Just got back from Walmart. The place is packed! Bread almost gone, bottled water almost gone, nearly every cart I saw had candles, bread, water, and other emergency style goods in them.
The people were very calm, almost looked like cows wandering around in a field before a thunderstorm. Maybe that's how it is around here. If there was a foot of snow on the way all I would do is buy a shovel and back my car into the driveway. They, on the other hand would loose their minds and prepare for the end of the world.
I guess the difference comes in when I consider that a foot of snow doesn't cause billions of dollars worth of damage and force tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes.
Outside the wind has picked up and the sky is much darker than it was this morning. Everything has a silver gray cast to it. The Neighbor Lady said they were going to stay in a hotel for the next few days because they are afraid of loosing power.
"Where is the hotel going to get power if the grid is down?" I asked.
"Mike, power don't come off'a grid. It comes out'a power lines. The hotel's got its own power. That's why we go there."
"Oh you mean they have a generator. Well, lets hope it doesn't break down. I know if I was without power that I'd want to be safe and sound right at home. It's better to be home so you can protect your stuff if people try to break in. But if you want to leave your stuff to the mercy of vandals and scavengers then far be it from me to stop you."
"MIKE! Why you gotta talk like that? Who's gonna come an steal our stuff? Ain't no one gonna come an do nuthin cause why they wanna go in our place anyway?"
"Oh, I don't know." I replied. "Maybe they will notice a 5,000 square foot house and think there might be something of value in it. I'm glad my place isn't as big as yours. But I'll be home to protect my stuff anyway so it won't matter."
At that point I made an excuse to run back to my place. But, before I left The Neighbor Lady begged me to protect her house as well.
"I'll talk to Dawn about it. Maybe we can watch both places. But are you willing to compensate us for helping you? I mean, that's a lot of responsibility for us."
She cocked her head to the side and got a foggy look on her face. Suddenly she smiled from ear to ear and said, "We have a gift certificate for a two nights stay at the Hilton! If we give you that then you can stay where there is power with us. Will that be OK?"
"Sure! And then if we loose power we can just go to the hotel together! Do they have a pool?"
"Oh, Mike! Its got a pool an a game room an everything! This is gonna be fun. I kinda hope we loose power now! I'ma call my mom and ask her where the gift certificate is. I'll bring it over when I find it OK?"
"Sounds good!" I said and walked back to my house.
I don't know if the change in barometer pressure is messing with The Neighbor Ladies head or if she is just that goofy. But hey, if I get a free hotel stay out of the deal then I'm not going to argue!
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