Men buy you Fleur de Sel
Friday, February 15, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Library Update
In response to ejp (and also because it's such a Gunni story) here's more on the library.
They finally have the old section of the libary open (the collapsed roof is above the new section) and I went there last night to pick up some interlibrary loan materials. The two workers were also the same two who were there during the collapse, which happened about 1:30 am. The night had been pretty windy, so they were expecting snow slides.
As one of them put it, "Then we heard a really loud noise and the building shook, but I thought, 'hey, there's a lot of snow, so it's going to be loud when it slides.'"
They locked up for the night without any further investigation and went home. Wasn't until the morning that somebody looked over and noticed the collapse.
Now we have access to periodicals and ILL, but no on-campus books. The building is insured but I'm not sure how fast repairs are going to go with this much snow.
The only silver lining is that the old section of the library is really lovely and now more people will visit it.
They finally have the old section of the libary open (the collapsed roof is above the new section) and I went there last night to pick up some interlibrary loan materials. The two workers were also the same two who were there during the collapse, which happened about 1:30 am. The night had been pretty windy, so they were expecting snow slides.
As one of them put it, "Then we heard a really loud noise and the building shook, but I thought, 'hey, there's a lot of snow, so it's going to be loud when it slides.'"
They locked up for the night without any further investigation and went home. Wasn't until the morning that somebody looked over and noticed the collapse.
Now we have access to periodicals and ILL, but no on-campus books. The building is insured but I'm not sure how fast repairs are going to go with this much snow.
The only silver lining is that the old section of the library is really lovely and now more people will visit it.
Friday, February 8, 2008
It's all fun & games till someone loses a roof
As previously reported, we have a LOT of snow here in Gunni. In addition to 2 big storms that together total over 3 feet, we've been getting 2-3 inches every couple of dayd for the last week. This much snow is not typical - we're in a high desert here.
The facilities people have been spending a lot of time shoveling off the roofs. Guess they should have gotten to the library sooner.
The facilities people have been spending a lot of time shoveling off the roofs. Guess they should have gotten to the library sooner.
Monday, January 28, 2008
But I do like the cold. I didn't say anything bad about the cold...I just said it was cold. Very, very cold.
Granted, even for aficionados like me, -38 is a little extreme. It's warmed up considerably. We're going to break freezing today. It's actually shockingly, almost unpleasantly warm.
However, we do still have 3 feet of snow on the ground - we got about 4 more inches last night. The facilities people have sculpted the snow into elaborate hills and bunkers alongside all of the sidewalks and in the parking lots that make it seem more like 4-5 feet of snow.
Fortunately it doesn't deter our students from their hard-earned right to park on campus.
Granted, even for aficionados like me, -38 is a little extreme. It's warmed up considerably. We're going to break freezing today. It's actually shockingly, almost unpleasantly warm.
However, we do still have 3 feet of snow on the ground - we got about 4 more inches last night. The facilities people have sculpted the snow into elaborate hills and bunkers alongside all of the sidewalks and in the parking lots that make it seem more like 4-5 feet of snow.
Fortunately it doesn't deter our students from their hard-earned right to park on campus.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
No really, I'm still here.
I'm just busy with the start of the new semester. And I've been a little under the weather with the Cold of Doom.
Speaking of cold, I now know what -30 F feels like...-38 F to be precise. (Conveniently -40 F = -40 C.)
It feels cold.
Speaking of cold, I now know what -30 F feels like...-38 F to be precise. (Conveniently -40 F = -40 C.)
It feels cold.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
RIP Rugbread
For the first time in 2o years, I failed.
I just could not build a simple, 24" 3D model of a viking ship in gingerbread in time for the party. I think it comes down to a combination of the fat (margerine instead of Crisco) and the relatively high humidity (50%!) None of this was made easier by the approach I used - I made a mold of the ship out of salt dough, covered it in tin foil and draped the gingerbread over that for baking. But really! That's the same way I made the America back in '01, and it worked out just fine.
ARGH. The whole process was very frustrating. I'm hoping for better luck next year.
Fortunately, the year wasn't a total wash for baking. Here's my sideboard of cookies ready to be shipped out.
I've been working my way through Betty Crocker's Cooky Cookbook (that's Cooky not Cookie). I haven't been adjusting the recipes for the altitude, and usually it hasn't been a problem.
However, Mary's Sugar Cookies are a sea-level only affair. Believe it or not, the chocolate coated blobs on the cooling racks are supposed to be snowmen. My personal favorites were the super-puffy angels we called the Angel of Obesity.
I just could not build a simple, 24" 3D model of a viking ship in gingerbread in time for the party. I think it comes down to a combination of the fat (margerine instead of Crisco) and the relatively high humidity (50%!) None of this was made easier by the approach I used - I made a mold of the ship out of salt dough, covered it in tin foil and draped the gingerbread over that for baking. But really! That's the same way I made the America back in '01, and it worked out just fine.
ARGH. The whole process was very frustrating. I'm hoping for better luck next year.Fortunately, the year wasn't a total wash for baking. Here's my sideboard of cookies ready to be shipped out.
I've been working my way through Betty Crocker's Cooky Cookbook (that's Cooky not Cookie). I haven't been adjusting the recipes for the altitude, and usually it hasn't been a problem.
However, Mary's Sugar Cookies are a sea-level only affair. Believe it or not, the chocolate coated blobs on the cooling racks are supposed to be snowmen. My personal favorites were the super-puffy angels we called the Angel of Obesity.
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