Preparing for Irene

On Thursday, after watching The Weather Channel for several hours and then watching a presser that our mayor had, I decided to head out to Trader Joe's for some basic supplies.  I wanted some non-perishables just in case power went out for several days, and since I have a gas range, I wanted some things I could feasibly open and cook without needing to do anything else.

Yesterday, my friend Sue called and asked if I needed a ride to the store for stuff, which I thought was extremely kind and considerate.  Since my trip to TJ's had been via trolley, I was happy to take her up on her offer.  On the trolley, I can only carry so much -- both in volume and weight.  But going via car, I could get as much as my wallet will allow.

So we set off.  The difference in number of people and stock was day and night!  There was no water left (except sparkling), fresh produce was going like hotcakes (which was not going at all), and the check-out lines were backed up to the end of the store.  It was nearly impossible to shop because of the people standing in line.

One woman got exasperated at Sue when Sue left her cart in the middle of the aisle to get some cream cheese, but I'm not sure where she expected Sue to put the basket since the sides of the aisle were already taken up by people standing in line.  I pointed this out (in my "are you a complete dumbass?" voice) to her, but she just rolled her eyes at me.

Now, if this were a NORMAL day, I would agree with her -- there's no reason to leave a cart in the middle of an aisle.  But, really - let's think about this.  If Sue had rolled her basket to the end of the aisle, and gone back to get the cream cheese, I'm convinced that not everything she had left in the basket would have still been there when she got back to it (again, on a normal day - sure, everything would have been safe.  But yesterday, everything was a valuable commodity.).

Eventually, we got home in one piece.  I spent the rest of the day rinsing out and filling my numerous water bottles, filling my bathtub so I would be able to flush my toilet, charging my phone and laptop, and making sure my tornado bag was ready (I guess now it's a "hurricane bag," but growing up in Tornado Alley, I always call it a "tornado bag".)

Earlier today, I rearranged a few things in my basement and brought Felix's cat carrier upstairs just in case I need to corral him in a safe space.

The difference between tornado prep and hurricane prep actually isn't THAT much (this is my third hurricane, by the way).  I think it's just psychologically more taxing because you hear about the hurricane SOOOOO much more as it approaches.  With a tornado, it comes, it's over, and you move on.