... is a world I can't imagine and wouldn't want to live in. Even though I spend most of my work day reading newspapers and websites, I want - no, need - to spend at least a few minutes (if not more) reading for pleasure.
I get so much from reading books - they feed my imagination, and they make me think, laugh and/or cry. They also cause envy sometimes (over the talent of such amazing writers whom I would love to be like but I don't see myself coming up with the tales they do). All that from something that comes in one pretty package. One of the good things about Bruce being so busy in recent weeks is that I've had plenty of time to read in the car while waiting for him to finish work. I don't go anywhere without a book these days.
I've managed to make my way through quite a few books in the last few months, and will slowly be building a list in case anyone is interested. I've started with a "Currently Reading" list that I'll update as I move down the pile of books beside my bed, and am also going to create a "Recommended Reading" section. Let me know if you have any books you want to add to that list - I am always on the lookout for books to read. Perhaps I'll also add a "Just Finished This, Stay Away!" list if I happen to come across something bad (although that's doubtful, because it has only rarely happened in the past and I'm becoming choosy about what I buy these days).
A couple of books I read in France in July made their way to Singapore, thanks to a certain niece of mine, so if I forget the titles, I hope she'll nudge my memory by leaving them in the comments section.
As far as possible, I'll try to link the titles to either a review of the book or some sort of summary/background, as I have done for the two in my "Currently Reading" list. One of the marvels of the computer age that I intend to make the most of, since I either won't have time to write a review myself or have found someone who can do a much better job.
I will try to get back to borrowing books from the library instead of always buying them, where possible, but buying books has long been my weakness (I buy books the way some people buy shoes). The reason for that is two-fold - I want to have my own little library in my house, filled with my favourites that I can return to at any time, and I want to support the writers I love by purchasing their books instead of only borrowing a copy from a library. I am a huge fan of libraries and don't ever want the world to be without them, but I want to have my own. Even if I borrow a book from a library, I'll probably end up buying a copy for myself if I like it enough.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
The Great Flood
September 21st, 2009 was the day of the Great Flood in Georgia.
When we left the house for work that morning, I had no idea how bad things would get by the end of the day. The fact that there was a traffic jam on the highway just a few miles from our house that early in the morning should have been an indication. There was a mudslide on the highway, with only one lane open at that time, and those giving traffic updates on the radio and TV were saying to stay at home and try getting to work later, when the sun was up. So that's what Bruce and I did - turned around and went back home.
I started working from home and decided to just stay at home and work that day, after speaking with my boss, because more and more often, the traffic and weather people were saying to do that. Bruce couldn't, because of the project they were working on in his office, but by the end of the day, he was wishing he had. It took him an hour and a half to get to work that morning, and four-and-a-half-hours to get home. He had tried to stay off the highways because there were quite a few traffic accidents and bad traffic jams, but going on the back roads turned out to be a bad idea as it rained quite heavily several times on Monday and caused floods on so many of those roads that he had to keep turning around or taking detours. At one point, he was only about seven miles from home, I think, but the road he was on goes over the Yellow River at the bottom of a hill and was no longer passable as a result of the heavy rainfall. He finally ended up on the highways he had tried to avoid and got home at about 8:30 that night.
The floods were so bad that some people could not even return to their homes that night - the houses were inaccessible. My intern wasn't able to get to work that morning because the area she lived in was completely cut off by the floods - she was only able to get out on Thursday. There was almost non-stop news coverage on TV that night and the next morning about the damage wrought by the floods - some houses were almost completely covered by flood water. Ironically, in the middle of all that water, one lone house was on fire - it had apparently been struck by lightning. Lots of people had flooded basements, at the very least, if not more - lots of damage to furniture and appliances. I can't even begin to imagine how heartbreaking it must have been to lose so much at one go.
The worst of it is that most houses in Georgia are not covered by flood insurance, because they were not built in flood plains. One man said that he had tried several times to purchase flood insurance but was told he couldn't because it wasn't allowed, as he wasn't in a flood plain. That is one of the most ridiculous things I've heard in a while, and I hope it changes soon. (I'm sure insurance agencies would be fighting that, though, because they would have had to make huge payouts after this flood, if enough affected people had bought flood insurance beforehand.) People should be allowed to buy whatever insurance they want, if they want it and are willing to pay the premium. There is so much nonsensical bureaucracy in this world.
We, thankfully, had no damage. We had a bit of a lake in the backyard at one point that afternoon, but that soon disappeared into the ground.
October is supposed to be a dry month but we've already had more rainy than sunny days in the last two-and-a-half-weeks, I think, and lots of people are now paranoid every time it rains. The sun seems like a stranger these days. Even today, when it was supposed to be sunny, we've only seen clouds and some rain The one good thing about all this rain is that the lakes are now back to full pool, as they call it, after two or more years of drought.
When we left the house for work that morning, I had no idea how bad things would get by the end of the day. The fact that there was a traffic jam on the highway just a few miles from our house that early in the morning should have been an indication. There was a mudslide on the highway, with only one lane open at that time, and those giving traffic updates on the radio and TV were saying to stay at home and try getting to work later, when the sun was up. So that's what Bruce and I did - turned around and went back home.
I started working from home and decided to just stay at home and work that day, after speaking with my boss, because more and more often, the traffic and weather people were saying to do that. Bruce couldn't, because of the project they were working on in his office, but by the end of the day, he was wishing he had. It took him an hour and a half to get to work that morning, and four-and-a-half-hours to get home. He had tried to stay off the highways because there were quite a few traffic accidents and bad traffic jams, but going on the back roads turned out to be a bad idea as it rained quite heavily several times on Monday and caused floods on so many of those roads that he had to keep turning around or taking detours. At one point, he was only about seven miles from home, I think, but the road he was on goes over the Yellow River at the bottom of a hill and was no longer passable as a result of the heavy rainfall. He finally ended up on the highways he had tried to avoid and got home at about 8:30 that night.
The floods were so bad that some people could not even return to their homes that night - the houses were inaccessible. My intern wasn't able to get to work that morning because the area she lived in was completely cut off by the floods - she was only able to get out on Thursday. There was almost non-stop news coverage on TV that night and the next morning about the damage wrought by the floods - some houses were almost completely covered by flood water. Ironically, in the middle of all that water, one lone house was on fire - it had apparently been struck by lightning. Lots of people had flooded basements, at the very least, if not more - lots of damage to furniture and appliances. I can't even begin to imagine how heartbreaking it must have been to lose so much at one go.
The worst of it is that most houses in Georgia are not covered by flood insurance, because they were not built in flood plains. One man said that he had tried several times to purchase flood insurance but was told he couldn't because it wasn't allowed, as he wasn't in a flood plain. That is one of the most ridiculous things I've heard in a while, and I hope it changes soon. (I'm sure insurance agencies would be fighting that, though, because they would have had to make huge payouts after this flood, if enough affected people had bought flood insurance beforehand.) People should be allowed to buy whatever insurance they want, if they want it and are willing to pay the premium. There is so much nonsensical bureaucracy in this world.
We, thankfully, had no damage. We had a bit of a lake in the backyard at one point that afternoon, but that soon disappeared into the ground.
October is supposed to be a dry month but we've already had more rainy than sunny days in the last two-and-a-half-weeks, I think, and lots of people are now paranoid every time it rains. The sun seems like a stranger these days. Even today, when it was supposed to be sunny, we've only seen clouds and some rain The one good thing about all this rain is that the lakes are now back to full pool, as they call it, after two or more years of drought.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Hum ...
... is for hummingbirds. There's one perching on our hummingbird feeder as I write this. Perching, not hovering as they normally do. We've had two regulars in the last few weeks; one of them seems to be a little less confident, so it hovers while drinking and flies off quickly. The other actually settles down on the feeder, drinking long and hard. Yesterday, I was standing at the French doors that lead to the backyard because I'd seen a bird on the ground I didn't recognize, so I was trying to get as close as possible for a better look without going outside and scaring it away. While I was standing there, probably about two feet from the hummingbird feeder, which was on the other side of the glass in the door, the perching hummingbird arrived for a feed. I've never been that close to one before - it was amazing! The throat muscles were moving as fast as their wings do when they hover. Then, just now, one of our "regulars" seemed to be in a fight with another hummingbird - perhaps a newcomer? They were diving through the air at each other, and one (the percher) apparently won the challenge because the other backed off. Our feeder has four separate flowers/holes through which they can get to the nectar, so it's a shame that they aren't willing to share.
... is for humans, 40,000 of them in one place at one time, Bruce and I among them. Our friend Amy Jackson was with us, as well (her husband, John, was working, unfortunately, so couldn't be with us). We were at Peidmont Park in Atlanta on Saturday, August 15th, for the outdoor Paul McCartney concert. Bruce was thrilled to be there, because he's a huge fan of Sir Paul as well as the Beatles but hadn't seen McCartney live before. It's difficult to believe that Paul McCartney is 67 - he sang/performed for almost two-and-a-half hours without taking a break. It was a great concert, despite the heat (we went there several hours before he came onstage so that we wouldn't be too far from the stage, which meant we had to bake in the sun) and the sudden downpour during the concert. It didn't rain very long (about 20 minutes) and no one minded (although I wish we had brought along our ponchos). Since the concert was outdoors, there were no seats, so we sat on the ground on blankets. Once Paul McCartney was on stage, we were all on our feet (which happens at most indoor concerts, as well). The best thing was seeing teenagers and kids in the crowd, dancing and singing along. We weren't close enough to the stage to see Paul McCartney up close, but there were two huge screens on either side of the stage with close-ups of him and the band.
August has been a humming month.
... is for humans, 40,000 of them in one place at one time, Bruce and I among them. Our friend Amy Jackson was with us, as well (her husband, John, was working, unfortunately, so couldn't be with us). We were at Peidmont Park in Atlanta on Saturday, August 15th, for the outdoor Paul McCartney concert. Bruce was thrilled to be there, because he's a huge fan of Sir Paul as well as the Beatles but hadn't seen McCartney live before. It's difficult to believe that Paul McCartney is 67 - he sang/performed for almost two-and-a-half hours without taking a break. It was a great concert, despite the heat (we went there several hours before he came onstage so that we wouldn't be too far from the stage, which meant we had to bake in the sun) and the sudden downpour during the concert. It didn't rain very long (about 20 minutes) and no one minded (although I wish we had brought along our ponchos). Since the concert was outdoors, there were no seats, so we sat on the ground on blankets. Once Paul McCartney was on stage, we were all on our feet (which happens at most indoor concerts, as well). The best thing was seeing teenagers and kids in the crowd, dancing and singing along. We weren't close enough to the stage to see Paul McCartney up close, but there were two huge screens on either side of the stage with close-ups of him and the band.
August has been a humming month.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Chortle
Joey: "It's a moo point."
Rachel: "A moo point?"
Joey: "Yes. It's a cow's opinion. It doesn't mean a thing. It's moo."
I was watching a re-run of Friends last night and that exchange reminded me why I loved the series. I was laughing so hard and so loudly that Bruce came into the room to see what was so funny.
I think that particular bit struck my funny bone more than any others because several people in Bruce's old office used to say, "It's a mute point" when they meant "moot", and genuinely thought that was the expression. I'd never heard variations of the phrase before, but Joey's takes the cake, especially because of his delivery. I think I have a new favourite saying ...
Rachel: "A moo point?"
Joey: "Yes. It's a cow's opinion. It doesn't mean a thing. It's moo."
I was watching a re-run of Friends last night and that exchange reminded me why I loved the series. I was laughing so hard and so loudly that Bruce came into the room to see what was so funny.
I think that particular bit struck my funny bone more than any others because several people in Bruce's old office used to say, "It's a mute point" when they meant "moot", and genuinely thought that was the expression. I'd never heard variations of the phrase before, but Joey's takes the cake, especially because of his delivery. I think I have a new favourite saying ...
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Calling Henry Higgins
Another thing that drives me nuts about having to read so much for my job each day is the increasing number of language errors I find. I can understand careless mistakes, but these don't fall into that category. These are made by people paid to write headlines and press releases, which means someone else proofread and edited their work.
This is just one example of the many ridiculous headlines I've seen in the past year:
New Study Reveals Swimming Can Cut Men's Risk of Dying in Half
So, if you are a man and you swim, you increase your chance of not dying by 50%?! And dying is a risk, not a certainty? Amazing! Man has been searching for immortality for centuries but the answer all this time was right there in water? And the immortality is only for men, apparently.
Do people not understand what that sentence means? Every time a new study comes out, there will be at least a couple of headlines like that one. Not "this will reduce your chances of dying young/early" but reduce your chances of dying altogether. Aaaarrrrgggghhh!
In Malaysia, I always understood if someone's English was poor, because that most likely meant English was their second or third language. But in America, where a large number of people speak only English, what is the excuse? Shouldn't everyone be fluent in at least one language and full understand what the words they use convey?
I understand that language is fluid and changes as people add and drop words, but shouldn't it still contain accurate meaning? This isn't language innovation - it's ignorance. For someone who loves language and all the written word can convey as much as I do, this is sad and aggravating, especially when it happens consistently, not occasionally.
There is apparently a small group of people in this country who are going around correcting errors in signs that they come across (see link below for an example). They've even done this to historical signs, because they cannot tolerate the mistakes they keep seeing. This is apparently against the law but I am completely on their side. They are my kind of people!
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-typo-guys-0521may21,0,6902266.story
This is just one example of the many ridiculous headlines I've seen in the past year:
New Study Reveals Swimming Can Cut Men's Risk of Dying in Half
So, if you are a man and you swim, you increase your chance of not dying by 50%?! And dying is a risk, not a certainty? Amazing! Man has been searching for immortality for centuries but the answer all this time was right there in water? And the immortality is only for men, apparently.
Do people not understand what that sentence means? Every time a new study comes out, there will be at least a couple of headlines like that one. Not "this will reduce your chances of dying young/early" but reduce your chances of dying altogether. Aaaarrrrgggghhh!
In Malaysia, I always understood if someone's English was poor, because that most likely meant English was their second or third language. But in America, where a large number of people speak only English, what is the excuse? Shouldn't everyone be fluent in at least one language and full understand what the words they use convey?
I understand that language is fluid and changes as people add and drop words, but shouldn't it still contain accurate meaning? This isn't language innovation - it's ignorance. For someone who loves language and all the written word can convey as much as I do, this is sad and aggravating, especially when it happens consistently, not occasionally.
There is apparently a small group of people in this country who are going around correcting errors in signs that they come across (see link below for an example). They've even done this to historical signs, because they cannot tolerate the mistakes they keep seeing. This is apparently against the law but I am completely on their side. They are my kind of people!
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-typo-guys-0521may21,0,6902266.story
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