Hurricane Prep

One of the guys in my division had a cruise scheduled for this week. Its destination? Cancun. I’m not sure if he’ll still be going, given that Hurricane Dean is currently slamming the Yucatan peninsula. We obviously escaped even minor impact here in Houston, which is good for us…but don’t hurricanes just plain suck? If they don’t hit us, they still hit somebody else.

On Saturday night, Jose convinced me to go to the grocery store to buy some water and canned food. I wanted to make fun of him, but then realized that it’s pretty dumb to make fun of someone who just wants to be prepared. The local media was hyping the storm so much that it made me want to run in the opposite direction: do absolutely nothing in the way of preparation. But I guess that’s my problem with the media in the first place. I don’t mind them talking about the storm, and telling the public to be prepared. It’s the “Hurricane Dean, a possible Category 5 killer, is very likely headed our way” talk that bugs me. Preparation is a good thing; panic is not.

Jose had a good point when he said that now if one does come our way, we won’t have to join the mad rush to the store. But now I have a few gallons of water and a few days worth of canned food sitting in my apartment. I put it in the back of my closet, where it will sit for the rest of hurricane season. At the end of the season, I’ll have to throw a “we didn’t have a hurricane” party. The menu will be water and spaghettios. You know you want to come.

My friend Leila has started biking with the goal of doing the Livestrong Challenge in October. Check out her blog if you’re interested!