Wow! fifteen years ago was what I hope is the only BIG Quake I ever get to experience...I had gone to work in San Mateo-getting off in time to pick my son up from school...Took him and one of his buddies out to get a frozen Yogurt (hey it was 1989, afterall) At the Yogurt shop, The Buddy's mom had seen us park and came running toward us- She had forgot to cancell the playdate and explained that someone had given that family tickets to the world series -which happened to include our hometown teams (The A's vs The Giants)...Buddy left with his mom.

My son and I continued to order yogurt and eat them outside on a bench...A kid about college age tied a funky looking dog to a parking meter...The moment the kid went onto the shop, this dog started whimpering and shaking...he really had that "Timmy's in the well" thing going! We saw the kid worked in the yogurt shop and went inside & told him something seemed wrong with the dog...Yogurt guy shook his head and said the dog had been acting strange all day...

Son and I left, drove a few blocks away from downtown San Mateo over to visit my mom..... My Brother, Mom and I were chatting about something when she seemed to notice loud vibrations coming from one side of the house.."HEY, Jase, NO Jumping in there" Mom yelled in the direction..
"Grandma, I'm not jumping!" Jase yelled back from a different part of the house..A quarter of a second later..we all realized EARTHQUAKE!! Okay a little screaming and scrambling (oh yeah- andrenaline rush RUSH)..We all 4 ended up under the dining room table,,,'I think the walls are gonna buckle!" "This IS IT-The BiG OnE!!" "When is this going to stop?!"....It did stop - long enough for me to crawl out and grab the phone-then a strong aftershock hit...yeeps-more screaming...We all sat there for awhile, catching our breath, Jase crying....
Out at last, we picked up stuff...The TV, at first ran static then sounded all those warning noises and suddenly the news came on.....I heard the words but didnt understand how bad it really had been til live cameras -helicopters that were already in place for the world series were now covering Quake damage around the Bay Area...The freeway had collapsed...the Bay bridge BROKE -cars dangling off the edge- headlights facing over the water...The Marina -where friends and family lived- was on fire- buildings we had walked by hundreds of times had crumbled down...It was a hideous adventure...I went with Scott's sister to help her pack up her belongings as her apartment was being condemned...She had about 35 minutes to pack...Eventually, she moved back in, the bridge was fixed, I stopped sleeping with my shoes on (to be prepared, you know,for the next big one)
........
At some point, afterwards, I stopped back in at the yogurt shop, the funny looking dog was sleeping by his meter- on which there was a note posted that the dog was in need of a home-that the guy who had found the dog was unable to keep him any longer...I didnt think twice about it- I marched up to the Yogurt guy and told him I remembered that dog from October 17th and how it seemed agitated..I wanted that dog!
(okay, Now here's where the Grateful Dead related part of the story comes in)
Yogurt Guy: A Lot of people want the dog, Why should I give him to you?
Me: You should give him to me because, I have a new fence, a large backyard, a little boy and because my husband is putting photos of fluffy yellow puppies all over the fridge- I need a real dog.
Yogurt Guy: hmmmmmmm?
Me pointing across the street at my jeep: And my car is right here- I can take him with me now...
Yogurt guy spots the "Are You Kind?" bumper sticker and asks: You into the Dead?
Me: Hell, yeah, since the 70's....
This leads us off topic into my dissertation of what a time it was..To Yogurt Guy, I'm like an Old Head (hah- now I AM an old head- but I was barely 30 in 89)
Story ends with I get to take the Earthquake Dog home{{{{Parker}}} thanks to my bumper sticker...


Here's a fun url-
http://www.markbeebe.com/The%20Grateful%20Dead%20Meet%20Salvador%20Dali.html