Bummer - Whats Up With this?

Was it Queen Elizabeth who decreed an annus horribilus?  Well, if so I am with her because it's been a weekus horribilus for us and for many people here in New York that I know. And for those of you who haven't lost power, electricity, the ability to cook, shower or flush  toilets, let alone charge your cell phones. Lemme tell you that the revolution is coming and you will be the first to go.

The storm was a long time coming in the current manner of the media who forget that all that bible thumping with predictions of diaster makes for ennui. I  know that they are selling time to advertisers on their stations -- I wrote one of my best stories about it in 7th grade LOL -- but for most people it's become rote. A hurricaine? oh yeah. Next.

Governor Cuomo  managed to get people's attention because of his less than oratorical delivery and his emphasis on being sensible. Too late for many people.   I  like thousands of my fellow citizens thought  that it would be like Hurricaine irene because how could anything happen with a storm that had such a silly name as Sandy.

Well now I know. Arnie was probably on one of the last flights out Sunday which was all to the good. Then the lights went out on Monday night which was already a slothful day with really nothing to do because schools had been cancelled.  The lights went out and Kate yipped with enthusiasm and I growled because I knew from our blackout experience during the summer of 2003 for 3 days that this was not going to be fun.

Many many people In China starved during the great revolution or the great leap forward. And so they would routinely greet each other with the greeting:
Churlema which meant did you eat/what did you eat. People still use this in China as a greeting. And these days in new York when 2+ weeks after the "event"there are still people without power, the greeting is: How are you? It's Churlema.

Our lights came on last weekend in the early hours of the morning as a soft yellow glow that lit up all our rooms in the apartment acompanied by the spitting, gurgling, and chirping of electronic equipment. But by that time all of us were shell shocked and definitely showing signs of stress. Kate wrapped herself in an old blue blanket and took on the guise of Mahatma Ghandi as she drifted around the apartment with a book in her hand. Miss Murray was off her regular routine because none of us sat in the bedroom but defected to the living room because it has such great light. in the end her stress level resulted in her peeing in the living room, throwing up and having diarrhea. All on the white rug. And while those were not my symptoms I can't say that I was a walk in the park either.  I was tense, cranky and bored out of my skull. Walking the dog early and then sitting in the living room trying to read all the while knowing that the light was slipping away. 6 pm. Bang. your life is over.

By the time I went down to see Arnie in Nashville I was alternatively laughing and crying from stress. It was like being in mourning for a way of life...