Come on Irene, We are ready. Hopefully a little to ready..

On my run this morning I snapped this photo with my Droid.  This is the back door to one of the buildings that was built on the landfill when they originally build the World Trade Center.  About 3 feet above a normal high tide.  I hope they keep the  Hudson River from out tonight.

There were also sandbags protecting some of the buildings near the Gowanus Canal

On the run we stopped at the McDonald's on Chambers and Greenwitch to pee.  The manager let us in.  He said they were closed but he was not able to lock the door.  He did not know how.  It was open 24/7 since the day they opened.  He said he could not ask his staff to come to work if they could not get home.  The subway was only going to work for another few hours.

At the end of my run I got caught in one of the early rain bands from Hurricane Irene. After I got home I showered and went out for a walk and saw how my neighbors was preparing.  

I actually met many of them.  I think anyone who has not evacuated decided to go out for a walk.  As I would stop and chat with people I knew, other people I knew stooped and said hi to me.  I also had a Steve Buscemi and John Turturro sighting in the same day.

For some reason all the trash pails were turned upside down.  Maybe they don't want people to put any trash in them because it will blow out when the hurricane comes.  But people are still just putting their trash on top.

And yes, the subway is shut down.

I also got like 40 robo-calls from the NYC Office of Emergency Management.  OK, maybe 35.  below is the Google Voice transcript.  Maybe you can even listen to it.

	+17184228818 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            +17184228818      end_of_the_skype_highlighting 8/26/11 7:27 PM (22 hours ago)

Press 1 Bye, reminder Hey shelters staffing assignment your mind. You will report to the evacuation Centernearest you, tonight August 26th at 10 PM, to find your nearest evacuation Center. You can use thevaccinations and your locator, or you that he should Center map available on the homepage of the O. E. Mwebsite at www, dot, N Y C dot com slash O. E. M. Please bring along essential supplies, including anymedications I a change of clothes phone charger any reusable water bottle. We thank you again for yourServices City of this emergency situation yo Syndrome or the following contact information. Bye. Yeah phonenumber. Bye. 718. Your 22 yeah 8818. Bye young to you thanks bye. 

Play message

So I walked over to John Jay High School to see if I can help.  There seemed to be a lot of people in blue shirts with orange vests waiting for something to do.  Mostly they were the same crowd who "volunteer" to be poll watchers, except there were not enough chairs. I did find the registration place and they assumed I was an evacuee.

"No, I am here to see if you need any help"

"We seam to be fine, can you come back at 9pm" (it was 4pm)

"Maybe,  but what will you need me to do?

"I don't know, probably nothing"

"OK, but till then can you get the OEM to stop calling me."

"No, they call me, and I am here."

I will ride out the storm with my family.....

I hope this was more than needed.