Earthquake

So, the earthquake. That was fun.

Conveniently, we had had a fire drill recently, so even the new people knew where to go. In fact, it was so recently that it was probably a mixed blessing. I might have brought more stuff with me when I left the building, and therefore been better prepared for it, if not for the fact that I had just been primed for a brief interruption.

But anyways, at around 1:50 yesterday afternoon, the office shook. At first we thought it was just unusually hard renovation on another floor or something, but obviously not, so the place evacuated. Due to a quirk of fate yesterday, my housekeys and metro card were in my messenger bag rather than my pocket like usual, and I didn't take that with me when I left for the quake. Oops. It was at least 15 minutes and probably more like 30 before they announced that the building was closed for the day, to make sure there was no hidden structural damage. They were letting people back in in relatively small groups by floor to get stuff, and it's just my luck - my floor was second-to-last. So I was stuck outside for over an hour in my trousers, button-down shirt and black leather shoes. (To be clear, I have been in the habit of changing into shorts, a t-shirt and sneakers to bike home as part of my commute. Standing outside in DC on a summer afternoon in formal attire, or even just business casual, is really not fun.)

But after I finally got back into the building, I changed shoes, picked up my stuff and walked off. Changed into shorts and t-shirt at nearby supermarket bathroom. Traffic looked like a nightmare. I've probably never been more glad I don't use a car. As annoying as my situation was, my girlfriend had it worse. I joined her and four of her co-workers at a restaurant near her office. She works on Capitol Hill, and people weren't allowed back into her office until around 6:30 or later. By that time we had already had drinks (well, those of us whose drivers' licenses weren't stuck inside our offices... which was me and just one more person. ouch), water and appetizers, and had given up on waiting and went our separate ways for the day. So she had to borrow my metro pass while I biked home last night and to work this morning.

Doesn't seem like DC handled things well. Like I said, traffic was horrible, worse than rush hour right after the quake, although by the time the usual rush hour came along it was better. In fairness, though, this is not something people expect. I don't know the geological science, but until 1:50 p.m. yesterday I would have said the East Coast doesn't get earthquakes at all. When things shake here in DC in particular, people think "terrorism" before "earthquake". And "safety first" is probably one of those things that government is much better about than either individuals or private corporations. (Sure, there are screw-ups, famous failures that make the news, etc., but speaking generally.) Everyone knows individuals are irrational all the time, and corporations don't like getting sued but they don't like employees not being productive either. Government bureaucracies, though, aren't going to send people back to their desks until they're really, really sure the building hasn't taken structural damage. Indeed, half a dozen government buildings weren't open today, although my building itself wasn't one of them.

As for a personal impact, it made the deadline on the doomed project even harder. I know that's a short-sighted way of thinking about something like this, but as long as we're talking about my view of things, well, there it is. The quake resulted in about three hours less work this week, so I'll just have to work a bit harder to make up for it. Never mind that losing three hours close to a deadline, and particularly close to my part of it, could really throw things off.