It has been a trying week. So much to do, so little time. So, what goes first? The extra little things -- the sudoku, surfing for recipes for tonight’s dinner, checking Facebook... For some, checking in with Facebook is as regular and necessary as having a meal, if not more often and more critical. For me, I check my Facebook maybe once a week. If that. I look for news, event notices, political articles, things that make me think. Personally, I’m really not interested in where someone is at the moment, or who washed their cars.
Many of my friends and certainly my teenage daughter think that I am a dinosaur in my thinking. Facebook is today’s face time, according to her and apparently millions of others. To be fair, I do see a potential with this type of networking. I have also witnessed the power of linking people after disasters or social events. Look at Egypt! Missouri! New Orleans! These are wonderful, completely valid uses of a pretty easy and accessible tool.
However, when I discover something that happened weeks ago and I am told, “Didn’t you see it in my Facebook?”, I sigh. Is that what we have come to? That the importance of my knowing something is equal to someone’s other 248 Friends? I guess my fear is that Facebook will soon replace the time when someone close to me actually calls me to tell me their arm is broken, or they need someone to talk to.
So, Facebook, I acknowledge you and your power. I see the genius in your ability to reach people when other avenues have not. I see you as an important tool, especially in times of crisis and disaster. But for the rest of my life, I’m old school. Please, just call me.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Be Aesop's Ant
Sorry, for the late posting. This was the week of California’s Great ShakeOut, a time in which all of Californian’s were to Drop, Cover and Hold On as practice and reminder of what we need to do during an earthquake. I spent the last several days engaged in activities that I hoped would bring the concept of earthquake safety in particular and emergency preparedness in general to the forefront of people’s minds.
Maybe it was the gloomy day, the gloomy economy, or any other gloomy aspect of human existence we can blame these days, but people really seemed to be listless and quite apathetic about the whole event. Major earthquake? Major disaster? Blah.
This could have been simply the sharp contrast to MY enthusiasm over the event, but, no, it just seemed that many just didn’t care.
And maybe it was just on such a day in the 5th century B.C. that Aesop sat down and, after observing an ant and grasshopper, composed his story. It’s best to prepare for days of need, the Ant advised the Grasshopper.
Yes, indeed. I fear that there are not enough of us ants when the time comes. Are you listening, Grasshoppers?
Maybe it was the gloomy day, the gloomy economy, or any other gloomy aspect of human existence we can blame these days, but people really seemed to be listless and quite apathetic about the whole event. Major earthquake? Major disaster? Blah.
This could have been simply the sharp contrast to MY enthusiasm over the event, but, no, it just seemed that many just didn’t care.
And maybe it was just on such a day in the 5th century B.C. that Aesop sat down and, after observing an ant and grasshopper, composed his story. It’s best to prepare for days of need, the Ant advised the Grasshopper.
Yes, indeed. I fear that there are not enough of us ants when the time comes. Are you listening, Grasshoppers?
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
It’s what’s on the inside that counts
Those interested in the architecture of an “earthquake-resilient” building have probably heard a similar theory. If a building is flexible, it will move but not break or fall down when shaken in an earthquake. It seems logical, right? In fact, I remember seeing old wooden structures in Japan that had survived hundreds of earthquakes. Rather than fall, they simply went with the flow, swayed a bit, then came back to stand as it had for centuries.
What I never saw in those building photos, however, were the insides.
Last week, I got the chance to take a peek inside. Not those lovely old Japanese structures, but more modern ones after the Santiago, Chile, quake. A specialist called to the site to make damage assessments showed astonishing images. Some structures were visibly broken and required extensive, expensive repairs after that whopping 8.8 magnitude shaker in February of 2010.
The most shocking photos came from those with no exterior damage at all. Large, modern beautiful buildings, some with huge glass fronts, had hardly a hint that it had been shaken – until you opened the front door.
It’s interesting that we know to earthquake-proof our shelves, TV’s cupboards, refrigerators and water heaters at home, yet we completely forget this where we work. In some of the specialist’s examples, the damage from some of these buildings’ interiors exceeded the cost of the building itself!
That hardly seems possible, but there it was. High-tech equipment – servers, mainframes, desktop computers, all kinds of specialized electronics –lay in ruins all of the floor. Drop ceilings literally dropped, spilling ceiling tiles and light fixtures everywhere. Water lines, now unhampered by any ceiling material, broke and continued to ruin what wasn’t already broken.
The three areas which seemed to cause the most damage was: 1) Lack of attaching equipment – even though the brackets were there! – or were cheap and easy to install – such as the straps to attach lap-top equipment. 2) The use of bolts that were too small, too weak for their purpose – he recommended at least 5/8-inch bolts, and 3) the widespread use of drop ceilings. Drop ceilings, while cheap and easy to install, universally caused damage everywhere they were used. His recommendation – stop using them. It will be cost effective in the long run to install hard ceilings instead.
So, go to work, your mall, your favorite store and look around. If things started to shake, what would be left standing? Hopefully, YOU, because objects stayed in place, where they should. And you could walk out to tell about it.
What I never saw in those building photos, however, were the insides.
Last week, I got the chance to take a peek inside. Not those lovely old Japanese structures, but more modern ones after the Santiago, Chile, quake. A specialist called to the site to make damage assessments showed astonishing images. Some structures were visibly broken and required extensive, expensive repairs after that whopping 8.8 magnitude shaker in February of 2010.
The most shocking photos came from those with no exterior damage at all. Large, modern beautiful buildings, some with huge glass fronts, had hardly a hint that it had been shaken – until you opened the front door.
It’s interesting that we know to earthquake-proof our shelves, TV’s cupboards, refrigerators and water heaters at home, yet we completely forget this where we work. In some of the specialist’s examples, the damage from some of these buildings’ interiors exceeded the cost of the building itself!
That hardly seems possible, but there it was. High-tech equipment – servers, mainframes, desktop computers, all kinds of specialized electronics –lay in ruins all of the floor. Drop ceilings literally dropped, spilling ceiling tiles and light fixtures everywhere. Water lines, now unhampered by any ceiling material, broke and continued to ruin what wasn’t already broken.
The three areas which seemed to cause the most damage was: 1) Lack of attaching equipment – even though the brackets were there! – or were cheap and easy to install – such as the straps to attach lap-top equipment. 2) The use of bolts that were too small, too weak for their purpose – he recommended at least 5/8-inch bolts, and 3) the widespread use of drop ceilings. Drop ceilings, while cheap and easy to install, universally caused damage everywhere they were used. His recommendation – stop using them. It will be cost effective in the long run to install hard ceilings instead.
So, go to work, your mall, your favorite store and look around. If things started to shake, what would be left standing? Hopefully, YOU, because objects stayed in place, where they should. And you could walk out to tell about it.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
On the Road Again
I am in San Diego at a conference this week with a bunch of emergency managers. Not that I want anything to happen, but if it did, well, this is the group with whom to be!
A crack in the radiator of my son's car required me to change my mode of transportation this week. Originally, I was going to drive my car the 100 miles or so to the conference, but now my son needed my car to get back to college. That's OK, I thought, because I can easily take the train, and I don't have to worry about traffic. It all seemed so easy... until I started to pack...
I feel pretty confident traveling in my car. I have water, food, warm and comfortable clothes. I have a flashlight, radio, toilet paper, a first aid kit, extra eyeglasses and a good, long book to read. I even have a beach chair, umbrella and a warm and waterproof jacket. So what do I need on the train?
As a traveler, I had extra clothes, but they weren't really the type of clothes you want not to be wearing during a disaster. Heels, skirt and a silk blouse are simply not very functional in disaster situations, even though Karen Allen managed to pull off wearing that lovely white gown in "Riders of the Lost Ark."
Obviously I could not nor would want to duplicate what my car has, but I an think about what I can pack that could make me better off should an emergency occur. So I added some casual shoes, jacket and small, collapsible umbrella. I packed a large water bottle, snacks and my purse-sized first aid kit. I also added a flashlight, a pack of tissues and emergency contact information for my wallet.
I certainly am not completely prepared to survive several days alone somewhere, but I have some important tools for my survival and, just as important,a large peace of mind.
A crack in the radiator of my son's car required me to change my mode of transportation this week. Originally, I was going to drive my car the 100 miles or so to the conference, but now my son needed my car to get back to college. That's OK, I thought, because I can easily take the train, and I don't have to worry about traffic. It all seemed so easy... until I started to pack...
I feel pretty confident traveling in my car. I have water, food, warm and comfortable clothes. I have a flashlight, radio, toilet paper, a first aid kit, extra eyeglasses and a good, long book to read. I even have a beach chair, umbrella and a warm and waterproof jacket. So what do I need on the train?
As a traveler, I had extra clothes, but they weren't really the type of clothes you want not to be wearing during a disaster. Heels, skirt and a silk blouse are simply not very functional in disaster situations, even though Karen Allen managed to pull off wearing that lovely white gown in "Riders of the Lost Ark."
Obviously I could not nor would want to duplicate what my car has, but I an think about what I can pack that could make me better off should an emergency occur. So I added some casual shoes, jacket and small, collapsible umbrella. I packed a large water bottle, snacks and my purse-sized first aid kit. I also added a flashlight, a pack of tissues and emergency contact information for my wallet.
I certainly am not completely prepared to survive several days alone somewhere, but I have some important tools for my survival and, just as important,a large peace of mind.
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