The Anchorage, Part 3

[Miss B]

Oh I remember that earthquake from a few years ago. That was definitely stronger, and I ran to stand in my apartment's front doorway, as that's full on metal framework. It was a lot stronger earthquake that time, and one of the glass doors on the top of my living room wall unit popped open, and wouldn't stay shut.

A neighbor, who lives down the hall, was out on the street with her husband, and never felt a thing. I'm of the opinion, the higher up you live, the more likely you're going to feel it unless, of course, it's happening right under your feet, because then the street would erupt under you.

 

[Satira Capriccio]

I was on the 23rd floor for the 2011 earthquake. My chair rolled a wee bit away from the desk and then back. Just enough for me to think ... huh? Everyone then started popping out of their offices trying to figure out what was going on. Then we all bolted to the elevators and out onto the street. Where we all would have been crushed by falling masonry if any of the buildings started collapsing.

East Coast earthquakes are wimpy though :wink:

 

[Rae134]

You went for the Lifts? I would have thought being in a small box with a couple of cables holding it up would have been scarier than climbing under a desk

 

[Miss B]

I wouldn't have gone down an elevator, or the stairs for that matter. Staying under a strong archway is the best, and the front doors to our apartments are all steel based, so much stronger than the walls and floors.

Satira's right though, of all the 4 earthquakes I remember since moving into this apartment in 1981, the last one was the strongest. The first two were early in the morning, and I was still in bed. Those only made me feel a little dizzy and disoriented. Not sure how I would've felt had I been sitting at a table, or standing.

 

[Terre]

You went for the Lifts? I would have thought being in a small box with a couple of cables holding it up would have been scarier than climbing under a desk

Sometimes when people aren't used to things like that they do run for places other people would avoid. Back in the early 80s when I was still in Albuquerque a small tornado funnel formed over the Midway during the NM State Fair. Due to having mountains in sight to the east and another range just over the horizon to the west twisters down in that part of the Rio Grande valley are rare and small. As a result there actually were dopes running towards the Midway to see it! My friends and I who were a few miles away just shook our heads at the news report on the radio and stayed where we were.

 

[Satira Capriccio]

Keep in mind any movement lasted less than 15 seconds, if that, and was so faint none of us were entirely sure what we'd felt ... if anything. I certainly didn't think earthquake. It wasn't until we were on the street and checked the news on our phones that we learned there had been an earthquake. Even then, I was more surprised than anything. It wasn't at all what I expect from an earthquake. The earth is supposed to "quake" and heave and ... rumble. Like you're standing a few feet away from a speeding freight train. Getting a queasyish feeling in my stomach doesn't at all scream earthquake to me. I think most of us thought it was a problem with the building. Seeing the sidewalk full of people from the other buildings was our first clue that whatever it was ... it wasn't just our building.

Had the "walls and floor" actually started shaking or it had gotten "louder and stronger" as the guy in Overbrook claimed he experienced, I imagine doorways and desks would have been preferred over getting out onto the street ... fast. Though, I probably still would have preferred taking a chance on a small box with a couple of cables holding it up then attempting to go down 23 flights of stairs with my knees. We did briefly debate stairs or elevator, and some people did take the stairs instead. But even if the elevator had stopped at several floors, we'd have been outside faster than if we'd taken the stairs. Even Californians have to be taught to shelter in place rather than flee in fright :wink:

Of course, none of that would have mattered (doorway, desk, stairs, elevator, or street) if the building had been collapsing.

 

[Miss B]

I can empathize about walking down the stairs. Many years ago we had an explosion up on the 38th floor of our building, and we were all evacuated. I was on the 17th floor at the time, and my poor arthritic left knee was in a lot of pain for a long time. Now-a-days I could probably handle it better, as I work on the legs, especially the knees, at the gym every weekend.

Back then, my brother was still working in the Wall Street area, so he dropped everything and ran over to our building to find me. He didn't but when he heard it was up on the 38th Floor, and he just went back to work, called me, and left a message to call him as soon as we were back in the building. Unfortunately, I didn't get the message right away, as it was late in the afternoon, and a good many of us went to sit at the bar in the restaurant across the street. We wound up getting dismissed for the day, so I wound up calling him when I got home after checking my office voicemail, though I called my mother first.

 

[Terre]

Which leaves the dingbats who ran toward the tornado funnel sillier than anything you guys have talked about. LOL

 

[Satira Capriccio]

Oh absolutely. I could not EVER imagine running TOWARD a tornado funnel.

Unless I were Superboy/girl/man/etc.

 

[Miss B]

Don't they have folks who chase storms like Tornados? I forget what they call them, or is that just in the movies?

 

[Terre]

Storm Chasers are real. They run around this part of the country in storm season in vehicles with all kinds of gadgets for making recordings and taking readings. Some years ago we had a thunderstorm so severe that the Chasers went to ground. They took shelter in a storm shelter in a nearby town and called the local radio stations asking them to advise everyone to stay indoors.

 

[Terre]

Yipe! I just googled storm chasing and in addition to the pros who are trying to gather scientific data there are also freekin' tours for the same!
Storm Chasing Adventure Tours - Storm Chasing Vacations, Tornado Chasing Holiday

Storm chasing - Wikipedia

 

[Mythocentric]

Some people are just too dumb to be allowed out by themselves. It's not all that long ago I saw a video on Youtube about extreme selfies, including one character who thought it would be fun to stop in front of a tornado for a quick selfie which resulted in a shot of his terrified face as he realised he wasn't going to get clear! His car and phone were found a few hundred yards from the photo site. Where his body ended up is anyone's guess.

 

[Terre]

Darwin Award time there.

 

[Terre]

I prefer the ones who are scientists trying to advance the science of meteorology. The more they find out about how storms behave the better people can plan for and predict problem storms.

 

[Mythocentric]

That's a fact Terre. I frequently visit NASA's earth sciences site at www.nasa.gov to catch up on their work. One recent project includes converting drones (normally seen delivering munitions in war theatres) to fly into storm areas and controlled from another aircraft (a Boeing 747) to study weather formations. To me, one of the best examples of repurposing for peaceful uses ever!

 

[Miss B]

Storm Chasers are real.

OK, I thought they had a more scientific name, but Storm Chasers works. I can understand wanting to get the information they gather, but you couldn't get me in a car with all kinds of equipment to monitor a storm. One strike of lightning, and it's all over for them. ~sheesh~

 

[McGyver]

Atmospheric Agitation Pursuitologists?
One of the strange behaviors I inherited from my mom was being attracted to crazy weather.
My mom loved big storms, back in the 60s before I was born she went out into a hurricane to take pictures of stuff being blown away.
When I was about ten or eleven, I was on a hike with some other kids at camp when a huge storm broke out, at one point lighting struck and destroyed a big tree probably about fifty feet from us... To me that was awesome I wanted to run around going "Whoooohooooohooo....Again!!!" Only one other kid thought it was cool or exciting, the rest almost pooped their pants.
A bunch of years back I was putting my infant daughters in the car when an F1 tornado started to form, I was just annoyed until I realized the wind was blowing completely horizontal, then something more sensible kicked in and I got the hell out of there as fast as possible.
It only lasted less then a minute, but that was one of the first times that I was more concerned then curious.
On the way back I passed bunch of old trees that lined a wide street which were all missing their tops and severely damaged... That was pretty disturbing.

 

[Terre]

Nice idea for a professional name for the ones who are scientists.

McG: You are the smart kind who likes severe storms. You know when to run.
Oh, as far as getting out in a storm.... I had a co-worker do that in the storm that made the Chasers seek shelter. She decided to follow their advice when a big roof panel got blown in front of her car.

 

[McGyver]

I just came back from the NYC motorcycle show at the Javitz Center.
A friend of mine is sort of a BMW historian and is very close with BMW, so they gave him a couple of extra "Exhibitor" passes.
They sometimes have used his historic bikes for displays and special events, so they give him exhibition passes.
That got me a cup of coffee and I got to leave my multi tool (Leatherman "Surge") at the weapons check for free.
I thought that was funny.
Apparently the lady who took the Leatherman to hold had never seen one and was wondering what the hell it was.
This is probably not something that I've ever mentioned, but for like twenty years I've always carried a Leatherman...
In case you aren't familiar, they are a brand of multi-tool... Like a Swiss Army knife, but they actually have tools that work.
The saw can cut through a 2x4, the pliers can grab and bend and pry, and the wire cutter cuts steel wire.
I wear it every day and use it constantly... On rare occasions when I can't have it hanging on my belt, I feel like I'm missing a finger or something...
It's like I can't fix, pry, saw, poke or slice...
I suppose I could do all that with my teeth, but I look silly and make "Nharrr-nharrrr" sounds while I'm gnawing.
Anyway... There were lots of very cool bikes there... (Though for some inexplicable reason Triumph was absent)...
One thing I noticed today... all the high end bikes are starting to look like they are some form of transformer robot.
With LED headlights, the designers are free to play with headlight shapes and a lot are starting to have farings that look like angry robot faces.
One other thing, it seems like there were a lot less custom bikes and definitely a lot less custom choppers there then in previous years.
Well, it was an interesting day and I'm probably boring everyone now...
Good night.