Hydrogen Economy: "Yeah I think it's possible."

So a friend on mine in class today gave me an article about an extremely feasible means to produce hydrogen. Here is the article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18700750/
Being in the fuel cell industry and even working for a company that uses fossil fuels to create hydrogen, my interest immediatly piqued.
This would mean a great deal to the environment, the energy industry, and, well, me.
To sum up the article:
Take recylced aluminum, mix it with some other metals, dip it in water, and then: hydrogen. So good. This has the potential to mean that you could power everything from hydrogen. Since this is a chemical reaction, the reaction itself could heat your home, the hydrogen could power your car. Build a fuel cell power plant for you house and use the hydrogen to give your house the necessary electricity it needs. No nasty emissions!

I also wanted to point out that the Energy Blog that I've listed to the right is a good resource if you are interested in more of this stuff.

On to conquering the world...

Fast Lift or Lift Me Fast

Upon scaling the mountain top, I was amazed. The ice and snow had covered the bare trees. They glistened from the rays of the setting sun...enough of the mushy crap.

So this weekend Carrie and I went skiing with my sister and brother-in-law. The main lift at Bristol ski resort was freaking fast. It was cool because as the lift came back down to pick up passengers, the benches would disengage from the cable and be carried by a machine to where you were standing. The bench would scoop you up move a little ways and the re-engage with the cable. It felt alost like when the chain on the roller coaster would start to lift you up the first big hill, but faster. We scaled the side of a hill in about 5 minutes to ski down a 2 mile run.

Since going back to school to study things mechanical, I was truly amazed at the contruction and evolution of a ski lift. Before we went, Troy, my brother-in-law, told us about the first time his dad went downhill skiing. This guy used leather straps to attached his work boots to his skis. Then he would grab onto a rope to pull him up the hill. Now we sit in a chair and take a ride. But this ride is amazing. This 2 inch thick cable holds thousands of pounds to let us enjoy skiing.

The morality of the circumstance is what really got me. Should I be amazed at how fast this lift was and enjoy the fact that God has enabled us to create things like this? Or how do I handle the stuggle with "I want this now and I want it faster". The contruction cost of this lift and the thousands of dollars we pay to be entertained could be helping starved people. At the same time, I was also able to build a closer relationship with my wife, sister, and brother-in-law. Maybe some of the workers worked there to raise money to become missionaries.

My resolution: To continue to struggle with this. That's all, just struggle...

The Million Dollar Question

Remember back in 7th or 8th grade when you took those personality tests to figure out what you wanted to do when you grow up? Or the time in college when you were taking psych 101 and they asked you, "If you had a million-gazillion dollars, what would you do?" And the answer ultimately meant that that was what you were supposed to do for a living.

This brings me to a conversation I had this week. It really wasn't a conversation, it more of a day dream. I was sitting there listening to my coworkers chat. They were talking about one of their son's needing to make a decision about what they wanted to do with their life. In my mind I had all the answers for this son. Based upon the five minutes of information I had it all figured out for him. I didn't say anything because this would have come across as rude and pompous.

So the point: I caught myself. I caught myself giving great advice without really having any direction for myself. I sat at Panera later with coffee and wrote till my heart was content about the million dollar question. I wrote about how great it would be to help business and home owners get off the grid. The grid being the electric grid and and coming off of it creating renewable electricity. I would come up with specific designs based upon specific needs in specific areas. It would be great because each method of getting these businesses or homes off the grid would be different. Now on to saving the world.

See the Ideal Energy Conservation post.

Grades

When I attended Malone College, I had the priviledge of playing baseball. Since I sat the bench so well, I had to make up for my defeat, so you could say I also had quite a dynamic social life. These Folks were really important to me and became more important than an education. I am pretty sure that the spring semester of my sophomore year, I did not go to bed earlier than 3am. This happened because my friends and I tried to keep Perkins or Country Kitchen in business. I say tried because generally we would only order coffee or hot chocolate and on the rare occasion we had money, we would get a bread bowl. I think Perkins has since done away with those...too bad. I left Malone with a less than desirable GPA. I will not mention it here because in the off chance a future employer looks at this, I don't want to have to explain myself. Let's just say I got by. I did what I had to do.

This brings me to now. I am back in school getting an engineering degree. We just wrapped up this past semester and my grades have been published. In doing this, I kinda feel like Perry from scrubs. The character is this cocky doctor who believes he needs to be cocky and arrogant to be a good doctor. I hope I don't come across this way, but I got a 4.0. This is 4 A's for the four classes I took. I really don't know what I was doing at Malone, but getting A's feels awesome. There is this feeling of accomplishment that I really never felt when I was getting C's and D's. So you could say that the quote "hard work pays off" is true.

Being A Man: A Basic Understanding of Respect

Aside from not posting in a while....
I pulled into the Marathon to get gas today. It was a gorgeous morning. It snowed two days ago and the sun was just beaming off of the bright white goodness. These mornings are an immediate cause for joy.

As a child growing up I was always told that as a man you should eat your green beans to put hair on your chest and always respect women. As I pulled in to get gas, I noticed this lady walking to her Ford Expedition after paying inside. I pulled around her to get to the pump in front of her. As I got out of my car I saw her pulling the nozzle out of the holster and placing it into the tank. The I ventured over to her passenger seat. There he was. He looked squirelly, young, and had braces in his mouth. I would guess he was a freshman or sophomore in high school. He would in my mind be more than able. He took up most of the seat and I would guess he was 6 foot or taller. This is the point where I chuckled and then felt dissappointment.
Was he not told about manhood? "eat your green beans and respect women." When Carrie and I started dating, I want to say that there has been one time when we have been together that she has pumped gas. This would have been the instance when I went in to pay and she hopped out and started pumping without realizing what it would do to my self-esteem. My manhood had come into question. Was I not capable? I immediately told her that she could go sit in the car and I could handle the rest of the pumping.
Now I understand that this braces-faced kid will probably turn out just fine. However, I do think that this could raise a greater issue. I recently watched a 60 minutes report on how Gen X and Y are going out into the workforce. This is the first generation where parents told their kids "they were special." One comment that really got me was how these parents are actually talking to their kid's employers wanting to know want kind of "grade" they are getting. So braces-faced kid, is your mom teaching you self-respect by telling you that you are special? Or would she be better off telling you to get your ass out of the truck and pump the gas?

Barry Freakin Bonds

Though there have been no convictions, I dislike Barry Bonds.
If you had a career like his pre-steroid issue, why even consider putting yourself in hot water? Based upon his physical change, one can only imagine what he was on. Look at Mark McGuire. When he started in the majors, he was more lengthy than stout. Ask any weight lifter and they will tell you it is not easy to obtain 26inch forearms without something helping them out. Same with Barry. He physically showed change. Look at Curt Schilling, for example. A strong proponent against substance abuse. Here's a guy that you can tell he is getting older and less defined, but still performs. Why is it that Barry couldn't have followed suit. Not to say that Aaron or Ruth didn't take anything, but the scandal surrounding the situation and the fact that he is an ass to fans and media, makes me dislike the fact that a guy like this broke these records.
But this begs the question about Big Mac. Why was it that there was no scandal around his physical change? Simply put, he and Sammy were good for baseball. Big Mac actually cared about St. Louis and the game. This isn't to say that Barry doesn't care for Baseball and San Fran, but Mcguire was actually pleasant to the fans.

However, how do we deal with the fact that these players were on some sort of substance? It is just dissappointing. Play as you were made and if that's not possible, go into a different profession.

I don't cheat on tests. Don't cheat baseball.

Jovial

So the majority of my day, currently, is spent in a typical cubical style office. I enjoy the random conversations people have that I get to overhear. More exciting, however, is the quiet conversation that you can't hear. It's the one all the way across the office where it's the low muffel barely audible over the air conditioner fan.

Then, from no where, it happens. The random, yet pronounced, deep, gutteral eruption of laughter. The kind of laughter that disrupts the office rythem. The kind, in my case, that I start laughing at. I'm not sure why. Maybe it is the total disregard for any one else with the desire to just let it out.

It's the guy at the movie theater that laughs at a kind-of funny part in a movie where no one else laughs. It's the guy in isle 3 when you're in isle 25. It's the guy half way across the food court laughing over top the busyiness.