I'm in this giant oil-loving state, but in my area, pretty much everybody relies on electricity for heat, and that electricity comes from burning coal.  But not the coal that grows in our neighborhood, oh no, this is prime Wyoming coal, brought here by diesel locomotives, because our Texas coal is too high in sulfur.  But it's the coldest it's been ( Read more... )

On Saturday, I wore a tank top home from the gym.  It was 77 degrees.  Rode my bike to work.  Traded my fleece pajama pants for the shorts with the goldfish on them.  Planted some new annuals in my outdoor planters.   Had the windows open during the All Star Game.  Made iced tea.

Tonight it's 21 degrees, windchill of 6, and the wind is gusting to 40 ( Read more... )

For reference, my town is small enough that the university is responsible for all area-wide communications and emergency responses.  Students make up more than half the population of the two adjoining towns, it makes sense.  Because of that, pretty much everybody in town subscribes to an email listserve that notifies us of emergencies.

( You've got mail. )

What kind of gift says, "Thanks for stabbing me in the arm every 56 days for the last 4 years ( Read more... )

Getting my new phone today was easier than expected.  (Annoying related issue: my last Nokia required a special Nokia hands free headset, despite claiming to work with any 2.5mm headset.  This new Nokia will work with any 2.5mm headset except the special Nokia one.)

Of course, that means my computer's hard drive now has one foot in the grave.  So ( Read more... )

The cops have been called on my next door neighbors again.  Once again I was not home, it happened after I left for work.  But my landlady just came over and threatened them with eviction.

I hate that they argue and are violent with each other, I hate that they are clearly disturbing other neighbors with their fights, even if I've managed to not ( Read more... )

A.  I'm at a stage in my program where that doesn't happen often enough.  Pretty much all of October was mediocre.  But today I was writing manuscripts and making graphs and spreadsheets and it was clicking.

I don't know what the variable was.  Caffeinated lunch?  Three-degree improvement in the near-Arctic temperature scheme of my office?  Residual ( Read more... )

I moved to Texas from California just about the same time my friend David did the same, and we commiserated frequently that first homesick year over something David had been told as a young man: "If you manage to go through life without living in Florida or Texas, you win."  Well, we'd half lost already, but there's extra West Coast snobbery ( Read more... )

Today, during a gorgeous walk with my sister along Town Lake in Austin, I saw two women joggers conversing in sign language as they went across one of the bridges.  As a person who was stopped by a cop last week for stumbling off the sidewalk while jogging due to laughing too hard at an episode of "Cabin Pressure" on the iPod, this was amazing ( Read more... )

I'll give you a hint: we're known for our phones.

It's fall, so we're chock-full of new students doing the standard meet-and-greet, and it's the perfect time for a geography lesson.

Mapping Stereotypes: Europe

( Mapping Stereotypes: United States )