Tuesday 15 February 2011

Did the Earth move?

A 2.9 magnitude Quake popped up in the Georgia Strait this afternoon about thirty five kilometres away, and no, the Earth did not move for me. I was busy at work and never felt a thing. Neither did anyone else in town for that matter. One of my cousins used to live not far from the epicentre, which was on the eastern side of Saltspring Island. Mind you, a 2.9 can easily be mistaken for a heavy truck passing close by.

There are experts predicting that we're overdue for a 'big one'. Which meant we had a big province wide Earthquake drill three weeks ago, which had people hunkering under desks instead of getting the hell outdoors and into the nearest wide open space before the building fell on them. A serious grumble would have me out through the nearest exit in very short order.

Nevertheless, my Emergency kit duly languishes in the car just in case. Canned and dried food. First aid kit. Multitool. 12 litres of emergency drinking water sits in a cupboard by the front door. Bow is always in 'ready grab' position on the stairs. Hunting knife in Quiver. Axe and shovel in toolshed. Good relations with neighbours. We'd all club together if need be, it's that kind of neighbourhood. But then I've found this about Canadians, no one has to tell them what to do, they just get on with it.

One of the reasons I like it here so much. Even if the Earth hasn't moved for me.

3 comments:

Angry Exile said...

It's just occurred to me that the nice thing about a bow is that you can probably reuse its ammunition quite a lot if you're ever reduced to hunting for food, while when I run out of cartridges the Beretta becomes a very expensive club. Or would Skippy bounce off into the distance with a valuable arrow stuck in his arse and cark it somewhere I can't find either of them? Hmmm. On reflection I'm glad the supermarkets are open.

Bill Sticker said...

AE,

The right broadhead is key to killing. There are all sorts of mechanical toy things which are quite good, but the best of all is Single bevel head two edge broadhead. A hit in the lungs / heart area is generally very quickly fatal (Never try a head shot with a bow). The trick is to pick your shot and ensure the first shaft is a good one. A hundred feet or so is ideal.

Angry Exile said...

Yes, a head shot sounds iffy with a bow. Hell, it's far from guaranteed with a rifle, and they do expect you to hit 'em in the head if you hunt. Not sure if bow hunting is allowed at all but if we were at the stage where I'd be worrying where I'd be using a bow for the reusable ammo feature I expect it wouldn't be a problem anymore.

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