tallbridgeguy

Okay our mini crisis may be winding down depending on how much rain we get today. So to recap, I tend to over react in periods of uncertainty. For example, when I heard our city water may not be drinkable I drove for an hour to pick up enough bottled water for a week. I was also calculating how I could use the water from our dehumidifier to flush our toilets.

I worried about how I was going to get my family, 3 dogs, 3 cats, a guinea pig and horse to a hotel in another city. (I must be an engineer. My kids say I always look for the worst scenario.) And when the eventual riots broke out, how I was going to defend our hoard of canned goods. (And you know everyone was going to become a zombie, it’s just common sense.)

The other thing that occurred to me is how easy we have it. Imagine the inconvenience of 2-5 days of boiled water compared to nations without water to boil! When I was in Moscow, I did not understand how people survived when times were relatively good and now with the heat wave / environmental disaster looming, who do they turn to? And don’t get me started on Haiti or Pakistan….

So, bottom line, we have it good, I can stand to wear clothes two days in a row, the world is not ending. (not until 2012!)

If you can donate to those truly in need and as engineers donate as much skill as you can.

Well the flood is over but now we have to boil our water to drink! At least I was smart enough to go and get six flats of bottled water before the end of times comes…we can bath in the city water but no drinky. The power also went out at my wife’s biotech company and all her chemicals / anti-bodies may have been compromised. We took what we could to another location, so we will have to wait and see what survives…

Sooo, this is a very minor annoyance for us but it put me to thinking what I would do in a major crisis. (Shopping at the local walmart with empty water shelves was surreal…I kept thinking about Omega Man!) Imagine if the water supply went down completely, no toilets, no showers and no fresh Popsicles!

Next time I will be ready with my high powered anti looting device! With optional orange spotting light!

I want to learn how to do this.

We had 11 inches of rain in the last three days. Couple that with near 100 degree temperatures and you have some fun. Now all the rivers and creeks are flooding and I am on an island at work.

Click on the image for a larger view.

I want to teach this class.

Innovative Approach to Teaching Undergraduate Reinforced Concrete Design

I guess I knew it all along, you have to be proficient at drawing to be a good painter. Sooo, I am practicing small images during breaks at work and at home.

I keep thinking drawing should have been part of the curriculum for engineering students. The ability to express your ideas quickly through a sketch is invaluable.

Anyway, some quick eye sketches. The blue one happened because all I had on hand was blue watercolor paint…

And  a bonus photo, my wife took of a caterpillar on our friends tree.

On Point, a radio show, discusses the Golden Gate bridge. Give it a listen here.

On Point

I’m for it and I hope it stays the way it is now….

Everybody should have their own footbridge….courtesy of Ron Hazelton.

Ron Hazelton

The great blog, Bridge Photo of the Day, has hung up its boots and gone into the witness protection program. Well not really.

Mark Yashinsky has decided to go back to school and has posted his last image. I believe its a clue to where he is going. (To a school under some orange bridge?)

Thanks Mark for all the great photos and I am still really jealous of all the places you have been!