Date:         Wed, 24 Dec 2003 14:29:54 -0500
Reply-To:     Edney.Shawn@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Shawn Edney <Edney.Shawn@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV>
Subject:      Re: OT - Friday afternoon funny - SIlver cars full text
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

I just realized that this reply was inadvertently sent only to Jack when
I meant to send it to the list. I would hate for anyone to miss out on
my musing. : - )

Happy Holidays,

Shawn Edney



----- Forwarded by Shawn Edney/RTP/USEPA/US on 12/24/2003 02:26 PM -----

                      Shawn Edney
                                               To:      Jack Hamilton <JackHamilton@firsthealth.com>
                      12/22/2003 03:04         cc:
                      PM                       Subject: Re: [SAS-L] OT - Friday afternoon funny - SIlver cars full text(Document link:
                                               Shawn Edney)




After contemplating the *valuable* information provided by Jack I would
like to revise my hypothesis.

Ho: Tornados are stupid and thus wonder around randomly.

Ha: Tornados are attracted to specific human individuals that (1) only
live in trailer parks, (2) are hard of hearing, and (3) always go to
church on Sunday. When confronted with the lack of a target that matches
all three criteria a tornado will seek out nearby individuals meeting at
least one of these criteria. When an individual that does not meet
criteria 1,2,or 3 is inadvertently sucked into a tornado the tornado
releases the individual. Unfortunately this usually causes the death of
the individual due to trauma or exhaustion, but the tornado does feel
better.



Shawn Edney





                      Jack Hamilton
                      <JackHamilton@first        To:       Shawn Edney/RTP/USEPA/US@EPA, SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
                      health.com>                cc:
                                                 Subject:  Re: [SAS-L] OT - Friday afternoon funny - SIlver cars full text
                      12/22/2003 02:41 PM






"Shawn Edney" <Edney.Shawn@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV> wrote:

>After reading some of these e-mails I couldn't help but think about
>doing some research of my own.
>For example, it seems like every time there is a tornado in the US it
>manages to wipe a mobile home park off the map. At least this is a
>'perception' that is easy to acquire from television newscasts.

My impression from The Weather Channel is that tornados on Sunday
almost always hit churches.  Perhaps it's trailer parks on other days,
churches on Sundays.

>In fact
>it was fairly common when I was younger for people to refer to
trailer
>parks as 'tornado magnets'. Possibly these individuals are on to
>something. If I can just find *some* data I might/should be able to
show
>that tornados prefer to demolish mobile homes over other residential
>property. Could I be even so bold as to hypothesize that trailer
parks
>might help cause tornados to form? Oh the joy of an observational
study!

Unfortunately for your theory, the tornados that hit trailer parks
almost always form elsewhere - that allows the trailer occupants to hear
the famous "freight train" sound and develop the proper sense of
impending doom before being swept into the clouds.

>... further thought ....
>
>Hmm, now I am starting to worry that if I take this any farther I
might
>fall in to a bottomless pit of paranoia.
>
>I think I will just let this one go. Call it catch and release.

In his book "Founding Fish", John McPhee mentions that most shad which
are caught and released will die from the trauma or from exhaustion, so
the primary purpose of the release is to make the person fishing feel
better.  He also says that catch and release is forbidden in some
European countries as a form of animal cruelty.




--
JackHamilton@FirstHealth.com
Manager, Technical Development
Metrics Department, First Health
West Sacramento, California USA