larger than the exxon valdez

i don't know if anyone has been paying attention to the kingston TN coal plant disaster that happened a couple of days before christmas. normally this wouldn't be anything more than evidence we need to ween ourselves off of coal as a means for generating electricity. the thing about this particular environmental disaster is that it occured about ten miles from where i was living and working in TN, even less as the crow flys. a massive breach of an earthern dam behind the plant contributed by heavy rains caused coal ash, a byproduct of combustion, to spill into surrounding areas even entering the clinch river, a tributary of the TN river, and incidenly feeds directly into Watts Barr lake, where river ridge environmental is located. initially reports cited that there was little danger to humans and animals alike stating the spill only contaminated 300 million gallons of the waterway. lately reports have become more dire as officals now awknowledge that over one billion gallons of ash spilled into the waterway. there is now speculation on what will happen when the ash, which contains several heavy metals contaiminates the ground water. the plant owned and opporated by tennessee valley authority, one of the largest utility companies has vowed to make things right. even if they do follow through with their promise what will it take for us to realize we need to change?

this is obviously a complicated question since we all use electricity.

http://www.ilovemountains.org/tva-spill/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/us/27sludge.html

apparently when you hit save its exceptionally hard to figure out how to edit the post and the only thing you can do is publish it. anyhow, after spending the day at the museum i drove home only to be struck down with a bout of food poison including severe vomiting and discomfort. it was a nice way to ring in home with concern from the parents. being sick and away from home in my mind is one of the worst things that can happen and it was great to mope around in self pity the following day after sleeping in.

since getting over stomach issues life here has aligned much like boulder life. more often than not i'm looking for jobs over the internet or daydreaming.

okay, i'm sick of typing away. merry christmas!

christmas draws neigh

it seems like more often than not life has been in a crazy flux the last couple of weeks. thankfully my extended winter break (ie. job searching) has turned up little affording me to spend time with my family back in new mexico. this too marks a big transition from the last couple of years. all in all i've only spent about three weeks home the last two or three years and the prospect of staying here a little while seems nice, a way to get to know my parents and place better once again. perhaps just as important i enjoy the time in a cozy home to reflect about the past year whenever winter rolls around while in new mexico.

one of the more fun things i've done lately is go to children's museum where my sister works in albuquerque. akwardly this started out by me attending her annual christmas party after driving all day down from boulder. i've been able to hone my "get to know you" skills for the past couple of weeks but only for the grad school set but not before draining my extrovert tank, which was already past empty by the time the party came around. meeting the staff that stupid works with was well worth the trip though. there's something exciting when you see light bulbs go off in people's brains as they try to dissect the similarities between siblings and family in general. the most obvious between my sister and i being the well over a foot size difference between the two of us. explora got an even further dose of the thompson family the following day when my parents came into town with their little friends in tow while on babysitting duty. together we spent the day combing through the many exhibits with heat sensing cameras, elevators with couches, and giant size lincoln logs. it was a lot of fun to crawl through most of the exhibts with the children and made me remember how much it was to be carefree. what a wonderful day.

i was originally hoping to hold off with a new post giving a barrage of information about my new life here in boulder. things here are moving a bit more slowly than

i would like but not everything is bad. first a little recap on my trip out here

The trip started out pretty uneventful other than the normal gr snow for the season. not anything too out of the ordinary but not a good to begin.










Much later after stopping off in chicago for a couple of hours I came upon THE WORLD'S LARGEST TRUCKSTOP! Contrary to what anyone believes its not the most awesome thing in the world. There were some pretty sweet marine patches about the size of my chest with slogans like, "We don't negoatiate, we're Marines" with skulls liberally spashed all over the patch. i was puzzled why they had to be the size of my chest. There was also a pretty sweet wing of trucker wear with a sea of overalls and flannel. i was smitten but knew it was time to move on.


sleeping that night consisted of pulling off at truck stops and struggling to climb in my sleeping bag. i had packed my car so full that i couldn't tilt my seat back. this meant a ten minute fight before successfully zipping up and settling in for an hour or two of sleep. not the best choice but free.

nebraska was downright boring to drive through but things started to look up once i crossed into colorado. the sun started shining and fullfillment returned.


I haven't really taken any pictures since i got here save for these:

a very flattering before with double chin and dazed face















and a new and improved dorky picture: