Waiting...and Waiting...

Awhile back I posted that my trusty blogging laptop became ill and was a little under the weather. Heard from HP tech support, from India, and they informed me that the part to replace the piece (what is wrong...would not tell me) was back ordered. I'm looking at the 19th of August as my receiving date...great! Thanks HP thanks alot...

Olympics, one week away!

Its only one week till the official opening of the Summer Olympic games...who's not excited! The athletes should start showing up in the Olympic Village in the next couple of days and the excitement will be awesome! Today, August 1st, was the opening day of the controversial 1936 Berlin Games. Hopefully these games will go smoothly but also bring awareness to China, in whatever manner floats ones boat: pollution, lax manufacturing standards, Tibet, Darfur.

Another Day Another Dollar

Work was long...nothing to report

Hump Wins...Hump Wins...

It is that time in the week again where the rubber meets the foot...KICKBALL. So the Humpday All Stars (my team) have never won a regular season game in their existence. I was not apart of the teams inaugural season, so for me, we have only ever lost one game (last week). In a lot of ways we are looked down upon, the little engine that could NOT win. But alas, that all changed.

Supported by "rummy worms" (Rum infused gummy worms)supplied by Hoganistan and VW we, the Humpday All Stars scored our first victory of this season and the first victory of franchise. Do I smell a playoff run? I think so...Following the game we headed to Penn Quarter (our sponsor bar) and held it down at the flip cup tables as well. All in all...a great day to be a Humpday All Star...a great day indeed!

Pollution go Away...

Acid Rain, Particulates, Smog Oh My
As we get closer to the Beijing and the opening ceremonies, the talk surrounding the air quality in Beijing is heating up, much like the temperatures in the Chinese capital city. But, as much attention that has been given to China, I believe one much criticize their own backyard before criticizing someone else.

The Nature Conservancy recently released a report examining the impacts of air pollution on the ecosystem. They found that pollutants such as mercury and ground-level ozone are resulting in less fish stocks, reduced farm production and possibly linked in the drastic reduction in the honeybees population.

The image above depicts the distribution of the varying pH levels of precipitation across the U.S. Interesting, but ugly, map where red indicates a greater acidity. Its rare that studies actually document the impacts of pollution on anything other than human respiratory health. Imagine what the bugs and bunnies feel about all of our pollution.

"Dodge This"

Most of you have probably heard or seen about this intersting video that occured in New York a few days back. A rookie NYPD cop was stripped of his badge and gun today after the video caught him slamming a bicyclist to the ground in an apparent unprovoked attack.

Officer Pogan was one of two cops monitoring the Critical Mass bike rally when a swarm of cyclists rode by ringing their bells about 9:35 p.m. Without warning, Pogan, appears to single out one cyclist, jog toward the sidewalk and then slam his shoulder into the biker, shocking the crowd on the sidewalk.

Critical Mass and Time's Up!both advocate for environmental issues with the monthly protest ride in several cities, including "The Rouge. Hopefully as gas prices goes up, we wont have angry motorists "car-checking" riders into ditches...its not fun!

Gravely Point

Hold On To Your Hat
On our way to the airport to drop RAC off, we decided to stop by Gravely Point, near Reagan National Airport. Its a nice little spit of land that is on the flight pattern of the planes landing and taking off at the airport. It sits just a stones throw away from the runway and the planes literally fly directly over your head!

I shot the picture of a nice NWA aircraft as it was coming in for a landing. A great place to bike (click on link above) or drive and spend an afternoon having a picnic and watching planes! If you bring small children, ear plugs would not be a bad idea, though its not too loud. All in all, a sweet location to visit every now and then!