Never compare yourself to other peopl...

I call BS.  Teachers always told me not to compare myself to other people.  But let's be honest, sometimes it feel damn good to compare yourself to others less fortunate.

And so while I lament the water drips in three places in the ceiling and the slow but steady leeching of water from the brick wall to the basement, I amuse myself with these comments and stories of rain and flooding from Prince of Petworth:

http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2011/09/best-rain-or-uncontrollable-amount-of-water-story/#comments

Source

Gaddafi Cabernet

Seen yesterday in the window of the Bacchus Wine Cellar in Georgetown D.C. yesterday:

Gaddafi Cabernet

with nutty flavors & a curiously disappearing finish

Update on The Wall

The roommate emails:

I just sanded the drywall and cleaned up the best I could but that stuff stays airborn for days and weeks. We'll definitely need to dust...

And goddamnit, I'm covered. I look like I'm wearing a powdered wig.

Source

Sigh, I won't even start going into the trouble Hurricane Irene got us into.  Many more walls to fix at this time...  No energy to talk about it today...

Fixing The Wall

As I mentionned previously, the earthquake left hairline fractures in my dining room wall.  Thank goodness, my super awesome roommate took it upon himself to fix it.  Here are a couple of emails from him about the situation:

No, not the album/movie by Pink Floyd, the one that got cracked in our kitchen...

I use the drywall compound to fill in the cracks. That said, there's a process that has to be followed for it to be done right. which is as follows:

1. apply compound

2. let it dry

3. reapply compound

4. let it dry

5. sand

6. wipe down with wet rag to remove drywall dust

7. using the roller apply primer

8. let it dry

9. using angled brush, cut-in along corner, ceiling, floor molding and window

10. repaint wall with the roller from corner to window (otherwise it'll be obvious that only certain spots were painted)

11. possibly apply a second coat depending on appearance

12. MOST IMPORTANT--drink a glass of wine to celebrate a job well done

Currently we are on step number 2. I'll take the lead on this and have it done by the end of the week... Then you must join me for step 12.

Mwah!

Source

Other Item

I should also remember to have a wrench or pliers close at hand...

Things to Do Before the Storm

Things to Do
- Move all patio furniture indoors
- Move pepper and basil plants and succulent inside
- Tarp area underneath the porch to prevent water leaking into the basement
- Unclog drains originating from the roof

- Close all blinds (to prevent glass shards from getting into the house)

- Recharge all essential electronics tonight

Things to Buy
- Battery operated flashlight
- Battery operated lamp
- Battery operated radio
- Candles
- A few cans
- A gallon of water

Place These Items in Easy to Reach Location
- First Aid Kit
- Solar charger
- Leatherman
- Flashlight, lamp, candles, radio
- Can opener

The Earthquake Shook Toronto Too

A friend who lives in Toronto wrote me the following email:

No damage was done to my building from [the] quake. Plus we have really good collective owners governance for a condominium, and I am now going to look at my insurance policy to double check. My big windows creak alot during earthquakes, but they seem just fine (seeing as glass is a liquid). Sorry to hear about your wall. I hope it's just cosmetic damage? Do you want me to consult two elderly architects about it for you?

My dad just took a while to clue in that my screaming 'earthquake' wasn't part of a bad skype connection (and indeed a real earthquake). I guess when people are on the phone with somebody who is in another area (it’s hard to understand that something as weird as an earthquake is occurring on the other end until you yell earthquake about ten times!). I mean this is Toronto, it’s like yelling volcano...

We have friends in New Zealand and they are still in shock. Pretty jarring stuff. Things are definitely not alright with them yet on so many levels.

[…]

Sorry about the cracked wall. I hope it doesn't leak water. My mum explained to me at a young age that the main goal of architecture is stopping water leaks...

Sherm-

Hurricane Irene

Aaaaand, less than 24 hours after the earthquake, apparently, DC is going to get plowed by wind and rain from Hurricane Irene.

So it's off to Home Depot for me and my roomate on Friday, so we can put tarp and sandbags underneath my porch in a sad attempt to prevent water leakage into the basement.

See DC Goverment's recommendations on how to stack up sandbags...

Sigh.

Devastation in the Dominican Republic After Hurricane Irene

source

Earthquake in DC

Yep, we had a 5.9 earthquake in the District of Columbia and nope, I don't have earthquake insurance... Here's an email I sent to family:

Hi All,



We're all so glad that it wasn't a bad earthquake, but I must admit that not having access to calling the family for 2 hours after the earthquake (all phone lines were jammed) was quite panicking. I have several hairline fractures in my dining room wall in the drywall, which I suspect are not a structural issue, but I'll be calling my insurance and getting some professionals in the house to check if the fractures impact the actual brick wall underneath :(

Ack, who ever convinced me that owning a house was a good idea?

Anyhoo, hope all is well with everyone,

xoxo [007 in Africa]

PS: By sheer stroke of unluck, there is one building at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that is closed for further inspection, but it doesn't happen to be the one in which I work! I could really use a day off today :)

The church spire of the Church close to my house fell unceremoniously and dropped unto the stairs in front.

Life-threatening damage from a plastic gutter that detached from the front of the house in Petworth.

OK so the gutter fall was not that life-threatening but it's now resting on a loose electrical wire.  I'd like to see you handle electrified metal!

Blue Moutains

Sister on her mean motorcycle

Sister at her Radio Desk


White Rocks of Bondi Beach

Looking Back at Bondi Beach

So I finally made it to my sister's last week.... She lives in the Blue Mountains around Sydney, about an hour's train ride away. I arrived on Friday while she was still in class. She has ordered me a taxi from the station, but no taxi to be found. So I followed her directions, with suitcase and backpack in tow, and climbed odd hills blindly (the directions were far from perfect), and frustratingly asked for directions to her house. It's a small town here but no one really seems to know the street names, and the streets are poorly marked.


Finally, she caught up with me, in her leather jacket and helmet on her little postman motorcycle. A sight to see. Regardless, she was able to show me the way, but I still needed to climb the hills with my heavy suitcase. Sigh.


It's unbelievably cold here. I can't believe I'm saying that, having living in Canada in -25 degree weather. But it's a humid cold that seeps into your bones. There is no heat inside buildings, so you never quite recover from your chills. I slept with long johns and socks, in a sleeping bag, with a cover and a heater. And still felt cold. When I took a (hot?) shower, I couldn't tell whether the water was cold or hot due to my skin being so chilled.


We went into Sydney yesterday - it took us three hours to complete a trip that usually takes one hour, because of track maintenance. You think DC's metro is bad? Think again. After walking for 20 minutes, taking the train for another 20, a bus for 1.5 hours and a a short taxi ride, we met up for brunch in Bondi Beach with my colleagues.


Bondi is gorgeous - for a winter day, it finally warmed up and we went for a walk on the beach sidewalks, seeing surfers in the waves, cautious swimmers in swallow pools created into hollowed-out rocks, white and beige jutting rock formations and people just generally sunning themselves on the grassy patches close to the beach. It's so beautiful here, I would move in an instant if there was a good job for me.


Then we walked around in an outdoor market full of local designers' wares, had drinks with her friends at the Opera House overlooking a sunset over the bridge, and had a wonderful Chinese meal in a tiny authentic restaurant. We also went to check out my sister's radio show, Diffusion Science Radio, and she interviewed me for about 5 minutes!


We finished off with walk in Glenbrook National Park (Bush Walk) and a picnic.


I'm now back in D.C. where it's been more than 90 degrees for 19 days. My lawn is a poor sight to see...

Pictures of Down Unda'

 

Mist over a field, as part of the the view during my morning run

Three Crocodiles, Sunning Themselves in a Nature Sanctuary close to Canungra

OMG, OMG, OMG, Koalas are so cute! It doesn't matter what they do - even when they defecate, people just say "oooh! aaah!". They're like stuffed animals when they munch, slowly and carefully climb trees and open and close their little palms. Ridiculously cute.

I'm petting a thoroughly unimpressed Kangaroo!

Emu

A Cassowary in the Sanctuary - a mean looking and dangerous bird

Some type of White Bird on a branch

Bundaberg (Australian Rum) and Coke, in a can! A cheap and delicious treat after a long 10 days at xxx

A little bit of down time in the airport after returning from Brisbane and on our way to Sydney. Time for a visit to my sister who lives in the Blue Mountains around Sydney!

007's Brother's Email

All,


Man my life is so boring. My life isn't that exciting, but let me see if I can spin a narrative which makes it sound as cool as your lives.


Early on Monday morning, I boarded a small JetBlue aircraft. The air in Manhattan was thick, as if it was anticipating the rough terrain ahead. As my little plane pulled up on the tarmac at my destination, I realized I was stepping into a place few had gone to before: Pittsburgh. The name itself is synonymous with adventure and the unknown.


I rushed into my little taxi, swerved onto the crazy streets full of traffic and arrived at my client's office. I was working in the business that runs this town. Some say it's reach touches every person in this place, forgotten by the rest of civilization. It affects the lowly street sellers and the fat-cat politicians. It's what makes the world go round. It's... health insurance.


Monday morning was crazy, the minute I arrived, I rushed into a steering committee meeting. Sweating bullets, I reported our progress to the senior clients. These men in dark suits run the firm, and some say this whole town. Two members of my team were down and sick I said, so progress was slow. But we now knew how to attack the problem. We would focus, I said, on two key customer segments. Retirees and small business. The client went ballistic. What about medium businesses they asked? Isn't there demand in that segment? Aren't we leaving money on the table? No, we told them, it would just be too expensive. The IRRs wouldn't make sense.


After a full day of meetings, I retired to my small shabby hotel. It was called the Renaissance, and tended by a nice guy called Tommy. I could hear the bustle of streets below... Would I ever make it out of Pittsburgh alive?


007 - that explains why you haven't been returning my phone calls.


Hope all is well!


Cheers,
[007 in Africa's Brother]

007's Sister's Email

Hi all,

I'm currently staying at a YHA in Pitwater about 90 minutes out of Sydney (I have a week off between terms). It's heart-meltinglybeautiful-- a crystalline bay, gamboling wallabies, bickering magpies,soft warm breezes, a crackling fireplace, lazy hammocks, all set in anold sprawling house which dates back to the 1930s. There are stainglass windows that never get a ray of light. And piles of halffinished knitting abandoned on the worn leather couches of the livingroom. Only two others are here: an old man from the South Coast onrespite from caring for his wife (who has MS), and a sustainablefarmer who comes here every year to get away from things for a while.We've all come alone. At nighttime we play our favourite jazz albumsand discuss science, philosophy. Amiable company.

I have already been on two runs and had two naps. I've reacquainted myself with the physiology of the kidney (hello!). I leave tomorrow.

007's Email

Hey Dad and All,


Thanks for the news! It sounds like a nice vacation and I’ve very jealous...


Well after about 25 hours of travelling ([007's sister], my hat’s off to you for doing that twice a year or more), I arrived in Brisbane and met up with my group. We travelled to xxx a few days after that.


I basically work in a small, overheated portioned room with about 30 other civilians (or “hippies” as we are called here) from the US and Australia. It’s sometimes hard to hear ourselves in here as there are a number of other groups behind other partitions that are significantly louder than us. The building is rigged with a jungle of multicolored live wires, and holds buckets collecting water from the leaky roof - it's quite a run-down site to see. It makes me feel like I am in a humid bunker during the second World War.
 The food is actually quite good and incredibly fattening (fried potatoes, pasta with bacon, rice, chocolate pudding, chicken, pork, lamb, steak, a few pieces of whitish lettuce). You wouldn’t believe it but I actually walk or run in the morning to get rid of the calories (OK I did that twice, but still). The mist hanging on the long stretches of land is beautiful and I’ve seen lots of Kookabaras and hear their eerie laughing and cackling sounds. We sometimes hold our meetings in large tents made from a thin material that looks like plastic ponchos, or outside in the cool, sunny air of the Australian winter. It can be quite distracting as I see new flora and fauna around me... such as large black and white birds, and gnarled dry trees.


[...]


My days generally run from 6:00 am (time I wake up) to about 9:30 pm (time I go to bed), and that’s a perfect schedule for me!


Looking forward to seeing [007's Sister] in about a week,
007 in Africa

Email From Mum and Dad

Hola las muchachas et el muchacho,

Bonjour from rue Vendome!

We have just spent a week out of contact at Argentiere in the Colin's chalet. I was able to read a quarter of Middlemarch due to the absolute absence of any Internet or phone connection. (It turns out that for ATT to allow international roaming one needs three months or more of active contract, so I have been as though on the dark side of the moon. It's actually quite nice.)

The hiking was arduous and quite difficult but I'm sure did us both a lot of good. We spent the week with Jim and Elizabeth and Penny. Neither Elizabeth nor Penny did any real hiking but fortunately Jim is a serious hiker, and Maman pretty much kept up with us (or in fact, went down the mountains a lot faster than me! The weather was mostly OK but there was one day of heavy rain and a second when the mountains were shrouded in cloud so we hiked in the mist. We also went up the Aiguille du Midi, around 3,800 metres (12,000 ft) and admired the Mer de Glace with hundreds of Japanese tourists, then hiked across the mountain to the glacier. (007's Brother) will remember our traversée of the Mer de Glace about 10 years ago. Then yesterday we returned to Lyon via Megève, which I had never visited; a bit too expensive and ostentatious even for me!

This morning I put Penny back on the train for London, and Maman and I have spent the day doing the washing. Tomorrow we go and spend the day with Maman's godmother in the country, about 1 1/2 hours from here, then Tuesday we leave to spend time with the Martins in Dordogne.

Thinking of you, wish you were here,

Lots of love,
Maman and Dad.

Sights from my Misty, Early Morning Run

A Kookaburra Saying Hello At Breakfast

From Wikipedia

Kookaburras (genus Dacelo) are large to very large (total length 28–42 cm/11–17 in) terrestrial kingfishers native to Australia and New Guinea, the name a loanword from Wiradjuri guuguubarra, which is onomatopoeic of its call. The single member of the genus Clytoceyx, though commonly referred to as the Shovel-billed Kookaburra, is not treated in this article.

Kookaburras are best known for their unmistakable call, which sounds uncannily like loud, echoing human laughter — good-natured, but rather hysterical, merriment in the case of the renowned Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae); and maniacal cackling in the case of the slightly smaller Blue-winged Kookaburra (D. leachii).

Sunset Over Brisbane

Looks Just LiKe Burger Kings

Australia

In the last two months, I've been to Los Angeles for vacation for 5 days, Kenya for work for 10 days, and NY over a weekend. I haven’t had time or the energy to update my blog, but here’s a little information on my trip to Australia.


6 hours from DC to LA.
14 hours from LA to Sydney and 1.5 hours from Sydney to Brisbane.


Brutal - makes me appreciate what my sister goes through to come visit us from Sydney twice a year.


Having finally collected our luggage in Brisbane, we arrive, exhausted, at the hotel at 10 am, only to be told that hotel check-in is at 2 pm. Sigh... The bunch of us (9 that arrived that day + 2 that had arrived a day before) pile our identical black suitcases and beige backpacks in a room and go to lunch at JoJo's, an Italian- inspired restaurant (but with curries and Thai food to boot). The inside is gaudy with modern, blue, neon, wire lighting and colored, life-sized status of Louis Armstrong and what looks to be Josephine Baker.


Then we split up and go on our merry way, some of us going to the water and other just strolling around the city. Brisbane is a bustling city with tall skyscrapers. Not terribly charming in terms of city landscape but the people seem diverse (in terms of nationalities, there's a good mix of Asians and Australians). It's really weird because I recognize at least 50 percent of the stores there - there seem to be a lot of chains, and most of them American: Target. (note the dot at the end, indicating that it's a little different from our Target), Starbucks, Body Shop (that one is British), 7/11, Ann Taylor Loft, Guess, etc... It's a little sad actually how chains seemed to be obliterating local businesses.


The next day, I go to the countryside for two days of preparation and briefing.  It looks remarkably like LA with its one-level cottage houses, palm trees, eccentric beach bums. But it's very hilly. There’s beautiful morning light.


That day, I learn Australian Military Slang:


Choco: part-time soldiers, reservists
Rockshow: a poorly managed group
Gumy and Goffers: junk food and soda
Have a durie: have a cigarette
Furphy: a tall story, a lie
Pouge (or POG): someone not involved in combat
Rat Pack: a ration pack, for 24 hours
Numpty: an individual who just doesn't get it