Spinsters can't be prepared for everything...

The Facebook statuses of my friends range from “Hurricane-schmuricane, more beer!” to “Headed for the bunker with my cans of beans and a Coleman stove.  I’ll see you suckers in 48 hours.”  As Irene marches ever closer to my place of residence, I am sitting on my misbehaving futon, sipping a class of cabernet sauvignon while composing this blog post because there is a possibility that I might not have power tomorrow and thus wouldn’t be able to share my life with all of you.  

In the 15 years that I have lived in this happy little city, I’ve experienced several tropical storms (which Irene is due to become before she comes knocking on our door) and at least one hurricane.  During this time I’ve only lost power twice.  The first was when, during a passing non-tropical and non-hurricane thunderstorm, a bolt of lightning hit a transformer near my apartment and the other was when a tipsy driver drove into a telephone pole knocking out power for several blocks.   In each instance I left home to find a restaurant and a friend to share a meal with, and power was restored by the time I made my way back home.

My plan for tomorrow does not involve going out to eat (though it will likely involve the ingestion of left over Chinese food from tonight’s take out binge).  Instead the plan is to chill out at home, arrange and pack my bags in preparation for “The Big Show” next week and generally have a quiet day.  Basically it will pretty much be exactly what my day was going to be before Irene began to head north…except it might be without lights and my cats will be hiding under the bed instead of getting underfoot and making attempts to nap inside my suitcase.

So while I’ve filled a couple of pans with water just in case, made sure my cell phone is fully charged and stocked up on chocolate, wine, cheese and a bread, I’m not too concerned about what tomorrow will bring.  Hurricanes and tropical storms are just more examples of those things in life over which we’ve no control whatsoever so there really is no point in stressing over it.

Of course it is not until now, as I am typing this last sentence, that I’m realizing I’m on my last roll of toilet paper…now THAT I can worry about.