Paper toys

I have recentyl become enchanted with paper toys. It this great combination of origami, model building, and fun. If you are bored at the office and you don't think you will get caught. http://toypaper.co.uk/ Here is a good place to start. I am making the eyecannon right after I finish a report.

LunchandLearn landscape forms

Time for another Lunch and Learn update that I think will be beneficial to all. Have you ever opened the ASLA magazine to find a sepia toned fashion model sitting on a bench in a cocktail dress and thought, Well that looks cool. I wonder if this ad was supposed to be in Martha Stewart”. Well, I am willing to bet that the ad was for Landscape Forms. They are a pretty neat company and their rep came and gave us a great presentation. First and foremost was her explanation that Landscape Forms makes a quality product and that means it is more expensive. They also make a sustainable product using recycled aluminum and sustainably harvested woods and that means a more expensive product. Therefore they cost a lot of mullah. The upside is that they are beautiful, beautiful products, which last a long time. Also, get this… They have a SketchUp library full of their products, which means you can plop them down into your models. I wish I would have known this last year. They also have CAD files and specs right on their website. Take a few minutes and check it out. http://www.landscapeforms.com/en-us/pages/default.aspx Also, they have a custom shop that will walk with you from concept to finished product if there is any custom work you want done. http://www.landscapeforms.com/en-US/products/pages/custom431.aspx The rep here was more than helpful and I would definitely talk to them the next time I need to specify some seats.

Soda Springs

This last weekend I was able to go with my little family to Soda Springs, Idaho where my grandparents live. It was a load of fun spending time with my family. When my family gets together we eat, a lot so I was happy. Besides just hanging out with my family I also go to go golfing, at a course that has a center pivot irrigation line actively watering it as you golf. I am trying to find an image of it so that you can appreciate what I had to golf through, there I loaded an image at the top. The golf course is the lower half and the pipe is attached in the center of the circle and it moves around and around and it waters everything, including early morning hackers and duffers. First of all the golf course is in the middle of a wheat field. There is no rough grass it goes from mowed fairway to waist high wheat. Also there are no sand traps just smatterings of lava rocks jutting out of the ground and if you hit your ball anywhere but where it is supposed to be it's lost. I lost 3 balls on one hole, cursed golf course. Anyways it was fun and we didn't keep score. Later on we went to the Soda Springs gravel pit and shot 22's. It was a wonderful redneck meets high class weekend.

An exercise in futility

That is what my boss called the project that I have been working on for the past couple of weeks.

So, at the moment I don't really want to do any work at all right now. I am debating wither I should go and start a new research project, go downstairs and just goof off for the next 3 hours or maybe I should finish my project anyways and then prove to them all how useful it can be. Dunno. I am going to get a coke. Peace out.

Lagoon

I really should be working but we had sucha fun weekekend that I can't help but write about it. We took our two boys to a theme park in Utah called Lagoon. http://www.lagoonpark.com/ Now there were a number of fun things. The rollercoasters were very fun and there was this one that was propelled by magnets. No hill to climb no ratcheting chains just, from sitting still to a vertical climb and then a vertical drop. Whoo! My youngest did not go on any rides but he had a fun time and my oldest boy was so cute. He was especially eager to ride the attractions that Mom and Dad couldn't. He is so idependent it's scary. He also wanted to go down the really big roller coasters, but he was equally happy to ride puff the little dragon. The one ride that we went on twice was the Odysea. It was really fun but accompanied by a really dumb song. Anyways it was interesting because the kids get to control if the cart goes up or down. So, my oldest son was so excited. It was a lot of fun. Well, tonight I am going to go hang out with a good friend from high school. My 10 year class reunion is this weekend but I am not going. I am instead goign to go visit my grandma, she makes good bread, my highschool pals don't.

A Green Car Dealership

The other day I was able to tour a car dealership in the final phases of construction. While I was talking with the guy giving us the tour he mentioned that there will be huge cisterns under the parking lot that will collect and store rainwater. This rainwater would then be used for irrigation and for the on site car wash. I was impressed and jokingly asked if the building was going for LEED certification. My guide then told me that they were shooting for Gold. I was surprised, I mean I had never thought of a car dealership as an environmentally friendly building. Inside we saw that a good deal of the wood detailing is bamboo, they have skylights that have lenses that track the sun. These were really cool, the skylights will always ensure that a whole bunch of sunlight gets into the building, but whenever there is not enough light due to storms, eclipses, etc... then a computer adjusts the lights so there will always be ambient illumination. Anyways, the bathrooms also use Airblade technology from Dyson, http://www.dysonairblade.com//?sinavtype=menu. Yes, I know that Dyson makes vacuums but they can make other things, why shouldn't they. And in the mechanics shop they have hoses that you stick on the end of the tail pipe and while people are working on the car the hose sucks the exhaust out and releases it outside. No more carbon monoxide deaths here! I you are looking to buy a Toyota or are just curious to learn more about a LEED Dealership go here. http://www.markmillertoyota.com/index.htm What I want to know is this a vision of things to come? Is this a gimmick to lure in customers with the promise of easing their conscious as they purchase a gas guzzler from a green building? I don't know. I can't afford a car so I might never know.

Holy Ice Cream Batman!

If I have not mentioned it, I live above a chocolate store that also serves hand dipped ice cream. It is a local favorite and my oldest son really likes the chocolate dipped gummy worms. So needless to say I was alarmed when we returned from the park to find a number of candles and other trinkets on the sidewalk outside of the store. I thought that someone had died. The next morning my wife is outside and she sees the owner taking photos of the candles. Upon enquiring about the reason for the candles the owner told my wife that someone had seen a face in the spumoni, and there had been a midnight candle vigil. Go here to read more. http://www.kutv.com/content/news/topnews/story.aspx?content_id=7827b0d3-aa09-4eba-940f-5dae259243eb