i beg to differ

The theme of the National Fire Protection Association's fire prevention week this year is apropos to our living situation: “Smoke Alarms: A Sound You Can Live With!” Our upstairs smoke alarms appear to be highly sensitive to changes in air quality. So. Many. Times. while one person is showering, the smoke alarm will sound, sending the other person running to quickly silence it (for a few moments before it goes off again). This system is annoying but works. It's worse when it happens when either: (A) It is early enough that one person is still in bed, definitely disturbing him/her; (B) it's late enough that one person is already in bed, definitely disturbing him/her (or, as has happened, you have an apartment full of sleeping visitors, and they are all disturbed); or (C) you are home alone showering, and you have to wait until you are finished and dry.

I don't think we'll begin taking the advice sent out campus-wide: "it is imperative that you evacuate the building upon hearing any fire alarm."

from today (er, yesterday -- monday)

As I was waiting for the bus this morning, two other girls were waiting as well. The bus was approaching and one of them looked at her watch and said, "It won't be leaving for another four minutes" and proceeded to light a cigarette. I got on the bus, as did her friend. The smoker got on the bus after finishing, sat down next to her friend, and in a very annoyed voice said, "It sucks so much that we don't get filtered water at college! We have to drink tap water!" Etc., etc. I was thinking I'm pretty sure you are putting worse things in your body than tap water. Especially glacier-fed tap water that tastes super yummy.

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There are currently two Germans sleeping on our main floor! We had such a nice, really fun evening with them.

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You wouldn't think they would do it, but they did. This is how an email from our student government ended: Hope to CU there!

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The professor in my Monday class has her email client set up so that it pops up a notice when she gets a new email. The notifications pop up on top of her PowerPoint slides that are projected for the class. These pop-ups have made me smile before, especially when someone in our class emails her during class. Today, when a certain notification popped up, it sure struck me as funny. I actually worked to control my laughter so she wouldn't notice. The notification:

"XXX has 1 new message from Joe Biden"

BFFs for sure.

oh, awkward.

I observed someone else doing this today, which is what confirmed for me what I have several times recently suspected is me looking incredibly awkward. (Kind of like that sentence. Sorry. I don't feel like trying to fix it. If you can't make any sense of it, it's not that critical.) Activity in which I believe I look way awkward: running with a backpack. How in the world is one supposed to do this? I do it, and I feel awkward, and I picture myself, and it is terrible. Add to it that the most likely reason I am ever running with a backpack is because I am about to (and usually do) miss a bus, so I'm sure the running with a backpack is compounded by my look of desperation. Oh, me. Oh, my. And as if that's not enough, I usually have two liquid containers in my mesh side bottle holders, so I am undoubtedly running with a backpack with a hopeless look of desperation AND with both hands awkwardly behind on each side trying to hold in these bouncing-around containers that otherwise would fall out.

I hope no one ever videos me.

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wildfire

Perhaps you have heard of the fire burning in the hills west of Boulder. Last I heard, 7100 acres have burned, 3000 people live in the evacuation area, 92 structures are destroyed. Crazy. It started on Monday around 10am. Monday we just watched the plume of smoke grow and grow and it was soon no longer a plume but just a covering over the city and extending as far west and east and north as we could see. After dark, we could see the glow from the flames over the hills. There were high-speed winds on Monday which, naturally, caused the fire to spread incredibly quickly. Winds have died down, but yesterday the acreage burned doubled in size. Thunderstorms are forecast for today, which could be a blessing since the fire is at 0% containment still. Smoke in the city (at least by our apartment) is almost worse today than the previous days -- not as dark and thick but more spread. I couldn't see any of the foothills, except for kind of the ones further south, on my walk to campus today. I know at least one of the professors in my department is evacuated.

A few photos from throughout the day Monday:

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1. I saw this guy on campus today in a slogan t-shirt. It was a slogan that made me wonder, "Does he just not get it?" or maybe, "Do t-shirt companies come up with stuff like this to point out the people that don't get it?" The shirt said:

People who think they know everything are annoying to those of us who actually do

Obviously, I get why he was wearing it (which is also annoying). But it's like, no one knows everything, which means he is just one of the people who thinks he knows everything...and is annoying.

2. Something I do not get: People biking on the sidewalk when it is RIGHT NEXT to a bike lane on the road. Seriously, one foot to the left and you would be in the bike lane! It probably shouldn't make me seethe as much as it does, but it really, really does. I'm not one for violence and I would never push a biker, but it kind of makes me want to push them and yell, "BIKE LANE!!" Now, bikers on sidewalks when there is no bike lane, I get, and I am fine with it. It's just when they are mere inches from a bike lane and instead are in the walkers' space.

exactly how are you calculating "safe"?

This series of emails from the manager of our apartment complex last night really made us laugh.

Subject: Police activity
Time: 8:38 PM
There is a police presence in the [apartment general] area. There was a report of an individual with a weapon. Please stay inside your apartment until further notice.

Subject: Re: Police activity
Time: 9:16 PM
Police were unable to locate the suspect. It is ok to leave your apartment at this time.

To be fair, it did go on to say that it was because the police thought there was no real reason for concern. But still. Funny.