Imagine, being told to evacuate the city you live in and later finding out your home, your possessions and your job are all gone because of the destruction. Worse yet, imagine being one of those who were unable, or chose not to heed the evacuation warnings who are without drinking water, food, shelter or means of communicating to the outside world. Seeing the scenes left in Hurricane Katrina’s wake, I can’t begin to understand what the people there are going through.
Tag Archives: Life
A broken camping trip
This past week I headed up to Northern Wisconsin to camp at one of my favorite places, the Northern Highland – American Legion State Forest.
Not so shocking after all
The stereotypical view of car mechanics (lying to your face so they can get their next boat payment out of your wallet) is probably fueled by ignorance — not ignorance of mechanics, but ignorance of automobiles. I’ve been in situations where mechanics try and use my ignorance to scare me into getting things done. It’s especially difficult when you’re pulling into the garage of a mechanic that you’ve never had a prior relationship with. I speak from experience, having moved seven months ago (has it been seven months already?).
Procrastination nation
In past years I couldn’t believe how many people waited until the last minute to do their taxes. Invariably, every year on the evening news of April 15th (tax deadline here in the U.S.), the big story would be the lines of people at the post office, mailing their tax returns at the last minute. When I worked at the public library I was amazed by the number of people we would get the last few days before tax day, frantically searching for the tax forms they needed.
Designing in my sleep
I’ve been creating and working with websites for about the past 8 years or so. Most recently, I started the first stages of designing a site for the library where I work.
Last night, I had my first web design dream. In fact, I had a small web design revelation last night — while I was sleeping. In my dream, I was working on the library website and I came up with what I think is a pretty good design idea. It wasn’t a big idea, just one for a particular aspect of the design. Is it conceited to be impressed with an idea your subconscious came up with?
Dreaming is something that I very much enjoy doing. Quite often, I find the experience similar to watching a really good movie. Be it conceited or not, the idea I had last night was a good one and I got a kick out of dreaming it into existence.
Good day sunshine
What a pleasure it was to see the sun shining in Madison after about a week or so of cloudy, overcast (and sometimes snowy) weather. It’s during this time of the year when I can understand how people can become depressed and suffer from things like seasonal affective disorder. During these months (late February, early March) I always feel like my batteries are in serious need of recharging. On days like today I genuinely get an emotional lift from the sun shine.
Midwinter ponderings
There are a few things I’ve been pondering lately.
- Why does a meager two-inch overnight snowfall cause massive traffic jams during the morning commute in Madison?
- Bob Marley would have turned 60 years old a few days ago, were he still alive. Way back in the late 1970’s, his music served as my introduction to reggae music. I wonder how my music collection (and my fondness for reggae and other world music) would be different if Bob Marley hadn’t been around.
- Is it feed a cold, or starve a cold? With all the liquids I’ve been drinking (and subsequent bathroom visits) I’ve decided it should be drown a cold.
- Using Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft FrontPage at work only reinforces my dislike of Microsoft products. At least I’m able to use Firefox there.
- What are Asian beetles doing in North America? More importantly, what are they doing in my attic? Hopefully they aren’t inviting the African, Australian and the South American beetles to come over too.
Thanksgiving thoughts
Since yesterday was Thanksgiving Day here in the United States, I thought it might be good to post some things I’ve been thankful for recently.
- The exciting opportunity of a new job.
- Being supported by family and friends.
- The beauty of the natural world.
- The opportunity to travel.
- Music and all of its charms.
Get the grump out
Wouldn’t the world be a whole lot better if people just wouldn’t be grumpy? That might be asking a lot for some, so how about just one day? Surely you can be pleasant for one day. Okay, you’re thinking, I can try (and don’t call me Shirley).
That’s the premise of the third annual Great American Grump Out next Wednesday. For 24 hours on May 26, people are urged to abstain from being grumpy or crabby. Can YOU meet the challenge?
Who do you trust?
A recent visit to a new auto mechanic (for an expensive repair) got me thinking about trust. How do you decide to trust someone? Once you get to know a person that decision does get easier, but what about the people you’re unfamiliar with, or those you are unable to get to know? There are a lot of people in our lives we must trust, even though we have very limited information about them. Having to decide if the car mechanic is trying to rip you off, if your doctor is the best qualified to treat you or if a certain politician is the best leader can be very difficult.