It's Electric!

I don't know much about this. But this was announced at Behrend and thought it was an interesting exercise.

From 1 to 2 p.m. on Thursday, August 19, Penn State Behrend will be participating in a regional emergency electricity load reduction test. All University employees and students are requested to turn off all unnecessary lighting, office equipment, coffee pots, dehumidifiers and air conditioning under individual control. All safety lighting and equipment is exempt and should remain on throughout the test. This test event will demonstrate Penn State Behrend's capability to reduce its electricity load when called upon during national or regional power emergencies.

The Office of Maintenance & Operations will be working behind the scenes to reduce the University's overall electrical load during this one-hour test. Employees may notice that some indoor temperatures in non-critical spaces have been adjusted by four degrees. Other spaces may have their heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment operation schedule changed to the “unoccupied” setting. Most other initiatives will be transparent to employees. The test will not cause any extended outages or major disruption of normal electrical services.

Corridors and hallways in most Campus buildings are designed with lights that operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which are connected to emergency power in case of normal power failure. These lights should illuminate the public spaces well enough to meet code requirements. Those who have questions concerning a particular space should contact M&O prior to the test. All employees are expected to cooperate fully in this important initiative.

Here are some everyday electrical reduction tips to consider:

• Shut off all office equipment and lights that are not needed. This includes computers, monitors, printers, copiers, coffee makers and task lighting.


• Unplug iPod, digital camera and cell phone chargers not in use.


• Keep exterior doors closed in air-conditioned buildings. Make sure operable windows are closed, too.


• Personal space heaters should not be used to compensate for excessive air conditioning.

Unfortunately, I am not going to be at work to participate. Bummer. But I am so curious about it.

Class of 2014

Friday Penn State Behrend first-year students will arrive on campus.

Born in the 1992, here are a few things that a study by Beloit College helps to summarize the students' mindset:

• Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail.
• Doctor Kevorkian has never been licensed to practice medicine.
• Colorful lapel ribbons have always been worn to indicate support for a cause.
• Leno and Letterman have always been trading insults on opposing networks.
• The first computer they probably touched was an Apple II; it is now in a museum.
• There have always been HIV positive athletes in the Olympics.
• They have never worried about a Russian missile strike on the U.S.

There are 75 line items about the incoming freshmen class. Beloit College has been doing this report since 1998, so you can go back and read all those facts too.

Rent!

Tonight I am going to see the Erie Playhouse's production of Rent.

April 2009 I saw the traveling Broadway version, which featured original cast members (and stars in the movie version) Adam Pascall (Roger Davis) and Anthony Rapp (Mark Cohen).

I am sure the Playhouse will put on a wonderful production.

If you are not familiar with the musical, it follows a group of young artists who live in New York's East Village during the 1990s. Rent is a passionate story of friendship and love that challenges many tough subjects like AIDS, poverty, homophobia and drug addiction. Rent is a modern take on the opera La bohème, which was written by Giacomo Puccini in 1896. The show is the eighth-longest running on Broadway.

In addition to the dynamic cast on stage, the production will feature an original artwork from Erie artist Evan Everhart, who specializes in metal fabrication. The original sculpture is the centerpiece of the set design for the show and was made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Following the closing performance of Rent, the sculpture will be installed in one of Erie's parks for the entire community to enjoy.

Beginning August 19 and ending August 28 there will be an ebay auction of one of the larger unique pieces created for the show by Evan. The large metal and glass MUSIC sign (click here to view) will be auctioned through ebay's Good Works program specifically designed for non-profits.

In addition to all that, I know three of the performers in the show. I think that adds to not only the entertainment value to me, but also the excitment building up to the show.

Local theater is wonderful.

Get out and support the arts!

Liquid Pencil

O.M.G. I. Want. This.

Just saw this come across on Route 1a's Blog and I have to say, it sounds A.MAZ.ING.

Searching for the Bright Side

I’m trying. But the world is trying my patience.

Let’s start with the good. Friday I got a new work computer and left work early (more details on that in the bad). I did a bit of shopping and bought a couple shirts, a stainless steel bracelet, and boyfriend jeans. Saturday I mowed my lawn and only used 1 tank of gas. And Sunday I had a lovely afternoon of sunshine, reading, and watching some Sex and the City episodes, Shark Week, and Mad Men.

Now the bad.

Thursday at work, I received a call from our computer center that I was on the list to receive a new computer. (Yay!) But my computer wasn’t responding across the network, which mainly meant the techie was going to have to come to my office. He did and then did some things and told me he would call at around 10 a.m. on Friday to move my files over to the new laptop.

Friday, 9:45 a.m., phone rings. It’s Nick. He still wasn’t able to log in to my old computer. Could I do help him out so the remote connection could happen? Of course.

Um. Blue screen. Some sort of technical issue. That’s not good.

To make this long story a bit shorter – and to bypass my lack of computer technical information – Nick came over and installed my new computer, but my old computer’s hard drive coincidentally crashed. He would work on it to see if he could recover anything. He couldn’t.

Since I couldn’t do any real work, I left early. I had to get my car inspected later that day and just thought I would make an afternoon of it. When I finally arrived at Johnson & Flick, they were a little behind on their appointments; it would take about 2.5 hours. Ugh.

I’ll wait. That’s what us single girls do. Unless we want our parents to drive us around. (My parents were busy anyway.)

Two hours later. Garage manager, “Believe it or not, your car failed state inspection for two reasons.”

In my head, “Are you telling me my 2-year-old, 13,000 mile SUV only driven by me (who is a bit anal with everything in regards to her car) didn’t pass inspection? You are trying to rip me off!”

Out loud, “Okay…”

To shorten this story as well. I left Johnson & Flick unhappy and did some retail therapy. I took my car on Saturday to Gindy’s Tire Warehouse on Buffalo Road. They removed two pieces of metal from my tire for free (the metal didn’t damage the tire) a copper wire and a nail. Johnson & Flick was going to charge me $18.88 to take one piece of metal out (and they only found one piece).

Today I took my car today to the dealership. The left rear shock is blown. They have to order the part. Meanwhile if I get pulled over by the police, since my car’s inspection has expired, have them call the shop and show them this note. Luckily, the part is covered under my warranty.

Am I driving through a war zone? Blown shock. Copper Wire. Metal Nail. And I had a hole in my tire last month that needed mended. This is Erie, Pa., not the Middle East.
I also started reading a new book. And on the second page the single woman protagonist received word that another friend was engaged. I’m going to give it some time. But why would I want to read a fiction book about my life’s reality?

I don’t even want to be a part of my life’s reality right now. Can we just fast forward through all these inconveniences, please? I would like to get to the parts where I am Single and Fabulous!