But my giant university's network seems to be on the fritz. Not only can I not access my Blackboard courses, but even the main home page of the university is down. We've been hacked, probably by Ohio State, envious of our size.
So while I could probably do something more effective, I'm rooted to the computer, writing a little update.
This weekend, the Doctor went to Chicago solo, so SkyGirl and I spent 72 hours together. Side by side. The whole weekend. And it was eventful.
Friday night, after dropping off the Doctor, we went to the grocery store, grabbed a frozen pizza and some necessities and headed home. Only to be denied entry into our condo complex by armed policemen in riot gear. And by armed, I'm not talking six shooter pistols, but real big, two handed automatic weapons. I meekly informed the nearest officer, "I live here," and he told me to go get a cup of coffee, "You don't want your daughter shot, do you?"
I have a lot of respect for police officers. It's a tough job, of course, and they probably get a lot of stupid interactions with the worst of the population, so it's understandable when a guy asks a simple question that they might treat him with condescension and scorn. But still. Here I was, a guy coming home from work to find his neighborhood under armed guard. You would think I could ask a question like when might I be able to get into my house without being treated like some clueless idiot.
So SkyGirl and I drive back to the clinic and dump all our groceries in the clinic fridge, among the rabies vaccines and dead cats in the freezer. (okay, there were no dead cats at the time, but that's mainly why we have the freezer, so it's a bit odd to place the frozen pizza and asparagus in there). We grab some fast food and are allowed back in an hour or so later. The police are still all around the unit a few doors down from us. Later we learn that they were serving a search warrant when the servee decided he would flash a gun and refuse to let them in. Needless to say, we are glad he'll be serving some time in prison (I hope) and not living down the block.
Saturday, the SkyGirl and I went to a dairy farm where we are helping to build an organic garden. The farm is run by a third generation farmer who is trying to make the farm a destination in order to spare it from the inexorable creep of sprawl. We can already see housing developments from the barns. This weekend was the heavy labor of digging the trench and laying down the cinderblocks for a rabbit-proof fence. SkyGirl helped a lot by digging with a small shovel and jumping in the big barrels of water we used to pack down the soil. After we finished the digging and concrete, she played with the goats and chickens running around and talked to the cows in the pens.
I feel for the farmer. He's got a nice operation of about 1000 cows. He treats them well, gives them good feed, keeps the cool and uncrowded, but the logic of development seems almost certain to doom him. The city can get a lot more tax revenue from housing than a dairy farm, and this particular city in the desert is not shy about using eminent domain.
His solution has been to embrace sustainability as a niche that might make his farm attractive for education purposes. We disagree over the production of organic milk, but he's certainly excited about creating the organic gardens, the LEED certified buildings, and permaculture aesthetic of the spaces around the pens. We talked for about an hour after the project, and he has a lot of great ideas that may give him a fighting chance. Besides the labor I provided (not much, as you might imagine), I may be able to help him write some grants for some of the projects.
Sunday, SkyGirl and I attempted to go ice skating outdoors. The rink was a polymer of some sort, but she didn't like it, and skating is hard enough, much less wobbling around in 109 degree heat. We skated for all of five minutes and retired to the splash park in the center of the shopping area. Much nicer.
