scobeyr wrote:I just read your post. That was entirely my fault for not checking the forum. No need to apologize. I was running a bit late, and was a little too anxious.
And with all previous meetings you would have been greeted with at least a half-dozen other smiling faces, so normally there would be no need to check the forums. You acted on the information you had, unaware of the bizarre unexpected circumstances. I hope you at least stayed to enjoy a good meal there.
The odds of having such a strange event triggering a city-wide emergency concurrent with one of our meetings is hopefully low, so I doubt we'll be in this position again.
That said, we do live in an earthquake-prone area so I'll take this moment to plug the local fire department's CERT program:
http://www.cert-la.com/index.shtml
The fire departments in most major cities in the US offer Community Emergency Response Team training programs, free to the public and requiring between one and four days depending on the scope of training. In the event of a large-scale event like an earthquake, the training provided in CERT programs can be invaluable in coordinating local response from members of your community in the interim before the local emergency response professionals can arrive.
I've taken two CERT training programs in Pasadena, and learned a lot about search-and-rescue basics, triage, first aid, and perhaps most importantly preparedness (maintaining stocks of food, water, and medical supplies which may be otherwise unavailable during such an event).
I strongly recommend CERT training for every able-bodied person. Your participation can make a big difference in how your neighborhood is able to handle such an event, and you may be in a position to help save lives. Of course we hope such training will never be needed, but if it is you'll be glad you've had it.
I hope to make the next meeting. I'm new to Live Code, and have a "few" questions.
Looking forward to seeing you there. Brings lots of questions - I live nearby so I can be there till they close.