As most people will know by now (and if you don't you live under a rock) the Commonwealth of Virginia was hit by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake shortly before 2:00 PM EDT yesterday. I was at work in downtown Washington, DC, preparing for a conference call. When the tremors first hit I didn't know what was happening so I stood up and that was when the real movement happened. The floor was rumbling and the ceiling was shaking. It was by far the scariest situation I've been through. At first I was thinking this was a residual blast from an explosion downtown and then when it kept happening I realized it was an earthquake. Everyone in my office was panicked and unsure of what to do next.
We did evacuate the building and Pennsylvania Avenue was a sea of humanity (as a co-worker described it) from the Capitol Building to Freedom Plaza. Phone lines were jammed and I couldn't get a call to James or my sister. When we were finally allowed back in after about 40 minutes and I headed to Metro, which by what folks with internet told us was still running. Well, sort of since they were running at a reduced speed of 15 mph. It took 40 minutes for a Blue Line train to arrive and when the doors opened I was pushing my way into the center of the car and speaking loudly that we all want to get home, introduce yourself to the person you were pushed up against, and make room. Thank god that at Metro Center I was able to secure a seat. I re-injured my back Saturday morning and while I was okay the standing around and the very long Metro ride (about 1 1/2 hours when normally it is less than 40 minutes) hasn't helped at all. Perhaps why everyone in that car was good humored was that the A/C was working. I could only image what it would have been with no A/C. Lord of the Flies comes to mind....
All was well at home, a few items knocked over but nothing broken. The cats and Lulu seemed okay, though slightly taken aback. I was very happy to crawl into bed early last night!
On other news, we had Lulu's cyst removed on the 10th and her staples were removed yesterday. You can still see where the staples were but that should fade by the weekend. Speaking of which....
Mother Nature will surprise us once again with Hurricane Irene making her way to the East Coast. Not so much concerned for us here other than a lot of rain and wind, but my folks and sister in Hampton Roads have me a little worried. Irene is expected to hit along the Outer Banks by Saturday. If she is anything like Isabel from 2003 my folks will be without power for at least two weeks. Good thing we have plenty of room at our house!
And we still can't find the camera!
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