A Strong Wind is Blowing

Not this again.

Things were just starting to look up, we were getting closer and closer to normal. And then a bastard named Gustav decided to visit.

Sigh.

I'm making evacuation plans for my family, figuring out where I'm going to bunker down so I can do my job after the storm hits, and generally dreading repeating this whole experience. Yeah, I said repeating because I was in the New Orleans area when that heifer Katrina showed her behind, and I remember what things were like.

Utter chaos.

Not just the chaos you saw on tv, (they sure do love some black folks carrying televisions) I'm talking about the chaos at my job and the chaos in my personal life. Sleeping in strange beds, struggling to find an outlet for the stories I thought were important, just random chaos.

See, for better or worse, I'm a creature of routine. I like to know what's going to happen, prepare for it and then move on. I don't like frenetic activity. I abhor excessive anticipation. It just doesn't sit well with me.

This whole hurricane ordeal is a combination of chaos and anticipation and it's starting to get to me. I just feel tired and I don't want to deal with it.

Plus, I know that after the storm hits, I'll be working crazy hours trying to find interesting stories and talking to people who have just had their lives destroyed. It'll be very similar to going to a murder scene except I'll have to talk to more people and intrude on more moments of sorrow. I'm sure I'll do some good and tell some stories that need to be told, but I'll also feel like crap for profiting from other people's pain.

Windy days ahead.