Sandy

[roadwreck]

Looks like the marathon is a moot point. It's been cancelled.

I don't have a problem with the marathon being canceled, but I do wish they had made that call a little earlier. Most of the participants (including a few people I know) have already made their way up there for it.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

Most of the participants (including a few people I know) have already made their way up there for it.

What better way to maximize profits? Get everyone to pay for everything without actually going through with the expense of doing it. Brilliant!!!

 

[Master slacker]

1)

Do you, really? Personally, I'm not too concerned with thouse living in sub-standard conditions. I'm concerned with those who lost their homes, who lost their loved ones while trying to get out, who stayed safe but are now trying to figure out where to go from here... sure some are out power, water, gas, yada yada... others are still under water, lost all their cherished things, lost loved ones...granted, it may be scaled down then other natural emergencies that have happened in our country, but SOME people have lost everything.

Yes, I am. I'm just sorry you don't see it that way because I didn't explicitly state every last loss scenario.

2)

Senario- Let's just say....

I'm a singal gal, I'm living in a studio apartment, I have no bathtub (so therefore, I can't fill it), I have no storage space in my apartment, so I don't normally stock up, but since a storm is on it's way, I buy some canned food... vienna sausages, crackers, stuff like that... now I have the opportunity to get out... but when I tried to all the public transportation was packed, and I can't afford anything else, so I go back home, call my folks and tell them 'I'm just gonna wait it out'. Then I head to the store and buy four gallons of water and hope for the best....

Seriously Dude? Have you EVER been to NYC? Have you ever been to Long Island? Do you have any concept of how many people live in a single city block?

And don't even bring up freaking Katrina. Yes, that was a disaster, it was devestating. But you know what, a lot of people didn't get the flip (I had to edit that word) out, and I know what happened after. People like my husband waded thru water, and went thru houses and found dead bodies. They spent months there. Great Corporations stepped in to help. Personally, I haven't seen a single advertisement from Tide showing that they would be setting up trucks where people could do their laundry like I saw with Katrina. I haven't seen lines of Walmart trucks, and I haven't seen corporate America step up to take advantage of the NYC and NJ people like they did down in the Gulf... hmmmm (no comment)...

Yes, seriously. And, yes, I have been to NYC, and NJ, and LI. Several times each. Yeah, I know. Big whoop, "several times". Anyway, I stated "it'll soften the blow of the conditions for a period of time". So you don't have a tub. You have cups, glasses, a sink, anything else that can hold water. And no, I'm not being an *** about that. If you can avoid the lines and gun-waving for two days, wouldn't that be worth the effort of filling up your sink? Do what you have to do to have some of the necessities.

I brought up Katrina because there are parallels between these two disasters. About your corporate helpers, don't think for a minute that no one is going to step up to help out.

3)

Considering I am VERY far south from where it finally hit and I prepared, I am not so sure you watched the news... less than two days before, they were predicting it would hit in the MD/DC area... the news also said that the Boston area would take the brunt of it... they kept going back and forth between the 'American model' prediction and the 'European model' prediction and talking about that so much, who the crap really knew which one would be right and where it WOULD hit...

Um, Katrina only gave New Orleans about two days warning before it got a direct hit. Regardless of which model would be correct, option 1 should still be "GTFO".

 

[Master slacker]

4)

There will never be a Nor'easter blow thru Louisiana. I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that the weather there was kinda simlar to what I experienced in Alabama... and I'll tell you this much. Charcoal isn't going to do you any good, it's too cold outside to cook out there and you aren't going to use it indoors... oh and let me see you try and find it in a northern state after September. Wood will come in handy, as long as you live in a house with a fireplace... if not you are SOL there. Since I assume you do have a fire place, have fun lugging it in the 2+ feet of snow since you probably didn't stack it near the house (with Louisiana being susiptible to termites and all), I'm sure you will be wrapped up in your blanket to go out and get it.... but then, your blanket will be wet and it won't do you a lick of good after because... last time I checked, wool blankets (or pants, or socks) aren't owned by many down south.)

It'd be too cold to cook outdoors? Hmm. Also, I have a wood deck. My 80 year old house is pier and wood beams. I have wool blankets, parkas, rubber boots, full rain gear (to get my firewood through the two feet of snow), etc...

5)

Since you already brought up Katrina... I very much remember some states getting assistance... and not others. Talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face. And I'm sure the people who don't have power REALLY had some say in if the people who helped them were Union or not... that's politics dude, not humanity... stop being an a$$.

Don't blame me for the lack of assistance to other states. That's the decision of the "powers-that-be" I mentioned. And the union thing IS ALSO for the "powers-that-be". If the local governing bodies and unions could drop the whole union-only crap for one week, everyone would be better off. That's why I urged the voicing of opinions. Has anyone in this thread ever called their representatives? Or emailed them? Or written them a letter? Yes, it is politics. That was my flippin' point.

6)

I'm sure they will, and since this is the first time NYC/NJ has been hit by this kind of thing, I'm sure next time, they will be smarter... wait... how many hurricanes hit the gulf coast?

So... people should be prepared for forecast dangers? Hmm. If I got that wrong, what were you trying to say in that last part?

 

[engineergurl]

why are all your quotes of my quotes of your quotes blank?

dude... my point off all that was have some compassion. You might not be impressed, but people are still hurting...

 

[Master slacker]

I eliminated my quotes b/c there was just too much text otherwise.

I do have compassion. See my first statement. And if you don't believe me, see my response to your response of my first statement. For the third time in as many posts, I feel sorry for those hurting from the storm.

There are reasons I donate to Red Cross and Salvation Army. Since I can't always "physically help" in situations such as these, my charities use my donations to help when / where needed. Now take that chip off your shoulder.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

Looks like the marathon is a moot point. It's been cancelled.

I don't have a problem with the marathon being canceled, but I do wish they had made that call a little earlier. Most of the participants (including a few people I know) have already made their way up there for it.

I live in the greater NY metro area. There were two schools of thought here. One was cancel it, the other was run it and use it as a diversion and source of revenue. My preference was the latter, but I can understand the former. It is going to be abnormally cold this weekend, so it wouldn't have been ideal anyway.

I feel badly for all the runners that get deprived of being able to run the race. But the world class ones will just go onto race somewhere else in a couple of weeks. The ones I really feel for are the **** out of luck weekend warriors who trained for 6 months and were lucky enough to get into the race lottery and bought a plane ticket to NY and are now screwed.

 

[MA_PE]

I feel badly for all the runners that get deprived of being able to run the race. But the world class ones will just go onto race somewhere else in a couple of weeks. The ones I really feel for are the **** out of luck weekend warriors who trained for 6 months and were lucky enough to get into the race lottery and bought a plane ticket to NY and are now screwed.

Agreed but cancelling was probably the best option. Maybe Boston will open up their policies and let them race here in April. Airlines seem to be cutting folks some slack on fees and non-refundable tickets (they should, freakin' bahstuds).

 

[roadwreck]

Most of the participants (including a few people I know) have already made their way up there for it.

What better way to maximize profits? Get everyone to pay for everything without actually going through with the expense of doing it. Brilliant!!!

Yea, that really bothers me. Most people seem to be touting the move as being pretty brilliant because you don't utilize all the resources to put on the race but you still manage to squeeze some of the money out of the participants. I do wonder how they are going to handle the cancellation Most events like that have a zero refund policy. In this case do they refund people's entry fee (for an event like that it's probably $200). Or do they allow you to register for future races for "free"? In the grand scheme of things it's a pretty small concern, I am sure a lot of people decided not to run the race even if they were already registered. I know that running a marathon is a huge commitment both financially, mentally and physically. This is one of the premier marathons and as such attracts runners from around the country and around the globe. I feel like it was a huge disservice to tell everyone the entire week that the race will be run and then cancel it at the last minute.

Given the circumstances losing the money for registering and getting to New York really doesn't matter that much. Having spent weeks training for an event only to be told at the last minute it won't happen isn't that big a deal either. I just feel like the situation was handled really poorly and I'm upset they didn't cancel the race earlier in the week so that people didn't arrive there to find the event won't happen.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

dude... my point off all that was have some compassion. You might not be impressed, but people are still hurting...]

I'll agree with this one.

Seeing as they are still searching for bodies in Staten Island, the Jersey Shore is a mess, lower Manhattan and the south shore of Long Island are a mess, and I can't find gasoline, I don't care if you are impressed or not, just shut up.

 

[YMZ PE]

I do have compassion. See my first statement. And if you don't believe me, see my response to your response of my first statement.

Part of having genuine compassion is not saying intentionally hurtful things while people are still in the middle of piecing their lives back together after a disaster. Emotions and stress are high right now. If you're aware of this and continue to say things to piss people off because you think it makes you sound smart, your "compassion" is hollow.

 

[Master slacker]

People have opinions and I voiced some of mine. Good or bad, I will keep the rest to myself.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Well, it looks like as a country, Sandy has taught as that maybe we need to start looking at preparing to be self suffiecient for a week or two. Shoot, even the DHS is promoting it with their zombie attack thing.

My wife went through Hugo in 89, and she prepared for it for a few days before hand, and it made a huge difference in how they made it through.

Look around, see what you need to do to live out of the house for a week or two with no power, no water, and no assistance. Then, every week, buy a little something to ease you towards a two week supply.

Then, maybe look at stocking up longer. Look at making a bug out bag for your car, in case you have to hoof it all of a sudden.

Nothing wrong with being prepared. And there are a lot of prepper/survivalist sites out there to help you.

 

[Road Guy]

a guy in my neighborhood is up in NY helping his parents right now, from getting his wifes FB updates, there still without power and running water.. marines just now showed up a week afterward.. ..

 

[mudpuppy]

I have to admit I'm not very prepared for something like this at home. However, there is a very small risk of hurricanes, earthquakes and floods here in MI. Our biggest risks are tornadoes (in which case my house is SOL anyway) and ice storms. Though thinking about it I probably could make do with my camping gear and the store of food I usually have. I do need to pick up a water filter though. Maybe I should put that on my Christmas wish-list.

Thing is working for an electric utility I assume if there are major power outages I'm going to have to work anyway and they'll probably send me somewhere out-state. So my contingency plan is my company will take care of me. And even if the snow gets so deep my Jeep won't make it (unlikely), I can always ski my way into work.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

I'm not nearly as prepared as I should be. And you never know when some hacker might get lucky and shut a large part of the grid down.

 

[snickerd3]

between the case of MREs, what we keep in the cabinets and the water jugs for the bubbler...as long it wasn't in the middle of winter we would be good for about a week.

 

[MA_PE]

It's a double-edged sword situation. One hand if it's avaliable, people should find an alternate place to go (relatives?) until the infrastructure is restored, on the other hand you want to stay with your home/stuff tp proptect it and do something to try to fix things. It's really quite a dilemma and my sympathies to all those people that are going through it.

 

[roadwreck]

Anheuser-Busch is sending Bud Light... ...errrrr... ...I mean water, to areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

Bud Light is like having *** in a canoe - f'ing near water.

That Nor'easter this week is not going to be fun. Sounds like more of a nuisance than a catastrophe, but the last thing the tri-state area needs is more flooding and it will hinder relief/recovery efforts.

I'm lucky to be as far inland as I am. Though I am right on the rain/snow line which sucks.

As for me, I'm bare essentials prepared. Keep canned goods, potable water, batteries, battery powered radio so I can get updates if the power goes, spare food for the dog, and a propane camping stove to cook food before it goes bad and to heat up water. I could get by for maybe a week if need be.

The thing I learned this time, was set aside some water even if you are on city water. I've got a disinfection kit for when I camp/hike so I'd be fine if it was a boil order, but in some areas it was don't drink even if you boil it which leads me to believe it was chemical contamination rather than bacteriological. I never should have given away that pilot plant before I moved...