jam∙at∙registration∙roller

 I really don’t care if you are Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal.  I’m not going to force my political opinions on you.  However, I hope that you give both candidates a fair shot and make an informed decision based on your own standards and not on bullshit tests like barackobamatest.com.  After taking the test, the site reports your score and the phrase "I hope this will help you make an informed decision on Election Day."  Bullshit.

 Questions come from all kinds of issues, the idea being that if you support Obama’s stance a majority of the time you should cast a vote for him.  Sample questions from the test:

"Some say Barack Obama’s plans to implement sweeping environmental regulations will raise the cost of gas, groceries, heating and air conditioning. Do you favor or oppose Obama’s environmental plans?"

"Tell me which of the following top individual tax rates, which combine income and social security, do you think is most fair?

28% under President Reagan
38% under President Clinton
55% under would-be President Obama
60% under President Hoover
70% under Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter"

"Some say Barack Obama’s plan to raise taxes and increase trade barriers are similar to those created by President Herbert Hoover in the 1930s, which contributed to worsening America’s economy. Do you think Obama’s plans will worsen the economy as well, or do you think they will help the economy?"

"Do you agree or disagree with Barack Obama’s $65 billion plan to institute taxpayer-funded universal health coverage, which would provide health insurance for those currently uninsured, including illegal immigrants."

 I’m sure there is a similar test for John McCain.  I haven’t looked.  Are you surprised that the majority of test takers of this Obama test are informed that they don’t agree with Obama and should not vote for him?  I laughed when I first saw the test questions, but then I realized that shit like this will be the determining factor for some voters, like this one:

 " ‘I don’t know what to do. I really don’t want to vote for McCain. You can tell he only cares about rich people. Sarah Palin wears glasses that cost $300. McCain’s wife wears Gucci clothes. Which means they don’t know anything about people like me.’ Into that stew of assumptions, she adds: ‘I hear that Obama’s a Muslim. If he is a Muslim, that would be a problem, because the terrorists already attacked us.’ (taken from Yahoo News)

 I guess I can’t get too worked up about the election when ignorance will ultimately cast the deciding vote.

 I received the following two emails yesterday:

 2:31 P.M. - "The [University] Police Department has been notified that a tornado is approaching from the west. Please take cover in a shelter designed to minimize damages. Please be careful."

 3:10 P.M. - "The email message that went out regarding a tornado was a TEST ONLY.  There is NOT a tornado coming through town. We apologize for the miscommunication."

Who sends out a test message without using the word ‘test’ or ‘drill’ in it?  My theory is that campus police wanted to determine the volume of phone calls their system could handle. Maybe the university should invest in tornado sirens. 

 I know, I know.  It has been over a week since I last posted an entry.  I have 2-3 new topics to blog about, which I will get to after I get some chemistry going.  Until then, check out the new gallery that I added to my website.

 I haven’t had the most productive day.  While waiting for the rotovap, I decided to recreate some yearbook photos using Yearbook Yourself.  See if you recognize anyone.  I’ll post the identities later in a comment.

 I used to laugh at my colleagues who would go out of their way to climb a floor or two up in another wing of the building to avoid using the bathroom at the end of the chemistry wing.  I argued that it was usually reasonably clean and didn’t smell too bad.  The return of the undergrad hordes has changed my opinion, however.  The following theory that I propose is by no means original.  I will however commit fraud and present it as my own, despite the fact that either Aaron or Brandon originally gave me the idea.

 The source of my theory is the men’s room at the end of the hallway.  It has 2 stalls, 2 urinals, 2 sinks, and a shower that I don’t think ever gets used.  It also has no ventilation.  Lately, I’ve been holding my breath upon entering.  It is my theory that the unventilated air is a great solvent for the stench of shit.  Think of it as supersaturated with gaseous shit.  This smells bad enough on it’s own, but as soon as one enters a stall and drops a deuce, that piece of shit drops a seed crystal into the air that causes all previous shits from the week to crash out of solution.  I get excited when this happens in my flask in the hood; it means that pure crystals of my compound are forming and I get out of running a column.  I don’t want to smell your purified shit smell, however, so I now go 2 minutes out of my way to avoid your seed crystals.

Before               /                After

 I ticked off some items on my To Do list this weekend.  We camped off of Independence Pass near Aspen on Saturday night and spent all of Sunday climbing in the area.  Not only did I send several boulder problems, but I also led my first outdoor sport climbing route (a 5.7).  Pictures of the trip below.

We started out with some warm-up problems.

This is on the same boulder as Jaws.  We had hoped to climb Jaws, but changed our minds when we saw the 20′ top out.  Notice Aaron’s face smear top out on the right.

Several of the next pictures are on a problem called ICBJ.  The pictures don’t do the sketchy landing justice.  Brandon was an awesome spot, basically bear-hugging anyone coming off the rock and placing them on the mat.

Kenny topping out on a highball problem with a sketchy landing below.

 By now you’ve seen pictures of Aaron’s new crash pad, made by Organic Bouldering Mats. 

 Now that I need one, I have started thinking of design ideas, despite the fact that it will likely be next summer before I actually order one.  Organic customizes mats to customer specs, as long as all lines in the design are straight and it isn’t too complex.  Here are some of the more intricate examples given on their website:

 I want something outside of the typical intersecting triangle look.  Unless any of you can come up with a better idea, I have settled on the KU gameday flag.  It is substituted for the standard KU flag on top of Frasier Hall on home game days, and it is a symbol that I viewed every gameday walking to class for 4 years.  Any KU fan would recognize it, and I think having a crash pad representing the flag would be simply amazing.

 In the past month, I have climbed a flatiron, and bouldered at Miramont, The Spot, Chaos, Horsetooth Reservoir, 420 boulders, and Carter Lake.  My fingertips are one layer of skin thinner, and I think that the A2 pulley in my middle and ring fingers is tearing.  I need a break, but Independence Pass is beckoning after the cume this weekend.

 Highlights of our day in the 420’s are pictured below.  I was proud of myself for (a) remembering to charge my camera battery, and (2) actually bringing my camera along.