I am Karan from Olympia, WA.
Almost every other name used here is a pseodonym pseudonim pseudonymn alias.
The rest of it is true - mostly - and all of it is my own.
Don't even think about taking any of it, unless of course, you want to pay me.
Random Wisdom: Chance favors the prepared mind - Louis Pasteur
The counter says that 2846347 have been flummelized, but I personally think it's all a big lie.
Two years ago today at 10:54am, we experienced a 6.8 
earthquake, affectionately referred to as the Nisqually Quake. As usual my family was scattered to the winds...both kids at school, Leonard at work and I was at home with the critters. Riso was a puppy and I was still tethering him so he was right next to me and when the shaking proved to be more than just a little rumble, we both dove under my computer desk and hunkered down as I listened to stuff all over the house shake and break. The most alarming thing that broke was our Galileo Thermometer, which was filled with ammonia and immediately filled the room with those nasty fumes. It crossed my mind that we might actually be in danger.
Our power immediately failed, our phone was dead and I was filled to the gills with adrenaline. I cleaned up as best I could, stowed the puppy in his kennel and picked up the kids. I found a working pay phone, called my out of state contact who then informed the rest of our families that we were OK. Because I could not call Leonard at his work, I passed messages to him through my sisters located in California and Georgia. That amused me.
Then we toured the damage. By that evening most of Olympia had assumed a festival-like atmosphere. We drove downtown which sustained quite a bit of damage and people were literally touring the town and checking in with each other. It was, well, festive. By then of course, we knew that our community had sustained only minimal injuries and except for lots of structural damage, we had dodged a bullet.
Now, two years later, our main bridge is still under construction, the capital building is still undergoing major repairs and several buildings remain uninhabitable and if anyone still needs chimney repair, they remain on long waiting lists. The most major inconvenience for us was road damage and except for the bridge, the roads are repaired.
The Nisqually Quake gave me reason to pat myself on the back because I had our emergency kit ready...all stocked and current. Our supplies are stored in a plastic, water and mouse proof lidded trash can. Our family of four humans, one dog, one cat and a fish fill it up with food, water and various personal and medical supplies that should last us three days. I also have four flashlights and a radio inside, plus enough batteries to last us through the emergency, although my goal is to move toward those battery-free flashlight and radio set-ups. Our camping gear is stored nearby. Except for the radio and one flashlight, it remained unused. Our cars are stocked with maps, radios, water and snacks as well.
Rejjie was in elementary school and the schools here require that each child have a small emergency kit to get them through a meal time. This kit is basically a pile of snacks. On the day of the earthquake, every kid in the school headed straight for their emergency kit and ate all of the stuff inside....which made it comfort food, not sustenance.
We were lucky in Western WAshington. The Nisqually quake, while substantial in size, was shallow and therefore not as dangerous as a deeper quake would have been. We have very strict building codes which prevented buildings from falling in mass and the quake happened during daylight on a dry day. If you have to have a major quake, have one like this one.
So, this brings me to the focus of this entry....put together an emergency plan including contact information, assemble emergency supplies, practice evacuations and eventualities, and then when it happens you have a good chance of not worrying about the basics. Plan, practice, perform.
Today’s Cool Link: Red Cross Family Disaster Planning. This site has great information about assembling your own emergency plan and kits. Do read it and do get ready because it is more likely that you’ll experience a natural disaster than you will ever see terrorist action at your home. This marks the end of the my own version of a public service announcement
