Mahtin's Blog

Triple redundancy

2009-01-01T12:54:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I learned how to change the hydraulic fluid on Herman's tractor. It was of course a learning experience- I still haven't made it to the laundromat to try to get the oil out of the clothes that I was wearing. :/

We went to Cathaus for a lovely Ethiopian dinner with old friends last night. It was lovely.

I still have nasty chronic foot pain and I still look forward to starting or moving to a farm.

I'm on facebook now...

I'm still here...

2008-01-16T18:00:00.000-08:00

I'm still here. I happen to be stealing nap time to write this post at the moment. I often write blog posts in my head while I'm biking or driving, but I never get around to posting them, and they are lost...

I got a car a few months ago. It sucks that even I have one now, but just like everyone else says about their car, "I need it!" I still have my job, although tomorrow will be my 4th day in a row out sick with the flu. As I often say, "So much for that flu shot!" I did get one in November, right before we went to New Mexico for Thanksgiving. Have you ever had altitude sickness? God, it's brutal! But I felt really good at the gym the next week!

It's funny that I was writing about recessions and inflation last year, and look, they are still proceeding apace. It's scary. I'm not sure if I should buy things that could be necessities in the future, or try to save money in case I can save enough to buy something really big and useful. Well, there are some big things that my new health insurance doesn't cover, so they are going to eat up a lot of cash...

I'm reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan and Mycelium Running by Paul Stametz. My complaint about MP's latest is that his language is too flowery to be accessible to joe-no-college-education. But he's still great. You should really read The Omnivore's Dilemma. I lent it to the kids at the farm and I think I will just need to buy a used copy when I need to refer back to it. :/

I've been trying to visit the farm a lot when time and health allow, but they don't allow much. I'm not even going to go to the Defend Roe v. Wade march this weekend, but I hope you will!

I heard we might be having a recession

2007-09-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

Today on NPR, I heard a report that "Many financial analysts had said they believed August would show about 110,000 new jobs. Instead, the number dipped for the first time since August 2003." That's a lot of jobs- in fact, the number of jobs in this country shrank by 4,000.

Even Good Vibes is having a hard time!

This is kind of scary to me, because so few of us, even of those who might want to live sustainably, have the financial, material, and time resources to be able to do so.

Some of the patients who come into my work literally eat like a can of beans for their meals. It sounds

Ah, the wonderful world of work

2007-06-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

I had a hard time logging into blogspot for a few weeks there, but I'm back!

When I got to work today, the Terminix guy was there, spraying unknown pesticide(s) in the building. There was an unfamiliar musty odor in the building that I assume was related to the pesticide(s) that he was using. I turned around and walked out of the building. The guy who had been applying the pesticide(s) didn't know or didn't want to tell me what he was spraying. Apparently, he was doing a "preventative" spraying for ants. He was not wearing any protective gear, but somehow this did not reassure me. He even pointed out some ants to the security guard outside of the building-- there were some on one of the trees outside of the building!! (apparently this is because he did not spray outside) Since I don't know what he sprayed, or how long it stays in the air, or how long it has been in use, or what its potential effects on the human body (particularly mine) can be, I went home. As far as I could tell, nothing was being done to air-out the building (ie, the door was not being kept open).

Our CEO called to tell me that noone smelled anything "off," and that if I left him high and dry like this, it would be counted as an "unexcused absence." (too bad we don't get sick days or personal days, since maybe I could have finagled my way into one) Since I already expose my body to more environmental pollutants and other irritants than what I would be comfortable with, I do not want to be exposed to a potentially very toxic chemical today (or exposing our patients to said chemicals). What sucks is that I was supposed to get a ride to work with someone who starts earlier than I do. If that had worked out, we would have been able to send that guy packing before he sprayed. Either that or I would have had to walk to BART or the bus! Anyhow, I hope they got someone whose body is less chemically sensitive than mine to come in and help them. I'm just not sure who that would be.

Speaking of staffing, the guy who had gotten the double-promotion got half-demoted a few weeks ago, so he is just the boss of my work area. He and I work together on 2 days. It sucks. I think it would go better if he were to work on the hardest day of the week, since the person doing his job when he's not in is not as experienced as he is, and I often have to fill in for her, which causes me yet more stress on the crazy-busy days. The woman who had gotten promoted got an even higher promotion (CEO's assistant with a really long title), and two women of color got promotions. So that's a bit better. We still need the anti-oppression training that I requested in December or January.

East Bay Pesticide Alert quotes the Pesticide Education Center:

There is abundant evidence of the risk toxic pesticides pose to human health. The most vulnerable populations are children, the developing fetus, the elderly, the ill and immunocompromised, and those with asthma, allergies, and other medical conditions. Most worrisome from a public health perspective are chronic health effects such as cancer, infertility, miscarriage, birth defects, and effects on the brain and nervous system. The PEC has more info at http://www.pesticides.org/educmaterials.html

Update on the c-word saga

2007-04-16T23:56:00.000-07:00

Guess who got a promotion? Not me, but the person who left me that lovely message. He is now a manager on the weekends, and the woman who had been doing the same job as him on weekdends is now also a manager over me, but one step down. He must have gotten a huge raise (like, $4-6 per hour).

That is so fucked up. In what way is what he did any sign of leadership?! Ugh, and I hate it when people come up to you and say, "Could you do this for me?" Oh, and the other thing, our department consists of two people at a time, plus one lunch person who floats between two departments. So really, as manager, they are my direct boss, and again, there are only two of us. Remember my previous critique that there were too many managers? Well, now there are two more, but this time, one is a woman.

What is it that a manager over me would be able to make me do? And how should/will I respond to this? (I'm currently out sick)

Ugh, bikes

2007-03-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so I had a little bike accident this evening. I was carrying a big Ross plastic bag, and I guess it got caught in the front wheel. I flew up onto the sidewalk and fell over sideways once or twice. Dammit! I am all bruised up, both wrists are somewhat sprained, and my neck may or may not be fucked. And I am really mad. Especially since I can't tell what kind of damage the bike suffered. And I had left the bike shop a mere 3 hours before, after getting 2 spokes in the rear wheel replaced. When I came to get the bike, the dude was like, if other spokes loosen up, you probably want to get a new wheel. Why didn't he just give me a new wheel? The bike still felt funny before the accident. And now, I think one or more derailleur is messed up (the chain had come off), plus who knows what else, since it often takes a few miles for damage to show.

This thing of the spokes getting loose makes me mad. Yes, I ride on rough terrain,b ut people kick and bump into my wheels on BART all the time, so who's to say that the bike didn't get damaged from that?

I know what you're going to say- Don't you have any panniers (saddle bags)? Well, the bike was getting fixed when I was in the "new" store, so I couldn't even look at panniers without my actual bike rack present. I once bought brand-new panniers, and because they didn't match the fucking bike rack that they had to be hooked to, they fell off all the time. One got run over by a Muni bus. And I can never find the right size of bungee cord for this bike, either.

I am so over biking. And so lucky, cuz the accident happened on Milvia and I didn't get run over by any of the rogue drivers.

For Pete's Sake

2007-01-13T14:08:00.000-08:00

My awesome friend Pete Morse died this morning. He was such a great guy. He was a dj (I loved his music), a harm reduction activist, an anarchist... I feel so bad for his partner, Liz. She got a phone call in the middle of the night and had to get a ride to the hospital to see his body.

A bunch of us drove together to LA for this anarchist conference 5 or 6 years ago. While we were there, Monica and I went swimming, or at least I did. Pete took this picture of us: http://home.earthlink.net/~karencita/photos/pacificwomen.jpg

She told me that he had finished his dissertation, finally.

It's weird to google his name and find so little of him out there, but I guess he was more of an in-person kind of person...

"Karen Kunt"

2007-01-03T23:01:00.000-08:00

Yes, those who know me might agree, I'm sometimes a bit of a c-word. But- would you call me one AT WORK?

When I came back from lunch, I filled in for a coworker while he took his break. For the most part, I used his computer during that time. When I went back to my computer, I noticed that the search bar up at the top right of the web browser says "Karen kunt."

From what I wrote to my bosses: As you know, the "c" word is one of the most offensive things that a woman can be called. It's not the kind of thing that I take lightly. There have been a lot of sexist things that have happened here, but this is the most blunt thing that has happened to me, and I'm glad to finally have something concrete that I can show you. Except that I can't seem to get a screenshot/screen capture of it... (?) Well, I will try to not close the browser when I leave tonight, and we'll see if someone else closes it overnight.

I'd appreciate hearing what kind of action you will take on this matter. Thank you.

Loved Ones Always Die During the Holidays

2006-12-25T12:35:00.000-08:00

People in my family tend to die around the holidays. As far as I know, this year, the only loved one of mine to die around now is James Brown. I can't believe he's gone.

I saw James Brown when I was in college, at I think the Colonial Theater in Boston (is that what it's called?). I was literally like a half mile away from him. I was like, "Is that speck down there James Brown?" But it was still a great show, and I'm really glad that I went. (I went by myself, since I rarely have friends who share my taste in music)

Here's a quote from him: "We need (people) to come forward to save our country and our kids. I could care less about the record. If you say you're already into that, you can throw the record away. But we've got to save these children. That's what's important"

He also said, "I would like to pass on the want to do something. The need is there. Good lyrics are good things, but I would like to pass on that drive, that invigorous undying determination."

Those quotes came from The Godfather of Soul website

Props where props is due

2006-12-10T10:43:00.000-08:00

I'm listening to Sunday Salon on KPFA. They are broadcasting from the KPFA Crafts and Music Fair. Larry Bensky is interviewing this guy from the First Amendment Project about Josh Wolf's case. The guy is using terms like "self-published" to talk about how Josh first got the info out about his case. Well, guess what? He first self-published to Indybay.org first, and my understanding is that this was how the corporate media that bought some of his footage had found him.

We at Indybay are so bad about doing outreach and networking- we should be there this weekend. Doh! It's just not the same to send an email to someone to be like, "HEY! Don't forget Indybay!"

Shockingly, when you google Josh Wolf, Indybay only shows up 5th - usually we are a bit higher. The first three sites listed in the results are Josh's site and the wiki that his supporters maintain. 4th is SF Gate, the SF Chronicle. But, like, considering all the coverage of him all over the world, 5th is pretty good, no?

Weird dream

2006-11-02T23:17:00.000-08:00

I had a weird dream when I was taking a nap this evening. My feet were really cold, so I think it kind of kept me from sleeping right. I remember dreaming that I was chatting on the computer with my friend Bradley. I also dreamed I was in bed, still living with my mother and my sis (tho my dad always lived there when i lived there, so that's a bit off)... and I was calling my mother to come into my room, like "Ma! Ma! MA! MA!" kind of like when i am trying to talk to z from my room when he is in any other room in the house. When I told z about it, he was like, that's from a recent Saturday Night Live skit (which it partly is- it's these really white trash guys with a Boston-type accent calling their mother from halfway across Disney World or something). I think it's also from this "Family Guy" episode where Stewie, kept trying to get his mother's attention in the one episode where he liked her. Digging deeper... When I had my wisdom teeth out, there was this time when I had to get up to pee and needed my mother's help to get to the bathroom cuz I was on lots of drugs, and I kept calling her and she never came and I got up and fell over, so that's probably what that was about. Good thing I was in her room, since my room was kind of smaller than the one I have now. And I always had a pile of clothes that I would move back and forth between a chair, my bed, and the floor. Sigh.

Wear Black, and all that

2006-10-22T23:49:00.000-07:00

Well, it's another October 22nd (national day of protest to stop police brutality, repression, and the criminalization of a generation). Every time I help out with it, the months leading up to it are worse and worse hell for me.

I got only 4 hours of sleep on Thursday night because I was entering Stolen Lives names into the database (on deadline). Friday was a long workday, and then of course I couldn't sleep again that night. Insomnia was my close friend this week. Yesterday I had to work a half day (cleaning) and then I got to take a nap. I had the worst nightmare, but it woke me up at just the right time. I dreamed that there was this guy who was kind of stalking me. We were at a pool, and I was kind of trapped in the pool area. The pool was sort of a combo of Bentley (the lighting) and some other pool i swam in somewhere. When Tina Fey came through a door with some NBC crew, I went running for that door. I grabbed her and hugged her and was crying really hard. When I woke up, I kind of couldn't breathe very well. I guess the asthma must have been stressing me out in my sleep. But what an awful feeling, having a dream like that, huh?

So I went for the computer and checked my email. This one person who has been one of the main 3 people working on this protest had sent an email. What I consider to be a very bad email. She had emailed a whole bunch of people a whole bunch of other people's phone numbers. She insists after the fact that there weren't any numbers on there from people who didn't want their numbers public, but i don't believe it. She should have said, "Emergency: Need Someone to Make These Phone Calls" and then, in the email, explained the situation, and asked forsomeone to call or email her to tell her that they could do it- then she could have sent the list to one person and asked them to keep it confidential.

report from the protest later.

What is the deal with KPFA?!

2006-10-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

As an editor at indybay, i am privileged to get to wade thru the comments to the site as they come in. There is like a full-on war amongst and against candidates for KPFA's local station board. They are calling one woman "thin-skinned" and things like that, and they are posting supposed internal documents and stuff about other people. It is so bad.

If that's not co-intelpro, i don't know what is. Or, with friends like these, who needs enemies? Either way, it's really embarassing. I'm glad i don't have money to be able to be a member of the station. I'm also not into the "democracy" thing that supposedly runs the station. It obviously doesn't work and I don't want any part of it.

They are in the middle of a fundraising drive, and there have been some public scandals in the activist community, as well: KPFA wasn't planning on broadcasting any of the Black Panther Party 40th Reunion, which will take place in Oakland this weekend. They finally made room for it to be broadcast on Saturday afternoon, from 2-6. I emailed the Commemoration folks (like a day late) and asked if October 22nd could have a table. They didn't write back. :/

Bra Revolution

2006-09-17T23:56:00.000-07:00

Don't you hate it when you just finished watching something on tape, and you flip thru the channels and come across Oprah, and it's a show about getting women into the right bra?

Apparently of the women who she got measured and outfitted, 94% were in the wrong size.

It is so funny to see Oprah touching women's boobs.

Apparently later in the show they are going to do jeans, which is funny cuz Oprah's booty is in the wrong jeans. She looks like she hasn't been doing her weights.

I love this 34H lady's hair. Anyhow, just thought you might find that funny.

Attraction

2006-09-12T23:53:00.000-07:00

So I'm watching this episode of Will & Grace where Will gets Grace a maid, and then the maid becomes intrinsic to her creative process. The maid is played by Wendie Jo Sperber. The first few times I saw the episode, I was intrigued by this woman. This is the first time I've ever looked her up-- she was in this episode in 1999. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998. She was in remission for a while and then around 2002, I guess, she got really sick, and died last year. How sad. She was hot, tho.

It got me thinking about attraction, and how you can be into someone right from the first time you see them, even when you don't know them at all... like that pheromone thing, when you meet someone and hit it off... Like, how did me and Zak get together, you know? Or some of my great crushes/attractions that I have and have had besides him...

Ugh, big job tomorrow, I guess... Hopefully I'll get to go swimming tomorrow- i haven't gone in a long, long time.

Yet another night when I didn't go to bed early.

Found this article on the web

2006-09-08T00:15:00.000-07:00

Urban Exercise Has Its Hazards

August 26, 2006 08:41:10 PM PST
Yahoo! Health: Allergy News

SATURDAY, Aug. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Your intentions may be good, but exercising outdoors in a city may be riskier than you think, one expert says.

Outdoor activity can cause serious damage to a person's health because of elevated air pollution levels. Those especially at risk are those who exercise by running, bicycling or skating.

According to Dr. Joseph T. Cooke, associate professor of clinical medicine and patient safety officer at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, the danger lies in the components of air pollution. The three main culprits are fine particulate matter, (the mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets in the air), ozone (a gas composed of three oxygen atoms) and carbon monoxide.

These components of air pollution irritate the lungs, making it harder to breathe and worsening problems initially caused by asthma, bronchitis, cardiopulmonary maladies, and emphysema.

"The pollutants affect the lungs by causing inflammation or irritation of the airway lining," Cooke explained in a prepared statement. "More mucus and phlegm is produced, and small muscles surrounding the airway respond by squeezing down. The work of breathing increases, and it becomes more difficult to get oxygen into the body," he said.

The three pollutants are located in cities around the world. Fine particulates are emitted from the diesel engines of buses and trucks. Carbon monoxide arises from cigarette smoke and automobile exhaust, and it has the ability to force oxygen out of a person's circulatory system.

For those exercising, overexposure to carbon monoxide can lead to dizziness, confusion, headaches and dangerously high body temperatures. Ozone, which is the largest component of smog in cities, adversely affects breathing patterns and decreases the size of airways, making the lungs more resistant to oxygen.

For those determined to work out outdoors, Cooke offered the following tips:

* Do not run on or near roads where there is heavy truck or bus traffic.
* Work out in the early morning or later in the evening.
* Exercise indoors if possible.
* If you experience any difficulty breathing, stop exercising immediately and see a doctor.

More information

For more on air pollution, visit The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Had a short visit to the farm

2006-08-19T01:16:00.000-07:00

I was at the farm for 2 days and nights this week. I helped with some harvesting- of things like onions, and of things like tomatoes and squash. I got to see a hornworm, something I'd like to never repeat (ugh!) and throw out tons of tomatoes that had blossom end rot. They have a lot of food harvested and that they are storing in Herman's storage container. Apparently that container was sold, so they will have to move all of that stuff into a new (rental, again, I guess) container. This wouldn't have to happen if the steel building had been erected when they bought it. But Shelley overspent and didn't have money for its foundation or erection.

Chris's dad stopped in for a visit and a tour with his dad's brother in law and his partner. It's interesting to see what mannerisms come from his dad.

I slept SO good the last night- I took melatonin and I properly used an earplug on the right side for sleeping. I was still really tired that night, and today, but that could be due to whatever stomach bug it is I get every time I go there (I think it's from the water from the tap in the trailer). I took a sponge bath for the first time in ... probably ever.

I guess they are planning to set up a CSA with 10 customers, I think that's including a box or two for them and the parents. I only caught a little bit of the discussion about how much of which things Herman had calculated need to be planted. On Thursday, Chris was setting up the tables and stuff in their new greenhouse so Shelley could start some seeds. It's definitely cool enough to do that now. The weather was gorgeous. The wind was pretty strong on Weds. PM, and the north wind came up on Thursday, but was not hot.

Herman was doing the alfalfa irrigation again. Apparently the stuff that's been harvested and baled already this season has been sold, so they (not sure if the money goes to Herman or to Shelley, and apparently he's not 100% sure either-- danger! danger!) might see some money from it. I have a hard time helping him, because I sink into the mud so quickly and my boots or sandals threaten that the only way I can take my foot out is if I leave the shoe behind. Then all my energy is focused on this foot struggle, instead of whatever carrying of pipes I'm supposed to be doing.

I miss getting to work with plants and stuff. And compost.

I will post photos soon. Well, one is up on themahtin.com. It's a picture of the house, which at some point will start to consume all of Chris and Shelley's time for the rest of their lives (once they move in, I guess). They just have to get a loan to finish the foundation and the septic system and whatever else.

(untitled)

2006-08-04T15:26:00.000-07:00

So...It's been a month since I was last at the farm, I think. Chris was sick, really, sick, this month. He had West Nile (2nd case in his county) and meningitis. He was admitted to the hospital on the day they figured out about the meningitis, and his fever went right down, thankfully. But man, it took a long time for him to get any help. And he didn't have a phone, and Shelley's phone ran out of minutes during that time, so there was no way to get the latest news about him-- until he was in the hospital and had a phone there.

There was a crazy heat wave in July-- on one day, it was 103 outside and Chris's temperature was 104. Jeez.

Herman said that the beans are dying, because there is too much boron in the water (corrected this from soil to water). Fava beans and peas can grow ok with the boron, but not things like green beans (aww!) or cow peas (yucky).

Last Sunday Z and I went to bring our compost to the community garden. I ended up staying there for 6 hours, with a brief break for lunch. I worked on the compost. Worked and worked and worked. And I looked at the duckies a lot. Apparently the time I went over and it seemed like there was only 1 duck, the mama must have been sitting on her eggs. Folks say that she hatched 12, and (as of Sunday) 6 survived. Paul brought over a generator and a pump, and we pumped water out of their swimming ponds so we'd be able to give them clean water to swim in and drink. I'm extra-worried about the mosquito question now (well, i always was), but giving them fresh water probably doesn't do much to help with that problem. Those little duckies are so cute!

I gave tours to some people, and I was so negative...I feel bad, but then again, I don't.

Since I hadn't planned on hanging out at the garden for very long, I didn't wear a hat. This was a bad idea. I got probably the worst sunburn of my adult life. I am still peeling.

I'm trying to get a blog at http://www.thepatientsblog.com, but it's hard to get confirmation emails at hotmail accounts these days.

I have a wicked g-i bug. I was really freaked out about germs around the house last night, but who knows where it came from.

I started going to the gym again, i think this has been my 4th week. I started lifting last week, and I've been using the rowing machine a few times a week this whole month. It sucks, cuz every time I don't go for a day, I feel really bad about myself, and I miss the exercise. Don't know if I'll be able to go today! I haven't been swimming at all, partly cuz I am doing cardio (machines) to build up endurance, and partly cuz I don't want to get all used to swimming before they close the lap pool for 3 weeks for renovations. I have such a love/hate relationship with the gym, cuz I always pick up terrible germs there.

My other personal update is that my vacuum is no longer usable, so I am still trying to decide if/how/when to go out of business.

Nationalism is so interesting

2006-08-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

As you may know, if Brandeis had had a major in Cuban Studies, I would have at least qualified for a minor, based on the number of classes related to Cuba that I took.

This thing about Fidel being sick and giving power over to his brother makes me sick. The guy is 80 years old, let him go! And it doesn't make sense to replace him with a 75 year-old. I hate this thing where people sacrifice their bodies for a long-term cause- it just doesn't make sense. Especially when there are tons of other people who could take over as president of cuba. I remember that when I was in Cuba 9 years ago and I asked who would take over when Fidel dies, people said it would be Carlos Lager. I don't know what the hell ever happened to those plans, cuz now people talk about Raul.

Last night I was watching the news on Univision or whatever channel 14 is. It was so disgusting, they would start to say "El Comandante," and then correct themselves to "El Dictador." The reporters were clearly told in advance what language to use when referring to Fidel. There were thousands of people in the streets of Miami last night, celebrating Fidel's incapacitation. A lot of them were my age or younger. They had never been to Cuba, and all they knew about it was what their parents and the right-wing media had told them. They were not very knowledgable about the country or the political situation. Fucking right-wingers.

Today on Talk of the Nation, they mentioned the idea of people reclaiming their property in Cuba. Gross. But it reminds me of the Palestinian question. Can those people go back and take their houses back? In their case, the houses are often razed to the ground, so there is nothing to go back to. But in Cuba, houses were reclaimed for other uses.

I like to look at things this way: a significant portion of the population must have wanted Fidel to stay in office if he managed to do so for so long. And when he dies, they are not going to be able to go back. I still always go by this expression: "You can never go back."

I want to go when he dies. Take pictures, audio, whatever. Ayudar a defender a la patria, even though I don't believe in patrias exactly.

Whatever

2006-07-27T00:19:00.000-07:00

So here I am, in Berkeley. Not a whole lot going on. Just trying to get it together a bit, think about things, and go to the gym a lot.

On Saturday I rode around and picked up shelving units from people. Now I have more bookcases and places to put stuff. It helped to get some of the clothes off the floor in my bedroom. And I needed a place I can reach to put food stuff, cuz Z tends to put stuff way up high where I can't reach it.

A lot of days the only outstanding feature is, "I went to the gym." Kind of sad. Though I do need to go to the gym a lot.

Today I did a new client, a really dirty house, so there was no energy to go to the gym. I wouldn't be typing right now if I hadn't taken some ibuprofen. Plus I missed lunch, got home just before dinner time. The client's house is so big. The bedrooms are all bigger than 15x15. And they are in a quieter part of the neighborhood, near where my house 2 houses ago was. It makes me so angry that some people can have so much unused space, and I have so little space that is funny shaped so it can't even be used. And then there are the people who carry all their worldly possessions around with them...

And this client has a big, sunny area in their yard where the ground is all trashed from the grass being cut and taken away and no fertilizer being put in. Sunny. I could grow some serious food there, were it my house. And it has a taller fence than my shared "yard" does, so people wouldn't be all running through and stealing the veggies or using the garden as a fucking bathroom.

Unbreakable

2006-07-16T16:05:00.000-07:00

Last night, hunnybu
nch and I watched "Unbreakable," a 2000 film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and starring Bruce Willis. Shyamalan's films bring you into a world that is similar to our real-life world, with some moments that are sharper than others. Usually the sharpness or clearness indicates that something really weird or scary is about to happen.

This film opened with Bruce Willis's character sitting in a train, with lots of pain and sadness on his face. He tries to pick up a young woman who gets creeped out by his perceived neediness, and then he almost cries. It turns out that his whole adult life has been kind of gray and depressed, because he's not doing what he is supposed to be doing. He has walked away from two different accidents that should have killed him, and he has superpowers. Samuel L. Jackson plays this artsy intellectual who is also a comic book guy who gets injured practically every time he thinks about moving. He discovers Bruce Willis's character and they have an interesting series of interactions.

The movie is really beautiful, and it is neat to see Bruce Willis actually act here and there. The ending, however, is really quite off. He has tested his superpowers, but he ends up going to the police to have the bad guy arrested. Interesting.

One more thing, I found the wife to be utterly uninteresting, which is odd, since when I was a teenager I was totally in love with Robin Wright Penn. Maybe she looks different now? It was also a crappy character, because the movie was about a man, and in part about him and his son, but the woman was really more like a tertiary character.

Don't you hate it when...

2006-07-05T22:33:00.000-07:00

Don't you hate it when you've been up for 3 times as long as you slept?

This was not the best day. I went to bed late (knowing that i had to get up extra early), and had trouble getting to sleep. I was in a tent with two other people, a 16x20 tent that is full of an apartment's worth of stuff. Down the street, I could hear some kind of large farm machines. I could also hear crickets, and the occasional owl. But I knew that it was about to end, and I would be forced back to the city to do some paid work.

I was trying to make the 7:55 train, 15 miles from the farm. Shelley got up at 5:45, so I woke up then, too. I tried to keep sleeping, but it's hard when trucks pull up and people get out and talk and try to run heavy machinery, until they realize that the road is flooded, so they won't be able to work on that property for days. Oops, irrigation boo boo. I found out this morning that my bike is trashed. The frame is broken. Bro-ken. Cracked all the way through. I think it wasn't cracked this bad before i went to the farm, cuz it just felt like the bottom bracket was having issues. I'm so sad, I really loved this bike. Good thing that Chris diagnosed it while the bike was there at the farm.

I guess I got up at 6:45, and was all packed to come back home around 7:15. Minus things like a cellphone charger and Herman, who was supposed to drive me. I tried shouting across the field to him. I tried calling both of his phones (i heard one ring,a nd my guess that the other one was also in the trailer). Shelley was like, put your stuff in my car. But of course we left like 15 or 20 minutes before the train was to leave, and it's a 24 minute drive. We got there 10 minutes late. A train was there, but it looked like the one going in the other direction. I hurried to get my stuff out of the car, without saying goodbye to chris and shelley cuz i thought i'd be seeing them again in a minute. They drove off without even waiting to see if I got on the train. (what the hell? who does that?!)

I called to tell them that my train was long gone, and they told me where i could find a bagel place. I only had to wait an hour and a half for the next train. Can you say anxiety? See, I had to clean someone's house today. And you really have to get there by 12. And the train was gonna get in at 11, and iw asn't sure if i'd be able to ride the 2-3 miles home. Poor me. I went slow and made it home in one piece, and two hours later, i finally left for work. i'm glad that i went and did the whole house and got all of that out of the way, but i feel bad that i finished so late.

On the 4th, i helped herman with some pipe work and diagnosing problems with the sprinklers, after i had weeded for a few hours. Then we went to Cache Creek, the casino. I spent $1 on gambling. At one point I was $15 ahead, but I cashed out at $4.50. Still a pretty good profit margin, but of course i wasn't playing with any kind of big bucks.

It was interesting going there- very diverse, though not so many native americans, african americans, or even latinos that much. the drive to the capay valley is just gorgeous. we passed lots of farm stands, and one was even selling fireworks! i'm pretty sure i have never seen a legal fireworks stand before.

We could see 11 sets of fireworks from the plot. Beat that, AK Press warehouse! well, i haven't checked with daveid to see how many he can see from there.

Some words of wisdom

2006-06-27T00:27:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I love about growing food is that there is a lot of advice out there, and the more experience you get, the more you respect others' advice and learn to feel confident in your own ability to give advice.

Below are some words of wisdom from the book "Farms of Tomorrow Revisited: Community Supported Farms-Farm Supported Communities." The first few chapters talk about principles of biodynamic agriculture and Three Basic Rules for cooperation to make the family farms of tomorrow happen:

"The farms of tomorrow will not be just family farms. They will... require the cooperation of many different, unrelated, free people..." Rule 2: "Buy for the farm as little as possible from the outside world. The less you purchase in the way of sophisticated tools, machinery and farm buildings (sic), the more you are financially independent and free to work with and out of nature. Use the help and the skills of all friends who are related to the farm.... If you work in cooperation with other people- and that is what the farm of the future is about- you will find that purchasing costly tools, machines, and buildings from outside strains the community; it raises social questions. The initiative to purchase these items usually comes from an individual. The consequences of the purchase have to be carried by the group. This raises problems."

Two spare the air days in a row

2006-06-23T00:54:00.000-07:00

As a bicyclist with asthma, i get irritated in a lot of ways on spare the air days. it's good to have a warning about the days that have the worst air quality, but i can't avoid going out there, and if i have to go anywhere, it's going to be by bike, on foot, or in the bus (cough, cough, when are they going to make diesel burn cleaner?). Or on the train.

The bad air quality isn't helped by the fact that people don't change their behavior on non-spare the air days. I've been hearing a lot of radio shows about global warming and climate change in the last few days, and people are finally starting to state clearly that if people don't change their behavior immediately, there will be IRREVRSIBLE effects on the planet. If it's not too late.

And by the way, i noticed that my block was quite empty this morning- hardly a car in sight, which means that everybody who usually drives somewhere did on this lovely, extra warm Thursday morning. And this is in Berkeley, less than a mile from BART, with a transbay bus stopping on the corner and everything. And, since public transit is free on spare the air days, HOW DO THEY MEASURE INCREASED RIDERSHIP on those days? Just wondering.

You'd think that us asthmatics could get an excuse to drive on those days, or something.

>
>
> Tomorrow, Friday June 23, is another Spare the Air Day in the San
> Francisco
> Bay Area. For the second day in a row, ground-level ozone air pollution is
> forecast to exceed 100 AQI (Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups) tomorrow.
>
> Mañana es un día "Spare the Air." Por favor, maneje su carro lo menos
> posible mañana.
>
> Again -- the Air District, MTC, buses, ferries, and BART are offering FREE
> commutes all day on this second "Spare the Air" weekday! For details, go
> to
> http://www.511.org.
>
> To help prevent smog tomorrow, please:
> - Drive less, bike or walk
> - Take public transit - visit 511.org to plan your trip!
> - Carpool or vanpool
>
> To monitor current air quality conditions, visit
> http://www.sparetheair.org
>
> Thank you for doing your part to Spare the Air!
>
> This AirAlert is provided by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

woo fucking hoo.

Today it started to cool off by 3:30. I had showered and changed into cooler clothes in anticipation of the day getting hotter (guess I'm a bit used to the Davis/Woodland weather now), and boy was I surprised.

Back on the sidelines in Berkeley

2006-06-19T00:45:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like I'm trapped in the Bay Area for the week- much work to do. Plus our apartment is falling apart and I am going to try to make it to my two dr's appts that are scheduled. AND Friday is the Trans March and Saturday is the Dyke March. I think I will skip town for Sunday. Unless I meet someone extra special ;)

I just read a post to indybay that Rob los Ricos is getting out of jail in ten days. How awesome is that?

Here's a nice little photo of Herman dealing with leaks in his water tanks. Note the bike trailers under the trailer. They do get some use on the farm. We have to watch out for goathead, which is this really evil weed that basically eats bike tires as an appetizer.