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| The Stonewall Inn - Monday, 8/29/2011, 10:30 am |
Some random thoughts/observations/facts about the hurricane.
- My restaurant was forced to close on Saturday and Sunday because of the transit shutdown. Only a couple of the employees live in Manhattan - and no one could make it into work. We are reopening today. This cost everyone (the owner and the employees) a ton of money because Sat/Sun are our busiest days.
- Speaking of the transit shutdown - in hindsight they probably could have shut down on Saturday at 6 pm (instead of noon), but I understand the MTA/city were in "better safe than sorry" mode.
- There was only a little drama during the storm at my apartment. One of my roommates lacks storm windows and she sprung a leak during the heavy rains. The landlord's son-in-law (who lives downstairs), came up and did a temporary fix. FYI: plywood, trash bags and duct tape will pretty much fix anything.
- This leak (above) might just end up getting us new windows at the apartment (fingers crossed).
- I think everyone in the city gained 15 lbs this weekend. First of all, New Yorkers ransacked the grocery stores and emptied them of food - food that most of us normally wouldn't buy/eat. So the only thing to do before/during/after the storm was to eat all the crap we had purchased. At least that's what happened at MY apartment.
- Speaking of eating crap ... do you know that SpaghettiOs with Meatballs AND Franks is the most delicious thing EVAH?!?
- At no point did the storm ever get frightening (for me, anyway). However, I DID prepare a "Go Bag" before I went to sleep - just in case we had to get out quickly. My bag contained water, cat food, a change of clothing and all my prescriptions. They also tell you to bring extra cash - but the only "extra" money I had was the container of quarters I keep for doing laundry. Between the water and the quarters, my Go Bag was HEAVY - thank goodness I didn't need to use it.
- My phone didn't stop ringing all weekend. Don't get me wrong - I'm extremely lucky to have such a large number of people who care about me - but after a while the volume of calls became overwhelming. In fact I still have a dozen voicemails to listen to.
- Finally, the power in my building never went down - although a block or so away they lost power for a while. Our downstairs neighbor explained that our building is on the same electric grid at the nearby hospital, so our power rarely goes down. In fact, during the blackout a few years ago, our block never lost power. As Martha Stewart would say: It's a Good Thing.
How did YOU fare over the weekend?? Even if you don't live on the East Coast, please share your thoughts and experiences in the Comments section.
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11 comments:
Being a light sleeper I checked the news during the night to see how the east coast was faring. Then we had our own little battle with Mother Nature with lightning storms and resulting wildfires. Abby smells slightly smoky.
So glad to hear that you fared well during the storm! I live in Texas and we had temps over 110 degrees yesterday and sure could use some of that rain that you got. xoxo
Glad it wasn't too bad
In the past where I lived was on the same grid as the fire station. Just like hospitals they almost never lose power.
Since the storm of the century wasn't, I hope all your hurricane supplles - all that Baccardi Limon - won't go to waste. {wink, wink}
I sent a text and then mentioned that I read your blog and knew. That should have helped a little. It's just that we all love you so much!! :-)
I'm glad it was anticlimactic and didn't do what we were afraid it would.
we need our leader!
xxalainaxx
DD, glad you fared well. I live in the city of Albany, miles away from any creeks/rivers, and we had no problems... but 4 coworkers couldn't get to work today (washed out bridges, closed roads), 3 more have no power, and 1 was evacuated from her place which was 10' under water...it's a fricking mess!!
not sure what the forecasters were saying in NYC, but all along, they've been saying that up here, it's not the storm, it's the flooding afterwards that will be destructive.. how true..
Our power came back last night just as we were going to bed. Apart from losing everything in the fridge, we did well. No flooding, no downed trees in our neighborhood.
Glad you fared well. I was worried.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Like you, we bought and ate all kinds of stuff we wouldn't normally have eaten. Like you, I was never afraid during the hurricane, even when the power went out and all I could hear was torrential rain and howling wind. Honestly, I expected it to be more like the videos I'd seen of Katrina, and FORTUNATELY it wasn't like that at all. Glad you are safe and sound. I thought of calling or texting but actually said to myself "He's gonna have SO MANY people calling/texting him his battery will go dead." Miss you!!
Having experienced many, many hurricanes, your experience was typical for most people. However, the city was smart to be prepared... no one saw Katrina coming, yet she did!
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