Batten down the hatches


As some of you are possibly aware, a hurricane tiptoed past New York City over the last couple of days.

So many times, the build-up for these events is much more serious than the actual happening. That was not the case this time around, as the subways are still down and will be for days yet. Battery Park hit a new flooding record. The US death toll is close to forty already, and the search-and-rescue efforts are just getting started. While the ‘hurricane’ was only a Category One, the effects of the entire freakish storm system will linger for some time.

But for Joanie and I, the storm was… well, personally, it didn’t live up to the hype.

On Sunday, we were on a road trip to Rhode Island when we heard that the mass transit would be closing down at 7 PM that night. Instead of spending the day enjoying the sights and sounds (and smells – lots of fish, apparently) of Providence, we went to… WalMart. Where we finished the stocking-up process begun on Friday by picking up such staples as a tiny flashlight for my keychain, two (more) gallons of water, and Honey Bunches of Oats. (They were on sale.)

After Joanie sang in the competition that was our actual reason for the trek, we dashed back to the car and put the pedal to the proverbial metal. I am reasonably certain that we did not dip below 80 for any appreciable stretch of the drive, as I was already loathing the idea of dropping Joanie off at our apartment, driving to La Guardia to turn in the rental car, and catching a cab back into Manhattan.

But really, it was fine.

We made great time, the cab-driver was quick and polite, and Joanie and I went to bed by 8:30 PM on Sunday.

On Monday, we left the apartment for a grand total of four minutes all day – we spoke to an older neighbor to let her know she could come visit us if she got bored or lonely – and otherwise…

Well, I will let a recent internet meme speak for our activity level.

What the news media thinks we did:



What our parents think we did:

What we feel like we did:

What we actually did:

Not only did we never lose power or water, we never lost internet. It was about as pleasant as a natural disaster could be.

Life continues tomorrow, as there’s work to be done and places to go. Thanks to everybody who sent us your prayers, warm wishes, and Facebook jokes during the ordeal, minor though it was for us – we do appreciate it, and all of you, very much.