Temps, photos, the web

I just checked the weather site and it’s currently 102 degrees in Portland, and 100 in Vancouver. Yesterday it also reached 100. After work I went home, measured my windows, and set out to buy an air conditions. The store clerks actually laughed at me! They had sold out early in the day. The best any of them could offer me was another fan, and there were precious few of those. I’m pretty sure they’re all gone by now. My bedroom is like a wind tunnel at this point. It does wonder for the wrinkles but not too much for the temperatures.

Today I saw a video about an Army Calvary Scout that took some unbelievable photos while deployed in Afghanistan, or the A-stan. While the photos are compelling, I found this soldier to be even more so. He’s a good looking and healthy young man, just as you would expect, but like so many of them that come back, especially those that have been in the middle of combat, there is something in his eyes. He has eyes that are deep and knowing, but also guarded. You can tell they have seen a lot, but you can also tell that you would have to work hard to gain enough trust for him to really tell you about those experiences. How could you ever understand what it was like stand in his shoes? Luckily he took his camera and he knows how to use it. You can go to YouTube and search Jeremiah Ridgeway, Photos from the Front Line, or copy and paste this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onp9WlIiKBw Sorry I couldn’t provide a better link.

I love YouTube! At work there is this whole paranoid thing about posting to YouTube and the question of how ethical it is to send someone off site for information. A lot of municipalities feel this way, but I say why try to reinvent the wheel and maintain it? YouTube is there, they obviously know what they’re doing and everyone goes there first to find stuff. The other day I was ready to make my first ever pesto and I was doing a web search for recipes, and I thought I’d go to YouTube and see if there was a video. There’s just nothing like seeing it done to understand how to do something. Abracadabra! There were several videos. In less than 3 minutes I knew exactly how to make pesto from a video. Instance gratification is wonderful!

Take phone books. People are all the time trying to leave phone books on my door step. I try to catch them and tell them I don’t want one. I still come home and find books left there. I mean really who uses a phone book anymore. It’s obsolete technology, and is dated almost as soon as you get it. If I need a number, I go to Dex Online, or do a web search. Why would I want another thing in my house that never gets used? It also aggravates me that paper is being wasted in printing those books. Is my green showing?

Just checked the temps again, 104 in Portland and 106 in Vancouver. That’s hotter than Austin, Texas!!