Annamill, no, I've never lived in California although I visit frequently. I've lived in Alaska for 17 years so far; before then I lived in Oregon.

Last week I had an episode of claustrophobia. I was able to function fairly normally, kept my breathing even, consciously kept my muscles relaxed, and stayed in a conversation but it wasn't easy.

There is a three-mile tunnel leading to Whittier, Alaska, an end-of-the-road port town. The tunnel is only one lane wide and one's car literally straddles a train track. Vehicles are given a time table for when they may enter and when they must not.

We had the air conditioner going and I think that made it worse- there was an acrid, oily, heavy smell in my nostrils. A couple of hours later on our way back through I was fine. We also kept the air conditioner off.

Doug/darkriver, some things just can't be explained. One time, at about 10:30 PM in my home in Dayton, Oregon, I heard two fighter jets (i.e. not passenger planes) roar over my home. They were going fast. The sound was diminishing when the jets evidently turned and went in a slightly different direction. There was an air force post in Tillamook- not too far away, as planes go - so jets in my vicinity were not unknown. This time, although the feeling I had was not panic, my whole body chilled in fear.

Two days later, our local 3-issues a week newspaper had a short blurb saying that two jets had been sent out that evening from Tillamook in response to unidentified objects in the sky

I tend to feel that I somehow tuned into the fear the pilots were feeling.