I was planning to attend the Science March anyway (more on my reasons in a different post on another day), but this march was unusual in that my employer was also participating as an official Partner. So I got to join my coworkers on the march. The weather cooperated, and it was a beautiful day. The count of how many people attended is under dispute. Even the earlier Kids' March had over 800 RSVPs, so you'd expect the main march to be heavily attended. The count showing up in local newspapers is only 10K people (with some great photos at that article). The march organizers, however, are estimating 48K people. If they were the ones operating the drone at the march staging area, they should have some good evidence for their estimate.

I made a sign to carry on the march. It didn't occur to me that I wouldn't be able to easily take photos. That oversight has consequences: fewer photos, poor quality photos/videos, and getting separated from my group for a long time so I could steal "a moment" to take photos.

Here's the pre-crowd assembling early for the march.



We even had a band playing appropriate Earth Day music.

(embedded video is breaking the post, so here is the YouTube link)


I joined my coworkers for the march, and I even made it into their Twitter posts.  These 3 photos are not my own, of course.



I eventually left my group to climb a bridge wall to try to get a video of the massive crowd. I never could see all of it at once, so the attendance was much higher than what you can see here.  After I took these photos, it probably took me 20 minutes to find my group again, even with multiple phone calls and texts.  I had the same disorganization leter while trying to find my former landlord and his group amongst the throng.




(embedded video is breaking the post, so here is the YouTube link)

Then I got down from the fence that I was standing on. I'm a klutz, though, even on a good day, and I was wearing new glasses from 2 days earlier, so my depth perception is very bad. I ended up meeting the pavement harshly. Much later, I made my way to the Nurse station at the rally. They said I was their biggest accident so far. Typing this post on Sunday, my leg is still bleeding a bit. I won't be doing the gardening today that I had planned.



The rally was attended quite well. I could never get close enough to the capitol steps to hear the speakers well. I never did spot a single news station van or camera (although local stations did have coverage on the 10pm news). I also never saw one of the portable overhead 360 cameras that the police use.  It was the state capitol, after all, so maybe they already have plenty of security cameras everywhere.  It seemed like every third person carried a sign, so the crowd was very engaged. It was also unusually "pale", even for Minnesota. Where are we losing our minority kids in the science classrooms?




The woolly mammoth was an impressive mechanical contraption.

(embedded video is breaking the post, so here is the YouTube link to video 1 and video 2)


And, in no particular order, a collection of the few posters that I was able to capture on my sunscreen-smudged cell phone camera.









I think it was an Earth Day well spent.

#ScienceMarch #ScienceMarchMN #MarchForScience #NatureUnitesUs

I may have to move soon, and on short notice. The landlords where I'm at now are making arrangements to shift ownership, but there are too many factors "up in the air" at the moment.

The landlord thinking about staying in this house sent a link to a different property, and that page mentioned a house directly across the street.  So, by accident, I found a cheap home that I could afford. All versions of mortgage calculators tell me that a mortgage for this place would be >$100 cheaper than my current rent. I realize there are insurance and tax costs on top of it, but it still seems prudent to consider buying my own place.

Unfortunately, I'm worried that I'll run into the same roadblock as before.  Banks tell me "no" without offering a reason that makes any sense to me.  I've structured my life to live cheaply as I can, and I don't owe money to anybody, so banks don't know what to make of me.  I'm waiting for a callback from my credit union now.  If there's any way to make it happen, I would need to get in quickly to see this property and decide about an offer.

This house has a south-facing roof, so it'd be good for solar in the future.  I drove by and looked outside, and I didn't see any obvious problems.  I'm pretty sure that it's so cheap because it's in a relatively higher crime area.  (Not as thick as downtown Minneapolis, but equivalent to the Powderhorn south Minneapolis area, which is actually a desirable region of its own.)  Bonus: It's even closer to where I work.

Update 2015.09.14 11:45:
I went to LendingTree.com to fill out some info too, and within seconds got a phone call from them via QuickenLoans.  They said they can get a preapproval for me.  At this $65K house on a fixed 3.62% interest rate for 15-year loan, they say it will cost me $500/month with "taxes and insurance included".  That's still a lot more than the mortgage calculators were telling me, so I'm not sure what's included by them.  If that's the actual total cost to me (minus utilities) then I can still afford it.  I don't know... maybe I should still contact a local person to see if they offer anything different?

Update 2015.09.14 13:00:
These people scare me more than a little.  I dislike aggressive sales.  I fill out a webpage, and within seconds my phone is ringing.  It happened again.  I have somebody else (who knows they're my #2 contact) looking into financing for me, since I'm not sure what to make of QuickenLoans.  They're a local ReMax person and should know of any Minnesota or Minneapolis special programs for first-time buyers like me.  I saw my credit report from QuickenLoans today, and it turns out I have a "very good" rating now.  I still think the whole credit rating industry is hogwash, but as long as they talk to me, then I guess I'll pursue and see what comes of it.  If nothing else, this escapade has led me to a good website for window shopping for homes and a good website for checking crime reports.

Update 2015.09.14 16:20:
The local realtor (via ReMax webpage) just emailed me, "This property already has an offer accepted according to the listing agent."  Ah well.  The disappointment sinks in again, but at least a different reason this time than a few years ago.

Update 2015.09.14 17:35:
The referral from my credit union called, and he pretty much brushed me off when he learned how much I earn a year.  Pretty much what I expected from all lending sources, but apparently a few are willing to work at my miniscule level.

What if you had something better than Scotchgard? I immediately want to coat the litterbox and shower stall in this stuff.  It would be even more useful at the animal shelter where I work. It's called EverDry.


What are the chances that this product will prove non-toxic?  We had to give up Scotchgard because of its toxicity, but I really want this new stuff to be safe!  They provide a link to their FDA approval letter. It mentions 3 substances, but I don't know where to look up the extent of their safety testing and toxicology results. Do any chemists out there know the answer?

That house I wanted?  Its listing got pulled for a while, so I thought some other lucky person got it.

I see now that it's back up and another $5k cheaper.  Now, it's listed for only $30k!

GAH!  Why does the bank think I'm a bad loan candidate when they tell me outright they they only find good credit history and a good credit score?! GAH!!!

Every time I make a boneheaded programming mistake or fail to remember a math formula that I once knew, I wish I was living my life doing something that kept me focused on a single task and technology instead of needing to dabble in so many different and distracting things. I increasingly notice that I forget the skills that I don't use daily. Still, though, I can do small things that help the people who actually do the hard research.



A month or two ago, I read a curious story about an observation of a brand new kind of chemical reaction. Instead of a reaction being driven by the traditional energy and motion in these molecules, they found that quantum mechanical tunneling caused some chemical reactions. It means (I think) that some reactions can occur while needing much less energy than expected. This story was something quite new to me, and I forwarded it one of my ex-boyfriends ("the chemist") via email. He emailed back quickly to agree that it was an interesting story. A few weeks later, though, he emailed again to say that exactly such a project may enter his lineup of research soon! Yay!

Yesterday, I encountered a story so absurd that I had to submit it as a nomination to the Ig Nobel committee. I got an email reply within 30 minutes, stating, "Thanks, Terry. A worthy nominee." The story was about a doctoral student at the University of Helsinki who compared male penile length to economic performance in various countries. Within a single year (1985), there didn't seem to be much correlation, but when comparing growth from 1960-1985, the data suddenly shifted into a very nice arrangement.


How unexpected a correlation is that?! Could we guess that male ego insecurity might increase economically aggressive pursuits, while the less threatened are more complacent? The whole thing reminds me of the stereotypical monster truck (or sports car) and its inverse relationship with male "ratings" in bed. I hope the author wins an Ig Nobel prize from the nomination and thereby gains some attention for the work. It's certainly no less absurd than the nonsense that mainstream economists are babbling these days. *laugh*

Now, as promised, happy bunnies and dancing unicorns.





There, the world is so less scary now, isn't it?

I edited yesterday's post to make a correction. The guy who saw the graffiti version of the Wells Fargo ad took a photograph of it and sent it to me. The ad was on the bus stop bench, not the bus as I originally wrote.

There's a link to the photograph in the article now, if you'd like to watch.

It amuses me.

I'm probably too late, as the event is supposed to happen starting today, but just in case there's still time...

The U.S. is promoting a global online event meant to be a sort of focus group to build consensus on courses of action that people across the planet can work to achieve together.  Yes, "warm fuzzy" with few specifics.  It's an interesting idea, though.

http://www.globalpulse2010.gov/register.html

I look forward to reading someone's account of their experience with this year's event.  :)

P.S. I just signed in, so registration is still open.  I see topics for sustainability, civil rights, health, etc.

She is speaking locally in April.  I heard her speak about 15 years ago, and she was very good.  It's worth the effort to attend, assuming there are still seats left for this event.

"A Reason For Hope"
Monday, April 19th, 2010 · 7:30 p.m
Beth El Synagogue
5224 W. 26th St. · St. Louis Park, MN 55416

http://www.bethelsynagogue.org/pages/jane-goodall.php

The new year is starting out cold.  I guess that's typical for Minnesota.

Weather.com says it's currently -17F/-27C (-31F/-35C windchill).  I heard the house popping during the night because of the cold.  What's more annoying, though, is that our cable modem drops more than half of its packets when the temperature is this low.  (We think it's because of equipment outside of the house.  It's Comcastic!)

It was a few degrees warmer (but still subzero) when I went out to the New Year's party in my kilt.  Knee-high buffalo skin boots help a lot.