Stuff You Can't Do During Hurricane Irene's Visit

Do have an annoying family member named Irene that happens to visit at the worst possible time? If so, you can totally relate to everyone on the east coast and what we are experiencing. Hurricane Irene is like that annoying person that always visits when you least want her to do so.

This is the last weekend in August. For many of the kids out there, this is the last weekend to go out and have fun before returning to school. Many people had plans to do something fun during this last weekend in August. Some college students were supposed to move into their dorms and begin their new life in college. But no, old Irene had to come and visit. She had to ruin everyone's good time.

Now, everyone on the east coast is collecting food, batteries, flashlights, filling buckets and tubs with water, and gathering books to read if the electricity goes out. Books? What? Come on, Irene! Couldn't you have just gone out to the ocean and not bothered anyone? Some of us were going to the beach or going to parks today. But no, grumpy old Irene has to show up and now everyone has to board up their windows and hope they live through the weekend. The least Irene could have done was shown up during a work week. Then maybe some of us would have gotten a couple of days off.

In a previous hub, I took a serious approach and explained all the things you SHOULD be doing right now to prepare for Hurricane Irene. Since the hurricane is keeping everyone locked inside, I thought I would lighten the mood with a hub about the things you SHOULD NOT be doing while Hurricane Irene visits us this weekend. That is, unless my power goes out while I am writing this. If my electricity shuts off, you guys are on your own and need to find a new source of entertainment.

Yes, August is a great time to go to the beach, but no, no one is going to the beach in this weather. It is rainy and the wind is gusting here in Maryland, and that snot-nosed brat Irene still isn't even here yet. It looks like impending doom outside. Stupid Irene!

Flying a kite can be so much fun. Whenever it is pretty windy, that is the perfect time to fly a kite. However, you just can't do that when Category 1 Hurricane winds are blasting through. Your poor kite will break in a million pieces. For that matter, you might break into a million pieces, too. So don't forget - stay inside!

Mmmm... nothing is more delicious than a good, hot meal on a dreary day. Some nice stew or a soup would be perfect this weekend. The only problem is the electric will probably go out and stay out at some point today. Once the electric goes out, the news reporters are stating it will not come back on for days in most areas. It is impossible to start a delicious stew only to have your crockpot go off after 2 hours. Your poor stew will be in "crockpot limbo" and nothing will ever come of it. How depressing! Plan ahead and make sure to have plenty of food on hand that does not need to be refrigerated or cooked.

Sounds as if customers have totally wiped out the stores. As it turns out, I am an overly cautious person, and that means I bought everything I needed Wednesday night. I am a little low on batteries, but I heard there haven't been batteries or flashlights in any stores for about 24 hours now. So if you are a last minute shopper, sorry pal.

Perhaps you can still get some matches and candles. If not, dig around for some of those old Christmas candles from past years. Sure your home will smell like Christmas wreaths and Christmas Cookies, but there will be light!

For this weekend, unless you have a generator, you may want to stick to watching short movies or just catching up on some television shows. This is not the weekend to decide you are going to watch every Harry Potter movie back to back since your electric will probably go out long before Harry ever figures out what is going on with Lord Voldemort. You can, however, READ the Harry Potter series. I highly recommend that anyway, even if your electric stays on.

Who doesn't enjoy a good scenic walk every now and then? It can be so peaceful and really help you put your thoughts together. However, if a hurricane is about to come your way, you may want to postpone that journey. I know there are plenty of fun photos you can take along your walk, but it is not worth it. Your life is worth more than getting a cool photo for your Facebook page.

Don't forget, many regions are prone to having tornadoes in this type of weather. You do not want to experience that while outside. You are not Dorothy and this totally isn't Kansas.

Some people can sleep through anything. Good for you if you are one of those people. Many of us cannot sleep during horrifying winds and rain slamming against the window. This storm is going to hit many states during the middle of the night. Even if you are a heavy sleeper, you may want to drink down some caffeine tonight. If you need to evacuate, you'd better be awake for it. So focus on your beauty sleep next week and stay awake tonight. Chances are, you won't be able to sleep once Irene starts knocking on your windows and doors anyway. Irene is just annoying like that.

If you are going through this experience with me right now, thanks for reading. I hope you still have your electric and you are not reading this using a battery operated laptop. Seriously, you should be saving those batteries since you never know when the electric will come back on. Remember to stay observant and be on your toes during Hurricane Irene's visit to your state. Eventually she will go away just like anyone else that annoys us. Irene is just taking her time for now.