Quakes & Heinlein

I didn't watch a movie tonight because Grimsley came over. We were at CSUN, sitting at a table by the Oviatt Library when the quake hit. In last night's blog, I neglected to mention yesterday's quake because, although it was momentarily upsetting, it was not that strongly felt here in Reseda. I mean, there was a definite rolling motion and the swaying back and forth. You instantly knew it was a quake, but then it ended and the news said the epicenter was way up in Ridgecrest, 150 miles from here. The main thing was that yesterday was the Fourth of July, so once I went to see the fireworks and then came back to Pearl's to write about them, I had kind of forgotten about the quake that morning.

I mean, that's not really true. No Northridger can ever forget about a quake, even if it's a small one (comparatively speaking) that originated far away. But yesterday's temblor was minor enough that, because it happened on one of my favorite holidays, my mind put it on the back burner.

Tonight's quake was a slightly different story. For one thing, it was the first earthquake I've ever experienced outdoors, where I actually had my feet on the ground and not on the floor of a building. There was more a sense of "the Earth shaking" because of that. It should be noted that neither today's quake nor yesterday's was in any way comparable to the Northridge or Sylmar quakes of 1994 and 1971 respectively. Northridge '94 was Hell On Earth and Sylmar was a rolling, swaying nightmare at 6 in the morning.

But the thing is, with quakes, is that once they start, you don't know when they're gonna stop.

Or if they're gonna get worse. And at any moment, they could get worse. So, with tonight's quake, which was a much stronger rolling and swaying motion than the one yesterday morning, I felt much more apprehension. I knew right away that it must be related to the one from yesterday, which happened in Ridgecrest, up near China Lake in the Mojave desert. But because they happened two days in a row, you keep thinking, man......what if these quakes trigger The Big One?

That's what is scary. I mean, I can't even imagine a worse quake than Northridge, and I survived that one, but it took years for the area to recover from it, and it was very hard on everyone who lived here. I said to Grim, "you know, it was difficult enough to deal with the Northridge quake when I was 35. I don't think I could do it again (meaning a major quake) now that I am almost 60". Physically I could do it, but psychologically it would be tough.

A major earthquake uproots your entire life, just as a hurricane does, or a tornado or a wildfire or flood.
Natural disasters are no fun. I feel for the folks up in Ridgecrest because they felt the full force of it while we only got a ripple effect. But it was still scary enough here, 150 miles away, to put me on Earthquake Alert. It will take a couple of weeks for that feeling to go away.

Well, the heck with the quake for now. Let's hope it stops with tonight. /////

So how is everything else going? Have you seen any good movies? I should have a new supply arriving shortly, and I have coming, in my library queue, the full Season One of History Channel's "Project Blue Book". Did I already mention that? I can never remember from blog to blog if I have written about certain tidbits, but anyway, "Project Blue Book" will be all about the legendary Air Force investigative committee that looked into UFO reports from the early 1950s to 1969, when they supposedly closed up shop.

I am also thoroughly enjoying Robert Heinlein's "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress", in which the Moon has been colonized by 2075 and exists as a civilization unto itself. The denizens of "Luna", as they call their planet, are still under the authority of a United Nations-style governing body down on the Earth, and that authority is represented on Luna by a warden and his police goons. Some of the citizens (Loonies, as they call themselves) are politically aware, and have turned revolutionary. They end up overthrowing the Earth-mandated Lunar Authority and now a war is on the horizon between the peoples of the Moon and the Earth, to be fought long distance by magnetic catapults firing enormous steel pods at one another.

This is some majorly inventive stuff, written in 1966, which is why Heinlein is considered to be so far ahead of his time. In the book, he is writing about computer codes and logic systems that seem, to a non-computer guy like myself, to be right up to date with current technology, not to mention his characters' descriptions of their plans for hundred kilometer length rail guns that will shoot payloads into outer space. From the Moon, gravity will take over from there. As per Heinlein, Earth is "downhill" from the Moon, gravity-wise. The revolutionaries on the Moon thus have a distinct advantage in hurling their gigantic "rocks" at the Earth, which will have to send up their own military ships, against the pull of gravity, in order to fight back.

In short, the folks on the Moon have gravity, or the lack of it, on their side.

This is some ingenious stuff. I've mentioned that this is my first Robert Heinlein book, but I will be ordering "Starship Troopers" next. That is the title of one of the greatest songs by Yes, who are in turn one of the greatest bands of all time. I am new to Heinlein, but that's a good enough recommendation for me.  /////

See you in the morning.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)