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Books…

June 29, 2005

I have ample free time right now, but I can’t seem to get started on this reading list. Below you’ll find a list of books I own that I have not yet read, but mean to read. Any thoughts on which books I should get to first?

Posted by paul at 11:28 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Random Thoughts

June 26, 2005

In my miles of driving in the past few months, I’ve noticed a couple of interesting things on the road.

First, in Oklahoma and Texas, damaged guardrails are immediately marked with new road signs saying “Damaged Guardrails Ahead.” It’s really nice of each DOT to do that… but aren’t guardrails really meant for that crazy accident when someone randomly lost control? Is a sign really going to change things?

Second, driving past many truck stops and gas stations, I’ve seen gas prices listed as .99.9$ Well, I came to realize that many service station owners obviously never thought about the possibility that gas would ever reach $2/gallon or more, so they only bought signs capable of listing prices less than $2/gallon. It’s just an interesting observation.

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HR

June 24, 2005

This afternoon I grabbed one of my printed resumes, hopped into my car and went down to City Hall to apply for a Civil Engineer I position in the Dept. of Public Works - right up my alley. The job announcement was placed on the city website around 2pm today, so I knew I’d be one of the first, if not the first, to apply.

Well, after driving the 15 miles and finding a parking spot downtown, and after walking around a bit, I found the Personal Office. The (not so) polite receptionist informed me that she couldn’t take my application until Monday. What? Why would they post it online and then not let me apply? Arg. So now it’s back again on Monday morning. Maybe I’ll stand outside the door until it opens in the morning, we’ll see. I do know that those who apply before July 1 get preference… That’s me!

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Don’t Cross These Tracks

Some people may not know this, but I’m a huge railfan. I’ve subscribed to Trains Magazine for 10 years now, and I’m always interested in any news rail related. That’s why this story caught my eye this morning. I don’t know the full details, and the Woodtv.com article isn’t exactly full on details, but here’s a little commentary on my part.

Union Pacific RR has been ordered to give $11 million to a 19 year old girl (16 at the time of the accident) who was hit by a coal train. Now, without knowing the details of the case, I’m still inclined to say, WHAT THE HECK? Since when has a railroad ever been held liable for an accident. It’s proven that it takes a train over a mile to stop sometimes… crossing a railroad track is always the driver’s responsibility, not the railroads.

I’m just not sure about our justice system anymore. It’s not necessarily the judges I don’t trust, it’s the jurors and the media that distort the facts and the cases. Where are we heading?

EDIT: After reading testimy and news accounts of the trial on The Douglas County News-Press website, I still side with UPRR… I could evaluate more, but I’m hoping UPRR is vindicated on appeal.

Posted by paul at 11:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Out with the Trash

The Michigan House Democrats tried to introduce a bill in the Michigan House that would have increased the cost of dumping trash into a Michigan landfill from 21 cents a ton to 7 dollars and 50 cents a ton (according to Woodtv.com).

It was a novel idea. I say “was” because the House Republicans never let the bill come to a vote. Rightly so I say. I’m all for charging Canadians an arm and a leg to dump in Michigan, but increasing the cost that much all around (which is the only way Michigan can charge Canadians more without violating Federal law and the US Constitution), will also increase costs on Michiganians, and that large of an increase would most likely change garbage collection costs by large amounts.

I’m definately not for landfills. If we could find a way to slowly increase the costs of dumping for Michigan residents, while promoting the three Rs, in order to bring trash levels down, I’m all for it. Also, we need to take the Canadians out through a Federal law, not a state law. A Federal law would be much more binding. Now the Republican US House members from Michigan to push a trash bill, b/c Stabenow and Levin have failed miserably. Hmm… would that even happen?

Posted by paul at 11:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Kelo

June 23, 2005

Well, I just downloaded all of the opinions from the Kelo case. It will provide some good reading tomorrow while I do my laundry. My initial thought that this is quite the blow to private property rights, but I’m unsure how good or bad this will be for economic development, urban planning, neighborhoods and community. I’ll write more after I’ve read the opinions.

Posted by paul at 09:45 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Huh?

June 18, 2005

This CNN.com article makes the Jackson trial seem even fishier to me… Why would a juror even think about showing up at a massive party celebrating Jackson’s acquittal?

Posted by paul at 03:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Don’t Touch My Water!

I spent my evening in the company of a few green building advocates. It was an interesting experience, and there were a few eye opening comments made. One was about fireplaces - many people use them here in Oklahoma, but they can be large sources of heat loss and a source of air pollution. However, people still love to consider the fireplace a centerpiece of the home. Figuring that problem out is important to many of these people.

The second comment that caused much confusion and questioning was the use of rain barrels, cisterns and gray water. One of the people there questioned whether or not the use of such water was allowed in Oklahoma. The answer was - no one knows. “The city told me to contact the DEQ. The DEQ told me to talk to the city.” The only questions of legality in my mind dealt with water quality and purification, not with what came up next.

Another one of the people at the cookout proceeded to say that the use of rain barrels and gray water is now completely illegal in Colorado - not b/c of health concerns, but b/c the capture of such water violates water rights. These uses somehow conflict with downstream usage, and are therefore illegal. (See DenverWater.org for a few FAQs regarding this.)

East of the Mississippi, where riparian water rights take precedent, this would never be an issue. As far as I know, rain barrels and gray water are becoming much more common. West of the Mississippi, where prior appropriation is king, people have bought the rights to water… a sad system if you ask me. Therefore, no upstream, non-right-owning user can limit the flow of water from upstream to downstream. (On another side note, Ted Turner has bought up all of the remaining water rights in Oklahoma and northern Texas. Cities and counties don’t own most water, people do. Therefore, municipalities must pay other people to get water… a whole other mess.)

I will be looking deeper into Oklahoma water law to find out the answer to these questions, but it seems to me that the larger problem is the way in which water is allocated in the South and West. Water here is not common public property like it is in the East, it is owned like any other mineral or parcel of land. Water wars are not far off here in the West, and I believe they could largely be abated if we treated water as a public good, not as personal property, apportioned for private (and profit-oriented) use.

Also, if the green building boom is to continue into more conservative and “old-school” areas such as Oklahoma, the use of gray water and water capture needs to be addressed - and allowed. Colorado’s position has disturbed me, and I only hope that it changes soon.

Posted by paul at 10:25 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

One Down, One to Go

June 17, 2005

My sister had a job interview today with a small prep high school in Covington, Kentucky. She was offered the job on the spot, and she accepted. Congrats to her. She’ll be teaching Latin I, II, III, and IV (IV only has two students), as well as a study hall and heading up the volunteer programs at school.

She holds a double Major in Classics (Latin) and History, but has never taken a teaching course nor does she have any other experience. I hope she does well.

Now it’s my turn to prove myself worthy of work. I don’t think it’ll be too long before I do so.

Posted by paul at 12:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Kudos

June 16, 2005

To Brandon… for this wonderful statement about Frankenmuth, MI.

“Frankenmuth is like a really f-ed up German version of Holland, without the dignity. It appears the entirety of the “Bavarian” architecture was built in the 20th century solely for tourists.”

Hehehe. Thanks for acknowledging that Holland actually has some dignity. :)

Posted by paul at 10:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Red Plains

June 15, 2005

I thought I’d do a short seperate entry about the landscape/land use of the OKC area. OKC is the third largest city in the country in land area. The city’s population is around 506,000. If one does a general look at population density, you get to about 818 people per square mile (compare that to about 2600 per square mile in Holland). BUT, if you pare that down to urban areas vs the still largely rural areas included in the city, the population density approaches 2100 people per square mile.

OKC is a boom/bust oil town. It grows in spurts, and has especially taken a liking to the car. Therefore, this area has a love affair with the strip mall. The are everywhere! The one thing I can say is that they definately don’t all look alike, so that’s nice. But otherwise, unless one has a car, it’s incredibly tough to get around. There is a bus route that goes in front of my apartment, but I think it takes about 50 minutes to get to the city center. One nice thing for drivers here is that the streets are almost all still on a grid system, save for a few residential neighborhoods here and there.

I’m still figuring the area out, finding out how people do things, how the area develops. That’s part of the fun about moving to a new area - being able to explore and learn. I love that!

Posted by paul at 11:29 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Sunny

Well, life in OKC is going well so far. I’m working on a massive email list so that I can send everyone my new email and snail mail addresses, as well as a general update on life.

First off - the job search. I had an interview yesterday with a small (and by small, I mean, there are currently 6 people) engineering firm. I’d be doing alot of subdivision and small commercial engineering. This means I’d hardly use my Masters at all. I have some trepidation there. Also, it wasn’t much of an interview. He didn’t ask any strength/weakness questions, no question of my skills, no desire to see transcripts etc. That’s kinda scary really. If I do get an offer Friday (the day he said he’d call back), I’m still not sure what to do. Alot of my answer will depend on this weekend.

Also, I applied for an Army Corps of Engineers job in OKC. The job revolves around researching Federal help in brownfield redevelopment programs. I applied under the civil engineer banner. This job seems incredibly perfect for me and my background. The problem is, I have no idea how many people will apply, nor do I know if I’d even get an interview. Further, the job announcement doesn’t close until July 13, and the Army contact I had said that I shouldn’t expect to hear from someone (if I am selected for an interview), until August. That’s a long time to sit and wait too. Hmmph

Friday night I will be attending a Buffalo Burger Cookout in Stillwater, OK. It’s being put on by a local green developer, Homes for Life. Homes for Life is a non-profit development group working to build affordable, green (sustainable), housing in OK. I like. The Cookout will include a presentation about the project and some time to meet people and talk. I’m excited about this. Hopefully it’ll lead to a couple contacts. I found out about this cookout through another group I found online, the Oklahoma Sustainability Network. Good stuff there too.

This morning I’m going over to the OSU-OKC Farmer’s Market. It looks to be the only market in OKC. All of the produce/products being sold are grown/made in Oklahoma. We’ll see what I can pick up.

Aaron suggests I get a Flickr account. I would definately think about it, but it’s kinda hard since I don’t have a digital camera. Once I get a job and get the money, I’d love to buy one. As such, anyone have any good ideas? Actually, I’m going to end up being pretty specific. I don’t want a point-and-shoot camera here. I’ll be getting a Cannon SLR b/c I already have a couple nice (expensive) lenses for my SLR. My biggest decision, therefore, will be which version do I get? Hmmm… And, there are other budgeting concerns to think about too, so the price will end up playing into things.

Posted by paul at 11:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Cold Blooded Detroit

June 08, 2005

This story didn’t get out until today, but the murder happened some time on Saturday (the AP article doesn’t say when exactly). If this kind of horror doesn’t stop, when will Detroit ever be able to overcome its horrible image?

The AP headline: Detroit Teen Murdered as Paramedics Give Aid for Gunshots

The headline really doesn’t tell the whole story… but you can guess. Two paramedics happened upon a man who had been shot (how often does that even happen?). As they administered aid, a masked man came up, shooed the paramedics away, and finished the wounded kid off… SICK! Detroit has to many problems too count… sad sad sad.

The extended entry has the full text of the AP article I read on Firehouse.com.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DETROIT (AP) — A masked man ordered paramedics to step away from a teenager who lay bleeding on a stretcher from bullet wounds, then killed him with a shotgun blast to the head, authorities said.

Police on Tuesday searched for the gunman who killed Billie Rutledge, 17, on Detroit’s north side.

Investigators said they were trying to determine whether Rutledge was killed because he was connected to, or knew too much about, the March 12 slaying of Shadad Yousif, 45, a businessman who lived on the same street.

Police said two paramedics found Rutledge lying in a driveway early Saturday, bleeding and calling for help. They put him on a stretcher and cut off his clothing to find the gunshot wounds.

But as the paramedics carried Rutledge to the waiting ambulance, they turned and saw a man with a shotgun who said, ”Watch out, watch out,” police said. The paramedics ran a short distance and heard two shots.

The paramedics were not injured.

Posted by paul at 07:12 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Christa’s Visit

June 07, 2005

Here are a few pics (courtesy of Christa’s camera) from when Christa was up here. (You’ll need to see the extended entry.)


We had much fun in Chicago and in Holland. I’ll get some OKC pics up as soon as we start hitting the town.
berghoff.JPG
flw.JPG
skyline.JPG
orangetulips.JPG
christaandpaul.JPG

Posted by paul at 10:15 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

My New Home

June 04, 2005

In Holland for the week… It actually feels like my first little vacation from home. Oklahoma City is my home now. And this time, I’m going to get involved in my new community, unlike what I did with Ann Arbor (ignore it). I’ve already got a tentative meeting set up with a local advocacy group, the North American Transportation Institute. The Executive Director said he’d meet me at OKC’s Union Station when I get back into town! (Locals are working to preserve it as a possible future light rail central station, instead of allowing it to be demolished for a new freeway.)

So much more to explore, so many more posts to come about it.

Posted by paul at 11:32 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack