(no subject)
Hurricane Irene is officially responsible for 43 deaths. 43. That's just- I mean, I know that hurricanes are deadly and very destructive, but after that earthquake didn't even have any reported injuries, it's just- devastating. From what I heard, there were a bunch of them that could have been avoided and it's heart-wrenching. Each time I heard another one on the radio, I just kind of- Ugh. It's terrible.
That aside, what I was worried about was our cats, inside AND out. I was so paranoid we were going to have to evacuate, which would have been really awful, because, uh, well, you know, crazy cat lady. A lot of cats, a lot of whom we would not be able to pick up and/or shove into carriers and we wouldn't even have room and just oh my god it would've been awful. But we didn't have to evacuate, and by far the best thing to come of Irene was our outdoor cat, Brownie, who we've been able to pet for ages (he even purrs and rubs into the affection most of the time), but have never been able to get inside. We tried once, and put him in our cage that we have, so that we could have him neutered/tested/etc (he'd already been fixed). But he hated being inside, and when we let him back out again, he flew outside and started meowing angrily. We'd tried to get him in a few more times, and he just ran right back out before the door could close.
This time we got him. My mom pretended to go to feed him, and she grabbed him and I got the door and she came in and I closed it and, uh. Then I kind of forgot to close the inside door, as opposed to just the screen door?
I mean, at least now we know that the pet screen we got holds up. To a cat. Hanging on it. And then scaling it. Yeah.
But oh man, New York, what are you even? Pre-storm there's a bunch of liquor stores that sold out. Because when you're going into a huge storm and hurricane shelter, you want to be drunk off of your asses. But even after Irene left, NYers didn't get much more logical. There was apparently a guy floating down- the LIE, I think? Yeah, down the Long Island Expressway there were a few kayaks and a canoe and some guy in a tube, just floating down. Apparently, tube guy flipped over, but then righted himself up, to the cheers of the people on the side who were apparently watching. Also, tri-state area dwellers, what the hell were you even doing out an hour before the storm, anyway? 'oh yeah, I'm at the beach, just watching the waves get bigger.' -_________O Reaaaaally?
The main thing here is just the massive power-outages. And how LIPA (Long Island Power Authority) sucks ass at restoring it. It took until Wednesday at 5:08 to get our power back. Most everyone lost it on Saturday night, around three in the morning. Do you know what was the main issue with other people? Wading through the waters, and clearing tree damages. I kept hearing on the radio 'We do not have an estimated time for when you will get your power back, but we're shooting for Friday night-Saturday. Our top priority is your safety." First of all, Friday would've sucked, because of Shabbat. We wouldn't have been able to do anything about it once our power got back, until Saturday night. I know at least one family that had that. Right through Shabbos, I felt so bad.
Second of all, bull freaking shit that our safety is their top priority. If that was true, then why were calls about live wires ignored? Why were traffic lights left out all over the place? Why were people that needed electricity, such as for respirators out-and-out ignored, when calling the emergency line? All of these were complaints in the paper, but I know first-hand someone who had problems with the last issue. Not okay, LIPA. You're not doing your job properly if you're letting that happen. Yeah, we all mad.
At least we managed to eat. We've got a grill and we had meat in the freezer (which by the end was sort of like a weak fridge-temp) and I grilled. Like a lot. So much meat.
So, I was listening to the radio a lot, because we've got a battery-powered one, and my god, just, some of the things people were saying. Here are some ridiculous quotes, that have no right to have been actually said.
" . . . we have a hurricane along the coast." WHAT? No. Is THAT what's been happening? There was a saddening amount of stating-the-obvious in the media.
"The choo-choos might slip-slide." I mean, I get that slip-slide sounds a little silly, but you don't have to trivialize it by saying 'choo-choo', goodness.
"Well, you know, the cloisters shrink a little, but it's a little invigorating!" Some British man talking about the lack of hot water. He was hilarious.
Buuuuut I guess that this is also sort of a head-count entry, or just a check-up on how people were afterwards. All in all we're absolutely fine, and I've been saying the prayer for thanksgiving (not the holiday), but whether you lived through it or you know someone, is everyone alright?
That aside, what I was worried about was our cats, inside AND out. I was so paranoid we were going to have to evacuate, which would have been really awful, because, uh, well, you know, crazy cat lady. A lot of cats, a lot of whom we would not be able to pick up and/or shove into carriers and we wouldn't even have room and just oh my god it would've been awful. But we didn't have to evacuate, and by far the best thing to come of Irene was our outdoor cat, Brownie, who we've been able to pet for ages (he even purrs and rubs into the affection most of the time), but have never been able to get inside. We tried once, and put him in our cage that we have, so that we could have him neutered/tested/etc (he'd already been fixed). But he hated being inside, and when we let him back out again, he flew outside and started meowing angrily. We'd tried to get him in a few more times, and he just ran right back out before the door could close.
This time we got him. My mom pretended to go to feed him, and she grabbed him and I got the door and she came in and I closed it and, uh. Then I kind of forgot to close the inside door, as opposed to just the screen door?
I mean, at least now we know that the pet screen we got holds up. To a cat. Hanging on it. And then scaling it. Yeah.
But oh man, New York, what are you even? Pre-storm there's a bunch of liquor stores that sold out. Because when you're going into a huge storm and hurricane shelter, you want to be drunk off of your asses. But even after Irene left, NYers didn't get much more logical. There was apparently a guy floating down- the LIE, I think? Yeah, down the Long Island Expressway there were a few kayaks and a canoe and some guy in a tube, just floating down. Apparently, tube guy flipped over, but then righted himself up, to the cheers of the people on the side who were apparently watching. Also, tri-state area dwellers, what the hell were you even doing out an hour before the storm, anyway? 'oh yeah, I'm at the beach, just watching the waves get bigger.' -_________O Reaaaaally?
The main thing here is just the massive power-outages. And how LIPA (Long Island Power Authority) sucks ass at restoring it. It took until Wednesday at 5:08 to get our power back. Most everyone lost it on Saturday night, around three in the morning. Do you know what was the main issue with other people? Wading through the waters, and clearing tree damages. I kept hearing on the radio 'We do not have an estimated time for when you will get your power back, but we're shooting for Friday night-Saturday. Our top priority is your safety." First of all, Friday would've sucked, because of Shabbat. We wouldn't have been able to do anything about it once our power got back, until Saturday night. I know at least one family that had that. Right through Shabbos, I felt so bad.
Second of all, bull freaking shit that our safety is their top priority. If that was true, then why were calls about live wires ignored? Why were traffic lights left out all over the place? Why were people that needed electricity, such as for respirators out-and-out ignored, when calling the emergency line? All of these were complaints in the paper, but I know first-hand someone who had problems with the last issue. Not okay, LIPA. You're not doing your job properly if you're letting that happen. Yeah, we all mad.
At least we managed to eat. We've got a grill and we had meat in the freezer (which by the end was sort of like a weak fridge-temp) and I grilled. Like a lot. So much meat.
So, I was listening to the radio a lot, because we've got a battery-powered one, and my god, just, some of the things people were saying. Here are some ridiculous quotes, that have no right to have been actually said.
" . . . we have a hurricane along the coast." WHAT? No. Is THAT what's been happening? There was a saddening amount of stating-the-obvious in the media.
"The choo-choos might slip-slide." I mean, I get that slip-slide sounds a little silly, but you don't have to trivialize it by saying 'choo-choo', goodness.
"Well, you know, the cloisters shrink a little, but it's a little invigorating!" Some British man talking about the lack of hot water. He was hilarious.
Buuuuut I guess that this is also sort of a head-count entry, or just a check-up on how people were afterwards. All in all we're absolutely fine, and I've been saying the prayer for thanksgiving (not the holiday), but whether you lived through it or you know someone, is everyone alright?