Alabama Map Man

First post in a while (snow!)

2011-02-10T11:30:00.000-06:00

I realize I haven't posted in a while, but I thought I'd start again since, let's face it, my life is about to pick up in excitement with my impending wedding.

This has nothing to do with a wedding, but rather the snow we've gotten here over the past month. Upwards of 12 inches total (six a month ago today, and six yesterday and last night).

Here are a few highlights (from the one yesterday, photos taken this morning):

Icicles hanging off the front of my car

Snow on the top and back of my car

Icicles on the house's overhang

Close up of the overhang icicles

West Oxford Loop @ Jackson Ave. There is a slight hill here on this now icy intersection...

...I saw more than one car give up and just back track trying to get up the hill through this intersection.

Global warming wins again.

I hope to have some pictures of a much warmer location (Cozumel, Mexico) after the Honeymoon Cruise!

A few Florida trip highlights

2010-05-06T22:37:00.000-05:00

Me with Snow White at the airport in Orlando.

Me petting a "mean ferocious" gator statue in front of "The Swamp" Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field

Me standing triumphant on the gator statue in front of "The Swamp" Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field. That should appease the Alumni Association.

An actual gator in Gainesville. I had the 10x zoom all the way out on my camera with a chain-linked fence in between us

A poor bunny I saw in Payne's Prarie Preserve State Park just south of Gainesville. I heard what I thought was a gator nearby. I doubt this bunny was long for this world.

Me and Rebeca outside the stadium

Mel (Rebeca's sister) devouring a dessert shot at the Seasons 52 in Orlando. A way to show how fancy this restaurant is...we had a lunch tab of $60, which included dessert...that someone flew in a helicopter and landed near by for lunch. Rebeca had a $50 gift card so it was only like $10 for us..

Once again

2009-09-01T22:02:00.002-05:00

That makes twice I've met Alton Brown. Once in Oxford, once in Atlanta. I also got wind (straight from A.B. himself actually) that he's probably going to be in Oxford again near-bouts February. I'll probably go to that, will that make me a borderline psycho-stalker?!? (Also, doen't my facial expression look psycho-stalker like?) I'll have more of a write-up on this experience later, just wanted to post a picture from the weekend.

Paul on Slip & Slide

2009-07-25T18:12:00.002-05:00

Kerry requested I post this video...here you go Kerry!

100,000!

2009-06-04T09:50:00.003-05:00

Reached yesterday afternoon (June 3) at around 5:13pm, just as I was pulling back into my apartment complex here in Oxford, right by the office building/pool/mailboxes. You'll note the car is still in drive, but also note the speed as zero, meaning I'm not moving. I stopped to get this picture as soon as I noticed it (about 10 feet after it happened) and since there was no one behind me to get in, I didn't have to, say, pull into a parking spot. I got the car around 35,000 I think. Only 100,000 more miles to go for it's life (given the average lifespan of a Honda)!

Snow Storm 2009

2009-03-01T08:20:00.002-06:00

A few pictures of the snow storm we got here in Oxford last night. It started after midnight, so it was officially a spring month snowstorm.

As I do frequently on Saturdays, I will be watching something on TV (usually a movie, or documentary or something) and when I wrap it up, I'll fall asleep on my couch. Sometimes just for a few minutes, sometimes for half the night. When I woke up at about 3am, I looked outside and it was SNOWING, and everything was covered. I snapped the last picture (you know how Blogger posts pictures randomly). I snapped the other pictures after 8 this morning (as you'll be able to tell by the sun). I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Kenny's blog

2009-01-25T15:23:00.002-06:00

Well, Kenny failed to sign out on his blog the last time he logged in. I just tried to log into mine and ended up with his. So I am posting this just to get back at him. HA!

Delta Flooding

2008-12-15T21:35:00.002-06:00

After three+ days of rain last week, you might imagine parts of Mississippi would be susceptible to flooding. The Delta region is no different. Since it is full of low-lying farmland/floodplain, with many streams throughout the region, it is particularly susceptible. Basically the Delta region is one big floodplain, which explains its particularly fertile soil (thousands of years worth of silt-laden water flooding an area tends to create soil on the fertile side). These are some pictures I snapped along Highway 6 in Panola and Quitman counties on Saturday morning and afternoon on my way to and back from a CPC church outreach/cook-out function in Lambert, MS (just south of Marks, in Quitman County). I forget which ones were taken where since Blogger didn't post them in the order I added them (go figure), but two of them are in Panola County, and the other three in Quitman County. Enjoy!

(p.s. I should probably see a therapist about my obsession with the Delta region).

haha...and right before bedtime...

2008-11-21T23:41:00.001-06:00

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Online Dating

I may need a winter jacket this year

2008-11-12T08:12:00.003-06:00

This is global warming? If so, I may need to get a winter jacket this year. (This is a screenshot of Weather.com's ten day forecast for Oxford, taken this morning around 8am). Pay particular attention to the forecast for Nov. 20th.

a few foliage pictures

2008-11-08T20:54:00.003-06:00

I went out today before the Alabama vs. LSU game (ROLL TIDE!, btw) and snapped some pictures around Oxford of the foliage. It was breezy and cool, great Fall weather if you ask me. I wanted to get these pictures because I fully expect most (if not all) of the foliage to bee off the trees in the next few days (certainly by the next time I get a decent chance to snap some pictures of the foliage.

The first three are taken on the grounds of College Hill Presbyterian Church (PCA) just north of town in rural Lafayette County. Numbers 1 and 3 are attempts at artsy shots. I think they worked fairly well. Numbers 2 and 3 are of/around a ginkgo(?) tree. Number four is of a brilliantly yellow tree near The Grove on the Ole Miss campus. The third is of a squirrel eating the berries (buds?) off a crepe myrtle tree also near The Grove at Ole Miss. I have others (20ish?), but I think these are my favorites out of the lot.

Destiny/Roll Tide!

2008-10-27T22:51:00.004-05:00

The cover to the first Sports Illustrated published after I was born (those of you keeping score at home: Nov. 17). Assuming these things are mailed out a week before their published date (this one is Nov. 23), this might well have been on the news stands at Roper Hospital in Charleston, SC the day I was born. Mom, Dad...did you pay attention to the newsstands that day?

Roll Tide!

Grove Pictures

2008-10-04T21:42:00.002-05:00

The Grove on Gameday is one of those things that really cannot be explained: it HAS to be experienced. Here are a few pictures. The first two are general crowd pictures. The third is of the food spread at the tent I was invited to. The fourth is a picture of me with the accounting department at Slaughter & Associates: Tiffany. Bama won (not convincing, but a win none the less), Auburn lost (go `Dores), and unfortunately, Ole Miss lost. But it was a good day regardless.

RTR!

2008-08-04T17:39:00.002-05:00

So here is what the tag looks like on my car. I got it today after a bit of a misunderstanding of what I needed to bring to the Lafayette County Chancery Building. I had to run home and get a socket wrench to get the old tag off to turn it over to them. There was a bit of a misunderstanding about when my renewal date would be, and how much I had to pay today, but that got cleared up and thus my renewal date is as it should be, August 2009.

Roll Tide!

Some Japan pictures...as promised

2008-08-03T21:38:00.003-05:00

These are all ones in which I appear, sort of to prove to you (and remind myself) that I actually spent time in Japan, albeit years ago now (June - August of 2001). Most of all the pictures I now have a hard time remembering much about, but fortunately for me, I did keep copies of my e-mail updates, and have managed to keep in touch with a couple of the folks who also went with the same team, so between those and my own recollections, I can probably piece together a good chunk of the pictures. These, however, I can recall fairly well. I have something on the order of 200 pictures, and I placed all the negatives into one envelope with wanton disregard for the order. I figured I could do that in the future based on how they appear in my photo album (as I recall, those are reasonably close to being in chronological order).

So here now I describe these five pictures in pictorial (not chronological order):

1. Me with a gentleman who was involved in the church who had trained as a kamikaze boat pilot for the Japanese Navy during WWII, but the war ended before he could be put into combat. He immediately picked up on the fact that both my grandfathers had been in the US Navy at the same time.

2. The Mt. Fuji group. Judging from the fact that I have an Alabama sweatshirt on, it was after my ill-fated attempt to climb the mountain. This one is interesting because I haven't seen it in over seven years now. Take note that it looks like it was an end of the roll picture or something and the original folks who developed it felt it wasn't worthy of putting to print. (It looks like about 10% of the picture is cut off and 10% of either the next or previous picture is also in the frame).

3. My home stay family minus the father (he is taking the picture if I recall), plus the father's parents. I have a couple of pictures with the father in them, so I do remember (was reminded?) what he looks like. They took me out to eat at some Japanese restaurant. Yes, they have Japanese restaurants in Japan. (I forget the food that was served exactly, probably pretty standard fare, sort of like the equivalent of a Ruby Tuesday, Applebee's, O'Charley's, et cetera, but I think they had sake and made/let/allowed me to take a swig).

4. Me at the sign directing potential patrons to the Hard Rock Cafe in Nagoya. What better place for Americans in Japan to eat than at a place that serves American food. (For their part, they did have a Japanese flare...for example, one could get rice with their "All-American Cheeseburger" substituted for french fries).

5. Me with Kyoto (Japan's ancient capital, from AD 784 - 1868--it's been at Tokyo since) in the background. It was the only major city not razed during WWII, consequently it still looks much like it did circa 1941. It doesn't have all the hustle and bustle that a city like Tokyo, Osaka or Nagoya (the three largest cities in order) have.

Those are the highlights. Take note they all featured me. However, there are a few more that do feature me (me singing "Piano Man" at a karaoke bar), and a few more that don't feature me that I intend on posting in the near future, so keep looking!

In Biloxi...yet again (or: "My 100th Post")

2008-07-30T20:20:00.003-05:00

No, I'm not staying at either the Hard Rock, Beau, or Imperial Palace...this time I'm staying at the Best Western--Oak Manor across the street from the Beau and Hard Rock. So once again, I get a room with a view...of the Beau (see first picture). No bother, we get better rates here and it's not nearly as asininely opulent. The two others are of my other view. Two nice quaint houses/offices, and part of a tall building in downtown Biloxi. If you ignore the big box right outside, it's a nice view...still with some of a small town feel to it. (Unfortunately, for the past three years or so, those big boxes outside are par for the course down here on the MS Gulf Coast). The pictures were taken on my cell phone camera, so I apologize again for the low quality.

Nothing particularly exciting going on down here. Just work. I did eat at The Shed over in Ocean Springs, which is a hole in the wall style BBQ restaurant, but is well known around these parts and almost always competes at Memphis in May.

I may actually head back to Oxford tomorrow afternoon...but I'm thinking it might be Friday morning still.

Oh, and I finally got the nerve to send my pictures from Japan in 2001 off to get on a CD (I had 200 or so 35mm negatives I sent off). I got a call today that they are ready. Just in time for my 7 year anniversary of being back. I may post some of the highlights here in a few days after I go through them and make sure Wal-Mart's photo processing didn't completely botch them. I suspect they will be all out of order (I stuffed all the negatives in one envelope), but I should be able to look through my photo album and get a general order.

UA Tag

2008-07-23T19:16:00.003-05:00

So I got notice recently that the Alabama car tags in Mississippi have just been shipped out to the various counties in the state and will be available any day now. Its funny, way back when, when they were soliciting folks to cough up the money to reserve them, they said in the letter, "Auburn has their tags, so why don't we?". Well, by George, that was enough for me (and apparently the x number of people required to send the tag designs to print. Its a pity, really, I was hoping to be able to state issued tag with the Biloxi lighthouse on it (http://www.mstc.state.ms.us/mvl/LighthouseTag.jpg), it really would have "gone" with my South Carolina Native sticker on my back window...(see my post from September 16, 2006).

My current tag runs out here at the end of the month, and it is up for renewal in August anyway. IT's a good thing, because there is apparently some ambiguity as to renewal issues (i.e. if you get the tag before your scheduled renewal month, does your renewal month change, or does it stay as is? ). So, it may be next Friday (August 1) before I get around to getting this one, just in case there is a problem with it...they've advised us to wait until Friday anyway before calling ahead to make sure our reserved tags are indeed in. Or I could just call to make sure what the deal is with the renewal issue, and go ahead and have it on Friday.

The CT apparently stands for "Crimson Tide" (makes sense). Apparently the state requires two vertical letters on specialty tags. Supposedly they couldn't use either UA, RT, or and so forth.

This really is a disorder...I'm sure

2008-06-18T21:12:00.003-05:00

You'll have to excuse my fascination with the Mississippi Delta region. Something about it just seems different, like they never made it past the Great Migration (circa 1940). There is one notable exception, Cleveland. Cleveland shows, more than any place else I've seen, how much a university (in this case, Delta State University) impacts the community. There may be other bright spots in the Delta (Greenwood, I'm told, is a bright spot too because of Viking Range being headquartered there; Robinsonville/Casino Center in Tunica County is also a bright spot, but ONLY if you consider that a community). The rest of the Delta (excluding DeSoto County which though it is technically a Delta county, doesn't really count as Delta; and Vicksburg which again doesn't really count as Delta, even though Warren County is a Delta County), is pretty blighted across the board. Having been now to a number of Delta cities/towns/villages, I can vouch for this (Clarksdale, Lyon, Ruleville, Marks, Mound Bayou, Yazoo City...the list goes on). One can see why so many folks had the blues there, and why it thus produced SO much good music.

Cleveland is a nice town, a bit of an anomaly in the Delta if you ask me.

However, the pictures I am posting now weren't taken in Cleveland, rather, they were taken somewhere between Cleveland and Marks. I believe they were mostly taken in Sunflower county, but it is likely that Tallahatchie or Quitman County are also where these pictures were taken.

I will try and describe these pictures the best I can remember them. You'll of course notice, they're all flat. The first one is of of sunflowers I belive (which leads me to believe it was in, you guessed it, Sunflower County). The middle two are of rice fields, I believe. The last one is of corn I believe.

Again, forgive the quality of the pictures, they were taken on my cell phone camera, and I was more focused on driving safely than framing a picture well.

Proof!

2008-05-29T21:04:00.003-05:00

Ah hah...

So you see...

I CAN beat Kelly in a word game...

This is just a test...

2008-05-29T21:03:00.001-05:00

This is just a test of a blogger widget

Had this been an actual post

It would have been followed by bold text

REPEAT: THIS IS JUST A TEST

I blame Kerry for this

2008-05-10T20:48:00.003-05:00

What was I doing ten years ago

Finishing my sophomore year of high school. Starting work at the Turtle Shell. Saying good bye to Robert "Bob" Young for good.

5 things to do on my "to do" list

Finish straightening up my room and get it in reasonably presentable condition
Get a detailing job on my car
Vacuum
Explore some places in Oxford that have been packed for the past 9+ months (class is out now here in Oxford, so students aren't hogging all the good places)
Travel to Virginia and Florida (I'm contemplating a trip to one on a yet to be determined long weekend)

5 snacks I enjoy

These are actually amazingly healthy for snacks:
Kashi dark chocolate chip and cherry granola bar
Apples
Sun Chips
popcorn
triscuits with cheese and olives

If I had a billion dollars, I'd...

Tithe
Fund the construction of a building exclusively for the Geography Dept. at UA, and provide funds for the upgrade of equipment
Buy a mountain villa
Put some away for interest and live off it (and allow it to transfer to children)

5 Bad Habits

Playing video games
Watching too much TV (though I wouldn't say what I watch is "mindless", except Scrubs and The Simpsons--everything else is quasi-educational at the very least)
Not reading as much as I should
Biting finger nails
Not putting clothes up after I wash them (even though it takes like, maybe two minutes total)

5 Places I've Lived

Charleston, SC
Prattville, AL
Tuscaloosa, AL
Oxford, MS
Nagoya, Japan (yeah, so I didn't "live" there, per se, but I haven't lived five places, and this is the longest I've stayed anywhere else).

5 Jobs I've had

Miscellaneous help at The Turtle Shell
Filer at Uni-Care in Prattville
"Coach" at a day-camp
GIS Technician at ALDOT
GIS Specialist Grad Student at the U of A Cart Lab and Office of Land Management
(yeah, six jobs...I didn't want to leave this one out), Planner/GIS Specialist at Slaughter & Associates in Oxford.

What did you have for dinner tonight?

I don't know yet, I'm eating at a fellowship group, so there's no telling.

Who is in the room with you right now?

No one.

What do you hear right now?

The cars on Highway 6, my windchime, the wind, and Robert Johnson's "Whiskey Blues" from iTunes.

Guess who I met today?

2008-04-25T19:21:00.003-05:00

Food Network Star, Alton Brown signing a book for me at Off Square Books here in Oxford.
Of "Good Eats", "Feasting on Asphalt", and "Iron Chef--America" fame (just in case you didn't know who this was):

Running on empty

2008-03-11T19:37:00.003-05:00

The last time I filled up my gas tank (before this afternoon) was Sunday afternoon. That doesn't sound like a long time, but that was in Bay St. Louis, MS (for reference, that is on the MS Gulf Coast, and I am a county and a half due south of the Tennessee state line). During this stretch, I went from Bay St Louis into New Orleans, across the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway (because I'm a geek, I admit it), over to Hammond to pick up I-55, then I-55 up to Batesville (this is nearly all the way up Mississippi, and across fourteen Mississippi counties and a couple of Louisiana Parishes). Then I went into work today, back home at lunch, then back home at around three to check on something, THEN about halfway back before finally putting something in because my needle was below "E". All told, this was nearly 441 miles. Figuring on a 15 gallon tank, that means nearly 30mpg. This is good because gas prices are on the rise ($3.19/gal. at the BP and Texaco stations at Lamar and Hwy. 6). Here are a couple of pictures, first my console showing the location of my needle and the tripometer (and no low gas light came on, so I could have gotten more, but I doubt it would have gotten my all-time record of 483 miles on a tank). The second is a picture I snagged of Lake Ponchartrain from the twenty five mile causeway. This one isn't as good, but you can see that there is a lot of water out there. When you get on you can't see the other shore, but on a clear day (like Sunday was) there is a point when you can see both shores at once (about twelve miles along...the halfway point or so). ENJOY!

First post since NYE

2008-03-02T00:19:00.004-06:00

Ok, so this is my first post in two months. I admit, I don't post much, but I can say that my life isn't nearly as thrilling as Kerry's. Here are, however, three quick pictures I took yesterday (or the day before yesterday...either way, it was Feb. 29th). I took them on my cell phone, so I apologize for the quality. First, this is looking from the Hills of Mississippi onto the Delta. This is interesting because it is a sudden drop off and not sort of a gradual slope. I saw something similar to this in Yazoo City (this is near Horn Lake...which is near Memphis). If you look closely, you'll notice a hill that is coming just over the side mirror, then when you look a little farther to the right, it is flat. The second picture is similar, but looking the other way back from the Delta to the Hills. The sudden cliff is more noticeable here looking toward the hills. (Incidentally, I got out of the car for a couple of minutes and noticed that the soil was VERY soft and presumably rich/fertile...much different from the clay infused soil I am used to). The third is one I snagged just west of Memphis as I was FINALLY CROSSING THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER!!!!! (sans when I went to Japan and had layovers in Dallas and Los Angeles). This is along the I-55 bridge. Yeah, I just went into West Memphis, and yeah, I turned around at the first opportunity I got (that area of Arkansas is very bleak). I have a couple of pictures of the river from the bridge (with me driving at 55mph), but from there they aren't particularly impressive, especially since I wasn't looking at the display screen, just sort of aiming and hoping for the best.

Highlights of Memphis from last night: Ate at the BBQ Shop in Midtown upon a recommendation. I'm all for trying new places and exploring new areas. I was told it was the best BBQ in Memphis. I'm not sure I've done the proper leg work to confirm that statement, and the scientist in me wants to try everything, and everything multiple times to make sure I get it right. I also drove down to Beale St. and spent an hour or so down there (though my feet got a mere one foot at maximum off of Beale and not the 10 feet Marc Cohn brags about). Went out to a Whole Foods Market out toward Germantown I believe (this is near the Corky's we at at Mom if you are reading this...in fact, I think it is just about two blocks further in toward "Memphis"). I picked up some Kashi cookies, Tupelo Honey and some African red tea I had interestingly not when I was in Ghana (to my knowledge at least), but last time I was in Starkville. My drive back was foggy, and almost involved me getting off at a random exit between Memphis and Batesville that I hadn't intended to get off (I was following the headlights on a truck...at a safe distance mind you...and he started drifting off to the right...I realized as I JUST got into the ramp that I was exiting the highway, but it wasn't too late to recover and get back onto the highway safely). This last one is actually from the trip mom, dad and I took up to Memphis a month or so ago. This is me in Sun Studio standing in the spot Elvis cut his first song and record. The unfortunate thing is he had musical talent to speak of, I have none (but do enjoy listening to it). I apologize for the little purple strip on the left side of the picture, my camera is doing that now-a-days. It may be time to get a new one.

In the spirit of a Gilbert New Year's eve

2007-12-31T22:55:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year from the Magnolia State!

Biloxi Pictures 2 (Misc)

2007-12-04T18:08:00.001-06:00

Intersting factoid...this hotel was slated for a September 2005 opening, but was unable to for obvious reasons (a lady named Katrina destroyed the Casino...apparently then it was just a barge in accordance with Mississippi's casino gaming law...but they've apparently gotten some sort of exception, or since Sept. 2005 Mississippi's law has changed regarding barges and casinos, and they can build a more substantial casino facility). It finally opened in June of this year, nearly two years late. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Rock_Casino_Biloxi)
1. The HRH & Casino's big neon guitar out on US90
2. Me outside with the sunset in the background over the Gulf/Mississippi Sound
3. A shot of the sunset outside
4. A shot of the sunset form my room (technically taken inside, but I ran out of picture spots on that first post.

Biloxi Pictures 1 (Room)

2007-12-04T17:53:00.000-06:00

I got to the coast today with an uneventful trip. The worst part was one portion of I-55 in Jackson (right south of MS-25/Lakeland Dr., near FPC). It's kind of a hill, then a curve in the road. It's not so bad, but if you get there at rush hour (which I didn't, but have), it might get a bit confusing for someone unfamiliar with it.

I had to run by Gulf Regional Planning Commission (I applied for a job there a while back...and apparently they are about to be without a transportation planner...nothing further there, I'm happy in Oxford, it's just interesting) to get a tablet computer set up to do landuse using GPS and a GIS mapping software. I won't bore anyone with details.

So I decided to bring my camera in before the valet got my car this time and was able to get a few pictures. Here they are. The first batch is my room. The second will be a few miscellaneous outside pictures I got a few minutes later:
1. Room with a view (of the Beau Rivage)
2. Room/bed
3. Bathroom
4. Shower (if yo look closely, note the three shower heads)
5. My TV greets me.

A few pictures from the Delta Region of Mississippi.

2007-11-14T21:23:00.000-06:00

So I had to go out to Clarksdale, MS today to do some work for an annexation project. I was amazed at how dramatically the topography of the land changed between here and there. Those of you who have been in Oxford know that it is a somewhat hilly town. It's not mountainous by any means, but there are some unfortunate intersections in town which are on 45 degree slopes. If you get on Highway 6 and drive west not forty minutes, it goes from hilly, to FLAT. What is intresting, is how quickly it goes from hilly to flat. The hills do gradually taper off, but then just fall off around the Tallahatchie River, just a few minutes west of Batesville...Panola County's seat (which is just over a half hour from Oxford). I noticed a remarkably sudden difference as I crossed the bridge over the Tallahatchie River, right beyond a Corps of Engineers Levee, then it is flat for several hundred miles on out to the Ozarks of Arkansas and Missouri. Here are a few pictures I snapped between Marks, Quitman County's Seat (which is just west of Batesville...and before Clarksdale....which is in Coahoma County). If you look closely, you may be able to see some cotton lining the roadside. Apparently it is right near harvest time. I even saw some MSDOT trucks sweeping the side of Highway 6 in Clarksdale to clean it up. Incidentally, I ate at a BBQ restaurant at "The Crossroads"--the former intersection of US 49 (now DeSoto Ave.) and US 61 (now MS161) where early blues legend Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the Devil to tune his guitar so he could play anything.

But I digress...as promised...the very flat Mississippi Delta Region (not unlike a slightly more sylvan version of northern Indiana between Indianapolis and Chicago along I-65). One of these, I do not remember which, was taken on my cell phone, so I apologize for the quality:

Oh, the weather outside is frightful

2007-10-24T17:39:00.000-05:00

The calendar says October 24. The weather feels more like December 24th. It's been breezy, drizzling, overcast, and breezy all day. I'm not complaining, it makes great soup weather, hot chocolate weather, wear my wool/leather bottomed slippers. I don't think it got above 50 here today (and if it did, not by much). It reminds me that it is indeed Autumn, and that my favorite month is just a week away. (And it's not my favorite just because it has my birthday...though that doesn't hurt).

I had the first training course for my Certified Planning and Zoning Official in Alabama (hereafter CAPZO). This an admittedly dry portion of the training dealing with the legal basis and background for planning law in Alabama. As boring as the material was, my attention was kept all the class period. Allegedly the rest are more intresting, we'll see. I did manage to convince Mike to go ahead and let me finish the training off here in one fell swoop. He was initially hesitant, but realized how quickly I could get it done, then jumped on board. I may have to go to Birmingham then come back immediately after the class (about three hours) rather than staying a night then coming back and getting into Oxford at around 10am each time, but we'll play that by ear. I'm trying to convince him to let me stay in Birmingham from the 8th through the 10th (a Thursday through Saturday) because one class is offered on Thursday night, and the other on Saturday morning through afternoon. I think he wants me to come back, but I have time to convince him otherwise. I think he also wants me to do this so he can take a "homegrown" and Alabamian with an Alabama education and CAPZO certification for marketing purposes (at the Alabama League of Municipalities) in May. We'll see how this all works out.

The trip to Birmingham was interesting. Highlights (or lowlights, as the case may be):

1. It was either raining hard, or drizzling the whole way back.

2. I made a wrong turn coming out of a gas station in Cordova, AL--I was supposed to stay on AL-269--and ended up on Amory Ave (don't ask) in Cordova and coming to a bride that was out. (Well, I came within a couple of miles, I really didn't "come upon" it).

3. Continuing down AL-269, I ran through what I will dub, "Coal Country Alabama". This is in southern Walker and northern Jefferson county, between Jasper and Birmingham--Birmingport, AL to be specific (or the Port of Birmingham along the Mulberry Fork of the river system). There is a lot of coal being loaded in that area of the state, and now my car has part of Alabama on it (in the form of black coal dust). It was drizzling just enough around this point that wasn't running my wipers, but had to do it once every thirty seconds or so. When I did, my windshield went into "gray-out" from the dust...meaning whenever I used the wipers, it would spread coal dust all over my windshield. I had to use my fluid EVERY TIME I had to clear my windshield off so I could see the road.

4. I got into Hueytown, AL. The directions said "Stay on 19th St."...ok..."Slight Right onto 18th St." I see a sign that indicates 19th Street bearing left...and the local transit authority didn't spend a whole lot on signage...so I assume 18th Street is heading right. WRONG! I end up on 26th Ave., or 27th. Ave, or something. I continue because there's no good place to turn around, and besides, the interchange I got mixed up in is an ungodly fork. I end up by the Water Treatment facility in Bessemer, along Bessemer-Johns Rd. (Fortunately, my motel is in Bessemer...but I have no clue where I am in now). I remember seeing a sign for Alabama Adventure park (not the parkway), and knowing that Alabama Adventure Pkwy. goes to the interstate I go towards the park. I start driving down that road, then see a sign for "Academy somethingoranother", and knowing my motel is off Academy Drive in Bessemer, I go towards that. I got there shortly after 3:30 (right at 3hrs 30m after leaving Oxford). I would have made better time had I not gotten turned around in Cordova (my fault totally), or in Hueytown (Hueytown's fault). I did get to see Bessemer-Johns Road, which I've heard about on crime reports in Birmingham news reports.

5. I drove through Ensley today (now part of Birmingham)--it was allegedly the quickest way back to Hwy. 78. From a city planner's perspective, it was interesting. It was once a huge industrial town and suburb of Birmingham. It was a planned city, looked like it had a once thriving downtown, but now is very dilapidated and annexed by Birmingham. It was actually kind of surreal...almost a ghost town. It's not exactly the area one wants to drive through after dark.

6. Driving back today, my car hit 70,000 miles. Not significant necessarily (that comes in 30,000 more miles...which given the rate I'll be driving in the not too distant future, might not be too long). Here is a picture I snatched on my cell phone camera. I happened to look down at 69,999mi. I tried to get a picture of where I was on the road, but it wasn't good. I seem to remember it was around milepost 24 or something in Alabama along Hwy. 78/Future I-22. (Incidentally, the speed limit where I was at the time is 70mph and I can get the phone into camera mode without taking my eyes off the road, I did have to look at the phone to frame it, then to approve it after taking it, and the road was straight at that point, and there was virtually no traffic in either direction...I really need to dust my dashboard).

What's up pt. 3

2007-09-12T19:18:00.000-05:00

So I got back from Tuscaloosa on Labor Day at around 6pm. I stepped into my apartment, and felt a blast of warm air come out. My AC had died yet again. I call maintenance, which is obviously not in at the time (they're open until 5:30pm on a non-holiday), and get the answering service and tell them about my AC being dead again. About two hours later, the maintenance guy knocks on my door and says that the AC is indeed dead, and that he will have a new compressor for me in the morning and offers me a corporate suite if he can get in touch with management (he can't). No biggie, I slept with one sheet on me and a fan blowing.

I get up and go to work the next morning. At about 10:30 or so, Mike asks me to go to Hattiesburg again and that I didn't have to come back after lunch. Having no other plans, this isn't a problem. We're just needing to wrap up the land use survey. I get a reservation at the same motel at the intersection of I-59 and US-49. It is about a four hour drive down there (2 1/2 hours roughly to Jackson, and 1 1/2 hours roughly to Hattiesburg from Jackson) and I arrive at about 5pm...just in time for the free cocktails (the last time I was there, I got there at 7:30, which is when they stop...which seemed rather early to me, but whatever). I ran out and got some BBQ at a place that reminded me of Fat Man (that's Fat Man's, not Fat Boy's) in Prattville. It's not the best BBQ around, but for a quick BBQ sandwich, it wasn't bad.

The land use went fine and I got back into Oxford about 7pm on Wednesday. This time, my AC was working, and in contrast to the last time I got back, I was blown away by the cool air (much like the day I first got into the apartment...except no condensation on the doorknob). There is a new condenser outside, and they have yet to remove the old one from the premises (it is disconnected, mind you, just not removed). Now I can start bugging them about the other problems with my apartment.

So I've put a lot of miles on my car lately, but I've seen a lot of Mississippi that I hadn't ever seen before...the Delta comes to mind.

I also ended up tailgating on the Grove on Saturday. They do know how to tailgate here. There were tents EVERYWHERE on the grove. (And I mean, EVERYWHERE). "Bumper to bumper" tents. It was like a concentrated version of the gameday at Tuscaloosa, so I felt at home, in spite of the Ole Miss fans surrounding me. I parked at work. I probably could have parked closer, but I do not know where the parking spots are. I'm sure the walk didn't do me any harm.

I'm thinking about what to do this weekend. I might go to Clarksdale and see some live Delta Blues at the club Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman owns. I might go to Jackson to see some friends down there. If I go to Jackson this weekend, I'll probably "do" Clarksdale the next weekend. Then the next weekend I go to Tuscaloosa/Northport for Suzanna's 3rd birthday/Mckenzie's baptism shindig. I should arrive Friday night and spend time/the night with other people I know there to just "hang out". Looks to be a full remainder of September too.

The weather got suddenly nice here. It got sunny and dry, and, dare I say it, cool last night. Humberto is supposed to start dumping some rain late tomorrow and Friday, but then it should clear out for what looks to be a nice (if not busy) weekend.

Kenny Simpson

2007-09-09T15:52:00.000-05:00

Since Kelly did it, I will to. Here is the Simpsonized version of me. Another lenghty post to come either today or tomorrow about what I've been up to in Oxford:

What's up pt. 2

2007-09-08T08:54:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here just short of 9am having slept in until 8am. I'm sitting on my porch/deck/patio/whatever you want to call it with a cup of tea (English Breakfast), watching the rain fall gently. It is letting up now, but it was a bit heavier at 8am. (Not a torrential downpour, mind you). This ought to make the Grove look nice today, then again, if the stories about it being covered in tents is true, it might still be dry. The field at Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium is fake grass, so it will just be slippery like recycled tires are. Certainly the humidity should be on the rise now, making for a very muggy game day here in Oxford.

Hattiesburg was a nice town. It is a town of about 45,000 with a university (Southern Miss) of about 16,000 students. In other words, Southern Miss and Hattiesburg have the same proportion of population and students as does Tuscaloosa and UA. Similarly, Hattiesburg has a city just across a river (the Leaf River) like Northport, and is proportionally about the same size as Northport. The town is called Petal, which is where I was doing my land use surveys down there.

They were less frustrating than they were in Yazoo City, probably because I had more experience in doing them. What I dislike most is the fact that we are currently doing these on paper maps which are rather large (imagine having several dozen maps the size of state maps sitting in your lap and marking on them with a red pen). I'm going to push for a more automated way of doing them. We have a portable computer with GPS capabilities which in theory it wouldn't be impossible to set up a system to scan the maps, and rectify them to an existing spatial database of the study area. In fact, it might be rather easy once the system is figured out since with PLSS exists in both mediums easily giving me the three or more points I need to rectify. (I'm sorry I bored you with that last tirade). Maybe once this new planner (with GIS experience) gets on staff here the week after next--Sept. 17th--that will be more of a possibility that either of us can do it.

I got back to Oxford after being in Hattiesburg and spent two days entering the data into the computer for Yazoo City, setting up Petal to a point at which I could feasibly do it, and of course doing a few things Mike had me working on before the land use survey. I left straight from work on Friday to Tuscaloosa forgetting to complete my timesheet for the day (not a big deal) and leaving my laptop at work. I realized this about five miles out of town so I turned back across Hwy. 6 and made a detour back to pick it up and then the trek back to Tuscaloosa.

Tuscaloosa was fun, I really do miss it. I went to campus during the game (while Paul and Tim went to the game itself). We parked out on JWP with hundreds of other cars parked along River Road Park and JWP. It was warm, but for a Sept. 1st game, it could have been A LOT worse...especially given the then recently passed heatwave. I watched the game at The Ferg. It was nice watching it there. It has all the benefits of watching it at home (AC, clean restrooms nearby) but some of the beneifts of watching it with 92,137 of your closest friends (the dining room near the Starbucks was full of people in crimson and white). Bama won 52-6. The "D" was a tad suspect at times, but it was the first game of the season, and we actually played with some "O", the last time we scored that many points was...well...against the same team (W. Carolina) back in 2004...but they didn't score on us (consider, though, that was the beginnings of the 2005 "D").

More later, including my trip back to Hattiesburg on short notice, the hopeful end to my AC saga, and my summary of tailgating on the Grove (I've been invitied...now to find parking...fortunately, Oxford is a small town and Ole Miss is a large University, so if I find a spot, I won't be too terribly far from the University), and perhaps a summary of the UA/Vandy game which kicks off here in just over an hour.

What's up pt. 1

2007-09-07T19:41:00.000-05:00

Once again, I must apologize for not posting in a while. I do not lead an interesting life like Kerry. I have traveled 1000+ miles around Mississippi over the past two weeks, not to mention two separate trips back to Tuscaloosa, but that's about as interesting as it gets.

I went back to Tuscaloosa two weeks ago for a friend's (Martin Wagner) ordination as an assistant pastor at Faith Prez in Birmingham. This is where Liz Smith (whatever her last name is now) goes with her husband, among a few others that I know. This was the first of my friends to be ordained in the PCA. In the future, Will Joseph, JC Tomberlin, Blake Johnson, and Kevin Corley will each have an MDiv. and presumably will be ordained in some reformed denomination (not necessarily the PCA...which is probably most likely in JC's case...he might go Reformed Baptist if he settles on being a pastor). I stayed in Tuscaloosa and left that Monday morning bright and early for some land use surveys throughout Mississippi. First in Yazoo City, the "Gateway to the Delta", then in Hattiesburg, home of the University of Southern Mississippi (which, incidentally, has a PhD program in Geography).

Yazoo City was very much a Delta town (to compare it, it was very much like a Black Belt town). It was by and large a dilapidated city that has a lot of potential, but can't seem to get over that hump. It's no Eutaw or Camden, but it's not exactly, well, Chicago. The governor of Mississippi is from Yazoo City (Haley Barbour). There's a Haley Barbour Blvd. in Yazoo City. They did have a decent Best Western motel and Mexican restaurant. My favorite part about Yazoo City was the sudden drop off to the Delta, which is by and large a very flat and fertile region of the country. The east side of Yazoo City, I'll define by US49 (or Jerry Clower Blvd), seems to divide rolling hills, windy roads, and such to just flat. You can see vast flatness from parts of town, and until the state of Mississippi reconfigured a particular intersection in town, I'm told one could drive over a bridge and all of a sudden see the Delta when cresting the bridge. The Delta also is known for its music, specifically Blues ("Delta" blues), as well as jazz and rock & roll. There are numerous Blues festivals throughout the Delta region. Morgan Freeman (an Academy Award winning actor) lives in the Delta most of the time (in Charleston, MS), and owns and operates a blues club in Clarksdale named Ground Zero Blues Club.
Given my interest in music, I should get out there at some time and see what Delta Blues is all about. But I digress...

Yazoo City took two days to complete, amazingly, and it was frustrating because it was something I was sort of thrown in to with no experience and just a few minutes of "training" on what to do. I did have the entire Bay St. Louis office helping me (one person), and she had done it before, so I just sort of had to lean on her experience a lot. It got less frustrating I suppose, with time.

More later...I'm going to catch something on TV now. Coming up...the (supposed) end to my A/C saga.

Oxford Pt. 3 (includes summary of my AC saga)

2007-08-21T22:26:00.000-05:00

Wednesday was my first day at work. It was nothing spectacular as I was just getting paperwork done and making some basic (and simple maps). I got in at around 9 and left around 1. I got health and life insurance forms filled out chiefly and tried to get accustomed to the system at the office of where files are, what I need to do in certain situations, et cetera. It was much like the first day of class in college. The next two days he was out of the office, but left me stuff to do. The next week was the same, except the Bay St. Louis office (one person) was in town. She comes up for a week once a month apparently. That added some excitement, but otherwise everything was normal. This week, Mike was out most of today (Tuesday) and will be out all day tomorrow (Wednesday) again, at the coast. I’m not sure if this barrage of meetings is normal or if it’s unusual. I mean, I think he’s going to be in Hattiesburg interviewing a person to fill another position with the company on Friday in conjunction with another meeting in the area. He seems like a busy guy.

The first day after work, I got home and realized that my AC didn’t seem to be blowing cold air. I let it run for a while because it was, after all, 100+ outside. After a little while, I came to the conclusion that something was out of whack, and reported it to maintenance. This was about 1:30 or so. About three, I feel some cool air coming out of the vent in my living room while I was lying on the couch taking a nap. (If you’ve been here, the AC vent in my living room is position in relation to the couch that the air pours right onto it towards the outside wall. The next day I again got home at around noon and it wasn’t blowing cold air anymore. So I again reported it to maintenance. Then it blew cool air again. Friday was the same story. A few minutes later, the maintenance guy knocked on my door and explained the problem to me.

Apparently there is some sort of major Freon leak in the line. They tried a fix on it and would see if it would work over the weekend. It did, and it worked on to about Thursday with no problem. It goes on like this all of last week. It goes bad, they come out and fix it. Apparently they are trying to isolate the problem. Thursday and Friday of last week they shut power in the building for some reason and it apparently trips the Freon tank hooked up to my unit outside to turn off and it gets to be 85+ in my apartment because, well, it’s hot outside and my AC isn’t blowing cold air. They come back each day and get it pumping cool air again.

Yesterday I got home, and it was blowing cool air, but not a lot of it. I report it before the office closes, then go out to get a hair cut. I come back with dinner, eat it, and about 7pm the maintenance guy knocks on my door and explains the status. Apparently some piece of the unit that costs $700+ has gone bad and will have to be replaced. He said that he has been working most of the day on AC units in the complex (I figure HVAC folks are making a lot of money during this heat wave). So at least I have a status update. I really can’t complain because when it doesn’t work, I’m not at home, and when I get home and it’s hot in the apartment, I report it and they get out fairly quickly to work on it and it’s plenty cool by the time I go to bed. It’s just frustrating. I’m sure I’m not the only person dealing with it. I also pointed out some of the other maintenance problems I have, but he said the apartment was so backed up with AC issues in the complex, that they’ve had to prioritize, which is just as well. That the vent fan in my main bathroom is on the fritz too is of MUCH less importance to me than getting my AC working in this blasted heatwave. That’s just a bit of an eyesore, versus something that could, in theory at least, endanger my health.

One more post will include impressions of Christ Pres, and Oxford in general (both good thus far). That will probably be the final post about my first few days in Oxford and I can get onto a “regular” posting schedule.

Oxford Pt. 2 (more to come later)

2007-08-20T20:16:00.001-05:00

This is after my first night in my apartment up until my first day of work. This does not include the AC saga, which about an hour ago had another chapter added to it. They’re working on it, to be fair, but it is getting frustrating. I’ll be glad when it is resolved. That portion deserves its own post. The next post should include my first few days of work, my first full week, and church at Christ Pres.

Mom and dad went back to the Days Inn up the road for the rest of the night. Paul and I did some shopping at Wal-Mart for a couple of items (some bleach and cable cord for my TV). We got back and he helped me do some more unpacking and straightening. He found a place for the coffee table that was out of the way, but still useful (I have a couple of books I’m reading on it now, tissues, and a big and old Britannica World Atlas). Obviously very tired, we went to bed probably 11ish. Both of us got up about 7:30 or so and got showers then instead of eating some of the relatively healthy food Mom bought us the day before at Wal-Mart, Paul insisted on going to a Shipley’s Donuts just up the road. He claims they’re better than Krispe Kreme. I beg to differ, but will admit they are good (for instance, I never saw a “Bulls Eye” donut at a Krispe Kreme…but nothing can beat a fluffy, hot/now donut at Krispe Kreme).

He ducked out at around 9am because he had to work that afternoon. Mom and dad stuck around for a little more time as we turned the truck back in and I took them on a nickel tour of the city. When turning the truck back in, it was a madhouse. It wasn’t any of the local Penske’s fault, it was just the nature of the business in the town it was in and at the time of year (a truck rental place in a predominantly college town right before classes start). They ducked out right before lunch and I unpacked and straightened for the rest of the day and watched a lot of TV (I didn’t really feel like straightening…I was pooped out). I also called to schedule getting my cable internet hooked up. The date they gave me was the 22nd. They ended up coming on Saturday—they called me on Thursday afternoon to reschedule, so it was no big surprise.

Oxford Pt. 1 (more to come later)

2007-08-19T20:58:00.000-05:00

Here are a few highlights of my first two weeks now here in Oxford. Nothing terribly exciting happened, I’m still technically getting settled in, but I am beginning to slow down and relax from what amounted to nearly two and a half months of moving. There will be two more parts so I don’t overwhelm my alert readers. I’ll try and have the rest out by mid-week.

My dad and I got to Oxford with on a Sunday night and stayed at a Days Inn right near my apartment (about 1/3 of a mile). We ate Subway that night and watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban around his laptop. Not the ideal watching environment, but I couldn’t argue with the company. I got up the next morning early, got a shower, got breakfast, then went out to get my proof of income and the keys to my apartment. I let dad sleep in until he woke up since he hadn’t been feeling well for a few days before hand and he didn’t’ need to come out with me to do anything unless he wanted to. I got all that stuff taken care of and got to my apartment about 9:30 and unloaded my car, all the while trying to visualize where things would go. The AC was running full blast. The doorknob had condensation on it when I first got here (more on the ongoing AC saga later).

I got back to the Days Inn and rested for a bit in a cool room. Then my dad and I took the truck, parked it in a good spot (the ramp on the sidewalk), and did some light fairly leisurely unloading and unpacking. Given that it was in the already in the mid-upper nineties at 11am, we took frequent water/Gatorade breaks. We were awaiting some more help in the form of my brother in law (strong legs and strong back) and my mother (for logistics). They arrived about a half hour late because they took a wrong turn around Tupelo. It was no big deal for me and dad because we had a nice cool apartment to rest in.

They arrived at around 12-12:30p. We did some more unloading with the stronger back/legs and more logistical support. We then all decided we were hungry and I ordered some delivery from Roly Poly. That took about a half hour to get here, and was a welcome break for us all, because we had sustenance, and also some furniture to put the food on whilst we ate.

We did some more unloading then took a bit of a rest. Then my brother in law and I took a nickel tour of the city while my mom and dad rested and did some unpacking and straightening for me. We were waiting for some muscle from the church (Christ Pres) to arrive at around 6pm. They arrived promptly on time. Two former marines, and the starting center for Ole Miss’s football team.

Paul and I had gotten some recommendations on where to eat that night from a librarian while we were scouring the town for a map (as it turns out, we should have just gone to the C of Commerce, but we didn’t know where that was at the time…for future reference, it’s where Sorority Row intersects Jackson Ave.). Yes, we stopped at a library. I swear, these librarians are like geographers and maps. At any rate, we decided on a place called “Ajax”. Sort of a southern cusine type joint. Fried catfish, chicken fried steak, meatloaf, veggie plates, and much more. You get the idea. It was right on the Square, at the heart of downtown Oxford. It seems like a nice enough place, and I think it’s going to be the place that Mom and Dad, and Paul will want to go if/when they ever come to visit. There are other places on the Square to eat, but I haven’t yet had enough time to explore (for instance, there’s an Italian place named Old Venice, where I ate on Monday that has a good pizza and was allegedly voted Mississippi’s best pizza the past three or four years).

Pictures pt. 3 of 3.

2007-08-13T20:09:00.001-05:00

1. Looking outside from my dining room.
2. My outside storage area.
If you have any special requests for pictures, I will try and honor them. I'll also try and get some pictures out and around Oxford once the temperature drops to below...say...95. A future post (probably tomorrow) will chronicle my first week in the home of the University of Mississippi.

Pictures pt. 2 of 3.

2007-08-13T20:03:00.000-05:00

1. Dining room
2. Kitchen/laundry room (in the background).
3. Living room
4. Office/guest bedroom/(future) reading room. This room requires some more work, to be sure. Hopefully I can have it ready by Oct 13 (Ole Miss/Bama game).
5. My bookshelf (not sure why I took it, but whatever).

Pictures pt. 1 of 3.

2007-08-13T19:55:00.001-05:00

There will be two more post, since apparently I can only upload five (5) pictures at once.
1. My bathroom
2. Another shot of my bathroom
3. My bedroom
4. My closet
5. My deck

2007-08-10T21:54:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. For the longest time, I hadn't a thing to post about, then when life got exciting, my neighbors internet got real spotty and knowing I was soon to leave, I didn't feel like trying to find a remedy for the situation.

Alas, now that I am gainfully employed, I can afford my own internet, and that is set to be installed tomorrow between 1 and 5. I even got a wireless router so I can use my internet anywhere I see fit.

To make a long story short, I should have more to post about, and a more reliable connection with which to post at some point between 1 and 5 tomorrow. Keep an eye out. I'll sent out an e-mail when I become an active "Blogger" again.

It's 9:59...t-minus 1 minute until "Good Eats" on Food Network. Must go!

I used to live here...

2007-06-18T20:08:00.000-05:00

I was just forwarded these pictures. They are interesting, to be sure. I'm surprised there wasn't more rot in the studs...

2007-06-17T15:51:00.000-05:00

This is more for Kelly's edification than anyone else's, since everyone else (except for one of my former professors, apparently) who reads this blog has already seen it. This was mailed/postmarked exactly one month after my graduation and arrived in Prattville (don't ask how...since I told them to mail it to K&P in Northport on the commencement confirmation) and arrived in Prattville on Thursday, June 14th. It is now framed in a frame that is the same model of my bachelor's degree (purchased at Michaels) and is hanging where my bachelor's used to hang (I would hang both, but since it is so close to the time when I'm going to move, I see no need to hammer another hole into the wall yet.

So this is what I have to show for my two years of work, studying, research, etc. Now I have two diplomas/degrees, and no job. Hopefully I'll work on the latter before too terribly long.

More pictures

2007-06-08T13:13:00.000-05:00

Again, I haven't a clue as to what I am doing here, except posting pictures. Here are three more (and the last three) "highlight" pictures. The first is a picture of a fully grown asparagus plant in a garden behind Stonewall Jackson's home (the building you see is the home. I couldn't take pictures inside, nor could I get a good angle on the outside to actually get a shot of it), the second, a picture of Read Mountain from a scenic view pull-off along the Blue Ridge Parkway, the third a view of the Roanoke Valley (though not the city of Roanoke, however) from the top of Roanoke Mountain. This was a little trek off the Blue Ridge Parkway (part of the parkway, just off the main road) up about 1000 feet from the parkway along a road that was about 6in. wider than my rental car--a Chevy Impala. I miss a turn, I either hit rock and swerve into a 1000 foot fall to the parkway, or just plunge headlong 1000 feet to the parkway. I lose either way. Since neither happened, fortunately, I won and my reward was a nice view of the valley.

Roanoke/Lexington Pictures

2007-06-08T09:19:00.000-05:00

I actually have more pictures than I am about to post here (23 I believe), but I'm just posting the highlights here. Enjoy!

Not being as familiar with posting pictures as Kerry, I don't know how to get these in the correct order. I'll post more pictures later in the day. A couple more from the Lexington area, and a couple from along the Blue Ridge Parkway outside of Roanoke. You should be able to tell which are which based on my description.

VMI Parade grounds, two shots of Stonewall Jackson monument statue/grave, and the VMI historical marker mentioning Jackson, Matthew Fontaine Maury, as well as George C. Marshall.

Roanoke Trip (pictures later)

2007-06-07T12:52:00.000-05:00

I am sitting in the fabulous Charlotte Douglas International Airport right now in one of the rocking chairs in one of the many atrimus that dot the airport facility. My flight boards in a few minutes for Huntsville after which I have a two hour or so drive back to Tuscaloosa.

The trip went well, and Roanoke is a lovely town. I think I could be happy living there if I were to get the job. It was no more than 80 when I was there and the temperature when I left my motel this morning (about 5:45am EDT) was cool enough that I could see my breath. The last time I was able to do it this late in the year was when I was on Mt. Fuji, and that was in late July. Granted, it was probably unseasonably cool (they're talking about mid 90s on Friday and Saturday), but hey, when I was there it was VERY comfortable.

I have some pictures to post. Mostly of Lexington, and along the Blue Ridge Parkway (in fact, ALL of those), which I will later today/tomorrow.

(the remaining is typed some 30,000 feet above western North Carolina as they started boarding when I was typing)

I didn't get to go to Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee because 1). There was a baccalaureate service going on that was making use of the chapel and 2). The museum level (which contains R.E. Lee's remains) was closed anyway due to the addition of a new museum exhibit, or something like that. I got to walk around the campus a bit, however, just not near the chapel.

I did get to VMI and the Cadet Museum, as well as the George C. Marshall museum, both on VMI's campus. There was housed 1). The raincoat Stonewall Jackson was wearing when he got shot and 2). The uniform he was wearing on his three most legendary moments (marched out of Lexington in April 1861, nearly got captured by union troops, and when he got his nickname "Stonewall").

I also got a private tour of his house in Lexington, and walked to his grave, which is housed at a Presbyterian Church (ARP) in Lexington (Lauderdale ARP Church is the name, I believe).

I've been up since about 4:15am (CDT) and am slated to get back to Huntsville in just under an hour now.

One year ago today...

2007-06-01T17:39:00.001-05:00

One year ago today (well, technically at about 2:30 tomorrow morning based on information available on the picture in iPhoto), I snapped one of my greatest pictures ever. My only regret...I wished I had snapped it at a higher resolution on my camera. I have a framed copy of it after playing around with it in Photoshop a bit, but it's not great when blown up. Just don't look at it too closely, and all is well...

I'm also including a link to a GoogleMaps air/satellite photo of the resort where I snapped the picture. You can't see much, but you'll have to trust me on this one. Click this for the image

Here's a link for the resort's website too.

APP

2007-05-14T11:47:00.000-05:00

So all my grades are in...

Adv. GIS--A
Non-Thesis Research--P
Ind. Research--P

So for the first time EVER, I got an A and two Ps. ("P" is good).

It doesn't appear as if there will be any problem getting my diploma on time this go round.

Everybody's working for the weekend...

2007-05-10T10:09:00.000-05:00

http://www.ua.edu/commencement/images/commmay07.pdf

Page 20...second from top on left side.

Eight people graduating with MS degrees in Geography. Keep in mind, when I got my bachelor's, there were eleven TOTAL between Bachelors and Masters in Geography.

A few pictures.

2007-04-29T16:58:00.000-05:00

The first is a picture of the Int'l Speedway as best I could frame it from the parking lot of the motel. The second a shot of Daytona Beach's, um, highway. (i.e. Driving on the beach). The third a shot of the Daytona Beach Pier (about half the size it was prior to Hurricane Floyd in 1999). The third a shot down the boardwalk between the palm trees.

In Orlando

2007-04-28T15:24:00.000-05:00

So I'm sitting in Orlando's airport right now, by a fountain, being overlooked by the Hyatt Hotel on site. It's two hours or so now until my plane takes off. Here are some observations from my trip to Daytona Beach:

Daytona Beach has a large race track.
The beach has a lot of sand, but it's hard and flat

(Look both ways before crossing the beach...since part of the beach is a road and parking lot...and no, I did not almost get hit).

The sea breeze was nice, but I imagine it could get rather warm down there.
The job seems fine, and they seem interested in me. I could see myself living down here/there, but it's not my first choice. It is fairly centrally located and I could live farther in in Deland or out in Daytona Beach.

I'm still holding out hope for Wendell NC, Savannah GA (though I think that may have passed me by), Chesterfield Co. VA, Tuscaloosa (there are apparently a lot of applicants for that job...), and Matthews NC.

It cost $3 in tolls to get from Daytona to Orlando (and vice versa).
My bag nearly ended up going on a trip to London, England this afternoon. Details at eleven (or later, whichever comes first).

That's about it for right now. Still waiting for about another half hour or so before I try and tackle security. (well, not tackle security, I actually meant go through security).

One more...

2007-04-17T14:57:00.000-05:00

So I have one more lecture in my college years. My Tuesday night class is not meeting this week as Dr. Han is out of town, indeed, nearly out of continent at the national AAG conference in San Francisco this week. April 24 is the next class meeting. May 1st the class has project presentations. May 8th (I believe) is the final exam.

It's almost monumental in my life, but I think circa 8:30pm next Tuesday will be just that.

No job search update...

Tuscaloosa still hasn't posted the job officially, waiting to hear back from Savannah/Atlanta, Volusia Co. (need to get application in), and going to work on the Matthews NC application hopefully a bit this evening.

I was right

2007-04-05T11:43:00.000-05:00

It's official now, Dr. Han will be the new head of the Geography Dept. as of August. Again, it doesn't impact me a bit, but it is now officially what I expected. (Recall post from 2/17).

http://www.as.ua.edu/geography/news.htm

Born 1961--so just turned 46--still fairly young.

PhD from Nebraska in 1994, Assistant professor at UA 1994 - 1999, Associate professor 1999 - 2005, Professor 2005 - present (all post PhD teaching positions at UA). He's been setting himself up for this position for a while now.

Interviews

2007-04-04T09:17:00.000-05:00

Interviews:

~~Huntsville (3/15)~~
Daytona Beach (4/13)
Savannah (4/5)

All phone so far.

It still works!

2007-03-24T16:00:00.000-05:00

Well, I bit the bullet today and went out and purchased a new HD for my laptop, then installed it myself. The way I figured it, I couldn't screw the computer up much more than it was already. I was just sick of reinstalling OS X every few weeks or so when my old HD ceased functioning. I went over to Birmingham to CompUSA at the Galleria complex and bought an 80GB for $70 (after rebates). I was never able to run tests on it since to run tests on the HD, you can't boot from it, so a gentleman at CompUSA ran a test for me and said it was bad, then went and found a HD for me to purchase (there's a "B" story here about another store associate not knowing what he was talking about, but I pressed on). Got it back home, and opened my computer up to install the new HD. Booted it up and it worked fine (just needed an OS on it). I purchased 10.4.6 while I was at CompUSA so I did that too and now I am back and ready for the world. Here are a few pictures from the "surgery": The first, the pulled off components (sans the screws, they're sitting on a paper guide), then my new HD, The second, the open computer with the old HD still in it and the tools of the trade, The third, same as the second basically but with the old HD removed, the fourth is the computer rebooting and preparing to install OS 10.4.6--this is the first sign that I didn't completely destroy the hardware.

You asked for it (and by "you", I mean Kelly)

2007-03-21T10:27:00.000-05:00

Since Kelly specifically requested it a few weeks back, I am going to post copies of my two (now officially completed) non-thesis papers for all who want to observe them. Everyone is of course welcome to view them--not just Kelly.

The First Paper:
Urban Transportation Problems in the Third World: A Study Abroad Experience in Ghana, West Africa.

The Second Paper:
A GIS Based Network Analysis of Fire Station Service Areas in Boise, ID; Des Moines, IA; Mobile, AL; and Richmond, VA.
Plus associated maps and appendix.

I had to create a separate file for the maps in the second paper because trying to include them in the paper file caused their quality to decrease significantly. The maps may not show up properly on your computer as they may well require a specific font set to be able to be viewed which in all likelyhood is not available on your computer (to be fair, unless your computer has ESRI software, it likely won't have the proper fonts). I think I found a workaround to that this morning in the export process, but until I can get to some computer without ESRI fonts, I won't know (such as my laptop, desktop, etc.). All the computers as school and work have ESRI software so I can't tell here.

"Enjoy"!

Simplify, simplify, simplify...

2007-03-20T11:04:00.000-05:00

Second (first in order of completion) non-thesis paper is now 99% done...

Changes needed for final copy:

Simplify the title
Move abstract to another page
Create title page (which I'll have to do for the other paper too I suppose).

He also suggested I think about getting it published in a Geography journal. He said it wasn't up to publication standards yet, but with some minor changes, it could easily be published. It probably won't be published in something like Annals of the AAG or the Journal of Transport Geography, but it'll be published nonetheless--those are my words, not his. Dr. Seth isn't the first to suggest publication...Dr. Greg Gaston who chairs the Geography Dept. at UNA (and chaired the geography section of the Alabama Academy of Science) suggested it too. We'll see. Now I just have to get several copies of each paper printed up. One copy of each paper for each reader (subtotal: 4), one copy of each for my file (subtotal: 2), and one copy of each for my own edification (subtotal: 2). So at roughly 70 pages between the two papers, that totals somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 pieces of paper to give their all for my research--not to mention countless hundreds of other pieces of paper "wasted" on drafts.

The much anticipated "downhill slope" is officially here!

Nearly on the downhill slope

2007-03-19T19:32:00.000-05:00

Not only is it less than two months away now...
Not only do I have my cap and gown (and master's hood)...

My non-thesis papers are rapidly ending in terms of my work on them.

I got my second paper back from the second reader today in my graduate student box. On it was written: "No substantial changes. Solid non-thesis paper. Please give me a final copy of this and your other paper for your file. Dr. Richetto." It was |___| <---that close to having a gold star, or a smiley face on it I suppose. My first paper is still technically in the second reader's hands, but I talked with Dr. Seth today about it briefly (and by that I mean about thirty seconds--he was getting ready for a class today). He asked me to drop by between 10:00 and noon tomorrow to talk about it. He said it was good, but wanted to sit down with me and discuss it rather than just hand it back with no input--that's his style anyway.

So it appears my two years of graduate school really is about to end, and with great haste at that. The major hurdles have been cleared. After I got done with my comprehensive exams in September, people asked me if I was on the downhill slope. I replied that I wasn't, that it more plateaued rather than getting any rougher and that would have to wait until I got through with my papers. One paper is officially done, and the other is almost there--and hopefully will be so between 10:00 and Noon tomorrow.

If I'm not on the downhill slope now, I certainly can see the edge of the plateau.

(once I get the final papers "in my file", I'll post copies for all to enjoy. Kenny Gilbert Guarantee: "My papers are a cure for insomnia, or your money back!")

Job Search Update

2007-03-14T00:12:00.000-05:00

Ahoy all...

Here are job search details as of midnight on 3/13-3/14:

Applied (by locale as known, in order of application):
Knoxville, TN; Charleston, SC; National Park Service; Huntsville, AL; Daytona Beach, FL; Guilford Co., NC (JUST finished this application).

Heard back from:
Huntsville, AL (scheduled phone interview).

Prospects:
Right now, just a job in Hanover Co., VA, but more do pop up daily.

Get in touch with me if you want more details. I'm talking around Farrah Hall to see if any professor knows of other jobs in Alabama. Meeting with a (full) professor some time next week who is an AICP member, and lives in Birmingham--used to teach at UAB...now is at the main campus. He should have a perspective of Birmingham area jobs.

Busy busy busy

2007-02-17T18:29:00.000-06:00

Ahoy all...

I've been busy, and mercifully not so much with school work, but that is soon going to change.

Kerry had her baby on Tuesday, about two hours before a tornado warning. It didn't amount to much in Tuscaloosa, but the same system produced a tornado in Greensboro that destroyed a couple of homes. No major injuries, or deaths, so that is good.

As for my papers...
I'm working on a third (and hopefully final) draft on my first. Not a major re-write, simply moving a couple of things around, adding a paragraph or two about a couple of more topics, and generating a better map of Ghana. This is essentially a month ahead of schedule. I'm going to meet with my first reader on Tuesday.

The second one is a bit further behind. I have a first draft in, but haven't heard back yet from it. Hopefully not a major re-write, but I just didn't feel as good about the second as I did the first. We'll see, that should come up on Tuesday.

I also am trying to get my presentation ready for the Tuskegee conference. I'm in the program, so I guess I've committed to presenting. Twenty minutes is all I get, so I'm going to have to whittle it down a bit from now (I'm at a half hour on the presentation, but have yet to cover everything).

It still looks like a May graduation.

And speaking of Geography, there is big news from the department. Dr. Jerry Webster is leaving in June, and is assuming the department chair at the U of Wyoming (he had been there immediately before coming to UA in the early 90s). I thought he left there because he didn't like the cold...but he's going back. It doesn't impact me, but it certainly is news. He's put in a recommendation for his replacement. He won't tell anyone--well, the students at least--who it is, but we all have an idea. Besides Dr. Webster, there are four full professors. One certainly does not make sense (he got his PhD in 68 and was head of the Sociology Dept. before it broke up in the 90s...but he's on the old side), another I don't think Dr. Webster much likes on a personal level (which may well be reason to recommend him for the position...haha), and the other one simply would not make a good chair. That leaves Dr. Luoheng Han. He's relatively young (my best guess is mid to late forties...certainly the youngest of the full professors). So we'll see. My money is on Dr. Han.

Second paper

2007-01-30T17:05:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm beginning to wrap it up now. A first draft at least. I should be able to turn it in early next week. A bit behind schedule, but nothing too terrible. I'm going to have an appendix M on this paper.

The first one I can hopefully have a second draft in this week. This one will be ahead of schedule, so I guess it balances out. I've tried to find some statistics on Ghana's environment for the paper, but have proved to be rather unsuccessful. I think I might have found some, but I think I may well just stick it in a final draft rather than wait until I can get the statistics to put in the paper. It won't impact my paper, just have another source for the paper. I'm still hoping I can get this stuff done by Spring Break.

Which reminds me...I'm thinking I'm going to nix both Hungary and Mexico options. They just don't seem to be working out. No worry, here are some tentative plans:

Try for a "last minute" trip to some yet to be determined city. I think there can be some good vacation packages (mainly just a flight and a hotel) to some fun cities. I think I might like Chicago since I'm vaguely familiar with the city. I certainly know I can navigate their El.
Try for a trip to Charleston and/or Savannah. If I played my cards right, I could be in Savannah for the St. Patrick's day parade there. This one could also be done fairly last minute.
If all else fails, I could try for a trip to either Nashville or St. Louis. I have people in both cities, and both could be made in a day, and fairly last minute. It may well too be my last good chance for either city. I always guess I could do both. Nashville would be a good halfway point on a trip back.
If ALL else fails, I suppose I could spend some time in Prattville as well (if I go to Nashville, I may well end up in Prattville for a couple of days anyway).

So that's what's happening now. Also Kerry's "Baby Pinky", is due here in just a few days. I'm "on-call". Funny thing: My cell phone rang at 7ish on Sunday morning. I thought it might be Kerry or Paul. No one ever calls my cell phone--I like it that way--but I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter, away to my cell phone, I flew like a flash. Alas, however, it was a number which I did not recognize, so I went back to bed. Since I got no voice mail notice, nor did my apartment phone ring, I figured that all it was was a wrong number.

Work is work. Job search consists of nothing much right now. I did get a job inquiry from a company in Madison, WI. They saw my resume on Monster.com. I'm not interested in the job right now, but it was good to see a response within a couple of days of posting the resume. I might be interested in the job in the future. Who knows. I also saw a temporary job with the National Park Service. It's a "Transportation" scholar, and is given potential for 3, 6, and 12 month assignments to develop sustainable transport within the National Parks. Needing a letter of recommendation to accompany my resume, and a statement of purpose, I'm thinking I'll get Dr. Weber to write me one. Reasoning: He's the transportation geographer in the department, his father was/is a park ranger at Death Valley NP. I'm not saying I'd get "stationed" at Death Valley necessarily, but rather someone who has experience with the NPS, and/or knows someone in the NPS might be able to secure me a position a bit more easily. This certainly intrigues me. I think with my creditentals, I might be a good candidate for the job. We'll see. Once I get my application stuff in, I should hear from them in, say, April, then get an assignment shortly after Graduation.

Ghana Video

2007-01-23T09:49:00.000-06:00

Ahoy all...

This is the culmination of seven months of work (well, actually just two days, I let the videos sit around for seven months). This is a compliation of videos I took when I was in Ghana. The quality is not tha great on the videos since I took it on my still camera on which video is not the main function. In hindsight, or on a hypothetical second trip, I might take a video camera as well. It did capture some of the pictures, and certainly some of the sounds that I could never describe (the canoe section has music I added, but it was pretty much soundless, just imagine a paddle hitting Autauga creek, or the James, or the Black Warrior River and you have the same sound).

This is my first attempt at something in iMovie on my Powerbook. This is also my first attempt at Youtube.com. It made sense given the size of the video, as a means with which to share the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbYOqf2GnUM

Enjoy! And share as you see fit.

Brrrr...

2007-01-18T09:46:00.000-06:00

Baby...it's cold outside...

Anyway, here's what's up in my world:

I got response back on my first non-thesis paper. No major re-write, just need to address a couple of topics in a bit more detail. I was thinking that when I turned it in anyway, but Dr. Weber gave me some sources on what he thought I needed to address further. I hope to have a second draft by month's end.
My second non-thesis paper is slow going. However, I am beyond the introduction and am in the procedure and analysis portion. That should go fairly easily. This does not have a terrible amount of sources since it is more a project than a research paper. I did manage to sneak in a reference to Prattville when talking about inter-municipal fire station responses (the Sept. 2002 mill fire called for Montgomery, Millbrook, and numerous volunteer fire departments from Autauga Co.).
I might be presenting my first non-thesis paper (the Ghana paper) at a conference in Tuskegee in late Feb./early March. I have a few days yet to make a decision on that.
I called the grad school up yesterday. They claim all my forms needed for graduation (degree application, candidacy application, comprehensive exam completion form) are all in. I got a time and a person I talked to in case it all goes awry.
I went to the career ctr. yesterday to get my resume critiqued. I now have it updated and am about ready to get it submitted. Related to this, I got a job announcement from the Geog. dept. a few days ago for a position in Mobile (it's a continuous opening I believe). I might send in my updated resume and require forms soon for that position. Even if I don't end up being able to get it right now, or secured right now, it would get my name "out there". Also with an updated and modified (for layout) resume, I can go ahead and start posting my resume on websites as necessary (Monster, Hotjobs, Geojobsource, etc.) and otherwise sending my resume out.

That is all for now...

First Post in a While

2007-01-11T11:39:00.000-06:00

I don't post frequently because my life is boring. Kerry has a two year old child and is expecting another one soon. Kelly takes frequent trips to Washington and other exciting places to visit and/or with that RP character. I go to class, and write papers.

I am now about four days into my new assistantship. Things seem to be going smoothly. I have an office with only one other person having an office on this floor, a desk, a phone. It's almost like the real world...though I should be so lucky next year to actually have an office. I've mainly been setting up my computer/office like I want it, then updating the office's website (http://bama.ua.edu/~landmgt/). It is giving me experience in two other pieces of software, so no complaints.

I did get a first draft on my first non thesis paper turned in. I'm sick of reading the paper, but I did manage to get it to the initial maximum range my first reader suggested (he said 20-25 pages). I'm meeting with him on Friday to discuss, among other things, the status of that paper and what I need to do with the next draft. Other things I'm discussing with him:

Logistics of my second paper
My directed readings course

My one and only formal class only meets Tuesday nights, so I still have a few days until I can report on that. I got an e-mail from Dr. Webster about general things (it was sent to all grad students). He mentioned something about GY-500 for the current class. I had flashbacks. I'm glad that class is over.

I am ready to be done. I'm about 80% sure I'll walk in May sort of completing the cycle of the Gilbert siblings. That depends on my job situation.

That is all for now.

It's amazing...

2006-12-16T09:18:00.000-06:00

I am in the process of planning some sort of wild and crazy Spring Break trip right now (by wild and crazy, I mean sort of out of the blue type, some place I've never been before). I'm a transportation planner and I know that there is really no rhyme or reason as to the pricing scheme airlines use in calculating their ticket prices, but I've been really amazed at some of the results for some cities I've been considering, that they're all ALMOST EXACTLY THE SAME PRICE FOR THE SAME DATES. No biggie, you say? Here are some of the cities I'm considering for March 7/8/9 - March 14/15:
Helena, MT
Anchorage, AK
Honolulu, HI

Again, no big deal--they're US cities, and capitals of their respective states, but here are two more cities I've looked at:
Edinburgh, Scotland
Budapest, Hungary (Why Budapest? I know someone who teaches at a Christian school there from Trinity in Montgomery and has an open invitation for anyone to come visit him).

They're all within $100 of eachother, despite the fact that I HAVE TO CROSS AN OCEAN AND FLY INTO A DIFFERENT COUNTRY COMPLETELY. (I have to cross an ocean to Honolulu, but it's still in the US). I think the Edinburgh flight may actually be the cheapest of them all (granted, it is a direct flight out of Atlanta, but still).

Anyway, here are my plans for Saturday:
1. NOT STUDY
2. Straighten/Clean my apartment and car
3. Help Colin & Heather Chapell move across town (PCA folks...might recognize that name: Colin is Bryan Chapell's son and is a Ph.D. student here at UA, Heather is the Director of Youth and College Ministries at Riverwood, basically what Tim was doing before July, but without the ordination).
4. NOT STUDY

Exam run-down:
1. Urban Analysis Planning: One essay. Professor said with kind of a smirk on his face, "I don't think you'll find this too painful. You've had enough pain all semester." Half the class of all grad students, including me, finished it in a half hour. The rest were probably 35 minutes finishing it. I was struggling to get three pages--going only one line onto the third page (not "front and back", one whole page front and back, then one line onto the front of the next). Ask me about the mutant race of clowns.
2. GIS-T: Took two hours, but not too bad. One (of six) definitions I was weak on. The essay I wasn't terribly strong on, but I think I got it (and hope I clearly articulated what I was trying to get across). I felt good about the two procedure questions. One we had to find the distance between two places using the gravity model with known variables. It was basic Algebra, but if you didn't know how to work the equation in the first place, you'd be lost. All my results came out nice even numbers, so I must have done something right there (and I plugged them back in and got the right answer). The second was calculating a network autocorrelation/Moran's I on traffic accidents for a 100 mi. stretch of I-10 in Arizona. This is something that can be done easily in Excel, or in GIS with a simple algorithm, but we had to do this by hand. I got my results (Moran's I = 0.93 for this stretch--meaning higher accident values tend to cluster together), and looked back at the map where we got the accident data, and it seemed to be reasonable.

I also got my second non-thesis project idea approved. Basically it's my Richmond project from this semester using ONLY Richmond, then adding three other cities of similar size across the country (Boise, ID; Des Moines, IA; Mobile, AL), add a few more things to look at (fire station coverage of schools, population, etc.) and compare and contract the four cities. I start this up on Monday, and thus ends my holiday--which is why I'm planning a big shebang of a Spring Break trip, since all my non-thesis work should have final drafts turned in by then (to the first reader at least...the second, from what I can ascertain, is somewhat of a formality to avoid any conflicts of interest)

Misc.

2006-12-09T09:14:00.000-06:00

It's been a long time since I Rock 'n' Rolled. No wait...it's been a long time since I posted--that was me being a music nerd. Here's what's shaking:

1. Thanksgiving (the majority has been ehmpasized by my lovely sisters in their blogs). I went to the Florabama with dad on Friday just so I could stand with one foot in one state (Alabama) and one foot in the other (Florida) at the same time. I went home by myself that Sunday up US-43. A VERY pleasant drive--aside from nearly getting killed as I got into Linden. Fun towns along the way: Mobile, Mt. Vernon, McIntosh, Jackson, Grove Hill, Thomasville, Dixon's Mill, Linden, Demopolis, Forkland (Mom...that's where those hey sculptures are...between Demopolis and Eutaw), Eutaw. Was able to knock off four more counties (Washington, Jackson, Marengo, Greene) from my trek to drive my car in all 67 Alabama counties. I'm a geography nerd, I admit it.

2. Wrapped up semester papers and presentations. Got a few positive comments on my presentation on waterfront (re)development, though I thought my presentation on Fire Station Coverage in Richmond VA went better (it was the second presentation, so maybe I was warmed up).

3. Now is the time to start my non-thesis papers/projects. It will be no Christmas "break" for me...rather it will be a grand opportunity to get some work done. I got the official go-ahead to resubmit my Ghana transportation paper. I have to restructure it, re-title it, and add a few pages on sustainable transportation (which I have a few articles on...so THAT shouldn't be too bad). I'm thinking about expanding my Richmond project a ways since I think I might need to do a major GIS project for a non-thesis. I'll talk with professors involved in the coming days.

4. Had a going away luncheon for the girl I'm replacing over at land management. She got presents. Maybe I'll get some presents when I leave in May...then again, she had been there a year and a half, I'll have been there four months. Oh, Kelly, they had some raspberry shortbread bars VERY similar to yours (but not better, of course).

5. Prattville plays Hoover today at 3 for the state title at Legion Field. I had thought about going to the game, but I have WAY too much to do here in Tuscaloosa:

Study
Clean/Straighten
Grocery Shop
Christmas Shop

I should be able to manage to keep myself busy most of the day. It's SO nice not having to plan my entire day around Alabama football. I'll catch the game on TV (it's playing here on UPN-68). I don't think Prattville will win, but I certainly WILL be pulling for them.

6. UA can't seem to find a coach for its football team. I say hire me. I have a proven track record. I have 150 wins compared to two losses and eight straight national championships (and 9 out of the last eleven seasons). Mind you, this is in NCAA 2005 on my Nintendo Gamecube...

7. Had my first Christmas party/open house of the season last Sunday night at the Liens'. Last time they had one I was there from 7pm until 2am--so were several other people. This time I wasn't there quite as long...6:30pm until roughly 10:00pm.

8. I turned my heat on for the first time two nights ago. Apparently the teens is my threshold for turning the heat on. Dad should be proud of me.

9. I have two exams. One Thursday morning (I THOUGHT it might be a take-home...but it's a regular in-class exam), then one Friday morning after which I go to Suzanna's Christmas pageant/program.

10. I have to return a book to the Bruno Library today (which is were Paul works). No reason for anyone having to know that other than I didn't want Paul to feel left out since I've mentioned everyone else's name here in my relatively immediate family. Also I wanted a nice even number of talking points.

That is all for now.
See-ya!

2006-11-14T21:45:00.000-06:00

A few key things:

1. My computer HD crashed last Wednesday/Thursday. Thanks to a number of people (Kerry/Paul, Dad, and Tim Lien) I've been able to get back pretty much up and running again. Kerry/Paul let me use their computer to try and figure out what went wrong and use their Firewire cord to recover my critical data before wiping the HD clean and starting with a clean slate. Dad sent/is sending a copy of a later version of the OS X recover disk than I had on hand at the time of the crash (I have 10.2.7, he has 10.3.4 I think). Most of MS Office for the Mac won't run on the earlier system (it needs a newer version of 10.2), and for that matter, many of the programs I had also need either higher versions of 10.2 or a version of 10.3 to run. Tim Lien let me borrow his copy of Microsoft Office for, um, evaluation purposes to try and get up and running on my Windows PC (which he and I re/built a few weeks ago). I may just try and see if this thing can get me through the March-May time frame of 2007 then possibly scrap it (it'll be 2.5 to three years old then, having been in my hands for 2 years) and look into getting a newer Mac then.

2. I may be leaving the Cart Lab for my final semester of grad school. I was informed of this yesterday. I'll still be employed elsewhere on campus and still keep my assistantship and stipend, just no longer at my current place of employment. Craig is losing three geography grad students at one time, and possibly a fourth (anthropology who could, in theory, get a teaching assistantship at any point thus meaning she'd have to leave the Cart Lab) all of whom will have been there for 2 - 2.5 years a piece. He's looking at hiring a couple of current undergrads who are considering grad school and wants to break at least one of them in for my job before he starts grad school (he's a good guy, he's one of the folks who went to Ghana this past summer). If I end up leaving the Cart Lab, I'll end up at the Office Land Management for my final semester (Land Management too is losing a geography grad student and the geography department wants to keep that position...so I suppose I'm serving as a placeholder). Little will change. I'll still do GIS work, I'll still do it for 20 hours a week (though probably at a higher hourly rate). I'll even be within a baseball's throw of Farrah Hall (Land Management is in Hayden-Harris Hall, which is along Hackberry between Burke and Farrah). I'd work under the University Geologist whom I've worked with on projects before (Handicapped accessibility map in tandem with Dr. Judy Bonner--University Provost, and the Google Earth project). I'd also work in close contact with the Cart Lab. I don't really want to leave the Cart Lab, but I also really don't have much control. If it's a terrible switch, it's only for a semester...it may make me more encouraged to get my non-thesis requirements done.

3. Speaking of non-Thesis requirements, I've approached Dr. Seth (Appiah-Opoku) about resubmitting my Ghana paper for a non-thesis paper. He seemed to think it was a good idea and is currently (allegedly at least) looking over it again. Then we'll meet and discuss how to bring it up to non-thesis standards. (I think I'm on his good side again after that first fifteen minutes of comps--yeesh). I'm still trying to think about a final non-thesis paper/project. If all goes well on my current GIS-T project, I may try and expand it a bit more (in terms of project breadth and paper length). Today was a good day on the project (Kelly, I found out through initial analysis that all but the extreme SW portion of Chesterfield county is within 15 minutes of a fire station, and four select key sites are within five minutes--St. John's Church, The Capitol, The Diamond, and The Richmond Coliseum--of a fire station). I judge a good day by everything working out well in data gathering, manipulation, compilation and analysis. I'm about |___| <-- that close from being ready to start the paper writing and necessary map production. It is indeed true the axiom that seventy-five percent of the time, effort and frustration of GIS is the data gathering.

4. My thoughts are now turning to Thanksgiving. Can't wait!

5. I also bought two old maps on e-bay last week. They came in (thanks Kerry for serving as a "c/o" for me!). I'm currently getting them custom framed at Michael's. They are a 1930 map of Gold Coast (that is, Ghana), and a 1905 map of Japan. They're both smaller than I thought, but they're old maps...so I like them.

Hooray!

2006-11-08T14:41:00.000-06:00

I just looked at my time sheet for the first time this pay period (in theory, I should have looked at it the past few days, but whatever...). For the first time since May, I'm actually ahead in hours! I have a +0.5 by my name. Keep in mind, the day I got back to work after going to Africa, I had a -77 by my name, meaning I owed 77 hours. It's been a long, hard five months, but I finally broke even (and that's including two and a half days off for comps, a week off for Virginia, and a day off last week for a head cold from which I needed to rid myself).

On a completely un-related note, Tim Lien was officially installed by Warrior Presbytery as Senior Pastor at Riverwood PC. Now maybe the PCA's website will update the RPC entry on their church directory (assuming the stated clerk of Warrior Presbytery informs the folks in Atlanta in time).

Spring 2007

2006-10-31T11:22:00.000-06:00

Here's my final schedule (tentative at this point) for the spring semester:

1. GY536--Advanced GIS-->T 6:00-8:30 (4 Credit Hours)
2. GY598--Non-Thesis Research (3 Credit Hours)
3. GY506--Directed Research in Human Geography (1 Credit Hour)

So basically that means one class a week, do/finish two 20-25 page papers, and read some articles and discuss them with a professor and/or do a write up on them.

Seems easy enough. Let's hope so!

snort

2006-10-26T11:09:00.002-05:00

It MUST be something in the Tennessee River if now Smokey is getting as nasty as the human UT fans.

Dog bites man

Me in GY Dept. Newsletter

2006-10-23T14:59:00.000-05:00

My write up on my trip to Ghana is featured in the 2006 Geography Dept. Newsletter.

http://www.as.ua.edu/geography/newsletter06.pdf

Page 9, right before the Memoriam.

I'm famous!

Welcome to America, where you can sell anything

2006-10-08T00:03:00.000-05:00

Just a few minutes after the Razorbacks of Arkansas felled the hated Tigers of "Moo U", I saw someone walking around campus selling something taunting Auburn. It was a picture (he had several desk sized versions, as well as a poster sized one) of a skeleton sitting in a lawn chair with an Auburn jersey on, and a pennant in one hand, and in his other hand a cardboard sign that said "Still Waiting on National Championship". Supposedly it's floating around on the internet somewhere, but I have yet to find it.

To sum Satruday up:

Auburn loses (AT HOME!) to Arkansas.
Alabama wins (at home) against Duke (though I had my doubts after the first half when our defense looked like Georgia's 4th quarter defense where they gave up 27(!) to the Home Dep...I mean...Tennessee Volunteers)
The Yankees (who perpetually have 100 win seasons) were felled by the Detroit Tigers who, prior to this season, had perpetually had 100 LOSS seasons. The Tigers took the series 3-1 and play the Oakland Athletics for the ALCS.

The day's only offical downside was Georgia losing to Tennessee. Can't have it all I don't suppose.

Friday

2006-09-29T23:50:00.000-05:00

Today was a good Friday. The best Friday I've had in quite a while (honestly!). The weather was exceptionally nice. We still have an Indian Summer to look forward to, but this gave a taste of what was to come. Work went great. Craig was out of the office and while he's not an overbearing manager by any stretch of the imagination, it was a light hearted day the whole day regardless, while still getting work done (no goofing off), everyone was in a good mood.

I met with one of my professors today to talk about the paper in his class, and he liked my idea and gave me some direction that I could go on it (riverfront redevelopment in general, then a specific case study in Montgomery) and he suggested "dovetailing" it with a non-thesis paper to, in his words, "minimize work while, at the same time, maximizing output".

I also met with another professor yesterday (Dr. Weber) and he liked my idea for a project in his class about accessibility of fire stations in Montgomery. I actually wanted to do Prattville, but he suggested Montgomery because he and I both thought a larger data set would be better. He also gave me some early guidance on a non-thesis paper. I got asked to write a letter of recommendation for a professor who is up for tenure this semester, which I will do. This is for Dr. Weber, my program advisor. He's always very helpful in papers and projects, and was great in easing my tattered nerves about comprehensive exams. He's met the publication requirements, and I'm certain he won't have problem getting it, but it was humbling to write one for him.

Luke Henderson passed the bar exam. I was almost jumping up and down in the mall when I called him and he told me the good news. The fact that the state of Alabama has said that he can practice law is rather scary (I say that tongue in cheek, of course)...he's earned it.

One of my friends from Riverwood is moving to Birmingham tomorrow. While that isn't the fun part, the going away stuff was fun. About 5 guys and four girls (including this guy's girlfriend) went out to Nick's in the Sticks way out past Stillman along Culver Road/US11/43. Met a girl from Richmond (Kelly, she claims her parents go to Third Pres.), AND a girl from Montgomery.

And to top it off, it's Suzanna's 2nd Birthday.

This is exceedingly better than two Fridays ago (dinner w/ Dave & Amelia Nolen that night salvaged that day).

Today was just what the doctor ordered.

Does this count as rubbing "it" in?

2006-09-16T19:13:00.000-05:00

Just put on my car today.

Celebration Day

2006-09-15T15:55:00.000-05:00

Again--further evidence of me being a music nerd, and in keeping in tune with titles having song titles based on the subject matter of the post, I present to you a song off Led Zeppelin III (their acoustic, folksy album from 1970).

Comps are over. I passed. I'd write more right now, but my brain is fried. Just thought I'd put it out there.

Later!

Under Pressure

2006-09-11T22:27:00.000-05:00

In again trying to attach song titles to blog entries, I have chosen Queen's "Under Pressure" featuring David Bowie. (John Deacon's opening bass line Vanilla Ice...um..."borrowed" during the early 90s for his reprehensible song "Ice, Ice Baby"). I'm a music nerd, I know.

Anyway, so the pressure of about twelve to thirteen people having taken and passed comps in a row comes to me. I see no reason I'll break the streak. There are two approaches I could take to this: (1) Statistical--the more people who continue to pass it, the more likely it is the next person will fail, and (2) Perpetual Motion--an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. I'm trying to keep the perpetual motion idea in my head while I study, and ultimately once Friday comes up.

I feel fairly confident on most of the stuff right now. I think I have Dr. Weber's stuff down, I think I have the lion's share of Dr. Seth's stuff down, and I'm feeling better daily on Dr. Richetto's stuff. Mind you, there is still stuff for each I'm weak on, but that's reality. I don't expect to know or be able to answer everything they ask me off hand, but I certainly hope I can, with a little leading (there is precedence, Dr. Richetto once got me started on an answer on a test after everyone else had left) on that stuff, be able to convince them I DO know what I'm talking about, and know enough about Geography for them to feel confident in giving me a degree.

I'm just sick of studying, and looking over all this stuff again and again. It'll be over Friday though, then I just get to the normal rigors of school.

snicker

2006-09-03T17:11:00.000-05:00

Which Princess Bride Character are You?
this quiz was made by mysti

Comps

2006-08-30T12:22:00.000-05:00

I have an offical date for comps. I saw the schedule as it is posted in the Geography Dept. office this morning:

Friday, September 15
1pm

I'm the third one to go.

Two weeks to study. Hopefully I can have some time to eat and sleep during it.

Comps/Loan

2006-08-28T22:48:00.000-05:00

So I heard a tentative date for my comprehensive exams. This isn't confirmed, but I heard it from another grad student who I have my MWF class with (and whose session will be right after mine). He said he saw me down for Friday, September 15th at 1pm. That gives me a time frame with which to work. About two and a half weeks. It works great because I get to have a feel as to the professors' general mood, while not having to dread it for too long. Plus now I have a finite timeframe with which to study and can guide my studies much better. That will be life between now and then.

Oh, and I got my loan check in the mail today. I won't go on blurting out how much it was for all to see (if you want to know, and know how to get in touch with me off the blog...just let me know). I fought getting the loan--to a fault, but when the University can't seem to figure how to pay it's graduate students for a month--long story, it was something I needed to go ahead and suck up. It was odd getting a check for that much in the mail, and it was particularly odd getting a check for that much with just a Pittney-Bowles type 37 cent stamp on it (apparently the actual cost to ship was 37 cents, not the standard 39...but whatever).

So I can get that in the bank tomorrow (I'll split it between checking and a fairly liquid investment fund) and can finally begin paying back those to whom I owe money before they break my legs as collateral (folks like my credit card companies, and mom).

Comps/First Day of class

2006-08-23T22:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I talked with one of the professors who is on my board this afternoon about it (not my program advisor, mind you, I meet with him on Friday). Dr. Richetto answered some of my pressing questions about exam structure and such. Basically what he told me is that Dr. Weber (my program advisor and presumably my review board chairman) will sort of get me to talk about myself. Things like why I like Geography, why I chose to study it at Alabama, and some career goals. This, I suppose is to loosen me up a bit. Then each professor including Dr. Seth (Appiah-Opoku) will get a twenty minute session to ask me basically anything from any classes I've had with them, or any broad topics I should know as a geographer, specifically a second year master's student. For instance, Dr. Weber will ask me about GIS and Transport Geography, Dr. Seth about Africa, Environmental Management, and broad planning ideas, Dr. Richetto about some more specific (but still fairly broad) planning concepts on the public and private sectors, some broad human geography ideas (which will probably be encompassed in other planning sections), and since Dr. Jerry Webster isn't on my board, he will ask me some broad questions from GY500 (history, traditions, etc.). From that point, they each get a ten minute session with me to follow up on any questions they answered in their first round, or to get clarifications on what I meant, etc. Then I'll leave the room while they talk with eachother to get a concensus on whether or not I pass. This takes about ten minutes, at which point they'll call me back in and give me the 411 (pass/fail) and perhaps reasons why I failed (assuming such). I'm still nervous and apprehensive, to be sure, but now that I have some specific structure on what to expect I'm a little less worried (I've moved from a 10/10 to a 9/10 on the apprehension scale you might say).

I meet with Dr. Weber on Friday afternoon to discuss what I should study specifically for his section, then a more broad idea of what to expect on the exams, and how I should prepare. Things as serious as what to say if I don't know the answer to a question, to nominal such as what I should do in terms of dress for the day (the girl I work with who took it January was dressed up a bit more than usual the day she took them).

I should have a date by this time next week. Then my apprehension shoots back up to about 55/10.

On a related note, my first day of class this year went fine. Typical first day, to be sure. This class has only grad students. Except for GY500, this has been the only class that has had only grad students in it. GY540 had one undergrad, that was as close to no undergrads. I guess Dr. Richetto expects more from the class as a whole in this one.

websites

2006-08-02T10:13:00.000-05:00

All my journal entries are now up. I have left a space for an epilogue of sorts in the future, but I'll tackle that at a later date. I may also attach a picture or to from the picture page to the journal entries in the future as well just for some visual aide.

http://www.krgilbert.net/ghana/

Also, Alabama Maps is pretty much back up and running again. I believe we've managed to recover all of our nearly 14,000 or so maps online and about 99.2% of our 5500 or so air photos. That 0.8% was the last few we did before the crash and hadn't had a chance to be backed up in any way, shape, or form. I'm thinking those will just be scrapped.

http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/

Yay

2006-07-24T22:50:00.000-05:00

Just saw on the news (well, about thirty minutes ago, but whatever), that Kristen Trotter boarded a cruise ship over the weekend and is now out of Lebanon (presumably in Cyprus for now, eventually back in Alabama). So that's good news.

Also, I've gotten all my May journal entries up on my Ghana web page. I'll work on the June ones in the coming days. Enjoy!

http://www.krgilbert.net/ghana

(for the journal, click the "Journal" link at top).

Strange liquid

2006-07-22T23:38:00.000-05:00

There's a strange liquid falling out of the sky right now. Someone, quick, remind me what it is. Is it this "rain" they've been saying we're so short on? I'm so dumbfounded!

Ghana Page

2006-07-20T14:41:00.000-05:00

I'm working on getting some changes done to my Ghana page. Among the changes:

1. Journal entries (I finally got it back). These will take a while, but I've gotten about six of them done thus far--through May 25. I hope to have the rest done by month's end.

2. Picture descriptions. This is partially for my own memory. Again, I hope to have this done by month's end.

3. Spiffy new front page image. Simply an outline of Alabama with the Ghanaian flag contained in its boundaries. (Photoshop is a great thing!). I'll work on this some to make it fancier eventually, but I thought it looked good on the front page.

http://www.krgilbert.net/ghana/

So see some photo descriptions, read journal entries, marvel at the front page image, and enjoy the page! (And keep checking back every couple of days for changes and updates).

2006-07-18T22:38:00.000-05:00

Apparently I know someone in Beirut, Lebanon right now. (If you happen to have seen it on the news, it's Senior UA Journalism Major Kristen Trotter). Apparently she's interning with Beirut's main newspaper. She's an RUFer, attends Riverwood, etc. I'm reasonably close to her, so as you can imagine I'm a bit concerned. I just thought I'd share that.

Almost Back

2006-07-15T22:47:00.000-05:00

Well, it looks like Alabama Maps will be back up and running soon. Most of the historic maps are back up, but the aerial photographic collection is still down and may well be fore a while, but this is better than we were two weeks ago, indeed better than we were as of 11:45 on Friday morning (the point at which the new server came online and the new linking method was discovered).

It's not as glum as we thought previously. Yay! Please patronize us!
http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/

yay!

2006-07-10T10:16:00.000-05:00

even still...Go Black Stars

2006-06-27T16:26:00.001-05:00

Well, "my" Black Stars couldn't pull off the impossible in beating Brazil today. The final was 3-0.

However, said Brazil's coach: "It wasn't easy and we knew it wasn't going to be easy, 3-0 seems easy, but it wasn't."

Said Ghana's coach: "[Ghana] faced a great team, the world champions, they are the best in competition, defending champions. It is not a shame to lose to Brazil."

Go Black Stars!

2006-06-22T11:04:00.000-05:00

Dancing in the streets of Accra (and Kumasi, Cape Coast, Takoradi, Axim, Sunyani...well, any city of any size in Ghana).

Final score:

Ghana 2
USA 1

Ghana advances to the second round with Italy.

Back in Alabama

2006-06-13T11:21:00.000-05:00

I'm sure some of you are already aware, but I'm back in the states. Specifically in Alabama. More stories and pictures forthcoming, but here are two. The first is of me drinking a Heineken in Amsterdam...just so I could say I did it. The second is proof I'm a geography nerd. It's me with my feet in the other side of the Atlantic Ocean (The Gulf of Guinea at Axim, Ghana).

I'll post more later, and tell stories ad nauseum.

peppers!

2006-05-21T22:06:00.000-05:00

As Kerry can attest, these are larger now, these pictures were taken just a few days after I got the plants. On the left, the bell pepper, on the right, cayenne. If you look closely in the right one, you can see the front of my car. Enjoy!

Riverwood goings on

2006-05-21T16:32:00.000-05:00

Well, this happened earlier than I had expected. The congregation voted today about 90% in favor with one abstination (Melissa Lien I suspect) to give the green light to the session's recommendation that Tim Lien be the next senior pastor once Bryan leaves at the end of June. He had to have 80% since there is no BCO provision for an assistant pastor to become the senior pastor at the same chruch at which he was asssistant. This is allegedly to prevent any sort of assistant coming in and forcing the senior pastor out. Both Tim and Bryan were allegedly cornered at the last meeting of Warrior Presbytery and grilled about it. Now all that's left is for Warrior Presbytery to vote on the congregation's decision (it's just a 3/4ths vote there) then an installation on or around July 2nd.

Now what's left is finding an assistant/associate to serve in the position Tim has held the past two years (youth guy). We're at an odd position now since most seminaries have already graduated and already sent their graduates to their first calls. I think it's something the laypeople in the church are going to suck up for about a year until they can find someone qualified for the job.

That's what's happening. A last pre-Africa post forthcoming on Tuesday.

zing!

2006-05-15T12:22:00.000-05:00

Final grades in for the semester...

Industrial Development & Location (GY-532)-->A
Research Methods & Traditions in Geography (GY-500)-->A
Transport Geography (GY-566)-->A

I haven't had a GPA this high since Jr. High (roughly a 3.83 now), and if I continue this, I'll end up with a GPA in the range of 3.93 by the time I graduate! I'm also off the "restriction" that I came in under because of the 900 I got on the GRE. (Had to keep 3.0 for the first 12 attempted hours). Hooray for me!

We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout...

2006-05-13T09:31:00.000-05:00

Again, the post title is a line from a song, relevant (somewhat) to the subject matter. The song is "Jackson", a duet featuring Johnny Cash and (at the time--they weren't yet married) June Carter, particularly I'm thinking about the version sung live at Folsom Prison in 1968.

Remember what I said a couple of days ago about my pepper plants being droopy? Well, when I put then back in the sun the next day, they had already exploded (particularly in terms of leaf size). They had grown about about an linear inch, then a couple of the leaves at the bottom of each plant (cayanne, and bell both) had about doubled in aeral size. They're still going on the fertilizer that was in the potting soil, and I've watered them probably just once because every couple of days--including about 6:30 this morning--we get a decent rain through and everytime I finger test the soil (stick finger in to see how moist the soil is), it doesn't feel like it needs watering and the plants never look droopy from a lack of moisture. They're even beginning to start sprouting (now if only I can attract some bees)! They should be putting out peppers in mid-July.

Celebration Day

2006-05-11T00:44:00.000-05:00

In keeping with my policy of song titles in post titles as they're appropriate to the subject of the post (do you follow?) the title of this post is a Led Zeppelin song from their Led Zeppelin III album full of mainly acoustic and folksy stuff.

But anyway, I'm done with finals. Finito. Sayonara. Well, until comprehensive exams, then finals in December, then...well, you get the picture. Final analysis:

GY-566-->
Nailed it, got an A in the class. I felt confident about everything I answered, except for that one question's calculations. That really verified that I am a transportation geographer. I looked through the notes twice, maybe three times.

GY-532-->
Well, this remains to be seen. Ironically, the one class I struggled with the most was at an undergraduate level. It dealt with planning, but not transportation (though it did dabble into transportation issues...Infrastructure, networks, you get the picture). In stark contrast to GY-566, I read though these notes six or seven times, but didn't feel nearly as confident (again, consistent with how I felt throughout the semester).

GY-500-->(geeky moment, a la Kelly, forthcoming)
Turned it in 7 1/2 hours before it was due (i.e. at 2:00pm). Department secretary said that she thought I should get extra credit for that (I agree). I was the second person to put it in his box (which is not necessarily to say I was the second to turn it in as we had an e-mail option as well). Basically I rip into post modernism as it applies to the sciences:

Post modernism's criticisms of modernism, while superficially valid, do not hold any water. How can a post modernist, the very foundations of which emphasize the lack of absolutes, say that anything that arose out of modernism was bad? (The failure of the nation-state in Africa, for example).
If "Nothing exists out of the text" (according to deconstructionist and postmodernist Jacques Derriea) and everything is left up to the individual for interpretation, then who is a post modernist to say that what Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, or Saddam Hussein (among others) were wrong in how they killed thousands and millions? Where not they doing what they interpreted as right in eliminating subversive peoples?
Since science (geography specifically) and academia in general seek out universal truths, post modernism is a pox on the sciences--the arts are a different story.
Post modernism has led to the disunity in academia that exists today wherein people specialize in singular fields, rather than diversifying their knowledge. No one (generalized statement) knows about Mozart AND molecular biology AND American History anymore, which is bad according to E.O. Wilson and, after having looked at it some, myself.

That is the essence of what I said. I go on for five pages about that using notes, texts, handouts, and readings from class. I felt pretty decent about it, but I haven't a clue as to what to expect in a grade. If Dr. Webster is a post modernist, an A, if not, then who knows? (get it? haha!)

Now I get ready for Africa. Two weeks from now, I'll be hurdling across the Atlantic Ocean in a piece of metal at several hundred miles per hour.

My pepper plants are droopy. They were out in the rain and the wind today. Hopefully they'll perk up tomorrow, less I have to get stakes.

Exam Update 1

2006-05-08T13:28:00.000-05:00

Had my transport geography final this morning. After having gotten my final project back in the class (9.5/10), I came home after the final and figured I could get something like a 79 on the test and still make something like a 90.01. A C gets me an outright A.

I didn't come close to getting a C (on the positive side, of course).

That was the most confident I've felt about an exam in quite a while (if not ever). I didn't know everything, but the ones I did know I felt like I nailed (we had choices on what to answer, 6 of 8 definitions, 4 of 5 analysis, 1 of 4 essays). I think I botched the calculation on one of the analysis questions (I calculated it three times and got something different each time). Dr. Weber isn't necessarily concerned with exact calculation, but rather conceptual understanding, which in spite of potentially erroneous calculations, I had the questions concept down.

Now I have to finish up the last assignment (presentation critiques) in my Industrial Development and Location class, then start on Dr. Webster's final exam which is due by 9:30pm on Wednesday. That is an optional take home/in class final. We can do it at home with everything in front of us and take as long as we want, or we can be in class with everything in front of us but only have the exam period. Two 4-5 page essays is what it amounts to, nothing too tough, especially considering I have everything in front of me. I hope to have it done by Wednesday afternoon (tomorrow afternoon would be MUCH better, that's what I'm actually aiming for).

So I'd better get back to the books for about two more days, then I'm freeeeeeee (sort of).

Ground Control to Major Tom

2006-05-01T19:21:00.000-05:00

It's a song (by David Bowie), but it has nothing to do with this posting other than that I'm listening to it as I type, unlike my last movie reference.

This semester is steadily winding down. I talked with Dr. Weber today about the final project, the final exam, and his portion of the comprehensive exams. I'm supposed to get an outline of my Intro to GIS course (taken as an undergraduate) and my Transport Geography course (taking now) then go over it with him. He said he'll be here in June so he didn't seem to think there was a huge rush (particularly since I don't plan on studying until July) since I'm in the midst of dead week/finals. I have my Intro to GIS notes around somewhere, but I took that in Spring 2003, so I have no clue where they might be. Fortunately, a girl I work with took the class last semester and said she'd give me her notebook (both she and Dr. Weber said that the course didn't change much, and besides, it's likely he'll ask more recent stuff anyway), as well as the comprehensive outline she typed up. I'll do my own, but it's always good to have something else to help guide. She also gave me her GY500 notebook which helped IMMENSELY and probably helped me get an A on the mid-term (she took it last spring). As for Dr. Seth (Appiah-Opoku) and Dr. Richetto, I haven't talked with them yet about details, but I'll get to them by week's end.

So once I get through this paper on an ongoing transport project, I can start studying for finals. They are as follows:

GY-500-->Take-Home due by the end of the scheduled exam period (Wednesday night I believe), and available now --though I haven't yet picked it up. Two essays. One required, one a choice of two.

GY-532-->Wednesday 8:00-10:30

GY-566-->Monday 8:00-10:30.

So I'll be done by Wednesday afternoon at the latest (depending on when I finish my GY-500 exam). Then I can start focusing on Africa. Hooray!

back

2006-04-26T21:42:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy with school related work and this does after all take a backseat to my master's degree. I'm taking a break tonight from academia just to relax. I don't have anything due until Friday morning, so I can work tomorrow afternoon/night on the last page or so of my paper on Hyundai, then proof and source it. Then I have something due on Thursday of next week, as well as a presentation on Monday AND a final proposal for my Ghana paper.

I've taken the last of my typhoid fever medicine. Now I give it a week to work through my system and I'm vaccinated against Typhoid Fever for five years. The malaria vaccination I start taking a week before I go, then while I'm there once a week, then for a couple of weeks after I get back. I may actually need a couple more pills, but I'll address that after I get back.

I get another night of house/dog sitting for the Liens. Melissa called my apartment today and sai they're staying at the beach another day. It's not a problem as they said they might end up staying another day. Oh...the good time that must be being had by the soon-to-be interim senior pastor (and by all accounts the Senior Pastor once the congregation can officially offer it to him when Byran leaves).

"I know what you're thinking...did he fire five shots, or six?"

2006-04-19T09:47:00.000-05:00

"Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?"

Famous (albeit paraphrased)Clint Eastwood line there from "Dirty Harry" (1971).

Well, they shot me five times today, not six as I had expected. I ended up with an oral vaccination for Typhoid Fever. I was worried about it after talking with Dr. Seth a bit later, but I talked with a lady at the health department, and looked at the CDC website about the oral vaccination and didn't see any reason not to be able to take it. Dr. Seth just e-mailed me a few minutes ago and said that his experiences (he got a mild case of it over there while on Ph.D. research) were based on Canadian pills in the mid 1990s (he got his Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo in Ontario). He said that the other professor going on the trip (who went last year) took the pills and had no problem. I take four pills over the course of about eight days (one every other day). It gradually builds my immunity to typhoid fever. The run-down is available here:
http://www2.ncid.cdc.gov/travel/yb/utils/ybGet.asp?section=dis&obj=typhoid.htm

So what I got today in terms of actual needles:

Yellow Fever (certified by the CDC too, I have a yellow sheet to prove it!)
Meningicoccal (meningitis)
Hepatitis A&B (actually just part one of a three series shot, I can probably get the second one before I go, and probably in Augauga county. Only one is needed, but they recommend three. One today, one a month from now, and one six months from now. The more I have, simply means the more my system is immune. The RN said I could get the second and/or third shots anywhere basically that has it, hence thinking Augauga County Health Dept. a few days before I go, because the next time I could get scheduled with Tuscalooca Health Dept. was the day I leave for Atlanta and subsequently, Ghana)
Polio
Tetanus

That means I have five band-aids on my arms right now. Two on my left, three on my right. I'm not sure what went into what arm, but the RN at the Health Dept. had a system (the weaker ones go in my dominant arm).

So yes, as a matter of fact, I DO feel lucky................punk! (http://www.folloder.com/sounds/punk.wav)

visa

2006-04-17T22:05:00.000-05:00

It's a bit of a disappointment. I had anticipated it being a separate document wholly. As it turns out, it is just a sticker (but a full page one) in my passport. I mean, it's official "Republic of Ghana" and has stamps and such on it, but I expected something different. Looking on the bright side, however, I don't have an extra document to keep up with. Goodness knows I have enough with my passport, and proof of vaccinations to keep up with.

Oh! The perils of going to Africa!

paper, visa, and hair cuts

2006-04-17T14:14:00.000-05:00

I got my Maury paper back today. I got a 93 on it. Dr. Webster was a little concerned (if that's the appropriate word) about why I had left so much about John Maury in the paper. I thought it was important to link why Matthew decided to join the Navy and establish that he did it against his father's permission. Dr. Webster also made a point to note that it was double the required length. Also, there were some words I changed from the source to my paper (in paraphrased sections) that he wanted clarification that they were my words and not the source's. I added them for some more color is all. I'm not disputing anything, I'm happy with the grade. There was surprisingly little red ink on it. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

And the visa came in today. I don't have it in hand, it's wandering around Tuscaloosa now. I got a notice in my mailbox about an express delivery. It's available after 4pm at the main 35401 post office in downtown. The mailman also called me to let me know. That really means a lot. I guess he has my name on record, or the number was on the package, or in a database attached to the package or something. There's this nice message on my answering machine that he tried to deliver it about 11:30 and that it would be available in downtown at 4pm.

I got a hair cut today. Actually, I got most of them cut (haha). The next time will be right before I go to Ghana. I want a nice short hair cut for the tropical/sub-tropical weather I'll be experiencing for about three weeks.

The vast majority of the afternoon will be studying. Probably at Gorgas. I've spent more time at the library this semester than I have since I studied for my poetry recitation for Sra. Saphore at Spanish Competition during high school. There really is a lot of neat stuff (books!) at libraries. I highly recommend going if you've never gone before.

Alabama Map Man

First post in a while (snow!)

A few Florida trip highlights

Once again

Paul on Slip & Slide

100,000!

Snow Storm 2009

Kenny's blog

Delta Flooding

haha...and right before bedtime...

I may need a winter jacket this year

a few foliage pictures

Destiny/Roll Tide!

Grove Pictures

RTR!

Some Japan pictures...as promised

In Biloxi...yet again (or: "My 100th Post")

UA Tag

This really is a disorder...I'm sure

Proof!

This is just a test...

I blame Kerry for this

Guess who I met today?

Running on empty

First post since NYE

In the spirit of a Gilbert New Year's eve

Biloxi Pictures 2 (Misc)

Biloxi Pictures 1 (Room)

A few pictures from the Delta Region of Mississippi.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful

What's up pt. 3

Kenny Simpson

What's up pt. 2

What's up pt. 1

Oxford Pt. 3 (includes summary of my AC saga)

Oxford Pt. 2 (more to come later)

Oxford Pt. 1 (more to come later)

Pictures pt. 3 of 3.

Pictures pt. 2 of 3.

Pictures pt. 1 of 3.

I used to live here...

More pictures

Roanoke/Lexington Pictures

Roanoke Trip (pictures later)

One year ago today...

APP

Everybody's working for the weekend...

A few pictures.

In Orlando

One more...

I was right

Interviews

It still works!

You asked for it (and by "you", I mean Kelly)

Simplify, simplify, simplify...

Nearly on the downhill slope

Job Search Update

Busy busy busy

Second paper

Ghana Video

Brrrr...

First Post in a While

It's amazing...

Misc.

Hooray!

Spring 2007

*snort*

Me in GY Dept. Newsletter

Welcome to America, where you can sell anything

Friday

Does this count as rubbing "it" in?

Celebration Day

Under Pressure

*snicker*

Comps

Comps/Loan

Comps/First Day of class

websites

Yay

Strange liquid

snort

snicker