Weathering Irene, part 1

After roughly five years of living in the Capital District,  my friend Heather finally made the trek on I-90 to visit me.  We had planned a grand weekend of mojitos and visiting the Ben and Jerry's factory in Vermont.  We ended up with mojitos, 2 for $5 pints of Ben and Jerry's and waiting for Hurricane Irene.  Even though the storm isn't supposed to reach Albany until Sunday, most of Saturday was spent in slightly nervous anticipation.  We've both survived more blizzards than we can count and know the formula for staying safe through a major winter storm.  A high velocity summer storm is a rather different animal.  I've been especially anxious since my boyfriend is in the heart of the Mid-Atlantic region which is currently getting pummeled by category 1 hurricane winds. Currently we're in the middle of a chick flick marathon with a persistent rain and a steady flow of wine.   The worst of it is supposed to make it to Albany in a matter of hours.  Irene should be demoted to a tropical storm by than and winds are supposed to be even weaker by the time they make it 200+ miles inland from NYC to Albany.  RPI has cancelled the first day of classes and opened ECAV as a shelter for students during the storm.  The last time RPI closed the storm died out several hundred miles before it reached Upstate New York.  Here's hoping the meteorologists are the only "blow-hards" we hear this weekend.