Solar Hope

This summer Solar Hope, the non profit organization associated with my school, is putting together a trip to Tanzania to install solar panels on a number of rural schools and clinics that do not have access to electricity. I have been mulling over and waffling back and forth if I should try to participate in this trip. There are basically three things that the project needs: Time/effort, knowledge and money. The first two I possess to a limited extent. The third...not so much. I believe that this project is a very good cause and worthy of my time and effort. The difference between having no electricity and having a little is difficult to overstate, especially in the context of schools and clinics, and Solar Hope gives the opportunity for those who would otherwise have no way whatsoever of having a little bit. And since it is solar, there are no continuing costs, and no ecological damage associated with the progress. But there is absolutely no way I can be a part of this without partners. Not everyone has the opportunity to actually go to Africa and do a solar installation, but perhaps some would like to be involved with such a thing regardless. If there are some who are not as impoverished as I am who would like to help, I would enthusiastically work very hard to get the highest possible output for that money.

So here is where things stand: It would cost about $5,000 for me to participate in this trip. This would include transportation for me, costs and transportation costs for the equipment I would be installing, and lodging costs for the month I would be there. Basically what I am trying to figure out is if there is any interest out there for financial support. While I don't have to raise the money immediately, I do have to make a commitment by the end of the month. And if I commit, the organization will begin taking the preliminary steps for the project on the assumption that there will be some funds behind my commitment. So basically I am just trying to feel the waters and see if this is feasible at all (if I commit and can not raise any funds, I'm in Big Trouble, as they say). So if any of you would be interested in helping with what I believe is a very worthy cause, or know someone else who might be, please let me know so that I can plan my next steps. Thanks!

By the way: To learn more about Solar Hope, visit the following website:

http://www.solar-hope.org/main/

Back in the saddle.

It's good to be back in cycling range from my place of work. When I moved up north from Southern California, I went from being 3 minutes by bike from work to being one hour by car from work. But now I'm back to being about 30 minutes by bike. It's a real relief to no longer being slogging through the Portland traffic in a car, and it really didn't make a lot of sense for a student of Renewable Energy Engineering to be commuting two hours a day in a fossil fuel slurping juggernaut. Anyway, yesterday was my first day of commuting to work by bike, and everything went smoothly. my route takes me about two miles out of my way, as the main drag from my house to work is two narrow but heavily traveled lanes with no bikelanes, shoulders or sidewalks whatsoever. Of course this is Oregon so, much like nature and a vacuum, the local sensibilities abhor any bike unfriendly areas; the road is already scheduled for major bike infrastructure upgrades early next year.

Once I got to work and settled into my routine, I got an email from Chris Stapelmann, wondering if I wanted to join him on his lunch ride. I should have known better. Chris is training for a 100 mile ride that's happening in two weeks, so he's been hitting the hills pretty hard, whereas I haven't been in the saddle for a year. But what the hell...I've been known to do alright on some hills in the past, and what better way to welcome my legs back into cycling than to follow Dr. Stapelmann towards the nearest hill?

I can't say that I was entirely prepared. I hadn't brought cycling gear, so I was in my work clothes and flat shoes. I also forgot my water bottle, as I am wont to do, and I didn't bring any food. But how bad could it be? We headed out north of town through the fields and gardens. Very beautiful countryside. Eventually we arrived at the base of the spur of mountains that extends to the north west of Portland, and headed up the hill. In spite of the splendor of the surroundings, the hill was a bit longer and steeper than I really was ready for. It took a lot of mind over matter to make it up to skyline boulevard, but the respite from climbing, as well as the spectacular views made it well worth it. From there, literally, it was all downhill.

It wasn't really that hard of a ride. At twenty five miles and around 1000 feet of climbing, it would have been a trivial jaunt back when I was riding regularly on the hills of Southern California. But a year or so of being sedentary have slightly changed the playing rules a bit. But those days are over. In no time, this route will be just a beautiful though easy local ride.

How to make birthday dinner for your better half

Alright guys, I promised recipes, so here we are. My better half just had a birthday, so I made food for her. Fortunately, she had a three hour class that evening, so she was spared having to witness the process. She ate the food, so it must not have been too bad. Here's how to replicate my efforts.

Spaghetti sauce:

Chop up around ten or so mushrooms, a bell pepper, a good sized onion and 2 or 3 cloves of garlic. In a large deep frying pan, sauté these in some olive oil. Yes, OLIVE oil--not rapeseed oil, you cheap bastard. After they have sautéed for a while, add your seasonings (if you season right away, they will purge water and not be able to crispify. That would be bad). Season with Lowry's seasoning salt, Cavender's greek seasoning (If you don't have this, go get it), oregano, basil, brewer's yeast (If you don't have this, and aren't on your way to get it, you aren't my friend). If you are lucky, you'll have a box of National Foods Shami Kabab Masala that your uncle bought in Pakistan back in the 70s in your pantry, but I don't think any of you fools are that lucky. Add a lid full or so of white vinegar, and stir it all around in its purged water for a while. When you get tired of stirring, add a 1 lb 10 oz jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce. Add a bit of extra water to the empty jar after you are done to clean it out/thin the sauce a little bit. (If you have more time than I had, grab the tomato paste/puree/pieces and so forth and do it right. But if you seasoned correctly, it will be great even with the canned stuff). At this point, add a bunch of Parmesan cheese, and keep adding the previous ingredients (if in doubt, more brewers yeast) until it tastes perfect.

Serve on angel hair with dollops of sour cream on top.

Garlic bread:

In a small pan, melt a mixture of 1/2 stick butter, 2T margarine and 3T olive oil. Add 3 to 5 cloves of pressed garlic. Add Lowry's, Cavenders, Parmesan cheese and lots of brewers yeast. Once it's all well mixed, spread on some artisan French bread. Put in the oven at 400 degrees for 5 to 10 mins, depending on how crispy you would like it.

Salad:

Chop up some romaine lettuce, and add some assorted baby field greens (what did you just call me?). Chop up two of the best tomatoes you can find. For the dressing, create a mixture of olive oil, white vinegar, and lemon juice. Put in some Lowry's and Cavenders (you'd better make sure you got large containers of those) and some bacon bits. Toss into the salad.

Strawberry Cheesecake:

Take 9 honey graham crackers (one little baggy thing) and blend it up. You should get about 1 cup of crumbs. Add blended walnuts until you have a total of about 1 1/4 cup. Add 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/3 cup melted butter, and mix into a paste that you can press into an appropriately sized pan for the crust. Don't be me and use too small of a pan. Put the crusted pan in the refrigerator to harden.

Blend up 1lb of frozen strawberries along with 1T of cornstarch. Boil mixture for a couple of minutes, and put aside 1/3 cup of the mixture. Put the rest in the refrigerator.

Beat until fluffy 24 oz of cream cheese. You'll probably have to warm it up slightly so it is soft enough to beat. Add and thoroughly mix in 1 can of sweetened condensed milk. Beat in 3 eggs, and 1/4 cup lemon juice. Spoon in some of this mixture into the pan, then drizzle some of the 1/3 cup of strawberries from before. Alternate this process until it's all been added. If you are more artistic than I am, you might be able to make it look nice and swirly. Bake at 300 degrees for 50 minutes. Serve with the remaining strawberry sauce. Note: If your significant other has a birthday in April or May, you might want to find out if he or she is tired of having had strawberry based deserts for every single birthday of her life BEFORE you make this.

Anyway, there you go. Not too difficult, but it makes for a pretty good meal. Now, go buy some brewers yeast, and bon appetit.

There appears to have been some kind of sinister agreement within academia in which it was determined that the more mathematically involved a class was, the earlier in the morning it should be held. I'm not sure who benefits from this arrangement; the professors are merely Ph.D wielding versions of myself, and they don't appear to enjoy it any more than I do. In last quarter's differential equations class, the professor would come staggering in as class began clutching his thermos. We were never sure if his coffee was as Irish as he was, but it was definitely the case that he wasn't going to try to solve anything with out it. Any errors that ended up on the board were attributed to deficiencies therein. Anyway, it's a new quarter now, and this time the ungodly-hour-class this time is Thermodynamics for Engineers. This ought to be rich.

I'm not famous for anything. But if I were, I would be famous for not keeping diaries. At some point in third grade, I kept a diary for a few weeks as a class assignment. The entries, of course, were vapid and ridiculous, and as soon as the keeping thereof was severed from my academic achievement -- I say, on the very day that any appending thereto became voluntary -- the entire endeavor was unceremoniously discarded. So... here I am in the 21st century. Interestingly enough, I am STILL in school, but of course that which is asked from me is somewhat more substantial than journal keeping. And yet here I am starting a diary (a blog, in the parlance of our times) and apparently it is a voluntary endeavor. The question of course is "why"?

Well, I don't really know. I often feel like I have things to say, and this seems to be a socially acceptable forum. Chances are I won't end up actually posting much since my congenital aversion to these sorts of things continues to be alive and well. But if I do write anything down, they will likely be the sorts of things that I'm interested in. Such things include science (I've been a scientist since I was six), politics (I've been a liberal since I was 15), food (I cook things with brewers yeast in them) various forms of entertainment utilizing the multimedia technology of our day (I'm a consumer thereof), philosophy and religion (I have lots of half baked ideas) and geography (I like knowing where places are, and I REALLY like actually going to said places). If my perspective on any of these issues sounds interesting, feel free to stop by from time to time and I will try to overcome whatever combined forces of nature and nurture have made me a non diary keeper and put some reading material up from time to time. If they don't sound interesting, then go find something that does and I'll just talk to myself here.