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hurricane
September 2009 
In Threes
Posted on Sep 14th, 2008
by 
Serendipity
Serendipity
They say the bad stuff always comes in threes. Friday night I was watching CNN's coverage of hurricane Ike and they broke in occasionally with the story about the train wreck in California. That was two on the same night. What would number three be?
Saturday morning CNN reported a plane crash in Russia. Number three came. The loss of life is awful, but at least we're off the hook for a bit. I hope we are, anyway. My thoughts are with the Texans who lost their homes and the Californians and Russians who lost loved ones. I am reminded to be grateful for what I have.
This evening I saw an update on the state of things in the Galveston area. They were talking about the tremendous amount of resources being put into rescuing the dumb-asses who ignored the evacuation orders and are now trapped in flooded homes. How many of these storms do we have to have before people start listening? Why should my tax dollars be spent rescuing them now? If they'd left, and it wasn't as bad as predicted, what's the worst that would have happened? They would go home the next day and go on with their lives after a minor inconvenience. Instead they stayed, and it wasn't as bad as predicted, but still pretty bad. So now they are sitting on their roofs waiting for someone to fly by in a helicopter and pull them off. Thousands and thousands of dollars are being spent to save their sorry asses. That money could be much better spent feeding and sheltering the families who had the sense to get out.
I'd tell them to start swimming, but the flood waters are full of sewage, debris, snakes, rats and - gulp! - alligators. I wouldn't wish snakes and alligators on anyone, even the dumb-asses. So I guess they will have to be plucked off their roofs.
Today I also heard the theoretical cause of the train wreck. Apparently, the engineer was busy texting when he should have been watching for the signal that would have told him a freight train was coming the other way. He gave his life for that lapse in judgment. It's unfortunate he had to take 24 others with him. Engineers everywhere, please put down your cell phones and drive the trains.
I didn't hear anything more about the plane crash. Apparently what's happening in Russia isn't as important as what's happening in the U.S. I'm sure there's some coverage on the BBC, but I'm not going to look for it. I don't want to hear that the pilot was looking at porn on his iPhone or whatever. I'll just assume that engine failure or bad weather was the cause of the crash.
Otherwise I'll know that stupidity also comes in threes.
Saturday morning CNN reported a plane crash in Russia. Number three came. The loss of life is awful, but at least we're off the hook for a bit. I hope we are, anyway. My thoughts are with the Texans who lost their homes and the Californians and Russians who lost loved ones. I am reminded to be grateful for what I have.
This evening I saw an update on the state of things in the Galveston area. They were talking about the tremendous amount of resources being put into rescuing the dumb-asses who ignored the evacuation orders and are now trapped in flooded homes. How many of these storms do we have to have before people start listening? Why should my tax dollars be spent rescuing them now? If they'd left, and it wasn't as bad as predicted, what's the worst that would have happened? They would go home the next day and go on with their lives after a minor inconvenience. Instead they stayed, and it wasn't as bad as predicted, but still pretty bad. So now they are sitting on their roofs waiting for someone to fly by in a helicopter and pull them off. Thousands and thousands of dollars are being spent to save their sorry asses. That money could be much better spent feeding and sheltering the families who had the sense to get out.
I'd tell them to start swimming, but the flood waters are full of sewage, debris, snakes, rats and - gulp! - alligators. I wouldn't wish snakes and alligators on anyone, even the dumb-asses. So I guess they will have to be plucked off their roofs.
Today I also heard the theoretical cause of the train wreck. Apparently, the engineer was busy texting when he should have been watching for the signal that would have told him a freight train was coming the other way. He gave his life for that lapse in judgment. It's unfortunate he had to take 24 others with him. Engineers everywhere, please put down your cell phones and drive the trains.
I didn't hear anything more about the plane crash. Apparently what's happening in Russia isn't as important as what's happening in the U.S. I'm sure there's some coverage on the BBC, but I'm not going to look for it. I don't want to hear that the pilot was looking at porn on his iPhone or whatever. I'll just assume that engine failure or bad weather was the cause of the crash.
Otherwise I'll know that stupidity also comes in threes.
Access: Public
I had to go check CNN about the cause of the train wreck, praying that you were wrong. You weren't. I can't believe the engineer was texting while driving a train. I thought trains were safer than planes, but they're still operated by humans. Humans who don't leave their homes when hurricanes come calling and who operate cell phones while operating dangerous machines. I wish I were a vampire and could just sleep for the next few centuries.