Rumbles and Rain...what a Ruckus!

So this week we had an Earthquake and this weekend we're expecting a hurricane - Irene to be exact. My loving mother and aunt keep calling and texting urging me to put on my engineering hat and inspect the structural integrity of my home and office high rises and willing me to seek higher ground somewhere inland this weekend. It would be comical if it didn't look so black and dismal outside. 

And the earthquake - what a ruckus that caused! Sitting here at my desk on the 27th floor overlooking the East River and Manhattan, my building was literally bouncing up and down. The uproar that ensued on Facebook and Twitter was exceptional to say the least. This cartoon perfectly captured the essence of the social media onslaught. Having lived through several of the major earthquakes in Southern California, I was rather unfazed by the temblor, my apathy unjustly grounded in my West Coast roots. Buildings here aren't quite as new nor as structurally engineered to withstand earthquakes (like four times less sound.) Shake them around enough and thing bring some gale force winds (expecting up to 70 mph this weekend IN New York City) and, well, maybe we'll be leaving the city and seeking that higher ground anyway. Just in case. 

If only the view out my window looked like this....