But his laughter was shortlived. When the rainy cold season ended and we got into the typical hot, smoggy days he was like a fish floundering for fresh water and air. On the days when it broke 100 degrees I could usually find him collapsed in a semi-coma, unable to move due to the heat.

Even better we had an earthquake, a little rumblor about 5.5 or so. Some folks say that hurricanes are the worst but c'mon the news tells you when they're coming and you can make adjustments. Tornados happen in certain types of weather. Thunder, lightning - scary and sometimes dangerous. But earthquakes are essentailly unpredictable. The ground moves suddenly and you are frozen. Meanwhile, if you're in a building, everything is falling and moving and - shit! - what if the building collapses on you. Worse, it's never a single shock. You get the big one and then aftershocks - lots of them - for the next week, so you can never quite relax and say the earthquake is over.

We had a quake and, having been through a few, I wasn't too worried. I knew that the cleanup would be a pain but a 5.5 wasn't cause for concern. My roommate, on the other hand, thought armageddon had hit. He was a wreck, shaking, sweating, eyes bugged out. It gave me no great pleasure to sneak up on him in the following weeks and shake his shoulders while yelling. Revenge is sweet.