With classes half over, I am ready to be done. Last week was the most expensive stay-cation that I had no choice in taking. The furlough is technically 9 days per semester, but the president told us to take 4 of them last week. So, with a free week on my hands, I remodeled the guest bathroom. I ripped out everything except the tub, repainted, installed new floor tile, installed a new vanity, faucet, and light fixture, re-caulked the tub, and reset the old toilet. It should have only take two days, but I found a way to stretch it out to four.
Counting both the salary cut from the furlough and the remodel, the grand total cost of last week exceeded $7000. For that much money, I could have easily dropped the kids with a babysitter for the week and taken my lovely wife to Fiji, then Tahiti, and back.
Luckily, the school has found a way to supplement my income this year; I will teach an intersession class in January and a summer school class. At least I have a job, and a way to recoup the income losses from the furlough.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
California in all of its glory
I am teaching a graduate class on environmental regulation. Had I taught it in any other state, I would know almost everything that I need to know to teach it. I don't - I live in the craziest environmental regulatory state in the union. CEQA is California's response to NEPA. Since I cannot see the future, or where I'll be in two years, I decided to pay ~$200 and go to a class on CEQA. It lasted all day. The campus was nice. I got to eat cafeteria food. I learned a lot. I can sum it up in a few short sentences:
CEQA is a statute that requires a significant gathering of information on any land-use related action that anyone undertakes in California. This information changes and you should be prepared for a lawsuit no matter what decision you choose. If no one cares about your project, you don't have to worry about doing a good job or your environmental impact report, but it you are Wal-Mart it better be a good report because you are going to be sued. Oh, and by the way, if you get your project approved, you better finish it before anything changes or else all of that work is in vain.
The law sucks, it turns federalism on its head, and it doesn't do what it was intended to do. It was designed to require that public entities make informed decisions about the environmental impacts of land use. It is now a tool to both protect and litigate against public and private entities for any number of issues including non-environmental issues. The governor or legislature can make exemptions for whatever project that they want. Scientifically uninformed judges end up deciding what should go and what shouldn't. AND the best part is that a local entity can exempt itself from the state law if the voters in the jurisdiction opt out.
The more I live in California, the more it makes no sense. The State Supreme Court has upheld the proposition system as a legitimate way to amend the constitution* even if voter turnout is near 10%. That means that is can take either 10% of regular voters or 67% of state legislators to change the constitution. Anyone see a problem here? Almost everyone knows that direct democracy creates problems, not solves them!
It is late. I am looking for jobs out of this stupid state. I think that it should secede from the union so that no other states think it is a good idea to mimic California's actions. Then California will be able to take its place as the 7th largest economy in the world as an independent country...
or run itself into oblivion... whichever comes first.
*Although this example demonstrates an issue with which I agree, the example is sufficiently controversial that it has encouraged average citzens to question the logic of the proposition system.
CEQA is a statute that requires a significant gathering of information on any land-use related action that anyone undertakes in California. This information changes and you should be prepared for a lawsuit no matter what decision you choose. If no one cares about your project, you don't have to worry about doing a good job or your environmental impact report, but it you are Wal-Mart it better be a good report because you are going to be sued. Oh, and by the way, if you get your project approved, you better finish it before anything changes or else all of that work is in vain.
The law sucks, it turns federalism on its head, and it doesn't do what it was intended to do. It was designed to require that public entities make informed decisions about the environmental impacts of land use. It is now a tool to both protect and litigate against public and private entities for any number of issues including non-environmental issues. The governor or legislature can make exemptions for whatever project that they want. Scientifically uninformed judges end up deciding what should go and what shouldn't. AND the best part is that a local entity can exempt itself from the state law if the voters in the jurisdiction opt out.
The more I live in California, the more it makes no sense. The State Supreme Court has upheld the proposition system as a legitimate way to amend the constitution* even if voter turnout is near 10%. That means that is can take either 10% of regular voters or 67% of state legislators to change the constitution. Anyone see a problem here? Almost everyone knows that direct democracy creates problems, not solves them!
It is late. I am looking for jobs out of this stupid state. I think that it should secede from the union so that no other states think it is a good idea to mimic California's actions. Then California will be able to take its place as the 7th largest economy in the world as an independent country...
or run itself into oblivion... whichever comes first.
*Although this example demonstrates an issue with which I agree, the example is sufficiently controversial that it has encouraged average citzens to question the logic of the proposition system.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Plastic surgery
To lighten things up, a couple of pictures that need exposure to my throng of fans (all 5 of you, as a random stranger would say).
First, Mr. Pierce, or is it Mrs.?
Mr. Spacey, jr. "He always loved swiss cheese" - his mother
And finally, a tattoo that is most appropriate for my current situation. (I think that it is photoshop-ed, but that doesn't decrease the novelty, does it?)
First, Mr. Pierce, or is it Mrs.?
Mr. Spacey, jr. "He always loved swiss cheese" - his mother
And finally, a tattoo that is most appropriate for my current situation. (I think that it is photoshop-ed, but that doesn't decrease the novelty, does it?)
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Change, I believe it
When Barack Obama promised change, I was skeptical that any president could make much dramatic change. I have a long-running disagreement with many of my colleagues about the importance of the Presidency. I don't think that any one President is as important as the institutions surrounding him (until there is a she, the President can be referred to as a 'he').
Now I am a believer. Change he did - and it has been dramatic. Unfortunately, I see that change for the sake of change may destroy our nation. How unfortunate.
[Disclaimer: I hate politics and do not subscribe to, approve of, or otherwise condone the behavior of any political party]
Now I am a believer. Change he did - and it has been dramatic. Unfortunately, I see that change for the sake of change may destroy our nation. How unfortunate.
[Disclaimer: I hate politics and do not subscribe to, approve of, or otherwise condone the behavior of any political party]
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Tax free travel pt. 2
I took an overnight flight from LA to London then a short flight to Berlin. By the time I got into Berlin I was tired, but wanted to get accustomed to the schedule, so I walked all day without really stopping. I ate some dinner then hopped a late flight to Stockholm (Nykoping really) on RyanAir (more on that later). By the time I got to Sweden, it was after midnight local time and I was exhausted. I walked from the airport to the hotel, checked in, took this picture and collapsed.
A very cheap and spartan room, a bathroom down the hall, a free breakfast, warm covers, and a short walk from the airport. Good enough for two nights.
I took a bus into Stockholm. I had always thought that Sweden was rugged like the fjords of Norway. It isn't. It is mostly just like a forested version of the upper midwest: some rolling hills, little lakes, patches of forest, and lots of farmland. When I got into the depot, I asked for a map of the city and I departed on a walk. I went west and immediately encountered a 7/11. No slurpies, but lots of gummy candies. I kept walking through the neighborhoods and turned south to the water. I walked back along the water towards the City Hall, but stopped for this shot.
The City Hall is where they present the Nobel Prizes each year. It is a huge building right on the edge of the water front. They wanted me to stay and accept the peace prize for not being George Bush, but I politely declined.
I kept walking around the building and came upon this memorial to an old King. I don't know which one, but it was to a king nonetheless. It was nearing noon, and there was a clock overhead, so I stayed and watched the full-size figures come out and do their dance/parade thing that they do at noon (sorry no picture).
I walked to the Royal Palace and watched the army practice their maneuvers. They were rather sloppy compared the US soldiers, but it was fun to see their effort.
This is one of the old town squares in old Stockholm. The old design looks similar to other old cities, but it has its own charm. This square also holds the Nobel Prize Museum where you can look at the biographies of previous winners. I didn't - it cost too much.
Just like many other European cities, Stockholm is infested with cranes. To the left of the crane in the Town Hall (Nobel Prize banquets here), to the right is part of old town.
Stockholm was just nice. I can't find other adjectives to describe it better. I think that with more than 8 hours in town, I could probably do better, but I didn't get that. This is one more picture of old town Stockholm.
After a nice long walk, a wonderful salad, and a return trip to the station, I boarded a bus back to the hotel. I tried to get to sleep early, but was afraid that I would miss the airplane, so I only got about 4 hours of sleep. Breakfast at the hotel was simple. There was some juice, yogurt, muesli, bread, preserves, cold cuts, and cheese. The first day I tried the yogurt, but it must have been full-fat and made of buttermilk. It was horrible. I learned my lesson quickly and focused on making a sandwich and a slice of bread with preserves. Surprisingly, it lasted me most of the day.
The flight back to Germany left at 6:05am. They only fly in and out of this particular airport twice a day, so there is some pressure to be on time. My roundtrip RyanAir tickets to Stockholm cost me 10euro. For $15, you can't even buy a dinner meal in Stockholm. So, you should probably ask, "why was it so cheap?" Good question. Everyone lines up to get on board the flight not in a line, but in a mass. The stewards announce that the gate is open and everyone lurches forward through the doors. They open both front and rear exits of the plane, and people rush to climb the stairs from the tarmac. There are no assigned seats, no in-flight emergency instruction cards (they are printed on the back of the headrests), no drinks, no snacks, and no comfort. Throughout the flight, they try to sell you things like drinks ($3), snacks ($4), lottery tickets, and preferred passage on their other ventures. The above your head storage bins are plastered with advertisements. They have publicly stated that they are considering a charge for using the restroom in flight. It is cheap, but it gets the job done.
I got into Berlin in the morning (8am) and couldn't check into the hotel until around 3pm, so I walked the Wall. I am surprised that my body was compliant with such little sleep. Stockholm was a good day trip. A little more time there would have been nice, but to squeeze it in to a business trip (tax write off) was sufficient for a scouting exploration. I'm sure to be back.
A very cheap and spartan room, a bathroom down the hall, a free breakfast, warm covers, and a short walk from the airport. Good enough for two nights.
I took a bus into Stockholm. I had always thought that Sweden was rugged like the fjords of Norway. It isn't. It is mostly just like a forested version of the upper midwest: some rolling hills, little lakes, patches of forest, and lots of farmland. When I got into the depot, I asked for a map of the city and I departed on a walk. I went west and immediately encountered a 7/11. No slurpies, but lots of gummy candies. I kept walking through the neighborhoods and turned south to the water. I walked back along the water towards the City Hall, but stopped for this shot.
The City Hall is where they present the Nobel Prizes each year. It is a huge building right on the edge of the water front. They wanted me to stay and accept the peace prize for not being George Bush, but I politely declined.
I kept walking around the building and came upon this memorial to an old King. I don't know which one, but it was to a king nonetheless. It was nearing noon, and there was a clock overhead, so I stayed and watched the full-size figures come out and do their dance/parade thing that they do at noon (sorry no picture).
I walked to the Royal Palace and watched the army practice their maneuvers. They were rather sloppy compared the US soldiers, but it was fun to see their effort.
This is one of the old town squares in old Stockholm. The old design looks similar to other old cities, but it has its own charm. This square also holds the Nobel Prize Museum where you can look at the biographies of previous winners. I didn't - it cost too much.
Just like many other European cities, Stockholm is infested with cranes. To the left of the crane in the Town Hall (Nobel Prize banquets here), to the right is part of old town.
Stockholm was just nice. I can't find other adjectives to describe it better. I think that with more than 8 hours in town, I could probably do better, but I didn't get that. This is one more picture of old town Stockholm.
After a nice long walk, a wonderful salad, and a return trip to the station, I boarded a bus back to the hotel. I tried to get to sleep early, but was afraid that I would miss the airplane, so I only got about 4 hours of sleep. Breakfast at the hotel was simple. There was some juice, yogurt, muesli, bread, preserves, cold cuts, and cheese. The first day I tried the yogurt, but it must have been full-fat and made of buttermilk. It was horrible. I learned my lesson quickly and focused on making a sandwich and a slice of bread with preserves. Surprisingly, it lasted me most of the day.The flight back to Germany left at 6:05am. They only fly in and out of this particular airport twice a day, so there is some pressure to be on time. My roundtrip RyanAir tickets to Stockholm cost me 10euro. For $15, you can't even buy a dinner meal in Stockholm. So, you should probably ask, "why was it so cheap?" Good question. Everyone lines up to get on board the flight not in a line, but in a mass. The stewards announce that the gate is open and everyone lurches forward through the doors. They open both front and rear exits of the plane, and people rush to climb the stairs from the tarmac. There are no assigned seats, no in-flight emergency instruction cards (they are printed on the back of the headrests), no drinks, no snacks, and no comfort. Throughout the flight, they try to sell you things like drinks ($3), snacks ($4), lottery tickets, and preferred passage on their other ventures. The above your head storage bins are plastered with advertisements. They have publicly stated that they are considering a charge for using the restroom in flight. It is cheap, but it gets the job done.
I got into Berlin in the morning (8am) and couldn't check into the hotel until around 3pm, so I walked the Wall. I am surprised that my body was compliant with such little sleep. Stockholm was a good day trip. A little more time there would have been nice, but to squeeze it in to a business trip (tax write off) was sufficient for a scouting exploration. I'm sure to be back.
Midterm update...
I understand why there was some hesitation about me teaching this many classes. I keep missing appointments and meetings. I am falling behind on grading. I can't keep up with the class readings. I am sleep walking through one of my classes. I have had to drop my research almost completely. I sleep much less. I am always tired. I am feeling mediocre about teaching. Granted, I never work on Mondays, but I put in at least 50 hours of work each week. The bulk of those hours are from 6:30 am until 10:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
With the midterms over, the furlough week past, the baby due soon, and Thanksgiving coming quickly, I feel like I have senioritis. All of the breaks have shifted my routine and now I just want done. I am thinking of sacrificing my teaching evaluations for some peace in my life. A couple of late graded assignments, some mediocre lectures, some bad examples... not a big deal, right?
Maybe I'll just bribe them with candy before the evaluations are given.
With the midterms over, the furlough week past, the baby due soon, and Thanksgiving coming quickly, I feel like I have senioritis. All of the breaks have shifted my routine and now I just want done. I am thinking of sacrificing my teaching evaluations for some peace in my life. A couple of late graded assignments, some mediocre lectures, some bad examples... not a big deal, right?
Maybe I'll just bribe them with candy before the evaluations are given.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Tax free travel pt. 1
Catching up...
I spent the second week of September in Berlin with a brief visit to Stockholm. Although I do consider it a vacation, the main purpose was to present a paper at the European Consortium of Political Research. Rather than taking normal postcard-like pictures, I decided to include myself in all of them.
Here is the Berlin/Potsdam portion of the trip.
I arrived without much sleep and immediately set out for Alexanderplatz. This is the cold-war era TV tower that East Berlin erected so that west Berlin could see how cool they were.
This was a sweet little square with a vanquishing King statue (Frederick I think?). In any case, anytime you can take a picture of a horse butt with a cathedral in the background, you should.
I honestly don't remember what this is, but there is a funny story. I was walking around taking pictures of myself with these buildings and a couple of German guys were eating at a cafe. I started to take this picture and they laughed at me. I smiled really big, shrugged my shoulders, and took a couple more.
This is the longest intact portion of the old Berlin Wall. It is now a very large canvas for some well known artists. If you are in Berlin, a visit to the wall is a must, right?
I tried to walk a significant amount of the Wall's old course. Berlin has tried to remember where it went as well. Throughout the city, they have laid a cobblestone path (two cobbles wide) to mark the path. In the decades after the wall, many buildings have dissected the markers, so that the cobbles run straight into buildings now.
And of course, there is the Brandenburg gate. What I didn't know was that this was the historical gate to the City of Berlin. At the opposite end of a giant park is the Charlottenburg gate, the official gate to the city of Charlottenburg, where Fredrick the Great had his palace. Just to the right of this picture and through the gate is the American embassy (I always want to know where they are when I travel).
I had never been in the Reichstag building (German Parliament), so I took the tour of the dome. It is an amazing structure, completely covered in glass, with a set of mirrors that direct sunlight into the plenary chamber when they have their meetings. It is also a good spot for a visual tour of the city.
Back along the wall trail, I stopped to take the requisite car pictures. (I think that everyone needs to recognize the differences in automotive culture wherever anyone travels. Only in Europe would you find a Maserati Quattroporte (~$120k) parked bumper to bumper with the cheapest, multi-color, people's car, a VW Lupo (~$10k).
And then the requisite "I wish that they had this one in the USA" car, the BMW 118d. It looks kind of like a dog's face, but it gets great mileage (diesel), is a small, sporty luxury car, and it's a hatchback with lots of space.
A more insightful trip happened late one night on a walk. I ran across the major BMW dealer for Berlin (near the Charlottenberg Gate). I couldn't resist a picture, but then I became more intrigued and started looking at prices. The numbers were the same if not higher than the USA prices, but they were in euros. That day, each euro cost $1.39. There, cars simply aren't accessible to everyone like they are here.
The conference was held in Potsdam, the summer residence of Fredrick the Great. He built a ginormous summer palace there (Sanssouci Palace), complete with an Orangerie (place to preserve botanical species), 
art gallery, windmill
fake ruins to cover the reservoir that feeds the fountains,
oh, and when the summer palace gets too small, a much larger summer residence,
Back in Berlin, his normal palace was nothing to sneeze at.
A little German Versailles.
The gardens were beautiful. People from Berlin were jogging about the grounds, but I stopped to look at the flowers. Look closely, the flower has multiple levels, but believe me, it is one flower.
Each day of the conference, I would take the U-bahn (U7 from Wilmersdorfer Strasse) to Yorck Strasse and change to the S-Bahn (S1 to Griebnitsee). There is the best Donner/Kebab shop at the S-bahn station. One day while eating a Kebab, I saw these campaign posters. The bottom one is typical of most German election posters, the candidate's picture and party name (this one happens to be for the green party). The top one, was by far my favorite.
Who wouldn't vote for the pirate party?
I spent the second week of September in Berlin with a brief visit to Stockholm. Although I do consider it a vacation, the main purpose was to present a paper at the European Consortium of Political Research. Rather than taking normal postcard-like pictures, I decided to include myself in all of them.
Here is the Berlin/Potsdam portion of the trip.
I arrived without much sleep and immediately set out for Alexanderplatz. This is the cold-war era TV tower that East Berlin erected so that west Berlin could see how cool they were.
This was a sweet little square with a vanquishing King statue (Frederick I think?). In any case, anytime you can take a picture of a horse butt with a cathedral in the background, you should.
I honestly don't remember what this is, but there is a funny story. I was walking around taking pictures of myself with these buildings and a couple of German guys were eating at a cafe. I started to take this picture and they laughed at me. I smiled really big, shrugged my shoulders, and took a couple more.
This is the longest intact portion of the old Berlin Wall. It is now a very large canvas for some well known artists. If you are in Berlin, a visit to the wall is a must, right?
I tried to walk a significant amount of the Wall's old course. Berlin has tried to remember where it went as well. Throughout the city, they have laid a cobblestone path (two cobbles wide) to mark the path. In the decades after the wall, many buildings have dissected the markers, so that the cobbles run straight into buildings now.
And of course, there is the Brandenburg gate. What I didn't know was that this was the historical gate to the City of Berlin. At the opposite end of a giant park is the Charlottenburg gate, the official gate to the city of Charlottenburg, where Fredrick the Great had his palace. Just to the right of this picture and through the gate is the American embassy (I always want to know where they are when I travel).
I had never been in the Reichstag building (German Parliament), so I took the tour of the dome. It is an amazing structure, completely covered in glass, with a set of mirrors that direct sunlight into the plenary chamber when they have their meetings. It is also a good spot for a visual tour of the city.
Back along the wall trail, I stopped to take the requisite car pictures. (I think that everyone needs to recognize the differences in automotive culture wherever anyone travels. Only in Europe would you find a Maserati Quattroporte (~$120k) parked bumper to bumper with the cheapest, multi-color, people's car, a VW Lupo (~$10k).
And then the requisite "I wish that they had this one in the USA" car, the BMW 118d. It looks kind of like a dog's face, but it gets great mileage (diesel), is a small, sporty luxury car, and it's a hatchback with lots of space.
A more insightful trip happened late one night on a walk. I ran across the major BMW dealer for Berlin (near the Charlottenberg Gate). I couldn't resist a picture, but then I became more intrigued and started looking at prices. The numbers were the same if not higher than the USA prices, but they were in euros. That day, each euro cost $1.39. There, cars simply aren't accessible to everyone like they are here.
The conference was held in Potsdam, the summer residence of Fredrick the Great. He built a ginormous summer palace there (Sanssouci Palace), complete with an Orangerie (place to preserve botanical species), 
art gallery, windmill
fake ruins to cover the reservoir that feeds the fountains,
oh, and when the summer palace gets too small, a much larger summer residence,
Back in Berlin, his normal palace was nothing to sneeze at.
A little German Versailles.
The gardens were beautiful. People from Berlin were jogging about the grounds, but I stopped to look at the flowers. Look closely, the flower has multiple levels, but believe me, it is one flower.
Each day of the conference, I would take the U-bahn (U7 from Wilmersdorfer Strasse) to Yorck Strasse and change to the S-Bahn (S1 to Griebnitsee). There is the best Donner/Kebab shop at the S-bahn station. One day while eating a Kebab, I saw these campaign posters. The bottom one is typical of most German election posters, the candidate's picture and party name (this one happens to be for the green party). The top one, was by far my favorite.
Who wouldn't vote for the pirate party?
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