So there was an earthquake in the UK yesterday morning. You may have even seen something in the news. Needless to say, the little shake-up was quite the conversation piece. First off, people at work started asking others if they had felt it. Those unfamiliar with the news just assumed the other person was making stuff up. Because you know, the UK doesn't have these sorts of problems, being mid-plate and all. Well, maybe 1 person in all of London was astute enough to actually notice it as it was like a million miles north of here and not that strong to begin with. But that's not the important thing, it was technically the biggest earthquake in the UK since 1984. An entire chimney collapsed at someone's house. This is big news! On one those little things outside of news stands listing outrageous headlines to entice us to buy the papers there was a headline this morning saying 'Earthquake rocks London'. I was like, oooh, London has collapsed into the earth as a victim of it's fury, then I remember, really, not so much. The 5.3 earthquake had a significant presence on the news last night as well, but luckily was not treated as the beginning of the end.
In other news, I've become one of those people who reads a book while on the tube. I find that reading while waiting for the train and then whilst crammed within one makes the time go by much quicker, plus you needn't pay quite as much attention to the strange people you have been forced into close confines with. The trend began when, a few weeks ago, I bought a book during my lunch hour and was eager to take a crack at it, opting to open it when I left work. It quickly caught on. Once I have finished this first book, I think I shall continue the trend, just making sure I have books small enough to fit into my bag and thin enough so that I can hold them open with one hand. However, reading has it's limits. For example, I can't read while walking to and from the stations. I'm a) not that talented and b) it's too dark on the way home. I would quite enjoy being able to read magazines but it's rare to get that much space to play with during the commute. Plus the balancing of something that size becomes tricky when your other hand is gripping a pole for dear life as the train goes around a bend on 130 year old tracks. Needless to say, I'm still working on my tube balancing!
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I did read about the quake in The Oregonian yesterday. It seems as if it's hard to escape earthquakes anywhere in the world!
Reading while commuting--I'm thinking of joining the other bad drivers and read while I drive. I'd fit in better, and your dad would probably like it better if I didn't keep making comments about all those other annoying drivers on my road.
Comment approval thing--to keep out the poo, I suppose? I see that the letters I need to type in start with my initials. Hmm...
i guess it depends what is normal for what you find interesting...i laughed and thought it was a joke when i first heard news of a 5.something earthquake in the UK! then turned to the web to get the details (sounded better than work)
I've gone for music on the tube...like i used to listen to radio all the time in my car so i guess i've got to get my fix somewhere! although i try extremely hard not to be the person who plays really loud music so everyone can hear it as thats my tube pet hate along with people who get on for 1 stop when its less than a 3 minute walk in peak times!
During my more earth-friendly, bus riding days, I used a combination of iPod and reading material (usually a magazine, occasionally a book) to avoid acknowledging the existence of others.
The only time that backfired was when I was reading "1984" and some crazy guy across from me on the bus kept saying "Big Brother is watching" until I would talk to him about the book.
I also have a slight fear of judgement for what I'm reading. My current book is uncontroversial but I fear if I start reading 'Watching the English' on there I might get a few comments!
During my more earth-friendly bart riding days, I always read. Always, always. I found that if I didn't have something to read I would notice how long I was actually stuck on that filthy train and it got to be quite irritating.
I always got a lot more comments when reading nonfiction. People like to be "experts".
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