Toney didn’t want me to go to work yesterday — said she had a bad feeling — but I thought I should at least go in for a few hours. So I left at 2:00, as normal.
And it wasn’t good. The sky looked weird, it was raining sideways, and there were occasional gusts of wind that almost blasted me into the next lane of traffic. And from all reports, things would only get worse. As I was going across Montage Mountain, I thought, “Shit, I should’ve stayed home. I’m a goddamn idiot.”
It didn’t help that I was listening to the radio while I drove. I had it tuned to an AM news station, and they were doing wall-to-wall hurricane coverage, of course. And they were basically telling everyone the apocalypse was upon us. Before it was over, the eastern seaboard of the United States would look like a Pop-Tart with a big bite taken out of it. And Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is only 125 miles from NYC, and definitely within the bite radius.
Finally, I’d had enough of the scaremongering, and put in a CD. Without the power of suggestion blaring from my speakers, it suddenly seemed a little less scary out there. It wasn’t good, but I decided I’d probably be OK.
Several of the employees in my department didn’t make it in, and many more said they were only staying until “lunch” break at 8:00. I certainly wasn’t going to try to talk anyone into staying; it was shitty outside, with added shittiness in the forecast.
Plus, I planned to leave, too. I felt a little guilty, since I’m the captain of the ship, but I was afraid of being stranded down there. I had visions of trees across roads, and sparking power lines at neck level. Being a hero doesn’t pay too many dividends, I’ve learned, in an office setting. Maybe on the battlefield, but not in the cubicle farm.
At the height of the storm a tractor trailer backed into our receiving doors, and I walked out there to see what the driver had to say. He told me he’s from Mississippi, and it’s his opinion that everybody’s acting like a giant pussy up here. I chuckled and returned to my desk, mildly shamed.
I called a meeting at 7:30, and learned that two more people planned to leave at lunch. And at 8:00 most of us took off. The worst of it was supposed to happen after 9:00 p.m., and we all wanted to be home with an adult beverage before then.
And it was raining… Nothing else. It wasn’t nearly as windy as it had been when I was coming to work; it was no different that a thousand other nights I’d driven home in a downpour. As I was going across Montage Mountain, I thought, “Shit, I should’ve stayed at work. I’m a goddamn idiot.”
There was a 45 mph speed limit on I-81, and cops were pulling people over left and right. They weren’t joking around with it, so I set my cruise control for 50. It felt like I was barely moving, and expected to see dogs passing me on the right. But I can’t be paying no $250 fines…
When I finally reached our little town here, the streets were nearly deserted. But Wendy’s was open, I was hungry, so I went inside. I ordered a #1 with cheese, no pickles, and a sweet tea. There was only one other person there, some guy with all sorts of notebooks open on his table. He was going to town with a highlighter, and taking an occasional blast off his coffee cup. He never looked up.
The wind picked up later in the night, and our lights flickered off and on. At one point the power went off for a few seconds, just long enough to screw up all our electronics. But the storm was no big deal for us. Lots of people lost their power here, but we never did.
So, there you go: my storm report. In hindsight it’s easy to laugh at everybody’s hand-wringing in our area, but I’ve been in some bad weather in my life, and it’s not very funny. Especially when there’s social pressure to be far from your house during the whole affair. Funk dat. Regardless of what a Mississippi truck driver might say about it…
I hope everyone who got a heavier dose is safe today, and life returns to normal real soon. I’ll be back tomorrow.
See ya then!
Now playing in the bunker
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Uno.
Here in So. Cal it’s been a steady 80 degrees or so, with a bright sun and cool nights. Winds blowing gently to the NE.
All kidding aside though, I do hope everyone and their families is safe and well. And please, people, DO NOT let your damned kids play outside in the middle of a hurricane. Trees might fall and them and they might die. The.End.
*on
We only had the lights flicker about a half-dozen times down here in Northern Virginia too – just long enough to take down the PC almost every time. Lotta wind but no trees down that I can see. We’ve got some friends of my wife’s that live in the panhandle of WV with us; she works close by and didn’t want her 3-year-old 40 miles away in this crap. Good thing they came because they lost power up there and I bet it’s days before they get it back.
Glad it was a non-event for you. Looking at the photos of NYC, it seems that not everyone fared as well as you. I hope everyone stays safe out there.
We’re supposed to be getting ‘Frankenstorm Junior’ here (yeah, they’re actually calling it that – in English!) tomorrow. I must admit, I’m freezing my tits off already and it’s not even November yet.
I mentioned yesterday to all my friends on the East Coast that in the Pac NW the kind of heavy rain, wind, and flooding that they are experiencing is simply called “November” . Sack up.
oh and another thing… earthquakes
Glad you fared alright. It’s surprising how many places look like Katrina “Yankee” Edition, while others are just fine. Weird. With all of the advanced warning that hurricanes get it floors me how many people act like its no big deal. Down here we’re lucky to get 2 or 3 minutes warning before we get vacuumed naked into our neighbors back yard by mother nature. And yes I admit that Hurricanes and earthquakes are scary, but its just not as terrifying as a good ole’ tornado. Be safe & don’t drink the water.
“Vacuumed naked into our neighbors back yard by mother nature” is the best description of a tornado I’ve ever heard. I’ll be stealing it the next time we have a tornado warning (and I live in Kansas right by the Missouri state line, so I won’t have to wait long).
Thanks, I needed that laugh! We have plenty of tornadoes, here, too, and the husband always laughs at me for going to bed fully clothed when the weather is bad. He can laugh all he wants, but I won’t be the one on the local affiliate at 6pm wearing nothing but ratty old drawers and an old concert t shirt.
No severe weather here (so far!) We’ve had at least three hurricane events brush by Ohio in the past 5 years. Very, very weird!
Now, if we could only have a tsunami come sweeping in from Lake Erie, I could complete an entire section of “Severe Weather Bingo!”
It rained like hell here in the ‘Burg. In fact still raining. When I left to venture out this morning, I fully expected one of our vehicles to have a tree in the front seat. But, thankfully, only leaves scattered about.
We have a half dead tree that looms over the roof where our baffroom is located. My boyfriend was to cut it down this past summer, but it’s always forgotten about until you’re sitting on the pot hoping it doesn’t plow through the roof…next thing you know you’re found crushed under a tree, toilet in pieces and your pants down around your ankles.
Hope everyone on the east coast is doing well and getting through the Frankenstorm ok. Madz…how’s it going? Whatever you do, SAVE THE MEAT!!
My comment awaiting moderation?? The hell??
That usually only happens to me after I clear my cookies to hide all the shameful porn I’ve been looking at.
I agree, you Yanks are a bunch of pussies.
But that isn’t really to blame on the individuals as much as it is regional culture. When you most common natural disaster is bad traffic and the most damaging dissaster requires the purchase of additional sidewalk salt, who can expect you to fair in such a devastating storm.
*old man voice*
WhyGrowing up in Louisiana, we didn’t even close school for anythin’ less than a Cat 2 hurricane.
Now living in Arizonee, we get bluster gusts off them mountains reaching up to nigh 90mph and sustained winds between 50-70mph for days on end. By god that’s just free air conditioning ’round here.
I thought the biggest natural disaster in the north east was Snookie.
And I agree… youse guys are pussies.
Been snowing here (in the CWV) all night and day, which is weird because we normally don’t get any kind of snowfall until at least December. Crazy deal for the mountains east of here though. The ski resorts are absolutely LOVING this shit because they can now open in November and not really have to make much snow.
Holy
Fucking
Shit
That’s about the best way I can describe this storm. My house survived, but I spent 1/2 the night curled up on a loveseat. After a few hours of being twisted like a human question mark, I ventured upstairs. The full moon was behind a cloud, but I could still see pretty well outside. I saw a lot of branches down. I have shingles ripped off the roof. When the sun cme up, it was goddamn bedlam out there.
But even that was nothing compared to the city and New Jersey. My mother lives a block away from the dangling crane on 57th street. Thank GOD she didn’t need to be evacuated.
Take a gander at some of these pictures.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/hurricane-sandy-strikes-east-coast-gallery-1.1194577
Madz…glad to hear you’re OK. Those photo’s are amazing. Some of those people have lost their minds though! A little too close for me!
It’s just very sad – the Jersey shore is completely destroyed. I spent so many summers there and to see it all washed away is unnerving.
Our power probably won’t get restored until friggin’ Thanksgiving. Last time – last year – Irene – we went through about $400 in gas to keep the generator going. It took a week to get power back.
Glad you’re safe, that’s all that matters in the long run.
Well, here in Central Ohio we’re used to blizzards and such, but not usually in October. Problem with this thing was, it was called a tropical storm, a hurricane, a tropical depression, whatever, so evidently nothing bing-bing-binged up there for folks around here, who could not seem to fathom the difference between sustained winds for hours upon end, with enough wind chill to turn rain into snow, and enough of same wind chill to turn road puddles-into slush-into ice and cycle back through all day long, and a simple summer storm with lots of rain and wind. Consequently, nobody was interested in getting groceries in, nobody wanted to put gas in the truck, and nobody cancelled school until 30 minutes before we were supposed to be there, which means we were all ready so what was the use anyway. It’s not the worst storm I’ve been through around here–5 days without power in an ice storm kinda holds that hallowed spot, but it ranks right up there in stoopid because nobody seemed to be able to wrap their head around the historic and unprecedented weather pattern we are still experiencing. So far, all the trees out back that I hoped would finally lay down since they would be blowing away from the house instead of leering wildly over it like they usually do when we have a big wind are still standing. The huge vertically half rotten oak at the end of the driveway is still looming over it, and I guess that’s ok for now, since it’s actually a right of way there and not part of our drive, not part of the county road, so nobody will pay a cent-or the multitude of cents it would take-to have it removed. Nobody in my immediate family has had any serious consequences from the storm, although I have one on the lake who went out to eat at the height of it all and enjoyed telling me about the 18 foot wave that washed over their car, and another one south of here who was hoping for an all night money making Red Cross run to Pennsylvania, of all places, during the night last night. The one in the big city up the road just ignores me and lets our daughter in law tell us that big wreck on the beltway didn’t affect them, or the tornado in their part of town went up the other street, and so on and so forth. I guess they all take after their dad. And my dumpster can didn’t blow over in all this because I stowed it in my mom’s garage next door. She’s not happy about that, but then it wouldn’t be her chasing the thing up the road to retrieve it, either. I’ve had my nap and I’m ready to wander into the kitchen and try to make a homemade caramel mocha cafe. Never turns out right, but hope springs eternal. Can’t wait for spring. And it’s not even winter yet. This all must have something to do with daylight savings time. You don’t mess with mother nature. And you don’t keep messing with what you messed with in the first place. That has all been done, and look where it got us…
A running joke down here at the MS Dept of Archives and History is that FEMA destroyed more buildings than Katrina did. Just wait till everyone has to deal with the insurance companies. That’ll be the real shitstorm.
I can’t believe I ate the whole thing
Fair amount of sideways rain here, lots of wind. Surprisingly, one medium branch came down in my front yard. The tree in the backyard that usually sheds branches at the merest hint of a wind didn’t drop squat.
My uncle lost half a roof on one of his farm buildings. That amounts to the most severe damage I’ve heard occuring around the area.
No damage to report out here in the valley of the Great Salt Lake. It is currently mostly clear, 72 degrees, with pretty much no wind whatsoever at the SLC airport.
And on the other side of the country George Lucas sells it all to Disney for $4 Billion and the soul of everyone born between 1967 and 1986.
Fuck that Mississippi truck driver. I’d tell that bastard to go beat your feet in the mud..(kinda like ‘pound sand’ but more southern). Send that chaw spittin’ asshole over and down Eisenhower Pass (I-70 west of Denver) in January with one snow covered/ icey lane kinda open. (10 miles of 6%- 7%grade) I bet he wouldn’t drive it. He’d shit himself through an entire box of Depends in the chain up area. Fucking asshole truck driver! Fuck him!! Don’t even get me started on Donner Pass in Cali.
Even closer, send him down I-64 on Sandstone Mountain (3 miles of 8% grade) and see how far he gets. The damned truck escape ramp is DOWNHILL!!!!
Let’s just see how pussy you southern drivers are the next time they have to drive in a teeny bit of snow. I’m from the north and live in NC and southerners are the WORST drivers in those conditions.
I finally made it to the office today. Holy hopping hell – what a ride in. I had to swing into opposite lanes, drive under felled trees, go under dangling wires. It looks like a war zone out there.
And yet, this is NOTHING compared to New Jersey.
Man, I sincerely wish them the best in their recovery.
Amazingly, no damage at all here in my part of northern Virginia; the power didn’t even go out. My parents are in lower Manhattan and I have not been able to get through on the phone.
.
Channel 69 Reading, Pa, kept telling everyone to go buy flashlights, batteries, water, milk, and dildos for 3 days.
We were expecting a foot of rain and wind gusts exceeding 75 miles per hour.
OK, it rained for 30 hours and we had a little wind. Big deal, we had a storm. The biggest tree branch that broke off was as big as my middle finger, a non-event.
New Jersey, Delaware, New York, and southern Connecticut coast got hammered, but no problems here, thank God.
We did not lose electricity, cable, phone, or internet. No school Monday or Tuesday, pussies.
We were ready with food, water, generators, fuel, guns, ammo, armored personnel carriers, whiskey, bottled propane, extra dildos, and Hershey bars. The storm parted and kicked the shit out of areas north and south of here, but we had nothing.
I am too lazy to pick up the two twigs in the driveway, so I will run over them several times with the Rolls Corniche until they disintegrate.
Good day…