As people celebrate remember the 5th anniversary of the 2001 6.8 Nisqually Earthquake, I think back to where I was 5 years ago and what I was doing when "the big one" hit.
It was Winter Quarter 2001 at Western. I had an Accounting 240 exam at 10AM that morning--I finished my exam in 40 minutes. After the exam I ran back up to my dorm room to get my laundry gathered and sorted for the 5-hour marathon that was Laundry Day. Fortunately for me, the laundry room was a few doors down from my own so eyeing the availability of washers and dryers was as easy as sticking my head out the door. As I sat waiting for the next washer to free-up, I was hunched over my computer playing Counter-Strike. I had just been fragged when my pot-head roommate Ryan awoke from a small coma and asked me, "what was that?" I asked him "what?" And then the Earth shook.
It was quite possibly the weirdest thing I've seen a human do. Like catfish moving violently, chickens that stop laying eggs, bees fleeing the hive, or dogs barking or whining for no apparent reason, my roommate had exhibited an animal-like reflex sensing the earthquake before it occurred.
Five seconds after the earthquake, my roommate Ryan returned to his coma only to return 2 hours later when his friend Jason showed up at the door. Before Jason even entered the room, my roommate Ryan sat-up in bed and indicated it was time to "smoke a fatty."
It was Winter Quarter 2001 at Western. I had an Accounting 240 exam at 10AM that morning--I finished my exam in 40 minutes. After the exam I ran back up to my dorm room to get my laundry gathered and sorted for the 5-hour marathon that was Laundry Day. Fortunately for me, the laundry room was a few doors down from my own so eyeing the availability of washers and dryers was as easy as sticking my head out the door. As I sat waiting for the next washer to free-up, I was hunched over my computer playing Counter-Strike. I had just been fragged when my pot-head roommate Ryan awoke from a small coma and asked me, "what was that?" I asked him "what?" And then the Earth shook.
It was quite possibly the weirdest thing I've seen a human do. Like catfish moving violently, chickens that stop laying eggs, bees fleeing the hive, or dogs barking or whining for no apparent reason, my roommate had exhibited an animal-like reflex sensing the earthquake before it occurred.
Five seconds after the earthquake, my roommate Ryan returned to his coma only to return 2 hours later when his friend Jason showed up at the door. Before Jason even entered the room, my roommate Ryan sat-up in bed and indicated it was time to "smoke a fatty."
1 comment:
LOL, funny memory.
I was still in HS during that earthquake. I slept in on purposed and missed my first class. I heard my mom slapping her stomache and making a walrus sound (which woke me up).
When i felt the house shaking, i thought it was my mom's walrus impression shaking the house foundation. LOL. I have a weird family.............
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