Skip to main content

When the earth burped

For all the pontificators on the subject of warming trends et al and how we as a species are causing irreparable damage to the flora, fauna and fundas..it is quite humiliating when the planet lets out a serious belch.

It happened not far from our home in the Silicon Valley of CA.  What is known as the wine regions of northern California shook with a burp of 6.0 as measured by Richter scale.  That it did not cause serious human loss of life was partly a function of when it happened - when most of the public near the epicenter (even those that stayed up late to imbibe the local beverages - think Napa Wines) were asleep.

It shook our bed many miles away too around 3.15 AM local time and lasted a good 15 seconds.  What I find amusing is that the news hawks decide to make a field day because the people had already tuned them out after the stale story about the demise of one of my beloved comics (Robin Williams - who passed - onto another realm not passed by Napa - about 15 miles from the epicenter as it happens a week ago).

Now it was all hands on deck yapping about how the bricks could fall and people should be prepared to respond to a quake and how many barrels of wine we lost..

First - no one can respond to a serious quake.  I mean what are you going to do if a 10 hits your home?  Plan to meet at a prearranged rendezvous with your emergency supplies?

Honestly if the earth wanted to it could take Silicon Valley and chew it up in a matter of seconds and make parts of Arizona coastal property in no time.

I have sagely invested in a property west of Phoenix with that in mind.  I mean the San Andreas is not a Saint you mess with. Right?

Comments

  1. As Ghulam Ali would have sung..hangama hai kyun barpa, thodi si jo hila di hai..

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Presumptive Society

Today's world is hyper connected.  I am not so sure what it means but you hear it a lot.  It is probably hyper but not sure how connected it is.  Sugar (fermented or not) is available in many ways than before and so getting hyper is easy.  It is probably more a threat than cocaine since it is sold legally. And what is this connected stuff?  Most people I encounter seem disconnected from reality.  So going back to this assumption that we are connected there are subtle and no so subtle instances of how brands and companies and middle men try to portray someone - A linkedin profile for somebody working for X years at a place advertises to the connected network that so and so is CELEBRATING X years @ Such and Such Inc. Do we know if (s)he is celebrating or cringing?  Perhaps a better way to portray will be - So and So LASTED X years @ such & such inc. Then it exhorts the readership to go ahead and congratulate them for this lasting effe...

Of Jims and Johns

Here is another essay on the subject of first names. As in birth names. Or names provided to an offspring at birth. While the developed world tends to shy away from the exotic like Refrigerator or Coca Cola for their new production there is a plethora of Jims and Johns and Bobs or Robs. Speaking of which I do not think there is a categoric decision point at the time of birth if a child will be hereafter called as Bob. I mean have not yet met a toddler called Bob or Rob for that matter. At some point though the parental instinct to mouth out multiple syllables runs out and they switch from calling the crawler Robert to simply Robbie to Rob. Now speaking of - it is strange that the name sounds like something you would not want Rob to do - i.e. Rob anyone. Then why call someone that? After all Rob Peter to Pay Paul is not exactly a maxim to live a young life? Is it? Perhaps Peter or Paul might want to have a say in it? Then there is this matter of going to the John. Why degrad...

On the go(zay masta) in Japan again

Cool cat the Japanese are Tokyo at dusk  My second visit to this land of the rising sun after almost a decade. Back then clearly I was wet behind the ears product manager and likely didn’t pay attention to all (efficient) things Japanese. But today I did and of course continue to be impressed. It is as much the obvious stuff like on time travel that is both clean and comfortable and all that which makes it possible. The impressive landmark and landscapes that these humans have put together despite their cramped (or because of it) surroundings and precarious geological conditions could amaze a novice architect among us. But it’s also the little things that someone had to think about which have a phenomenal impact on day to day lives that make the Japanese stand apart. Below are few random examples- 1. Providing a very fine machined wooden toothpick in every packet of wooden chopsticks. The said chapsticks are simply set on the To Go counter of any food vendor/ convenience store wher...