Dearest Friends and Family,
If you are reading this, it is because Atlanta's great Snow and Ice storm of 2011 has taken me. I fought courageously and with valor but in the end, Mother Nature proved too great a foe. So that others may witness the harsh reality that swept over my life like the cold front that took it, I will share with you my chronicles of the end.
-written Monday, January 10, 2011, 11:01pm
Saturday, January 8, 2010
1:42pm
What a glorious day! I am in such high spirits today. I just sent in my last mortgage payment on my home and then found $20 in my blue jeans! The sun is shining and I haven't a care in the world. I think I'll go to work and smile at people all day.
3:13pm
Just spent our life savings on a wonderful retirement property. It's a bit of a fixer-upper but I hope Shannon loves it, it's a surprise!
4:10pm
I have enjoyed smiling at people all day today. It makes me feel very good. A little boy came into work and said "I like airplanes!" and then I said, "I like airplanes too little boy!" I gave him a piece of candy and he went on his way.
5:53pm
Can this day get any better? I don't think so!
5:54pm
Just listened to Kirk Mellish's 5 day forecast. Looks like some snow for us on Sunday night. There is some potential for ice as well but I'm not terribly concerned. It would take a lot to ruin this weekend!
7:01pm
Back home with Shannon. Discussing our retirement plans; there is some tension. Shannon would like to retire near a beach somewhere. She is not happy with my decision to spend our savings on an abandoned meat packing plant on the outskirts of Pittsburgh. Should have thought this through a little more.
7:40pm
Shannon has calmed down some but there is still tension.
9:51pm
Just finished a solid 2-hour session on YouTube. Man, people and animals are so crazy and then they videotape it!
11:32pm
Just finished playing Frogger on my phone. I'm limited to 30 minutes so as to avoid any more carpal tunnell flare ups. Kirk Mellish just updated his forecast for Sunday, looks like a fair amount of snow and ice. I think Kirk Mellish is amazing! Time for bed...
Sunday, January 9, 2011
8:28am
Woke up with a strange feeling today. Can't seem to shake it. I think I'll hit the gym for some cardio.
8:39am
Great cardio workout. Really getting toned. People are noticing how buff I am and saying stuff about it. Not necessarily to me, but I can tell they're totally impressed.
10:10am
Work is pretty slow today so I'm spending a couple of hours updating my Facebook profile and Twitter accounts. I love people knowing what I"m doing at the exact moment I am doing it! I feel bad for my parents who didn't get to tell all of their friends what they were doing precisely when they were doing it. I suppose they used the phone a lot in their day. A typical call would probably go something like this "Greetings Monroe, a good day to you sir!" "Ah yes Filmore, a good day indeed! For what purpose do you ring?" "Well Monroe, I just finished reading the funnies in the daily. Quite uproarious!" "Well done Filmore, if I had a way to let the world know I liked your statement, I most surely would! Good day." "Good day to you as well Monroe."
12:00pm
The news is beginning to talk of a major snowstorm in Atlanta. I am not really concerned because if I get snowed in I can play guitar. hero.
2:52pm
The sky looks ominous. I am slightly fearful. No, just hungry. I'll stop at Kroger on my way home.
5:29pm
Oh my, there are a lot of people at Kroger. The security guy is mad-dogging me, I could take him because I am so buff now but that is not my primary mission. I must procure some basic readiness supplies in case Shannon and I are stuck for days. Or worse...
5:48pm
Storm Preparedness Kit:
2 Lemons
Lime juice
Garlic
Tums
Ballads of the 80s CD
Best of the 80s Rock CD
Post It Notes
Total: $29.97. But you can't put a price on preparedness.
7:50
Shannon is at work but I'm sure she'll be glad I got some emergency supplies to get us through.
8:50pm
The snow has started. It was light at first but has progressed quickly to heavy, driving snow showers. The radar paints an ominous picture. I am having scenes from The Day After Tomorrow pop into my head and the radar looks like it did in that movie. Once Shannon is home I will board all the windows and doors in anticipation of the sub-freezing air that could kill us in seconds.
10:39pm
Shannon is home now. I suggested we let the dogs go free as we may not be able to sustain them through this event. She just looked at me sort of funny. I know now what she was getting at. We need to keep them. I'd rather not think it, but we need to keep them. Just in case.
11:54pm
I have done my best to seal off our home from the elements. Shannon told me to calm down but in the movies, the one that runs around like a fool usually ends up being the smart one.
Monday January 10, 2011
1:12am
I can't sleep. The wind howls through the trees and screams past the house as if to taunt me, the snow swirls and dances against the windows, the cold... Oh how bitter cold it must be outside. I pray that the prophecy is wrong and that this is not the beginning of the end.
3:42am
Shannon is upset with me because I won't sleep. What I won't tell her is that what she is really upset with is staring her own mortality in the face.
4:50am
I have lost the will to tweet. I know that my 9 Twitter followers are probably looking for some hope, some inspiration, a flicker of light amidst nature's awesome display of winter brutality. But I have nothing, I cannot summon the will. I feel exhaustion, and with it, hopefully rest.
11:31am
I awoke this morning feeling a small sense of hope but was saddened at the site in the kitchen. Shannon is making eggs. I don't blame her for not being able to accept that our world is falling apart, that what we knew yesterday would be but a memory today and forgotten tomorrow. For her, I guess it's important to go on like nothing is happening, the shock of it all is too burdensome for most to accept. So I'll play along and have some eggs like we did yesterday.
11:48am
Shannon said I'm acting strangely and that we might be snowed in for a couple of days. Oh to have her naivete, I could embrace her sweet optimism and indulge the fantasy! But someone needs to think of tomorrow.
3:32pm
I pulled out my short wave radio, there must be survivors out there, others with whom we can rebuild society.
4:00pm
No luck on the short wave. Shannon says the batteries are dead. She seems to have an excuse for everything. I am waiting for her world to fall apart.
6:02pm
Supplies are running low. We're down to some rice cakes and soy sauce. And whatever is left in the fridge and pantry.
7:09pm
Shannon said it would be good for me to go for a walk. I agree, I'll take the shotgun and the dogs for protection. I'm not sure what a total societal breakdown looks like, but I'm not about to take any chances.
7:23pm
Alas! I found a survivor but the fear has got them. One look at me and they went sprinting. The roads are impassable, the sky dark and abandoned cars litter the streets. This is not a world I ever imagined I'd wake up to.
7:39pm
A car approaches slowly, the tires crunching on ice. A polic cruiser! From the last world! He must be in search of survivors. But we can't afford another and I told Shannon to not let him in. She told me he's here about the shotgun. And then it made sense. Weapons are a valuable commodity in the new world and he won't be taking mine.
8:22pm
I shouldn't have left Shannon alone with the old-world cop but I needed to protect the shotgun.
8:30pm
Shannon is upset that I left and said that the Police want to talk to me. It's time to have a talk with her.
9:03pm
That did not go well. I am feeling weak but need to conserve the rice cakes. I'll have some soy sauce and try to sleep.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
3:22am
Our supplies are drained and I am feeling weak. I have tried to stay so strong but the new world is not a place for the weak, or the weary. I was softened by the old world and I am angry at its destruction. If I had strength to scream, I would raise a fist and cry out but worry it would only be a whimper. And so it goes, the end is near now, I feel it approaching. I wish I could have been stronger, I wish I hadn't bought that meat packing plant outside of, what was the old world name? Ahh, Pitts-burgh. I remember now, it was such a long time ago. I wonder what they will call it in the new world...
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)