[dirtboy]

The weirdest thing are the people who try to make every move of the storm mean that they're personally going to get nailed.

Crap, at one point last year Rita, at Cat 5 strength, was forecast to come ashore in Texas just 40 miles north of where my parents lived (they moved inland this summer, thank God). My dad pulled a Nagin and didn't have a hotel reservation yet. Thankfully, I have an understanding boss who allowed me to take two hours of personal time on the spot to try and find them a friggin' hotel room, given the eastern half of Texas was already full of Katrina refugees ("Gee, Dad, how does a nice vacation in Big Bend sound about now???"). But I lucked out and found a room in Kingsville, and then the storm turned away. I sure as heck am glad I won't have to do that again.

[visualops]

pulled a Nagin

I thinked you've just coined a phrase, my FRiend!

Along those lines, my Dad (with my Mom) drove back to Beaufort, SC from Washington DC as Hurricane Floyd approached. As my mother put it "everyone was driving the other way". My Dad insisted on returning to "batten down the hatches" since they hadn't secured the house before going up to visit my sister. He's one of those people who thinks all the news is exaggerated, and after weathering Hugo I suppose he thought they were indestructible.