Eats plants
It's the tenth anniversary of the Christchurch earthquake today. 185 people died. I have written about my experience of the earthquake on this blog and so to avoid repeating myself I will simply link to that old post - my experience of the Christchurch 2011 earthquake. It changed our lives in so many ways. The… Continue reading Ten years on from Christchurch – February 22nd 2011
Am I the only one who has been feeling my forehead, palpating the glands in my neck, and imaging various other phantom symptoms, wondering whether I've caught the virus? Probably if you're not sure whether you have a fever you don't have a fever. Nevertheless, I decided to take my temperature just to make sure,… Continue reading Phantom symptoms
We've noticed several similarities between our experience of the Christchurch earthquakes and the Covid-19 pandemic. After the big earthquake schools and universities were closed, hospitals and emergency services were overwhelmed, businesses went bankrupt, people lost jobs, shops were closed, supplies ran low including toilet paper, and people died. At that time, Ben remembers having to… Continue reading There is nothing to fear but fear itself
I've been completely absorbed by the earthquake news coming out of New Zealand, like news of the three cows marooned on a tiny island of pasture: https://twitter.com/TIME/status/798622860637933568 I am amazed by how much damage there is in Wellington given how far away it is from the quake's epicentre - some 400km. I'm equally amazed by how… Continue reading Let them be scared
We cycled to Newton Dee again yesterday and I got this jumping shot for my friend, Stew. Stew is going to give me a cameo in one of his films one day 🙂 This week is my company's annual grand meetup but I'm not going because it's in Whistler. I know what you're thinking: Whistler!!… Continue reading Jumping and shaking
Christchurch had another earthquake yesterday; the biggest in quite a while and just another in the earthquake sequence which began on the 4th September 2010. I remember that first one well. It's the reason we now live in Scotland. It was the middle of the night and we were all asleep. The sound is more terrifying… Continue reading Another earthquake for Christchurch
I thought I’d take part in the first post challenge which is doing the rounds in the blogosphere. Thanks, Geoff, for pointing it out. The idea is to link back to your very first post and explain why you wrote it and why you started a blog.
I starting blogging because of the Christchurch earthquakes and so most of my early posts were about living in Christchurch and dealing with my anxiety. Blogging was very therapeutic for me and helped me to cope during this time. Thank you, WordPress.com!
My very first post was about getting my hair cut in Christchurch and how the earthquakes had changed the experience, not just for me, but also for others.
I’m happy to say I no longer feel anxious about earthquakes and getting my hair cut is a very relaxing experience. Living in Scotland probably helps 🙂
We ventured into South City yesterday so that I could have a hair cut. South City is in the CBD just outside the cordoned off area, otherwise known as the red zone. I’ve never seen this part of town so quiet.
My hair-dresser has been busy she says but one thing is new: most of her clients are not wanting their hair blown dry. She suspects this is because they just want to get the hell out of the shopping mall before another aftershock strikes. I confess I felt a little the same.
Across the road from the mall is the Smiths City car park. Ever since I moved to NZ almost 6 years ago, I have tried to avoid multi-storey car parks for fear of earthquakes. The Smiths City car park pancaked during the February 22nd earthquake and realised my worst fears. Prior to this, I was able to…
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I wonder whether Vinny reads my blog? Vinny, if you're reading this, I'm about to mock the Guardian for an article they've published. Feel free to wade in 🙂 An article in the Guardian today has the headline, Winchester hit by earthquake of 2.9 magnitude. My heart goes out to the people of Hampshire. It… Continue reading Winchester “hit” by earthquake
I played the piano today for the first time since before the Christchurch earthquakes. After February 22nd 2011, we sold our piano because it was an earthquake hazard and Elizabeth was only 18 months at the time and easily squashed and killed by heavy items of furniture toppling over during aftershocks. We haven't had one… Continue reading The piano and I
Remember how I said in my intro video that I'm no longer the crazy traumatised earthquake woman? How I'd moved on from that and no longer felt anxious about earthquakes? Well, I lied. I'm currently staying in a high-rise hotel in Hawaii that has a bit of a CTV-building look to it. At least, it… Continue reading Honolulu, earthquakes, and films
This is my first post on my new blog. I started writing a blog because I didn't know how else to deal with my anxiety after the Christchurch earthquakes. Writing about my fears helped me immensely. It was an awful time. I couldn't sleep at night and I was always on edge, waiting for that… Continue reading Up in flames
New Zealand is living up to its namesake - the shaky isles - with a string of earthquakes over the past few days. The biggest was a magnitude 6.5 this afternoon in Cook Strait, the channel of water between the North and South Islands. The location of the earthquake was 17km deep and about 50km… Continue reading More earthquakes for the shaky isles
I went to the dentist this morning. All was fine as it pretty much always is. But that doesn't stop me from freaking out. What is it about the dentist that does this? I blame the school dental nurses of my childhood with their set of torture tools and creepy schadenfreude. The thing I hate the… Continue reading Dental anxiety
In 2009, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck L'Aquila, Italy, killing more than 300 people. Six Italian seismologists were later convicted of manslaughter for failing to adequately warn the citizens of L'Aquila of the deadly earthquake. L'Aquila had experienced a series of small tremors in the months leading up to the 6.3-magnitude quake causing the people to… Continue reading Can science predict the future?
I was enjoying a very happy lunch with a friend of ours today when two pesky earthquakes came along and spoilt it. These are the first earthquakes I've felt since leaving Christchurch. They were little - Mag. 3.1 followed by a Mag. 3.9. I felt both. No-one else in our house felt the first and… Continue reading OMG, EARTHQUAKE!
I recently listened to an interview on Radio NZ with Chris Goldfinger, professor from Oregon State University, on super-earthquakes. You can listen to it online, but here is the gist of the discussion. Historically, geologists have thought that mega-earthquakes (Mag. 9), like the ones that occurred in Japan in 2011 and Sumatra in 2004, were thought… Continue reading Could New Zealand get a Magnitude 9 earthquake?
Christchurch counted its 11,000th earthquake since September 4th, 2010, today. It has been more than two years since the first Christchurch earthquake of September 4th, 2010. It is almost two years since the smaller, but more devastating aftershock, of February 22nd, 2011 that claimed 185 lives. To most of the rest of New Zealand and the… Continue reading How does Christchurch look today?
I've been really happy of late. Ben says, not to worry, I'll get over it. The strange thing is, I don't really know why I'm feeling so happy. My relationship with Auckland is still much the same. The only thing I can think of is that my outlook changed about the same time as bleaching… Continue reading Blondes have more fun
It has been just over two years now since we were rudely awoken at 4.35am in the morning of 4th of September 2010 at the start of the Cantberbury earthquake sequence. How do I feel now, two years on?I would say that on the whole, I'm pretty good. I don't register a change in heart… Continue reading Two years on
I met a woman here this week who moved up from Christchurch following the February 2011 earthquake. Not long before that quake, she and her husband bought an inner-city apartment in Christchurch. The entire building got red-stickered shortly after the earthquake and has since been demolished. While their apartment has now gone, the mortgage has… Continue reading Paying for air
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