>>1935, 1969 and 1992

Scary years. If you were in Mississippi, you'd be petrified at the mention of 1969! I remember being a yungun and the power went out here. My mom walked me to bed with a candle and told me that it'd all be over by morning. Indeed it was - leaves scattered around, but not the kind of death/doom/destruction Camile dropped 45 miles due east of me. Thus began the fascination (or was that due to my 1 year old experience of being rescued by Civil Defense in Hurricane Betsy?)

Anyway, the difference between 69 and 92 (definitely 92) was that I'm pretty sure both were solid El Nino years. There's none such of that happening now. The PAC basin is decidedly neutral. We all know that one of the ways out of drought is via tropical activity. We also know that when Miami gets hit from the East or SE by anything major, the North Gulf is next in line. If it works out this time, I'm all for it. Then again, I'm kinda feeling guilty. After precip and clouds from 7 systems in 2002 and then Bill last year after waiting the better part of 3 decades for a reasonable hit (excluding Andrew, Bob, Florence and Frances), I've gotten my fair share of recent action. Things different this time around - my kids are all wigged about storms now too. They love 'em. We had a blast for Georges, Lili, Isidore and Bill. I'm also a home owner now, and my lot is in a flood zone. But we're going to meet any storm mano a mano or mano a femano.

I don't have squat at home except my first aid kit. I'm not in any hurry to re-stock anything either. I'm one of those guys who's the first at the store when I clue in on a potential threat, so I never get stuck in those long lines. Not me - unless it's for re-upping beer and cigs.

Peace, and here's to 2004 - 27.25 hours and counting.

Steve