Matt’s Blog

Today I was killing time while babysitting a contractor at Theta Xi and came across the following picture in a fire extinguisher cabinet:

The house pictured is the old 777 Techwood Drive house which has since been demolished and replaced with the building that I presently live in. Apparently as a prank some brother’s bed was put on the roof and now the photographic evidence is something that we keep in the cabinet to make life interesting for our associates when they try to get signatures.

It’s a good prank, but duplicating it now would be difficult as the present structure is three stories.

“…give it a second… it’s going to SPACE!”

Brilliant.

Glad to see he’s still “walking the line…”

I spotted this over the Christmas Break, but just now got around to writing the actual post.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008551284_snowcleanup23m.html

Seattle refuses to use salt; roads “snow packed” by design

Some of my favorites:

But it turns out “plowed streets” in Seattle actually means “snow-packed,” as in there’s snow and ice left on major arterials by design.

“We’re trying to create a hard-packed surface,” said Alex Wiggins, chief of staff for the Seattle Department of Transportation. “It doesn’t look like anything you’d find in Chicago or New York.”

And it gets better:

“If we were using salt, you’d see patches of bare road because salt is very effective,” Wiggins said. “We decided not to utilize salt because it’s not a healthy addition to Puget Sound.”

Any why aren’t they using salt again even though it’s “very effective”? Because salt might run off into the Puget Sound (a “salt water estuary”) and make it more… salty. Shame.

On the positive side though, the Seattle Police don’t have to worry about contributing to greenhouse gasses anymore:

The city’s patrol cars are rear-wheel drive. And even with tire chains, officers are avoiding hills and responding on foot, according to a West Precinct officer.

Of course, I really feel sorry for the environmental types. I mean there’s so many ways we can screw-over the environment, sometimes it’s hard to keep them all straight.

“We never use sand,” said Ann Williams, spokeswoman for Denver’s Department of Public Works. “Sand causes dust, and there’s also water-quality issues where it goes into streets and into our rivers.”

So let’s assume that they are both right. Both sand and salt cause irreparable (snicker) environmental damage. Given that, which method would you choose? The supposedly environmentally harmful but ineffective sand or the supposedly environmentally harmful but “very effective” salt?

Yep.

7:30 AM Wake up when my roommate’s alarm goes off (I intended to get up at 8:30 AM). Realize that I have a paper due in Growth Management Law today that I have not yet started on.

7:31 AM Decide to sleep until 8:30 AM as planned and then hit the paper hard.

7:32 AM Fall back asleep.

7:39 AM Wake up when roommate’s snooze alarm goes off. Worry about paper to write.

7:41 AM Fall back asleep.

7:48 AM Wake up when roommate’s snooze alarm goes off. Worry about paper. Think about killing the inventor of snooze buttons.

7:51 AM Fall back asleep.

7:57 AM Wake up when roommate shuffles around the room. Worry about paper. Think about getting up to get started. Realize bed is much comfier.

8:02 AM Fall back asleep.

8:30 AM Wake up when my alarm goes off. Worry about paper. Get out of bed.

8:32 AM Decide to glance over the requirements for the paper before going to work out so I can think them over while working out. Notice that the paper (a review of a journal article) must also cite the class textbooks, which means the class textbooks must also be read in addition to the journal article. Also notice that although there is a wide selection of journal articles to review, none of them appear to be online. Realize this means a trip to the library.

8:37 AM Curse the Planning Department and my choice to enroll in it.

8:38 AM Realize that I also have small group tonight, and SGA at 11.

8:38 AM Worry about paper.

8:39 AM Leave for the Gym. Soundtrack: Mark Driscoll

9:03 AM While working out, think that some journal articles might be available online with a little creative searching.

9:27 AM Return from Gym. Prepare materials for small group. Thank God that Mark has creatively covered Nehemiah 3.

9:38 AM Decide against the SGA meeting this morning. Send text message to that effect. Pick out article that does not seem like reading it would be like dragging a cheese grater across my forehead (common with planning articles). Realize that most JAPA articles are online. Check. Success!

9:42 AM Find shorter article also online. Justify switch because I also like the topic better. Print it out.

9:47 AM Shower. Clothes. Make coffee/breakfast to go.

10:25 AM Gather article, laptop and (stupid) textbooks. Off to the coffee shop for some intense writing.

10:32 AM Arrive at coffee shop (favorite writing location on campus). Find empty table. Bonus it’s large. Spread out. Begin reading/highlighting article.

11:03 AM Finish article, look for supporting ideas in class textbooks. Wish I had more time to actually read the legal handbook. Read/endure American Planning Association book on managed growth. Wonder if any American Planning Association members voted for McCain.

11:11 AM Finish APA growth management book. Decide that no American Planning Association members voted for McCain.

11:12 AM Boot up laptop. Re-read paper requirements. Send small group reminder e-mail.

11:13 AM Create paper outline in OneNote.

11:17 AM Start writing paper.

11:32 AM Thank self for highlighting journal article while writing section summarizing said article.

11:43 AM Look at clock. Compare with writing progress (2ish pages, halfway). Less worried about paper.

12:37 PM Look at clock. Wonder where all the time went. Remark at how much time writing consumes. Launch into big finish. Starting to hit writing wall.

1:05 PM Finish rough draft of paper. Power through quick references section. Head back to the house for lunch.

1:11 PM Arrive at house. Make quick lunch and print off paper for review while eating. Wish I could watch scrubs instead. Think that I don’t proof read my blog posts, so I shouldn’t proof my paper. Think that’s stupid because my blog isn’t graded and no one reads it. Wonder if I should start proofing my blog posts in case someone does read it.

1:16 PM Eat lunch. Revise paper. Find surprisingly few problems. Probably because I’m burned out at this point and don’t care too much. Still glad I caught the “nay” when I meant “many”.

1:45 PM Format paper, print final copy. Think I should write all papers this quickly.

2:10 PM Head to lab thinking class starts at 3 PM.

2:15 PM Arrive at lab. Do a few miscellaneous things to kill some time.

2:43 PM Leave for class.

2:46 PM Arrive at class. Class is full and already in session. Think WTF.

2:47 PM Find seat, determine that class usually starts at 2:30 PM. Sigh.

2:54 PM Wonder if papers have already been collected. Hope they haven’t.

2:55 PM Determine that after such an intense morning it’s either write a blog post or fall asleep.

3:45 PM Finish blog post. Again, remark at how much time writing consumes.