Apr 18, 2008
Posted by Perry
This morning the burg awoke to a bit of shaking. A 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck in Illinois just prior to dawn. The tremor was felt from Evansville and St. Louis all the way to Indianapolis and Cincinnati.
Now if this tells you anything about me – I slept through it. I didn’t notice the slightest twitch or shudder in the ground at all and after reading the reports on it I wondered why. The answer was simple – depending on what type of foundation your home is on you either felt it, or you hardly noticed it at all.
The experts said that if you are on a foundation of bedrock, you wouldn’t have felt the quake very long as the solid foundation would dissipate the shock waves rather quickly. The opposite would be true for a porous foundation such as clay, you would have felt stronger vibrations for a longer period of time. This was proven by the reports received from people across the region – some stated the shaking lasted but a few seconds while others stated it lasted roughly half a minute.
We here in the midwest are not used to things such as earthquakes – we’re more used to strong spring storms, the occasional tornado, and cold winters. Earthquakes are NOT our forte – never will be. So you can only imagine that this is a big story here – all the time the people who deal with these things (mostly in California) are probably bemused by our ‘wee little’ shake. It’s kind of frightening when you think about it – Mother Nature can really get your attention when she throws a tantrum.
Hopefully there will be no more shaking in the burg – but you never know what nature will throw at you next.
Apr 17, 2008
posted by Shelley
Most of my life I’ve annoyed people, starting with my Mother and Grandmother (and currently Perry who pretends to be patient), by asking too many questions. I’ve always tried to understand why certain things are the way they are by constantly asking questions. Mom used to tell me to go outside after she couldn’t take it any longer, and I’ve gotten the ‘would you shut the Hell up’ look from many others — but luckily I haven’t let these experiences stop me.
We all need to get over our fear of looking stupid for asking questions. Just ask them! Why move forward when you don’t understand something, when a simple question could have helped you understand? Don’t pretend that you’re on the same page when you don’t have a clue, only because you’re afraid you won’t appear to be as smart as someone else.
So give it a try and simply ask next time. You’ll look stupider if you don’t.
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BREAKING NEWS!
Libby has a new relative! Auntie Twiggy will make her debut right here on whatifitdid.com tomorrow!
Apr 16, 2008
Posted by Perry
Yesterday, Shelley and I decided to make a run to McDonalds to get a quick bite for dinner – or should I say McIcks?
When we got back we discovered how disappointed we were. Shelley’s order was screwed up. Mine was correct – just horrid. I got two fillet-o-fish and large fries – not a very difficult order. Yet somehow, I ended up being served food that cockroaches would turn their antennae up at.
Have you ever ate something that when you bit into it – it just didn’t taste quite right? Not that it tasted horrible, but just not as good as usual. Well I did and let me tell you – I’m paying for it now. Needless to say, I’ve spent today feeling lousy and hoping like mad that it eases up soon.
Perhaps I should have asked for Pepto instead of the fries… billions served indeed.
Apr 16, 2008
posted by Shelley
Here I sit, behind my desk without my main computer. I had my Mom and Carl take it to the Apple Store in L’ville to drop it off for repairs. Although it was just there a few weeks prior for problems that replacement parts corrected somewhat, it still had issues. I am typing on a MAC Powerbook and have a desktop PC right beside me. Still, I feel lost and everything I have accomplished today has taken at least twice as long as it normally would. Here are a few examples:
- A representative calls from the Apple Store and asks what the repair reference number was last time. Right before I told him I would check my email for the information, I remember that HE has my computer AND the information needed I am unable to access.
- I have a simple PDF to reduce in file size, link from a page and upload to a server. Quick job on a normal day. This being a laptop that isn’t turned on that often, every program that I open seems to want an update (download and then install and then reboot — you know the drill); and I find that one program I need (the one to reduce the file size) hasn’t even been installed on this computer. Finally ready to upload, I don’t have a clue what the password is to the account I’m working with. Ugh! What should’ve been a 10 minute job turned in to about an hour and a half.
- No matter how hard I tried to forward all the emails that were issues I would need to address today, I know that I’ve forgotten at least one. I don’t know what date this one particular organization is interested in for a booking, and I have to return their call today. I hate sounding unprofessional and unorganized even when I am. Boooo!
The day is zooming by and I’ve found time to at least complain here. I’m doing my very best to put off until tomorrow what I could’ve accomplished today.
Apr 15, 2008
posted by Shelley
Within the last couple of months, my son and his wife have been trying their hardest to talk me into moving closer to them. They currently live in a small apartment in downtown Indy and love it. I have to admit, a northernly move isn’t exactly what I had in mind since I figure I get more than enough of the colder temps right here in the burg. Yah, it’s closer to work — but it’s also closer to the Arctic Ocean when I had the Gulf of Mexico in mind.
Now the reason I even brought this subject up is because today it’s sunny and the air is mild. Amber, (Ben’s wife and fellow colleague) enjoys riding her bicycle and I sometimes find myself thinking, “Ride it where? You live in the freaking city.” I know why that comes to mind — riding a bike for me has always been a leisurely peddling down country roads where you pass ponds and worry about dogs running out — not passing parked cars and worrying about who knows what might run out. I can deal with dogs.
Taking a short break from work this afternoon, (and because Libby was making us crazy), we grabbed our cameras and took her for a quick jaunt down the road…
Would I miss this if I were to move? You betcha! Would I enjoy being able to grab a quick cup of Starbucks (other than in my own kitchen), and driving 5 minutes to eat at a decent restaurant or run in the mall rather than the 45 minute drive I have now? Of course! But…would I miss it as much if I could walk outside in shorts in November or within that 45 minute drive be at the ocean instead of at a nice restaurant? Oh man — now that’s something to think about.
