Dennis/London

Well, when I left for work this afternoon, Dennis was a weak hurricane. When I got to work, I think it was a Category 2. Somewhere between then and 11 p.m., it became a Category 4. I didn't even hear about Category 3. Anyway, I am preparing -- for the first time -- for a hurricane without parents. So this should be interesting. And besides, I volunteered to work on Sunday, so I might be at work all weekend anyway in the safe shelter that is the glass-enclosed, Hillsborough River-view, evacuation-zone Trib newsroom.

Tomorrow -- today -- I am going to get some canned food, some candles, some batteries, some cash and a full tank o' gas. Hopefully I will be awake in time to do that before everything gets sold. Woo. hoo.

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My homepage on my computer is Google News, and when I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is to check the news. Today, I awoke to the news of the London subway bombings. At first, I thought the news people are toying with people's emotions. That is, until I checked CNN, BBC, LA Times and other major sources of news. It's horrifying. Why? Don't you wonder why? How? How did the world come to this? When did it all start? People will argue that it started when on 9/11, others will say when the U.S. attacked Iraq, but I think -- I know -- it was way before then. But when? Was there a point in the timeline of the world when chaos started to reign? Did anyone see this coming say, 50 years ago?

On a more personal note, I am going to be in London in almost exactly 3 months. Should I be scared? I'm not right now. It seems irrational to worry about things I absolutely have no control over. I mean, short of avoiding all subways and buses in London, what am I to do? Life has to go on, right? These people who did this -- and we don't know who it is yet, so don't jump to conclusions -- are playing a psychological game with the western world. What will be next? Who will be next? Where is the end of all this?