20 years went by in the blink of an eye.

Happy almost-anniversary, Loma Prieta earthquake.

California just "celebrated" with a statewide earthquake drill but I heard the horns and just sat at my desk and watched my coworkers go to the window to see if anyone was assembling in the parking lot.

Nobody did.

If I wasn't wearing a skirt today I *might* have ducked-and-covered just for old time's sake, but probably not.

Do they still do duck-and-cover drills in schools? Because I guarantee my co-native-Californians remember getting up close views of the carpet under their desks while kneeling with their hands crossed over their necks...like a couple of eight-year-old hands would be able to protect the neck from falling bricks? I dunno. But we did it.

Back at home my parents were pretty good about teaching us to stand in the doorway in case of an earthquake...except I remember one earthquake when my neighbor Anthony and I were playing Barbies in my room and we ran right through my bedroom doorway and stood in an entirely different doorway.

I'm sure everyone will be sharing their "I remember exactly where I was on October 17th, 1989 at 5:04PM" stories so I'll give you mine:

I don't remember the earthquake itself, but I do remember being at my piano lesson and after everything stopped shaking we went about our business and then like twelve seconds later my dad was banging at the door, checking to make sure I was okay. I remember being surprised that A) he was checking on me and B) he got there so fast. Granted, it was only like three blocks away, but GOOD JOB DAD! Speedy!

I believe my brother's Loma Prieta story involves being trapped under a bookcase, so his is way more exciting than mine.

The most exciting thing that ever happened to me during an earthquake involved a can of cat food flying past my head. No actual contact though. HOW BORING.

I was out of town for the last GOOD earthquake. I was sitting on the bed at the Holiday Inn Express in Fresno (I was totally a VIP at PG&E) and I felt a vibration but I thought it was maybe someone running in the hall. My mom called like a minute later and said "DON'T WORRY, WE'RE OKAY!" and I was like "Worry? What? Huh?"

But then I got to worrying about all the booze I had in a tall cabinet at my apartment so Carrie kindly went and checked on it for me. IT WAS SAFE, WHEW! (But really, I mostly wanted to know if I would be walking in the door to a mess.)

I should mention that most native Californians I know wear earthquake bravery as a badge of honor. Earthquake? WOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Until someone gets hurt, I guess. And really, I should clarify that I may love earthquakes in daylight but an earthquake in the middle of the night is CREEPY. Especially if you're a kid and you're not 100% sure there isn't a man standing at the foot of your bed and shaking it.

Alllll of this is to say that I'm bummed that my earthquake strategy needs revising. My friend Joel told me that he and his wife had a plan to meet in a park that was near her office and walkable from his office. Their plan also involved red wine so I invited myself to walk to their park and join them.

So Joel, I'm sad that I'm not a San Francisco resident anymore because now I won't be able to crash your earthquake party.

Also: I need to get earthquake insurance. Goodbye, money.