So…
On this past Monday night, after a day of golf at a Ritz-Carlton hotel (I will never afford) on a golf course (I could barely afford), then a pre board-meeting reception at our (affordable!) hotel, I retired just before midnight, with a slight sun burn and decent mojito buzz. Within minutes, eyes closed, drifting into a lazy-Caribbean haze, by bed started to move-float, top to bottom, in a way I may sway, from time to time (wink, wink), but on this occasion, I was not being rocked…in a back-then forth freaky-fast kind of sway. (Picture the way a bobble-head doll sort of rolls around, all loose-y and weird) I opened my eyes, and happened to be facing Kathy–who had opened her eyes at about the same time–facing me, but not touching. Eyes locked, I asked; “Is that you rocking right now?” The response, I knew was coming. “I thought that was you.”
For a very brief second, I was jealous of the couple next door–who actually seemed to argue loudly every morning. Wow…that must be some SERIOUS make-up sex! Kathy noted that the cords hanging from the light were swinging. I got out of bed, thinking earthquake–though the two I have experienced in past years more shook than swayed–and headed to the deck-door, that looks out on two pools and the Atlantic ocean. I noted that the pool water in both was moving/sloshing, with no people in them, and the birds–normally quiet at night–were twerping and tweeting seemingly with purpose. Definitely an earthquake, I reported. Kathy asked what she thought we should do. I figured…um…nothing?! Head to the 10th floor and watch the Tsunami approach? Run? Call room service for a bottle and a buoy?
She suggested I call the front desk. Pretty sure I was correct in the earthquake assumption, I called.
The conversation went like this;
Me: “Senor, is there a reason my room was just swaying?”
He, with Spanish accent; “Jace. We jus hab an eartquake”
Me; “I thought so. Is that, um, a common occurence?”
He; “Jace. We hab one een Decemberr, but no-dees beeg”
Me; “Ok. Is there something you might suggest we do then?”
He; “Jace. You chould pretu God”
Me; “Thank you very much”
Seriously. What better advice could he have given! For the next hour, I stared out the door, to see if the ocean would recede–that’s what happens just prior to Tsunami’s, dontchaknow–while Kathy read aloud from her IPAD, all kinds of interesting and ongoing earthquake facts!
“Puerto Rico has over 900 tremors per year….They are reporting it was a 6.5… Anything over a 6.5 wreaks havoc….California had 934 earthquakes last year… The tremor occured 6oKM off shore to the North…Tsunamis sometimes occur with tremors this big….Tsunami waves can travel 200MPH in water depths of…..”
(Where the hell is room service?)
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