Genesis... The Band, Glasses (cont.), and The Arctic Express!

I finally completed my "classic" Genesis collection, which I consider from 1971 (when Phil Collins joined the band) to 1981 (the last year Phil Collins played at least semi-acoustic drums.) I love "Abacab" (the 1981 album.) It has three songs that I really enjoy. The title track, "No Reply At All" and "Man on the Corner" all three got considerable airplay back in the day. There's a really irritating song on it though, called "Who Dunnit?" I think I'll skip that track the next time I listen to this cd. Anyway, I like Genesis past 1981, but the instrumentation changed to include more electronic devices and effects. "Invisible Touch" from 1986 had 5 hits on it, so I'm bound to enjoy at least a couple of those tracks. However, the mid-1980s was a time when synthesizers were taking over and drum machines were commonplace. A lot of the pop music became "bubble-gum" at the time and that continued until the grunge revolution in the early 1990s. I'm not a fan of grunge, but I appreciate the fact that it brought music full circle back to less processed sounds. Well, that's enough of my musicology for the day.

Today, my glasses feel right. Looking at this computer screen is putting a lot less strain on my eyes. It is the same with watching tv. The only complaint I have is that there is a sense of motion that I'm not used to. Perhaps as I get accustomed to wearing the glasses, that feeling will go away. I almost feel a bit of motion sickness, but everything else seems right. Now I just have to wait to get the glasses tinted correctly. I was told that I'd have to get used to the prescription lenses before I get them tinted... three or four days, I believe. So, if the weather cooperates, next week I'll go to Madison, Indiana to be retested for the right colored lenses to assist me with reading and photosensitivity.

Now it looks like Thursday's snowfall with be insignificant. The system will remain split, with energy passing to the north and to the south of Louisville. If they merged, we'd get an accumulating snow, but right now... it doesn't look promising. The major story over the next week to 10 days will be the arctic cold coming in about Saturday and again about Tuesday of next week. It looks like tomorrow's high temperatures in the lower 40s F will be the warmest we'll see for about 10 to 12 days. And they thought this was going to be a mild winter. As I learned in Climatology class, El Nino and La Nina weather patterns are rarely a permanent feature during those years. This winter, there is a La Nina in the equatorial Pacific waters... waters that are colder than average. It tends to keep the polar jet stream well to the north, keeping the arctic air masses resticted to Alaska and the far northern parts of the United States.

Well, people, be prepared for some brutally cold weather during this last half of January! It looks like it will effect nearly the entire lower 48 states with colder than normal temperatures, and generally light precipitation events, except for the occasional coastal low travelling up the East Coast. It could be a snowy period for the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast. More later...