As I've mentioned, I was really really bummed about leaving NYC and my friends and my job. But then Mother Nature got involved and gave me a big "Are you fucking kidding me?! Go to California with your husband and be happy it worked out so well already!" kick in the ass. So here I am waiting out a Category 1 hurricane. We'll call her "Irene" because everyone else is. Well, except my friend Mark, he calls her "Swirling Vortex of Death" (SVoD for short). At any rate, I successfully freaked myself out enough that I took an extended lunch break (I mean, I quit, right? There have to be some perks...) on Friday and went to Whole Foods at Columbus Circle. It was INSANE. Like the line stretched almost to the front of the store.
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| This was taken a few weeks ago in Whole Foods. This was normal busyness. Just imagine about 6 times as many people! |
After freaking out at work all afternoon with my co-workers and trying to remain calm while we were getting emails about how the office was shut down from 8am Saturday until 8am Monday. My officemate is in Evacuation Zone A, which means he had to leave his apartment by 5pm Saturday. Another friend of mine was supposed to get married Saturday, I don't know if it happened. I hope so for her sake. And yet another friend was picked up by her mom and whisked away to NJ to ride out the storm.
As for me, as soon as I realized that Zone A included most of downtown, I left work on the early side and immediately went sightseeing!
As for Saturday, I woke up slightly hungover (pre-hurricane partying with mojitos, aka always a good decision). This did not stop me from cleaning my entire apartment and clearing things away from my windows. I also filled my bathtub with water because that's what you do when there's a hurricane. Don't believe me? Google it. The maintenance guys checked my "storm windows". I also filled pitchers and water bottles with water because despite the fact a hurricane is coming, I'm really opposed to plastic water bottles. I mean, my tap water is free and tastes better. What I am not doing is ordering food from seamlessweb (i.e., the best invention ever). However, some people may be:
I'm still debating whether I'll be sleeping in the only 5 foot space of my apartment that is not in the direct line of fire for swirling projectiles of death coming through my window. The current plan is to wait for Irene's arrival and see how bad it is when it gets here. I'm adverse to risk, so I'll probably be camping out on my couch cushions and praying that the hurricane doesn't enter my apartment through broken windows. I'm watching the plant pot on the 2nd story roof of a building across the street from me and sending bad thoughts their way. I'm just hoping the winds don't blow the pot up 5 stories to my place.
Sunday, 10:10 a.m.
Last night I made the game time decision to just sleep in my own bed. This was an excellent decision because, to be honest, the hurricane was quite underwhelming (in a good way!). I've actually experienced worse winds/ rain—at least in my apartment. And that flowerpot? Didn't even budge. Also, I still have power and the rain has stopped. There doesn't even appear to be much of a wind. I'm experiencing some major cabin fever. However, there's nowhere to go (everything's closed) and nothing to see since sightseeing during rainy weather is not ideal. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous this week so I'm hoping to take some more extended lunch hours. I mean, I did do the remaining downtown area in about 2 hours (including transit time). I guess that's if the transit system is up and running by then since they shut it all down yesterday at noon.
Anyway, it all boils down to this: I'm safe, and I'm very grateful that I'm underwhelmed!
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