Rant #567: Hello, Irene

We've been through an earthquake on the East Coast this week, and now the time has come to look at the next odd disturbance that is supposed to come upon us here in the East.

Depending on where you are on the East Coast, Hurricane Irene is supposed to be hitting us either today, tomorrow, on Saturday, or on Sunday.

The storm pummeled the Bahamas earlier this week, hit North Carolina today, and will slowly move up the coast. It should hit New York late Saturday and into Sunday.

I am sure the religious zealots are saying that we are getting these disturbances because we are sinners, and we now have to pay for our sins.

New Yorkers, like Californians, are full of sin. Me too, I guess.

Anyway, as I said in my previous post, my family and I have been through one major hurricane, Charley in 2004. I would hate to think another one of that magnitude is coming to my doorstep this weekend.

Some are already calling it the East Coast version of Hurricane Katrina.

That may be going a little bit too far, but some people are scared. Those in North Carolina--where the hurricane will supposedly be at its worst point--are reasonably concerned. Many are patching up their homes as best they can to survive the expected onslaught, others are just getting the heck out of the state until this thing blows over.

In New York, we are kind of taking a "wait and see" attitude about the whole thing.

By the time it reaches here, it should be way out in the ocean. That doesn't mean it will be harmless, but I am sure we can withstand the rain and wind that this thing will generate.

I live less than a mile away from the water, but it is a long mile, being on the other side of a good stretch of roads. I am sure that people who live on the water are concerned, and I guess they should be.

But me, I am prepared for the wind and the rain, and that's about it.

I am hoping that I am right, and that this is nothing more than a blip to the summer.

Funny thing, we are supposed to get a lot of rain today in an unrelated system, so we just might be water-logged even before this thing supposedly comes to our doorstep.

We'll know for sure on Sunday.