Stormy Night Ahead

via Stormpulse

Well.. looks like we have a Tropical Cyclone on our hands.  But what exactly is a tropical cyclone?  The consensus seems to be that all hurricanes are cyclones, but not all cyclones are hurricanes.  Tropical storms have winds less from 0-39mph, tropical cyclones 40-72 mph, and hurricanes are greater than 72mph.  What causes damage though is generally not the wind so much as the flooding that can occur with these types of storms. 

Here in Dominica, once it starts raining hard enough the water gets shut off.  I've heard that this is to prevent debris from clogging the pipes.  You wouldn't want to drink the water even if it was turned on because it would be brown as mud.  I filled up several gallons of drinking water, and will fill the bathtub once the big rain starts so we can at least flush the toilet every now and then.  We should be fine even if the water stays off for a few days.

The water, power, and internet are sure to go out sometime even if this is storm doesn't turn into a cyclone or hurricane.  Thankfully our apartment complex has a massive generator for power, and I can survive without the internet for a few days {if I have to}.

This storm is more worrisome than any last year for us though because the projected path puts the center directly over Dominica where as in the past they have been several hundred miles north or south.  There's a sort of scared excitement in the air around town.  I waited in line for about 45 minutes at the grocery store, and then another at hour at 7-11 to buy electricity.

All is quiet other than that.  Shall we say, "the calm before the storm?"

YAY!!!

3 things to be happy about today:
1) my classes are done!
I feel like summer vacation can finally begin.  Getting a masters degree is no joke. 
2) my website is done!
After many many hours of hard work my global learning project website is finally done.  Want to check it out?  www.globablog.com
3) the internet is back on!
For most of this week, the internet was out at my house.  It was not so fun dragging my laptop up to campus so I could finish up writing papers and my website.

The bad news is that there is another storm coming in a few days.  When I say storm, I really mean possible hurricane.  Check this out:

via Stormcarib

I've never been one to really check the weather, but hurricanes scare me.  Dave at Stormcarib says this wave gives off a bad vibe.  Eek.  Storm, Tropical Storm, or Hurricane, any way around it we will probably lose internet, water, and power at some point.  Guess I need to start filling those water bottles!

Do you Pinterest?

One of my new favorite web sites is Pinterest.com.  Any image you find on the web you can "pin" to a board in Pinterest.  Then when you go to the site there is a chronological feed of all the pins you, and everyone you are friends, with have pinned recently.  There's also an option to see everything that is being pinned.  Here's a picture of what the feed looks like.

If you decide to join, find me!  And don't worry if they put you on a waiting list, you'll get in within a few days. 

Happy Mac Day!

Well, I think it's no secret that I have a passion for all things tech and especially mac.  And today, is a happy day.  The Apple Store released OS X Lion today, available for download from the Mac App Store.

My primal instinct (pun intended) was to immediately open the App Store to download and install.  Fighting that urge, I first opened my browser and did a quick search on if I should upgrade now or wait.  There were a couple of interesting articles:

Lifehacker: Should I Uprade to OS X Lion?
NY Times: The Usual Apple Upgrade, Big Steps Forward a Stumble Backwards

Which led me to a website to check if all the programs I currently use will be compatible right away.  This is when I started to have my doubts about upgrading today.  A few of the programs I use quite a bit (Microsoft Office, Reeder) have some issues or are not compatible yet.  This is no-bueno when I'm on a strict deadline right now to get my global learning project website up and fully running by Sunday. 

Lion, you may be king of the animals, but if I can't rely on the fact that I can do the same thing post-upgrade as I can right now, I'm going to have to wait.  It pains me to say this but you, Lion, are just a cub right now.

 
I'm going to give you a little time to mature before I invest my $30.  Hopefully by the time my website is done you'll be an upgrade older.  And I'll be able to enjoy not only a month off of school but a lot more time to play with you and become friends.

Spring 2011

I made this awesome collage for free with Photovisi.  You can check out my review of the web app here.

too funny

Does anyone else read The Bloggess?  If you don't, then you are missing out.  Case in point, this blog post that had me laughing so hard I cried And that's why you should learn to pick your battles.

Then today, the sequel Knock-Knock, motherf-er. Giant metal chickens revisited.

Just go read them.

For me.

Happy Domain Day!

Beginning today, you can now visit www.pricelessadventure.com to view my blog!  I am so excited to have a real domain for my priceless adventure.  You can still reach my blog by using blogspot.com.  Please let me know if you are having any trouble with my links.

I promise more blog posts soon.  My master's classes have been kicking my butt this semester for several reasons.  This is a shorter term and I'm also waist-deep in building my global learning project's website.  I've been spending a good 6 to 8 hours every day building my website, making graphics, or writing content for one class.  Not to mention I'm also taking a philosophy of education class at the same time. 

*le sigh