I just realized yesterday that bananas grow what to me is upside-down.

I have a banana tree growing in my backyard and based on its size and growth rate I'm expecting it to fruit for the first time sometime soon, but each leaf that grows out come out rolled up from the center of the last leaf, and I couldn't visualize how the stinking bananas could grow out of there. (There are no stems or branches or trunk.)

Then I looked it up and saw pictures like the one in this video where all the bananas in a bunch have their butthole pointed up at the sky and their stem attached at their bottom.

Who knew?

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Thanks Dolbs, that's good to know even if I will almost certainly never encounter a tornado. So, windows rolled up then. After further thought, I think the truck probably is the best idea in this scenario. Belted in and covered with a heavy blanket to protect you from flying glass should the windows break (and it's safety glass anyways) or other small debris, would be the way to go, or just curled up in a ball against the firewall if that's the only option. In the truck, you're insulated from lighting strikes or downed high tension lines, and it would provide reasonable protection from small whirling debris. You also have the mobility option should that need arise.

Granted, the truck could get hit by large missiles such as tree trunks, other cars, fat old ladies, cranes or other heavy machinery, or indeed itself be lofted hundreds of feet into the air. If any of that sort of thing happens, though, you were screwed anyways.

So, when it comes to this, I'm not really sure this is EIA in the truest sense. Given the (apparently) 30 seconds they had to plan, I think they made a reasonable choice among the options available to them. After all, it's definitely a situation where an okay plan now is better than a brilliant plan in five minutes. And yes, they probably should have come up with a plan as soon as they realized they were moving to a trailer park in ND, so a bit of EIA there. At least they kept on top of their priorities and realized the very first item of business was to film it happening, and I commend their presence of mind to hold the phone properly even in such a life-and-death situation.

Of course, since we're betting on the tornado not scoring a direct hit anyways. It could be that under a bed or in a closet in the trailer might have been just as well (losing the mobility, of course). Maybe having a trailer collapse on you is bad.

I dont' know why I find this scenario so fascintating to dissect.

Heheheh..... Thelonius Trunk

Cool --

I've never been to that particular place (in Ayutthaya Thailand), but I've seen elephants actually playing an oversized xylophone-type instrument at the elephant training center / hospital in Lampang Thailand, a couple hours from my home.

Those elephants could play a simple melody, given a mallet held in the trunk and an instrument large enough to accommodate their trunk dexterity. I didn't see the mahouts / handlers exerting any sort of direct control over them while they were playing, so I think that they remember the songs, timing, etc. all internally. This elephant bobbing along with the music suggests that they have rhythm and an innate enjoyment of the music, also.

Amazing animals, and cool to watch!

Gotta love that 'reasonable and prudent' caveat considering any cop on any day can decide that for you.

Handy Tip #87364: As a buffer to speeding or (other) citations, carry about ten used asthma inhalers in your on-board bag-o-tricks and when a cop pulls you over, dump 'em out on the passenger seat and floorboard and start hyper-ventilating through a paper bag as he approaches your vehicle.

Way to work the soft-tissue if they have any, a decent cop will give you directions to the closest drug store and let you go without a warning...

(I also keep live hornets in the trunk with a quick-release latch for similar, uncomfortable occasions).

My example of the severed heads in the car trunk was taken from a book written by a judge. It was his statement that he wanted to hear it was a legal search whether it was or not, because he would not want a serial killer to walk on a 'technicality'. I know that in this case a 'technicality' is the law, but the law changes based on what people want.
I have never lied in court and a cop would be a fool to lie in court because perjury means you can't be a cop and if you lose your job, you lose your pension.

I understand that, but criminals are not usually acting criminal 100% of the time either, yet they are treated as if they are by police, prosecuted and imprisoned, and ostracized and 'dehumanized' after release by having most of their rights as a citizen removed. It seems that the reality is that we act like once you've committed (or are convicted of) a crime, you ARE a 'criminal' 100% of the time. If it's proper to do that to ordinary citizens because of temporary criminal activity, why not police?
OR...a murderer doesn't murder most of the time, that doesn't mean it should be ignored when they do...especially not because of their 'job'. If a cop is crooked once, he's a crooked cop. Period. (to me)
To your second point, that illustrates my original point exactly. If they (or you) believe it's proper to lie 'in the furtherance of their duties', why on earth would any reasonable person think that would stop on the stand? Since it's unreasonable to believe they would lie right up to that point, but not on the stand, one can not trust anything an officer says on the stand. That's going to be my position until it's made illegal for them to lie to a citizen, at any time. Even then, it's going to take a while for the 'culture' of lying to change.
EDIT: In your example, of finding severed heads in a trunk, you seem to imply that you think it would be the right thing to do to 'placate the judge' by committing the crime of perjury and saying it was a legal search even if it wasn't...If so, why should your testimony ever be given any weight if you think it's OK to just lie in court? If I misunderstood, forgive me.

You say you and your local force doesn't act this way, but I would ask...do/have you lied to/intentionally misled 'suspects' in order to get them to admit what they did? If so, I'm afraid I see you as part of the problem.
I fully agree with you on one thing, I feel this 'culture' trickles down from the top.

As a cop for over 30 years I can say this. Every police dept is different. They all have different expectations. If one dept is rotten, it's because the chief is rotten. The attitudes of the PD comes from the top down.

I was stunned when I heard a cop from another dept tell me he used to go around at night and spray pepper spray into a car's windshield vent because the car owner was a known shithead. That's when I began to realize that all police dept. are different.

Cops are reluctant to rat on other cops because cops know that when the chips are down, you can rely on your fellow officers to do everything in their power to save your ass from death and destruction. At the same time, some crooked cops are not going to be crooked 100% of the time, they will also stand between an average citizen and a bullet.

A cop can't be crooked 100% of the time, but he can break the law on occasion. Personally, I have no respect for an officer who will plant evidence or abuse prisoners or anyone else. But then, that's just the way we do things at our PD.

On the other hand, you have to understand that when a cop is testifying in court that he found several severed heads in a car trunk, the judge is going to want him to say it was all a legal search...whether it was or not.

Also, i don't believe cops should get special consideration. Most of them are already well compensated and they shouldn't be in it for the perks.

I'm in it for the adrenalin rush. It's the only job where you can jump over fences chasing a bad guy.

Good eye! Loved Star Burns ... so tragic about his untimely demise in that fiery crash. Then again, a meth lab in the trunk has it's inherent risks.

Light it on fire and stick it to the trunk.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were three dragon eggs in the trunk of this car.

Imagine breaking your leg in a strange world and being taken by a giant insect 1000x your size... who feeds you mashed meat off the end of a tree trunk. Isolated from any one else... kept in confinement... and 'petted' by a giant antenna that could crush you at any moment.

I bet he's screaming for us to let him die.... If only we could hear...

Fuck car alarms! I got Jason in my trunk. Nobody steals my car and lives!