Earlier in the week, I did a quick post about the Japan earthquake, but today’s 11:42 am one hits a bit closer to home. And since some of you may arrive at WSF by searching for earthquake I figured posting on this more US pertinent quake would be in order.
I actually just got home from lunch with my fiance, so this is still really recent news to me. I will write more on earthquakes in a future post, but for now here is some information:

Earthquake map from USGS

Earthquake shakes Los Angeles but causes little Damage – from CNN.com

And a story from MSNBC

The quake was centered 29 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles near the San Bernardino County city of Chino Hills, and the U.S. Geological Survey estimated the quake was about 8 miles below the earth’s surface.

“The most interesting thing to us about this earthquake so far is it is the first one we’ve had in a populated area for quite a long time and people have forgotten what earthquakes feel like,” said seismologist Kate Hutton at the U.S. Geological Survey office in Pasadena. “We should probably look at it as an earthquake drill. I mean it’s a drill for the Big One that will be coming some day.”

Ok, so my question is this: is the New Madrid area quake next? Heh. Ok, so I am only partially kidding. But really, first there is the China quake then the Japan quake, then the California quake… what is next? New Madrid area?

Maybe I need to do a post culling earthquake preparedness information from some of my books.
Anyway. The most recent is today’s 5.8 earthquake in California.

Will post more later once I do some research and stuff.

z.

Most of us are still a little bit on edge when it comes to flying. We all simply want a smooth flight with no interruptions getting us from point A to point B (with a layover at point F). So I can imagine what people were thinking and possibly fearing when a lady on a flight out of Los Angeles started freaking out from a paranoid schizophrenic attack.
Now, if I hear screaming coming from any part of the plane I will almost immediately assume the worst. I don’t think I am alone in that assumption. Even the pilots reportedly were thinking about an emergency landing. But it seems that Maria Bello has had experience with mental illness. She came to the woman’s (and the passengers’) rescue when she “ended up sitting with her for the duration of the flight, praying and taking control of the situation.“
Maria could have sat quietly, hoping some professional would help the lady, and we would all have read a story about some plane having to make an emergency landing and oh, actress Maria Bello was on board. But Maria took control of the situation, used skills she isn’t known for and saved the day. Maria is known for her skills in acting. But that woman is glad Maria has some hidden talents.

What kind of hidden talents do you have? Is there a hero in you that can break out of the confining public or personal perceptions and save someone’s day? You may be needed when safety fails.

z.

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I have had this wikipedia entry sitting open on my desktop for about 5 days now. I was watching AxMen: episode 12 a couple weeks back and they were picking up the pieces from the Great Coastal Gail of 2007. It was really interesting to see the guys tackle the big problems the storm had created. This was a step beyond their jobs. Everyday they go out and be loggers, but this time they had to be more. They had to become stronger and fiercer and taller. (ok, not taller per se). This was a team of talented, hard working men taking on the aftermath of a storm. One crew had to hack their way up a mountain to see if they could salvage their million-dollar equipment. Another crew must locate a missing crewman. And all the AxMen have to unite to before a common threat or the future of the logging industry is in jeopardy.
Even though History Channel decided to create a show about the hard life, work, and skills of loggers, it took a force of nature to really bring out their talents and true grit. The storm brought something even more fierce out of the depths of each logger.

I am sure you have a special skill or talent that you probably use on a daily basis. But when safety fails suddenly you are forced to put that skill set to rigorous use and rise to the occasion to rock your situation. Just keep plugging away at your special abilities and one day a door will open up that puts you front and center.

z.

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About a year and a half ago I was still living in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. I didn’t own a vehicle at the time and my bike broke (another story altogether), so I would usually walk to and from my job and the home of the girl I was dating back then. Walking wasn’t too bad as long as you avoided certain streets and tried to walk during daylight hours. Plus, my usual routes took me past Dunkin Donuts which not only allowed for a great walking beverage, but provided me with a scalding hot weapon if something happened.

Anyway. About a year and a half ago, I was walking home. I was carrying the box from a digital camera – empty but for the data cord – and was sans coffee because I didn’t have any change on me. Coming over a small hill I saw 5 young men exit one of the houses on the street. They were laughing loudly and being generally rambunctious. Immediately my threat level went to orange and I started checking my options. I knew I didn’t really want to cross to the other side of the street because that would just draw their attention to my fear. I kept walking. As I approached them I realized they hadn’t seen me yet and I might be able to just walk past them. But, just as I was a few yards away they left the front yard and converged on the sidewalk in front of me. The only thing I could do was to attempt to casually walk through the group.

I probably would have made it home just fine if I hadn’t been carrying the digital camera box. Once the group noticed it they made a comment about what was in it. I considered just ignoring them, but instead just said, “nothing, it is empty”. I kept walking, trying to put distance between them and me. One of them asked me how much money I had on me. I glanced back over my shoulder and told them I didn’t even have money for coffee (which I really was wishing I had now). At this point I was about 15 yards from them and near the side street my house was on. I kept walking. I turned down the street hoping they would not follow. They did. One of the men threw a large stick at me and it whizzed past my head. I kept walking. They started running.

I heard one of them next to me and then a hand grabbed my shirt and pulled me backward. I felt a fist slam into the back of my neck. Then one hit my shoulder. I kept walking. One guy grabbed my arm and swung me around to face them. In the process I tripped and fell backward, dropping the box, and losing a shoe. I noticed one of them had picked up the stick and managed to avoid that and the fists of two of them. I got back up and kept walking. Somehow I made it the 30 yards to my front door, my porch security light flicked on and a car turned the corner illuminating the area. The 5 guys grabbed my digital camera box, left the shoe, and fled laughing to their house. I stood in the front entryway of my apartment building and vowed to get my bike fixed. Then I went to my landlord’s apartment and calmly called the cops.

——-

Now my story might be just another story for the “skinny-guy-gets-jumped-on-a-dark-street-at-night” folder, but since I lived it I have a much better grasp on the reality of it. So, in looking back I can’t help but ask Why didn’t I run? Why didn’t I just break into a sprint when they asked me how much money I had? Or at least when they threw the stick at me? Wouldn’t it logically make sense to get away as fast as possible? I mean, I hate to psychoanalyze myself in print, but what was I thinking? I know I was afraid. This definitely wasn’t a time when I was fearless. I was terrified I would get teeth knocked out or worse. And yet no running. Now, I will admit I didn’t fight back. But then again, 5 vs 1 isn’t exactly a fair fight. But I can’t quite figure out why my “safety-brain” didn’t immediately get my feet in high speed mode.

No, I don’t usually consider myself brave. But then again a cowardly man would have run. Maybe?
Why didn’t I run?

z.

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Sarah over at Prairie Moon Books suggested Garrison Keillor’s Good Poems for Hard Times for this blog. I ordered it thinking I would post a random poem every so often. Maybe it will provide some poetic filler on days that I have nothing to write about.

So, I was reading the introduction by Garrison, which is mainly about his love for poetry, but also about the reason he felt the need to compile a book on poetry for hardship. Near the end of the introduction I came across a gem of a sentence. I thought it fit nicely with the theme of this blog.

Many people have pulled themselves out of the pit by the simple expedient of rising to their feet, leaning slightly forward, and putting one foot ahead of the other.

Look for the occasional poem culled from this book.

z.

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I didn’t want this story to get too buried in the bottom of the pile. I may want to come back to this story and talk about it more in depth since there were no reported deaths. For now, here are a few excerpts.

Thursday’s tremor follows a string of earthquakes in the same region, the first of which in mid-June killed at least 10 people and left as many again missing.
The damage was relatively minor in Thursday’s quake because its focus was more than 100 km (62 miles) underground, a seismologist said.

“It was deep,” said Naoshi Hirata, a professor of geophysics, at Tokyo University. “A shallow quake of magnitude 6.8 would cause a lot of damage, but a quake deep underground is the same as one that’s far away.”

“There were no reports of deaths or people buried alive,” top government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura told reporters. “But the prime minister has ordered us to continue checking.”

With few strong aftershocks to hamper operations, the clean-up started almost immediately. Most schools in the region were open as usual and phone and electricity services were restored, providers said.

Get the full story here at MSNBC and here at CNN.

z.

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Sure, there are a million reasons to be pessimistic. Global warming, disease, wars, disasters… all reasons to lose hope if you aren’t careful.
But here, Larry Brilliant makes a great case for being very optimistic. Humanity has always risen to meet the challenges. We can rise to meet them now.

When safety fails will you be optimistically active or will you collapse in pessimism?

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And in the process of browsing the TED site, I came across another optimism talk by Martin Seligman on positive psychology. Watch the above video first, but then an interesting follow-up is this video. Enjoy.

z.

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With Hurricane Dolly on its way (or is it here already?) and having eight years of east-coast-preparedness still built into me, I thought I would post this little guide to being ready for the upcoming hurricane season.

Have disaster supplies on hand: flashlight and extra batteries, portable, battery-operated radio and extra batteries, first-aid kit and manual, emergency food and water, non-electric can opener, essential medicines, cash and credit cards, sturdy shoes.

Listen to a battery-operated radio or television for progress reports. Check emergency supplies. Fill your car with gas. Bring in outdoor objects such as lawn furniture, toys and garden tools, and anchor objects that cannot be brought inside.

Anyway. Here is the briefing on MSNBC.

Added entry: Here is another page from the FEMA site that addresses Hurricane preparedness.

z.

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A perfect quote to start things off, by the great Theodore Roosevelt nonetheless.

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of good deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly … who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat.

It makes me wonder what Teddy would consider a great enthusiasm or a great devotion. What inspired his courage? What drove his optimism?

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