted petcock (fuel valve) and two measuring cups for the two stroke oil. They normally are mounted on the inside of the fuel tank cap, but if someone isn't careful they can fall into the tank. I pulled those out and tried to use water to get as many rust flakes out as possible, but it was still pretty nasty looking into the gas tank. I tried using strong etching acid before, but decided to use the slow and steady approach and trying vinegar mixed with salt for several days to remove the rust. I had read a few blogs about it and hopefully it works. So far it has been in there for 30 hours and I can tell it is starting to do some work. Now all I can do is wait patiently....

Dawn babysat her cousins yesterday and I went over to help while their parents went to dinner. We had the kids in bed in time to watch Ohio State play the worst basketball game of the year for them... Want to score on the Buckeyes? Just drive to the hoop. Whatever, I am glad I never turned in a bracket for money. Today Dawn and I went up to my parents and had lunch with them and my two younger siblings. My brother has quite the zoo in his bedroom with more aquatic animals inside than outside on the farm. We stayed there a while and then came home so I could get ready for work.

The snow is just about to move into the area and I think yesterdays totals may have been a tad too high. I think that the Northern part of the area will wake up with no snow at all. The I-70 corridor may see a dusting and the south may see up to an inch. There is a chance some areas to the far south may see a little more, but the real heavy snow is much further south into Kentucky. Sunday we will get into the upper 30's and then we should be tapping into the 40's for the rest of the week ahead....maybe even warmer by the end of the week. Drive safe and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Moped twins & Coming snow

Well, a new moped was added to the family....a twin as a matter of fact. Well kinda. The one (right side of the picture) I picked up yesterday is three years older and was fairly cheap and rightfully so. It has definitely been sitting out in the sun for a few summers because of the faded paint on it. It also is missing some stuff like grips and stuff and the rear rack is busted. Just minor stuff, but will need to be addressed regardless. It also has straw and weeds stuck in the fins on the cylinder, which leads me to believe that the previous owner drove it around on the farm through the fields and such. The engine does turn over, but is constantly engaged. I am betting they didn't check the transmission fluid in it very often, if ever. It also locks up going backwards, which means the sprocket freewheel is broken. (The sprocket on a bicycle that you can pedal forwards, but just makes that chink, chink, chink sound when you pedal backwards.) It also is going to need new tires and tubes... other than that, just taken apart cleaned and hopefully I won't have to break into the engine case to rebuild....but if I do, I already have a great stock cylinder, piston, and crankshaft from my last rebuild. The first task at hand is to clean all of the rust and junk out of the gas tank.... It is looking pretty nasty in there.

I couldn't have gotten the bike at a worse time. I already got to ride in Spring-like weather and have the itch to ride more...but snow is on the way. The snow looks to arrive Saturday evening and move out of here around daybreak on Sunday. This system is moving by to our south, so the Southern Miami Valley will see the most snow. Right now, I think the Southern Counties may see 1-3" with some locations seeing closer to 4", The central Miami Valley in the I-70 corridor may see up to 2", and then north of I-70 may only see around an inch or so. The further south you live the more snow you will have. It will need to be watched closely over the next day and I will be back with any updates on the snowfall. The cold temperatures will stick around for a while and we may not see the 50's for another week or so... Bundle up and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Back online

So much has happened since I have last checked in. I was told to take the day off Tuesday to save my hours for weather coverage for Wednesday and Thursday. So I ran a few errands and then that evening I went to the funeral for our News Director, Pat Casey. It was very sad, especially when his twelve year old son got up and read a note... all I remember was "My dad..." and then he and the entire mass broke down into tears. Such a very sad day, and he was right in his prime of life with three kids and loving every minute of life and working...man, he loved his work. After that Dawn and I went out to dinner with one of the producers from work, Molly, and a friend of mine, Josh. I had not had anything to eat in about nine hours so I was starving.

Yesterday I worked on my Dayton Dragons prep story... a lot of work goes on before opening day and I have a lot of fun with the Dragons' mascot, Heater. You will need to make sure to catch that story. I then got an hour break at home before the storms started firing up. I chased one storm through Darke and Miami Counties that dropped hail larger than quarters. Hail was the main threat from the storms yesterday, despite the Tornado Watch. I then did a few LIVE shots on the storms and went home...only to get back up at 2AM for more LIVE shots on the bitterly cold temps that were ushered in and recap on the storms as well for the morning folks.

It looks like the cold weather is going to stick around for a while... Maybe a little accumulating snow as well Saturday night into Sunday morning. I will update you on that tomorrow... I know I will have time to jump back on because that is my day off...haha. Got to run...have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

'ello Gov'na

You never know what to expect working in the news. I rode in today and I saw an unmarked police vehicle in the parking lot. It still took about an hour before I was told that Governor John Kasich was stopping by the station. I was sitting in the weather center, working on my graphics, while Jackie Couture was interviewing him on the economy of Ohio and what kind of changes the area will be facing in the future in his opinion.

Before work I managed to pull a few mulberry trees from the fence line and do a little "manly" work. I got about four trees cut down or pulled out of the ground before a thunderstorm rolled into the neighborhood. It was hard to cool off after all the hard work, especially since today was the warmest day of the year so far with a high in Dayton of 73.

More showers and storms tomorrow, remaining pretty widely scattered, but a much better shot of rain will arrive on Wednesday as the cold front plows through the Midwest, possibly a few flurries Wednesday night. We will see much colder air around the area for the rest of the week and weekend. Highs will be in the mid and lower 40's with overnight lows into the 20's. That in addition to moisture on Saturday and Sunday could mean a chance for....snow... I will keep ya posted. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

First Day of Spring

When we moved from Sidney, Dawn and I brought along our lily flowers that we had there. When we moved in to our current house we planted them in an open spot in the flower bed which already had other flowers.... well that spot was open because it gets no rain because the roof hangs over by three feet... Silly us. Well the flowers struggled last year, so I transplanted them today to the front where they can get more sunshine and more fresh rain. I know I could water them, but they like real rain and not tap water. Sure enough as I was digging them up, I noticed that they were just popping up through the mulch...a sure sign of Spring arriving today.

I worked on editing the station tour video and left it upload while I was at work. Apparently it didn't fully upload so I will need to redo that tonight. This will be awesome for the kids and adults alike so they can see the station and what the studio actually looks like. I have to admit, when I do the talks, I often forget that the people I am talking to never actually get to see the magic that is LIVE TV.

During the early newscast I challenged the viewers. The equinox was at 7:21PM local time, so the earth was at the perfect access for gravity to balance out. In school the teachers would try to balance eggs on their end and would show the class this. I was always too shaky to get it to work properly, but figured I would have some fun. I challenged any viewer who could balance the egg and send in a picture, I would use the pictures for the evening news. Below is a picture of some of the entries we received. Despite the equilibrium, I guess it couldn't keep the dog Red standing up straight.Chance for a few isolated showers the next few days, and a better chance for showers and storms on Wednesday when a strong cold front will punch through the area. Until then our temps will remain warm with highs in the 60's. I honestly think the next couple days will be dry for the most part, just a shower here or there. Thursday we could see a few flurries early as the cold air mixes with the moisture, but still not sold an any accumulations... I will keep you posted. Temperatures will rebound next weekend with another shot of rain. Stay dry and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Beautiful, Time-Saving, Sad Day

Today has had more emotions than I can remember in a long time. Dawn and I fell asleep really early last night and got up at a reasonable hour this morning. I think we were wiped out from St. Patty's Day. We got up and watched the rest of Fringe, which we missed because we fell asleep with a few minutes left. I fired up the grill and did a little yard work while I was doing that. My neighbor came over and we decided to tackle the problem of the mulberry trees that are making a mess out of our fence line. He is going to start this weekend and I will try and finish next week on my "off" days. It was just a great day to be outside...I couldn't pass up the chance to ride the moped to work. Since I have rebuilt it and put on the bigger carburetor it is only getting about 50 miles per gallon. However, with only having a tank that is 0.8 gallons, I can only go about 35 miles until I have about 5 miles on the Reserve...an extra fuel supply to get you to a gas station. Now that I know that, I can plan better and not get stuck in the middle of nowhere.

I was called before leaving for work and left a voicemail of sad news, but I will finish this entry with that.

Work was pretty good. The weekend staff is my favorite because we all have to work weekends, so we all mesh really well and just get our jobs done and there isn't any interruptions. I shot some fun video of me holding up the "Super Moon." The full moon is the closest it has been in over 20 years so it is larger than normal so I rolled up my sleeves and had the photographer shoot video of me holding it up in the sky. I also decided that I was going to save some time when it comes to doing school talks. They always want to see the station, but taking 100 kids on a tour is out of the question, so I decided I would bring in my personal video camera and have someone shoot video of me giving a tour. It turned out awesome. So now I can show that video and answer questions about it while I am doing the school talks, or like this week...I am meeting with the city of Miamisburg to talk to their police, EMS, etc. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Quick look at the forecast, chance for showers/storms later tomorrow and that will remain scattered pretty much until Thursday. The warm temperatures and a few waves of energy will keep things wet on and off for a while. A cold punch of air will arrive later in the week...could that mean a few flakes of snow?!?!?! Maybe, I will keep you posted.

Now to the phone call. Our Assistant News Director called me to personally tell me that our News Director, Pat Casey, passed away this morning. Pat, 54 years old, had been battling brain cancer for the last year. Pat was a one of a kind person. He had vision and drive to deliver the news like no other person I have met. Even though I have been in the industry for a handful of years, I have been under 8 different news directors' management. Pat hands down ran the smoothest operation thanks to the hours and his attitude. He comes from a HUGE Irish family and he called me on St. Patty's Day two years ago...so I knew he meant business. He offered me the position here and I was thrilled to return to the area where I grew up. While he was healthy he would put in easily 60 hour weeks and still want more. He would make the best of a bad situation and would take breaking news to the people and in situations when breaking news happened. He would pull out the best ratings in the area in situations like the airshow plane crash or the Hurricane Ike wind storm.

I was called today because the Assistant News Director said he knew that I had a close relationship with Pat and he wanted to let me know before an email was sent out to the staff. Pat and I did have a close relationship. When I started two years ago he told me I could not use the name on-air that I used in Lima, Andrew Buck Michael. He said there was no way I could use three names and I had to chose between Andrew Michael and Buck Michael. I told Pat that my mother would not let my dad name me Buck as my first name when I was born, so she would be upset, and I also am not in the adult film industry, so I was not going with Buck Michael. Pat smiled at that comment and said we would go with Andrew Michael. He then jokingly said the rest of the staff could have 10 free slip-ups a year if they called me Buck on-air since they all call me that off-camera. Pat would have us meet him in his office every afternoon with close to ten people crammed in his small corner room to give them updates on the weather, sports, then news. He loved knowing everything that was happening. I remember pulling into work one day about ten minutes early from my drive from Sidney. Pat was pulling out of the parking lot to run to the other building and said, "Ten minutes early?!?! You won't get anywhere in life with that kind of attitude!" He then smiled and pulled away.

While living in Sidney I asked Pat: "When am I going to get station-issued gear and start a Northern Bureau for you guys?" He smiled and joked, "As soon as you buy your own camera." Sure enough I bought my own professional grade equipment and that changed my news/weather outlook completely. By pairing that up with my laptop, I was able to travel anywhere in the world and send stories back to the station via wifi with an FTP server. Pat then would only call me the "FTP Boy". I would walk into his office while he was on a conference call and he would tell the others on the call that the "FTP Boy" just walked into the room. He would tell everyone about what I was able to do with FTP and technology and he was truly amazed. The joke he made about me buying my own gear has allowed me to report on breaking news, breaking weather, and even travel to Philly to watch the Reds play in the playoffs. Thanks Pat.

He knew what stories people would want to see and would talk about around the water cooler the next day. He may have caused some people to pull their hair out by pushing their limits, but in the end they would pull off what they thought was impossible. Pat left behind his wife and his three children. While I have not been able to interact with Pat a lot over the last few months due to his condition, I have followed his wife's blog and he was still the same old Pat that inspired me and that I will always respect. Rest In Peace, Pat.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael
(FTP Boy)

ADDITION:
After hanging out with some co-workers and reminiscing, I remember Pat's last day at the station... very unique day, a day that defines Pat. He was in and out for a while and after talking with everyone, his last day working was December 30th. I remember this day VERY vividly. There was an earthquake centered in Kokomo, Indiana around 7 or 8AM. I remember phone calls coming into the newsroom about the shaking here in the Miami Valley while I was doing the weather on the morning news. Pat jumped into action and had me out the door as soon as I was off-air to head to Kokomo, IN. I went there to shoot some teases for the news and a short story about what it was like in Kokomo. Pat was very big on updates from the road and he didn't like to talk much. Once he got the point he was on to the next task. I called to tell him I had everything shot and was heading back to the station, he responded, "Good job" and then hung out. Always on top of his game, even while battling the brain cancer for nearly a year at that point in December. We lost a great man.

Allergies and Showers

I don`t know about you, but this morning was ROUGH!!! I woke up a few minutes before my alarm went off and could barely breathe thanks to my allergies. I love spring because of the warm weather, but I would trade that for no allergies. I have tried lots of medicine, but nothing ever really has worked for me or helped out.... I just hope we have some torrential rain to wash all of the pollen away.

With the nice weather, I was out on the moped quite a bit yesterday. I also rode into work this morning....love it. I am still breaking-in the new motor, but so far it has held up awesomely. With the nice weather today expect me back out there as much as possible....after a quick nap...this morning show messes up my sleeping pattern.

This weekend looks pretty nice, but an isolated shower could be around the area for part of the weekend. I think most of us will stay dry, but you can`t rule out a slight chance for a sprinkle or light shower. Early-mid next week looks like a much more promising chance for rain. At least temperatures will be mild for the weekend and early next week. Later next week we will see the temperatures drop and become downright chilly once again. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

St. Patty's Day

Whew.... been busy... It is only 10:30AM on St. Patrick's Day and I have already changed the oil in Dawn's car and my truck, and I also did some wrenching on my moped. It has been acting a little sluggish and I have been running a little rich with the warmer temperatures, so I down jetted. Yesterday I ran a lot of errands including the BMV, barber shop, auto parts store, and grabbing lunch with my good pal Josh Fox. This was all before 2 in the afternoon and then Dawn and I went to Lima to meet with the pastor for the wedding. He lives near Toledo so Lima was a halfway point. Before meeting him Dawn stopped by her old office of UNOH. On the way from UNOH to Beer Barrel Pizza to meet the pastor, we had to drive by our old apartment. I remember sitting on the steps out front on warm spring days like today with Buckeye. Buckeye loves the heat and he was as happy as could be sitting in the warm radiating sunlight. Even though he can't see the cars passing by just a few yards away, you would think he knew all that was going on and he was the one in charge of it all happening...such a great dog. Our meeting with the pastor went very well. I had not seen Pastor Dale in several years so it was good to see a long lost friend.

So now I am done changing the oil and running errands for my "weekend" so I am going to tidy up around the house. Run the dishwasher and do a couple loads of laundry to make sure I can ride my moped later when it warms up into the 60's. I don't know where I will be riding to, but sometimes that is half the fun of it all when you jump on the moped... you can ride wherever you want on next to no gas at all and have the time of your life. Well, I hope you have a fantastic day today and make sure you are safe with any festivities. I will be back up at 2Am to do the weather on the morning show....early night ahead of me. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Getting a little dirty

I spent the day today working on my Where You Live story that airs tonight... it should, again, be pretty funny. I also lined up my story that I am shooting tomorrow. I also changed a tire on one of the station vehicles and went to shoot video of a press conference... so a pretty busy day. I thought I would jump on here real quick before I leave for the day. I am a little dirty from changing the tire, but I love doing stuff like that... which is why I wear black Dickies most of the time... its like having shop towels always available...

I thought about going to Cleveland on Friday to watch Ohio State play in the first round of March Madness, but after looking at the tickets... I think I will just hang out around here. The prices for tickets are a lot more than I had expected...even for bad seats. At least watching it at home I will be able to watch ALL the games.

Still looking like a rainy day tomorrow, so it is a good thing I will be stuck working... I am hoping for nicer weather for Wednesday and Thursday with warmer temps for my "off" days. Dawn and I are also meeting with the pastor for our wedding this Wednesday in Lima. It will be nice to see him again. Dawn also took off the afternoon so we will be visiting her old office so she can catch up with all of them. Maybe a few light showers on Friday as well and then mild and dry for next weekend.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Spring cleaning

I would like to first say that my belongings make up about 15% of the weather center...Mike has about 20% and Jeff has the other 65% with a drawer and several paper boxes of...stuff. Not there is anything wrong with how much each of us have here, but I slowly went through and picked everything up and organized the weather center. It took a while and it finally looks decent. We all laid down papers and weather print-outs from time to time and I finally at least put then in the same order and tidied up a bit. It is amazing some of the material we have here when you go through a lot of it.... I guess I am making it out to sound like it was a pig sty.... it wasn't that dirty or that much, but it didn't hurt to organize things and get a little more work space.

I was able to go to a few basketball games the last few days with Dawn's nephews. I was there for one of their first baskets of the season and it was quite a hoot to see his mom go crazy with excitement. I guess the team has even tried trick plays go get him to score a basket, but it wasn't until the tournament that he finally scored. It is amazing how much more in depth the 9 year old boys would play the game...offensive plays, defensive strategy, etc. The 6 year old boys would just guard someone and had fun and occasionally set up and run a play...if they did, it was probably not known to them.

Watching moisture build to the south and it looks like rain may develop later Monday with cool temps. Light rain will stick around through the middle of the week, but not a lot of rain is expected to fall... just a light on and off rain...occasionally moderate, but nothing super heavy like we have seen the last few weeks. By the end of the week temps near or into the 60's with another slight chance for rain by Friday. Grab the rain gear and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Spring ahead

Today sure felt like spring...right on cue for us to move our clocks ahead one hour. If it wasn't for the wind, I would have asked for days like today to last the rest of the year. We hit a high of 58 and it was gorgeous! I even rode my moped to work today. I went home for dinner and I ran out of gas with about five miles left and I had to switch to Reserve and it was just enough for me to get to my street. I am sure the hills kill my mpg on the moped...I think I only got about 60 miles per gallon...maybe 70, haha.

Tomorrow will be a little cooler, mid 40's for highs, but less wind and plenty of sunshine. Monday much of the same and a slight chance for rain showers late Tuesday and Wednesday. The rain looks to be very light and we could again see light rain for the end of the workweek. Well time to get ready for the news, have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

From Snow to Sun

Last night turned out to be pretty nasty.  The snow started to fly around 6PM and kept going well into the overnight hours.  The forecast for up to an inch held and no problems on the roads....just the bridges.  Sure enough a handful of accidents occurred this morning.  People drove along on the pavement perfectly and then hit the ice on the bridges and lost control.  The good news is that this MAY have been our last decent snowfall for a while... the long term models are showing a warming trend.  As for today, the temps got into the mid 40's and the snow quickly melted to show the green grass under all of the light snow from the overnight.  The next few days look to only get warmer and no great chance for rain until the middle of next week....and by then the temps will be reaching or into the 60's!  Moped?  I think so.

Such sad news coming out of Japan today.  The 8.9 earthquake taking so many lives and causing the destructive tsunami.  The video of the tidal wave was unbelievable... I don't even think Hollywood would be able to do it as well, sadly.  The black wave of debris just knocking down buildings as if they were made with the cheap knock-off Legos and tossing cars over dams and bridges like they were Hot Wheels.  My heart goes out to those dealing with today's event...an event that many of us will remember for the rest of our lives.  By the time the tidal wave hit  here in the United States it was much weaker and we had more time to prepare for those living along the coast.

Enjoy the nice weather this weekend and have a good one.

Best,

Andrew Buck Michael

Horrible Sleep, Mopeds, Dreary Weather

The last week I have been getting horrible sleep.  I wake up remembering I had a really weird dream, but can't remember it.  Every night the dream seemed to progress and I couldn't remember any details other than waking up worried and stressed...so not a great night of sleep.  (I also would like to add that Dawn only sleeps with the TV on, and it is on Investigation Discovery....serial killers, murder mysteries, etc, etc, etc)  So FINALLY this morning I half-wake-up in this lucid dream and can recall my dreams for the entire week.  To shorten it up, I was the designated driver one night and took someone home who had been drinking a lot.  I don't remember if they murdered someone or what, but they only got video of me in the car at the front gate on security camera so I was being framed for whatever happened.  I was in the middle of all of the investigation and I was likely to be found guilty because my drunk passenger was in the back of the vehicle and never shown on the security camera.  Weird, I know.  I eventually woke up and realized why I haven't been sleeping well... I am just going to count sheep tonight falling asleep or listen to headphones to tune out the TV.

I wired up the switch and second headlight on the moped today.  They look really nice together and after a little test drive, I realized I need to play around a little more with the bulbs.  Since the high beam light goes through the switch, it takes more wire and more energy for the electric to flow to it, so it is currently a little weaker in strength...the opposite of what I was aiming for, but I am going to see what I can achieve by switching different watts of bulbs.  Should be easy from there.  I still need to order a voltage regulator so I don't blow bulbs at the high RPMs...maybe placing that on the circuit at specific places will help my cause.  Either way, it is wired and ready to ride...the only thing holding me back is this weather.

It is only 37 degrees outside right now, so riding is quite numbing.  Not that I haven't done it before, but I would rather wait 5 days when there is sunshine and temperatures are back into the 50's.  Light snow could form tonight with less than an inch expected.  While we have seen a lot more than that this winter, people always forget how slippery snow really is in the roadways when they haven't been on it for a few weeks. Temperatures will slowly climb through the weekend and sunshine will also slowly return... Let's bring on spring!  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

I also want to leave you with a video... Remember how tech savvy I told you Abraham Lincoln was, well he uploaded the story I did on him, I leave you with the video he has posted:

Velvet Underground, Mopeds, Hot Tea, & Laundry

Sounds like a great combination if you ask me.  I got my new matching headlight today.  I went out to see what the dual headlights would look like and I am digging it.  Not only will it allow me to add a switch for a high beam headlight for the back roads heading to and from work, but when the RMP's get too high for a single light bulb, it will knock down the voltage across one light and keep them from blowing.... come to think of it, I may just power them both constantly and just use the open hole on the dash for a kill switch.  Lot of options and with this weather, lot of time to decide.  So now I am back inside deciding what I want to do, drinking hot tea to suppress this cold I have had for nearly two weeks.  I have a little remedy that works wonders to make me feel better....so I have been slamming my BuckTea throughout the morning listening to Velvet Underground.  I don't know where all the clothes come from between Dawn and I, but it seems like it was only a few days ago that we did laundry....however, I am doing a few more loads today.  I also shipped out a few moped parts today to PA for a guy who just got a Puch Newport.  I offered a little advice to him and hopefully I see him at a rally soon.

I also met up with my parents for some fresh eggs, milk, bulk hamburger, and butter all from their farm.  I met them on their way to Cincinnati and traded off coolers and my mother was pleased to see I brought back her gallon glass jars.  She hates it when I come empty-handed.  Well to be honest, it was Buckeye and I...he loves to ride along in my truck and rather than putting him in the bedroom while I was out, I brought him along.  We also stopped by Abraham Lincoln's house to drop off a media file for him.  He wants to post the story I did on him, so when he does that, I will be sure to re-post it on here. On tap for the rest of the day: treadmill for about an hour, maybe a little moped work, and then dinner at Milano's to help out my cousins little league baseball team....20% of the meal is donated back to the kids for their team...pretty cool if you ask me.

As for this nasty weather that I am getting sick of... the light rain will continue on and off through the rest of the day into tomorrow as well with the chance for a little snow mixing in at times later Thursday.  I don't expect a lot of accumulation, but with temperatures falling overnight we could see a few slick spots.  We will have to wait until next Tuesday/Wednesday for the temps to get back into the 50's....until then, highs in the 30's and lows below freezing.  But as for the good news...the river has dropped just enough for my shortcut to work to dry up.  I was able to sneak through there coming back from Abe Lincoln's, but with nearly an inch of rain already, it may flood back over within a day or two...good thing today is my "Saturday".  Stay dry and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Editing

I spent most of the day today working on my Where You Live story that airs tonight and tomorrow morning on Abraham Lincoln and his many blogs.  The story should turn out really good.  It is a little longer than normal and the producer cringed when I told her how long it was, but she didn't get to watch it yet and realize that it all is very important for the story.  Hopefully you can catch it.

I also am still slamming my hot tea.  I think I am becoming accustomed to it.  Dawn claims that I am becoming addicted, but I dunno about that.  It was pretty cold outside today and so many people are still sick at work that I feel it is good to get my antioxidants. 

Still looking like about an inch or rain on Wednesday so flood warnings will be likely again... I just want the rivers to drop enough so I can cut my drive home by half again and I can take the shortcut along the river... give it time.  I have Wednesday and Thursday off this week... the two worst days of the week with rain and then the chance for light snow and cold conditions Thursday.  I will be back in doing the weather Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night.  Time to go, have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

New App

The flooding has gotten worse.  Last night I knew I had to slightly re-route around the already flooded road.  Well West Carrollton street crews closed my re-routed road, but I thought I could take a detour around that and get to my usual bridge to cross the river... after taking the five minute detour I was turned around to head back.  Here is the thing.  I saw the street crew drive through the roadway they just closed and half of it was still pavement and above the water....  Well the road I was sent back on was still "open" but the river was up over three quarters of the pavement on one part.  I am glad I don't live that low because peoples driveways were becoming lost in the river.  Anyway, my normally 9 minute trip home turned into a 30 minute trip to finally get to a bridge that was open. The good news, today we didn't see any rain or snow, so at least we weren't adding to the problem.

I  downloaded a new app for my Android phone, OruxMaps.  I have been hunting for a program like this for a long time coming, to actually show elevation.  I started "tracking" my phone when I left the house and let it go until I got into work. I happen to live in a fairly hilly location and, as you can see in the picture, I got a steep grade to climb to get to work.  You may ask, who cares.... well when you are riding around on a one cylinder moped, you want to take a flat grade of roadway.  The steep hills are killer on a newly rebuilt engine.  I need to take it easy on the moped for a while, so I am trying to find a route to work that is quick and contains as few hills as possible.  While it was cool to see what the program did, I have to throw out the data because I drove way out of the way because of the flooded roads.

Most of the rivers have crested, or will overnight, so the water will slowly be going down over the next few days.  We will drop below freezing tonight so watch out for slick spots in the morning.  We will see plenty of sunshine to start the workweek, but rain still looks to arrive late Tuesday night and last into early Wednesday.  The rain only looks to be around 1".  Considering we just saw 2-4", anything is problematic, but at least it is much less than what we just saw. Partly cloudy and mild to finish off the workweek with only a slight chance for rain next weekend.  Well, time to get ready for the 10PM news.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Rain Rain Go Away

The Severe Weather Symposium was great yesterday up at Ohio State.  Walking back around campus is so nice.  I totally miss going to school there.  Even with the rain constantly pouring down and soaking everyone, it still made me smile just to be back on campus.  The speakers were great at the conference and the last two speakers were my favorite.  I love lightning so that discussion was awesome, but every time I hear Harold Brooks give a talk I am blown away.  He is a fantastic speaker and just a hoot because of his jokes that he makes up off the cuff.   A handful of my old college buddies met up afterward along with one of our favorite professor and it was great to catch up and see what was on everyone's plate.

Well as the title says, I am sure you would agree that this rain is getting a little old.  The back edge of the rain is about ready to push through and possibly a little snowfall overnight...with the ground being so wet I would be surprised if we even got a dusting.  Regardless temperatures will be cold enough that we may see a little icing on bridges so be careful.  I am still re-routed around the flooded road that runs alongside the Great Miami River and I can't wait until my shortcut is open again so I can get to work faster.  Within the last 36 hours much of the area has seen at least 2" of rain with locations in Darke, Mercer, Miami, and Shelby counties seeing between 3-4" of rain...not to mention their 3" of rain last Sunday, and their 2" of rain a few days before that. So within a week and a half some locations have seen OVER 9" of rain....that is insane.  While most of that is runoff, because the soil just can't take that much water, the farmers may have a pretty sloppy spring ahead of them.

The Miami River in Sidney is cresting tonight almost three feet above flood stage and the crest, or wave, if-you-will, of water will slowly ride down the river until it crests in the Southern Miami Valley sometime later Monday.  More rain is expected on Wednesday, but it does not look like nearly as much.  Temperatures will be above freezing every single day with overnight lows dropping below freezing, so watch out for a few slick spots.  Plenty of sun for later Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday...Rain on Wednesday...Then the return of sunshine for the end of the workweek. Stay dry and have a good one!

Best,

Andrew Buck Michael

Register, Flooding

Despite feeling under the weather still, Dawn managed to get me to leave the house today.  It turns out that her boss is extremely sick as well, and since it is only her and him who run the company...she got the afternoon off.  We finished up our registry at Kohl's and Bed Bath and Beyond...then we got to do the "manly" stuff.  We went to Sears to get some of the things that we could use around the house, like a new grill, a few new tools, etc, etc.  It was a lot of fun, but I am happy to be finished with that for the wedding.  I also booked the "limo."  I say "limo" because in order to get our entire wedding party from point A to B, we need a bigger vehicle and ended up going with a "Party Bus."  Might not be quite as classy on the outside, but hey, plenty of head room inside!  I will be glad for that!

Tomorrow I will be heading to Columbus for the 15th annual Ohio State Severe Weather Symposium.  I remember when I put this on back in 2007 and how hectic this time was...the night before.  I have went for seven years now and always very pleased with the speakers and of course reconnecting with old friends and colleagues.

Tomorrow rain will arrive and last into the day on Saturday and we looked to get SOCKED.  We have already had such a problem with flooding this week already and we haven't dried out nearly enough yet.  We stand to easily pick up about 2" of rain with some locations picking up 3"+.  If you live in a flood prone area, be prepared for problems.  It is just a shame to see this a problem because you know it is coming, but all you can do is prepare to the best of your ability.  Stay dry and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Moped part arrived...now what?

The speedo cable came in today from Treats.  I threw that on in a few minutes and then tried mounting the headlight, but even after Dremelling out the previous holes about a quarter of an inch, it was still too close to the speedo cable and would have snapped it again.... I remembered that I had a few metal brackets that were about three inches long with holes in each end... So I mounted these to the headlight mounts and basically made the headlight into a recessed headlight that hung lower than before.  When I rewired the bike last year I only ran the necessary amount of wire, so it was too short to try to raise it up higher so I left it hang low.  When you first look at it from an angle it doesn't look too bad, but when you look at it from the front it looks horrible with the three inches of plastic dash and three inches of air before you get down to the headlight....yuck, so much plastic and wasted space...plus you can see all the wires in the opening.

So now I need to decide what I want to do.  Should I try to mount a second light above that...more light at night is always nice....or possibly find a fairing to cover the hole.  Or I could grab the grinder and drill, shorten the brackets, and raise it up to cover some of the plastic. Either way I need to use the brackets... I will give it some time to think about, but at least it is back and fully functional.

After working a double yesterday, my body really took a hit.  I feel way worse today than what I have the past week.  I met Dawn for lunch today and the waitress even told me to get better because she said I sounded like I was dying.  A handful of people at work have pneumonia and I have had it before, but this doesn't feel like what I remember.  I only got four hours of sleep after the demanding day, so just adding insult to injury.  The good news is that my talk with Greene County Safety Council went very well early this morning.  A lot of people had very interesting questions and it was great to get to meet some of the local officials or safety officers for companies and construction crews.  I was afraid I was going to lose my voice, but I never did.  Well the sun is shining and I am going to lie here and wish I was out riding on my moped instead... but I got to get better first.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Double Shift

Well even though I have been under the weather and still got the sniffles...I wasn't sick enough.... Soooo many people have called off from work that I got knighted into working a double shift.  I am now at home taking my "break" blogging real quick.

I mentioned a while ago that I was afraid I was going to have to find a secondary route to get to work because my road runs along the Great Miami River... well sure enough, it flooded over the road.  It is deep enough to swallow a small car and still want more so I had to re-route.  I had an awesome interview today for my next Where You Live story about a local man who has an interesting life.  He served in the military, wrote quite a few books, and despite being "almost 77," as his profile says, he has more than a handful of blogs and a strong following....his name Abraham Lincoln. For real.  Third Cousin once removed from President Lincoln.  Actually it turns out that we live in a small world, he graduated from the same high school as myself and he even painted two HUGE paintings that were in the old Arcanum High School building.  I remember sitting on the steps of the entrance during drama club talking with others about how it was so funny that someone named Abe Lincoln painted those....who woulda thought?!?!  He is also an avid photographer and even grabbed a picture of me working, yes working.  Thanks Abe. (for the photo and showing my receding hair line)

Well I guess I better get off here, put Buckeye back to bed and head back into work.... but its so nice... too bad I can't call off....hahaha....I am the only photographer working tonight because someone else has to edit the video for the news shows.  At least I only have to work a couple of hours tomorrow and then get a three day weekend for working the double...and I couldn't have forecasted better weather for my "weekend."  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael