Goodnight, Irene

I have never been in a hurricane, having lived in the Midwest my entire life (or close enough to it). The closest I have ever come is the outer bands of a Tropical Storm while in Florida, and the remnants of many tropical systems have a tendency to snake up the Mississippi Valley. Katrina stuck around long enough to make the lawn muddy, but nothing more than a long-lasting thunderstorm.

That said, the prospect of spending 3 days or more in the dark would have been enough of an excuse for me to spend a long weekend in Cleveland. 8 hour drive from New York... Spend Saturday night at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Sunday at Cedar Point, figure out if my house is under water Monday morning... if not, home in time to go to work on Tuesday. If yes, well, at least Cleveland has power. Sounds better than living on the 40th floor of a high-rise without electricity or elevator service, flooded streets and trying to find food. This from the person who has always lived with a tornado kit in the house.