In which time is out of joint

[zeborah]

I have to count to keep track of days. This morning I did it thusly: Tuesday I slept under the kitchen table; Wednesday on the couch; Thursday at friends; therefore today is Friday. Others are also having trouble. Last night a TV clip showed an interview about the earthquake as being taped on "Sunday". And this morning's Press has an article which referred to some earthquake event as occuring on "Monday". Even on Wednesday a neighbour referred to "last Friday" (but still meaning post-quake).

Dates are harder to keep track of, despite which when I read that university (my workplace) is "unlikely" to re-start before the 14th March I did get the distinct feeling that this was quite some time in the future. We just walked out of the buildings on Tuesday, you know? It was all very calm. I did start noticing in their emails this morning that they were being more careful than last time, and on further thought the lack of reliably clean water and sound sewage facilities pretty much anywhere in Christchurch does imply certain Health and Safety issues even once they have cleared the buildings. And yet. Two more weeks? <emulates a goldfish; subsides with a sigh>

(Yes, I'm getting paid in the meantime. As are the census workers. Oh yeah, by the way, our census got cancelled. Not since the Depression and World War Two.)

I have 270-odd unread posts in Google Reader. Of course 108 of them are from Geonet, noting aftershocks, and 50 of them are from Canterbury Earthquake, noting... all sorts of useful things, but I've already read their website cover to cover.

I'm not overly comfortable with describing what's happened here as like "a warzone". It's not a warzone, it's an earthquake zone. Totally different. On the one side you've got military helicopters overhead, tanks in the streets, the army enforcing cordons and curfews, the adorable idealism of the Student Volunteer Army, and semi-random explosions killing people, ruining roads, bridges and distribution centres, and shattering everyone's nerves; and on the other you've got the horrors of war.

My brain is highly distractible at the moment. I was trying to be serious in that previous paragraph but it kind of got away on me. The thing is, while an aftershock that you hear rumbling towards you is bad enough (...case in point), an aftershock that just bangs because it's approximately 5km directly beneath you is... really quite startling. Also, the Student Volunteer Army is incredible.

It's amazing how much difference a walk of 3-4 hours makes in how many/strongly one feels the quakes. I think I liked it out in Redwood better. :-)

Also, random <poof> and flash from the general direction of the fusebox is most disconcerting. (A brief paternal inspection finds nothing obviously amiss.)

So sleepy. I conceive a solution for this.

Comments

[errolwi.livejournal.com]

It's not a warzone, it's an earthquake zone. Totally different. On the one side ... and on the other you've got the horrors of war.

Love your work!
Hang in there!

[ellarien]

I hope you manage to get some decent sleep.

Thinking of you.

[llygoden]

I hope you manage to get a good nights sleep, despite the aftershocks.

[green_knight]

Your mum really got you beat on the earthquake assessor thing ;-)

I thought your description drove the point home: no-one is shooting at you, no-one wishes you ill, and you have a fair idea of what the future holds (lots of disruption and rebuilding, but hopefully not much further damage.

Thanks for keeping us informed.

[ajk]

Deep bow for the warzone comparison.

[aquaeri]

It didn't last as long, but we had that "what day is it again?" thing with the flood too. All in all, I have some small inkling of what you're going through, but not really.

[(Anonymous)]

Becky again. Aftershocks -suck.- Very distressing, and sets up that whole damn cycle of nerves all over again. There's a reason why I refuse to live in California... And I read that Boots reappeared, thank goodness. (I told you that we have two new kitties about the place since last year?) I bet he was happy to see you and have a good cuddle.

[zeborah]

All in all, I have some small inkling of what you're going through, but not really.

I had that same feeling when I was reading and watching about the floods.

I think I didn't say, but your description of the leaves with the mudline still on them really resonated.

[aquaeri]

I think your surroundings are in a worse state than ours (we never had problems with water or sewerage) but that mudline does get to me every day (it's on about the only practical walking/exercise route I currently have available to me).

The other thing that got to me about the floods, vs an earthquake, is that you know exactly who will be affected as the waters rise, whereas I imagine it's rather more unpredictable whose house will fall down.

[zeborah]

You can have some idea - brick and stone and cinderblock don't fare as well as weatherboard; modern building standards make a huge difference - but much is dependent on distance and direction from the earthquake and the type of ground underneath and the toss of a dice.