As I get ready for another exciting day collecting past due telephone charges, the lingering question is this: Will my call centre be open tomorrow?

No, this is not a commentary on outsourcing. Everyone is keeping an eye to the Carribean, watching the movement of Hurricane Charley and the forecast track of this growing storm. As of now, just after 6AM, the centre of the storm is expected to skim Pinellas County around midday tomorrow. Not good news, as Polk County would be in the northeast quarurant...roughest wind, heaviest rain, possible tornadoes...you get the idea, the worst part of a hurricane to be.

You simply don't mess with a hurricane. I'll never forget one of the worst: Camille, 1969, Mississippi Gulf Coast. I lived nearly 100 miles inland, and it was one heck of a night to live through. The highest sustained winds were estimated at 200 MPH, but that was only an estimate as the equipment was destroyed. Approximately six months later, my grandmother took a cousin and I for a drive along the coastal highway (U.S. 90). Much of the damage had been cleaned up by then, and surprisingly many of the beautiful homes along the Gulf that were built just after the Civil War including Jefferson Davis' final home Beauvoir only suffered slight damage. But in front of one home was a huge cargo ship that had been picked up by the considerable waves and swept over the beach, four lanes of highway, and set down in the front yard.

This won't be anywhere near Camille, of course, but just like the Boy Scouts, "Be Prepared".