Crazy Lawsuit Game

My original defense date was yesterday. I am not done writing and revising. J is pissed. I am pissed at me too. The next date should be in May or June. Writing is still happening, and the chapters keep growing. I have all my chapters at least started and need to finish up a few, then finish the intro and summary chapter then the abstract. So that's why I haven't been posting much and certainly nothing of interest.

While riding my bike I have been collecting the reflectors off the street that the snow plow scraped off (I think). I need to ask the city if they can be reused and I plan to pluck out the reflectors from the broken ones and put them on my bike. I also came up with the idea (once I graduate) to write a grant for an educational bicycle from which I can pick up trash and teach people about not littering, recycling and getting outdoors to interact with nature instead of viewing it as their trash can. I would like to have a flat screen on the bike but I just remembered those things are wicked heavy so maybe a scrolling LED marquee or something. This idea came to me while cycling in the rain and wanting some extra light while I stopped to pick up litter and also to remind people to not litter.

I'm on Twitter now, same user name as the my blog URL. I don't "tweet" much but plan to in the future. I think I'm up to 6 followers who are either racing friends, blog friends (ESC, Sloth, Evil Julie) and my Congressman, which is pretty sweet I think.

I voted for Clemson City Council today and hopefully we can get someone on there who recognizes that sprawling student housing is not the answer. I think Christy Medeiros is that person.

Labels: bicycle, business idea, Clemson, environment, litter, writing

J and her mom made it in safely. Then drove to Charleston for an event that was webcast. Now they're back and MIL leaves Sat. I went for a wet evening bike ride on Wed. that was way too much fun. I might go for a rainy ride tomorrow morning too.

Writing, writing, writing.

My ride yesterday was nice and dirty. I did a bit of trail riding, then realized I didn't want to ride back up that hill and then rode around the banks of Lake Hartwell to get back to the road. Lake Hartwell is wicked low (since we're in an extreme drought) and I was actually riding on what was formerly the bottom of the lake.

Writing has reached a fever pitch as I try and finish this bloody thing.

I've been in a "bloody" phase again recently.

J had to admonish me that I was being too sarcastic and jerky to her and her mom this weekend. It's been a while since I've spoken with loved ones in real life. I didn't mean to be so snarky but it was built up. The cats didn't seem to mind.

The Mexican Drug cartel violence has finally spilled over into the States in a very noticeable way. We might need to think of changing tactics since the past 30 years of stopping the supply hasn't worked, mmmmm, AT ALL! And now the Mexican Drug cartels have loads of money, man power and guns, all financed by Americans looking to escape their daily lives who should be thrown in jail according to the US Drug War policy. What about reducing demand? What about admitting that people loves drugs (in addition to nicotine, alcohol, and pharmaceuticals) and controlling the flow of drugs OURSELVES?

Bah, back to writing about synthesis of alkali lanthanide fluorides.

Labels: bicycle, Big Pharma, J, medicinal marijuana, Mexico, writing

As I reach the end of my writing and because it's supposed to be sunny and in the 70s this week.

I'll be around.

Please keep the families of all those involved in the recent shootings in your thoughts. Also the families of the modern day slaves.

I hope you find some hope today in this messed up world we live in.

Labels: inhuman, injustice, intruder, tragedy

Snow last Monday. 75 degree sunny Saturday. 80 degree Monday. Predicted rainy 45 degree Thursday. That is Southern weather in a nutshell. Don't try and rush any season or you'll freeze to death or roast to death. Just check weather.com and dress accordingly.

I miss J. She's been in Orlando for 2 weeks yesterday. She'll be back one week from cold rainy Thurs.

My dad mentioned buying the land next to my grandma's house and putting up a renewable building material house. He contacted whoever you contact about building codes and they said they didn't really have any for alternative material houses. They also haven't issued a building permit for a new house in 8 MONTHS! So they'll probably be open to the idea.

Back to writing. Happy Tuesday.

Labels: J, Orlando, snow, writing

It's coming down to the wire. Writing for me is nearing the end which means revising can continue and be the primary focus. I have some meetings planned with committee members this week too.

Our lease is up on June 30 and we will be leaving SC for good then, if not earlier. Hopefully I'll have a job that I can jump into, but if not, it will be a big step into the great unknown. We're still thinking Colorado. Probably Denver or Boulder and staying the hell away from Colorado Springs. I've lived in the South for many years and am moving to CO to get AWAY from that stereotypical mentality. It will be nice to be surrounded by Priuses and bicycles instead of trucks and SUVs. At the very least they weigh less so if there's an accident, I have a better chance of being okay.

The weather was unfreakin' believable this weekend. Sunny and highs in the mid 70s. SoCal weather basically with the added fun of snow on the previous Mon. It should last until Wed. evening and then cold rainy weather returns to snap us out of our "spring is here mentality". I love the weather in the South, but you have to roll with the extreme temp changes. Don't be stubborn if you were wearing shorts yesterday, bust out those long johns again cuz the high is 48 sucka.

I went for a bike ride of about 8 miles on Sunday morning. It was very pleasant. I recreated my friend's morning commute from his old house. That would be a very long gradual climb to school every morning. Now I don't feel so bad about my short steep hill on the way home. I need some padded shorts though cuz my taint cain't take much more. Now if I could only eat less, I might lose some serious weight. So far (from my max of 235) I'm down to 222-225ish. So not bad, but obviously still not good.

Okay, back to writing. Thanks for stopping by!

Linguistics might be my true calling that I missed. Maybe if I'm near a school with a good linguistics department I'll take a few classes to see if I actually like it or not. I do enjoy languages and trying to see if my ear can "hear" them.

Labels: bicycle, weekend, writing

As Lenny and Karl would say, why don't they make any more oldies? I of course was raised listening to the golden oldies. It's just such a toe tapping good time and most of it is happy and upbeat. I still remember some tape we bought for around a buck at a gas station for filling up; we listened to that tape like it was going out of style.

I haven't been posting too much because of writing and work mostly. No internet at home really hurts too.

Our heat doesn't work really well; it just spits out lukewarm air and that coupled with our barely insulated house (you can see light coming through our front door, I wish I was kidding) means that we spent $94 on power last month. Since J is in Orlando, I have taken it as a challenge to see if I can get that down. I now see the benefit of a programmable thermostat. I would love for the "heat" to come on around 7 am or so and start to defrost the house but since we have an old school one, I came down stairs (after putting on double layers) to a chilly 47 degrees F. Yikes. Good thing the cats have those warm fur coats. Also the Clemson Snowfall of '09 ripped half our gutter off (which hasn't been cleaned in 1.5 years, at least), and that combined with the termites in the crawl space, the upstairs toilet that needs a minor overhaul, makes me glad I don't own this place and can just walk away without dealing with realtors and buyers. Plus they may or may not be building a new strip mall/Publix across the street from us, so it's a good time to GTFO!

Biking to work was nice this morning. I need to time how long it takes to load up the bike once I get an actual job and have to be there on time. The high is supposed to be 62 today and the weekend should be even warmer. I can't wait. J is driving me crazy telling me how nice the weather is in Florida. Although she did miss the snow and since we live in the South, we actually enjoy and appreciate the snow instead of cursing it with every breath like people in, um, Buffalo.

Get back to work! *whip crack*

Labels: bicycle, Clemson, J, Orlando, snow, The Simpsons, writing

I don't have any pictures up, but Clemson got their Snow Day! My grandmother (who lives in Northern Alabama) called around 3 pm on Sunday just to chat and asked if we had any snowfall. Nope, but it was good talking to her and catching up. Then around 5:30 I noticed the rain (which is sorely needed and had been going since Saturday) looked bigger. Then it switched to lovely snowflakes and snowed for about 4 hours. I went outside, played around, made the beginning of a snowman, quit and went back inside. Then it snowed again for a couple hours which means the SouthEast is closed. Most of the roads are clearish so even though Clemson University is closed, the infamous Governor Mark Sanford, is forcing offices to open at 1 even though classes are canceled.

Bicycling in the snow was a pretty cool experience. I threw on my waterproof pants, threw the laptop in my waterproof bag and headed out. Luckily my bike was stashed behind our house at our neighbor's apartment complex, so I didn't have to venture down our big hill. I rode to Blockbuster to return some of J's Grey's Anatomies, then rode to school, stopping to watch the sledders enjoying Kite Hill. Today I was certainly glad I still had my knobby mountain bike tires. The snow and slush proved no match. The only nasty parts were the iced over chunks of snow, but that's true of most vehicles.

I think I'm ready. I've cold biked, cold/rainy biked, and now snow biked. I think I'm ready for some bike commuting when we move to Denver (or wherever we wind up after Clemson).

Labels: bicycle, Clemson, snow