After a long work from home day, which included 5 conference calls spanning most of 8 am to 6:30 pm, I decided to head out for a high speed hill climb on my bicycle. As I was rolling my bike out of the garage at about 6:40 pm, I heard a series of loud thumping noises that seemed to emanate from the living room, which is above the garage. Obviously, my two rambunctious cats (Nicholas at 17 pounds and Alexi at 19 pounds) must have gone racing across the floor and knocked something over, possibly while leaping onto a tall wobbly object that was not designed to bear their weight. This would not be the first time. Or even the tenth. Maybe the twentieth.
A few seconds later, I heard some more rumbling, but it didn’t seem to come from inside the house. I ran quickly upstairs to assess the damage, but they had a look (as best a cat can) of innocence and confusion on their faces. Not seeing any cat-induced damage, off I went.
After I got back, I learned that a magnitude 3.9 earthquake centered in Lake Temescal Regional Park, which is about 2 miles away, was the real cause for the thumping and rumbling. Since then, the cats and I have patched things up, although I still blame them for all the tooth marks in the window blinds.