Last night's storm

Last night's storm was beautiful. But I could have been hurt or killed on multiple occasions. That's what made it so enjoyable. I was at ASU West waiting for Angie to get out of class when the storm rolled in from the East, and the rain didn't hit until we were on the I-17 and it intensified enough for us to get off at McDowell. There was then flooding, no electricity, various malfunctioning train and traffic signals plus emergency vehicles all causing mayhem. We made the most 4-way stops I've ever seen during one ride. When we finally got to it, Angie's drive way was flooded so we couldn't park and had to park next door. Then we had to brave the storm to get to her studio. As we walked through dark bushes we disturbed terrified sparrows and grackles that ran away from us on the ground while trying to fly, but they couldn't because they were soaked. Some just stayed put - too terrified to do anything at all. It was the saddest part of the whole thing and made me realize how powerful nature can be. Damage was everywhere. Last night and this morning I saw excessively flooded streets, miles without electricity, countless downed trees (uprooted and all, many in the middle of the road including palm trees snapped in half), a dozen damaged/malfunctioning/destroyed traffic signals and malfunctioning train signals, tons of damaged buildings (ASU's Sustainability Institute's wind turbines were destroyed), 4 destroyed billboards (one was still in the ground with it's metal support beams bent in a curve and another was Monti's Steak House's 30 year-old sign), 2 completely destroyed buildings and 1 palm tree in a car. All this was caused by a storm that had brief gusts of 100 mph winds. How horrible would it have been to be in Katrina? That storm had SUSTAINED winds of 175 mph.

August 29, 2008 10:00 AM

Do any top experts in sustainability education know what they're talking about?

Seriously.

August 27, 2008 12:07 PM

Jakob and Justin on the state of online music from IFC

I am so missing muxtape!

10:41 AM

Thinking of the environment

I am about to invest in a large purchase of rechargeable batteries. I've picked out what promises to be the best choice. The batteries can be recharged 1,000 times and they also do not discharge nearly as fast as most other rechargeable batteries. Discharge is when a battery losses some of its life while it is being stored or not frequently used. Anyway, I am spending $40 on 10 batteries and their charger. This seems like a lot, but 10 x 1,000 = 10,000 regular batteries worth! Regular batteries should cost around 50 cents each when you find a really good deal; that's $5,000 worth of batteries for $40. I'll be saving 9,990 batteries from going in the trash and myself $4,960. Check out this kit to start off.

August 22, 2008 11:52 AM

So fucking cool

Check out this whole Lego complex built and on display in Beijing! Fucking rad.

12:17 AM

So sleepy

I've been really sleepy lately. Late nights and early mornings don't go together well, especially repetitively. I can't wait for this semester - 6 classes is the most I've tried to succeed in. In other news, I have always loved face customization things online like faceyourmanga.com. I made my face on there yesterday; and the background is inspired by school starting next week and naruto! (PS I didn't do much this summer)

August 21, 2008 12:44 PM

ASU's budget reduction plan

ASU is cutting 48 jobs this year and eliminating 33 unfilled jobs; meaning a loss of 81 academic professionals who's primary job is to help students and schools within ASU function. This change is going to directly effect me because the College of Design is going to see three of its departments: Industrial, Interior and Visual Communication Design combine into a School of Design Studies.. which means that deans will be cut from the departments and that the BA in Design Studies (my degree) will have a home under the new school. I would think this would be more practical but I know how ASU is. This plan will be executed very swiftly and changes like this cannot happen as fast as ASU forces them to. I fear that the departments under my college, along with many other departments and schools are going to suffer in terms of their quality. Read more on ASU's announcement.

August 18, 2008 1:45 PM

Applause for ASU

It seems like ASU's Downtown campus shuttle (which I use very regularly) is expanding its schedule drastically this fall. It'll run 7 days a week now and to as late as 2 AM on Saturday! Wonderful news, thank you ASU for giving me another reason to be happy with you as an institution.

August 14, 2008 11:28 AM

Weekend/Monday

This whole weekend I've been at Angie's new place, helping her move in and get settled in. But this morning I woke up with the worst headache ever and immediately got nauseated; preventing me from actually getting out of bed until a few short minutes ago. I can't wait for school to be back in session in two weeks!

August 11, 2008 3:09 PM

August

I wish August were over, I do not care for this hot, broke and boring month! Once school's back in session, I'll have a million more things to keep me busy. Until then, I've got to put up with being insanely bored. Speaking of which - I have over three more hours to kill at Lux. Gross.

August 4, 2008 4:42 PM

Funny

I do not know where this originally came from, but it made me laugh while at work!

August 1, 2008 7:11 PM

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