the gods must be crazy... or happy

So we've been having quite a few earthquakes lately. Over my 9 years in Southern California, I can honestly say, I've only truly felt 2 earthquakes. There have been several nights when I woke up the next morning, thinking I had been dreaming of earthquakes, only to find out that there actually had been some tremors during the night. But only twice, did I have the come-to-Jesus experience.

The first time I ever knew in that moment, we were having an earthquake was almost a year ago. I was working in Anaheim Hills. I had left the office to go pick up some new printer cartridges and lunch. I was sitting at a stoplight, when my car began to shimmy a bit. At first I thought it was a mechanical problem. I remembered by first car, the Cherokee. That old thing used to idle so low that occasionally when I sat at a stop, it would cough a bit, give a little shudder, and then die.

But this time, it made no sense. Snow, my 350Z was only 3 years old, not to mention Japanese, so it shouldn't be having idle issues. Weird I thought. So I threw it into neutral, gave it some gas to rev the engine a bit, and waited for the green light. I got onto the freeway at Imperial, and then back off at Weir Canyon to do my shopping. As I waited at the light just before Staples, my car did it again. How strange for my car to be acting up like this. But it was incredibly hot that day, so I thought maybe Snow was just not used to the temperature. I completed my errands and went back to the office, and was greeted by the question from my co-workers... did I feel the earthquake? There had been a 5.5 earthquake in Diamond Bar minutes after I left, and then an aftershock 10 minutes later. Oooooooohhhhhhhh, THAT'S what that was. I was, of course, relieved to find out that there was nothing wrong with my car.

Later that afternoon we had another aftershock. I distinctly remember sitting alone in my office, thinking, "if this is it, I sure as hell don't want to die at Spec Seals." Less than 2 months later, I had a new job.

The second time I could feel the earth quaking was last Tuesday, the 19th. It was the same day I spoke to that recruiter. As I mentioned before, the idea to start my own business just about exploded out of my head as I got off the phone with her. As I frantically wrote down everything that came to mind, and the outline began to take shape, my arm began to tremble. Yes, I will have a business. Excitedly, I wrote down some more plans. I will be a consultant, but why is my arm throbbing right now? Am I overly excited, and about to have a heart attack? What the heck is going on? I looked at the dogs. Nikko was resting peacefully on my bed, while Keeno manned the underbed area. Pups were calm as ever, so I must be nuts. Back to my writing, and again, the involuntary movement. Now, is my whole body having tremors, or is this an earthquake?

A true sign of the times, I went straight to facebook to see if it was an earthquake, or what. Would it have made more sense to look at the USGS website? Yes, probably. But I did find my answer, repeated over and over my newsfeed. Apparently my friends are getting a little tired of the earthquakes lately... especially the ones that work in highrise buildings.

So there you go. I do think the gods are talking to us, and I am listening!