Green Buildings

This morning I worked at the Davis Farmer's Market. It's always a pleasure to work in Davis, but today was particularly interesting. First of all, the Davis crowd is just way to smart for us. We are the Yolo Energy Efficiency Project, but today we had to field a complex and random variety of questions, comments, and concerns. One man decided to state proudly that he doesn't wear sunscreen (who makes fun of sunscreen?), one man asked us about gardening and landscaping (uh, we may be green but we don't know much about greenery), one man asked us about how he could get solar panels for his farm (a valid question but something I don't know much about), and to top it off, one women told us about the side effects of her medication (TMI). But by far the best inquiry was about green buildings. One woman approached me and stated that she was in charge of some development somewhere in So Cal. I forgot the details, but she then asked me how to make the buildings green and energy efficient. Well, that is a pretty broad question, but hopefully I steered her in the right direction. I asked her a few basic questions to gauge her knowledge, and surprisingly, she knew very little. I don't understand how she could have this job and no nothing about green design…but that is beside the point. Maybe she was flattering me. Even if she was faking it, I at least got to tell her about some companies that produce environmentally friendly carpet and roofing products. I also informed her about the Savings by Design and LEED Certification programs. Then I felt proud of myself for knowing this kind of stuff.

A few weeks ago we tabled at the Davis Food Coop when they unveiled their new solar panels. There I met the director of roofing for the State of Nevada (a very random position if you ask me) and I started talking to him about the urban heat island effect. He didn’t know very much about it, so I tried to convince him that the costs of using roofing materials that reflect heat rather than absorb it into the building are less than the benefits of energy savings because the building won't be absorbing heat and then need more AC. Not to mention keeping the heat down reduces smog production. I think I’m starting to like this job. Very rarely I get to spew some knowledge at some people. Fun times.

Toilet paper and such...

Our governor referred to the legislators as "girlie men" for not passing his budget. I could take this opportunity to cry out on behalf of all women and say that a comment like that is pretty offensive. Considering Arnold's record with women, if I were him I wouldn't go around associating "girls" with such negative connotations. However, I'm going to take this opportunity to bring to your attention something else peculiar going on in the State Capitol: one-ply toilet paper. I've heard that in an attempt to save money, the Capitol building has switched to the cheaper one-ply. Is this really the legislators lame attempt to act as if they are making huge sacrifices in this time of budgetary woe? Come on, one-ply? Everyone knows that one-ply doesn't save you money in the long run anyway because you have to use more of it. There has to be better ways to save money. And do guys even use toilet paper? In my opinion, the move to one-ply toilet paper is just another offensive act against women. After all, it is we who use more of it and we who in the end will fall victim to the tragedy of one-ply.

My Friend and Cohort

Over the last few days I have been heavily influenced by my good friend and cohort, streptococcus pyogenes. Good ole strep is not really the kind of friend who digs intellectually stimulating conversations. He is more like the kind who likes to take you out all night drinking and pick fights with the local biker gangs. As a result, I have spent the last few days glued to either the couch or my bed. And while I usually rather enjoy these places of fine comfort, I have to admit I'm going a little stir crazy. Because my throat feels like it has shrunk to the size of a safety pin, I can't say I have been able to carry on a conversation recently. Although attempting conversation with the sales people who call incessantly has been fairly amusing. When I try to muster up all my energy to allow a coherent noise to roll out of my mouth, I usually fail. So the conversation starts....

Me: "Hello"
Salesperson: "Is your mom or dad home?"

At this point I could turn this into some real fun...

Me: "I'm the lady of the house here. Don't you be disrespecting me. I'm just sick, that's all. I answered the phone cause I thought it'd be my husband with the good stuff. But as usual he is late. That lying, cheating, son of a..."
Salesperson: "I'll call back at a better time."

But instead I usually just tell the truth...

Salesperson: "Is your mom or dad home?"
Me: "No"
Salesperson: "Do you know when they'll be in?"
Me: "What do I know? I just work here."

Devil's Arithmetic

I have never understood how life can be counted down to numbers. How exactly do you calculate the value of a human? Or wage the risk factor for going to war? Or understand relationship between cancer death rates and exposure to harmful chemicals based on statistical predictions? How do we do that? How do we make it okay to send people to die based on some value that we expect others to believe in? Okay, so obviously I've transitioned here. I still fail to understand the justification for starting a war with Iraq based on the view of spreading democracy. Democracy has to be built from the people by the people. And what kind of democracy are we offering? The kind contracted by halfhearted corporations and dictated by our Western-capitalist-consumer sense of reality. Do people realize that Iraq has more PhD's per capita than the US does? Do people see that of all the ministries in Iraq- the ministry of education, the ministry of communication, etc.- the only one to not be destroyed by "ally" forces was the Ministry of Oil? What kind of precedent does that set? Its okay to demolish educational records....but don't touch that precious natural resource? Please.

I'm disgusted by people who say peace isn't possible. It just takes time, that's all. It disguted me in Israel, and it disgusts me now. Why do people fall back on terrorism? Obviously they are angry at something. I feel like every question but "why" gets asked. So here I am, asking why.

Fam Time

Tonight I went to my Aunt Jacqui and Jan's place for some good bbq and fam time. As usual, it is great to be so close to my aunts. I have one is Sacramento and one in Roseville. Not too close and not too far. I always have good times with Jacqui and Jan, not only because they share my political views, but because they are just cool people. Jan's family from North Carolina was there also. Can't say I much identify with those folks, but once I go off roading with them, maybe I'll change my mind. Tonight I got Jan to admit she lives in suburban hell and likes it, and I got everyone to listen to my rant about why bottled water sucks.

It has been about seven years since my parents got divorced. Most of the experiences that have made me who I am today happened while my parents were separated. But still, sometimes I get weirded out by it all. This weekend my mother moved in with her fiancee. She recently informed me of her new home phone number. So why is that a big deal? Her old phone number... 432-4540... is the phone number I grew up with. I've had it since I was six. I will probably always remember it, it has been ingrained in my memory. And now it is gone. Now I know that this doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the divorce. We could have changed phone numbers for any number of reasons, like if we had moved out of Fresno. But for some reason, I'm totally weirded out that my childhood phone number is gone. I guess it just reminds me of when my parents were together and when we all lived together with that phone number.

IM philosophy

KRedhead99: do we really need to procreate?
dey405: we're all gonna die soon anyway, as in humans
dey405: its true
dey405: we suck
KRedhead99: how so?
dey405: humans? we shred everything up
KRedhead99: yeah i agree
KRedhead99: its like..if we are going to fuck up the earth
KRedhead99: so that we are all going to die
KRedhead99: at least we could make it so ALL humans are living well
dey405: ya
KRedhead99: but instead..just a few of us are living great at the expensive of millions of other
KRedhead99: and that just bothers me
dey405: i know we all suck

Kandahar

Tonight Jen and I went to Haleh's house and watched the movie "Kandahar" about an Afghani woman who lives in Canada but is going back to Afghanistan to find her sister. The movie was short, 85 minutes, but powerful. I don't know how true the movie was, that is, how well it portrayed life in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Some of the scenes depicted were unbelievable, like one of the first scenes where a woman is teaching young girls who are about to enter Afghanistan about how to avoid landmines. She warns the children not pick up a doll on the ground if they see one, for there is a mine under it.

Sometimes I find it hard to imagine a more stupid creation by humans than landmines. Its not like landmines are smart enough to know when to blow up. They kill anything and everything. And its not like they are easy to remove either, who would want that job? Another disturbing scene in the movie shows a bunch of limbless men describing how they lost their limbs to landmines and then fight over prosthetic replacements. And it makes me even more angry to think that the US still uses cluster bombs. They do the same thing. The bomb breaks apart into a bunch of little bombs, many of which do not explode until some kid sees it and picks it up. These were used a lot in Afghanistan and I even heard they are yellow, the same color as the food packets that were dropped over Afghanistan. When I was in Israel we drove through mine fields in the Golan near the border of Syria. There are acres and acres of land that is now completely untouched and hazardous. How's that for environmental preservation?

Love them Bears

For Jen's 21st we ventured out of the Davis bubble and headed to Chico. After dinner and "the sampler" at the Sierra Nevada Brewery, we headed out to check out the Chico night live. Even thought it was the summer and, like Davis, a lot less active, I must say I was rather impressed with Chico's bar scene. This comes at no surprise of course, but at least now I can say so for myself and not base my view off the stereotypes.

We first visited Madison Bear Gardens, affectionately referred to as "The Bear." The Bear was a bar my dad liked to frequent when he went to Chico State, and I can see why. Three stories, three bars, and three dollar drink specials. Specialty shots were also $2, and we sure tried a lot of those! Next we went to the crazyhorse, a bar straight out of that John Travolta movie "urban cowboy." The chaps, cowboy hats, and country music I have never heard before wasn't really my style, but it was still a cool bar with lots of personality. Then we went back to the Bear and home. Fun times, even though I was so full from dinner I didn't even get near being drunk.

Saturday morning Jen, Haleh, and I went to Bidwell park and checked out the swimming holes. Those are awesome places. We went to Bear Hole and then Salmon Hole. What a cool place.

After getting back from Chico I went to dinner in Sac with my aunt, and then we went on an art walk through some galleries downtown. Apparently every 2nd Saturday in Sac they have this art walk where all the galleries are open and they serve drinks and snacks. I must say I really enjoyed it. Strolling through the streets with lots of different people and viewing lots of different styles of art work. I think I would like to do it again next month. And eventually, maybe I will even be able to buy some of the art work I admired.

Rhetorical Questions

Are we destined to always want more? Can we ever be really satisfied? Times like these just make me want to hear that stones song, "You can't always get what you want..but if you try sometime you just might find you get what you need." So simple, but it makes so much sense. How can I simultaneously know what I want, and not know who the hell I am?

Sigh

They always come in waves...