Genevieve
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	The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam...

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Tornado... Tornado?!
2001-09-25 - 12:08 p.m.

Gee, Gen, what do you do after a tornado hits your workplace?
Well, I personally stayed in the basement watching the lights and computers flicker off and on. I waited until the storm had passed, made my way on the one path outta here and went shopping. That's right folks, I went to Target to pick up a few things, and instead got a whole bunch of stuff, including new PPG paraphanalia. Yup, I contributed to the enconomy. That's all I did.

So, around 5pm, folks start talking about the big stroms coming through the area and the possiblity of a tornado. I think, "Tornados, in Maryland? They gotta be kidding." But I love a good storm. I love rain and thunder and lightning and wind and all that is awesome in a storm, assuming I am near shelter and not in a tent. Even then they aren't that bad. ;) So, upon hearing news of the big storm maybe tornado, all of my co-workers run upstairs to go take a look. Yes, that's right folks, I work in a nice safe bunker of a basement and what do all my co-workers do, but run upstairs and outside to take a look at the storm. Uh, and who thought this was a wise idea? Meanwhile, I love a good storm, but since everyone else has run upstairs, someone has to stay and man the phones. Yes, despite the impending doom that everyone wants to go look at, folks may still call needing assistance with something. So, I sit, fuming that I have been abandoned, happy that with the last power outage they gave us all small flashlights to keep by our desks, and waiting for the phone to ring, while watching my computer scandisk. Alan calls to make sure I am safe, and tells me to stay in the basement. Yeah, like I had a choice.

Eventually folks come streaming back into the office talking about how awesome it was, and the funnel cloud picking up debris and all that and where was the best place to view, etc. I know it is petty, but I'm even more bitter. Since someone else can now watch the phones I head upstairs to look at the aftermath.

Oh my god! Massive trees, hundreds of years old, demolished with a single stroke of Nature's hand. It looks like the tornado was sort of hopping along, skipping to a tune in his little Tazmanian devil head. He popped down here, and then up over the building I work in and popped right back down on the other side. Interesting. Like he was hopscotching or hurdling the buildings just for fun. Of course our buildings are pure brick, stone and concrete, so it would take a massive force to cause any major damage. There is some roof damage, but nothing major to our buildings, not even busted windows, which was a big possibility. As I went to leave work, finally around 6:15 to let things settle, I am parked on the 4th level of the garage, which held a great view of all the carnage around. From various sides, I saw trees downed, ambulance and firetruck sirens and lights everywhere, bits and pieces of roofing off one of the buildings, and a turned over car with emergency response vehicles surrounding it. They completely shut down University Blvd from Adelphi Road (where I work) down past the University of Maryland at Rt. 1. From what I hear the temporary classrooms set up in trailers for the fire training academy were demolished, which is I think where the deaths resulted. Not too far from us, but not within view either.

Here are some pictures of the wreckage around, which I hope will load for you. They were being really slow here. The pictures of the campus buildings I work at start with Picture #12 showing the building I work in. Our offices are in the basement on the left hand side of this building, the Inn and Conference Center. This shows what used to be a pretty little park behind the main building. Picture #13 shows the connector between the two main buildings on campus. Picture #14 shows the drive up to the Uniersity President's Mansion. It used to be pretty and tree lined. Picture #15 shows the roof of the other building on campus with a bit of damage. Picture #17 shows the car that was flipped over with emergency personel around that was obviously blocking the route out to University Blvd. The damage in the other pictures is much worse. We essentially got by with only downed trees. On the main UMd campus, there are parking lots of cars stacked and flipped on top of each other.

Wayne owns a house he rents out in College Park, MD right across the road from the Home Depot that got the roof ripped off of it. Apparently the forest across the street in front of this house is now all brush, and there is a neighbor's tree down in the backyard, but the hosue, when inspected is unscathed. Amazing. Need to count the little blessings. Thankfully myself, my person, and my beloved truck are all fine, not even a scratch. And once out of the College Park/Adelphi MD area, there was only a few small twigs down. Practically nothing out of order at the house when I got home. Amazingly local damage only.

I understand that the storm then continued north towards Laurel and Columbia. I think it might have lost some strength by then. I know poor QPM's phones were down at her house, so she had to check voice mail from her celly and call folks back. I hope everyone up there got little damage and strength of storm. Sweet Kyna called the house to make sure we were all okay, as did the Mel from Montana. Sorry to be so short, the phone rang off the hook when I was home.

So, shopping. I had planned a small trip to Target the night before to pick up a few items. Instead I ended up gathering just a little more than a few items. They have new PPG winter accessories so I picked up a new denim baseball cap with a PPG patch on it, new PPG gloves and a purple fleece headband/ear cover. I also grabbed the last remaining PPG tissue box cover for my desk at work. Got the items on my list and then got distracted by the spider halloween t-shirt and a few long sleeved sweaters to add to the wardrobe. Right now I am wearing my new jailhouse sweater that is black and white horizontal stripes. tee hee hee... Go directly to jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200... I also got black and white spiderweb patterned napkins just for fun. excellent....

Afterwards I made my way home, called QPM and told her to stay home, we'd do the pinning some other time, and I fielded phone calls for the rest of the evening while trying to mellow out and watch Farscape and Angel. Season premiere of Angel last night on the WB. It's tempting to post a spoiler here as revenge for Wen taunting me about the VCR. But I am kind at heart, damn its conscience. My favorite line was "I'm Cordelia, I don't think!"

Argh, that's enough of that... I got the laundry done and up from the basement so sweet broken man didn't have to futz with it. And I didn't fall down the stairs and break myself. yay. Luckily, Natural disasters don't get a scapegoat. I mean, it's all Nature. It's not like the tornado broke thru here because too many kids were smoking pot on campus or anything. Hurricane Andrew didn't single out Miami as a den of sin, although it may be, it just happened. Sometimes I think the natural disasters are Nature's way of reminding us to not take things for granted, that nothing is sacred. Our big buildings, all our technology, can be wiped out in an instant in any locale. If we were still living in caves and such, we wouldn't care as much about the downed trees, now would we?

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