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| Hurricane Irene |
1. Fresh batteries - check
2. Water - check
3. Friction powered radio - check
4. Friction powered flashlight - check
5. Cash - check
6. Shelf staples - check
And most importantly:
7. Vodka - check and double-checked!
I have to say, New York does a great run up to a disaster. Mayor Bloomberg is trying to make up for the complete screw up of the blizzard in December, by taking control early and actually staying in town to do it! I guess since he couldn't get to Bermuda anyway, he might as well do his job! Okay that was mean, but...
Anyway, I have to say everyone is in a very jolly mood. Even the people in the long lines at the grocery stores who otherwise would be harrumphing and moaning have been good sports about it all. I guess impending doom will do that - bring out the best in people. Since there is a very good possibility that I will lose my internet service and I may have to leave you Commentaramians to fend for yourself, I thought I'd open the floor to anyone who has any survival tips for me. But let's start the ball rolling or the waves rolling (ha!) with this burning question:
What kind of wine does one serve during a hurricane? White or red?
29 comments:
Mean but accurate, Bev!
As to your wine question, the answer is neither. The correct answer is a Hurricane drink, such as are served on the glorious Gulf Coast (especially New Orleans):
Take 1 ounce fresh lemon juice, 4 ounces dark rum, 4 ounces passion fruit syrup, crushed ice, orange slice, and 1 maraschino cherry.
In a cocktail shaker, add lemon juice, rum, passion fruit syrup, and crushed ice; shake vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes and then strain into a tall glass or hurricane glass. Garnish with orange slice and maraschino cherry.
Enjoy, and stay safe!
Bev, I think beer goes with hurricanes, but I'm not sure. :-)
On survival tips.
1. Guns, lots of guns. Ask anyone who knocks what the password is. If the answer is "braaaaaains" then shoot them in the head.
2. Watch out for Mega Sharks on the streets if they flood. And just remember, you don't have to outrun the shark, just the person next to you... so trip everyone before you start running.
3. Never... ever wear a red shirt. (Star Trek tip)
4. Always carry a towel -- and Don't Panic. (Hitchhiker's Guide tip)
Okay, Andrew, you are actually the second person who has mentioned "sharks" in the streets. But the first to allude to zombies. I think that's probably what the towel is for, right? I mean, the zombie movie that I saw years ago ("Zombie", clever title, huh?) showed the non-zombies flicking them with a towel which made the zombies fall down, so the non-zombies could get away!
T-Rav, this is the East Coast, so a "hurricane" just wouldn't do! BUT thanks for the recipe. I bought lemons and oranges to stave off the inevitable scurvy, but putting it in an alcoholic beverage would have the same effect, right? Now where did I put those maraschino cherries? You know, the ones that cause cancer...
Bev, Actually, the towel advice comes from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe, which explains the importance of always having a towel thusly:
****************
A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.
As an addendum (I think that's the proper term) to Andrew's list, let me point out that your odds when facing a Mega Shark are greatly improved when there is also a Giant Octopus in the vicinity. As the SciFi Channel has demonstrated, these two will quickly begin battling each other, giving you the time necessary to escape.
Bev, I don't know what you're talking about. But then, the cherry's not really the point, is it? :-)
T-Rav - If the giant octopus doesn't show up maybe another giant rat can take on the megashark!
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/08/25/2011-08-25_giant_rat_killed_by_pitchfork_in_marcy_houses_is_believed_to_be_.html
T-Rav, That's true! If you can find a Giant Octopus or a Dinocrock or Urkel. . . they can all help you with your Mega Shark problem! I would assume NYC is crawling with Giant Octopi?
Bev, Have people really been talking about sharks being washed into the streets?
Andrew - YES!!! Why am I just hearing about the post hurricane sharks in the street issue? Mayor Bloomberg did NOT say ANYTHING about a potential sharks in the street issue...do you think they can make it to the second floor? LOL (or not)
Bev, According to the film Deep Blue Sea, they can herd you from floor to floor and then hunt you down at their leisure.
In real life though, I wouldn't be too worried.... although, when I was growing up, we used to live near a beach in Florida and I learned that sharks can live in as little as three feet of water. Just saying.
Maybe you should petition Bloomberg to buy some sharkboats at the Bass Pro Shop before the hurricane hits?
Andrew - If anyone knocks on my door and says "Landshark", I am NOT opening the door!
Since I'm living alone at my aunt and uncle's place (they live in CT) and it doesn't really lend itself to disaster preparation, there's only so much I can do. I stocked up on water and snacks and I wish I had purchased a hand-cranked radio/generator since my cell phone doesn't carry much of a charge anymore. Oh well. And basic battery-powered radios are surprisingly hard to come by nowadays (what with our iEverything world), unless I'm looking in all the wrong shops.
I went to Target yesterday and people were still just doing their normal, everyday shopping. Parents were buying their kids' school supplies and the lady in front of me was buying a PlayStation 3. I simply thought to myself, "How random!"
Wanna see a cool photo? Grand Central Terminal, nearly empty.
On the plus side, I probably won't have to go to work on Monday. :-)
Scott - Do you have a landline phone? If you need anything let me know. I'll give it to one of the sharks and maybe they can get it to you. Seriously, let me know if you need anything.
My parents gave me the hand crank radio w/flashlight after the blackout of 2005. I didn't have a radio then which made if very hard know what was going on. Fortunately I could call on my landline.
Did you take that picture of Grand Central? It's eerie, though I wonder why they don't use it as a storm shelter...
Oh and Scott - I was fascinated with what people were buying as "emergency supplies"! Well, actually it seems a little silly. Carts and carts filled with food like they were preparing to be stuck for a month! Okay, I do have enough liquor to last for a month...maybe, but really! And if there IS a power failure, frozen food is probably not a good choice. But hey at least people are preparing so we won't have to resort to cannibalism by Monday...
No, I didn't take that photo. It was posted on an NYC transportation blog I read called Second Avenue Sagas.
I have a landline phone but it's cordless and still plugs into the wall. Thanks for the offer, though! I've changed some settings on the cell so it should last longer than usual.
Two observations...
-This week has included (so far) the first serious hurricane I've had to deal with since '04 and my first earthquake. I felt a shudder for five seconds at work and that was it. In the year and a half I lived in LA, I felt bupkes!
-This is also the first hurricane I've dealt with that's being Facebooked, blogged, and Tweeted about. Someone even set up a dating profile for Irene on OKCupid! (I checked - I'm a 47% match.)
Again, thanks. And now, the waiting game...
Photos are already emerging of Obama in the Sit Room micromanaging the hurricane watch...
Bev, Maybe it's too low? It might fill with water (and sharks) as I assume the subways will.
Scott, You're living alone in your uncle and aunt's house? That sounds like I should ask what you've done with your uncle and aunt? Maybe we need to start calling you Serial Killer Scott?
Oh, Scott, I have an extra Hello Kitty plug in phone. I bought it at J&R. Funny story. So there were only "hello kiity" style phones left at J&R. The woman in front of me needed a landline/plug in phone, but would NOT lower herself to buy a HK phone. I mean what difference does it make. It's an emergency phone. Does it really need to match the decor?? Anyway, sorry I knew I should have contacted you to make sure you were covered.
I felt the earthquake too. Longer than 10 seconds though. Unsettling. I think you had to be sitting down to feel it.
Andrew -
Maybe we need to start calling you Serial Killer Scott?
That sound you hear is my eyes rolling out of my head. :-)
Bev -
An extra Hello Kitty phone, eh? Back when Get Smart premiered on Nick at Night in 1991, they briefly sold a working landline shoephone. I've regretted not buying it ever since!
"Maybe we need to start calling you Serial Killer Scott?
That sound you hear is my eyes rolling out of my head. :-)"
Andrew - That is actly-exsay atwhey a erialkillerse ouldwe aysay! Just sayin'...
Scott, Sorry about your eyes. I hope they roll back!
Bev, hat'sa hatwa I houghta oota. ;-)
In any event, stay safe everyone and watch out for sharks....
With all the hype that's going on, I'm gonna be really disappointed if I don't have to resort to cannibalism...
Sharks in New York City? A Hello Kitty phone? That sounds like a movie on the SciFi channel!
Bev, I'm totally with you on #7. A pitcher of martinis (don't forget the olives!) would win over matches and flashlights.
Now that it's the day after, I have to say, the news reports have been all over the place! First they pan to a guy surfing; then they pan to an idiot weatherman getting drenched by...toxic waves? I'm totally confused. If only we could get some of that rain in the desert...
Writer X: I like mine with a twist...many, many lemons...er...lemon zests were sacrificed for the cause...
Yes, the coverage is all over the place. This has turned out to be more of a typical "nor'easter". Don't get me wrong, I think the Mayor was right to plan ahead. He had a lot to prove.
Thank the Good Lord that Obama was there to show us the way! All of the photos of Obama in the Sit Room in charge, were a great comfort in my hour of despair...
Yeah, I felt much better for those of you on the East Coast when I saw Obama at the helm. Not. Hopefully someone got him an ice cream cone.
A quote from someone on BH -
"Thanks, President Obama, for using your downgrade skills to move the hurricane down to a tropical storm before it hit the NYC area."
Bev, Nice! That's actually the one proven skill Obama has! :-)
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