We Interrupt this Program to Bring You Breaking News or a Weather Report!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

 

Yesterday, we had an Earthquake. I was not watching TV prior to feeling the quake.  If I had been and someone could have predicted the quake ahead of time and interrupted what I was watching to tell me, I doubt that I would have heard what they said. I have become immune to these Breaking News or Weather Reports and almost immediately change the channel.

Don’t get me wrong. I am interested if it is truly a major event and certainly understand cutting into any show, but in the old days, they ran a ticker tape along the bottom of your TV screen for the not so critical stuff and you could stay tuned to the news if you were interested. Today, with the media trying to one up each other, it is no big deal to the powers to be to stop a season finale in mid-show to tell you that there was an accident on Highway 95, but they have no details to report, or there is a storm brewing in the Northeast and watch a Weather man standing by a salt truck, primed and ready to go, next to a highway showing nothing but cement.  Truthfully, watching a turtle cross the road might be more exciting. My all time favorite is when they interrupt a show to tell you the President will be speaking in thirty minutes. Ok, catch me in thirty minutes. Personally, I do not find this riveting and feel eventually we are going to get to the point that one station is interrupting another station’s interruption and I am never going to get to see how The Mentalist ended.

 

 

It has gotten so bad here on our news that in the winter, I am starting to think ABC, CBS, and NBC have gotten together to create one never-ending show called “Doppler Radar!”  Talk about beating a dead horse to death and they keep up the frenzied weather reports until every sane person is off to Wal-Mart to hoard bread, toilet paper, and milk.  God knows if you can’t get out for two days, you need 14 gallons of milk sitting around and three cases of toilet paper, just in case.  Maybe these people need to really be thinking about cutting back on the fiber, if they are estimating using that much toilet paper in a few days.

I love, also, when it is pouring outside, or snowing outside, and they interrupt what you are watching to tell you that we might get rain or snow. I’m not a Rocket Scientist, but I figured that out by looking out the window and if they would go back to tracking the storm and leaving me alone, I could still hear Carrie Underwood sing on American Idol.  My mom is ready to start a march in Washington, DC, if they break in to one more of her Price is Right shows.

 

When Hurricane Isabel hit a few years back when we lived in Bel Air, MD, my youngest daughter tracked that storm like she was a Meteorologist. All she cared about was whether or not she needed to finish her homework or if she had a few more days to put it off until it became a crisis situation. We laughed and kept telling her that hurricane was not going to affect us at all and to ignore the weather reports.  Well, maybe this is one time I should have kept our TV on the weather channel and listened instead of yelling at the screen, “Hey idiot, I am sick of hearing about the stupid weather!” because, sure enough, when the hurricane hit we were totally unprepared and of course, our power went out immediately.

Up until this point, our emergency kit included a few Yankee candles, matches, and some M&M’s.  After we surveyed our kit, and determined those M&M’s were not going to last three people more than one day, off to Wal-Mart we went in the horrible weather. As we were driving away, we could see our youngest daughter illuminated in the window by several of the Yankee Candles, mouthing, “I told you, I would be out of school.”

 

Luckily, we found two stores open and all the employees thanked us for coming in.  I think the greeter said something like, “Welcome to Wal-Mart, unprepared bozos like you help keep our store open on a night like this.”  When we got back home, we gained some respect for the power of Mother Nature, because trees that had been standing when we left were now blown over.  Our neighbor told us that one of the trees crashed to the ground moments after we had walked by it. I said to my husband that we were really lucky that the tree didn’t hit us and hurt us and I suspect because he was not relishing being in the house without power and a woman who is nuts when the power is out, he said, “I guess.”  

 

We spent a harrowing night sleeping in the living room listening to tree after tree crashing to the ground.  Our power was out for four days and in the scheme of things seems minor, but we sure missed our electricity, and my husband ended up waiting in line for five hours for a generator.  Our daughter, who never gives up on those Hallmark moments, kept having us play games by candlelight. After several rousing games of Lucyopoly, Monopoly, and Christmasopoly, I might have, in fact, grabbed the Gingerbread Scissors and yelled, “Don’t come any closer! “ when I saw her flying up the stairs with Dogopoly in hand. Shortly after that incident, my husband unplugged the refrigerator from the generator and plugged the TV in instead so she could watch a movie.

 

Yesterday, we had an Earthquake. The magnitude of the quake is not something we East Coasters are used to and it caught many of us by surprise. Once again, Mother Nature proved that she can be one powerful woman and should be respected.  Today, I turned on the news and heard reports of a powerful Hurricane headed up the East Coast.  We should all have an Emergency kit and plan in place, in case we have to live through the unexpected, and our emergency kits should contain all the necessary items we might need for both humans and our animals. Maybe that Earthquake was a reminder that we shouldn’t let ourselves get too complacent and think “Nothing like that will ever happen here!”  I just wish that some of these TV stations would only interrupt when it really is important and not for every little thing, in a game to beat another channel out of delivering something first. It is starting to be like The Boy who Cried Wolf, and I hope we don’t ignore the warnings, when it turns out to be something important.  Meanwhile, everyone stay safe and I am off to the store to replenish our M&M's supply, after listening to the morning Hurricane weather reports. You can never be too prepared!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Shelly, You left Hawaii to come back to all this....too bad you couldn't have extended your stay :) I just hope our power does not go out. Good luck!! Nice to have you back!

[shelly]

Agreed Laurie... especially the part about the M&Ms.   Years ago, maybe the earth would have stopped spinning in situations like this, but NOW???? I don't think so.... I may be eating my words tomorrow, but for now, I'm just worried if my power will be out longer than the batteries in my laptops will run!  LOL  (I just said to one of my teacher-friends, that these hurricane weather reports make me feel like it's January and I'm waiting for a snow storm to give us a snow day off from school - LOL)

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Janel, I hope your DH guards your boat and stays safe. Our friend has a sailboat in Annapolis. Small world. I hope the Marina paid for your battered boat. Thanks for your nice comment.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Anne, I hope the hurricane passes you by. Stay safe and good luck. Poor Haley. Luckily, my dogs love the rain, so we do not have that problem.

Jane, When we moved from IN to MD, I good not believe the difference in how they reacted to snow. A little dusting closed schools. Traffic almost stops when it rains. So different. I don't know anywhere to go that doesn't get some bad weather. You are right...get some M&M's!

Donna, I am so glad you were ok last year. I hope you are home safe and sound.

Angie, Thanks for your comment. LOL about the Doppler Radar :)

[Janel and Sophia]

Well Laurie, this morning I kissed my DH goodbye at the airport and told him to be safe...  He is about to enter the Maryland battle zone..  We keep our sailboat on the Chesapeake Bay south of Annapolis.  In fact we only just got back from there 10 days ago... Like you, we thought Isabel would be a non event and boy were we wrong!!!  We were the only boat in the marina that was damaged.. Guess what it was not our fault! The marina told us to prepare and so we hired someone at the last minute to take sails and canvas down.  It was the marina that did not do there prep and a huge ice chest floated off their dock and rammed into our hull...  This is so not going to happen this time...    DH is there, ready to fight off any errant chests that float by, whether it be human or man made.  Loved your story and once again, a funny delightful read.  LOL

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

Oh, and Haley hates hates rain.  How in the world is he going to be able to pee and poop?  The rain slicker will blow off him and the rain suit causes the zombie walk which I don't think is conducive to eliminating.

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

The weather alert radio just went off.  The National Weather Service was advising us of flash flood warnings for Friday night.  Maryland thru I think it was NC.  I quit listening.  The "cry wolf" thing.  We are very close to where Irene should strike North Carolina.  We may or may not get hurricane force winds.  I am not very excited about this and just wish it would go away. I have been very stressed out today. 

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

I moved from Mi where we had tornados and blizzards to Fl where I now deal with the rainy season and hurricanes.  For a couple of years I was in Augusta, Ga, they had wind and ice storms.  Can someone please direct me to the nearest place that doesn't have all the severe weather?  Oh - and I guess I'd better go get some M&Ms.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Glad everyone is ok! Expect the unexpected right? Great story!

[Bonnie and Kona]

Oh my goodness, Donna! We are all so grateful you made it home safely in that storm last year. I am hoping that Irene will go east out into the ocean. When I have been watching the weather reports I have been thinking of you specifically. Stay safe.