The Cruelest Joke of All

Here's the deal. We're less than 48 hours away from kickoff of Super Bowl XL. The city of Seattle (and the 12% of US States that make up the Seahawks fanbase) have been waiting for this for 30 years. Not me, mind you, I've only been here for 4 years, but that's beside the point.

The point is that there is a major storm coming in off the north Pacific that is packing near-hurricane strength wind and rain. It could arrive as early as tomorrow morning or as late as tomorrow night. Either way, it's predicted to sit and churn throughout the weekend. And as it churns it will be snapping trees and downing power lines and blacking out the power for some very, very unfortunate people.

People make cracks all the time about the Pacific Northwest's weather being the root cause of so many suicicides. Well, you better man the phones at those hotline call centers, cause if the power goes out up here on Super Bowl Sunday, there is going to be one mighty big spike in those figures.

As for me, I have between 15 and 20 people attending a party at my house on Sunday and the thoughts of us taking turns cranking the little arm on my emergency am/fm radio so we can hear the game on the radio is enough to make me weep in my beer. While laughing uncontrollably. I do that when faced with situations beyond my control. I laugh.

Earthquake preparedness kit, my ass! That little bugger might just save us from being the only people on the planet who don't know the outcome of the game. Can you imagine that? Some kid growing up in Swaziland will know the final score, but people here in the city whose team is in the game may not. That kid in Swaziland may not care, but he'll know.

And no, I'm not buying a generator.

Well, I'm probably not buying a generator.

*turns and yells down the hall*

"Honey, what time does Home Depot open tomorrow?"

Addendum: I posted this 5 minutes ago and the lights have already begun flickering. Home Depot has a Coleman Powermate generator for $399. It's designed for tailgate parties and camping. I wonder if it can power a 48" HDTV and surround-sound setup?

The deal on the storm...