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Here's some of the action! This part of the river was where the Olympic Kayaking took place. As you can see, there were some great Level 4 rapids here. I'm on the front row. This first picture is us going into the rapid....

This weekend, 11 of my friends and I went to East TN and North Carolina to white-water raft and funyak. We went to the Ocoee River, where the kayaking portion of the 1996 Olympics took place!

I'm dead tired, so I'm going to make part #1 short. This was my first time to see the Ocoee River dry. You see, they have a dam upstream that only allows water to flow during the day. We got up early on Saturday morning to watch the water flow down. Here are some before and after shots from the bridge at the Olympic Center that I took. Same location:

Rafting pictures will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm going to SLEEP!

Ryan

It's been a very wet day across Region 8. As of 9:55 PM, we have had 2.91" of rain at the Jonesboro Airport. This sets a new record for the most rain to fall on July 21st. Because of the clouds and rain, we also set another record. The high temperature of 73° is the coolest high temperature on record for July 21st.

This wet pattern has many people wondering if this will go down as one of the wettest Julys on record. Well, we will have to see. The wettest Julys on record in Jonesboro standup like this:

7.96"-1922
7.73"-1958
7.07"-1917
6.80"- 1994
6.58"- 1957

As of right now, we have had 5.07" of rain this month. This is not even in the Top 15. With that said, we still have several days to go. We'll see what happens. Stay tuned!

Big thanks to Jim Belles at NWS in Memphis for some help on these climate numbers!

Ryan

It's been chilly this morning, but we missed the record...barely. Here are the lows from this morning:

Jonesboro 61°
Walnut Ridge 59°
West Memphis 59°
Mountain Home 57°
West Plains 59°
Fayetteville 52°
Newport 61°
Blytheville 61°

Near record lows again tonight. We'll see what happens!
Ryan

I ran into officer Pace and Boling this morning in Paragould. With so much rain falling, you can bet they were working the flooded roadways. This van on Lake street got caught in the waters and floated into a ditch.

Let's talk about air filters. Chances are, you do not change your air filter as often as you should, BUT maybe you would clean it, IF it was reusable. I have a K&N air filter in my truck. Unlike a conventional filter, this one can be cleaned and used over and over again. Clean air filters help your gas mileage and help your engines last longer. A reusable filter may save you money in the long run and increase horsepower!

Here's how you clean a K&N Filter... First, take it out a lay it on the ground.

Make sure you have the right kind of cleaner and oil. I paid about $10 for this and it can be used for several cleanings.

I'm sitting here at my desk this evening watching the memorial service of Steve McNair online. For those that don't know, I'm a big Titans fan. I was born and raised in Nashville. When the Titans came to Nashville, it was the greatest thing that ever happened to our city in my eyes. As a young man, the players were the coolest thing in the world. I can remember going to Titans games and waiting for players like Eddie George, Frank Wychek, Kevin Dyson, Derek Mason, and Bruce Matthews to drive into the parking lot at "Adelphia" Coliseum. They would then walk through the tunnel to the locker rooms and wave at us as we stood at the fence.

As a young journalist, I got press passes to the Titans game. I got to hang out with the players in the locker room. As a big fan, it was cool to hang out with some of the best athletes of Nashville. It's something I'll never forget and I'm sure my cousin that tagged along will never forget it either.

The older I get, I realize more and more that these athletes are human. They put their pants on like me. They have flaws. As Bishop Joseph Walker just said from Mt. Zion Baptist, we all have flaws. No man is perfect. Bishop Walker just got really fired up about people judging McNair. Only one can judge McNair. (He who has not sinned, shall cast the first stone.)

I'm guilty of it. I have made judgemental remarks. Today, we have all sinned and it's just as bad as McNair cheating on his wife.

That's hard to swallow, but true. He may not have been the perfect husband, but none of us are perfect humans.

Ryan

A week or so back I blogged about changing your oil. Many of you told me that you do not know how to change your oil, SO I grabbed a camera this weekend and I'm going to give you the basics. Women, YOU can do this too. It's easy and you can buy other stuff with the money you save! Reject The Recession! Yay. Here's what you need:

• Oil
• Oil Filter (book at the auto parts store will help you find the one you need)
• Washer
• Ratchet set
• Oil Drain Container (pretty cheap to buy and you can use it for life)
• Oil Filter Wrench

Ok, first... find the drain plug. It's the bolt on the side of the oil pan, under your engine. Your oil pan is simply that... a pan on the bottom of your engine. It's easier to find than you think. Use a socket to take the plug out and let the oil drain into the used oil container. Let's move on to the filter while that drains...
The filter is a cylinder-shaped piece on the side of the engine block. They vary in color. Good ones (Fram) are orange and generic ones are black. When you buy a new one, buy Fram!

KING5 got video of my brother-in-law returning from Iraq! BIG thanks to KING5! What an awesome weekend!

Last year, I posted THIS blog entry about my bother-in-law leaving for Iraq. Well, he's home! How cool is it to come home from Iraq on July 4th?!?!

I'm so happy for their family. His wife and girls must be sleeping so much better tonight with him in the house! Hopefully I will post some pictures soon, but here is a link to the news story from our sister-station in Seattle:

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/49943067.html (Watch The Video!!!)

Good night,
Ryan

For the past few months, my vents on my truck would only blow air out of the floor and dash. No air would come out of the face vents. As many of you know, I try to encourage folks to work on their own car. Don't get me wrong, if it's too big of a job.. take it to the pros! But, if you can save some money by doing a little homework, why not save some money!

Last night, I investigated the problem online. I discovered that it may be a vacuum line problem. I went outside and looked for the little tubes that come from the top of the engine and look what I found... A dry-rotted line that was split right open! Voila!
So I thought, how hard can it really be to change some tubes! I went to the auto repair shop of my choice and purchased 4 feet of line to change all three. If I'm going to change one, I better go ahead and change three. All of them looked rough! So, one at a time, I cut one off... and replaced it with a new one.

My oldest son recently took an "Painting On Canvas" class at the Greene County library. When he came home, he had this in his hand! I was very impressed and wondered if he hand-painted over numbers... or in lines... or something. It was a BLANK canvas and he just listened to instructions to paint the beach scene. If you get a chance to let your kids take some of these summer classes... DO IT!

The only odd thing... he says it is "Kansas". I'll work on that... LOL

Ryan

Here's one of the groups I have spoken with this morning at Kid's College in Rector. We've been having fun looking at the Wood Ford StormTRACKER, doing science experiments, and pretending to be in hurricanes! This picture below is "Sawyer" pretending to be a reporter in a hurricane. One kid was "the rain" with a bottle of water and another kid was the "wind" with a leaf blower. Fun times!

What are you plans for the Fourth of July. Staying here? Going somewhere? Tell me your destination and I'll make a forecast for it this week.

Ryan