Technology has a firm foothold in most of our lives these days. Mine somewhat more than others as my paycheck comes from the technology field. I realized how much technology has changed my own life last night. A line of fairly impressive thunderstorms moved through the area in the middle of the night. It seemed like the atmospheric electrostatic discharge burned a hole through the back of my eyes and the immediate thunderclap shook the whole house. My body reacted by shooting out of the bed to the window. The swirling winds were already gusting to 50 MPH. At this point, as head of household, it was my duty to check the storm’s status in preparation for getting the rest of the family sheltered.
Being in a small rural community, if you can call it that, we have what appears to be a storm siren down by the church but I have never it heard it sound. On with technology for information. I’ve come to realize that normal AM/FM radio in the middle of the night just isn’t a reliable method for the communication of severe weather, especially in San Angelo, Texas. That’s okay we have better methods. Check the TV. Never mind, satellite networks don’t work in a storm of this magnitude. The internet, the source of every techie’s power, would surely save the day. The National Weather Service Doppler radar is only 7 minutes delayed and the website will list any warnings the instant they are issued. In my house there are always two computers up and running at any given time, just need to locate the right system with the one eye I have open. NWS site does not appear. One quick observation to the network stack shows the internet is down. Again the rural community is at fault. We are just far enough out that we must use radio frequency (wireless) internet. Signal is not making it through the storm evidently. Do not fear yet. There are two amateur radios and a scanner in the house. If there was any up-to-date info on the storm the amateur storm spotters would be relaying it to the NWS. Batteries are dead in all three. Would I really have to resort to listening to the radio for this imperative information? I remembered that my Milwaukee Tools shop radio has a built-in weather radio. The battery is always charged in the shop radio when you live in the country. Flip in on and give a quick listen for a couple minutes. No tornado warning, just a severe t-storm warning for the area. No need to move anybody out of bed yet. Still being the control freak that I am simply listening to the weather announcement wasn’t good enough. I need further proof. The light bulb goes off. Duh, cell phone, internet, radar loop. I seldom ever use the internet on my cell phone since I have a computer nearby at all times. This situation just might prove the phone’s worth. Locate the phone. Check the service. Open the internet. Verify radar image shows no deep red or light purple. All is well… for now. Drift back into a blissful slumber until the next line of storms.
The only point to that story was to show how in the span of 10 minutes so much technology impacted my life. I’m not unique in this respect either. Technological improvements have changed the way most of live and work. The rodeo industry is not isolated from this movement. Even though our sport may have started behind the curve we are catching up fast. Innovative people are constantly looking for ways to use technology to make their rodeo/stock jobs easier, faster, and safer. Others are using tech to draw the fans closer to the sport. Some specialize in getting information out to contestants.
A quick sampling of a few websites shows how tech is playing a part in today’s rodeo. Boyd Polhamus, PRCA Announcer of the Year, hosts a video blog. You can find countless professional and amateur rodeo videos on YouTube. Live event results can be found at almost every major rodeo website. Contractors, contestants, and fans alike can see the marks earned every time their favorite bull has bucked out. These examples merely scratch the surface.
The purpose of this blog is to highlight the use of tech in the current rodeo world. On this blog journey I’ll talk about some of the things that we as the San Angelo Rodeo Committee are doing with technology, changes I see around the corner, and highlight useful technology. Hopefully, you will share some of your ideas as well. I believe by everyone sharing this information we can help thrust the sport into the next generation. Until next time explore, experience, and enlighten.