April 20, 1990
Dear Everyone:
Nearly every Wednesday morning we hold an ORT
meeting. (Yes, another
meeting.) ORT stands for
“Occupational Ridicule Team”, which includes “Lorraine”, “Ruth” and me.
We spend these morning squabbling over how we’re going to handle
the thousands of organizations that people want, or are going to want,
to put into “IDHS” (“Integrated Document Handling System”).
In order to be fair, commute-wise, we alternate these meetings,
one week in San Francisco, the next in Richmond, then back to San
Francisco, and so on.
This week’s meeting took place in San Francisco on
April 18th. This
just happened to be the 84th anniversary of the great San
Francisco Fire, the only fire ever to register 8.3 on the Richter Scale
(never say “earthquake”, it makes the tourists nervous).
It may just be a coincidence, but I believe April
is Earthquake Awareness Month.
(If it isn’t, it should be.)
So there are lots of earthquake stories on the news and in the
paper around this time of year.
One such news clipping stated that, statistically speaking, there
are more quakes in April and October than at other times of the year.
On the one hand, you can make statistics say anything you want
them to. On the other hand,
I’d be willing to be that there are more quakes in St. Louis and upstate
New York in April and October, too.
It has to do with the relative positions (and gravitational pull)
of the earth and the sun.
But you don’t want a lecture on seismic windowing,
you want me to get on with the story.
As I said, it was Wednesday, April 18th,
84th anniversary of the great Shake and Bake, and wouldn’t
you know it: We had a swarm
of quakes. (Fish come in
schools, geese in gaggles, earthquakes in “swarms”.)
The first came around 6:30-ish and we missed it,
being in the Van and just coming off the Bay Bridge.
(The Bridge behaved itself this time and didn’t fall down.)
The second noticeable one was around 6:42.
The third came at 6:54 and this
one we noticed.
It was enough to send “Melanie” across the hallway to ask, “Are
we having a quake?” And for
me to say yes and still the building was moving.
I kept an eye on the windows, this being the
greatest threat in a quake, but the tremor wasn’t enough to come close
to breaking any glass. It
was, however, enough to cause BART to shut down for a safety check.
Consequently, I expected “Lorraine” and “Ruth” to be a bit late.
But the shut-down didn’t last long and they arrived at about 8:30
and we started our meeting.
At 8:46, the building began to move.
Significantly. I
reminded my guests that we were in the safest part of the building,
against a core wall; and “Lorraine” reminded me that her greatest fear
was not having a building fall on her, but getting trapped on this side
of the Bay. She lives north
of Richmond.
Eventually, the room stopped moving and we went on
with our meeting. After a
while, we stopped to take a break and “Ruth” went to get hot water for
another cup of tea and I went to my office to check on phone messages
and whatnot. In the room
with the hot water dispenser is the bulletin board where “Carla” had
posted a copy of that news clipping about more earthquakes in April and
October.
When I came back into the Display Room, I was
informed that the Team (2 out of 3 members) had taken a vote and decided
that there would be no more meetings held in San Francisco in April and
October. Actually, this is
OK because there is only one more meeting this month and it would be in
Richmond anyway. And as for
October, We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it.
Just for the record, I have it on good authority
that the earth moved in Richmond, too.
This swarm was a series of after shocks to the Loma
Prieta quake of last October.
Herb Caen pointed out that, while the 1906 Quake occurred at
about 5:30 in the morning, the October quake, at 5:04 in the evening,
meant that reunions could be held at a more civilized hour, and would be
more conducive to a no-host bar.
The swarm we had a couple of weeks ago is
considered “independent” and had its epicenter in Walnut Creek instead
of poor, old Watsonville.
No graphics, this week.
That’s because none of the graphics in the WordPerfect package
exactly go with earthquakes.
Not even so much as a bolt of lightning.
Actually, it would probably be rather unnerving to receive a
Letter or memo with a bolt of lightning at the top of it, now wouldn’t
it.
Love, as always,
Pete
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