This is the first time I’ve been online and I don’t have to tell you where I’ve been. What an exciting weekend. They masses began piling in early on Friday. As expected, just about every room had a dog or two, or three. What was not expected was that their owners would leave them alone in a strange hotel room in anticipation of an approaching hurricane. Most intelligent people already know that animals can sense an approaching storm a lot sooner than a human. So, why in God’s name would their owners leave them
alone all day and most of the evening is beyond me. They howled, they cried, they barked. Some even tried to find a way out of their room. And, you’d think all the owners would be grateful to have the only hotel that would accommodate dogs by making sure their dogs were walked at frequent intervals so they didn’t use the elevator, hallways or their room to relieve themselves. This is not the dogs fault. This is not even every dog owner’s fault. Most made sure they obeyed the letter they were given upon registering. And, the others…well, they simply didn't care.
I am sorry I stayed glued to the blow by blow reporting from the news media covering Irene. I left the TV on all day Saturday and all night. Big mistake. You know they find every house with a tree through its roof, every car smashed by a fallen tree, and every house along the coast inundated with water. This set me up to fear the worst when I was unable to reach my sister who lives along the Jersey coast. By early afternoon on Saturday, I was frantic and sure she was either lying face down floating in 8 feet of water in her house, or else hit unconscious by the flying debris from her slovenly next door neighbor, whose yard is full of cast-offs and toys. Fortunately, neither happened. When I finally heard from her late Saturday afternoon, she said the worst that had happened was when a frozen bottle of water landed on her foot. I could have drowned her myself.
Regrettably, there were a few deaths and many people with property damage and no power for days. I am grateful all my family and friends are safe, and their homes made it through unscathed. My own storage unit escaped water damage. The hotel had power the entire time and everyone stayed safe under its roof. It was an act of grace that we dodged a bullet on this one, considering how close it followed the earthquake.
And then…someone decided to make popcorn Saturday night. Our microwave in the snack area is powerful. When left unattended, the butter inside the center of the bag catches fire. This happened once before and burned the center of the microwave as well as tipped off the fire department we were havin’ a hot time at the hotel. Only this time, after it set off the fire alarm throughout the hotel, there was no one here who could shut it off. It happened after 9 p.m. The fire department had real emergencies to handle, and wasn’t about to show up to turn the alarm off. Poor Mr. Madison was on duty and couldn’t figure out what to do to silence it. I let him go to make a call to the head of maintenance while I
removed the last vestiges of popcorn from the shelves. After about forty minutes of ear piercing noise the damn thing was shut off. At least I think it was shut off. I’m still not convinced someone didn’t put it out of its misery. So, that fortunately, was the most exciting thing to happen here this weekend. And, boy am I happy.
alone all day and most of the evening is beyond me. They howled, they cried, they barked. Some even tried to find a way out of their room. And, you’d think all the owners would be grateful to have the only hotel that would accommodate dogs by making sure their dogs were walked at frequent intervals so they didn’t use the elevator, hallways or their room to relieve themselves. This is not the dogs fault. This is not even every dog owner’s fault. Most made sure they obeyed the letter they were given upon registering. And, the others…well, they simply didn't care.
I am sorry I stayed glued to the blow by blow reporting from the news media covering Irene. I left the TV on all day Saturday and all night. Big mistake. You know they find every house with a tree through its roof, every car smashed by a fallen tree, and every house along the coast inundated with water. This set me up to fear the worst when I was unable to reach my sister who lives along the Jersey coast. By early afternoon on Saturday, I was frantic and sure she was either lying face down floating in 8 feet of water in her house, or else hit unconscious by the flying debris from her slovenly next door neighbor, whose yard is full of cast-offs and toys. Fortunately, neither happened. When I finally heard from her late Saturday afternoon, she said the worst that had happened was when a frozen bottle of water landed on her foot. I could have drowned her myself.
Regrettably, there were a few deaths and many people with property damage and no power for days. I am grateful all my family and friends are safe, and their homes made it through unscathed. My own storage unit escaped water damage. The hotel had power the entire time and everyone stayed safe under its roof. It was an act of grace that we dodged a bullet on this one, considering how close it followed the earthquake.
And then…someone decided to make popcorn Saturday night. Our microwave in the snack area is powerful. When left unattended, the butter inside the center of the bag catches fire. This happened once before and burned the center of the microwave as well as tipped off the fire department we were havin’ a hot time at the hotel. Only this time, after it set off the fire alarm throughout the hotel, there was no one here who could shut it off. It happened after 9 p.m. The fire department had real emergencies to handle, and wasn’t about to show up to turn the alarm off. Poor Mr. Madison was on duty and couldn’t figure out what to do to silence it. I let him go to make a call to the head of maintenance while I
removed the last vestiges of popcorn from the shelves. After about forty minutes of ear piercing noise the damn thing was shut off. At least I think it was shut off. I’m still not convinced someone didn’t put it out of its misery. So, that fortunately, was the most exciting thing to happen here this weekend. And, boy am I happy.