I have been woken up by 2 earthquakes in the last 3 nights. I have also been rattled by another one while I was wide awake. And I’ve gotta tell you – it is scary as hell. Especially for someone who has never felt an earthquake. Double especially for someone who has felt all of these from the 2nd floor of his masonry framed house.
I think the most interesting part of the ordeal, for me, was the insight it gave me into myself. I don’t know how many of you practiced earthquake drills and readiness when you were in elementary school, but I certainly did. I think it had to do with that guy that predicted we were going to get “the big one” back in the early 90′s. But anyway, they taught us stuff like “get under your desk”, or” stand in a doorway”, or “for God’s sake, “don’t stand under a running ceiling fan.” All of these are useful things.
Well, early Friday morning, when the first quake hit, you know what I did? Popped out of bed, ran, and stood under my ceiling fan. I thought maybe the fan was shaking the whole house or something. Cut me some slack. It was 4:30 in the morning.
But what did I learn about myself? That I’m a dumbass. That’s what.
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You know how you are color-blind and can’t see certain colors. I appear to be shake-blind. My body is incapable of detecting shaking.
Yeah, I went and opened the door. Walked outside. Pretty smart. The likelihood of my house being possessed was higher than an earthquake. I didn’t wake up last night (that I remember).