Good news, the water has been declared safe to drink. This is a big load off my mind and makes life quite a lot easier.
I nearly had a breakdown yesterday after an aftershock came through while I was trying to work. The tremors themselves aren't so much of a problem but it's being exacerbated by the lack of sleep. I know the building can withstand them easily. The initial jolt of each tremor is quite strong due to its proximity and it gives you a bit of a fright, and these really add up when you're tired and it really starts to get frustrating. There's usually a deep rumble just before they arrive but you don't know how big it's going to be. The papers are reporting that a number of people have left the city to get a break from them. One person sent her kids up to Wellington to stay with their grandparents. My boss's attitude has not helped matters, expecting us to work from home and "we'd appreciate it if you could give 100% effort" (translation: we expect 100%). We haven't been to visit any family members yet. Of the three "productive" staff members in our company, one took yesterday off and the other lasted until mid-morning (he's also worried about flooding due to high river levels in his area). I ended up taking a couple of hours time-out after that aftershock, grabbed a camera and took some photos in the garden to try and calm down. I might post a peso later but I won't be able to do much processing as my Photoshop machine had to be taken down for my work machine. I'm doing my best to take a relaxed approach to work, normally we're pushed fairly hard but I'm using my isolation to ignore it and look after myself. If the boss whinges he'll get an earful. I'd be far better able to cope if I was out doing something to help others but I'm having to sit inside at a desk all day, with no human contact. My partner Janet is handling things a lot better than I am, she's sleeping quite well and she's been at work all week. But she's able to go to the office and she tends to be out and about quite a lot. Without her around I'd have gone crazy. After yesterday's troubles I actually managed quite a good night's sleep. I helped things along by sipping a shot of Galliano during the evening. Woke up at some point and struggled to get back to sleep but I'm feeling fresher now than I have since last Thursday. I'll see what other medicine I can find tonight, maybe some neat bourbon or scotch :) The central city is still cordoned but I'll go in there tomorrow anyway and see what I can find outside the limits. Still a little bit worried about my bike which is still at work. For all I know it could have been damaged or looted. An expert on the radio this morning tells us the aftershocks won't necessarily decrease in magnitude, only frequency. He says we can still get a magnitude 6 sometime in the next few weeks (thanks mate, ignorance is bliss!). Cheers, Dave -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
