Book Recommendation: If I Were An Evil Overlord....

Paperback, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Russell Davis, it was released earlier this year IIRC. Contains several short stories on the subject, including stories by Esther Friesner and Tanya Huff (Tanya's a new fav of mine, and her story is cool). Some stories that I particularly liked were The Life and Death of Fortune Cookie Tyrant, by Dean Wesley Smith, Gordie Culligan vs Doctor Longbeach and the HVAC of Doom, by J. Steven York (yes, HVAC = heating/ventilation/air conditioning), and Art Therapy, by Nina Kiriki Hoffman.


Anyway, definitely recommended.

Tornado warning!

Today someone sent out a tornado warning to everyone who works for the City.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

OK. Basement is good, I once again work in the basement. I can theoretically crawl under my desk. The entire wall behind me is glass, but there's cork covering a lot of it and a big book case, so I should be relatively safe.

But what's this crap about lying in ditches? WTF? As I recall, tornadoes are frequently accompanied by voluminous quantities of water. We have an amusing little feature here in the southwest: flash floods. I can just picture someone lying in a ditch to avoid a potential tornado and getting killed by a flash flood!