hurricane preparedness

A few days ago, Yasha told us that there was going to be a hurricane: we'd likely lose electricity, and there might be flooding.
Mitka:  "But why didn't we know about this before now?"
Yasha:  "Because we live under a rock."

me:  "There's nothing to do to prepare for loss of electricity, right?  We should get flashlights or something?  Oh, you probably have flashlights already, because you have everything.  Do you have batteries, too?"
Yasha:  "Yeah.  All my batteries are currently in my lasers."

Today, Mitka did some homework with classmates.
Mitka:  "Harvard's closed tomorrow, so there's no class and Eric and I might get together and do some work."
me:  "If Harvard's closed tomorrow, that probably means it won't be pleasant to walk outside."
Mitka:  "What?  No.  They're probably closed because they'll lose electricity.  And the professors have to drive to campus."
me:  "If people can't drive to campus, you probably won't want to walk.  I mean, in the snow it's fine to walk even when it's not safe to drive---not while the snow is actually falling, but afterward---but..."
Mitka:  "It's not snow.  It's just water."
me:  "Right.  Exactly."

Mitka went to Whole Foods to buy "water and batteries and stuff".
me:  "We decided we'd fill pots with water, remember?  The thing you were actually supposed to buy is cereal."
Mitka:  "But we might not have pots.  I think I'll buy some water anyway."
me:  "We might not have pots?  How would we not have pots?"
Mitka:  "I meant we might not have enough pots."

Mitka:  "Don't forget to move the violin upstairs."
me:  "I just did."
Mitka:  "Oh, okay."
me:  "I mean, during this conversation."

Mitka:  "You know, if there's flooding, your mattress is on the floor."
me:  "Oh.  That's true, I didn't think of that.  I thought, 'Oh, the only valuable thing we have downstairs is the violin.'  But the mattress cost a lot of money, and it's directly on the floor."
Mitka:  "I have a cover thing that might help keep it dry."
me:  "No, I don't think that will help much."
Mitka:  "We can try dragging it upstairs later."

I went to Whole Foods with him, to help carry stuff.  We got one gallon of water, lots and lots of juice, some fruit, cereal, bread, and cheese.  In the checkout line, I loaded juice into my backpack.
me:  "You're buying... a dry salami?  But you don't normally buy salami."
Mitka:  "Yeah.  So we don't starve.  A hurricane is a good excuse."

When we got outside, Mitka remembered that he'd meant to buy toilet paper---we only had one roll left.  The RiteAid was closed.
Mitka:  "Do you want to go back to Whole Foods?  Or we could go to CVS or something."
me:  "I don't really feel like doing anything."
Mitka:  "Okay, but if the stores are out for a week, toilet paper is something we really wouldn't want to run out of."
me:  "That's true."

Mitka:  "We might not have internet tomorrow!  How are we ever going to entertain ourselves?"
me:  "Oh, maybe I should go get my books from my office."

We got home, and MIT had sent a notice.
me:  "MIT is closed tomorrow.  I think I'm gonna go get my books."
Mitka:  "They're not locked, are they?"
me:  "No, no.  They're closed, and I don't expect to go to campus tomorrow, and it'll probably be raining anyway.  I'll just go now and get my books."
Mitka:  "Do you want to borrow my bike?"
me:  "No."
I went up and put my shoes on.
me:  "Okay, bye.  Oh, I'll also get toilet paper."