After this, the deluge?

I went for my walk around 8:30 at night. I wasn't the only one who had that idea -- the streets were filled with people trying to get in some exercise after the sun had gone down. It was still hot and muggy, and gigantic plastic bags of garbage were piled like an obstacle course on the sidewalks. Ah, New York, this is not you at your best.

I did manage, though, to get in the half hour of walking that I figure is the rock-bottom minimum daily exercise I need in order to stay alive.

When I got back there was a sign in the lobby saying we should take everything off of the terraces before the 100-mph hurricane hits on Friday or Saturday.

From what I had heard earlier on the news, the hurricane wasn't supposed to land here, so I thought the sign was just the building's usual over-abundance of caution.

But then I found this:

The National Hurricane Center warns that Hurricane Earl may swing by dangerously close to the U.S. East Coast before curving back out to sea. While the odds are it won't strike New York City directly, such an event is not unprecedented, and the city has plans in place to evacuate — and to hunker down — if need be.

It's always something.