rescued me mail from the Post Office....

 haven't gotten any mail since several days before Christmas...so this time i checked at the post office they did have my mail. not sure when they will begin delivering the mail to our neighborhood box again...not sure if the government shut down will impact this.  will be heading there a few times a week at least to check on mail in the meantime.  figure not much would happen until after the holidays are over.

 happy i didn't head downtown for the festivities.  we had a 5.o quake just after 6pm this evening.  that is the largest we've had in a bit...we did have that 4.9 the other day too. so still loads of aftershocks...or are they really aftershocks?  could these be pre-shocks?  could there be a bigger one coming? or could all this seismic activity  cause another wave of quakes...they do say that aftershocks can have aftershocks which we should be having after a 5.0 for sure...

 love these close ups of the pups.

 with all the aftershocks we keep having i just keep thinking about what those poor folks suffered with during and after the 1964 quake.  i know they had loads of super large aftershocks...i think like 4-6 that were over 6.0's in those first hours post the big quake.  i suspect its what we've been through except way more exaggerated.  our quake lasted less than 2 minutes...the original, theirs lasted over 5 minutes.  the longer a quake lasts the more the sub ground is subjected to possible liquefaction.  that is the big killer.

 we did have our Monday walk though it was a bit shortened as well today.  holiday plus last night in addition to the usual aftershocks we had wind i guess. i slept through it, but we got some good gusts.  the wind has made our snow melt...warm temperatures...into the 40's..so that sucks. a bit slushy out there.  we had fun though. 

 the rest of these are a trip with the pups to Homer in August.  i am still super far behind on photos from this summer. always fun down there.

 the dogs were barking at fireworks.  not sure if they have calmed down or the dogs are just ignoring them more.  i had locked them in here with me and turned the music up as Ivy and Tusker kept barking.  they were getting restless being stuck in here and my brain wasn't liking the music.

 for me it's like a post concussion syndrome with these earthquakes...mixed with some motion sickness.  my brain gets all fuzzy feeling.  I'm a bit woozy at times.  I've noticed it with quakes 5.0 or greater or near that...suppose it depends on how close it is and how much the shake around me is.  i have taken Dramamine with it before which has helped. 

 it is strange, but in quake pages, it's not uncommon.  many out there have strange symptoms, similar to a motion sickness post quakes.

 they started to really look at it after the big quake in Japan that had that horrible tsunami.  they found many residents were complaining of these types of symptoms. it translates to Earthquake Drunk or Earthquake Hangover.  it does feel a bit like a hangover i think.

 i have noticed that sitting/standing during the quake seems to make it worse. for today's 5.0 i was sitting up.

 was just texting with my brother and SIL about starting a group game of Hearts when the quake hit.  we planned to start at 6 and the quake was at 6:03. i had not played before so i had to get set up and logged in.  they played on lap tops so they were able to  see and hear each other...maybe next time...i was just playing on my phone so i could only text them via the game.

 i haven't played hearts in ages.  we always had fun playing cards together as kids so it was fun to play with us all in 3 different states.  considering i haven't played in years and had just had another big quake...i think i did well not coming in last...my brother did that...mostly because he tried to shoot the moon.  haha.  his daughter tried as well, both times i held onto my jack of hearts...they always forget about the jack...some aspects of the game came right back to me.  the computer program tries to tell you what to play as well.  it never picked the cards i would pass along though.  silly computer...what does it know really.

 have been texting with my sister as well today, she had oral surgery so she can't talk right now or eat much, poor girl.  anything in the mouth surgically is pretty rotten. 

 hoping to wake up early and watch the Rose Parade. it's where i grew up and i my life this time of year seemed intertwined with the parade.  as kids we sold the parade programs as a fund raiser for our church.  i went door to door at what would now be considered a very young age...really strange to think about.  we also stood outside the sites where many of the floats get built. 

 so we'd get to run through when the line wasn't long and watch the progress. i never worked on a float though and i do toy with going back down there to watch with family and maybe volunteer to help decorate one. would be fun...and messy.

 i grew up in a suburb of Pasadena, South Pasadena. they have made their own float for years.  many places have turned to float building businesses, but my hometown still does it old school...as a community.  a few others do this as well. it does mean the floats aren't hugely extravagant like many you will see if you watch.  they have done a great job of making them fun, having lots of moving parts and this year it seems to have a music theme along with Bob Marley blasting out from the float.

 at times i even went down early to the parade route and sold programs in the stands and on the bridge....loved that as when those huge marching bands went by the whole bridge took the beat of it and shared it. 

 might not like that this year after all these quakes though.  haha.

 in my twenties i returned to the parade as a young adult to enjoy the 5 mile long block party.  it went on for days...we'd stay out overnight.  friends would drive up and down Colorado Blvd.  in the mornings we'd watch the parade and head home...or for me, more often I'd head to work at the Cat Hospital i worked at or the Emergency animal hospital later.

 the cat hospital was just a few blocks off. the owner eventually allowed me to just park there and block it off, then sell the parking spots in the morning as i headed over to feed/clean all the animals.  i think i skipped the parade a few times to do this.  just chilled with friends all night and then headed over to the animal hospital.

 so New Years had rarely been a normal thing for me.  it was mostly tied to the parade. 

 did hit a few bars as well down there in my later 20's, but i think i mostly tried to duck out before the bell struck 12! too many guys would think they had some freedoms to try and catch a grope or kiss.

 new years resolutions...

 never really taken it seriously i guess. i make goals, but loose i guess.  eventually i get to some stuff, others not so much.  doing the kitchen has been a goal.  so i guess getting it finished is the new goal.  cleaning and re-organizing post remodel is another goal, parking in my garage....another goal. 

 wet dogs playing in the tide.

 overall, dogs seem to be doing reasonable...the worst of the fireworks is still coming though. 

 need to come up with my summer plans. it's coming up faster than you know. if you want cabins you gotta get them now.

 i have been trying to put things in the cabinets more.  hit the grocery store today and put things away in the pantry cabinets.  will still have to adjust things as i figure out what works where.

 some anemones. didn't see many sea stars this year. 

 dog prints in the same.

 chances of a 7.0 quake or more in the next few weeks is like 1:1000, over 6.0 1:100...hmm...we have averaged about 10 quakes/hr, most of these are 3's or less.

 i read on a normal day we average about 10 quakes/day so we are still experiencing reactions to the original 7.0. just reading that  these will all be considered aftershocks until we get back down to our baseline of 10 quakes/day and stay there for a month or so. 

 the fault "patch" that our original quake happened on is roughly located under Point McKensie.  it runs 20 miles long and 10 miles wide...so only quakes along this fault path are considered aftershocks

 music is helping.  will just need to stay in here probably until the bulk of the celebrations have passed. 

 over 750 structures have had significant damage from the quake we had...nobody died so the lower 48 moved on.  another 900 buildings have more mild damage.  the inspectors are still trying to get around to all the growing requests to be checked.  so far i haven't seen anything concerning at my place. 

 the boom of the 80's meant many builders cut corners apparently.  my place was built in that time.   when i had my inspection i thought the guy seemed to think it was better built than others in the same time frame.  some places have settled or had further damage with the aftershocks.  my handyman has been in the crawl space a few times and hasn't seen much.  of course, my crawl space is well insulated at this point so some damage may not be as evident i suppose.  will just keep checking it. it has remained dry though so that is good.  fingers crossed. 

 well, the worst of it should be slowing down.  don't want the dogs to become nervous.  that is always much more difficult.  no panting or panic noted with my pair.  they just seem to want to bark at the intrusion.  clearly they find the noises offensive.  they seem to want to protect more than fear the sounds.  not sure what makes that alter into panic though.  many dogs have issues with the fireworks, from what i hear there are many veterans who also have trouble dealing with the noises.  i can totally understand how that would be possible. 

 America is a mess right now...hoping for improvement in 2019...but we shall see.  no matter what terrible things are found, will they be believed.  facts don't seem to matter to many in our nation, they have already decided that the facts are not really true.  it's scary how easy it is to manipulate the masses. 

thankful for: A.  another year of living on this earth.  getting old can be a bother, but as they say it really does beat the alternative.  i love this place called earth and love that i am healthy enough, physically and mentally to be able to enjoy it B.  the kitchen coming together.  it's been quite the adventure for the year but it's also been fun seeing your dream become reality. C. that my current dogs don't seem to be freaking out...that is a relief.  been there with other dogs, it's very distressing.