Third Time's a Charm!

I slept in this morning, setting my alarm for 7:55 AM because a contractor was coming to our house to finish putting in a floor in the upstairs bathroom. Just a few seconds after the alarm went off I heard this rumbling noise along with a vibration which made me assume the rumbling noise was coming from somewhere in the house.

"What was THAT?" my wife asked me.

"I don't know," I said. I thought maybe something was wrong with the furnace, and that it had made that noise as it came on, but I listened and the furnace wasn't running. The sound also vaguely reminded me of what happens when the water is shut off and turned back on after air has gotten into the pipes. There was definitely some rattling of pipes in the sound. But I listened, and it didn't sound like anyone was up to have turned on the water. So I sort of forgot about it. Until just a few minutes later when my wife told me that the cause of the vibration was on the news...

I've "experienced" three earthquakes now, and I completely missed the first two. The first time was when I was in college and at home in Frankfort. I was busy watching the Charlton Heston film Planet of the Apes. I was completely engrossed in the story when everyone else in the house came running into the living room shouting, "Did you FEEL that? Did you FEEL that? That HAD to be an earthquake!"

"I didn't feel anything," I said. "I was watching a movie."

"WHAT?" was the reply I received. "How could you NOT have heard and felt that?"

I told them what I'll tell you now: Planet of the Apes is a really good movie. I was focused!

My second earthquake experience was just a few years ago. The family was living at Vent Haven, and it was early in the morning. I was downstairs in the basement working out on the elliptical and watching TV with cordless headphones on so I wouldn't wake up the rest of the family. My older daughter came running downstairs, and it was pretty much a repeat of the first conversation.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" she shouted. "Did you feel that earthquake?"

I whipped off the headphones. "Did I WHAT?"

"Did you feel the earthquake? I was in bed and felt it, and so did Mom. It's all over the news."

"No," I said, "I was moving around on the elliptical and didn't feel anything. Plus, I was watching TV."

So apparently I can't watch TV and feel earthquakes at the same time.

But today, I can excitedly report that I DID feel it. Actually, I guess I heard it more than felt it. But I experienced it!

Third time's a charm...