5.4

I leave Pasadena tomorrow. I wish I had more time to walk around Old Pasadena to shop without having my male co-worker with me. It'd be a little awkward going into Victoria's Secret or the many swimsuit shops with him in tow and somehow, I don't manage to get into these shops when I am home. It's nice here and if I had to live in SoCal, I guess I'd have to pick the area around Old Pasadena for the sole reason that it is city-esque. I love city life and can't imagine being far from a city or a large body of water. But I already miss home. Things have been very busy and non-stop since I've been down here! I get back to my room about 930pm and only have enough time to check email and get ready for bed. Not much stitching, tv watching, reading, emailing or exercising has been happening the last few days. Ugh! Not to mention that this training I attended will be a waste. There is no way the projects will be ready for processing in the next four weeks. There is way more work than anyone anticipated and we are not prepared to tackle so much in such a short period of time. We'll be heading back to work with bad news for the head honcho.

The most exciting thing so far this trip was the 5.4 magnitiude earthquake in SoCal on Tuesday. I don't know why I always signify earthquakes with San Francisco. All of California experiences them but I guess I forget. I've lived within the state my entire life and the only one that made me jump out of my skin was the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. I was 14 years old back then...seems like a lifetime ago. The earthquake on Tuesday was strong and it surprised me more for the fact that I left what I consider earthquake mecca to only feel an earthquake. There were a couple of very sharp jolts and light shaking. At first, I thought there was some renovation happening on the level above our conference room before I realized that the speaker stand was rocking back and forth. I knew I was safe where I was sitting. Many people in my training class were shaken up and requested to be let outside so we headed out to lunch early. The moment we walked outside, everyone seemed to be outside on the phone telling their loved ones they were ok but were still standing under the awning. Geez, people!!! If you are worried about the building falling down on your head, you need to get entirely out of the way of said building. Go cross the street and make sure there isn't anything that will fall on you! It seems like common sense to me but maybe all those earthquake drills and working for a public safety agency drilled this into my head more than others would know? I don't know. All in all...strong earthquake...no big deal. No one was hurt and there were no major damages so it was just a reminder that we live in California and earthquake are just one of those things that happen every once in a while.