on monday, i experienced my first earthquake. i was at work (i work in bethesda, maryland, but live in northern virginia), looking over some reports with my boss, when all of a sudden everything started to shake. it sort of felt like someone was pushing a heavy cart past the cube, but then it lasted longer and i quickly realized that it was not a cart, but something bigger. it didn't last long, and as soon as it was over people started standing up in their cubes and looking around, everyone with shocked looks on their faces. most people were joking about it, but i think we were all a little spooked.
we went back to work for a little while, then they announced over the speakers that we would be evacuating the building (the building i work in is about 40 years old and is definitely not built to withstand earthquakes). luckily, it was a really pretty, sunny day and we weren't too upset about having to spend 45 minutes outside. if it had been two weeks ago, we would've all been hot and sweaty.
some of my co-workers with young children left early to go console their little ones, but most people just went back to work. i think everyone was on google maps watching the traffic situation (it got really ugly). by the time i left work at around 5:30, the traffic had all cleared on my route and it was just a normal commute for me.
the last mile or two before arriving home, i got a little bit nervous thinking about the possible damage to my house. there were a few buildings in the area that had cracked windows, and that was what i was most concerned about. i was also nervous about my cat's reaction to the whole thing..whether he would've tried to escape to save his life. luckily, when i got home i was greeted by my usual Mr. Pert sitting on his cat climber thing, waiting for me at the (uncracked) window. i love when he's lying on his perch like the lazy 'ol thing that he is and then he perks up and meows when he confirms that it is indeed me getting out of the car.
thankfully, there was zero damage to the house on my floors (a few pictures hanging on the wall were crooked...but they were never really straight to begin with. good job earthquake planning, me!). after breathing a sigh of relief that the main floor and the upstairs had no damage, i headed down to the man cave to check out it's status. turns out, the "throw random crap on the mantel until we actually have a plan of where to put it" method of home decorating was not the best way to go. we had some frame breakage and a couple of dents and dings to the viking horns:
thankfully, no real damage to me, andy, pert, or the house! now we just have to buckle down for the hurricane that's headed our way this weekend!
