The Path of the Wind...
Today has been an interesting, and tiring, day.
There's the hurricane, of course. This morning, it looked like we would still get hurricane force winds, even way up here in Central Texas. So, of course, folks here in my little town freaked.
*shakes head and sighs*
I needed to go grocery shopping, not just for "just in case" but because we were getting really short, thanks to high gas prices. Anyhow, THO got paid, and I went early, though after I got there, I realized I hadn't gone early enough. Apparently, I should have started at say, 6 a.m.
I expected the store to be short on obvious things. Water. Crackers. Tuna fish. Duct and masking tape. Batteries. Baby formula. You know, the usual.
I didn't expect to find almost all the apples, save the Red Delicious, gone.
O_o???
I wasn't aware apples were such an important hurricane supply. Of course, I couldn't blame folks for leaving the Red Delicious apples behind. Personally, I like my apples to have a little flavor, you know?
The potatoes were gone, too. So was all the ramen, except the chicken flavor. And all the Softsoap antibacterial soaps. There were some other things, but I can't remember them off the top of my head now, but I do remember getting this oddly bizarre picture in my head of people sitting in their houses while the wind roars overhead, drinking gallons of water, and munching on raw potatoes and apples.
Oh, yes, the water... THO bought water last night. We always buy a case at the beginning of soccer season, using it for both soccer and for school. So, we were okay, but the Impossible Son's teacher had asked for small water bottles for her class, so I thought I'd look and see if there were any left.
Who was I kidding, really?
All the less expensive water was gone, and the stockers were putting out the cases of Dasani, and hauling out the more expensive stuff as well. And to my surprise, I saw people buying case, after case, after case. One man who was old enough to know better, really, had loaded up two baskets, and turned to his wife. "Better get another basket, honey," he said over his shoulder, "I don't think this is going to be enough."
I couldn't help it. Normally, I would have shook my head and just walked on by, but I was so stunned that I blurted, "Dude, just what exactly do you think is going to happen???"
"There's a hurricane coming!" he said earnestly. "We have to be prepared!"
"We are in Central Texas!" I said after blinking a few times. "It won't be near as bad here as it will on the coast!"
I really should have known better. There is a breed of male out here that... well, normally, they're polite to women, they open doors for them, they defend them, stand up when one walks into the room, etc... as long as she is quiet and respectful. And I admit it, I wasn't exactly respectful in this case. Write it down to shock, if you will, because I was. This breed gets very huffy and easily offended when us gals get... sassy. They get riled. And I must have really tweaked him, because he drew himself up, puffed out his chest, and said in very disapproving tones, "Young lady, this is serious, this is a very dangerous storm, and you just don't have any idea..."
And I very rudely interrupted and said, "Sir, I grew up in Houston. I've been through several hurricanes and many tropical storms, and I'll tell you right now, unless you got 20 or 30 people coming to stay at your house, you are not going to need that much water. In the meantime, you got a long line of people behind you, waiting to buy water for their families. And there's not a lot of water still sitting on the shelves. So... what you going to do?"
He stared at me, then looked around and saw what he'd been too busy to notice. That there were a lot of people standing there, waiting, like I had said, and watching him with expressions that went from amusement to downright hostility, and he turned to his wife, who had never left, by the way, and said grudgingly, "Guess we don't need that other basket after all."
*snort*
Guess I should have checked his basket to see if he had apples and potatoes, too!
I called my mom after I got home to see if they had been ordered to evacuate, and to just generally feel them out. The area of Houston they live in very rarely floods, so they'll be safe enough from that. It's wind damage I'm worried about. When Alicia hit in 1983, there was no flooding, but a tree fell over into their yard, missing the house by inches and ripping the power lines, as well as the breaker box, off the house and damaging part of the roof. Hopefully, they'll be okay.
The ones I am truly worried about are the Practical Sister and her family. They live in League City, and decided not to evacuate. Perhaps I should rename her the "Flaky" Sister. *shakes head* I can't control everything. I asked, and she told me not to be such a worrywart, that they'll be fine, and to try to convince Mother (PS calls her "Mother" while the Blonde One and I call her "Mom") to let the Blonde Sister come get her and Daddy and take them home with her. Mom said no, because the Blonde Sister's neighborhood floods easily.
Six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Well, at this point, I absolutely refuse to worry about it. For now, I'll just keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. It's really all I can do at this point.
There's the hurricane, of course. This morning, it looked like we would still get hurricane force winds, even way up here in Central Texas. So, of course, folks here in my little town freaked.
*shakes head and sighs*
I needed to go grocery shopping, not just for "just in case" but because we were getting really short, thanks to high gas prices. Anyhow, THO got paid, and I went early, though after I got there, I realized I hadn't gone early enough. Apparently, I should have started at say, 6 a.m.
I expected the store to be short on obvious things. Water. Crackers. Tuna fish. Duct and masking tape. Batteries. Baby formula. You know, the usual.
I didn't expect to find almost all the apples, save the Red Delicious, gone.
O_o???
I wasn't aware apples were such an important hurricane supply. Of course, I couldn't blame folks for leaving the Red Delicious apples behind. Personally, I like my apples to have a little flavor, you know?
The potatoes were gone, too. So was all the ramen, except the chicken flavor. And all the Softsoap antibacterial soaps. There were some other things, but I can't remember them off the top of my head now, but I do remember getting this oddly bizarre picture in my head of people sitting in their houses while the wind roars overhead, drinking gallons of water, and munching on raw potatoes and apples.
Oh, yes, the water... THO bought water last night. We always buy a case at the beginning of soccer season, using it for both soccer and for school. So, we were okay, but the Impossible Son's teacher had asked for small water bottles for her class, so I thought I'd look and see if there were any left.
Who was I kidding, really?
All the less expensive water was gone, and the stockers were putting out the cases of Dasani, and hauling out the more expensive stuff as well. And to my surprise, I saw people buying case, after case, after case. One man who was old enough to know better, really, had loaded up two baskets, and turned to his wife. "Better get another basket, honey," he said over his shoulder, "I don't think this is going to be enough."
I couldn't help it. Normally, I would have shook my head and just walked on by, but I was so stunned that I blurted, "Dude, just what exactly do you think is going to happen???"
"There's a hurricane coming!" he said earnestly. "We have to be prepared!"
"We are in Central Texas!" I said after blinking a few times. "It won't be near as bad here as it will on the coast!"
I really should have known better. There is a breed of male out here that... well, normally, they're polite to women, they open doors for them, they defend them, stand up when one walks into the room, etc... as long as she is quiet and respectful. And I admit it, I wasn't exactly respectful in this case. Write it down to shock, if you will, because I was. This breed gets very huffy and easily offended when us gals get... sassy. They get riled. And I must have really tweaked him, because he drew himself up, puffed out his chest, and said in very disapproving tones, "Young lady, this is serious, this is a very dangerous storm, and you just don't have any idea..."
And I very rudely interrupted and said, "Sir, I grew up in Houston. I've been through several hurricanes and many tropical storms, and I'll tell you right now, unless you got 20 or 30 people coming to stay at your house, you are not going to need that much water. In the meantime, you got a long line of people behind you, waiting to buy water for their families. And there's not a lot of water still sitting on the shelves. So... what you going to do?"
He stared at me, then looked around and saw what he'd been too busy to notice. That there were a lot of people standing there, waiting, like I had said, and watching him with expressions that went from amusement to downright hostility, and he turned to his wife, who had never left, by the way, and said grudgingly, "Guess we don't need that other basket after all."
*snort*
Guess I should have checked his basket to see if he had apples and potatoes, too!
I called my mom after I got home to see if they had been ordered to evacuate, and to just generally feel them out. The area of Houston they live in very rarely floods, so they'll be safe enough from that. It's wind damage I'm worried about. When Alicia hit in 1983, there was no flooding, but a tree fell over into their yard, missing the house by inches and ripping the power lines, as well as the breaker box, off the house and damaging part of the roof. Hopefully, they'll be okay.
The ones I am truly worried about are the Practical Sister and her family. They live in League City, and decided not to evacuate. Perhaps I should rename her the "Flaky" Sister. *shakes head* I can't control everything. I asked, and she told me not to be such a worrywart, that they'll be fine, and to try to convince Mother (PS calls her "Mother" while the Blonde One and I call her "Mom") to let the Blonde Sister come get her and Daddy and take them home with her. Mom said no, because the Blonde Sister's neighborhood floods easily.
Six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Well, at this point, I absolutely refuse to worry about it. For now, I'll just keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. It's really all I can do at this point.