Live-Blogging Hurricane Irene

I'm managing a Red Cross shelter, mainly for people whose power was knocked out by the storm. We have 12 senior citizens and 3 kids.

Dinner was courtesy of the Dept. of Corrections. Only the best for us: bologna & cheese on white bread. Anyone vegetarian, allergic, or keeping kosher? Let them eat cake! (Or cookies, in this case, the only other thing they sent.)

They're providing breakfast too. At least I can get something from the snack & soda machines. Oh, wait: can't have those, schoolkids need to eat healthy! (D'oh!)

When I was their age, the school sold us jelly donuts, and we turned out OK.

Sort of.

Virginia 2011 Earthquake

Today, I felt a vibration in my apartment. At first I thought it was a fan, then I realized it was an earthquake. Cool! We never get those around here -- except one last year. Oddly, that one centered in Gaithersburg, MD, where there is no fault. This one, however, happened in central Virginia, an area known to be seismically active.

Last year's was only 3.6 on the Richter scale, barely enough to be felt. (I slept through it.) This one was a 5.8, and could be felt as far away as New York. It was the worst in Virgina in a century.

As it happens, I participated in a risk assessment of a Virginia shore site a few years ago that concluded: