July 4, 2007 Archives

Wow! Bill Roenza's gotta go as the director of the National Hurricane Center.

I didn't think so when I wrote an entry on Tuesday, but the Miami Herald has advanced its earlier story with additional comments from lead forecasters. There's no internal confidence for Proenza from those guys.

Part of what Proenza did was plead for a replacement for the soon-to-die Quickscat satellite. Then he quantified a value NHC's accuracy would fall if Quickscat was gone.

I thought his number was way off mark then. The hurricane forecasters at NHC seem to agree.

Obviously, every piece of observational equipment is important, but by the time a storm threatens land there are better tools than Quickscat, which only covers a given area a few times a day.

If you're NOAA, can you promote one of the insiders to replace Proenza (if he goes)? Doesn't that just legitimize this mutiny?

This story's not over.

Today is the fourth anniversary of this blog. My first posting is dated July 4, 2003. The photo on the left accompanied it.

You can read that entry if you like. I'll warn you, it's pretty meaningless stuff.

The bad news is, these blog entries last forever. The good news is, these blog entries last forever.

There was a www.geofffox.com before there was a blog. I've owned the domain for nearly 10 years. It was a random collection of pages with little to tie it all together.

Since the blog began I've racked up 1.4 million page reads. That number stuns me.

This is my 2,432nd entry. That also stuns me.

You have commented 2,708 times. Another stunner.

I've missed a few days here and there, but mostly I've stayed disciplined enough to write at least once a day, often more. It's weird because the rest of my life lacks any sense of discipline.

I have discovered how enjoyable writing can be. The real secret is, the first draft is not where the fun is. It's only after rewriting that I get any satisfaction.

Much of my rewriting time is spent removing catch phrases and other bad habits. Most of the time, rewriting removes, rather than adds, words. My goal is to tighten up the prose.

All the entries are rewritten - every one. Some are rewritten and revised multiple times. I've punched up words and phrases months after the original entry was 'published.'

I'm still disheartened that typos and poor grammar sneak through. Helaine and a few friends send me corrections all the time. They're always welcome.

There are mistakes in the blog. Mostly, I leave them in, though I'll often add a note to acknowledge my error. As a contemporaneous account of what's going on, that seems to be my obligation.

Really good blogs have a purpose - one topic that ties it all together. By that definition, this is not a good blog. It's only purpose is to state what's on my mind.

Over time I've added photos and video. I wouldn't doubt, at some future date, video will become a larger part of the blog's flow. That seems to be the future of the Internet. Right now it's a hassle.

It would be a shame to lose the elegance of the written word.

Thanks for stopping by. I enjoy being read.