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I feel the earth move
Aug. 23rd, 2011 04:15 pmI was listening to a podcast and working on a spreadsheet when I felt the floor rumble beneath my feet. I thought a construction crew might be building a new data center downstairs or something. The rumbling grew stronger and then the cube started swaying and swirling, like wiggly Jell-O. I whipped around in my chair to see if the pond outside was moving. It wasn't... what on earth was going on? Toys shook off the shelf and crashed onto my desk. The building shook VERY hard for another second or two and then it was over.
People from the back of the cube farm rushed up to the windows to see what happened. People asked if a plane crashed (we're on the approach to Dulles) or a bomb had exploded. Did a jet fly too close to the campus and buzz our building? I suggested someone call a coworker in another building to see if they felt it and then opened Facebook to ask if anyone local had felt the ground shake. I scrolled through dozens of "Earthquake!" entries and passed info from the USGS site to coworkers. Hubbyfink called to ask if Ashburn had shaken; I told him that California was no longer on our list of allowed places to live.
Bossman IM'd to ask if we'd gotten the quake; he'd felt it in Ohio. As I typed to him, we were told to evacuate the building. The last thing I saw as I grabbed my trunk bag and helmet was him telling me to go on home. The evacuation lasted less than ten minutes and we were allowed back inside before I finished telling Hubbyfink that we'd been evacuated. I let Bossman know I was back on the job and most likely wouldn't be crushed by the building. Yet.
And then the adrenaline hit, or let off... I'm never sure which is it. I felt shakey and a little sick to my stomach. Saltines and a fairly light workload this afternoon helped me feel better.
Hubbyfink has made it home -- apparently traffic even this far west of DC is fubared -- and the only casualties are the Doctor Who toys and a stuffed mouse figurine which were shaken off the bookshelves and top of china cabinet, respectively. Margie demanded lovins, but that's not unusual. Hubbyfink was alarmed not to see Oreo, but the big lug finally sauntered down the stairs for his return-of-humans scritchings. I think I chose wisely by biking to work so I don't have to deal with traffic ugliness tonight.
People from the back of the cube farm rushed up to the windows to see what happened. People asked if a plane crashed (we're on the approach to Dulles) or a bomb had exploded. Did a jet fly too close to the campus and buzz our building? I suggested someone call a coworker in another building to see if they felt it and then opened Facebook to ask if anyone local had felt the ground shake. I scrolled through dozens of "Earthquake!" entries and passed info from the USGS site to coworkers. Hubbyfink called to ask if Ashburn had shaken; I told him that California was no longer on our list of allowed places to live.
Bossman IM'd to ask if we'd gotten the quake; he'd felt it in Ohio. As I typed to him, we were told to evacuate the building. The last thing I saw as I grabbed my trunk bag and helmet was him telling me to go on home. The evacuation lasted less than ten minutes and we were allowed back inside before I finished telling Hubbyfink that we'd been evacuated. I let Bossman know I was back on the job and most likely wouldn't be crushed by the building. Yet.
And then the adrenaline hit, or let off... I'm never sure which is it. I felt shakey and a little sick to my stomach. Saltines and a fairly light workload this afternoon helped me feel better.
Hubbyfink has made it home -- apparently traffic even this far west of DC is fubared -- and the only casualties are the Doctor Who toys and a stuffed mouse figurine which were shaken off the bookshelves and top of china cabinet, respectively. Margie demanded lovins, but that's not unusual. Hubbyfink was alarmed not to see Oreo, but the big lug finally sauntered down the stairs for his return-of-humans scritchings. I think I chose wisely by biking to work so I don't have to deal with traffic ugliness tonight.
