Be careful who you trounce, you might just know them

Tuesday, I had stopped in the town where I've been helping my friend with his family's Chinese restaurant.  They have various stores such as Target and Staples that this town doesn't have and that aren't closer.

After spending some time talking to him, I visited a few stores and finished, ready to head home.  Someone in a Buick SUV was in the right turn lane and decided that I wasn't important, so they cut me off.  Being that we were getting both heavy wind and heavy rain from Sandy, I thought this was an excellent example of what not to do, unless you wanted to have an accident.

There are over 30 miles from there to my house and it was amusing to find that the person turned into a driveway about 2 miles from my house.  I had been following them the whole way since it was also my way home.  I can only imagine that there might have been a bit of panic from time to time.  "Why is that car still behind me?" and "What are they doing?" would seem to be appropriate thoughts.

Drivers of most cars don't seem to care but SUV drivers seem to think that they can do anything they want, without consequence.  I wonder if that person will think twice next time.

Also considering Hurricane Sandy, I had been watching DirecTV's channel 349 where they routed coverage from New York City and Philadelphia television stations.  I was saddened to see that the Atlantic City, New Jersey boardwalk was gone, and that a lot of the coastal areas were close to gone.  Since the hurricane came ashore in A.C., it's no wonder so much was devastated.  They were also talking about Long Beach Island and its million dollar homes.  What I saw of it always looked a bit craptacular but I wasn't looking for the buildings.

I heard and read that New Jersey's main electric utility had to shut down power to avoid electrocuting people and causing complicated damage and fires.  It was a great decision, but of course, there are people without power.  Some people are also getting sick from the generator fumes, but they're probably keeping the generator in the garage so it doesn't get wet.

Having spent eight years in the area, I think of all the people I met and how I hope that they're fine now.  Having spent a good portion of late 2004 with three hurricanes and without power for part of that, I know that people will survive rough conditions.  I know that people in Philly and New Jersey and New York City can tough it out.  I'm keeping them in my thoughts regardless.