Earthquake Survival Kit

A lot of the commentary around the Haiti earthquake centered on the fact that developed countries can generally withstand natural disasters that destroy developing countries where lax building codes and shoddy construction materials are more common.  So, how’s Portland going to fare?

In the reasonably near future, perhaps within our lifetimes and quite possibly as soon as tomorrow, an earthquake will strike Portland with roughly the same force felt this month in Port-au-Prince.

But while the Jan. 12 Haitian quake lasted less than 40 seconds, the shaking in Portland will continue for at least four minutes. Portland will feel a quake with a strength, duration and destruction never before experienced in the developed Western world.

Our cataclysm will begin 75 miles off the Oregon coastline. The ocean floor will split, sending shock waves racing under the water as fast as 17,000 mph. Those shock waves, felt first as a rumble, will slam into Portland in 30 seconds. The rattling will grow into a pulsing undulation that will repeatedly shove the ground up and down as much as 6 feet.

[much much more city destruction redacted]

About half an hour later, a 30-foot wall of water will crash into the Oregon coastline, with the tsunami flooding as high as 100 feet above sea level, sweeping in and out for hours.

This is not a pitch for the next Hollywood disaster movie. It is the scientific consensus on what will happen here sooner or later. And the latest data suggest it may in fact be sooner.

And, by the way, the odds aren’t as remote as I’d thought when my crazy friend Tommy first told me about this in one of his typical conspiracy-theorist rants. “Goldfinger’s estimates place the odds of a similar major earthquake in the next 50 years at 10 percent to 14 percent—about a 1-in-8 chance.”

ONE. IN. EIGHT.

While I’m heartened to see that Portland and nearby towns are beginning to get serious about contingency planning, I have to say that I’m a little bit entirely scared shitless at this news.  Aside from assembling a small stockpile of toilet paper, water, Lara bars, playing cards, flashlights and cash, what else is there for me to do?

Anyway, read the whole article so that you’re mentally prepared when all of this goes down and I’m tweeting updates from a floating house.

Ponytail Falls

The waterfall photos will continue until morale improves.  From a few weeks ago, a waterfall new to me, Ponytail Falls (much nicer photos here):

A Brief Wondrous Book Rec

Shut up on the post title, it’s been a long week. I regret I wasn’t here to regale you with my year-end and decade-end “best of…” picks, but truth be told I was spending the last week of December 2009 trying to studiously avoid the unceasing tide of inane listicles.  I’m not even sure what my favorite album of 2009 was. I have a bad habit of liking something and then realizing it was realized in October 2008 or somesuch.

Since then, life’s been pretty okay — and I’ve been making some solid progress on my 2010 goals. Most surprisingly (to me) is how well I’ve kept up with the yoga. Granted, it’s only been 3 weeks, but I’ve been doing it 4-5 times a week without any major impediments, and it feels really good. Cooking dinner, reading, and hiking – doing some of that too, although I’ll admit it’s hard to balance the reading goal with my “watch all five seasons of the Wire for the second time” goal. (NB: As of last night I’m done with Season 4. I’d forgotten how great Bodie’s character was — he had some of the best lines and scenes in the whole show).

The book I’ve been reading lately deserves a special mention, because I really want all of my nerdy male friends to read it.  The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz — man, this is a great book. Great. Don’t take my word for it – ask the Pulitzer committee!  It is one of those sprawling, multigenerational immigrant sagas along the lines of Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, but with so much more verve, attitude, and humor. If you’re any kind of comics/sci-fi/J.R.R. Tolkien fan; if you want to learn about the (brutal) 20th-century history of the Dominican Republic; if you want to find yourself empathizing with fat Dominican nerd-boys; or if, in general, you’re into the work of Chabon, Eggers, Eugenides, and DFW, please read this book. I don’t know how else to describe it except to say that it’s bad-ass.

2010 Goals

Because, like I said, “resolutions” are crap.  But by the Grace of Spreadsheets, all Things are Possible.

1. Read 2 books a month.
2. Go hiking 18 times.
3. Practice yoga four times a week, and YES this is a lofty goal; however, I’m loosening my standards to include basically anything and everything – 20 minutes at home? 90 minutes in the studio? Yin? Power Vinyasa? It takes all kinds.  With a 3-month unlimited pass to Yoga Pearl already purchased, I’m off to a good start.  There may or may not be a meditation goal attached to this, with even laxer standards (10 minutes of sitting quietly with eyes closed? Sure, why not.)
4. Cook dinner 3 nights a week. I used to be much, much better about cooking when I lived with RV since there was an impetus to make food to share with her in the hopes of having her share her dinners with me, thus cutting my overall cooking time.  I just need to get back in this habit of making stuff, even simple stuff, rather than heading out somewhere or, sigh, eating a sandwich and a bag of popcorn.
5. Go camping at Crater Lake! See below for why.
6. Various and sundry financial goals that aren’t really relevant here, but amounting to “Save More and Pay Down Student Loans”.  But a smaller goal that I think is worthy of your consideration — and which I’ve already put into place — is to save up $10 a week in an online savings account, and donate it to a charity at the end of the year.  Having worked in nonprofits I know that $10 and $20 donations to a smattering of organizations might make you feel good, but it’s almost the same as giving them nothing at all, as they have to then process that small payment and get you into their database and mailing list.  Better to save up a larger chunk and focus it on one charity that’s especially compelling to you.  $10 a week isn’t a huge amount, but it’s large enough that I feel the hit to my budget.  SmartyPig is an online savings bank with a decent concept – when you sign up, you have to state a specific savings goal and schedule automatic transfers from your checking account, and they basically won’t let you cancel it or withdraw the money until you’ve met said goal.  Their interest rate is 2.01%, quite a bit higher than ING, and the site has some social networking features where you can invite others to view and contribute toward your goal.  If behavioral economics gives us nothing, let it give us a scheme of voluntary forced savings that’s directed toward worthy goals.