Blowing in the wind

Have either of you guys been through a hurricane?  Back in the day, a hurricane in the Pacific was called a typhoon, and we had two of them during my time on Okinawa.  It was really something, nothing much to do except hunker down, wait it out, and mop up all the water that was blown in through the closed windows.  The only precautions I recall were tying things down if they were outside, and covering the equipment that was inside.  We were told not to go outside, but we did it anyhow just to see what it was like, and it was amazing.  But we only stepped out a few feet from the door because the wind would literally blow you away.  I don't recall a lot of crap being blown about, though there might have been.  A few minutes outside was enough.  I thought it was impressive that we got two feet of rain in 24 hours, but those poor folk in Texas are getting six inches of rain an hour, which is scary.  There was hardly any flooding and I never saw much mud; Okinawa is a coral island and the water drained away as quickly as it fell.  The coolest part of the experience was when the eye of the typhoon passed over, eerily still and quiet until the main storm resumed.  A day or two later it was like nothing happened, but I imagine the guys in WWII have different tales to relate, being stuck in pup tents and all, and those guys in the caves shooting at you.

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So I'm thinking that trying to understand the issues of the day is an exercise in futility except for the relief that comes from venting one's opinion.  Weird shit is going down and we are in the peanut gallery, cheering or booing as the case may be.  Time to move on to other things and go on with our lives as best we can, if we can.

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Cars.  Can't stop thinking about them since Uncle Ken mentioned his opinion on the styling and I am torn.  I think I mentioned at the last seminar I attended that exterior styling doesn't matter much once you are inside and driving it, perhaps a moot point.  Cars of today may be bland, but very few are what I would call butt ugly.  In fact, there are quite a few good looking ones but they seem to be more expensive than the consumer-grade polished turds that the common folk are driving.  Ferraris and Porsches still look good to me.

One thing about modern cars is that they look much easier to wash and wax than the fin-festooned vehicles of yesteryear, with few of those intricate nooks and crannies to try and clean.  But with today's paints and finishes I'm not sure if cars even need washing anymore.  I didn't try too hard to keep my cars clean except for the glass; always liked to see where I was going and replaced the windshield wiper blades frequently.  There is a benefit to washing a car and that is to see the little scratches, developing rust spots, or other possible problem areas.  But I don't see folks washing their cars in the alley on Saturday mornings anymore.  Maybe they all go to car washes to run them through those big brushes.  I should have given more effort to the care and maintenance of the exteriors but I didn't know as much as I thought I did.  I should have sought the wisdom of the elders, but it's too late for that now and, as an elder of today, I fear that any wisdom I may have is sadly irrelevant.  At least I won't be baffled if I have to use a dial telephone.

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One thing I noticed as I watched some old movies is that men's clothing fashion hasn't changed much.  Except for the short time in the 60s and 70s, in the days of leisure suits, Nehru jackets, bell-bottoms, and paisley shirts men's clothes have stayed pretty much the same.  T-shirts, blue jeans, khakis, flannel shirts, and lace-up shoes have proven timeless.  I think Crocs have come and gone.  I'm not sure but I haven't seen anyone wearing them lately.