Mea Culpa: Isabel is my fault.

[trof]

Not the existence of Hurricane Isabel, but the path it's taking.
See, I'm hurricane-proof. It all started like this...

In June of 1993 we moved to coastal Alabama. From then until 1998 I was still working my airline job. Oh, we had hurricanes. We had Opal and Danny and Georges and some I can't remember. We just never had one while I was here. Never. I'd be in Tokyo or Amsterdam or some other far flung corner of the world and turn on CNN or get the pre-flight weather briefing and BOOM, here's another hurricane headed right for the folks back home. By the time I returned a week later the sun was shining, the birds were singing, the waters had receded, the downed limbs had been carted off, and the electricity was back on. What storm?

In early 1998 I retired. The next month we spent a long weekend in Tampa for a wedding. While we were gone, Georges visited. My record held. Since then we have not had a single hurricane hit any closer than Texas. They might start out headed right for the mouth of Mobile Bay and then they just swoop off somewhere else. It's like I'm generating some kind of force field.

So...my deepest apologies to all on the eastern seaboard. It's all my fault.
I'm willing to be forgiven.
;-)

[JitterbugPerfume]

1. you are forgiven

nice story

[trof]

2. Weird, hunh?

Tried to make a few bucks by having a subscriber list to notify when I'll be out of town for more than 72 hours, but no takers.
;-)

[JitterbugPerfume]

3. Fools !!!

they should utilize your talent

[trof]

4. I never said everybody in my neighborhood was smart.

Just incredibly good looking.

[Raven]

5. You're invited

to be absent from my place in Boston! I have always thought hurricanes were exciting until one (Bob, I think) put a very large tree through my roof. I had an Aunt who had a summer house on the beach in Nantucket. She always got on a plane and flew down there to ride out these storms...nuts!

[trof]

6. Bob chased my ass all the way up the eastern seaboard.

Left some friend's in Virginia Beach a day early, headed for Merrimack, NH, to escape Bob. Looked like we were far enough ahead to spend the night in Atlantic City. Woke up about 3 a.m. to rain and howling winds. Turned the TV on and Bob has picked up a LOT of speed and is headed right for us. Got Mrs. t. up and we jumped in the car and took off.

We managed to stay right in the leading edge all the way home. Rain like I'd never seen. Every time we stopped at a toll booth the car died. Later discovered the distributor cap was cracked and letting water leak in, grounding the points. I'd push it out of the toll booth in blinding rain and it would start again. Finally
1. Stopped and got some WD-40 and hosed everything under the hood down. A little better.
2. Discovered that by keeping one foot hard on the brakes, and the engine at high revs, we could make it through a toll booth.

Oh, yeah. I remember Bob.

[rock]

7. You expect us to believe that something bad happened

and it wasn't Clinton's fault!? I'm speechless!

[trof]

8. I'm taking all the blame.

Or credit?

[blondeatlast]

10. Beat me to it.

[trof]

11. OK, I'll share.

It's half your fault.
Better now?

[blondeatlast]

9. Of course it isn't. Clinton did it, fool.

:evilgrin: