If today was any indication of how the rest of the week is going to be, than this week is going to be a long, drown out march till the weekend. I shouldn’t be complaining. There are worse things in this world than porting VB 6 code or cleaning a messy apartment (ie being stuck in an earthquake in China).
What has happened in China is tragic. What has happened in Myanmar is even worse. It’s beyond belief how poorly handled the recovery and relief efforts have been. From Katrina to China to Myanmar, I don’t think humans are very good at disaster prevention, recovery, and relief. It seems like the only time risk prevention is seriously considered is after the fact when people start pointing fingers at who failed who.
It’s a bit weird to think that an earthquake can cause so much destruction. If you’ve ever been in a typhoon or hurricane, you can feel the raw destructive power that rips down telephone poles and pulls trees right out of the ground. An earthquake on the other hand is merely the ground shaking, kind of like a roller coaster ride. A roller coaster ride that knocks over buildings and collapses bridges.
The death toll from this recent earthquake in China is in the tens of thousands. Thirty years ago, there was an earthquake that killed 200000+. Three hundred years ago there was one that killed 600000+. If there’s a bright side to these grim numbers, it’s that the death toll has decreased. I guess the Chinese learned to build sturdier houses.
If you feel like making a donation, checkout the evil empire’s donation site here and here. Yao Ming donated $300K. So should you.