[Ramble] So, I'm standing outside at work, when the tornado warning sirens sound.....
At first, my mind thinks "Wow, somebody pulled the fire alarm in one of the buildings in front of me. Now I have to find out what's going on and report back on it."
Then I notice it's not coming from the direction I had originally thought. In fact - as I figured out a split second later - it's from outside and from a long distance away.
It's a loud, droning buzz that is sounding in roughly 1 second blasts. It is totally unfamiliar to me. It suddenly dawns on me what is going on, what that sound is and what it means.
I do what anyone would do in that situation.....grab their shit and RUN. Not just a fast jog, but a mind-numbing race to live.
About this time I discover the new advances in emergency notification equipment. The buzzing is replaced by a voice. A booming, big-brother voice that echoes for miles and miles, and informes me that this is just a test.
Bastard.
I've been here since March, and they have never tested more than a single siren, and that one, of course sounds absolutely nothing like the newer ones, which have this disturbing, Chernobyl-esque vibe. They instill pure doom. Which, as a matter of fact is part of their design. The tones they select are based on what will travel the farthest sound-wise and get your undivided attention without making the people near the sirens go deaf.
Now, the remnants of Hurricane Isadore are here to make a mess of my week and I'm waiting for that buzzing to start again. Apparently, chances are I will.
But it won't be any test.
Now, if any of you happen to see a very annoyed person about 5 foot 11 with brown hair fly by your window, you will know that I might be delayed in posting a few days.
What was the point of this thread again?
</ramble>
[ 09-26-2002: Message edited by: DoctorGonzo ]</p>
Then I notice it's not coming from the direction I had originally thought. In fact - as I figured out a split second later - it's from outside and from a long distance away.
It's a loud, droning buzz that is sounding in roughly 1 second blasts. It is totally unfamiliar to me. It suddenly dawns on me what is going on, what that sound is and what it means.
I do what anyone would do in that situation.....grab their shit and RUN. Not just a fast jog, but a mind-numbing race to live.
About this time I discover the new advances in emergency notification equipment. The buzzing is replaced by a voice. A booming, big-brother voice that echoes for miles and miles, and informes me that this is just a test.
Bastard.
I've been here since March, and they have never tested more than a single siren, and that one, of course sounds absolutely nothing like the newer ones, which have this disturbing, Chernobyl-esque vibe. They instill pure doom. Which, as a matter of fact is part of their design. The tones they select are based on what will travel the farthest sound-wise and get your undivided attention without making the people near the sirens go deaf.
Now, the remnants of Hurricane Isadore are here to make a mess of my week and I'm waiting for that buzzing to start again. Apparently, chances are I will.
But it won't be any test.
Now, if any of you happen to see a very annoyed person about 5 foot 11 with brown hair fly by your window, you will know that I might be delayed in posting a few days.
What was the point of this thread again?
</ramble>
[ 09-26-2002: Message edited by: DoctorGonzo ]</p>
Comments
<strong>I do what anyone would do in that situation.....grab their shit and RUN. Not just a fast jog, but a mind-numbing race to live.</strong><hr></blockquote>
<img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
Was there anyone around to see this? Gahaha! Sorry! Mmmph... mmmphahahahahaha! Uh. Ahem. Sorry again.
I hate those super-embarrassing moments. Like slipping on ice. Or tripping on the sidewalk.
Gahahahahahaha!. Funny.
Wheeeeeew. I need a drink.
I was walking toward downtown Berkeley one day, passing right by the Cal Recreation & Sports Facility (RSF,) and a huge fuzzy bumblebee flew right into my collar and started buzzing around under my t-shirt. So I pull a Brandi Chastain and tear my shirt off in all my scrawny chested glory and run a few yards away... Then I come back, pick up one end of my shirt and start slapping it on the concrete to get the bee out.
It turned out to be a fly.
I had an audience.
[ 09-26-2002: Message edited by: Eugene ]</p>
When I first started at ***, I was working in a lab where the heat was insufferable. I was wearing a new bra, and it was pinching, and I was so hot. So when nobody was looking, I took it off under my top and got on with my work.
However, I forgot that it was still inside my top, and when I went for lunch it was hanging out the back like a tail.
I nearly had to fire people for insubordination.
[ 09-26-2002: Message edited by: Belle ]</p>
[quote]Was there anyone around to see this? <hr></blockquote>
Nein.
The area around me was strangely empty at 10 of 11 in the morning.
[quote]Gahaha! Sorry! Mmmph... mmmphahahahahaha! Uh. Ahem. Sorry again.<hr></blockquote>
It's alright
<strong> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
When I first started at ***, I was working in a lab where the heat was insufferable. I was wearing a new bra, and it was pinching, and I was so hot. So when nobody was looking, I took it off under my top and got on with my work.</strong><hr></blockquote>
..think unsexy thoughts...think unsexy thoughts...
Now, in Benicia, there is a refinery. This siren gets test every first monday of every month. It wasn't as bad, since my dad works at the plant.
But oh no, that couldn't happen. CNN said tornados were coming towards Alabama and Mississippi when I left the house this morning but the only thing that ended up happening was that I got really, really, mind-numbingly wet.