Saturday, September 6, 2008

A Bully Named Ike

I never thought that I had much in common with the phenomenal Tina Turner.... But now I find myself being bullied by a guy named Ike. He's making my friends and family go away, he's stealing my lunch money and in general threatening my safety and well-being.

So, here's the latest (sunday 9/7, 7:45am). Hurricane Ike is currently a Category 3 hurricane. All tracking models show the storm going over Cuba. After that, they divererge a bit in their predictions but all models show the storm riding south of us as a Category 1 or 2 storm, passing us sometime around Tuesday evening. It looks, at the moment, like we are most definitely going to experience what we like to refer to as "A Significant Weather Event", but that's as much as I feel comfortable predicting at the moment.

Damn Good Food To-Go is currently open for business, and we intend to stay that way, as always, until the power goes out or until there is simply no more demand for our services. Over the years, I've watched the pattern of behavior as a Hurricane approaches, and it looks like this:
    • When the visitor evacuation is declared (and that went into effect this morning - Sat - at 9am.... FAR too early, but that will take me down a whole different ranting path!!!), the departing visitors as well as our locals start to "nest". They order food like it's the last time they'll be able to eat, and they gather to talk about the storm.
    • When the storm is within 24 hours of passing us or hitting us, people stop eating and begin drinking....Hurricane Party!!!! Woohoo!!!! This involves excessive drinking, purely as a way to show respect to Mother Nature, of course. You see by getting completely hammered, people are saying to Mother Nature, "I acknowledge that I am completely powerless against you. Do with me what you will. I will not put up a fight oh Great One!"
    • When the storm has passed, and people awaken from their alcohol-induced stupors, they realize that they have not eaten in days.... and they call Damn Good Food To-Go!!!

We have been lucky over the past 10 years, and we have not been without power after a storm for too very long. Damn Good Food To-Go is in a very storm power grid so when we do lose power, it's only for a short time. We will hope for the same this time around.

My current plan is to stay and ride out the storm. I feel as safe as I can be in my condo, and I need to be able to evaluate damage, if any, in the business as quickly as possible.

I will keep you posted as things change. Thanks for checking in!!