It's the end of the word as we know it, and I feel great

I have taken a peek at how the end of the world begins, and I found it more than just somewhat amusing.  be prepared for a longer story than usual, as this one is interesting.

So, apparently we had what meteorologists are calling a type 2 hurricane here in northern Utah. The winds were somewhat severe, but after growing up in a town called “Hurricane”, it was nothing that bad to me. The real fun lay in the resulting aftermath. Due to the force of the winds, trees all across the valley were snapped like twigs, which resulted in the electricity for multiple counties being knocked out in the middle of the night. The power company said electricity would either be completely out for 48 hours, or just sporadic during that period. The roomie and I decided to take the opportunity to visit some relatives in the neighboring valley, and pick up a few supplies, since we were of dreadfully low standard of preparedness.

Here's a grainy photo of a power line that was down at my work the next day.  It actually started melting the pavement.

So, what gave me such amusement, was driving out of our neighborhood, we saw that there were a few businesses that either were running on generators, or somehow had power. One was the local Wendy’s, which had a line for their drive-thru that extended beyond the block, and the restaurant itself was jam-packed. We joked about how the priorities of people change during even a very minor crisis, and that shows the real value of a hot meal.

So, we enjoyed our evening making grilled reubens and shopping for supplies. We ended up picking up some lanterns, flashlights, glow sticks, and a few snacks. The roomie totally went overboard by grabbing a matching set of pajama bottoms and robe that were of the jungle-pattern camo. I was naturally jealous, because the only thing stopping me was the fact that they didn’t carry them in my size.

We found out later, that the Red Cross was even setting up shelters in our neighborhood that would provide heating and food. It absolutely boggled my mind that it would even be necessary to do that in such an affluent neighborhood. I mean, seriously, if you can't figure out how to survive for 48 hours in a place with a roof over your head, that still has running water and gas, then you deserve to win the Darwin lottery and die for the benefit of mankind. 

Then again, I suppose the well-to-do don’t think a whole lot about disaster preparedness, or even basic supplies. We then joked about showing up at the shelters wearing camo PJs and robes, with sunglasses and slippers, grabbing all the hot coco they have to offer, and just walking out. Yep. Real Red Cross party crashers, we are.

See?  True Story.

All in all, despite my knowledge of disaster preparedness, it gave me a jarring wake up call that I need to be in a better state of readiness.  Especially when considering that the 'Zeds' will be far less forgiving than the power company.