In the case of an actual emergency...
My mother came busting into the room in the middle of the night telling me she heard sirens, we needed to all get up and go because there might be tornados or a flash flood.
To be fair, we had some crazy thunderstorms last night (I kept dreaming that country singers from the county fair kept trying to come in by bathroom window to try to get out of the rain) and I also heard sirens, but they wouldn't have woken me up; after the years I lived in NY a siren is a thing to shrug off unless accompanied by flashing lights and a loudspeaker. The usual indecipherable quacking sounds (instructions) did not follow the sirens, and further investigation (the radio, the weather website, the NOAA) did not yeild any kind of severe weather warnings.
I have no idea what was going on, but I was very annoyed to be woken up, especially as sleep has not come easily these past two weeks.
The good news: my emergency preparedness skills are better than I would have thought. I grabbed my windup radio, a rain slicker, a jug of water, and a first aid kit in a matter of seconds. The struggling to get dressed part while half asleep was harder. (I was rather embarrassingly sleeping in the nude.) Mom seemed upset that we couldn't get any information. "What if this was a real emergency!" she kept repeating.
"If it were a real emergency, there would be more information," I said. The logic that the reason there was no information was because there was no emergency didn't seem to be getting through to her, I'll try to discuss it again once I see her this morning.
My brother was also staying the night. He stayed up and folded orgami. I went back to bed, despite rumors that they might make a night of it and go find breakfast at the Waffle House out by the freeway. (That part was actually my idea, I was just too tired to implement it.)
All is quiet this morning. I have an appointment and am finishing my cup of tea.
To be fair, we had some crazy thunderstorms last night (I kept dreaming that country singers from the county fair kept trying to come in by bathroom window to try to get out of the rain) and I also heard sirens, but they wouldn't have woken me up; after the years I lived in NY a siren is a thing to shrug off unless accompanied by flashing lights and a loudspeaker. The usual indecipherable quacking sounds (instructions) did not follow the sirens, and further investigation (the radio, the weather website, the NOAA) did not yeild any kind of severe weather warnings.
I have no idea what was going on, but I was very annoyed to be woken up, especially as sleep has not come easily these past two weeks.
The good news: my emergency preparedness skills are better than I would have thought. I grabbed my windup radio, a rain slicker, a jug of water, and a first aid kit in a matter of seconds. The struggling to get dressed part while half asleep was harder. (I was rather embarrassingly sleeping in the nude.) Mom seemed upset that we couldn't get any information. "What if this was a real emergency!" she kept repeating.
"If it were a real emergency, there would be more information," I said. The logic that the reason there was no information was because there was no emergency didn't seem to be getting through to her, I'll try to discuss it again once I see her this morning.
My brother was also staying the night. He stayed up and folded orgami. I went back to bed, despite rumors that they might make a night of it and go find breakfast at the Waffle House out by the freeway. (That part was actually my idea, I was just too tired to implement it.)
All is quiet this morning. I have an appointment and am finishing my cup of tea.