Classic Rant #326 (September 3, 2010): And We Await the Arrival of Earl …

Hurricane Earl has not come yet, at least not to my neck of the woods.

I saw on TV today that it had hit the Carolinas, and it was really blowing up a storm there.

Here, on Long Island, we are literally in a holding pattern. Earl is supposed to arrive, but it won't get here until mid afternoon.

Earl is sort of like a guest that you are expecting in your home. You prepare for the guest as best you can over a number of days. Then the guest arrives, does what he does, and then he gets the hell out of there pretty fast. You put more into the preparation than the time the guest actually is in your environs.

I am not minimizing this event, but I am being realistic. This hurricane is not expected to hit land. It will be out in the ocean. Sure, it will create some havoc for some, but generally, I don't expect it to become the East Coast's answer to Katrina.

Yet every news outlet here is covering this like it was our Katrina. I guess they have their duty to do this, but it pretty much gets to be overkill after a while.

I will be at work when this thing is supposed to hit, and my wife will be, too. My son will be at home with his grandparents, and my daughter is 300 miles away from us in Oswego.

I am more concerned about what it is going to do to the Yankees afternoon game against the Marlins. It's 40 miles away from me in the Bronx, but with the way the Yankees are playing right now, you just don't want them to have a day off. They look really good right now,, with a game and a half lead over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Anyway, I had a friend write to me the other day about the crazy weather we have had this year. He lives in Florida, and he wrote to me, "It's crazy when you, in New York, are worried about hurricanes and me, in Florida, aren't."

Yes, it has been crazy this year weather-wise, but I am sure I will be here next week on Monday writing Rant #327.

If I'm wrong, well, you won't hear from me as I dig out from the mess this thing caused.

But you can bet the house that I will be here.