Not long ago my son told me about a man on TV who liked to get close to tornadoes and videotape them — so close that once his windows blew out and his car was lifted off the ground.

    Here’s the interesting part. He isn’t a scientist. Nor is he doing any research. This is his hobby.

    My question: How does this guy buy life insurance?

    When I bought my policy, I remember being asked if I had any potentially dangerous hobbies, such as skydiving. I felt comfortable answering because the closest I’ve come to jumping out of a plane is rolling out of bed in the morning (though I didn’t let on to the insurance salesman just how dangerous that could be).

    So I wondered how tornado guy would answer the same question:

    “Yes, I like to videotape tornadoes.”

    “Really? How close do you get?”

    “One time I got so close my car was lifted off the ground. It was cool. That won’t affect my getting a policy, will it?”

    “No, no problem at all. In fact, we have a special “nut-job” policy for people just like you. For just $10,000 a month we provide you with a policy that will completely cover your burial expenses, except of course during tornado season.”

    It’s this kind of news tip that I’ll miss while our son is away at school.

    We recently took him to college. It might be more accurate to say that we took him and his stuff to college.

    Our little SUV was so jam-packed it looked like the truck that Jed Clampett loaded up and drove to Beverly Hills.

    We probably wouldn’t have had enough room except I was able to tie my wife to the top of the car. (She said the view was great.)

    OK, that wasn’t completely true, but we were so packed in we had to make frequent rest stops so that we could get out and breathe. Safety experts recommend that drivers on long trips stop once every two hours to allow people who are taking their children to college to breathe.

    It was different when I went to college. Back then — this was before electricity, meaning we had to study by the light of candles we made ourselves — the only thing I recall taking was a few shirts and a change of underwear. My pair of jeans was perfect for every social occasion.

    Our son’s move-in day was interesting. The plan, the officer sternly informed us, was to quickly dump our son’s stuff on the lawn — and not take it up to his room! — and then park elsewhere, giving the scene the look of a mass hurricane evacuation, except as college parents, of course, we were far more anxious.

    Still, we got him moved in pretty quickly and it was time for those parting words of wisdom.

    I didn’t have any, of course, so instead I said, “Have a good time.”

    I have a feeling, though, that that won’t be a problem.

    Write to Don Flood in care of King Features Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475, or send emails to dflood287@comcast.net.

(c) 2008 King Features Synd., Inc.