Shake, Shake, Shake…

Part of Southern California life is dealing with the fact that a major earthquake could dramatically alter your life at any moment.  It’s been nearly fifteen years since the 6.7 magnitude Northridge quake dropped freeways, toppled buildings and killed 57 people in SoCal.  Since then, we hear reports every couple of months that “the big one” is coming or is long over due.

Living in SoCal, you do get the moderate sized quakes on a relatively regular basis.  Just last year, on July 29th, we had the Chino Hills earthquake with a magnitude 5.4 that was felt pretty strongly throughout the SoCal area.  I was standing in line at a taco stand on my lunch break when that roller shook the nerves of the Los Angeles Basin.

And the most recent quake occurred just last night.  Last night at approximately 7:49 p.m. PST, a magnitude 4.5 earthquake jolted through Southern California.  According to our Local ABC News station

The earthquake hit at 7:49 p.m. within 1 mile of San Bernardino. A 3.3-magnitude aftershock hit about an hour later, followed by a 1.7 aftershock.

It was felt as far south as San Diego and as far north as Palmdale. People who felt the earthquake described it as a little roll followed by a big jolt.

While I did not feel the aftershocks, I did feel the small jolt of the actual quake.  It was rather insignificant and I had to ask my dad whether that was actually a quake or not.

I bring this up because I realize that with my eventual move to New York, I will no longer have to worry about this.  Now, while I realize the mega quakes (such as the ‘94 Northridge quake and the ‘89 San Francisco quake that disrupted the World Series) are very disruptive and often times fatal, I sort of enjoy theses little tremblers.  It sounds odd, I know, but these little quakes that do no real damage and cause no injury are actually kind of fun.  These quakes are a quick rush of adrenaline and excitement.

There are two different kind of earthquake feelings, the rolling or the jolt.  During a rolling quake it literally feels like the ground beneath you is rolling like a wave, usually for a period of 3o to 90 seconds.  During a jolter, it could actually be pretty frightening.  A jolt earthquake, in my experience, could last as long as 2-3 minutes and feels like someone is shaking your house like a salt shaker.  Why would this be exiciting?  As I just stated, it gives you a bit of an adrenaline rush, and immediately afterwards everyone is talking about it.  “Where were you when the earthquake hit?”  “How strong did that feel?”  “Do you think it’s just a precursor to THE BIG ONE?”

In reality, according to a US Geological Survey Scientist I saw on the local news last night, an earthquake like yesterday’s has a 1 in 19 chance of causing a larger, more significant quake.  Yesterday’s earthquake, in particular, had all the earthquake “experts” on the news channels because it was on a fault line that bordered the ever dangerous San Andreas Fault, which is one of the largest and most active in the world.  The San Andreas Fault is projected to be the fault line that will produce the ever so worrisome “Big One.”  While my belief in the fact that Southern California will break off and slip into the ocean from The Big One is a bit tempered,  it still worries some people in this area.

I guess what I’m saying is that last night, while enjoying a relaxing beer after a hard day’s work, I got a nice little jolt of adrenaline.  I wonder what sort of natural disasters I’ll have to worry about in New York?…

(If you’d like to learn more about quakes, these sites are highly recommended:  USGS and Wikipedia – Earthquakes)

Dear God, I Hope Not

While I continue to attempt to determine what kind of budget I’m going to need to live on for the first few months of living in The City, I am constantly scouring the internet for new “help” guides to living in New York.  As I’ve stated in the past, my career here in SoCal has afforded me some little luxuries and allowed me to continue to build my savings for what I hope will not be a long unemployment once I arrive at my new home; but, in reality, my career is allowing me to save (along with a strict budget I’ve implemented for this reason) so that I can survive on what I imagine may possibly be a worst case scenario, no decent paying job for a while (what with the economy in bad shape and all).

Today, I came across this story…this little tid bit of cockeyed information that just completely sent me into a tiny tailspin.

Granted, everyone is feeling the pain of a slumping economy and some are struggling to stay afloat.  Even just today a report came out that, on average, even millionaires have lost a third of their assets in the current recession. (yeah, we all feel terribly bad for them, right?)  This, of course, simply adds to the fear and trepidation I hold deep inside in relation to making such a life altering decision as moving to New York from Los Angeles.  What really freaks me out, however, is the story of Katie Holmes spending nearly $14 million on living expenses in the last six months she’s lived in Manhattan.  Now granted, I’m all for the better off trying to boost the economy and consumer confidence, but $14 million in six months?  Seriously?!!?

According to an article on NYPost.com, (just summarizing), Katie has spent this on:  Food – $7,315.17 ; Clothing – $17,094.50 ; Nights Out (Cultural Events) – $5,415 ; Real Estate – $14,407

Just to list a few.

Now, I understand that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are a “Hollywood Power Couple,” but good God that is a lot of money! I’m not one to generally keep up with entertainment news, but as I’ve stated before, I am keeping up with news stories having to do with NYC and this one just kept popping up across the web.

Kinda freaked me out a bit…hopefully (compared to theirs) my piddling insignificant savings will get me by.

I believe money to simply be a means to an end and while I am driven and focused on success, my definition of success is much greater than monetary.  Now believe me when I tell you, I’m no hippie who’s all for “just living in the moment, man” and being a gypsy of sorts, in fact, quite the contrary.  As I’ve mentioned, I was raised in a rather structured and conservative household and do believe that each person must be a contributing member of society and not just some floater simply skating through life.  However, I do believe in simplicity.  I guess what I’m trying to say is that I like nice “things” as much as the next person, but it is not what drives me.  I’m not driven to make more money to buy a bigger house to buy a nicer car and to have nicer things at home.  My God, I’ve seen some of the apartments in Manhattan and would love to have a 3 bedroom with a city view balcony, but the truth is, I don’t need it.  I believe the extra money that would be spent on that kind of rent could be put to better use to contribute to society (i.e. – the arts, community development, the overall U.S. homeless problem).  That’s just me.  I don’t judge if you do like the nicer things, I have plenty of close friends that do, but for me, a simpler life will suit me just fine.

“Money often costs too much”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Pros Cons and Random Thoughts

As I’m preparing for the inevitable move later this year, I find that I’m trying to surround myself with as much New York life as possible. One of my favorite sites on the net, that I visit almost daily, is newyorkdailyphoto.blogspot.com, simply because the author (Brian Dube) does such an excellent job of photographing and explaining various buildings and places of interest around the city. I constantly look up news stories from the city on the New York local news sites in order to know what’s going on in the city that will soon become my home. I do this not only to engrain myself in that city’s life and to be prepared for what I’m getting myself into, but also because it is almost a daily reminder that I am moving and in fact is a bit of motivation to keep myself focused on my goal…living in New York City.

In reading the news stories almost daily, I am a bit concerned about some of the crime in New York. Here in SoCal, there are of course numerous stories of crime and violence, but as I mentioned before, because of the spread out nature of the area and the individuality of each independent municipality, unless you live in some of the higher crime neighborhoods, it does not generally affect you in daily life. Now of course I’m not trying to imply that New York City is this haven of crime and violence, but the recent statistics suggest that crime is on the rise.

According to an article on NY Daily News.com,

The city’s murder tally has surged 26% this year – compared with last year’s record-low homicide count, the latest NYPD statistics show.

And while the same article goes on to say that the overall crime rate in New York City is down by 1%,

The homicide number is worrisome because of looming budget cuts that will reduce the NYPD force by 1,000 cops – resulting in the smallest department in 16 years.

On the same subject, a NYPost.com article states that

With 501 killings reported by last Sunday, the city’s homicide rate rose…compared to last year’s 476… and …Robberies – including a rash of violent muggings in Central Park and a month long crime wave in Greenwich Village first revealed by The Post – were also up, by 2 percent, according to the report.

Now I understand that with the population of the New York City area, naturally, the crime statistics would be higher because of the density of people. But it’s my thought that when I do move to New York, I would be more exposed to the possibility of crime in day-to-day life. In comparison, I currently live in Los Angeles County, and according to an LA Times.com article,

Violent crimes — such as homicides and rapes — and crimes involving thefts in Los Angeles were down about 2.5% through Saturday compared with the same period of 2007, according to Los Angeles Police Department figures. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, which handles law enforcement for dozens of other cities, reported a 6% drop in such crimes committed through the end of November… and…With four days left in the year, 376 people had been killed — 24 fewer than in the same period the year before. The total marks a 27% drop from the 517 people slain five years ago and is far below the peak of 1,092 killings the city recorded in 1992.

Again, I’m not attempting to debate which city is better or safer to live in, but living in the SoCal metropolis most of my life, it is logically a question that would come to mind. I may be over exaggerating but it just seems as though in New York, I will be more at risk than in a suburb some 25 miles east of Los Angeles. It also seems that there is a greater risk of a possible terrorist attack or foreign attack on New York affecting my daily life and health, rather than living in a suburb of LA. I suppose these are some of the risks and rewards that float in each person’s head as they debate whether to move to the great city that is New York.

Now obviously due to economic restrictions with my initial move to New York (i.e. – not having a job yet, living off savings, etc…), I’ll likely be living in Brooklyn or Queens or perhaps even the Bronx. Never being there longer than ten days and not knowing anyone who has ever lived in The City, I’m not aware which places to avoid. Thus, I fear that my initial experience in the first few weeks is completely predicated upon the fact that I choose a comfortable place to live without knowing where that place will actually be.

Perhaps some of you out there in the blogosphere could contribute and put my mind at ease.

“The crime problem in New York is getting really serious, the other day the Statue Of Liberty had both hands up.” - Jay Leno