My First Earthquake!

Holy mackeral! My house shook. It wasn't a bad one, as it didn't shake as much as I'd expect, and I didn't even feel inspired to get out of bed. The glass framed painting over my bed did not come crashing down on me. At first, it felt like when I used to babysit for people and the garage was under the house and the house shook a bit when the garage went up. But then it just kept going. Only about 10 seconds though. Crazytown!

According to this website, it's a 5.6.

Perfect

I don't understand. Ignoring the missing "o." So how does this work? Can you compromise with them about anything?

"Seniors"

Potentially Leah's last game at Homewood, in its 100th year. Here are some picture of "Senior" day. Leah's not a senior, which is why it's in quotes.

One Word

Absolutely!

The Sea Was Angry That Day

The waves in Tahoe were crazy last weekend. So crazy that the crayfish were out of the water and on the shore. We spent about 20 minutes watching them crawl around and then the ducks came along and ate them! So wild!

More of Pretty Tahoe

Last weekend (Oct 20-21), I was supposed to go to Baltimore, but as I sat in the airport, I found out my sister's game was canceled. So, change of plans. Moved the flights to the next weekend, ran home, repacked for Tahoe, and taught two periods at school (while all my students were wondering why I wasn't on a plane). Here are some pretty pictures from a hike up Alpine Meadows (a ski resort just north of the lake). We (mostly) followed one of the ski lifts up to Ward Peak, bushwhacking as much as possible, just like Matt likes it. On our way up, we saw the snow kissed bushes/trees. They are literally covered in snow on just one side (approximately the west side) but totally green on the other side. It's really pretty. I should have paid more attention to what Matt told me about it so I could say more.

The second picture is the view of the lake from the summit of our climb. I've been so lucky to be in Tahoe for such great weather! On the way up, we found some bamboo poles that (again, don't have all the details in my memory) ski patrollers or rescuers use on the mountain. They are flexible and so you can use them to steady behind you as you slide down the mountain. More bushwhacking occurred as we made our own path down the mountain and the poles came in handy. I was very nervous at first, going as slow as one possibly can, but I think I adapted pretty well and picked up the pace as I got more comfortable. Props to Matt for putting up with my nervousness and evil looks and for making me do something that pushed me a bit. Yay for Tahoe fun!

Wicked Busy!

I've neglected posting because things have been very busy around here. Last weekend I was in Tahoe, bushwacking up and down a ski mountain, and this weekend I'm off to Baltimore for some field hockey (postponed from last weekend). So, in between, I'm scrambling to figure out my curriculum and get healthy. Claritin helps and so do the early morning sessions at the Y. Oh yeah, and the Red Sox winning is good too. There will be more soon...

Bad Toyota

On October 3, Thomas Friedman wrote this op-ed in the Times. Here's an excerpt:

"Toyota, which pioneered the industry-leading, 50-miles-per-gallon Prius hybrid, has joined with the Big Three U.S. automakers in lobbying against the tougher mileage standards in the Senate version of the draft energy bill.

Now why would Toyota, which has used the Prius to brand itself as the greenest car company, pull such a stunt? Is it because Toyota wants to slow down innovation in Detroit on more energy efficient vehicles, which Toyota already dominates, while also keeping mileage room to build giant pickup trucks, like the Toyota Tundra, at the gas-guzzler end of the U.S. market?"

So, Toyota is lobbying against a bill that would increase U.S. fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles to 35 m.p.g. by 2020. This doesn't really seem consistent with the message they put out in commercials. If the Big Three are involved, it also doesn't jibe with Chevy's new campaign "gas friendly to gas free."

Go here to tell Toyota to get on the right side of this bill.

Hate Mail

I also think these are kind of awesome. You know it's good when you laugh out loud.

Post It A Day

How awesome is this? See more here.