Shake, Rattle, and Roll...

So as some of you have heard, little ole FF had its taste of the Bay Area's infamous earth moving. Yes, we had a 3.9 earthquake last night at 7:30 and the epicenter was in Green Valley (a west end of FF for those of you that don't know). I was at YW and it definitely felt like a Mack truck had hit the Stake Center. Just one large jolt and then it was over. No big deal.

As a kid growing up here, I was always mad when I would come home from school to find out there was an earthquake and I didn't feel it. What a let down! So when I feel an earthquake, I am sort of in awe - grateful to be safe but also reminded that I am not necessarily in control of everything around me.

I remember the 1989 quake. Very scary because I had never felt an earthquake so strong and for so long before (and still haven't). I remember watching at soccer game at FF High (FF vs. Armijo). A mom was yelling at her kid to stop shaking her seat. And then we all realized what was happening. I remember that you could visibly see the earth rolling. It felt like it was never going to stop. I am sure that it didn't last too long but at the time, it felt like an eternity. I remember watching all the destruction on TV, all the commuters trapped on the Nimitz Freeway. I remember watching the old Embarcadero slowly get torn down (it used to be a raised freeway, not on the water like it is today). I especially remember a month later when the Bay Bridge reopened (a portion of the upper level westbound lanes had fallen on the lower eastbound part). A group of friends and I skipped school to go to the reopening. We walked the bridge to the fallen portion and then turned back. The cool thing was that we each got to sign a Botts Dot (the white plastic dots in between the lanes). At the time, a very cool experience.

Even after the quake, I still yearned to live and/or work in SF. I love the City and so after college, started my job in the City. I never worried (I wondered but never worried) about earthquakes for the 9 years I worked there. Even riding BART, I never worried about what would happen if a major earthquake hit. Why, I am not quite sure. I look back now and think what would I have done. I mean BART is safe in the Transbay Tube (it's in the bedrock of the ocean) but what about all the elevated portions of BART from SF to Walnut Creek. When I started working, I worked on the 36th floor at One Market and not once did I wonder what would happen. Most of the buildings are on rollers so they move with the earth but in '89, parts of SF were destroyed because a lot of SF is built on sand, not so good when the earth moves.

One thing I am not so sure of anymore, is what you are suppose to do in an earthquake. I was always taught to get in a solid doorway or under furniture ("duck and cover"). But I got an email last week, saying that was not true anymore. That you should get in the fetal position and get next to to a large bulky object (like a sofa or desk). I guess that it will compress slightly but leave a void next to it. The guy called it the "triangle of life". What have you all heard? Did the rules change? Both make sense but not sure which is right.

BTW, don't anyone have a heart attack seeing that I have posted twice in less than a week. I am really trying hard.

I AM ALIVE...barely!!!

Okay, I am finally going to post something. Nothing great but it is something. Matt is in the bathtub and Kate is watching cartoons before we head over to Jenni's for dinner. So I thought why not post a little something for all you to know that I am alive and I have some plans for posting (and hopefully soon). I keep telling myself that I will be better at this but I would much rather read yours than write on mine. I guess you are all much more interesting than I but I will try to be better.

Alan left yesterday for his bike ride for AIDS/Lifecycle. He and a bunch of guys from work are riding their bikes from San Francisco to LA. Alan is only going to Paso Robles because he is taking pictures for a friend's nanny's wedding on Saturday so he is coming home on Tuesday night. Today, they rode from SF to Santa Cruz in less than 8 hours. A little too much time on the bike if you ask me but Alan loves to ride and we are so proud of him. A little 4th grade girl at Barnes & Noble summed it up for me when she said that riding that long would be 1) boring and 2) how she would hate that her butt would hurt so bad each day. Basically, how I feel. Not sure I could ride my bike for 8 hours straight but it would be great to see California from a bike.

So since Alan left, I decided to take the kids out to dinner and then to Barnes & Noble - one of Kate's favorite things to do. First we were going to go to Red Brick Pizza by the mall (great place for kids because most of the tables have TV). Well, they were closed for repairs. Now try to explain that to a 3 year old. Didn't go over well at all. We went to Mary's Pizza Shack instead and still had great pizza. Then off to Barnes for books and magazines and a try at getting rice crispie treats. For some reason Starbucks' rice crispie treats have visible marshmellows in them and so Kate won't eat them because that represents sugar (which she refuses to eat). Anyway, we played at the train table and got some books and off to home. So a first day/night alone not so bad. As you can tell, I don't do well being at home by myself. All power to those that have to be alone a lot. Definitely hard.

Well Matt is crying so I guess I am alive and I hope to post again soon. I'm out!