Seriously, now

I don't intend to get political in this forum very often, but seriously - the more I hear about this Roberts guy, the more I think he's just a tool.

If you agree with me, tell them so.

Thanks - RK

I have created LIFE!

Well, not really. But I did manage to grow these nifty roses. And that ain't bad.

Nightmare scenario

I don't know how many of you are baseball fans.... well, I suppose I should, since you're my friends and all, but still. If you've been paying attention to the baseball season, there have been a lot of interesting developments and more than just the usual teams are contending, especially in the American League. So here it is, my prediction for how the season will end. You can thank me (or spank me) in October:

The Los Angeles Angels of Cucamonga, er, I mean Anaheim, will pull out an underdog World Series victory. Owner Arte Moreno will hold a grand victory celebration in downtown Los Angeles, surrounded by hundreds of Angels fans screaming with delight and thousands of Dodgers fans howling for his blood. The team will receive personal congratulations from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in front of the imposing phallic facade of LA City Hall. It will mark the ultimate triumph of commerce over tradition.

My god, it will be glorious!

And by glorious I mean HORRIFYING.

Sweet victory!

See what I have here?

Yeah, it's a room air conditioner that sits on the floor. So my problem is solved. It works pretty well. The only drawback is it's a little noisy, but so are window A/Cs.

Oh, and it cost quite a bit more, but let's not get into that.

Frustrating

I bought a window air conditioner for my living room the day before yesterday. Then, when I tried to install it yesterday, it didn't fit. And I mean just barely didn't fit - only one inch or so too wide. I had measured the inside of the window opening, but neglected to raise the screen and measure the outside opening, which was indeed narrower. The windows were replaced this spring, so they are the replacement windows with all sorts of doohickeys and little strips that can easily be broken by something large and heavy, like an A/C unit. Since I didn't want to deal with the consequences of broken weather stripping in January, I didn't force it.

So, the adventures of home ownership never end. But now, you can all laugh at the silly man and I will feel good about it. I wonder if I can get my hands on one of those narrower, taller window A/Cs. Stupid heat wave.

When renovations attack

In my last post, I mentioned renovations at the old place I used to live while a Cornell student: Risley Hall. Some of you probably lived there yourselves, and others have at least seen the place, so let me elaborate:

Brian and I arrived at Risley to find a cyclone fence strung around the perimeter. Cornell had put up a sign indicating what was going on. This summer, they are replacing all of the windows in the building with efficient modern windows. Also, the plumbing system is being upgraded, and apparently the bathrooms are being remodeled as well. They had some nasty photos of clogged pipes on the sign explaining the renovation. Good for Cornell, for investing in student housing. A few years ago they built new North Campus dorms. Currently, they are constructing new dorms on West Campus to replace the U-Halls - that's right, no more U-Halls. As already mentioned, Risley is being renovated, as is Balch Hall (though the renovations at Balch look to be less extensive).

Risley was built in 1911 and, if I remember correctly, it was last renovated around 1970, when they upgraded the heating system and made cosmetic repairs (the building had fallen into some disrepair). A few years ago, on visiting, I noticed that they had carpeted the rooms and purchased new furniture. I am impressed with these changes, and once again, I'm glad to see Cornell spending money on increasing the comfort for its students, rather than building indoor practice facilities for their football team (as a certain Midwestern university I attended chose to do).

Festivities back at the old place

Nobody worry, I'm doing just fine now. My good friends Brian and Kara came out to visit from Providence this weekend. We took a trip down to Ithaca so that Kara could check out the lovely Cornell campus, where Brian and I both went to school. There we are on the shore of Beebe Lake, not far from the dorm that we both lived in (Risley Hall), which is now undergoing extensive renovations.