I've been neglecting this blog severely, and the truth is, it might just continue for a while. It's been a very busy time, and the next few weeks are going to continue that trend. I'm currently in DFW doing some contract work for a former employer for supplemental income, on a whenever-I-want basis. It's a cool deal, and will help insure a little financial security as I continue to try and implement a plan that will allow me to make my living (albeit a meager one) off storm chasing. In short - I don't wanna work anymore.
On the chasing front, things continue to be interesting. Lanny, Chad, and myself are continuing to try and create new ways to improve Extreme Chase Tours and generate some more business, including a few unique (we think anyway) tour packages and types. The hope is to have everything booked for the "normal" schedule plus the new packages we're planning to put into action. It's been a struggle at times, because the web presence of ECT needs some revamping, but the challenge is there and we're all ready for it. The ECT camp is confident heading into the second half of 2009 that 2010 will be its best success yet.
Other areas where I'm getting ready to start milling around include stock video sales and more DVD promotion. I'm tired of turning offers away because I don't have an in-house screener system set up and ready to go, let alone a broker to handle all the legal mumbo-jumbo I have no desire to mess with. Hopefully within a week, I'll be signed with a broker and have some screeners in their stock. DVD-wise, I just keep plugging away. I'm really disappointed that my sales haven't increased at all after adding video clips to my sell pages instead of just still images. I really thought that would drum up some business but so far it just hasn't been there. Then again, I can't really say I'm surprised. I've had the goods for years but people just don't seem to want to buy from me....maybe I'll change my name to Boliver Stagnasty and they'll buy out of curiosity.
As for now, Bridget, Tavis (her 9-year-old who's with us through Summer), and myself are going camping with Lanny, Laura, Chad, Erin, and all the kiddos. Should be an interesting weekend :-)
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tour Experience Wrap-Up
I've been too busy and occupied to concentrate on this blog thing lately....so the whole "detailed tour" blog likely isn't gonna happen. Overall, it was a great experience, made possible by Lanny and Laura Dean, for not only giving us the chance to run the tour, but by picking us up in Norman, driving us to Tulsa, and putting us up for the night. Not to mention the incredibly-quick and innovative T-shirt factory that Laura and Holly (their 2nd-oldest daughter) put together which produced custom t-shirts for each tour member from scratch within about 12 hours. Everyone did a fantastic job, and Bridge and I were able to live our dream for a week. The best part of the entire experience however, was being hired full-time for 2010, which is the dream: getting to chase with unlimited range, getting to chase the entire season, and getting paid for it.
We can't thank the Deans enough for all they've done for us, and we're eager to get out there in 2010 and kick some serious storm chasing ass. I expect great things next year, including the shattering of all my personal records and bests. It's just a matter of time now.
We can't thank the Deans enough for all they've done for us, and we're eager to get out there in 2010 and kick some serious storm chasing ass. I expect great things next year, including the shattering of all my personal records and bests. It's just a matter of time now.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Chase Tour Adventures Series (1)
DAY 1
We set up in Mulvane, KS (after all, I'd been predicting "Mulvane 2" all week, why not?) and watched the sky for the better part of two hours. Mickey had contacted us via phone and arrived shortly after we did, coming up from Wellington, where he had been sitting as we crossed the border from Oklahoma. During all the down time, I took the opportunity to use the sky as my blackboard, and gave Mr. Denney some detailed analysis and explanation of what we were seeing and why. He was genuinely interested in the workings of the atmosphere, and seemed to garner as much joy form this as he would the storms later on.
Eventually, it became obvious the area would be further east from us, so we packed it up and move south and east, with Mickey leading us along via GPS. We eventually realized we were out of position for the storms in east-central Kansas and would not be able to catch up to them, so we backtracked south and west, in an attempt to intercept newer cells coming up from northern Oklahoma. We found ourselves east of Newkirk, with not many (if any) further east road options, while marginally-severe storms continued to approach from the west. We set up and watched one for a good while, but eventually retreated further east into horrible roads with horrible viewing. Eventually we were overtaken by the storm, as it appeared to weaken considerably. We stopped and watched a spectacular rainbow (yeah I said it) and Mr. Denney snapped some good pics of the spectacle. Afterwards, we decided to move back west to Ponca City, for a sit-down dinner and relaxation. Mickey, as usual, had other things to attend to, and headed straight home after the chase was over. However we did run into friend and employer Lanny Dean, who was out chasing himself with his sister. The five of us grabbed a table at the local Chili's, where we ate, drank, and enjoyed our first day as chasing nomads. Ron raised his glass in a toast for "better things tomorrow"....his attitude was awesome.
After dinner, we met Tony Laubach and Tim Samaras coming in as we were heading out. Always great to run into chaser friends out there, because you never know when it will happen. We'd seen Tim a few days earlier in Missouri, the first time I'd spoken to him in about seven years. That's how it works in chasing; you won't see someone for years, and then you'll run into them twice in three days. After saying our goodbyes, we found a nice little motel, and settled in for the night. The next day I would learn the hard way, some of the logistical issues one must foresee and deal with in advance, when it comes to running a chase tour.
We set up in Mulvane, KS (after all, I'd been predicting "Mulvane 2" all week, why not?) and watched the sky for the better part of two hours. Mickey had contacted us via phone and arrived shortly after we did, coming up from Wellington, where he had been sitting as we crossed the border from Oklahoma. During all the down time, I took the opportunity to use the sky as my blackboard, and gave Mr. Denney some detailed analysis and explanation of what we were seeing and why. He was genuinely interested in the workings of the atmosphere, and seemed to garner as much joy form this as he would the storms later on.
Eventually, it became obvious the area would be further east from us, so we packed it up and move south and east, with Mickey leading us along via GPS. We eventually realized we were out of position for the storms in east-central Kansas and would not be able to catch up to them, so we backtracked south and west, in an attempt to intercept newer cells coming up from northern Oklahoma. We found ourselves east of Newkirk, with not many (if any) further east road options, while marginally-severe storms continued to approach from the west. We set up and watched one for a good while, but eventually retreated further east into horrible roads with horrible viewing. Eventually we were overtaken by the storm, as it appeared to weaken considerably. We stopped and watched a spectacular rainbow (yeah I said it) and Mr. Denney snapped some good pics of the spectacle. Afterwards, we decided to move back west to Ponca City, for a sit-down dinner and relaxation. Mickey, as usual, had other things to attend to, and headed straight home after the chase was over. However we did run into friend and employer Lanny Dean, who was out chasing himself with his sister. The five of us grabbed a table at the local Chili's, where we ate, drank, and enjoyed our first day as chasing nomads. Ron raised his glass in a toast for "better things tomorrow"....his attitude was awesome.
After dinner, we met Tony Laubach and Tim Samaras coming in as we were heading out. Always great to run into chaser friends out there, because you never know when it will happen. We'd seen Tim a few days earlier in Missouri, the first time I'd spoken to him in about seven years. That's how it works in chasing; you won't see someone for years, and then you'll run into them twice in three days. After saying our goodbyes, we found a nice little motel, and settled in for the night. The next day I would learn the hard way, some of the logistical issues one must foresee and deal with in advance, when it comes to running a chase tour.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Extreme Chase Tours: Our First Experience
Ok, I'm finally getting around to the post-tour wrap-up blog. I hate to have procrastinated, but I wanted to decompress for a few days from the insanity (and that term is quite accurate, but in a beautiful way) of being on the road for days on end...something I'd never experienced in chasing prior.
The whole deal was last-minute. 11th hour. Lanny called us Thursday evening and offered us the gig, but told us nothing was set in stone because the guy hadn't paid yet. Apparently there were some technical issues between Lanny and Godaddy that kept his store front from being activated in a timely manner, which meant there was no way for the guest to pay online in advance. Nope, this would have to be a phone call, a verbal commitment, and payable on arrival at Tulsa Int'l. Though the days leading up to the actual start of the tour were crazy, hectic, and otherwise stressful, the deal came together as planned, and by just a tick past noon on Tuesday June 9, we were picking up Mr. Ron Denney for the start of his (and our) debut tornado chasing tour.
Immediately as we left Tulsa for our target of southern Kansas, this guy was firing questions at me about storm structure, behavior, and everything else a muggle who's got a bit of interest can imagine regarding storm chasing. I found it difficult, initially, to answer his questions in a professional and understandable manner while concentrating on my driving. I'm just not a big conversationalist in a car, especially when behind the wheel. But alas, this was the first aspect of a chase tour I encountered, where the fact you're getting paid means you deal with it and go on. So as we're making our way to the target area, I'm giving Mr. Denney the lowdown on such things as shear, instability, and why they make a supercell storm different from a garden variety one. I was impressed with his attention span and interest, which for most muggles, comprises about as long as it takes to be next in line and move on.
Part Two of the Chase Tour Experience will come tomorrow...
The whole deal was last-minute. 11th hour. Lanny called us Thursday evening and offered us the gig, but told us nothing was set in stone because the guy hadn't paid yet. Apparently there were some technical issues between Lanny and Godaddy that kept his store front from being activated in a timely manner, which meant there was no way for the guest to pay online in advance. Nope, this would have to be a phone call, a verbal commitment, and payable on arrival at Tulsa Int'l. Though the days leading up to the actual start of the tour were crazy, hectic, and otherwise stressful, the deal came together as planned, and by just a tick past noon on Tuesday June 9, we were picking up Mr. Ron Denney for the start of his (and our) debut tornado chasing tour.
Immediately as we left Tulsa for our target of southern Kansas, this guy was firing questions at me about storm structure, behavior, and everything else a muggle who's got a bit of interest can imagine regarding storm chasing. I found it difficult, initially, to answer his questions in a professional and understandable manner while concentrating on my driving. I'm just not a big conversationalist in a car, especially when behind the wheel. But alas, this was the first aspect of a chase tour I encountered, where the fact you're getting paid means you deal with it and go on. So as we're making our way to the target area, I'm giving Mr. Denney the lowdown on such things as shear, instability, and why they make a supercell storm different from a garden variety one. I was impressed with his attention span and interest, which for most muggles, comprises about as long as it takes to be next in line and move on.
Part Two of the Chase Tour Experience will come tomorrow...
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Tour Update Part Deux
This still isn't going to be the main tour wrap-up post I've been promising, but just a small update that it's coming in a few days. Bridge and I arrived back home about an hour ago from our first stint with Extreme Chase Tours, and we're totally spent. Being a tour guide/driver/forecaster is a helluva lot more work than just finding storms...that's the easy part. More on that when I do my final report, which I want to save for when I'm rested, mentally-sharp, and literally-inspired.
All I know is I got my ass kicked around all week by Ma Nature and the tour business, trying to learn the business side of operating a chase tour, and trying to focus on constant forecasting and schedule juggling. Had it been just us chasing personally, I think we would've thrived. But I admit, running the tour and all it encompasses outside of finding storms was a steep learning curve and robbed me of much focus during the week....something I'm fully-aware of and will be working hard to improve upon for the future.
Ok that's enough. Bottom line: even though our guest had a wonderful time and was wildly-satisfied with our results (many awesome, severe storms that produced zero tornadoes while we watched), I came away from this tour frustrated. I've said for years if I had unlimited resources and time I could be dangerous. I sure as hell wasn't this past week.
All I know is I got my ass kicked around all week by Ma Nature and the tour business, trying to learn the business side of operating a chase tour, and trying to focus on constant forecasting and schedule juggling. Had it been just us chasing personally, I think we would've thrived. But I admit, running the tour and all it encompasses outside of finding storms was a steep learning curve and robbed me of much focus during the week....something I'm fully-aware of and will be working hard to improve upon for the future.
Ok that's enough. Bottom line: even though our guest had a wonderful time and was wildly-satisfied with our results (many awesome, severe storms that produced zero tornadoes while we watched), I came away from this tour frustrated. I've said for years if I had unlimited resources and time I could be dangerous. I sure as hell wasn't this past week.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Tour Update
I've been meaning to keep a blog update of our tour this week for Extreme Chase Tours, but I've found that being a tour guide/driver/forecaster doesn't leave much time for anything other than chasing, driving, and sleeping. I'll post a detailed wrap-up at the end of the weekend, but until then here's the highlights:
June 11 - Tornado-warned supercells in Colorado. Yet another "is it a tornado or not" thingy from the early storm (we dismissed it but later on heard multiple reports of a tornado in the same location/time). If it was, it was weak, brief, and yet again had no condensation funnel...another one people can say didn't happen...if it did) Made some great decisions and was able to get on two different waves of tornadic storms. It's been great being out there all week with Bridge, just chasing everything we want. Just like I always wanted it to be.
Tomorrow is looking like a possible down day before another CO upslope event on Saturday.
I'm sleepy.
June 11 - Tornado-warned supercells in Colorado. Yet another "is it a tornado or not" thingy from the early storm (we dismissed it but later on heard multiple reports of a tornado in the same location/time). If it was, it was weak, brief, and yet again had no condensation funnel...another one people can say didn't happen...if it did) Made some great decisions and was able to get on two different waves of tornadic storms. It's been great being out there all week with Bridge, just chasing everything we want. Just like I always wanted it to be.
Tomorrow is looking like a possible down day before another CO upslope event on Saturday.
I'm sleepy.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Passion Twist Update: Busy Week Behind/Ahead
Been a busy week in the Passion Twist world. As I've noted throughout, I've been creating promo clips for all my DVD sell pages through Youtube. It started as a timid experiment and rapidly transitioned into a fun exercise in video editing. I'm really starting to get the feel for Pinnacle, and while it's certainly not state-of-the-art technology, I'm very excited and pleased at my progress. The learning curve has been rapid via trial-by-fire methodology (the only way I know how to learn). I was able to figure out certain issues on my own because I had to, that I could never figure out when sitting alongside super-producer Mick Ptak, just asking questions, in years past when he was producing my DVDs. So all-in-all, my next DVD will be my first that is completely self-produced, and will be a labor of love. Although if 2009 doesn't start turning around for me this week, it's a real good bet I'll still have five DVDs this time next year.
In other news, Bridge finally convinced me to "go Facebook" all on my own, with my own account. So in the past week I've joined two fraternities (FB & YT) I swore for years I'd never touch. I guess people change, or they just wake up one day and realize "stop being a fool"...you decide.
Lastly, Bridge and I were offered an amazing opportunity to take a single person out chasing for a friend's tour company. Apparently this man came calling after the current tour was already booked and in progress, so we were tapped to do a special "solo" tour for this customer. We start tomorrow, where it looks like we could very well see a repeat of Mulvane in the same general area as that classic event. Being a tour guide is something completely new to me, so I've been trying to get my head wrapped around the mentality, by looking at the next five days as a group during my forecast sessions (aka I stare at models and see what colors are where). It's been a bit daunting, as it's quite easy to get your days mixed up when trying to juggle a work week's worth of them simultaneously. With the pattern we've been in, the models don't seem to have as good a grasp on things as they do in a more typical, "entrenched" type of flow regime like we see in April/May. The result of this is, the events that are more than 2-3 days out are constantly shifting. I used the weekend to experiment with model consistency enough to realize I'm only going to worry about the next day as this tour unfolds. I've had us in OK,KS,TX,CO,MO, and AR over the past few days, according to model output. I'm happy with knowing we'll be in Kansas tomorrow seeing tornadoes...everything else from there I'll figure out as I go. Once the final details are complete, I'll post more detail about exactly with who/what we're doing this week. Look for daily reports on here and Facebook from the road.
Aside: Mickey, Bridget, and myself chased the same supercell as everyone else did, from Hiawatha, KS to Cameron, MO, with a nice little jaunt through extreme southeast Nebraska thrown in for good measure. Was planning to sit this one out due to (surprise surprise) lack of funds, but Mickey called and said "we're going". What great friends we are blessed to have. We are both looking forward to being able to start getting them back a little.
In other news, Bridge finally convinced me to "go Facebook" all on my own, with my own account. So in the past week I've joined two fraternities (FB & YT) I swore for years I'd never touch. I guess people change, or they just wake up one day and realize "stop being a fool"...you decide.
Lastly, Bridge and I were offered an amazing opportunity to take a single person out chasing for a friend's tour company. Apparently this man came calling after the current tour was already booked and in progress, so we were tapped to do a special "solo" tour for this customer. We start tomorrow, where it looks like we could very well see a repeat of Mulvane in the same general area as that classic event. Being a tour guide is something completely new to me, so I've been trying to get my head wrapped around the mentality, by looking at the next five days as a group during my forecast sessions (aka I stare at models and see what colors are where). It's been a bit daunting, as it's quite easy to get your days mixed up when trying to juggle a work week's worth of them simultaneously. With the pattern we've been in, the models don't seem to have as good a grasp on things as they do in a more typical, "entrenched" type of flow regime like we see in April/May. The result of this is, the events that are more than 2-3 days out are constantly shifting. I used the weekend to experiment with model consistency enough to realize I'm only going to worry about the next day as this tour unfolds. I've had us in OK,KS,TX,CO,MO, and AR over the past few days, according to model output. I'm happy with knowing we'll be in Kansas tomorrow seeing tornadoes...everything else from there I'll figure out as I go. Once the final details are complete, I'll post more detail about exactly with who/what we're doing this week. Look for daily reports on here and Facebook from the road.
Aside: Mickey, Bridget, and myself chased the same supercell as everyone else did, from Hiawatha, KS to Cameron, MO, with a nice little jaunt through extreme southeast Nebraska thrown in for good measure. Was planning to sit this one out due to (surprise surprise) lack of funds, but Mickey called and said "we're going". What great friends we are blessed to have. We are both looking forward to being able to start getting them back a little.
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