Today, I

[hummingwolf]

Got about four hours of sleep.
Began doing more cleaning fairly early in the morning, though it ended up being less than yesterday.
Did a TON of laundry.
Decided to go for a walk.

Briefly wondered if the landlord, while dealing with errant trees, had perhaps dropped a huge tree limb on the roof.
Realized that I couldn't reasonably blame my landlord after all and, come to think of it, I knew what was happening because I'd felt it happen last year (though not as strongly).
Went downstairs and said to a housemate something brilliant like "This has got to be a record!"
Briefly discussed geology and related topics.
Went out walking and spoke with the landlord's wife, whose first instinct had also been to blame the landlord.

Passed by a school where children who had been evacuated were standing by the fence and calling out, "Did you feel it? Did you feel the earthquake??" to which I responded, "Of course!"

Eventually made it to the Tuesday farmers' market, where the earthquake was understandably a major topic of conversation. A few people spoke in apocalyptic tones, but most folks were excited about the historic event, irritated by other people's reactions, frustrated by the fact that their cell phones weren't working, or worried about their loved ones who were closer to the epicenter.

Enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Asked farmers if they had any recommendations for mouse traps. (Yes: "The sticky kind" was the clear favorite.)

Came home where I... okay, the sleep dep is catching up with me here. I know I ate some fresh tomatoes (spilling half the juice of one of them all over my clothes), but after that I'm blanking out. I probably got online to find out more about the quake.

Didn't feel any of the aftershocks (as of 9:30 PM local time).

Hope I get a good amount of sleep tonight.

Comments

[bluegreen17]

could have sworn i felt a precursor shock an hour beforehand. but i do delude myself. when it happened,many here in new hampshire felt it. i was probably in my car at the time so i missed it. glad you're ok. hope you are sleeping well as i type this!

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

It sounds like there was more damage in parts of DC than there was in my neighborhood. Places just a little bit to the south of us didn't fare as well as we did; plus, some buildings that weren't built as well to begin with have sustained a fair amount of damage.

I got about 8 hours of sleep last night!! Still feeling ridiculously tired, though.

[historychick49.livejournal.com]

I maybe might have felt an aftershock around 10:30-45 last night (I'm near the Ohio River), but I'm not sure. This was my first earthquake!

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ has good info if you're curious about earthquakes happening in the US and around the world. There is a list of latest earthquakes in the USA you can check to find out if what you felt might have been an earthquake. (Times are in UTC--subtract four hours for Eastern Daylight Time.) Doesn't look like there were local quakes at that hour, but I could be missing something. You didn't feel anything a little after 8 p.m. or a little before 1 a.m., did you?

[historychick49.livejournal.com]

I don't think I felt anything after 8, and I was asleep at 1, so if there were any aftershocks then I missed them.

[hai-kah-uhk.livejournal.com]

Sticky mousetraps are really, really cruel. Just ask my husband. After a mouse got stuck in one at my grandmother's house, I asked him to kill it, and... ugh... *wince*

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

So I've heard. I don't want to be cruel to the little guys, but I do want a trap that actually catches them.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I wondered if any of my blogging friends had experienced the earthquake!!

And sticky mouse traps?? That sounds horrific and cruel!!!

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

There's no obvious damage to our house, so now here's hoping there's no non-obvious damage that matters. Since there's a hurricane headed toward this coast of the U.S., people in this region may soon find out if they've got new cracks in their ceilings!

I gave in and bought some sticky traps. But I want to try other options first. I don't hate mice; I just don't want them in my room!

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I want to know this, but... What happens to the poor mouse once it's stuck??

Over here, you can bait live traps with chocolate biscuits or peanut butter. This supposedly captures the mouse so it can be removed and released at a very safe distance...

I had rats in my horse's stables once. They died horribly by poisoning, poor things.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Let's just say that the sticky traps are not at all humane. I felt guilty just for buying them, but so far the little creatures have avoided them.

The first trap I used this week is a live trap baited with peanut butter. Live traps worked for me the last time I had a mouse problem (back in the mid-'90s), but for some reason this one seems to make mice run away.

Nobody in this house is using poison. The tenant in the basement, who also noticed a mouse or mice in the last week or two (possibly the same one(s) who has/have been visiting me), said that he once had to move out of a house where poisoned rodents died inside the walls. So he's doing the traps too, though I'm not sure what kind he's got.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Foolish mouse! Little does it guess that the live trap is there to HELP it!!!

Having decomposing rodents lurking around the house sounds like an absolute no-no...