LIVING THE BLOG LIFE: So I post this piece on Hurricane Isabel, which quotes Michele Catalano saying that the stores on Long Island are all out of flashlights. Then, at about 8:00 tonight we get a call from my sister-in-law in Maryland, saying that she can’t get flashlights or batteries. What do I do? I pack up a flashlight and batteries and take ’em to the last-ditch FedEx place, getting there by nine. (This surely makes me a better-than-average brother-in-law.)

Today I was reading Dan Pink’s Free Agent Nation, where he says that freelancers have a second home at FedEx, and often form pretty close relationships with their FedEx people. When I got there, there was one of my former students, who now has a solo food-and-drug law practice of some sort (he was a pharm rep before law school), fedexing some kind of document. Judging by his familiarity with the counter folks (“this is early for you!” one told him, “you still have 20 minutes!”), he does it a lot. It’s funny to see all that stuff come together in real life.

FedEx promised they’d deliver it tomorrow. Er, but next time I hope my sister-in-law will just keep extra flashlights and batteries around. Which she would, if she read my columns!

UPDATE: At least I’m not part of the Axis of Isabel.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Here’s Dave Barry’s advice on hurricane preparedness, from his blog. Meanwhile Pat Robertson is trying to pray the Hurricane away. If it winds up hitting someone else, like the last time he tried this, should they sue him?