This is getting old...

I know the National Weather Service likes to make their "Severe Weather Notices" sound really scary, but this is what I had to bike home in today:

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* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... CUYAHOGA COUNTY IN NORTHEAST OHIO

* UNTIL 630 PM EDT

* AT 519 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING NICKEL SIZE HAIL...AND DESTRUCTIVE WINDS IN EXCESS OF 80 MPH. THIS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR WESTLAKE...AND MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... LAKEWOOD... NORTH ROYALTON... PARMA... CLEVELAND... CLEVELAND HEIGHTS... EUCLID... SOLON...

THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A STRONG BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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It amazing how quickly it goes from hot and humid to windy and cold...and then rainy and dark and scary and thundery. I thought I was going to get blown off a bridge...I was yelling the whole way home because, well, no one could hear me through all the heavy rain and thunder, anyway.

It's still storming outside, nearly three hours later...when will I be able to run? I just hope I don't have to resort to the treadmill.

In other news...today I watched the shuttle launch (way to go Discovery!) from the room at Glenn where people control all the experiments that are up in space, either on the shuttle or the space station. Each experiment has a little console where you can get a direct link to talk to the astronauts. The patch for each experiment (like the one Chandler designed for her dad's experiment that went on the space shuttle) hangs above each console. NASA is really into patches and logos.

Today I also made a lot of progress on my abrasion testing experiment. I haven't been talking about that much (mainly because it's frustrating how long it's taken to set the whole thing up), but the details of it really aren't that interesting. A lot of road bumps have come up along the way, and I've learned a lot from dealing with them. Wow, isn't that reassuring...

Sorry if I sound a little ornery...Ohio is making me angry at the moment. Stop being so volatile, Ohio! It'll be unbearable hot and then thunderstorms will swoop in...this patterns reiterates itself on a daily basis. Argh! People keep telling me summers aren't usually like this, but I don't believe them.

Ooh, also I finally finished Parade's End today (sure took you long enough, Jordan!), and I'm about a quarter of the way through Kafka's The Castle, which I brought to Cedar Point with me to read in line (not just because I enjoyed all the funny looks people gave me for reading a book at an amusement park...).