Light Me Up

After the Christmas Blizzard of 2010 crippled New York City Mayor Bloomberg was roundly criticized for botching the emergency preparations. He took no chances as Irene approached in 2011; even though the storm skirted New York and barrelled upstate instead he got high marks. This week, as bad as Sandy was, the emergency planning in New York saved lives.

I poked fun at the obsession with hoarding water before Sandy, but now I admit I was wrong. No, over-preparing beats getting caught with your pants down. I’d rather be stuck with something I don’t need than stuck without something I need.

Which leads me to flashlights. Monday afternoon found me collecting up all the flashlights in the house: big ones, small ones, headlamps, penlights — and the MagLite XL50. It’s no secret that flashlights are on of those things that guys love, and this blindingly bright LED does more than just illuminate, it has several fun features like a strobe mode:

That may look useless, but it’s entertaining to sneak up on someone and shine it in their face when they aren’t expecting it. Ten minutes later, when they can see again, you’ll all have a good laugh.

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