Apparently I work in a dangerous part of town. Last week, we were working when all of a sudden we heard brakes squealing, a "whump," and my boss yell "oh my God!!!" We all ran to the window to see that a bicyclist had been hit by a car and was lying in the street. He ended up being fine. Then, on Friday, we heard horns honking, loud noises, and our building started shaking like there was an earthquake. Of course we all ran to the windows again, and saw destruction. A crane had been driving downhill on 15th street about 4 blocks up from where I work when its brakes went out. It rolled all the way down the hill gaining momentum until it finally ran into the cement barricade at the 705 off ramp and came to a sudden, shuddering halt. The most miraculous part was that the driver, who stayed in the cab until he saw the barrier approaching, at which point he bailed (can you blame him?) managed to keep enough control to avoid pedestrians, oncoming traffic, and the monorail which I swear runs non-stop all day. The crane jumped the curb at about Commerce Street and took out a signpost, a tree, and an enormous stoplight. When it came to rest the boom was pointed up the freeway instead of straight into the corner building. I would not have wanted to be drinking my coffee in that Tully's on the corner when that crane came thundering by. Anyway, here are the pictures I took from our conference room. They are from my camera so they aren't that great, but you get the idea. It took three trucks winching in different directions to get that crane off the barricade. I'm pretty sure none of us got any work done. We just sat around and watched Bill's Swinging 60's, Bill's Pickin' & Grinnin' and Gene's boring no-name tow truck get that sucker down.