500th Post

So what can I write about for post number 500? Probably the thing that is most on my mind right now is the heat. Our neighbors just got home from California where is was over 100 degrees. They said that it is nothing to compare to a hot day in Indiana.

Those people who live in dry, hot climates who argue with you about hot being hot where ever you are, either have never experienced high humidity or have forgotten what it feels like.

We went out west a few years ago and it was around 110 degrees one day in Arizona. People were amazed that my son and my friend's son were outside playing basketball. The kids were amazed that people there thought that it was hot.

Hot is when you walk out the door and your glasses steam up so bad that you can't see. Hot is when you can't breathe because the air is so thick. Hot is when your clothes are soaked with perspiration after sitting outside in a lawn chair for less than 5 minutes. Hot is when your air-conditioner never shuts off unless you shut it off. Hot is when thunderstorms appear out of nowhere to surprise and delight you.

There is a breeze today and they have canceled our heat advisory. This is a nice change from the high temperatures and humidity that we have been suffering this Summer. But we are expecting some severe thunderstorms this evening and tonight with high winds and heavy rainfall.

Scams and Spams

Someone on a forum that I frequent posted the link below to the Washington Post website and noted that they were already seeing a difference in their e-mail inboxes and spam folders.

Major Source of Online Scams and Spams Knocked Offline - Security Fix

I read the article yesterday and noticed a big difference in my spam levels as well. This morning was the icing on the cake, only eight spam messages awaited me upon my awakening. There are normally around forty the first thing in the morning.

I haven't visited my gmail or yahoo email accounts yet but I am going there now to empty my spam folders then see how they look in a day or two. The sad part of this story is that we were led to believe that most of our spam and scams come from other counties, but now we see that it is mostly home grown.

Proper?

I finally got my Lifetime Handgun Permit in the mail. I got it laminated and put in my wallet. Now I am wondering how long my lifetime will be. The paperwork that came with it says that it can be revoked at anytime if I do not remain a Proper Person. Now, I am not sure if I am even a proper person on a good day. It could be that I am more of a proper person than most people are.

I am not sure what the word "proper" even means. I suppose that it all depends on who you talk to. I know a lot of people who are not proper but that doesn't mean that they are law breakers or even bad people. I think this word pretty much leaves the door open for my lifetime to be cut short at anytime.

Back to the election, all is not lost, even though my State (Indiana) has changed from red to make me blue, California did shock me by taking a stand against gay marriage. I am considering moving to Kentucky, Texas or Alaska because they are all red States.

Wabash Fault Zone

Many friends that I asked didn't feel the second earthquake that we experienced yesterday because they were either walking or riding in a car at that time.

My young Grandson and his classmates felt it because they were sitting at their desk but their teacher was standing and moving around and didn't feel it. They alerted him and he told them that they could lie down on the floor if they wanted to, so they could feel the vibrations.

I heard on the radio that this was indeed a second earthquake and not an aftershock. This second shaking started as soft vibrations that built up to a 4.5 magnitude quake for only a couple of seconds and then returned to just soft vibrations that lasted quite a while. It hit at 11:14 a.m. according to the United States Geological Service.

The article below gives information about the area that we live in. We are a part of the Wabash Fault Zone, they don't know if this is related to the New Madrid Fault or not. The Wabash Fault runs almost parallel to the Wabash River in Southern Illinois and Indiana and could be a northern extension of the New Madrid Zone but that seems up for debate.

The article says that the reason the quakes in this area are so far reaching is because of our old bedrock that they compare to a bell that carries the seismic waves like sound for a longer distance than the California quakes reach.

California's bedrock is young and fractured, the waves do not carry as far, like a cracked bell wouldn't carry the sound waves as far. So California Earthquakes are more localized. Our bedrock carries these waves well over a thousand miles because of its age and rigidness.

The strongest quake produced by the Wabash Fault was a magnitude 5.3 in southern Illinois in 1968. The New Madrid fault zone produced quakes in 1811 and 1812 that reached an estimated magnitude of 7.0. The Wabash faults have the potential to do the same. Some experts say that the Wabash could produce a quake that could devastate the region.

Scientists say Midwest quakes poorly understood - Yahoo! News

A map of the area where yesterday's quakes were felt:
Yahoo Map Image

Lots of maps of the New Madrid and Wabash Valley seismic zones:
New Madrid and Wabash Valley seismic zones