So, what’s been going on lately? Aside from looking for a thesis subject and a little bit of work on the side, I’ve been sucked into the depths of Half Life 2, a pretty amazing game (the physics engine is unbelieveable). Go get it now.I refrained from talking about the elections in the USA and the disappointment of most of the rest of the world with the results (not only here in Germany) because it seems that anyone with a head on their shoulders can figure
out what this means for the future of the USA. And as much as I miss some things about living there, I’m glad on another hand that I’m not in the middle of the mire that it’s becoming. Read the rest of this entry »

I just ran across this most interesting website this morning: www.scorecard.org.  I plugged in my home zipcode in the US, and VOILA I got a great overview of the largest polluters in Wicomico County, MD and a summary of the interesting things the pollutants they emit can do for you. Mostly negative things, at that.

Turns out that the largest polluter is Perdue farms, with a mere 217,000 pounds of N-HEXANE which is a neurotoxicant, reproductive, developmental and respiratory toxant. Neat. Plus, with 217,000 pounds of it, that equals a hefty 2.56 pounds of the stuff per person in the county.

But at least my family living there isn’t as lucky as the poor chaps in neighboring Sussex County, Delaware - while the single biggest polluter (by weight it is NRG Energy in Indian River. Right behind that is Perdue again with 550,000 pounds of Nitrate compounds, with DuPont following with a smattering of Hydrochloric and Sulfuric acids, as well as Chromium and Mercury, with thier own contribution of 145,000 pounds of Nitrates) has halved toxic releases over the last four years, the current amount of toxic output ends up being a mere 17.4 pounds of waste per person. That includes some nasties like hydroflouric & hydrochloric acid (which isn’t that bad, if it spills on your pants you just have to wash it off fast enough.. and oh yeah, that is assuming that it’s not finely dipersed into the air you’re breathing, which this stuff is), as well as the dangerous chromium and other usual heavy metals (barium, copper, mercury, etc). Anyway, you get the point (I grew up in Sussex county, and they’ve got pretty bad statistics when it comes to pollution it seems!)

So check out your community today! http://www.scorecard.org

I’m back in Germany, actually on schedule, but the missions were cut short due to the crack in front of the bombay.

My coffee maker broke. I was thinking about writing up an article about how to fix it, since it’s a complicated machine and it took me waaaay to long to get it apart. It started as an afternoon project that turned into a half-a-day event, but I learned a lot about the mysteries of the Jura coffee machine - and where all those crazy noises come from when it’s making me a cup of coffee. I always thought there was a hampster in there somewhere, intergral to the design and functionality - but it turns out there is no such thing. Funny that.

Now I just need to find a thesis project, and get down to work for the next few months… I’m not looking forward to it so much for some reason.

Read the rest of this entry »