Acclimation

The past week or two, here in Kingman, I've been having fairly massive headaches.

I figure they're a result of the fact that it's at least ten to twenty degrees Fahrenheit warmer here than in Flagstaff. The other potential explaination is that I haven't been drinking enough water, coupled with the fact that whenever Kate and I go to run errands, a massive blast of heat comes out of her car and hits me right in the face.

Nuclear Winter. Has Returned.

I pushed two blog posts further back in order to post this for you today. To let you know, that here in Flagstaff, right now, it is is snowing.

Meaghan, Courtney from Kingman, and Glenn and I are going to IHOP in the next few minutes, because we're all friends in weird ways which is awesome. I am going to take some images of the snow with the phone of I, which I will probably add to this post (or at least to Flickr) later on. There will be pictures of snow that exists in mid-May. I will have them.

Anyway, great day!

Yellow Bike Ride

Today on my way back home from German, I found and grabbed a yellow bike. It happened to be bike number 62, which was also formerly a cruiser. I'm not sure if it's one of the newest ones, or if they've recalled some of the old ones for some more refurbishment. I've also recently seen one of the old mountain-bike style Yellow Bikes, which looked like it was fairly well-refurbished.

It was weird, almost disconcerting at first, getting on the bike, which is a cruiser, and starting to pedal. Unlike my mountain bike, I can't push the pedal backward at all, in order to reposition the pedals to get the bike started easier. Once I got going, the feeling of riding the bike, somewhat rickety as it felt, was exhilarating. I sped by people on the ped-way, followed and rode by other bicyclists, and  I even charged Cardiac Hill, fast at first, slowing down gradually as I reached the steepest part of the hill, almost stopping at the peak of the hill, right before the upper road crossing.

Gliding, relieved from the apparent lack of effort involved in going forward on mostly flat ground, I rolled through the small parking lot in front of Gabaldon and dismounted the at the front entrance, leaving it propped up against the handrail, otherwise claiming "no bikes on handrail," mainly realizing that the bike would be gone within an hour anyway.

Afterward I was very tired, I'll admit I haven't excercised as with a bike ride in a very long time, especially what with nuclear winter having extended itself so very long. Maybe this summer I'll see if I can get my bike up here at the university.

Jack Dykinga / Wind on Campus

Jack Dykinga is basically the photographic hero of my PHO382 instructor, and today instead of class, we got to go hear him speak. On one hand, it was a pretty awesome way to spend some class-time, especially with the high amount of stressful stuff we've been doing in my other classes. I've still got an essay due Thursday, and I had an exam or two today.

Ah well, the blog must go through!

At the very least, it was a good revenge for the Wednesday night class, which had Ami Vitale the week before, and was already a week behind.

On another note, it's been very windy on campus today. It's almost that "right before a big storm" kind of windy that I experienced a lot last semester, where I knew something was coming, just not exactly when.

Yes, I have seen the rain on a sunny day.

Well, Spring has officially Sprung, so to speak, here at the university. Today marks the first day that I've seen and felt non-snow precipitation, and it seems fairly special in general also as a result of the fact that it's still really bright outside today. The light is pretty soft, it would probably make an excellent day for outdoor or environmental portraits.

This day is also very special for another reason, today Megan and I celebrate seven months together today. Also, Megan is turning in a portfolio she's going to be using for an art scholarship application, and today after her class she's going to head down to Tucson for the street fair, and to celebrate the birthday of her brother and mother, so I've got the weekend up here alone.

I think this weekend I'll end up cleaning the room a bit more, developing my NT4 domain and maybe I'll make progress on one of my bigger projects.

Nuclear Winter Will Never End

Let me begin by saying that I really admire people who actually find time to write on their blogs every single day. Even if it’s something small. I tried yesterday, to write and post something, but once I got to Peter Piper to start writing my blog entry, and Megan and I had finished lunch, they decided to let Megan go early, thus cutting my writing time short. (Although I’m very appreciative of the time spent with Megan.)
At any rate, today’s blog entry is about what I’m calling Nuclear Winter. Basically, it started snowing in November or December of last year, and it hasn’t stopped since. It was definitely cool for the first month or so, and the first cumulative foot of snow, but after awhile it really prevented me being able to or wanting to go out and do anything other than that which I was required to, like classes and work. I even went through a period this semester where I was eating significantly less because I was never willing to take a trip to the store to just get some food.
Luckily, Megan and I went to the store yesterday and I stocked up for spring break, but the fact that it’s snowed worries me for other reasons. My dad was supposed to come up for a visit sometime over this break, and if I have to say to him “oh, it’s just snowed last weekend” then he is unlikely to want to come visit.
The other bummer is that I wanted to get out and take some photos with the D300, but I’m not super comfortable walking around outside with it in the snow. Plus, I’ve got a lot of other unattractive snow pictures. I really just can’t wait for it to be July or August again. Flagstaff looks amazing at that time of year.

Classes Canceled

Well aren't I just a happy clam right now. It's about eight in the morning on this fine bright Monday, and I'm just kind of hanging out in the room, listening to youtube videos, copying SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop to the ThinkPad R61i to be burned to a DVD, and relaxing before my helpdesk shift at 1:30 later in the afternoon.

Classes are canceled today, which I've got to admit, almost never happens here at NAU. It snowed up a pretty awful storm yesterday and last night, and at about 5:45 this morning, an e-mail was sent by NAU's reporting system Inside NAU saying classes are canceled and that only essential employees are to report to work.

What makes an NAU employee essential? Well I'd like to think all NAU employees are essential, but as it turns out, those of us working at the Academic Computing Help Desk are considered to  be essential, so I'll be reporting to my shift later on today. I've got to admit, it's a nice little ego boost for the day to know that the ACHD is considered essential, and that if it's within my ability to remain alive while going to work today, I'm to do so. Luckily, I only live like 500 feet from the ACHD, so it's by no means a hardship for me.

German Class Canceled

Among other things, but the chief topic of this post happens to be the fact that my German class was canceled today. I was quite surprised, really. There was no prior notice, but a sign had been posted indicating that our instructor's 9:10 class would be canceled.

Anyway, lots of snow, a class was canceled possibly as a result. Have a good day!

Trip to Vegas!

Today was Vegas Day for Dad and I. :) Here is a Photo-Blog-Post of the adventure. (This is, by the way, my first blog entry of the year!


They started building some improvements to Highway 93, I presume.



Pink Jeep tours now gives tours in pink Chevrolet Suburbans. Don't tell the tourists - they won't even notice.


We then got to the Hoover Dam, and had to drive across it. We went from the "AZ" time to Pacific time.


I saw a ram that you don't put in your computer, as well as an extremely deceiving walkway, it looked more like a wash ditch than a walkway!


Las Vegas has some very interesting landscapes, as well as a lot of smog! I don't know if I'd actually want to live there with that kind of smog hanging around all the time.


I saw a lot of buses in Vegas, which is surprising, and not surprising at the same time. I haven't seen an accordion bus since I lived in Washington, I think. Also, there is a casino with friends. I wonder who they are.


In Las Vegas, especially on or near the strip, just about everything is either more scandalous, or shinier with more neon light tubes.


Danny Gans was Entertainer of the year at least two or three years ago when I went back to Michigan, and he is apparently still it. I think it should be Celine Dion or somebody else for a change.

How interesting! Fashion Show Mall has a huge iPod ad on the front. Almost every surface in Vegas has advertising on it.


Vegas has a lot of interesting advertising. Here is some examples of adversiting on taxi cabs. NewEgg, Toshiba, Microsoft, and Benq seem to REALLY love that advertising space. I also think that the stacked deck thing is somewhat funny.


We went to the Apple Store in Fashion Show Mall! I really liked looking around the store, but I found that while it was mesmerizing, it was less mesmerizing in a "must have a new Mac" way now that I've got... ba-dah-bing - my new iMac. :)


Teavana is another store in the mall. Dad went in here, and was going to buy a book, but he didn't want to, he said, after the cashier in the store said that photography wasn't allowed. The store had a silly fan setup, I took a picture of it from outside after that incident.


I got a new lens for my camera! It's a Quantaray 18-125mm lens for Nikon AF. It is awesome! when I got that picture of my dad, I was standing about three feet away from him. This is totally an awesome wide-angle lens. I also got the picture of the Tamrac logo from probably... well, it was quite far away. I certainly can't wait to test the lens out tomorrow, and next week at school. It will be awesome.


Here are some automotive things from the very end of the trip. (taken with my old 28-80 Nikkor glass.) The first belongs in "Stick Figures in Peril" I'm sure. The second is an automobile that seems to be missing parts.

In all, it was a very awesome day, and writing this blog post has taken much too long. Here's to an awesome 2007, filled with loads of photography opportunities, and great times!

Fire Alarm

I just figured that it's important for everybody to know something. At approximately 2:30 a.m. on December 11, 2006, The fire alarm in Reilly Hall at Northern Arizona University went off. It's just about 3:05 right now and we've just been let back in. This is dissapointing, of course, because it was very inconvenient for me to have to wake up from my pre-finals slumber and leave the building, and complain about it for as long to Jim, Nathan and my roommate.

So, if I fail my SC-111 final, I have a reason.

By the way... (Reilly as a cheesy videogame) the mutants are on the first floor, the pirates are on the second floor, the ninjas are on the third floor, and the zombies are on the fourth floor. I am fairly certain that the ghosts are on the fifth floor, and the corrupt cops from the west are on the sixth floor. I haven't beaten the sixth floor yet, but I think that the seventh floor has the big evil monster. I hear that if you start by going in the back entrance, you can go to the first floor after the fifth and you get all the nice powerups from the first floor before the sixth and seventh floors.

Getting Better

I am glad to be able to say that my health has slowly been recovering, and I'd say that right now, I'm probably at 80 to 85% of full health. I hope to be between 95% and 100% tonight. Yaay! Then I get to go suicide again, with studying and stuff. How wonderfully and posilutely enjoyable.

In other news, I know a lot of immature people. They need to grow up. Oh, and the weather has been decent. The sun has been shining, which isn't my favorite type of weather ever, but it's better than cold + rain + wind. I'd much rather have cold + snow with no wind, though.

Have a Happy Tuesday!

FLURRIES!

I hope that I am one of the first to inform everybody that just now, I saw snow flurries coming down while I was walking to/from Surplus Sales at NAU, from Reilly. I think that this is a favorable thing! Snow should follow VERY shortly. I expect to have snow-related problems getting back to my dorm room tonight. Yaay!