Someone Tells Me There's a Storm Coming...

Whenever I hear that phrase, I invariably think of two things.

First, that Far Side cartoon of the two pilots simulating turbulence for unknowing passengers.

Second, the scene from either Terminator 1 or 2 when John Connor stares wistfully at a picture of his mother, Sarah, knowing that cyborgs created by Cyberdyne systems are about to wreak havoc on planet earth.

Anyway, I've heard on good authority that a "strong storm is about to move into the (Bay Area) region on Monday" and some officials are saying "We want people to be prepared for flooding."

Now I don't want to tempt fate by repeating the foolish denying utterances of an infamous British weatherman, but when Bay Area meteorologists predict a storm, it typically means that we residents can switch off the sprinkler system for 48 hours, and that three or even four-dozen leaves will need to be swept up in the morning.

On the other hand, those same Bay Area residents, it should be noted, are completely inept at coping with what people in Britain would call "inclement" weather.

Motorists are prone to improbable swerves and skids at the first sight of rain drops on tarmac.

Electricity supplies are interrupted. 

Neighborhoods are plunged into darkness.

And one is led to wonder what would actually happen around here if we experienced, say, Gulf of Mexico weather.

Anyway, all of that said...I do remember reading something about a "flood plain" in the documents when we bought the house, so I might just lift a few things off the floor of the cellar before bed.

Oh, and that deck that I just spent the weekend sanding...and which remains naked and unpainted pending another dry weekend....I just wrapped it in plastic, just in case.

Tune in on Tuesday for first-hand reports of the great storm.

nonpublic

Comments

[Jörn]

"what people in Britain would call inclement weather" - is that the same weather that causes the entire rail network in the UK to come to a grinding halt because there may be some leaves on the track?

[Dushka]

Ah! David, whenever someone says "there is a storm coming" I think of Sarah Connor in that gas station in Mexico. It's the very end of Terminator 1.

[David]

Jörn - very fair point...the British rail network is utterly crap at coping with the "wrong type of leaves", but on the whole Britain does not otherwise come to a complete standstill when a few clouds gather overhead.

Dushka - thank you for sharing my Terminator memories (albeit more clearly than I was remembering them!)

p.s. No storm yet. 8pm Monday night.