I missed last night’s New England earthquake
There was an earthquake yesterday at 7:12 PM in southern Maine (no, that’s not a typo). It measured 4.0 on the Richter scale and was felt over a wide area.
I didn’t feel it at all, though. I was in my car on a street in New York at that time, having my newly-dead battery charged by AAA, my 4 PM getaway having been stymied by unanticipated car trouble (is there any other kind?).
Let me just offer a big heap of gratitude to AAA and their funny and friendly service guys with their state-of-the-art diagnostic kits, and another pile of thanks to Pep Boys for being open so late and allowing me to resume my trip up north to the mellifluous stains of Obama, Romney, and immoderate moderator Candy Crowley.
to the mellifluous stains of Obama, Romney, and immoderate moderator Candy Crowley.
I’m guessing that was not a typo in regards Obama and Crowley. 🙂
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Being in the Auto Repair Business for many years, I tell my customers: Cars do not break by appointment, or at a good time. Some times may be better than others, but never good.
“immoderate moderator Candy Crowley.”
Neo, you are far too kind – I’ve got much choicer words for her – But, I’ll spare you and your readers from them.
Earthquakes of Richter scale magnitude 4.0 usually do not felt at all except in upper floors of skyscrapers. It is impossible to feel them in a car. (May be, if only you ride by a long suspense bridge).
Free enterprise, aint it wonderful?
go ahead, see if they have things like triple A and pep boys in russia, china, cuba, etc..
heck, in some places you can flag down an ambulance to use as a taxi (too bad for the patient!) – in others, they sometimes pull over and leave the person to die on the road. and in austrilia, they may leave you in the ambulace to avoid the penalties of law as to rooms and beds once your out of the truck
Many, many years ago I experienced an earthquake in California while driving along a freeway. I could see the road ahead undulate, both up and down and side to side. Unforgettable!
We’re about 50 miles west of the epicenter. It was a pretty strong banging for about six seconds. Not like the curtain swingers we experienced in California.
Neo,
It was not completely clear if you bought a new battery. It sounds like you did at Pep Boys. If not, get a new one. Batteries that fail or are weak will let you down.
Funny story from many years back:
So I’m at a used car lot, and ask the salesman to pull out a late model Lincoln Town Car for a test drive. He gets in the car, and starts it, and the second he starts it (with me carefully observing and listening), the car starts shaking like crazy.
I’m going “Whoa”. I’ve not seen anything quite that bad before (even in my salad days, with the clunkers that my finances, umm, “preferred”).
About a half second later, I notice the car next to the Lincoln is also shaking …and a micro second later, that they’re all doing the shimmy to beat the band.
And Me! too!
I look up the street, and not only is everything shaking, but the road is undulating. Like, in waves!
Even in Eureka, this outdoors visual enhancement was unusual.
…at exactly the instant he started that car, one of the bigger quakes I’d ever been in, hit (a 7.1 or so, as I recall: it was a doozy of a weekend, with big aftershocks too).
But it was kind of hilarious, thinking about it after the realization of what was transpiring had sunk in a bit.
…I didn’t take the test drive.
I once heard of a written complaint of “strains in the urinal”.
I missed feeling an earthquake in CA while out on a freeway. No noticeable motion, unlike Bernard.
Actually, I was in a car during the only earthquake I’ve ever felt. It was the one in Virginia last year, and I was in southeastern Pennsylvania.
I was sitting in my car in a parking lot and felt it faintly shimmying. It was about the same as when you’re in the left turn lane and a truck goes by, only it went on for several seconds.
Very often, when I was stationed in Northern Japan, we would experience earthquakes … and now and again, I would be in a light frame building, on-base or in downtown Misawa. The feeling of a minor earthquake in such a building was very like to that of being in one with a heavy truck rumbling by. Very often, the only difference would be that – we could hear the truck engine. No truck engine noise – then it would be an earthquake.
One of my memories of a medium-sized quake at Misawa AB, is running out of the main building at the Far East Network’s facility, and seeing all the cars in the parking lot bouncing around on their springs – quite a comic sight, actually.
4.0 is unfeelable almost.
The scale is not linear – it’s actually funny. 7 is strong and 8 is very very strong and 9 is near catastrophical.
Anything less is like a truck driving by.
N-Neocon…AMEN to AAA!! Most years you carry the card and never need to make a call. But, then comes your night that you did need’um and that sanity-saving is worth the membership cost of years. I’ve had 3-battery replacements by Auto Club of So.Calif. & Auto Club of Florida in the past 8-10 years, Thank God.
One added thought, Landlord. AAA Car Insurance is The BEST. Typically a tad costlier than most, but WORTH it. No Fuss, No Muss. No BS.
It’s clearly all that fracking they’re doing in Maine that caused it.
Come on, you KNOW that’s gotta be at fault.
}}}} It sounds like you did at Pep Boys.
It’s a mistake to do anything other than make use of the bathroom at Pep Boys.
Mr. Frank: I bought a new battery. The AAA guys said my battery was shot, and not to drive it all the way home.
Paul in Houston: good catch: “mellifluous stains.” Yes, it was a typo, and perhaps a Freudian slip.
My battery also died this week, in an Applebee’s parking lot. After I had a delicious lunch, I went out to go home – nothing. Called AAA. They came to my rescue with a new battery on their truck. I love AAA. Cheerful people who come and help at a great price. I really wouldn’t be without them.
I have felt earthquakes below even 3.0. There is a lot that goes into the perception of an earthquake beyond just raw scale intensity – distance from epicenter, distance below the surface, type of rock/soil etc.
The first earthquake I felt after moving to California (that <3 quake) was when I lived near the beach in SF, very close to the San Andreas fault. I was living on a street with a streetcar line and was lying in bed when I felt a little shiver from the streetcar going by. Then I remembered I had moved a few blocks away and there was no streetcar nearby! The quake was reported in the paper the next day.
…and 9 is near catastrophical.
There’s nothing “near” about it. 9 on the Richter Scale is the same magnitude as the March 2011 earthquake/tsunami in Japan and is a full-blown major disaster if it happens anywhere close to populated areas.
I’ve experienced strong earthquakes in the 6-7 range in Indonesia, and it’s very disconcerting to be in an office tower when it starts swaying for what seems like forever. The modern high-rise buildings here are reinforced concrete and, other than losing windows, generally stand up well to the frequent tremors, but the older structures often collapse. And out in the kampungs (villages), landslides following earthquakes take their own heavy toll.
Neo,
You could have (should have) just let AAA bring you an new battery and install it for you.
I have used their battery service and found it very good. Recommended it to a friend who also had a good experience.
You would have had the additional plus of avoiding Pep Boys.
Speaking of earthquakes… the one that happened in VA last March(?) shook my home in NJ. Things started shaking just as my wife was walking up the stairs from the basement and I remember looking at her and asking her what the heck she was doing to make the house shake. It didn’t last long but it was a very odd feeling.
Knucklehead: You think I stopped AAA from giving me a battery? It was the guys from AAA who told me my car has a rare type of battery that was very hard to get, and that they couldn’t get it. They suggested Pep Boys. I’d never been to Pep Boys before in my life.
Well, please accept my apology then. Didn’t realize AAA couldn’t get it done for you. Do you drive something weird like a Saab or Subaru?
And you got in and out of a Pep Boys as a satisfied customer. Whoodathunkit!
Knucklehead: I certainly didn’t think it was a weird car.