Believe it or not I've been finishing reading some books lately. One was called
The Middle East: a brief history of the last 2,000 years. Darcy had bought it for me last Christmas! It was very interesting but I'm such a slow reader and reading usually puts me to sleep at the end of a long work day. Then I read
The Flanders Panel. It was a murder mystery that revolved around a 500 year old painting with a chess game theme. Darcy's parents had bought me the bookfor me at Christmas. Then I finished a book that Darcy had checked out. It's called
Don't Eat this Book. It's written by the same person who directed and starred in the
fourth highest grossing documentary of all time,
Super Size Me. I don't want to eat at another McDonald's again and ideally any fast food joint! We are polluting our bodies and the Big Food Industry is winning the battle. An article titled
Kentucky Among Nation's Sickest States today only confirms what the book says.
I also finished a book titled
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. Very interesting ideas on upcycling and how conventional recycling doesn't really work. Recycled products should only be recycled into renewable products from the same material. Plus it is possible for industries to not produce extreme pollutants. The book is written by a chemist and an architect. They were hired by Ford Motor Company to redesign its aging and polluting headquarters. Apparently it's been a success and all big corporations should follow suit.
I had a restful weekend as Darcy and I relaxed by the pool for only the second time since we moved!! I did it again the next day while she was at work. I've been working out a bit as my body has almost recuperated. We leave for Edmonton next week - hard to believe! It's late so I should sign off....
posted by Michael at 7:45 PM
We've had an early start to the 2005 hurricane season. Hurricane Dennis is slamming the Florida Keys right now. It formed very quickly from being a tropical wave barely a week ago to being a category four storm yesterday! Plus it's also the most powerful storm to form this early in recent memory. The wind bands began picking up yesterday and it is a strange phenomenon. The sky began greying over and clouds were swirling around and the wind was hot. Last night the wind would pick up and die down every fifteen minutes or so. There was one huge thunder blast that must have been the loudest I've heard here. It was late and I was reading in the living room and the sound jolted me and just about every car alarm in the block. So it could be a long, wet summer that makes us all the more anxious to leave this place.
I like to pride myself in being a realist rather than a pessimist but coping with the harsh weather here is really getting to Darcy and myself. Neither of us is in the mood looking for work and I would ideally like a break before possibly going back to school. Maybe we can both take an extended vacation in fall 2006. Our lease would run out at the end of July next year and we could pack up our stuff, drive back to Edmonton or Calgary and store it. Then we could go on a vaction overseas that fall and winter. We'd have to budget our money though but that should be okay. I'm at work preparing to teach a library instruction class to doctoral computer science students. I'd rather be at home reading but luckily I get comp time for coming in on days off. Also need to deal with our incompetent landlords again. They have my credit card on file and said that way they can pay my rent automatically rather than me come in The first time I did this they lost my paperwork and I had to convince them to take off the late rent charge. I did the paperwork a second time and obviously some one has screwed up again. Plus it seems everytime I go to the office it is closed when it should be open! Who needs to deal with that crap?
My horrible cold is almost gone after over three weeks of suffering. I haven't been this sick for this long since my food poisoning bout in 1997. I've lost much energy and am coughing and hacking like an old man. Plus it's made me grumpy. The day before I got sick was my ill fated interview with the HCT and subsequent record home workout of doing 148 chinups. How far I've fallen since then! But on the bright side is that my vacation starts on my birthday and our wedding is fast approaching...
posted by Michael at 12:38 PM
