GRLevelXStuff Has Returned!

Users of GR3 and other Gibson Ridge radar products, rejoice! GRLevelXStuff.com has returned!

A couple months after the site’s disastrous crash, I had pretty much concluded that Aaron et al had given up on it as too time-consuming and costly to resurrect. But tonight, just on a whim, I clicked on their bookmark, and lo and behold, there was ‘Stuff in all its glory.

If you’re already familiar with GRLevelXStuff, this should be good news indeed. If you’re not in the know about it and you use GR3, GR2, or GR2AE, then you definitely need to get acquainted with the site. In its past incarnation, before the disastrous crash that wiped out the entire database, barring the stuff that Aaron had saved on his hard drive, ‘Stuff was the premier support forum for Gibson Ridge users. It was a massively helpful resource in terms of both knowledge and applications. The color table section alone was enormous, and the background section of topo maps couldn’t be beat.

So this is my plug for the reborn GRLevelXStuff. Aaron and his team are hard at work rebuilding it, and such a project requires a community effort. If you use a GRL product, I urge you to visit the site, give the lads a well-deserved thumbs-up, and get involved. Registration–or re-registration, if you were a member of the pre-crash site–takes just a second.

One other thing: if you can afford to, please make a donation. It’s very easy to do so, and every dollar will help. GRLevelXStuff provides a terrific service, and it’s well worth getting behind with your dollars as well as your goodwill. Aaron has been upfront about the costs involved in recreating and maintaining the site, and the need for financial assistance. I just dropped my farthing in the collection basket, and I hope you will, too, if at all possible. Let’s do our best to help make the new ‘Stuff better than ever.

Wedging into Tornado Season

Bill called to say that he and the crew just saw a wedge out there in western Oklahoma. The LSR gives the town of Crawford, near the Texas panhandle border, as the location.

Good for the lads–and the lass, as I understand there’s a new female member of the crew. As for me, sitting here in my La-Z-Boy sofa, nursing a chest cold and watching the radar, naturally I feel like shooting myself through the head. A wedge on a PDS day–and the show is just getting started. And I’m not there! AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!

If there’s any consolation, it’s knowing that I’ve been able to make myself useful doing a little nowcasting. And it sounds like the team got some cool footage. Can’t wait to see it.

Mostly, though, I can’t wait to kick whatever is causing this blasted chest congestion and get out to take some video of my own. Tornado season 2009 is underway!

Shifting gears, last night’s gig at One Trick Pony with Francesca and Friends was a blast, even if I was feeling under the weather. Wright McCargar and I had a discussion about the impact of musicians on each other’s playing. In my experience, one bad musician can drag a whole group of good musicians down; and, conversely, one great musician can kick good players up to the next level. There’s nothing like being with really good musicians, and Francesca and her rhythm section are exactly that.

Moving back to storm chasing, it’s time for me to publish this post and then check out the radar. The storms bumping off of the dryline look to be going tornadic, and I’m thinkin’ that my buddies will have their hands full for the next five or six hours. Sure wish I was with them. But GR2AE ought to keep me entertained; maybe I can capture a few radar grabs to correspond with the photos that I’m sure will be coming back from out west.