I am so sorry about your unbelievably hard and scary experience with the fire, Lark. How awful! I hereby freely admit that I am totally unprepared for any kind of major disaster. I have nothing stored away. No alternate source of shelter. I've done nothing. My only means of transport are my feet and a fast bike, neither very practical in case of actual catastrophe.

We are overdo here in my town for a magnitude 9 or greater earthquake. Experts say it is a certainty. There will be a cataclysmic tsunami at the coast, but that's an hour away and won't affect us directly here. That's what I worry about most, earthquake. Mt. Hood, which is an hour drive to the east, could certainly erupt, and that would be a disaster for Portland, but no-one thinks that is imminent. So we're looking at a devastating earthquake.

I have actually thought about this. I am in a brand-new construction building, which is up to quake code, so that's good. I need to somehow find a way to put away several days of food and water, at the very least. It will be days and days and days before any kind of services are restored here. Other than volcanoes, this city has little experience with big-time disasters. They aren't gonna know what they're doing. So, it's going to be bad. Puerto Rico bad.

Guess I better get my butt in gear.