Yep, we get 'em, too.

Of course, I thought one of the kids was trying to get in bed with us--a thump, junk on Reba's nightstand jingling around--then nothing. Hmm. Must have been Reba rolling over and bumping the nightstand. There was the normal five seconds of runaway-heartbeat, fright/flight response that comes from being awakened from a dead sleep by an unfamiliar noise, then an almost immediate collapse back into slumber.

Alarm clock went off, I turned around and lounged on the bed with my head at the foot and halfway dozed and watched the CBS early news, then turned it on to the local NBC news (sorry Nikki) and found out I was disturbed not by kids, but by a 4.9 earthquake up around Fort Payne--

[...] Carolyn Parker of Gadsden, Ala., says the earthquake lasted about 45 seconds and woke her up.

"My husband jumped out of bed," she told WSB-TV. "He said he thought it was like the end of the world or something. He ran outside."

Hmm. I guess he wanted to be sure and see it. End of the world don't happen every day.

Nick Jebeles of Remlap, Ala., said he and his wife also were awakened.

"I went out on my back porch because I thought it was a tornado, but the weather was fine," he said. [...]

Hmm. Guess Nick didn't want to miss the tornader.

Can't wait to hear what the boys at the BBQ Emporium have to say about it.

By 7 a.m., the NBC13 folks had swung into full "let's go to the Waffle House and ram a microphone into everybody's face and ask them what they were doing when the EARTHQUAKE!!!! hit" mode. It's exciting, I suppose, but after two or three breathless stories about how the junk on the nightstand jingled and all the dogs in the neighborhood barked, it's probably time to pack up the mobile truck and go cover something else...

LIKE THE SWARM OF KILLER LOCUSTS!!!!
posted by Terry at 8:47:00 AM