Rant #3,325: Shake, Rattle and Roll

A new week, new challenges, an eclipse coming up later today, and nothing surprises me anymore.

On Friday morning, I was sitting on my bed at about 10:30 a.m., watching a replay of a classic New York Yankees home opener from 2003, and preparing to go to my physical therapy session.

Now, I don't quite remember if the Yankees' Hideki Matsui--nicknamed "Godzilla"--had just hit a grand slam homer just before or right after this happened, but all of a sudden, the bed and our apartment shook for maybe a second.

I first thought it was the wind, which has been pretty fierce lately, but I quickly realized that this was much more than just a solid gust of wind.

I then went on my computer to do some work, and lo and behold, there was a banner headline on my Yahoo News feed saying that the Northeast had experienced a 4.8-magnitude earthquake, one that ran from Southern New Jersey all the way up through Maine.

Not everyone felt it--my wife was doing our food shopping in another part of our town and was surprised when I told her what happened, because she didn't feel a thing--but I looked on Facebook, and people felt it in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Long Island, and into New England.

It is the second time I can remember such a thing happening.

Several years ago, on August 24, 2011, I was at work, eating my lunch, and all of a sudden, I felt the building move, and I held onto my desk.

That quake, while a bit more powerful than the latest one, also lasted about a second, and that was that ... until Friday.

And on Friday, when I got to physical therapy, the quake was the talk of the town.

The latest quake--followed by one or two after shocks, from what I understand but did not personally experience, although my wife said that this time, she felt something in early evening--wasn't reported to have done any major damage, but you just know that every municipality in the quake area will be checking their buildings to make sure these facilities are stable.

I don't know what you can do to prevent these quakes, but you can make sure that your buildings are structurally sound so that they can withstand these shakes.

I am just happy that I live where I do and not elsewhere, like in California ... when they get a quake, they get a real earthquake, and there is plenty of damage and lives lost.

And didn't they just have a devastating earthquake in Taiwan?

No, I will stay where I am.

I am not completely stable on my feet right now, and heaven forbid if I was standing with my crutches when we git our momentary shake, who knows what could have happened to me?

PLOP!

Oh, I would hope not.

Two surgeries is more than enough for me.

I like to walk on the floor, not fall onto it.

And please, protect your eyes today.

If you suffer damage from peaking at the eclipse without protection, the damage is irreversible.

Be smart, not stupid.

Heck, if you damage your eyes, you won't be able to read this Blog--

And that would make me very unhappy.