Any Former AccuWeather EMPLOYEES out there?

[TAFKA wacowx]

Now, this is not a thread to out anyone or bring the wrath of Barry Myers down on you (it's doubtful they'd be interested in things like that now anyway). I just wanted to find some folks here...and I already know a few...who worked at AccuWeather and have some stories to share. I'd even enjoy hearing from clients who had some funny (or not-so-funny) interactions with one of the mets.

I'll start with a few of my own:

*Christmas 1992 when JB brought in mini bottles of Sambuca for everyone as gifts.

*Same era...singing "Christmas Don't be Late" by the chipmunks with Bob Kuligowski (or Koogalooski or Koogles...now Dr. Bob btw)

*The infamous Dr. Joe Sobel "Hey Smart Feller! better than calling you a Fart Smeller!...uh Dr. Joe, we are live." radio clip.

*Elliot Abrams X-rated feed

*Rusty the FA making fun of JB's snow forecasting...saying you always take his amount, divide by two and subtract one for what would actually happen.

*Xerox copies of Carl Babinski scattered all over the building. (They found some years later when moving from the old to new building!)

*'Dorking with Moose, Bernie and Tom Kines...."Ah, Regeena...No, that's the vaccuum clearer Lisa got that was smokin'! It's RegIna...I'm not gonna say that!"

*Jymm Howard! (If Howard Schmidt married him, he'd be Howard Howard!)

*AccuChristmas Carols....."Phones all start to ring...no other FA...Bart runs to the phone...cursing all the way...F***K F***K F***K...Elliot wants the thoughts....copier is jammed...'he'll just have to wait I've only got two f**king hands!'" - sung to the tune of Jingle Bells

[MonSooner]

That sounds completely different than the people you meet from AccuWx at shows. I thought the whole bunch was so far right-wing conservative that they wouldn't laugh at anything! It's kind of refreshing to hear that there are some people there with a sense of humor.

[PAwxman]

Thanks for the memories Waco!!! We did have some great times there. More fun than people can imagine.

"... and a highway through my back yard!!!!"

Rayno man rocking back and forth saying "Clouds in Chicago" and "Don't tell me, you'll spoil it".

The Mazza man.... I could go on forever, but the day he fell asleep in map discussion and was tickled with a feather to scream out "WHAT the F&^$!!!"

Stopping by Sobel's booth during heat waves and asking him "Are you ok????" and having him asking why until he finally figured it out.

Oh and the pinnacle night when someone brought the disco music and having the whole operations dancing and singing....

Donut runs and having Kines claim that muffins are for sissies....

I would also love to hear from others. I'm still close to many at AccuLand and there has always been talk about a reunion. I'd go. We had some great times.....

So Waco, when are you coming east again!!!!!

[kmfdmatt]

Originally posted by PAwxman:

So Waco, when are you coming east again!!!!!Hey, I tried to make room for him, but I keep having these interviews for jobs which have people already packed and moving to take.

[TAFKA wacowx]

I should be in PA in August...phone the neighbors..wake the kids!

Thanks Matt for trying...and keep it up!

PAWXMAN stirred up a few more memories:

'Umm muralgist Harry Marsity"

"Hey Poo-Poo!"

Paul Walker, surprisingly enough, brought the Saturday Night Fever tape into work that night of disco madness!

One time Paul G. Stein was late for work and Koogles and I called him multiple times...left messages, singing 'The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight' from R.E.M., changing the words a bit....'We're callin' to try to wake you up!"

Remember Kines passing the 10 gallon water jug around to collect morey for the donut runs?

"HIO for Johnny G!"

'KEN, KEN, KEN KEN!"

FA: Ken, Smithtown Dispatch for you on 700.
Ken:Ga Damnit, son of a...(picking up phone, pleasant voice)...This is Ken Reeves!
random forecaster: "CLICK!"

A few Mazza lines:

"Let's bang heads on this bisquit!'
"I underSTAND!"
"Those are heavy metal thunderstorms!"

Nothing will match walking to Accu during the Superstorm of '93 with Bernie and Tina...no one on the roads...except other AccuFolks walking the other way!

Finally...for now at least...Bob Larner or Blob as he was affectionately called gave a recording to a client in San Antonio. They wanted him to mention the peanut festival in one of the cuts. About an hour later, they call back laughing hysterically. After playing the piece on air the board op realized that Blob mentioned a PENIS festival, instead of the peanut festival!

More, more, more!

[TAFKA wacowx]

Had an AccuFriend just mention this thread to me...thought I would bring is back from the depths to see if anyone had anything to add.

graemlins/cheers2.gif

[Hipster Doofus]

blah, blah, blah, blah

[forecastguy]

JB - coming out of a broadcast booth with a pile of clipboards in his hands, shouts out to one of the FA's "Where am I supposed to stick these?"

Dead silence in the operations area for about 5 seconds, then maniacal laughter.

:D

[Retired from the Biz]

All my Accu experience revolve around litigation ;) So I'm not sure if I can mention them here. tongue.gif From my perspective what they lacked in customer service they made up with lawyers who were always quick to call.

With all the fine mets that have worked their a$$es off for them you'd think the company would have a better rep.

My favorite accuweather story comes a guy I know who used to run a skiing place. I asked him once what he thought of Accuweather. Before he answered, his face turned red, his eyes got big, and he began his rant with curse words I had never heard before or since. Turns out he got stuck with one of their fine contracts that expired off season when the resort was closed and automatically renewed if the resort did not notify the company during the off season.

Apparently their contracts are more confusing than understanding a TA in a Differential Equations class who teaches by speaking a mixture of Chinese and broken English that sounds more like Yiddish then English.

[MIguel W foX]

Originally posted by Holiday Freelance Wx HO.... ho ho:
more confusing than understanding a TA in a Differential Equations class who teaches by speaking a mixture of Chinese and broken English that sounds more like Yiddish then English.Sounds like Dell tech support.

[BigWxMan]

"Numbers are locked..."

and the mandatory "...WOO HOOOOOOO"

Religiously occured each afternoon in the "old church," not so sure if it still does in the weather cathedral...

[TAFKA wacowx]

Originally posted by BigWxMan:
"Numbers are locked..."

and the mandatory "...WOO HOOOOOOO"

Religiously occured each afternoon in the "old church," not so sure if it still does in the weather cathedral...Oh it does...it does. I got to say it every morning. Even more important these days because most of the forecasts now come from that database now. I always loved the difference between, let's say Ken Reeves saying "NUMBERS ARE LAACKED! and Mike (Mickey) MCaulaffe (sp?) hoarse "numbers are locked..."

A recent AccuFriend reminded me of some late 90s/early 00s memories:

Pants...pants...

PURSE!

and Jim Ferriola's ever present: DEEEESgusting!

and "Que Scherra, Que Scherra"...taken from the song "Lost in Emotion" in honor of Matt Scherra.

[BigWxMan]

I also recall a guy with a goatee - I think his last name was Houck but I could be wrong - constantly refering to how an ice cold enema would feel great on the hottest days. :eek:

And one particularly fond memory of Jim Kosek... I think the lieutenant governor was touring the building and all employees were asked to wear appropriate attire. He had on a t-shirt that had the color scheme of the USA Today U.S. temperature contour map with the forecast words in every major city of the nation which just said "sh*tty." A real classic graemlins/cheers2.gif

[TAFKA wacowx]

Originally posted by BigWxMan:
I also recall a guy with a goatee - I think his last name was Houck but I could be wrong - constantly refering to how an ice cold enema would feel great on the hottest days.Yup, Dave Houk. Especially on days when it would hit Froggy 98 degrees!

Kosek was the guy who introduced me to the Red tape from the Tube Bar..."Hal...Hal Jalikakik?" It was the guy calling the bartender thing that was a major precursor to Bart calling Moe's Tavern on the Simpsons....Matt Groening talks about it in the commentaries.

Kosek was also a BIG Jerky Boys fan. I will always remember how wild Snow Warning was in the mid 90s with Kosek and Tom Good taking verbal swipes at each other all afternoon and evening...that is until Tom Good was fired for bringing his gun into work! :eek:

[forecastguy]

My favorite story (and dammit I don't remember who exactly it happened to - I think Alex Sosnowski) was when someone (Alex?) was doing a tv briefing, and was asked a question about the La Nina forecast... At the same time, Dr. Joel Myers had started conducting a tour of some Japanese investors or customers.

So Alex went onto the web and typed in www.lanina.com (http://www.lanina.com) and up came some porn website. Now, if you ever have been to Accuweather, you'd know that at that time, each forecaster had a Mac which was tied into four monitors so you could keep your forecast open, model info, radar, etc.

Not only did the porn website come up... but there were pop-ups galore! Alex was feverishly trying to shut them all down, but more would pop up, and Dr. Joel was moments away. So he lept up and unplugged the computer from the rack. Dr. Joel suddenly asked "why'd you do that?" and he replied "um, well the computer crashed and wouldn't reboot."

Dr. Joel turned to the investors and said "we'll have to take a look at that, now won't we."

[PAwxman]

Merry Christmas to my excoworkers.

To those of you who shared that special time in the old church in the late 1980s and 1990s, I bring back some great memories....

WINTER WONDERLAND

Telephones ring, are you listening?
ABC and they’re *****in’
They’re missing their maps, their forecast is crap
Workin’ in a winter wonderland

The FDB Mac is crashin’
Through the screen, my fist went bashin’
I’m bleeding to death, I can’t catch my breath
Workin in a winter wonderland

Near the breakroom we can build a snowman
And pretend that he is Evan Myers
He’ll say “overtime?”
And we’ll say “No man, but you can do the job since you’re in town.”

Later on, we’ll be tired
But we’ll work, or be fired
Yes, we’re all afraid of not being paid
All of that Christmas overtime

[PAwxman]

This won't mean much to those who weren't around then....

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Twas the night before Christmas
And all through AccuWeather,
Not a creature was stirring,
Especially the computer department.
The European was hung on the map wall with care,
It said this week would be sunny and fair.
Tom settled down to analyze a map,
With a smile and a coffee by his cap.
Then there arose Gresiak with a snap,
“A snow flake! A snow flake!” He opened his trap,
As Elliot rose from his booth, to change the thermostat,
“Who wrote this forecast, what is that?”

Chuck Jones with a cold and burnt banana bread,
Had visions of warm biases dancing through his head.
He stood and said “Snow monitors, snow monitors listen”
“What about the roads? They’re beginning to glisten.”

Joe Murgo got up! He rose from the position!
And fought the idea with opposition.
“Humbug, Humbug! Your mind has a splinter,
If you Actually think that we will have a winter!”

In the middle of the floor he slowly appeared,
The ghost of Rabbi that we all feared.
He came in from the cold, his cheeks were rosey
And in this weather, he was cozy.
“Snow!” he laughed, with the shake of his belly.
Which rumbled and looked like a bowl full of jelly.

The time is now, winter is here.
The room is needed—that moose did fear.
“No, No, No Rabbi” the moose did shout,
He exclaimed even louder, “They’ll be no amount!”
The he followed with the all-known snort,
“It never snows, not at the fort!”

Then in a wiff of smoke, Rabbi did rise.
We knew it was over, as we saw with our eyes.
“It’s horrible, horrible”, Bernie did cry.
As the snowflakes accumulated and continued to fly.

Then Rabbi flew away into the cloud.
And exclaimed to all, in a voice rather loud.
“On Bernie, on Nimble, on Moose, on Kines
On Elliot, on Rusty, on Walker, on Wimer.

And we heard him explain as he rose out of sight,
“Take ye away and to all a good night!.”

[PAwxman]

Another favorite. Was quite funny to hear Kugs sing this one....

Jingle Bart

Phones all start to ring. No other FA.
Bart runs to the desk, cursing all the way.
Elliot wants the thoughts. Copier is jammed.
“He’ll just have to wait, I’ve only got to ****in hands”.
Oh Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Ba_Bart, Bart, Ba_ Ba_Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart……Bart! Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Ba_Bart, Bart, Ba_ Ba_Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart……Bart!

[PAwxman]

DECK THE WALLS

Deck the walls with maps and data. Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart
Give us NGM and ETA. Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart.
Do a project on the MAC. Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart.
Bernie says rush to the fax. Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart.

[PAwxman]

AND A HIGHWAY......THROUGH MY....BACKYARD!!!!!!!!!

Which by the way is still not built yet. Almost there, but then they realized a major oops on that one....

Seems that they filled in a whole valley with iron pyrate which has very acidic runoff. Whoops!!!!

[TAFKA wacowx]

Joe...you rule!

I wonder if you or anyone has all of the 12 Days of AccuWeather?

I remember "4 brown noses" and "2 maps on pulleys", but not much else.

Gotta love those maps Henry and I hung in Trucking...we went to O.W. Houts to buy pulleys and rope and took about an hour rigging them up amid giggles and scorn from the Snow Warning crew!

NO SURPRISE THERE!

[PAwxman]

Originally posted by WacoWX Outside is Frightful...:
Joe...you rule!

I wonder if you or anyone has all of the 12 Days of AccuWeather?

I remember "4 brown noses" and "2 maps on pulleys", but not much else.

Gotta love those maps Henry and I hung in Trucking...we went to O.W. Houts to buy pulleys and rope and took about an hour rigging them up amid giggles and scorn from the Snow Warning crew!

NO SURPRISE THERE!I totally forgot about those pulleys. The twelve days is the one song that I could not find as I was cleaning the file cabinet.

The other thing I was looking for was the AccuDeath list. The list of those who worked and left AccuWeather. There's some pretty big names there.

[Thundersnow]

There were some pretty interesting pieces of Elliot's nose underneath his desk when we ripped it out of the old building. I've never heard so many people gasping for air because they were laughing so hard when that thing came out and the Elliott-boogers were illuminated.

For all the bad feelings, there were some good times in my short tour (3 years).

[TAFKA wacowx]

Originally posted by Thundersnow:
There were some pretty interesting pieces of Elliot's nose underneath his desk when we ripped it out of the old building. I've never heard so many people gasping for air because they were laughing so hard when that thing came out and the Elliott-boogers were illuminated.

For all the bad feelings, there were some good times in my short tour (3 years).Charlie!

Good to hear from you.

Mark Strzepek

[adksnowman]

I'm bringing back an oldie thread! I have enjoyed my 10 years of liberation from accu-hell and just found this thread. Got a few stories if anyone is interested.

I think we should have a board just for ex accu-hell employees. It would be a cathartic experience for many people. :rockon:

[TAFKA wacowx]

I'm bringing back an oldie thread! I have enjoyed my 10 years of liberation from accu-hell and just found this thread. Got a few stories if anyone is interested.

Heck yes...tell your stories!:cheers: :thumbsup:

[Hipster Doofus]

Be careful of what you write here. After posting some anti AW stuff a few years back I got a series of phone calls, plus an outing by a Senior V.P. right here on MediaLine. I have learned not to tease the hornets nest.

[adksnowman]

In the old building, the bathroom as located right around the corner from Snow Warning and Total Weather. Every time some one took a crap and sprayed Lysol into the bathroom, a toxic gas cloud would flood into forecasting operations......and Tom Kines or Joe Lundberg would yell "Bathroom Avenger!" every time.

I also remember when hornets came into the building through an air duct and swarmed around the International Forecasting crew.

One time, Dave Houk offered me some "wintergreen Pepsi." I thought he was being nice until he showed me the paper cup filled with spit tobacco. YUK!

Carl Babinski at map discussion.....LOL!

Dr. Joe: "I'll eat my hat if Dee-troit gets more than an inch of snow!"

John Schneider: "Fake baseball, fake life!" (Making fun of those who participated in rotisserie baseball)

Paul Pissed-off-A lot

More to come.....10 years of repressed memory doesn't come out all at once.

[adksnowman]

Be careful of what you write here. After posting some anti AW stuff a few years back I got a series of phone calls, plus an outing by a Senior V.P. right here on MediaLine. I have learned not to tease the hornets nest.

I'll be gentle.

[wx4svr]

I'll be gentle.

I want to hear more.. these are good. :worship: :D :thumbsup:

[adksnowman]

More stuff:

Darrin Harr: "I didn't know Penn State had a men's basketball program!" (rookie mistake, I think some people dropped clipboards when they heard that line.)

Tom Kines: "I've got a manly banana!" (literally a banana, but could be easily be taken out of context)

Matt Rinde often wore a dark colored hooded sweatshirt to work. For laughs, he would pull the hood way over his head and pretend to shoot bolts of lightning from his hands like the Emperor in Star Wars.

And who could forget the time when Mickey called off work due to a sore knuckle? He never lived that one down.

Jeff Wetzstein: "Oh no! I sat on my glasses."

The memories are coming back!

[wx or not]

More! More! You should write a memoir!!!

[TAFKA wacowx]

adksnowman:

PM me, we have to know each other!

Tom Kines: SHOT...oh moving shot.
Lisa: How do you know?
Tom: The screen is Barney Purple! (referring to TWC weather on the 8s local radar loop in the mid 90s)

Dareen Har-har harr! I remember he got hooked on the TBS promos for an Arnold S. movie marathon. He would sing "The evolution of Ahhhnold, ahnold!" for weeks afterwards. And he shared out love of the "Sleep-Aid 2000" (black plastic sheeting you put over your bedroom windows for a good day's sleep!)

Ah those days of the Bathroom Avenger! I swear most of the time it was actually Lundberg.

Anyone remember Dee Construction? They did most of the work on the old 'campus'. We literally called them 'Deconstruction' since they were always ripping something up. I swear Joel kept those guys in business for the greater portion of a decade.

Sobel: "I don't believe for a second that....(fill in anything here, usually some wild idea from JB)"

The inevitable morning phonecall from Elliot's booth: "Would you like to hear a feed?"

Donuts (Rocks) and Bagels nearly every morning...assuming we could cobble enough money together. A big kudos to Elliot who usually was good for a 20 once a week! :thumbsup:

[TAFKA wacowx]

And who could forget the time when Mickey called off work due to a sore knuckle? He never lived that one down.

Heck, I recall Heather getting a call one morning around 4AM from Steve Marvel/Wistar (MASK) calling in because he hadn't slept yet. Mind you, his shift started at NOON!!!

Yea...sore KNNNNuckle!

BINGhamton!

[adksnowman]

Waco: You do know me, but I can't divulge my identity yet. This is too much fun! :rockon:

Here's some more stuff from accu-past.

Lundberg: "All the forecasts are busting, H.O.M. is on the phone wanting an update and the computer is slow. What else could go wrong? THE PRINTER IS OUT OF PAPER!!"

JB would call Pat Folaron "Drago" because Pat was the spittin' image of Dolph Lundgren who played "Drago" in Rocky IV (although Pat wasn't quite as beefy)

http://www.extrememortman.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/Drago%20Rocky.jpg




I will always remember how wild Snow Warning was in the mid 90s with Kosek and Tom Good taking verbal swipes at each other all afternoon and evening...that is until Tom Good was fired for bringing his gun into work! :eek:

I thought Good got canned because he was harassin' a FA. I didn't know a gun was involved! :eek:

There have to be other people besides wacowx with good stories. I know your are out there!

[TAFKA wacowx]

I thought Good got canned because he was harassin' a FA. I didn't know a gun was involved! :eek:

There have to be other people besides wacowx with good stories. I know your are out there!

It was probably a combination, but they blamed it on the gun.

I think there are others out there, but some might be scared to post with accu's history of litigation?

Be like ADK and just start up a new username. Honestly, sharing fun memories isn't going to hurt anyone. We had SUCH a good time working there together...even in the bad times we had a blast no?

"I will break you!"

JB hovering over any random forecaster's VMS terminal: "Let me show you what your looking at..."

Dan K: "What's at? What's at?"

Johnny G rages...after which you might find a keyboard thrown through a monitor!

[adksnowman]

MORE QUOTES:

Monitor Forecaster: "MonDak forecast is done."
Random Forecaster (usually Snow Warning or Transportation): "Update it!"

"Lee Price.....male prostitute!"

"Did you see what happened on Dallas yesterday?"

"Welcome to the weather swee-8 shop!"

"That trailer must be the new building."

[GrumpyTheSoup]

Happy / funny memories:
Everyone clapping whenever Blaine Clapper was paged
Jymm Howard...sad that he died so young, but he really put people off-balance with his antics! "LIPS!"
The "Heavy Metal High Five" that usually sprained a few fingers..."I realize that" On a related note, Mazza and Jim Caruso getting absolutely hammered at Chuck Jones' 1992 Thanksgiving dinner and repeatedly attempting to Heavy Metal High Five each other in the living room...the windups were taking about 5 minutes each!
"MAP DESTRUCTION!"
TAFKA holding a bowl of chocolate mousse and having it say "NO NO NO Rabbi!"
The Murgo Position
Bondage (what a name...)
Mazza's "Monitor Thoughts" that included references to every song on Rush's (just-released) "Counterparts" album...totally went over Elliot's head
"CRUSH!" and other faux JB-isms.
Speaking of JB, one time he and Sobel got into a really heated argument over some forecast detail or other. The next day JB had turned out to be totally wrong, and in his thoughts (basically forecasts for a bunch of major cities), every other sentence was "I suck." As in "BOSTON SUNSHINE TODAY HIGH 56. I SUCK. INCREASING CLOUDS TONIGHT LOW 34. I SUCK. OCCASIONAL RAIN TOMORROW HIGH 48. I SUCK..."
Tai Chair, the art of chair kicking as pioneered by Bernie Rayno.
Calling people and hanging up, also pioneered by Bernie...and annoying as all get out when a real call from Elliot or a client was expected.
"Aw, who did this (map, forecast, fdb set, whatever)"Not-so-happy / funny memories:
The crushing stress of being in a bind and broadcasters ringing your phone off the hook
Getting low pay in the first place (<$7.50/hr) and then being asked to "donate" 100 hours of pay back to the company
Being called out in front of everyone at map discussion because someone who happened to be driving through the Midwest tipped someone else off that the previous day's forecasts for Indianapolis and Dayton weren't coordinated...and other Hannibal Lecter-type mental games (e.g., paging instead of calling so that everyone knows you're gonna get it).
Writing radios for a tight group of locations for different broadcast meteorologists and alternately getting chewed out for not writing what they wanted (and thus not being coordinated) or not being coordinated (and thus not writing what they wanted)
Spending three hours coming up with forecast ideas and a basic consensus and having the whole thing shredded in 5 minutes at map discussion when the grownups arrive.More to come as the memories return...

[adksnowman]

Not-so-happy / funny memories:
The crushing stress of being in a bind and broadcasters ringing your phone off the hook
Getting low pay in the first place (<$7.50/hr) and then being asked to "donate" 100 hours of pay back to the company
Being called out in front of everyone at map discussion because someone who happened to be driving through the Midwest tipped someone else off that the previous day's forecasts for Indianapolis and Dayton weren't coordinated...and other Hannibal Lecter-type mental games (e.g., paging instead of calling so that everyone knows you're gonna get it).
Writing radios for a tight group of locations for different broadcast meteorologists and alternately getting chewed out for not writing what they wanted (and thus not being coordinated) or not being coordinated (and thus not writing what they wanted)
Spending three hours coming up with forecast ideas and a basic consensus and having the whole thing shredded in 5 minutes at map discussion when the grownups arrive.More to come as the memories return...

Yeah, I had all of those things happen to me too. I stayed pretty calm though most of it. One time I did slam a pile of clipboards down to the desk after JB reamed me out....but of course I did it AFTER he left the room. :moon:

[TAFKA wacowx]

Grumpy...the soup...that eats like a can!

(in joke) :thumbsup:

I don't really remember making the chocolate mousse talk but I TOTALLY can see myself doing that (imitating Rich Heller who worked with a gent by the nickname of 'Rabbi' and who went by the nickname 'Moose')

Ted Jamba: "Uh...Rabbi...are you Jewish?"

BONDAGE! I completely forgot about that. It was a get together that occured around 7-8AM I seem to recall, when people's schedules lightened up somewhat. It was always Moose, Uncle Normie (RIP) Tom Kines, some of the new guys like me and Koogs and often JB who would pick Uncle Normie's brain about discontinuous momentum tranport in hurricanes. :worship:

The following interaction between Steve Rowley and Tom Mazza never happened, but you saw something similar when Steve would come in each morning and try to put out all of the Mazza 'fires' from the overnight monitor shift:

Steve: "Mind if I ask why we have a Cat 5 hurricane in the Gulf with no alerts or statements out yet?"

Mazza: "Wellluhhhh I thought it would weaken...the stoms on the north side are getting unplugged."

Steve: ...silently shaking his head and nervously laughing under his breath...


Koogs used to play the WB/Bugs Bunny cartoon theme on the phone. He would page and then play on the keypad: doo-d-do-d-do-do-d-d-d-dooo....

Remember all the nicknames?:

Chumley, Moose, Rabbi, Mask, Shack, Squirrel...of course Blob!


Good times...keep 'em coming!

[adksnowman]

Favorite memory of the graveyard shift: Blowing off my shift 2 hours early on a dead weekend and going with some buddies to Perkins for breakfast. We ALWAYS put the blinds down or else the rising sun would burn our eyes out.

Yeah...it was s**t hours and pay but we did have some fun times though. :cheers:

[TAFKA wacowx]

Favorite memory of the graveyard shift: Blowing off my shift 2 hours early on a dead weekend and going with some buddies to Perkins for breakfast. We ALWAYS put the blinds down or else the rising sun would burn our eyes out.

Yeah...it was s**t hours and pay but we did have some fun times though. :cheers:

I think I figured out who you are...."Triangle Shirtwaste Factory!"

Me: "Gerald?"
Gerald: "WHAT?!?"

Dale: "Out of touch, out of touch!" (While waving his arms back and forth)

Jim Andrews: "You see, the Umcompagre Plateau forms the western divide of the range..........." (the guy was/is a walking atlas, but he could talk your ear off. :) )

[Youkook]

All I can remember is working with Weitstain in snow warning and his buddy from Jersey DOT calling?

That ass.... he wants the pavement temperatures

these guys have been living there for 20 years and they ask me what the pavement temps are

Thank God I am outta that place. Like the marines, it was a great place to start

[lisaA1A]

OK...just figured the registering thing out :-)

How about these....

Bart-uguese... "TURN ON YOUR AUTO FAX"

Dale shoveling his way from his car ALL THE WAY to the street to go home.

Jeff Lutz thinking that Elton John song went "Electric b**bs a low kazoo...you know a ready little pakastani"

Sheetza Pizza runs...always 4 pepperoni and 4 plain

"Where is the ferry?" "Here I am!"

"SCUD!!!!" "Arm the PATRIOTS!"

[TAFKA wacowx]

Don't forget the book you were thinking of writing based on Tom Kine's rules of being manly:

...like you cannot lick the lid of your SnackPack pudding even though at first glance that might seem a manly thiing to do...risking danger and all...but if you cut your tongue, you won't be able to talk sports!

[lisaA1A]

And muffins aren't manly, unless they have chocolate in them because chocolate makes you horny....

[lisaA1A]

And Spanky Chili!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TAFKA wacowx]

And Spanky Chili!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For those not in the know, this isn't as weird as it sounds. Spanky...aka Steve Miller (no, not THAT Steve Miller) used to bring chili to work every so often. he was a BIG fan of spicy hot foods...which brings me to another memory.

The Joe Murgo Killer Jalapeno Pepper!

Murgo always brought cheese and crackers and the like for his nighttime/morning snack. One day he brought a pepper he grew at home and upon taking a bite, he nearly freaked out from the heat! No one wanted to risk another bite except for Spanky...long know for his penchant for all things hot and spicy...the guy could eat five-alarm wings without so much as a wince. He took a bit of the pepper and his eyes immediately turned red and sweat started beading up on his forehead. "I'll give it to ya...that's a hot pepper!"

Reminds me of the time Dale was eating an onion at work..just a cut up onion 9weird I know). He bet that I couldn't eat one (someone had brought several in from the garden) like an apple...peeled, just taking big bites. $5 bet I recall. Well...after eating a bite or two...I gave him his $5 as he continued to eat his onion slices.

[Jimrin1967]

Another favorite. Was quite funny to hear Kugs sing this one....

Jingle Bart

Phones all start to ring. No other FA.
Bart runs to the desk, cursing all the way.
Elliot wants the thoughts. Copier is jammed.
“He’ll just have to wait, I’ve only got to ****in hands”.
Oh Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Ba_Bart, Bart, Ba_ Ba_Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart……Bart! Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Ba_Bart, Bart, Ba_ Ba_Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart, Bart……Bart!

This song and "Deck the Walls" are copyright material and may not be copied, reproduced or disseminated without the express, written consent of me or Major League Baseball. Failure to comply may result in five (5)years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine. Or both.

[Jimrin1967]

Now Shipwreck brought up some great moments as have others. But how could you guys forget...DORKING? :cheers:

Or the Henry masks?:eek: A room full of Henrys. Wow

[GrumpyTheSoup]

And Spanky Chili!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Remember Spanky's bright red sweater? You could see him from across town in that thing...

"Spanky is Walter...and Walter is Spanky..." (sung to the tune of "Nights in White Satin")

"I'm John Kocet! No, I'm John Kocet! No, I'm John Kocet!"

And who can forget the MetalMan's conversations with someone's upper torso?

[Jimrin1967]

Oh I missed Chapstick's mention of dorking. :sleep:

[TAFKA wacowx]

This song and "Deck the Walls" are copyright material and may not be copied, reproduced or disseminated without the express, written consent of me or Major League Baseball. Failure to comply may result in five (5)years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine. Or both.

Well in that case...do you have a copy of the "12 days of Henry"?

I would like to license it for a December 20th concert on the parking lot of the former AW building at 619 W. College Ave.

[Jimrin1967]

Well in that case...do you have a copy of the "12 days of Henry"?

I would like to license it for a December 20th concert on the parking lot of the former AW building at 619 W. College Ave.


Actually I may have that. Anyone have the Mazza to English dictionary?

[lisaA1A]

And for the other ladies in the crowd....remember how Tom Mazza would push the clipboards farther under the table so that we had to bend over farther to get them. Ah, the days of Mazza....

[adksnowman]

Or the Henry masks?:eek: A room full of Henrys. Wow

I can't believe I forgot about Henry masks. That was hilarious!! Everyone wearing a Henry mask for an entire shift. :thumbsup:

Here's another forgotten classic, sung to the tune of Barry Manilow's Copacabana:

My name is Henry....Henry Margusity
Working at the hottest spot north of Atlanta
I work from nine to four, then I'm out the door
Joel's my best friend....who could ask for more?

[GrumpyTheSoup]

A few more funny memories:

Roy G. unilaterally sending a map to all of Accu's Trucking clients predicting a snowstorm of epic proportions...
Someone declaring "I'd rather shovel $h!# than work with Henry" and then working with Henry in trucking a scant couple of months later...
Bloomer working with Henry in Trucking and nearly driving him over the edge...
Sobel scratching his back with a marker from his oversized coffee cup, but not realizing that the black marker didn't have a cap on it as he colored his nice white shirt...
Paul Stein coming in after having had a few drinks and trying to discreetly pass wind in the radio clipboard room (back when it was that tiny room next to the stairs) and dragging an indescribably horrible miasma with him back into the graphics forecaster area...
Someone setting an automatic spell checker that yelled "Whoops!" on the Mac JB was using...all you could hear was "WhoopsWhoopsWhoopsWhoopsWhoopsWhoops!" followed by "How do you turn off this @$&(#&* thing?!?"

[adksnowman]

And for the other ladies in the crowd....remember how Tom Mazza would push the clipboards farther under the table so that we had to bend over farther to get them. Ah, the days of Mazza....

Mazza left Accu-wx before I started to work there. But I actually met him when interning at NWS when I was still in college. Mazza told me that he was making more money at Burger King than he did at Accu-wx. :eek: Then I heard all of the stories about Mazza at Accu-wx and wondered how he got a job at NWS. :confused:

Anyhow.....I remember the TERM dorking. But what exactly was it? Sorry, I forgot.

[TAFKA wacowx]

Dorking was a daily gathering of Tom Kines, Moose and Bernie (perhaps Rabbi before Bernie) at which they would review a series of western Canadian cities, so named because Tom Kines, waiting around for Moose to get around to working on the cities with him exclaimed "Are we gonna do this or am I just going to sit here like a dork?" or something similar.

Dorking had a solid script of lines that were ALWAYS spoken when certain cities were reached. The lines were often recited with little feeling unless they were Moose-only ones! The ones I remember went something like this:

Moose, Bernie, Kines: Ah, the Peg (Winnipeg)

M-B-K: AH, Georgie Porgie (Prince George)
Paul Walker: Pumpkin Pie
Moose: Nah, it's puddin n pie!
Tom, Bernie: Ah, Paul Walker really led us astray on that one!

Kines: Ah Regeena (Regina)
Moose: No, no...that's the carpet cleaner and vacuum cleaner that Lisa got that was smokin! It's Reg'EYE'na.
Kines: Ahhhhhhhh...I'm not gonna say that!

M-B-K: AH, Saskatchatoon! (Saskatoon)

M-B-K: AH, the Knife! (Yellowknife)

I also remember occasionally Bernie would comment when temps got above freezing in Yellowknife that they would soon be sunbathing on the 'Great Slave'!

Also another Bernie memory...when presenting FA Bart with a forecast for the Winnipeg area earlier than it needed to be sent, he would say "Don't SPOIL 'em!" ...understood if we sent it early ;)

I also remember teaching Moose the Kris Kross song "Warm it Up Kris" because he would always be taking temps up...in effect, warming it up.

WE: Warm it up Moose!
M: I'm about to!
WE: Warm it up Moose!
M: 'cause that's what I was born to do!

[adksnowman]

JB's power pudding!

It was this strange concoction that kept him awake on the night shift when a big storm was looming. JB would stay up all day and evening just to see the EURO model stream in at home. That guy didn't get any sleep.

Quite honestly, I'm surprised he hasn't dropped dead yet.

[GrumpyTheSoup]

JB's power pudding!

It was this strange concoction that kept him awake on the night shift when a big storm was looming. JB would stay up all day and evening just to see the EURO model stream in at home. That guy didn't get any sleep.

Quite honestly, I'm surprised he hasn't dropped dead yet.

I thought it was some protein stuff that was supposed to help him build muscle, but I could be wrong.

I also recall him coming in wearing some really hideous pants / shorts on occasion...was he still allowed to wear that stuff out of the house after he and Jessica got married? :eek:

[adksnowman]

I thought it was some protein stuff that was supposed to help him build muscle, but I could be wrong.

I also recall him coming in wearing some really hideous pants / shorts on occasion...was he still allowed to wear that stuff out of the house after he and Jessica got married? :eek:

Oh yeah.....JB showed up to work with "holy" pants on occasion in the mid-late 90s.

[forecastguy]

I swear I remember him wearing what looked like pajama bottoms in on the weekends as late as 2000.


Buck-buck... RAGE!

Thanks Sam.

[Jimrin1967]

Anyone remember Mazza tapping his foot to Karma Chameleon?

[PAwxman]

A few more funny memories:

Roy G. unilaterally sending a map to all of Accu's Trucking clients predicting a snowstorm of epic proportions...
Someone declaring "I'd rather shovel $h!# than work with Henry" and then working with Henry in trucking a scant couple of months later...
Bloomer working with Henry in Trucking and nearly driving him over the edge...
Sobel scratching his back with a marker from his oversized coffee cup, but not realizing that the black marker didn't have a cap on it as he colored his nice white shirt...
Paul Stein coming in after having had a few drinks and trying to discreetly pass wind in the radio clipboard room (back when it was that tiny room next to the stairs) and dragging an indescribably horrible miasma with him back into the graphics forecaster area...
Someone setting an automatic spell checker that yelled "Whoops!" on the Mac JB was using...all you could hear was "WhoopsWhoopsWhoopsWhoopsWhoopsWhoops!" followed by "How do you turn off this @$&(#&* thing?!?"


I was the one who put JB's spell checker and remember how it made him nuts. Of course I think I'm the one he finally swindled into turning it off.


Oh and we mentioned the Power Pudding. But do we remember Jim Andrew's Gruel??????

[Jimrin1967]

I was the one who put JB's spell checker and remember how it made him nuts. Of course I think I'm the one he finally swindled into turning it off.


Oh and we mentioned the Power Pudding. But do we remember Jim Andrew's Gruel??????


Was that the oatmeal with hot cocoa mix?

[Jimrin1967]

I found it!!

The 12 days of Henry are...(sing along now)...

12 Brown noses

11 Scuds diverted

10 Phones are ringing

9 Stands for news

8 Hours of milking

7 Maps are busting

6 Days of the European

5 Videos from The Weather Channel

4 Memos to Evan

3 Backstabs

2 Maps on pulleys

And a highway through my backyard

[Jimrin1967]

Another great moment using the "12 Days of Christmas" Bernie and I start singing it with every syllable being the name Bart.

We get to day two...Bart says, "Okay, that's enough."

We get to day four...Bart says, "You've had your fun. Back to work now"

We get to day five with a long, drawn out "Ba-aa-aart" Bart yells out, "OH WOULD YOU SHUT THE F--K UP ALREADY?"

Followed, of course, by ruckus applause:thumbsup:

[itelltheweather]

I have never worked for Accwx.. but this explains a lot about why I could never get help with my Galileo.....

[GrumpyTheSoup]

Anyone remember Mazza tapping his foot to Karma Chameleon?

I remember being totally shocked when he started singing Kajagoogoo's "Too Shy" for no apparent reason. Needless to say, his "Heavy Metal" cred took a hit with that one...

"Jay...?"

"Bounce to Bart" (sung to the ringtone of the phones"

"Forecaster Assistants...assist me!"

"Why is Boise's FBD partly cloudy on day 5 when it should be mostly cloudy?". FDB forecaster (to himself): "$@#*&%($#&(%#!?!?"

[adksnowman]

I have never worked for Accwx.. but this explains a lot about why I could never get help with my Galileo.....

You don't know the half of it. Not sure I did either. :rolleyes:

[TAFKA wacowx]

You don't know the half of it. Not sure I did either. :rolleyes:

It sure wasn't all just fun and games, but we had some good times obviously.

I'd like to add that if WE had computer problems back then, we were loathe to call the computer department too! ;)

[Jimrin1967]

It sure wasn't all just fun and games, but we had some good times obviously.

I'd like to add that if WE had computer problems back then, we were loathe to call the computer department too! ;)

What problems? Computers are down less than 12 hours per year. :whistle:

[Jimrin1967]

dvoo DVOOO

[PAwxman]

I remember being totally shocked when he started singing Kajagoogoo's "Too Shy" for no apparent reason. Needless to say, his "Heavy Metal" cred took a hit with that one...

"Jay...?"

"Bounce to Bart" (sung to the ringtone of the phones"

"Forecaster Assistants...assist me!"

"Why is Boise's FBD partly cloudy on day 5 when it should be mostly cloudy?". FDB forecaster (to himself): "$@#*&%($#&(%#!?!?"

My Mazza favorite is when he was tickled with a feather while sleeping in map discussion and screamed out "What the F...!!!!!"

[adksnowman]

I remember being totally shocked when he started singing Kajagoogoo's "Too Shy" for no apparent reason. Needless to say, his "Heavy Metal" cred took a hit with that one...

I'm not surprised. The 80s were more about the mullet than the metal.

Check this out: :rockon:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3P6I4pT_tVA

[Jimrin1967]

Then we had my action verb-laden Tidbits file which Tom Kines would take and just read out only the verbs..."Pummelled! Bombarded! Innundated!"

[adksnowman]

I can't believe nobody remembered ---> "Monkey work!!

ooooh hoooo.....Good Monkey!!

Forgot about that one myself. :doh:

[GrumpyTheSoup]

Then we had my action verb-laden Tidbits file which Tom Kines would take and just read out only the verbs..."Pummelled! Bombarded! Innundated!"

Ohhhh...who did these tidbits?!?

[forecastguy]

...coffee Cup...

!#@$%@#$^

[Jimrin1967]

I can't believe nobody remembered ---> "Monkey work!!

ooooh hoooo.....Good Monkey!!

Forgot about that one myself. :doh:


Oh I remember. These are the actual intros and outros from a radio station I do occassionally...

Intro: Acadiana, Here is Your One Oh Six Three, The Monkey Forecast ... For Today.....

Outro: from the One Oh Six Three, The Monkey Weather Center, I'm __________.

[Jimrin1967]

We're going up da Eynon

We're gonna have some kahfee

A couple two/tree donuts

The Hayna family

[adksnowman]

This doesn't have anything to do with accu-weather but I just saw this on the news-line.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — A man who had threatened a Christian radio station was shot and killed by police Friday after he fired at officers with a rifle and tried to run them over with his sport utility vehicle, authorities said.
WTLR station manager Mark VanOuse said the station received a tip around 10 a.m. that someone armed with a shotgun was asking people for the address of the radio station and for money. Police got the same tip and went to the station, Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira said.
Officers intercepted the man as he arrived at the station, where he began shooting at police outside, ramming police cruisers and trying to run over officers on foot, witnesses said. After an exchange of gunfire, the suspect was shot dead in his white Ford Bronco, Madeira said. No one else was wounded.
Witnesses said they heard about 20 rounds of gunfire.
"At least twice he fired from the car," said Brad Shearer, who watched from his office window across the street. He said he saw the man try to run over police officers with their guns drawn.
During a second exchange of gunfire, the gunman's vehicle drifted into a building, Shearer said.
/**/
The man, who has not been identified, is believed to have had multiple weapons in the SUV, Madeira said.
VanOuse, who had taken his two employees to a secure room, said he only saw glimpses of what happened. The altercation lasted about 10 to 15 minutes, he said.
"He was moving fast," VanOuse said. "He was blowing right past police cars with officers who had their rifles drawn."
He said he did not know why the station was targeted.
"There is nothing leading up to this point that would have given us any indication of someone being upset with us," VanOuse said.
Madeira said state police are investigating and interviewing people who encountered the man earlier in the day.

[dogbean]

Ok I'm here now and I have AccuWeather memories.

Let's begin the list of AW memories.....

Tom Kines "These are the freshest donuts."

Tony Devito taking his shirt off and running around the room, and hugging Tom Kines

Tony Devito having these fits of tourette's, and punching himself in the face when he got stressed out.

Tony Devito coming out of Elliot's booth making strange chirping noises and punching himself and shouting after having his maps altered by Elliot.

John Schneider raging every time he got a phone call on Totalweather.

Training new forecasters simply meant they gave you all their newspapers to do, and taught you nothing else about their scheduled duties.

Tony Devito farting in people's faces, even girls.

James Rutha in his thick New York accent "Yo, he farted in her face?"

John Greshack throwing chairs around when he got mad. Tom Kines saying "Easy, Shack-daddy!"

John Greshack farts. Tom Kines "Shack Daddy, what was on the menu last night?" This was a nightly ritual.

Jim Feriolla "NICE!" "There it is!!!" singing "His name is Tom Kines!" "A Bob! A Bob!" "I love it when you talk like that."

Marshall, and Jim F. "Do you want me to .....? Do you NEED me to ....?"

Marshall beginning every sentence with "UHHHHH."

Marshall Moss "Uhhh, could someone send BUG by computer please?"

Marshall Moss "Uhhh, could you report to me please?"

Josh Fox, singing the forecasts of Moose to the tune of Lou Bega's "Mambo Number 5" "A little bit of snow in Saginaw, a little bit of fog in Cheyenne, a little bit of showers in Wasau..."

Tony, when doing Truck's schedule, had one of his rages and punched himself in the face so much he bled on the keyboard.

Tony breathing down John Schneider's neck. John Schneider politley asked him to step away and not do that. Tony raged, then ran out of the room crying. Kathy Heller then goes "Oh well, I better go calm him down..." and leaves

[adksnowman]

It sounds like you worked at accu-wx after I left in the late 90s.

[dogbean]

yeah 99-02

[JVC_Scout_Mom]

Here's a few of my favorites over the years:

Houk: Isn't that funny? Moose and Kathy got married on the same day!
(For those of you who don't know, Moose and Kathy dated quite some time. When they married, Houk, who sat between them -- mostly during shift change -- honestly didn't know that they had been dating ... and really thought that they had coincidentally married other people on the same day.)



Lisa mentioned this one:
Forecaster (desperately searching for clipboard): Cape May Ferry! Ferry!? Ferry?! Has anyone seen the Ferry?
Jymm Howard (jumping out of the data closet): Here I am! Did someone call for the fairy?


I loved Jymm. Wasn't he the first openly gay male at AWX? There were others that were 'suspected' but not confirmed. But, that boy (Jymm) didn't hide anything. Rest his soul. Oh! And how he changed his hair color every other week (or so it seemed!)



Any given snowstorm in the OLD building -- forecasters gathering to push others cars INTO the parking lot (because of the snow-plow leavings in front of the driveway).


Dr. Joe tales of: 1) driving into work in reverse because the transmission in his car went out, 2) taking phone calls in the downstairs rest room (and it having great acoustics), 3) nearly burning down the OLD old building


My favorite Mazza-ism: The wheels are/are coming off.

FA's climbing up on the desks to post maps ... in skirts! :moon: [Fun or not fun, you decide!]


Sleeping in the trailer(s) when the blizzard hit.


Pigfests!

Drinking at the Roadhouse at 10AM.


Gruel -- still happens


Scott Kaufman washing the keyboard - of course, because one of the sysops jokingly told him he could put it in the dishwasher, but to be sure not to use the dry cycle.


Fred Hess -- being convinced that they used argon in the ethernet.
[This is old building era. When the A/C unit was on its last legs and the company had to come so often to recharge the freon that they just left a tank in the computer room. During some 'crisis' someone looped a cable around it. Fred asked what it was, and was naive enough to believe that it was the 'argon' that fueled the 'ethernet' because ether was illegal.



People:
Chuck Jones

Scott Schumacher (DataEntry) and his dry/sarcastic sense of humor.

Spanky

Uncle Normie

Rabbi

Don Steigerwald

Ruthie





Not so fun times:
The gun incident. Yes. He had been harassing an FA. He was spoken to about the issue/harassment, and it got better, nearly back to normal. Then, he brought in the gun. There had been a lot of time that passed between the two incidents. As a side note, later, she was able to look back and say 'Maybe he was just showing his new 'toy' to his workmates, but at the time ....' But, of course, by then, it was too late. :(



Clipboard throwing. 'nuff said.

[adksnowman]

At least once or twice a month, I'd get a call from accu-wx asking me to work in place of a person who had called off sick. Never mind that I had worked 6 straight days already and tomorrow would be my ONLY day off for the next 8 days. :doh:

After my first encounter with that, I never picked up my phone without letting the answering machine screen the caller while I worked at accu-wx.

"Please call back and let us know either way whether you can work tomorrow." :bs:Yeah....right! :moon: I never called back....

[dogbean]

Splitting up newspaper schedules nearly every night because they didn't have enough people, or someone called in sick every night.

[GrumpyTheSoup]

At least once or twice a month, I'd get a call from accu-wx asking me to work in place of a person who had called off sick. Never mind that I had worked 6 straight days already and tomorrow would be my ONLY day off for the next 8 days. :doh:

I remember that well...thankfully, one of the FA's (Eric, I think his name was...brought in great homemade fudge every once in a while) understood the situation but also knew that he had to call, so he got creative with his calls. One time I picked up the phone and he didn't even say who he was...just said "[name redacted], just say no!" And I did...and he hung up. Classic :)

I still remember when Paul Walker would come in late sometimes after not sleeping well, and I swear he's the only person I met who could see with his eyes shut :sleep:

Speaking of, no one could say "sleep" quite like Ffej...

Mazza...just for kicks, I still occasionally tell people I want to "bang heads on the biscuit" and they have no idea what I'm talking about... :eek: Was anyone ever able to dig up the "Mazza-to-English Dictionary"?