Earth-shattering kaboom?

So a little before 5 am here, there's a flash of light from the west (how bright, I dunno -- I was half asleep) followed 5-7 seconds later by a long rumbling sound, about twice as long as your run-of-the-mill thunderclap, I guess. So either we're having thundersnow -- which is not unheard of, I know -- and this was the only lightning strike of the night, or something on the other side of town exploded (there were sirens about 3-4 minutes later).

It was not, as my first thought usually is when there's a flash of light or satellite interference, Fort Riley getting nuked. That would've taken a lot longer for the sound to get here, and it probably would've been a bit louder.

And now I'm awake. Bother.

Our...well, her...long national nightmare is over

A 15-year-old girl who had the hiccups for more than five weeks finally got relief.

After trying countless remedies and attracting national media attention, Jennifer Mee said her hiccups suddenly stopped around 5 p.m. Wednesday.

No one is certain exactly why she was able to breathe freely again. This week, she has been to an infectious disease specialist, a neurologist, a chiropractor, a hypnotist and an acupuncturist. She also tried a patented device that is designed to stop hiccups.

She lasted a month longer than I would've without stepping in front of a bus. Kudos.

Picspam, severe weather smorgasbord edition

So this morning it was thundering and snowing poodles. Today it was windier than a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting, and the snow's almost all gone but tornadoes are beating the hell out of the country. Is this the apocalypse? If so, I'm kinda sad; I'm dead tired and am going to have to nap through it. So enjoy. Lemme know who wins. ( 44 pics below.... )