0 and so it begins...

my mother warned me when i moved to london that if anything of world/news import ever happened in london while i was in london, i would immediately be bombarded with inquiries of "ARE YOU OK??"

at the time, i laughed and said yeah yeah, thinking this would apply to things like terrorist threats and bombings or similar circumstance where alarm would be justified. i failed to realize that it would also apply to things like rumored snowstorms and freak traffic accidents. 

this was the lead story on this morning's memphis commerical appeal:

which is dreadful. but which also meant i was treated to this email from my father:

and to which i responded: yes, yes, i are ok.