Referencing this entry: Apartment Woes (May 27th, 2008)

Up until two days ago, we had still had, at best, poor hot water in our building. You could get a warm shower, if you planned out when you ideally should take one. The best time was around 3am, for obvious reasons.

It was recently discovered a few days ago, where the source of the problem was. It was partially the neighbor underneath us, who came as no surprise, but also the girl next door? They discovered a leaky bathroom tub. A hot water leaking bathtub. Maybe its just me, but I don’t think it should have taken a month to have figured it out?

Now that its in the high 80’s its a bit irrelevant, but I’m certainly glad to have it fixed. And that’s saying the very least.

I thought that this was a really nifty article. It appeared on my friends list tonight on the Universe Today feed. :)

Seals Use Astronomy as Navigation Aid

Yes, we’ve heard bees use the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate by. We’ve also heard about some bird species following the Sun to find the location of their evening roost. But what do we know about the animals living at sea? Do they use astronomical aids to help them find their way around the planet? Mammals such as whales are known to exhibit “skyhopping” behaviour when they surface from the water to have a look around, but seals go one step further; they can recognise and orientate themselves with the stars…

It was one of the first methods us humans used for navigation when sailing across the middle of a featureless ocean, we’d pick out known stars and constellations and relate them to our location on the planet’s surface. Explorers used astronomy to guide them to new lands, captains used the stars to direct their battleships toward the enemy and trade routes were repeatedly used thanks to star navigation. In its most basic form, star navigation could be carried out by linking stars with the location on the horizon when they rise, as was traditionally done by Polynesian sailors to colonize vast numbers of islands in the Pacific.

In a revealing study, researchers at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense have discovered that seals have the ability to recognise stars and groups of stars inside a modified planetarium. A five-metre round pool plus two harbour seals were covered with a dome with 6000 point light sources to simulate the Northern Hemisphere’s starry sky. Björn Mauck and his team found that if they selected an individual star with a laser pointer, they could train the seals to swim toward that star and then rewarded them with a treat if they did it correctly. Then the researchers would randomly orientate the dome, and without the help of a laser pointer, the seals would continue to swim toward the correct star.

“Seals and many other animals are exposed to the starry sky every clear night, and thus certainly have sufficient opportunities to learn the patterns of stars.” – Björn Mauck

This study strongly suggests that these two harbour seals have an amazing, natural ability to recognise the distribution of stars on a clear night.

So when you next see a seal popping to the ocean surface, it might not be simply checking out its surroundings, it might be trying to look for Sirius in the constellation of Canis Major…

Doctor Who is still eating away slowly at the foundation of my life. Sorry about that. Let’s think of it this way, there’s only a few more episodes of the new season left. Then I will reclaim my life! But my slight tv show addiction aside (which says something because I don’t get addicted to tv shows), I have some strange news!

Part of me desperately wants to hope this is a joke. It was passed on from a community I frequently called “WTF Humanity”. Its almost a month old, but if its real, the craziness of it persists.

Cat turns into woman in Port Harcourt – 5 killed as cultists clash

Nigerian Tribune learnt that three cats were crossing the busy road when the okada ran over one of them which immediately turned into a woman. This strange occurrence quickly attracted people around who descended on the animals. One of them, it was learnt, was able to escape while the third one was beaten to death, still as a cat though.

According to a source who witnessed what happened, the cat-woman said she and the two other cat-fellows had travelled from Abuja to Port Harcourt to kill three people. “The woman said they came to Port Harcourt from Abuja and that they came to kill three people. She said they had succeeded in killing two people, but the third person, whom I guess might be a pastor, was difficult for them and that they were preparing to go back to Abuja,” said the source.

Another witness, who gave his name as James, said the woman started faking when she saw that many people were gathering around her. “I have never seen anything like this in my life. I saw a woman lying on the road instead of a cat. Blood did not come out of her body at that time. When people gathered and started asking her questions, she pretended that she did not know what had happened,” he said.

When the Nigerian Tribune got to the scene of the incident near Garrison Junction, the cat-woman was seen sitting on the ground with blood all over her body. The right side of her face had a deep cut from what was gathered to be from a cutlass. She was later taken to a hospital for medical attention. It took the intervention of policemen to prevent the mob from killing her.

When reached for information from the police, the Public Relations Officer of the Rivers State police command, Mrs. Rita Inoma-Abbey, said she had been taken to the hospital.

“She has been taken to Teme Clinic. Police will still be guarding her so that she will not disappear,” he said. In another development, at least five people have been confirmed dead while four others were said to be receiving medical treatment following a suspected cult clash in Aluu, one of the host communities of the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Nigerian Tribune gathered from sources around UNIPORT that the clash, which led to the loss of lives and injury to others, was between two cult groups; Vikings and Black Axe Confraternity, a spill over of the struggle between the two cult groups on the RSUST campus, Port Harcourt.

This wonderful news story came from the Nigerian Tribune.  Their slogan on their website simply says, “Truth, Courage & Fairness” and I’m not sure what to think about it. Real? Not real? WTF IS GOING HERE? All of them could be true! And I have absolutely no idea where to place this as far as categories go? Is this religious because they are freaking out over them being witches? Or is this actually news! Oh, darnit, this is too hard.

I’ve been absent. Sorry about that. Really. I’ve been worked to death and every spare moment has either been consumed by thunderstorms, or perhaps, my newfound love of:

 Doctor Who! Quite a good show, really. I’d wanted to watch it for awhile, as I’d seen a few episodes here and there, but last week I officially sat down to watch it. Halfway through series two right about now, just left the episodes about the Cybermen.

I’m enjoying myself. It also makes me a bit nostalgic for where I used to live. One of the doors in the basement of the house was decorated to look like the TARDIS (and had been all my life; showing you can’t appreciate these things until later). It linked itself into a weid set of rooms that were pretty dusty and certainly full of cobwebs (piled ontop of eachother), but had lots of nifty things in them, and probably look like it came out of an industrial genre music video. Getting around was more difficult than it should’ve been, but when you found the library full of 19th century materials behind the stairs, it was worth it. The bedroom was a bit scarier, though. Mostly shelves filled with old things and a lamp, nailed upside down to the ceiling. There was also a dead bee stuck in the doorframe. Don’t ask.

Point is, I love me some of this show.

This appeared on my livejournal friends list originally, but its from The Consumrist. Apparently a Ford dealership in California – Kieffe & Sons – has been running this lovely ad for almost five months now.

Did you know that there are people in this country who want prayer out of schools, “Under God” out of the Pledge, and “In God We Trust” to be taken off our money?

But did you know that 86% of Americans say they believe in God? Now, since we all know that 86 out of every 100 of us are Christians who believe in God, we at Kieffe & Sons Ford wonder why we don’t just tell the other 14% to sit down and shut up. I guess maybe I just offended 14% of the people who are listening to this message. Well, if that is the case, then I say that’s tough, this is America folks, it’s called free speech. And none of us at Kieffe & Sons Ford are afraid to speak up. Kieffe & Sons Ford on Sierra Highway in Mojave and Rosamond: if we don’t see you today, by the grace of God, we’ll be here tomorrow.

I don’t even know how to respond to this one considering 21% of California is non-religious. I think that they are the second largest group as far as religious demographics go, actually. I’m sure that 21% of the consumers you just alienated can just take their business elsewhere? On top of just that spectacular trainwreck, you just assumed that the rest of 86% are Christians? What about the Jews? Muslims? Polytheistic religions even? Oh man, there’s a phrase on the part of the internet I hail from that best describes this: EPIC FAILURE.

There’s another saying I’m always told, “Just sit back and watch people sink themselves. Sometimes you wish you had popcorn!” Pretty accurate! Sadly frequent.

Moral of the story: If you want business, its not best to offended a huge potential customer base? Oh, and you probably shouldn’t group all them other religions in with the Christians. Might offended one of those pagan gods. 

In other news, I really dig this guy’s name, even if he was a crazy cult leader. Then again, he’d have to be to even want that name. Mmm, Sacrilegious.

It’s about 60°F outside, probably a few degrees less inside, and I’m in flannel pajamas. At almost four in the afternoon. Why? Oh, I just took an ice-cold shower. Which wouldn’t have been so bad if it had been optional (or it was 90° and humid), but then again, it wasn’t. Welcome to the joys of apartment living? I guess since its included in my rent, I should be grateful to have it at all, huh?

To put it bluntly, I haven’t had hot water for over a week, teetering on almost two weeks in a day or so. If I want hot water for a shower, I’m out of luck. If I want it for dishes, I have to boil it myself and fill the sink, which is always a losing prospect as by the time you’re done, half the water is already lukewarm. Frustrating doesn’t even begin to describe it.

It could be worse, oh sure, but considering I’m paying for it, I’d like to be able to have, you know, my options. I’ve reported the problem to management three times by now and still nothing was done. Well, no, that’s not totally accurate. They called out a repair man, who – just guessing here – didn’t repair anything? I’m starting to not blame them. Part of me is starting to wonder, since I’ve started monitoring the showering habits of the tenants around me (thin bathroom walls are pretty awesome), if it isn’t a mechanical problem after all.

Recently, I’d say in about March, we had a new tenant move in beneath us. Before him, one of my close friends occupied the space until she ended her lease and left. This new guy is supposedly sick, but other than being devoid of an actual personality from what I can tell, he seems perfectly fine. And I’m sure he does have a personality, somewhere, but I’ve yet to see it, so I can’t be certain about it. From his bumper stickers on his car, I can tell you he likes David Bowie, AFI, and global warming.

When he first moved in, he hammered all the time. For the first month, all day long, it was all I heard. Eventually that annoyance subsided, thankfully, as I started to not be able to tolerate the constant headaches. Unfortunately, that problem transitioned elsewhere.

He takes, oh, three showers a day. And this was a few months ago. My mom told me today she heard him taking two of them; one at 12:30pm and the other at 1:30pm. When I went to take one at 3:30pm, he was in there again! I’m willing to bet, based on recent observations, he’ll take one at 7:00pm or so, as that’s a usual, and probably again at 9:30pm. He used to do it where it was one during the mid-afternoon and two at night. Now its constantly. Five showers. A day. What the hell? No wonder we don’t have any damn hot water!

I miss having a house like you can’t imagine right about now.

You. Boss person for whom I work for.

Giving me a hard assignment to complete over a holiday weekend? On a holiday weekend when I have to meet up with relatives who only come up from Georgia twice a year? And I get my first summer trip to the farmer’s market?

Oh, I don’t like you right now. I’d wag my finger at you, but this is the internet and it is generally useless.

The girl they had to voice this Anonymous video on the human rights in the Rehabilitation Project Force (another branch of Scientology), really hit the mark. And by hitting the mark, I mean hitting the mark of being ridiculously creepy. If you don’t agree with the content, I sure hope you can agree on that!

Speaking of Scientology, I found this amazing website through the Anonymous cause:

Its long, but read Kendra’s account at least. Her wit, combined with the Orwellian nature of the environment in which she grew, worked, and eventually escaped is really quite engaging. Also, sorry if this sounds rushed, by the by. I’m trying to get dressed and write at the same time. I need to get some gardening supplies. :)

Upon waking up today and checking my livejournal friends list (yes, I have one of those), PZ Myers brought something interesting to my attention. Namely this interesting little article:

Moles Wanted
What they were looking for, Carroll says, was an informant—someone to show up at “vegan potlucks” throughout the Twin Cities and rub shoulders with RNC protestors, schmoozing his way into their inner circles, then reporting back to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, a partnership between multiple federal agencies and state and local law enforcement. The effort’s primary mission, according to the Minneapolis division’s website, is to “investigate terrorist acts carried out by groups or organizations which fall within the definition of terrorist groups as set forth in the current United States Attorney General Guidelines.”

This interests me in paticular as one of my best friends is an active member of Socialist Alternative, both in the Madison and Minneapolis branches. Continuing the chain, one of her closest friends helps maintain the aforementioned Madison branch, but also is a founder and an active player in the Youth Against War & Racism (YAWR) movement. YAWR constantly campaigns and has very successful turnouts at their protests. I certainly won’t be surprised if they have something in the works for the Republican National Convention.

It feels somewhat pathetic that I feel that I will have to pass this news to them as not only are they peaceful, they are probably groups that the FBI might label under these new “terrorist group” guidelines. I won’t call this one Orwellian yet, but its certainly not a step in the right direction. I also finally get to add an “Orwellian” to my blog! Heck yeah.

I finally sat down and watched Jesus Camp. I’d been meaning to do so for quite some time but I only just got around to it now as it was on Bio and seemed as good a time as any.

 
Would it be dramatic of me to say that this was one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen? Not for content, because the content is really quite amazing, but sitting through the movie is so exceedingly difficult for me. It makes me completely and utterly enraged. I hate evangelicals who do this to their children. I hate people in general who do this to their children, be they christian, jew, muslim, or any other faith. They are children. They should be allowed to be children. Instead, these poor souls are locked away in a homeschooling environment where their beliefs don’t get a proper challenging and worst of all, they don’t get interaction from other children their age. Let alone children their age who have, oh the horror of it, different opinions.

What this inevitably creates are a population of children who are completely and utterly inept at being able to cope with the real world. It sets them up for long-term stress and perhaps even mental illness due to poor coping. Crippling depression when they hit their teen years, for example. Explicitly said in the documentary by a family, was the belief that science “knows nothing.” Science knows nothing? These are the same families, who, when a member is sick, flock to the doctor for medicine to make themselves better. That’s certainly science. And it certainly knows how to make you well again.

This is another huge qualm with this sort of belief that drives me mad. They call people who aren’t completely devoted to the cause “hypocrites and liars.” Okay, so you can pick and chose which parts of science you like and are to your benefit, but you sure don’t see the hypocrisy in that? If you tell your children to go all the way, then come on, you guys, why don’t you go the whole way, too? Oh wait, that might make you more backwards than the Amish. Which, actually, is a group I give a lot of credit. Now that’s devotion to your religion, and boy, the Amish don’t bother anyone in the process! Take a page from them, you guys!

Here it comes again, but its worth mentioning again and again. While religion was in my life from a young age, I am so very, very thankful that it was not pushed on me. Eventually I came to my own decision, and while many people don’t like the decision that came to me, I’m grateful to be allowed to have had to opportunity to have it happen that way. Though I suppose in some instances religion was commonplace and overbearing. Overall however, religion does get a bit of distaste when way you hear about it is largely through the mouth of an illiterate misogynic racist, but that’s another tale for another day.

I suppose that this is a bit all over the place as I’m horrifically tired, but still. Jesus Camp certainly made me upset for the youth of certain parts of our nation. I wept for them, though they’d probably be unhappy to hear that. I just wish that I had known indoctrination like this was going on so close to home sooner than I did.