There are a lot of fires in northern California right now, but the one I’m paying attention to is being labelled the Atlas Fire (for whatever reason, I don’t know). Firefighters have been battling them all week, but the dry conditions and winds (which are expecting to pick up again) have been making it difficult. The winds are making it especially dangerous. I continue to hope for the best, but it’s a really big fire. Every hour it’s getting closer and closer to my girlfriend’s family’s home, an
Today is not Thanksgiving. Sunday wasn't Thanksgiving, either, but that's when my family decided to celebrate it. Which means that this entry has the awkward distinction of being both too late and too early, but I digress. We celebrated it then because my father and I will be out of the country during a ten day period and won't be returning until a few days after. But we love our Thanksgiving and skipping it was not an option. So, as per custom, here's a list of the things I am thankful for: M
And it's only gonna get hotter. Hi, BZP. Have half decent internet for a few hours. Just browsing and checking in to say hi. Making sure the place hasn't burned down. At some point in the nearish future I'll write a real blog entry but for now there's lots of things to do now that I can use internet on a laptop. Carry on.
Since the nature of my work means I have way too much free time, I decided to participate in some random blog's 2017 book challenge, because why not? The way the challenge works is that there are 50 or so categories, and during the year you have to read books that fit in each of the categories. The rules don't say that reading one book can satisfy multiple categories, but it doesn't really say it can't either. So I did the challenge that way. So how did I do? Got everything except three. The n
I've had a MacBook Pro since I graduated High School just over seven years ago. It has served me very, very well, and for the most part it is still a functional laptop. However, recently it's been having issues where it will not work unless it's plugged in, and sometimes even then it will just turn off. No, replacing the battery did not help. And it's waaaay out of warranty and too old for Apple to even bother trying to fix it. This isn't necessarily an issue, except that starting next week I
After several months of encouraging teaching moments, discouraging teaching moments, flu, dengue fever, various colds, loud music, bad food (my fault), and (failed?) weight loss endeavors, I finally got a much needed vacation to see my family and girlfriend. Parts of it were great. The weather was (generally) cool for a California summer. Of course the day I had to go to an outdoor wedding ended up in the high 90s, but the rest of it was pretty okay. Fourth of July evening was actually pretty co
Wow it’s been a long time. Over four months since I posted something here. School does that to you. I don’t really feel the need to narrate the last four months here (and I doubt anyone would want to read it), so here’s a brief summary: Took five classes while working part time at a local museum. The job isn’t great, but it’s in my field and I’m learning (or will learn) things that should become valuable so I’m game for continuing it. And it pays me so there’s that. I got four A’s and one AB, wh
It was really hard to be optimistic on Wednesday when I made that blog entry. The fire was huge, the area had doubled overnight, strong winds were expected to pick up again. And after posting that entry, the area where my girlfriend lives was advised to evacuate. But hey decided to stay until until it was mandatory, which fortunately never came, and as of now even the recommended evac has been lifted. Since then, things have been optimistic. As of now most of the larger fires seem to be at lea
In between work, travel (for work), reading mountains of books and watching whatever movie I happen to be able to get my eyes on (the last was Hannah Montana- don't judge), I decided that I wanted a selection of video games for entertainment, because I'm not always in the mood for reading or watching movies, especially when I can't sleep at night and I end up staying up till 1 am or later. My computer does come with a solitaire collection and Candy Crush for free, but there are only so many card
It's time for V1P2 to use his annual blog privileges for the week! I spent the past week in Yosemite acting as a volunteer leader for a program that takes underprivileged youth into national parks to teach them about the environment, conservation, ecology, and the like. I have to say, the experience was pretty overwhelming for a variety of reasons. First off, while I have taught middle aged students before, they have always been Boy Scouts. And even if the age group of these kids were the sa
... you were not missed. Can it just be September again, already? I have a lot of thoughts on 2014 and 2015 which I will not write now because it's midnight and it's two hours past my preferred bed time. Maybe later this week I'll write some more in depth thoughts, but, in brief, I'll just say that hopefully next this year is just a little bit better than this the last one.
