Bitterness indeed! If this had happened in the U S and A, it would have made the 6 o'clock news after your buddies grabbed their guns and got their rightful vengeance.
My own less thrilling Noel story: on Thursday, the wife and I decided we needed a getaway and I booked a hotel in Virginia Beach. On Friday as we were packing, my mother-in-law called and said that we were going into a hurricane!
As suspected, the truth lied somewhere between her hyperbole and our ignorance of all things weather-related. A quick web check showed Noel to be several hundred miles off of Florida and tracking NNE. So in our hotel on Friday night, we heard a lot of wind, but the gusts were only 30-40 mph. Saturday morning was very gray and windy still, but the coast was clear (literally) by noon, and the rest of the weekend was fabulous.
Nolan (now 2 yrs, 3 months old!) in particular had a big time at the beach. It was cute on Thursday when we told him we were going to the beach and he said "BEACH!" loudly and went to the garage door, trying mightily to pull it open so as to get to the beach NOW! I forgot that "tomorrow" means nothing to a toddler.
