Based on reports from people I’ve talked to, Nashville has been all over the news regarding the deadly tornados that ripped through Middle Tennessee yesterday. I’m happy to report that we’re fine and sustained no damage in yesterday’s storm. Although we did get plenty of wind, rain and M&M sized hail, the worst of the storm was to the north of us. We were very lucky and VERY thankful that we dodged this bullet. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affect by this horrible storm.
A Map Of The Area
I’ve created a little Google Map of the area, so that you can see how close the storm came.
A Little Funny Story
I know that devastation is never a funny topic, but I thought a little story about what I was doing during the storm might bring a little levity.
Yesterday I had a late lunch and since I was working in my home office that day, I turned on the television. All the major stations were carrying weather coverage about an approaching storm. This was actually an improvement over the usual Divorce Court/Jerry Springer/Cops garbage that is usually on at that time of day, but that’s another story.
I could quickly tell that we were out of harms way for the most part, so that was a relief, but every storm we have gets a ton of live coverage, so I’ve grown quite numb to the reports. I mean no offense, but I grew up in Louisiana, so I’m used to rain and never saw it as a big deal. Of course that all changed yesterday and I now won’t take these reports so lightly, because I can now see why they do them.
Anyway, after watching the news reports, it looks like just another big thunderstorm and it’s going to miss me for the most part, so I dismiss it. I head back upstairs to my office and initiate a conference call that I had scheduled for that afternoon. Once we’re into the meat of the call, my office phone starts ringing off the hook. Since I’m the one that started the conference call, I can’t get out of it without disconnecting everyone, so I just try to ignore it.
That proves very hard to do because of the volume of calls, so I try and seek refuge by moving into another room where the ringing isn’t so loud. Well, I have phones all over the house, so the only room where it’s quieter is in the bathroom. So when the phone starts ringing again, I stand up and walk into the bathroom for a bit.
Well all this up-and-down business starts really frustrating me to no end. Every five minutes, I have to go stand in the bathroom while the phone rings off the wall. I know that the other people on the conference call must be frustrated too, so to lighten the moment, I mention how I wish my office phone had an “ignore” button like my mobile phone does. Everyone laughed and we continued with the conference call.
Bear in mind that I’m trying to lead this very important meeting, so my focus is on the call itself and not on these silly interrupting phone calls. I just keep thinking to myself, “Leave a damn message!”, while I bring up the next bullet point with the other participants. Isn’t it nice to know that, as a consultant, I can pontificate on the merits of technology all the while zig-zagging back and forth between my office and my bathroom? I’m sure my client would be impressed. 😉
The call ended up lasting for well over an hour and when it was ended, I checked my voice mail and all of my messages were from Holly. Seems that it wasn’t just a big thunderstorm, but that multiple tornados touched down and she was calling to see if I was all right. She didn’t have a TV, or radio at her office, so she didn’t know how bad Antioch was affected.
Needless to say I called her right back, not only to let her know I was OK, but to make sure that she was OK too. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the news and calling friends and family to make sure everyone was safe. I’m happy to report that they were.
Maybe next time I get a persistent caller I’ll pick up the phone. Who knows, they could be telling to to seek shelter from a horrific storm and not just interrupting an important call. Yet, now that I think about it, we don’t have a basement, so the bathroom is the safest place for me to go during a storm. A bit Pavlovian, but it’s better than nothing. 😛