Good luck?

If a ladybug lands on your mouse, does that mean you will have good luck because it's your mouse, or does it mean the mouse will have good luck? I mean, the latter seems kind of dumb because a mouse is an inanimate object, so it really doesn't have any kind of luck at all. It has no need for luck. But if the luck doesn't transfer to the owner of the inanimate object, then the luck is wasted, which is just sad.

Hail storm

Talk about some crazy weather. Last Saturday there was a massive hail and thunder storm, the worst I've ever experienced by far. This first picture is a shot out of our bedroom window to give you a feel for the size of the hail.


Check out the white water action goin' on here on the covered parking. HUGE rain drops.



I was just pulling up as it started. I sped to my covered parking spot and then ran inside. I asked my wife if she wanted me to go move her car to a covered parking spot as well. She said yes, and handed me her bike helmet.

If you were lucky enough to be watching the storm that day from our apartment complex, you might have spotted me running through a flooded parking lot in flip-flops, wearing a purple bike helmet. Oh, what a sight to behold.

Fortunately, or unfortunately (depending on how you look at it), no one captured this heroic feat of bravery on film.

If you did happen to nab a shot, please e-mail me a copy.

HE DID IT!

My dad (the lovable guy seen seen to my right) got the big account he pitched for! He worked very hard to get it and it couldn't have happened to a better guy. So a big congratulations to my dad on getting the account! And a bigger congrats on the fact that he will soon be a Mac owner (because he promised that if he got it, he'd buy a Mac).

Congratulations

Congratulations to Ryan and Gary who found out over the weekend that their Mrs. Fields poster got into CA. (Click the picture for a bigger image.)

Did I have anything to do with this poster? Well, I told them I liked it and thought it was a great concept. (It's a good thing I didn't think it sucked, or I would be looking really stupid right now.)

Does this great accomplishment mean anything to me? Directly, no. But now I'm cool by association.

Breastfeeding touches us all

Today I looked at my blog and I says to myself, "Dave, you need a post with an entertaining picture." As I was at the library returning An Inconvenient Truth (which was inconveniently two days overdue) I saw the following display:

That should work.

The first thing I did was surpress a laugh into a barely audible snort. I'm pretty sure that banner could have been worded differently, and I still have no idea why there are a bunch of paper hands taped up behind them, but I'm trying not to think about it.

I snapped the picture incognito, but then approached the table and asked for some information under the guise that it was for my wife. (That's not entirely untrue. If I decide not to throw it away, I'll give it to my wife.)

They were pleasant enough (one had a mustache though) and loaded me up with pamphlets and handouts on the virtues of breastfeeding. We had a brief conversation that went something like this:

Me: How long will you be here? (This was to find out if I could come back later with a real camera and get a better shot incase the one I had taken turned out to be blurry.)

Woman: The whole month of August. August is breastfeeding awareness month you know."

I didn't know. Did they expect a guy in his middle twenties to know that?

Me: (With feigned shock) I had no idea!

As soon as I said it, I realized it was a mistake. These women took their duties very seriously. I mean, if you're hardcore enough to sit in the library and distribute literature about breasts and how they can be used for feeding, you probably don't appreciate sarcasm.

They didn't.

The one on the right squinted at me and cooly replied, "It is."

I took a few more pieces of literature ("Join Le Leche of Utah!"), stuck them in my newly checked out books and walked out of the library, holding in my laughter until I was clear of the building.

No source to rule them all

Clearly, we need alternative energy sources to cut our dependence on foreign oil, reduce pollution and save on energy costs. But I've been pondering lately about how there probably won't be some revolutionary new alternative energy source that takes the world by storm and is used everywhere.

Wave energy is being developed in Oregon that, by using about 10 square miles of sea water, will be able to supply power to the whole state. Wind power will be used in Oaklahoma (as the it comes rushing down the planes), and solar energy will be used throughout the southwest.

Instead of building cookie-cutter subdivisions everywhere that all look alike and are made of the same materials, I think we should take a cue from generations past. They didn't build all their houses the same way. People in New Mexico use adobe-style houses because they are made from readily made materials and keep their homes cool. Hybrid indoor/outdoor houses work in warm and tropical locations when the weather is fairly consistent year round and allow for more natural air circulation, thus reducing the need for using AC as much.

We can't make enough ethanol to supply our oil needs, plus it often uses material that could be used to feed the starving masses. Not very ethical. Gas-electric hybrid cars (such as the Prius) require expensive batteries that will, eventually, loose their ability to hold a charge and are still relatively expensive. The same problem exists with 100% electric cars. Solar panels aren't at the point yet where they can power a home in most cases, let alone a car.

So let's stop waiting for some cure-all to our environmental problems, and start acting on the technologies that are already available.

THE POTENTIAL CURE-ALL

The way I see it, the "magic solution" to our energy problems is the practical production of hydrogen. If these guys are legit, they may prove the title of this posting wrong.

If hydrogen (or, in this case, aquygen) can be produced at a rate of 1,500 liters in one hour for 70 cents of electricity, it would completely revolutionize the way we get our energy. It can (could, whatever) run cars, heat our homes, power turbines to create electricity, etc. etc. etc.

Anyway, those are my current thoughts on energy. Readers (all six of you), I'd be interested to hear your thoughts, particularly on the hydrogen link video.

"I invented the friggin' iPod, okay? Have you heard of it?"

One of my new favorite blogs is one written by "Steve Jobs". The link can be found in my "Sites" section to the right. It's well written and absolutely hilarious (at least if you know anything about Stevie J. and Apple).

Just a heads up in case you need some entertaining (and sometimes slightly colorful) reading. Enjoy.