Crying Wolf

 Somehow forecasting technology for hurricanes seems no better than it was in the early 90s. Milton was a storm that formed right in the Gulf, and the geniuses couldn't even pinpoint landfall, the time, or effects for the rest of the state.

Here in Miami, schools were closed yesterday and today. I went to workout this am -- my gym shuttered tight, on "concerns with the power." Meanwhile, the skies are blue and it's a beautiful day here!

At D1's yesterday, Joey asked if he needed to move the patio stuff inside, as we were under a "Tropical Storm Watch." I told him no, and luckily he didn't waste time on it. D2 and I had dinner plans with Dr. Barry -- he canceled thinking there would be torrential rains. It barely rained.

Luckily, D2 and I still had a fine dinner, at Pinch Kitchen, right after we dropped off Little Man from his Padel lesson. Leave it to D1 -- even when school's canceled, she keeps those boys totally busy.

Milton was supposed to hit near Tampa at midnight or after. When I got home from dinner with D2, I turned on the TV to learn it had made landfall around 830.  It also hit a good 75 miles South of where the storm junkies were saying -- "Tampa is about to get ruined!!!!!" Tampa didn't get ruined, fortunately.

I totally understand. It's about ratings, and when a storm stalks, ratings shoot through the roof. People watch the news when they're scared or anxious. Absurd.

So next time, I'll stick to our protocol. If we're in the cone of a Cat 3 or above -- we gone. Even if the storm misses, we'll miss out on all the tensosity of the waiting. As the late, great Tom Petty said -- that's the hardest part!

Instead of my workout, there'll be a long walk. Wifey's probably sleeping in at her undisclosed location -- she called me at 11, and I was long asleep by then.

Later this afternoon, I have my second visit to Fox's in 2 days -- meeting some friends for some adult beverages and food. We'll toast the lack of effects.

The media are something. Even today, with blue skies and no wind, the ginners up of anxiety were saying Miami may "still get strong winds." Not here. The skies are as calm as my sleeping Special Needs Spaniel.

I used to share space with a criminal defense lawyer named Mark. He was single, and had a condo on Brickell. At the first mention of storms, he was on a plane somewhere far -- like Chicago or NYC. He used to explain he wanted to avoid all the annoyance. Of course, he had no kids or grandkids to worry after -- not even a pet -- so fleeing for him was easy.

But I always thought his approach was the smartest.

Hopefully now the media can shift back to the election. I can ignore that, too -- I already sent in my mail in ballot -- so the die is cast from me.

It's always something...