dhesi%cirrusl@oliveb.ATC.olivetti.com (Rahul Dhesi) (10/25/89)
Checksum: XXXXXXXXXX (Verify with "brik -cv") Posting-number: Volume 05, Issue JUNK Submitted-by: Rahul Dhesi <dhesi%cirrusl@oliveb.ATC.olivetti.com> Archive-name: JUNK It hit without warning a little after five last Tuesday. Not too frightening here where I was; just very unexpected. It was over in less than a minute, but that minute was to be later billed as the most expensive natural disaster in American history. Thanks to modern telecommunications, you all probably know the details as well as anybody else. We escaped virtually unscathed here in Milpitas but, as you well know, not everybody in California was as lucky. Our standards change in times of crisis. Major irritations seem trivialities. The fact that out Usenet newsfeed suddenly became silent seemed to be almost irrelevant while we were still discussing such things as who escaped alive and whose house was still in one piece. News has started flowing again since this morning. The worst seems to be over--maybe. Just a few hours ago there was another strong aftershock at Richter 4.7 or so. I hope you have been patient about the total silence in this newsgroup for the last six days. I will give it another day or so, and the newsgroup should be active again Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, let's count our blessings and, when we think nobody is looking, let's shed a quiet tear for those who perished, and for those who are camping out in the cold tonight. -- Rahul