Stupid Guest Tricks

Main Streeter wrote:Rethinking WDW Aug. trip. ;) Gettin scary. I only deal well with quakes.

As a native Angelano and survivor of many of each, I now prefer hurricanes. Unlike earthquakes, you get plenty of warning, and can usually move out of the way if needed (and don't wait to the last second like an SG). No big, really.

Now lightning storms, those I do worry about. Kill more people here than alligators and hurricanes combined! But not a serious problem indoors.

Zazu wrote:As a native Angelano and survivor of many of each, I now prefer hurricanes. Unlike earthquakes, you get plenty of warning, and can usually move out of the way if needed (and don't wait to the last second like an SG). No big, really.

Whereas I'm the exact opposite. I prefer quakes to hurricanes. An earthquake happens, and is over. A hurricane takes forever to pass, or at least it seems that way (or at least it seems that way, based on when I weathered Hurricane Isobel in 2002.)

LucyintheSky wrote:I remember working at IASW during downpours. We would have to stand in the pouring rain getting drenched, BEGGING people to leave the exit, since they were stopping when they saw the rain, and the entire exit ramp would back up. We'd have to shut down on occasion since people eventually wouldn't be able to get out of the boats.

The self-centeredness of the people doing the blocking astounded me. Because they didn't want to get wet, they were willing to just stand there, effecting hundreds of other people in the process, not to mention ignoring us, who are asking them to move all the while getting drenched ourselves.... ugh.

The same thing happens at GMR. If people don't move from the exit, we have to light-load the vehicles (or eventually get to the point of not loading at all).

GRUMPY PIRATE wrote:Years ago we got caught in a rainstorm at WDW, we bought the yellow ponchos like everyone else and used them for about an hour.

I'm pretty sure my mom still has the ponchos from, say... 1992 :D:

Yes, I always pack mine before departing for WDW. I haven't used them often, but they are quite helpful. I think I destroyed the last one, so it's time to get another one. The 1992 yellow ones were always cool, though.

I use to live in Oregon where it rained. I got use to it. Now when we had the bad rain storms back in January and February, that was insane. I remember one day the manager in Stage Door Cafe told everyone to come in for their shift. 4 hours into our shift and we had a nice tornado warning. I was on my lunch and closcking back in when the heaviest down pour hit the back door area. The back areas were flooded. The only way to stay dry was to stay in the building.

Earthquakes are scarry in the evenings.

I been to WDW during hurricane season and enjoyed it.
I did not like the palmetto bugs though.

I dunno which I prefer. Quakes, when not pancaking double-decker freeways and such, can actually be kind of fun. Hurricanes, if you're sort of on the edges, make for some wild weather, but I kind of like it windy and wild outside. The whole rip-the-roof-off and flooding thing though, makes me worry for those living in areas where they hit the hardest.

I survived Loma Prieta in the Bay Area, which was actually pretty bad-ass as quakes go. I was riding BART (kind of like a uncool version of a monorail) at the time...the driver started yelling on the PA for us to get out of the train in case of a derailment.

My college roomie and I were both freaked - her dad lived in Hollister where the epicenter was and my dad worked in Santa Cruz, which wasn't terribly far away. My dad got stuck in Santa Cruz for three days because Highways 17 and 1 both closed; luckily, his colleagues put him up for the night.

LadySiren wrote:I survived Loma Prieta in the Bay Area, which was actually pretty bad-ass as quakes go. I was riding BART (kind of like a uncool version of a monorail) at the time...the driver started yelling on the PA for us to get out of the train in case of a derailment.

Hopefully he stopped the train first??? :D:

One of my brothers lived in Alameda at the time of the Loma Prieta quake, and had just driven over the Bay Bridge minutes before that one section collapsed.

We buy ponchos before we go, and at the end of the trip deposit them into the closest trash can. They aren't the El-Cheapo™ brand, but the Close-To-But-Not-Quite-El-Cheapo™ brand, so they last longer. Still will get a minor rip, but they come with a carrying pouch and fit over the backpack.

I prefer Tornados™, they are slightly more targeted than Hurricanes™ and Earthquakes™. I've experienced all three, although the Tornado™ was the least concerning one. It passed just south of my house, but I could see the rotation. Cool, yet scary. The Earthquake™ was in '91, visiting my Dad. I was sleeping on a sofa bed, I was 17, when it hit I thought first, Dad took off the day and we were going to do something fun, second thought was gangs broke in (yeah, I was 17, and gangs seemed to be in the news, or fresh in my mind), and then finally when I saw I was alone I figured it out. Keep in mind this thing woke me up!

The Hurricane™ was when I was kid living in Dothan, AL. It was weakened, but still packing winds and rain.

What really concerns me are Avalanches™, I kept my family safe by purchasing a Chevy™®© Avalanche™®©, in hopes that one Avalanche™ would not take out a fellow Avalanche™®©. So far this has worked out, in all of our travels we have not had to deal with this threat.

BRWombat wrote:Hopefully he stopped the train first??? :D:

We'd literally just pulled into the Fremont station when it started. The doors were open and I was just stepping forward onto the platform and I tripped, or so I thought. I couldn't seem to stand up straight and thought for a second I was having some sort of seizure...then I noticed the light poles - they were swaying back and forth like crazy. That's when the driver started yelling over the PA to get off the train in case it derailed. I can't imagine why he thought it would derail (we were stopped and at the station) but better safe than sorry?

That night was bizarre; I spent some time at my parent's house before Mom drove me back to school. After getting no answer at Dad's office, Mom and I decided we'd have her at home and me at my apartment, just in case he tried calling one or both phone numbers. The roads were really empty and there were no BART trains running; a lot of places didn't have power, either.

My apartment was high up in the hills of the East Bay, and right in front of our complex was a huge hill. My freaked-out roomie and I were taken care of by a group of our friends; we went up on the hill and watched what was going on across the bay. The only cars on the road were people coming off of the peninsula (San Mateo, etc.) towards the East Bay. No planes overhead. No BART trains. Lots of black patches because of power outages. It was eerie. The only strong light we could see was right over San Francisco and it was this ugly orange-yellow color...we had no idea that it was the City burning (our power was temporarily out). Bad night, that.

Dad did eventually find his way home after three days, and my roomie's dad was finally able to call her to say he was okay. It was touch-and-go there for awhile, though.

If we're voting on extreme weather of choice, I'll take a Blizzard please. There's usually some warning, and all you have to do is make sure you have enough dry wood inside to heat the house for a while if the power goes out.

And when it melts, pretty much everything is where you left it... unless something iced over and fell on it.

8^)