Marozi - Vision: Stand and be helpless against...it2010-07-30T08:46:59ZZschammzschamm@atroxen.comCopyright 2010, ZschammSPHPBLOG Deprecated: Function split() is deprecated in /var/www/htdocs/zschamm/blog/scripts/sb_feed.php on line 266 Come back when its a catastrophe
I live in one of the communities in the Boston area recently affected by the water main break and subsequent boil water order. While this was considered a catastrophe by the water authority and many news agencies, my experience was of mild inconvenience at worst. Water kept flowing for anything except drinking and food preparation, fires could still be fought and I still could wake up and take a hot shower.
I noticed a few different responses to this event: The Government, the geek, the historian, the public at large, and the business man.
The Government:
As soon as it became clear that the water might be unsafe to drink, a boil order was issued. Boiling water for 1 minute kills anything dangerous that may have gotten into the water system and makes it perfectly safe to drink and cook with.
The Geek:
I have a ceramic water filter that I use for camping and is designed to filter water from more questionable sources than a reservoir that hasn't been fully treated, and removes anything larger than .2 microns (pretty much anything larger than viruses) I then treated the filtered water with a miox pen (an msr product that rips the salt in salt water apart producing chlorine and mixed oxide compounds that kill viruses and bacteria in 15 minutes) In a real emergency, I could get water that's almost as safe pumping out of the Charles river just a few blocks away.
The Historian:
Before safe water was readily available, beer and other alcoholic drinks were usually the best way to stay safe. Alcohol kills most of the bad things that can wind up in water and the drunken state that results is an added bonus.
The Public at Large:
When faced with a nearly infinite supply of water that could simply be boiled to make safe, everyone else rushes to the supermarkets, department stores, warehouse stores and anywhere else bottled water is available and proceeds to stock up on as much as they can grab like it's the end of the world. One store was closed for the day when a fight broke out over the last of the bottled water. A day later and there was plenty of bottled water on store shelves and shoppers usually had a case in their carts in the checkout line.
The Business Man:
Price gouging on bottled water by some local businesses were also reported and supposedly being cracked down on.
Overall this was a good test of what would happen in a real emergency; by the time the emergency happens, its often too late to stock up on supplies. Its always good to have some sort of backup plan for emergencies, even if its just setting aside a little emergency food and water so you can stay away from the unprepared mobs rushing the local Wal-Mart for the last of the available food and water. ]]>http://www.atroxen.com/zschamm/blog/index.php?entry=entry100504-1200002010-05-04T00:00:00Z2010-05-04T00:00:00Z Deprecated: Function split() is deprecated in /var/www/htdocs/zschamm/blog/scripts/sb_feed.php on line 266 Traveloge Fail Galapagos set on Flickr
In closing the trip was simply amazing. The wildlife was not the least bit afraid of humans so we could get close to everything, the ship was great, the food was excellent, the only real trouble we had on the trip was the fact that we flew American Airlines who screwed up pretty much everything they possibly could have. The hassles were worth it for the experience though and I would recommend anyone who has the oppurtunity to visit the Galapagos Islands should do so.
]]>http://www.atroxen.com/zschamm/blog/index.php?entry=entry090125-2235282009-01-26T00:00:00Z2009-01-26T00:00:00Z Deprecated: Function split() is deprecated in /var/www/htdocs/zschamm/blog/scripts/sb_feed.php on line 266 Saturday's AdventuresN 00.00000
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We opted to be woken up early at 6 this morning for the crossing of the equator. We all went up to the bridge to watch the GPS tick down to 0.00000 The step size on my GPS was updating too slowly to read all zeros and get a picture of it but I managed to snap it as it hit 0.00001. Encountered some blue whales surfacing near the equator. Whales have amazingly bad breath. We had breakfast as we continued to sail to Fernandina.
Fernandina Island
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We encountered some dolphins and sea turtles as we took the zodiacs to Fernandina Island where we hiked the beaches and lava flows. Saw sea lions, iguanas, lava lizards, stingrays, crabs, flightless cormorants and a great blue heron. Sections of the hike sheltered by foliage were very hot over the lava.
Isabela Island
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Much longer hike. Saw penguins, much larger iguanas, flightless cormorants and more boobys on the rocks on the way in. It was overcast thankfully as a long hike over black, jagged lava flows would have been very hot. Saw a single flamingo at the end of the hike in one of the brackish pools.
]]>http://www.atroxen.com/zschamm/blog/index.php?entry=entry090110-2043272009-01-11T00:00:00Z2009-01-11T00:00:00Z Deprecated: Function split() is deprecated in /var/www/htdocs/zschamm/blog/scripts/sb_feed.php on line 266 North Seymour Island S 00.44196
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Went on a half mile walking tour of North Seymour Island after we got settled aboard the ship. The animals out here are amazingly uninterested in us, could get very close to sea lions, birds and lizards without them paying us much attention. Uploaded a few photos to flickr, more to follow as I process things.
Galapagos Set on Flickr ]]>http://www.atroxen.com/zschamm/blog/index.php?entry=entry090109-2027492009-01-10T00:00:00Z2009-01-10T00:00:00Z Deprecated: Function split() is deprecated in /var/www/htdocs/zschamm/blog/scripts/sb_feed.php on line 266 All aboardS 00.44196
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We finally arrived in the Galapagos today, we're all ready for a few days without getting on a plane. We'll be sailing aboard the Yacht LaPinta for the next week, stopping at different islands each day.
We flew in to Baltra Island where we met our ship, and we'll be sailing to North Seymour Island for a late afternoon hike to see the island.
]]>http://www.atroxen.com/zschamm/blog/index.php?entry=entry090109-1221262009-01-09T00:00:00Z2009-01-09T00:00:00Z Deprecated: Function split() is deprecated in /var/www/htdocs/zschamm/blog/scripts/sb_feed.php on line 266 One more filght....S 00.20799
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Its good to be in a hotel with standards, rather nice ones in fact, and the addition of my luggage with clean clothes makes a shower more meaningful. Complimentary juice while we checked in, and welcome drinks at the bar after we unloaded our stuff and cleaned up.
Tomorrow makes 3 days in a row of flying, we're all getting tired of airports. We get up at 4am tomorrow to catch the flight to the islands themselves where we get on the boat for the 7 night cruise, finally several days in the same place again, or at least the same bed, even if the bed is moving around at night.
Dinner at the hotel was decent, first full meal we've had since hamburgers in first class heading out of logan...I'm not counting the chicken/rice thing that was called dinner on the attempted flight to Quito.
Played $2 worth of slot machines at the hotel casino with Ryan's money, walked out handing him $1.70, not bad for a bit of play but I don't see the appeal of spending entire days at the slots.
(edit: GPS coordinates above are now clickable google maps links) ]]>http://www.atroxen.com/zschamm/blog/index.php?entry=entry090108-1902202009-01-09T00:00:00Z2009-01-09T00:00:00Z Deprecated: Function split() is deprecated in /var/www/htdocs/zschamm/blog/scripts/sb_feed.php on line 266 Arrival at QuitoS 00.20799
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Finally made it to Quito, spending a short night at the Hilton and catching a 7am flight to the Galapagos islands to meet our ship which leaves tomorrow once we're all aboard. I'm not going to miss any of the aspects of our provisional lodging from last night...the mothball smell, the sheets that weren't fresh, the shower nozzle that was pretty much just an open pipe (though the water was warm and clear which was a plus)
Not much time to take pictures so far but I put a panorama together of the view from our window. Most photos will be uploaded to flickr first.
View from the Quito Hilton ]]>http://www.atroxen.com/zschamm/blog/index.php?entry=entry090108-1623082009-01-08T00:00:00Z2009-01-08T00:00:00Z Deprecated: Function split() is deprecated in /var/www/htdocs/zschamm/blog/scripts/sb_feed.php on line 266 Galapagos TravelogueApproximate Location
The annual family adventure takes us to Ecuador this year to tour the Galapagos. The flights have so far been a great example of travel fail.
Our first flight out of logan was cancelled "due to ground conditions" when plenty of other flights were constantly leaving throughout this time. This is another great example of American Airlines using the weather as an excuse to cancel a partially empty flight and cram everyone on the next one to make a full plane. This pushed us back to a later Quito flight which was also delayed because they had to wait for the flight attendants who arrived late to get through customs. By the time we managed to get out and fly down to Ecuador, Quito was fogged in and we were diverted to Guayaquil, put up in an excessively crappy hotel and are now back at the airport waiting to get back on our plane to get us to Quito. A hotel stay without a change of clothes sucks. ]]>http://www.atroxen.com/zschamm/blog/index.php?entry=entry090108-0735272009-01-08T00:00:00Z2009-01-08T00:00:00Z Deprecated: Function split() is deprecated in /var/www/htdocs/zschamm/blog/scripts/sb_feed.php on line 266 Hybrid vehicles I did my first commute on the bike yesterday, unfortunately Boston is a bit ambitious given the condition of the bike paths and the dangers of riding in traffic, however I may try it one of these days, however our Data center is a short 7 mile ride on mostly light traffic, nice neighborhood roads, much more fun than driving on the highway and only about 30-40 minutes instead of 15 minutes by car.
So far cars have been surprisingly courteous, and I think they've been caught off guard when I'm able to keep pace coming out of a red light without pedaling.
Currently the battery pack is removed for these pictures since I didn't want to carry it down to the basement with my camera, its a standard looking bike rack bag though with fold down pannier packs for cargo. ]]>http://www.atroxen.com/zschamm/blog/index.php?entry=entry080802-1436252008-08-02T00:00:00Z2008-08-02T00:00:00Z Deprecated: Function split() is deprecated in /var/www/htdocs/zschamm/blog/scripts/sb_feed.php on line 266 Hailstorm Hailstorm video ]]>http://www.atroxen.com/zschamm/blog/index.php?entry=entry080702-1935172008-07-03T00:00:00Z2008-07-03T00:00:00Z
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