desert tornadoes

some other notes:
This blog is probably going to be moving to a new domain as I make room on hideouskinky.net for another project I've decided to work on. Details are sketchy at this time so stay tuned. I will make an announcement before the move and for the first few weeks this site will redirect to the new one to give all ten of you a chance to change your links. :op

I'm still working on the layout at the new domain. Movable type 2.0 is already installed and I've played with it enough to see the neat stuff it does. I'm just working on all the templates. I'm thinking May 1st as a launch date for the new domain. It was purchased a while ago. I'm just now getting around to deciding what I wanted to do with all this web space I have. Yay dreamhost.

Knockout Kings 2002
I played Knockout Kings 2002 for the PlayStation 2 earlier this week. That game is phenomenal. I like it better than I liked the first Knockout Kings. This game features Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Joe Frazier, Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad and a host of others that you will recognize. There are tons of moves and punches and I have yet to learn them all as I only got a chance to get on the stick once. The guys dominated the playing time, but it’s ok. I got a chance to see them try out a lot of the moves that are available. My favorite? The bitch slap. Watching Muhammad Ali and Lennox Lewis stand in the middle of the ring and repeatedly bitch slap each other made my night on Monday. I was in tears from laughing. Seriously. I don’t think this game will replace GTAIII in my world, but I think it will edge out some others that I like on PS2. The graphics are great, the soundtrack is hip hop and it’s worth checking out.

The Dust Storm
When I walked outside the house on Monday morning to go to work the sun was shining bright in the sky and the day was clear. It had been like that for the past few days here in Las Vegas. Saturday and Sunday were absolutely gorgeous, sun-filled days. I didn’t need a jacket or sleeves on either day. People were making comments about the weather changing so suddenly. We literally went from winter to summer in a matter of days as the temperature switched from a mild 60 degrees to 95 degrees by the weekend. With the sun shining so bright so early in the morning, I thought Monday was going to be another day like that.

I watch the sun from my window at work. I look out at the sky and see it, all blue and inviting. It makes me want to sit outside and soak up hours of rays. Our entire building is glass. We see sunlight from every room at some angle because there are nothing but windows all around us. I like to look out and watch the sun.

Monday as I sat watching the sky and the sun with Busta Rhymes’ “Pass the Courvosier” playing in my head, I noticed the trees swaying back and forth. They were dancing around in their spots, as if keeping time with the rhythm of the music in my head. They looked like they were waving their hands back and forth, heads bobbing from one side to the other as they performed a very complex version of the Harlem shake.

When I jumped up at half past one to take my lunch, I didn’t bother grabbing anything other than my wallet and my badge. I did a swift walk to the front lobby. I was ready to feel the sun on my skin. They had been freezing us out all morning with the air in the building and I wanted that desert air and sun to warm me up. As I stepped into the vestibule, I could see through the glass doors that the trees were still doing their dance. Only this time it wasn’t really a Harlem Shake. It was more like they were dancers in a Luke video. They were shimmying from left to right at a frenetic pace. I needed to get a closer look. I put my hand on the door and before I could even apply enough pressure on the handle to open it, the wind whipped it from my hand, blowing it out and away from the building. I felt sucked out by the vacuum. As soon as I stepped foot outside, dust and wind filled my eyes, nose and mouth, making it hard to breathe and see. I closed my mouth to prevent myself from eating any of it but it was too late. I could already feel sand in my teeth. I tried hiding behind a wall outside to prevent the wind from attacking me. It didn’t work. The wind continued its assault I felt like I was in a losing fight. As I tried to get into the car, the wind kept blowing the door closed and I had to jerk my hand back to prevent my fingers from being smashed in it. The wind shook the car as I rode down the street and I had a hard time trying to see through the thick cloud of dust that was sitting just at street level. Trees, garbage cans and racks of those “Nude Girls Now!” flyers lay in the street, having been blown over by the wind.

Once back at work, I opened the door to get out of the car, and the wind tore it from my hand and it blew open. For a minute I thought it was going to fold back and hit the car, like the tab on an aluminum can. I ran back into the building and sat in my seat. I didn’t go back outside until it was time to go home, and by that time the desert tornado had moved on to someplace else. The drive home was uneventful.

The wind tried to kick up a little yesterday but it was nothing like the storm we had on Monday. I still came home with dust and dirt in my ears and hair. My tee shirt looks dusty too. I still love living in the desert though. I wouldn’t give up 355 days of sun a year if you paid me. Well, maybe if you paid me.