The internet does not understand my queries. I am trying to discover how much the average human adult can lift and carry comfortably. I have been querying google and askjeeves with phrases like "How much weight/many pounds can the average human carry/lift" to no avail. I have discovered a lot of useless and unsearched for facts however, like that the average human head weighs between 6-12 pounds, depending on your source, that humans are grossly overweight (there is one page dedicated to "How to have sex if you're fat"), I've learned that Michigan hospitals are 'beefing' up the carrying capacity of their hospital beds and ambulances to accomadate all the overweights, I've seen too many facts about the amazing carrying capacities of ants to enumerate and yet I have not the answer to my question....

Please, can anyone give me a clue here? How much can you carry comfortably.

I'm off now to have lunch with my long forgotten (rather not seen) sister who is in town for the weekend. This ends my friday marathon of school, which has been midly frustrating but which is also clearly on a friday, so not too bad...

Hockey pool draft is tomorrow. It is a fantasy game, and I'm winging it....and BTW, if anyone is out there and reading this, check out my dad's blog for some words on the delicious ocean and a pic of him in '68...Roll, daddy, roll...

P  ¶ 14:47   2 comments

  Breeding Magic I would not ever wish that I were blind. But this is nudging my elbow. Maybe I could feign loss of sight, just for a few weeks. Here is the urging:

http://www.guidehorse.org/cuddles.htm

Holy crap.  ¶ 23:13   1 comments

  Startup Trying to segue from the Europe trip to North America took a lot out of me...really...Not suprising the lack of postage as a result.

I've decided to extend my graduation date by a semester in favor of working part time now. That means December 2006 is the final FINAL exam. Now I'm working on a wind turbine design project with my final year grouping...should provide some interesting things during the next year. Work will be with the same company I have been working for in Italy, which keeps an idea of 'overseas training' in the back of my mind.

This semester, Tai Chi, Italian course, Hockey. Go MTL, Go.  ¶ 18:50   0 comments

  What is on my mind Only four days away from Montreal and what is on my mind? Dreams are telling me that I am thinking of my plateau apartment (roomates Zak and Dan make an appearance), what kind of state I will find that apartment in when I get back (again, responsibility of Z and D), and the neighborhood...shopping at some nice markets on St. Laurent and filling my fridge with food that I will enjoy preparing and eating. University is as well I guess on my head and winter too, because there were instances of doubling socks and zipping all the way to my nose...this along with treks through snowy nights to unseen places, but the overwhelming feeling that what I would find there would be study time.

And what is not spurned on by dreams?..actively I dream of stepping onto the ice for the first time in four months (attending mass as I have come to call it)...of getting to NY and Toronto, Calgary and Minnesota to visit some people and take some time with them....of not inbedding my life in the university community, a diametrically opposed position to one I found myself in before departure, of taking the first weekend to paint my walls and simplify my room, to watch the final installment of Star Wars on the big screen....golfing, speaking english like I haven't in four months...and on and on....

What would you dream of?  ¶ 02:10   4 comments

  Prague and Munich See, after a quick readthrough of the last post, it seems that I was just on the way to Auschwitz. I took the hour and a half bus ride to the complex in the town of Osweistien. Auschwitz is actually made up of two seperate camps, Auscwitz I and II. The first camp was made in 1941 and was intended to hold political prisoners and prisoners of war, but it eventually was turned into a death camp where many jews, gypsies and other minorities were sent. Auschwitz II is located about 3km down the road from the first and is also known as Birkenau. This camp was designed for the mass extermination of prisoners, with intentionally built gas chambers and incenerators. The first camp had used gas chambers to murder the prisoners, but the chamber was adapted from an air-raid bunker.

It was amazing to see how the prisoners were treated and how vindictive their captors were. The psychological damage inflicted on the prisoners was in a way more terrible than the mass killings and physical atrocities committed. Criminals were given more authority and privilages than doctors and the educated class. Anyone suspected of hatching an escape plot or communicating with the outside would be publically executed. What suprised me the most were the variety of cells designed with different intents of torture. It wasn´t sufficient to just make cells to throw people into to die, there were cells designed with low light and little air, there were cells that would allow prisoners no room to sit or lie down, forced to stand four at a time for the entire night and work the entire day. The premeditation was evident and sickening.

After a 2 hour tour of the Auschwitz I complex, I decided not to visit Birkenau...I didn´t think I could have learned more...I already had the point: Millions were murdered. This was coldly stated, but just ´matter of factly´ upon entering the gas chamber. There was a stone engraved with the words, "Thousands of people were murdered in this very room, please be silent and solemn. Try to remember those people killed". The walls were still living. In a place that engineered so much death, walking through the buildings and touching the walls, picking up the stones along the paths, grabbing the now un-electrified barbed wire fence, all of these things bring you so close to those who lived in misery there only 60 years ago...Their energies are still alive in that place, and will not be dispelled for a long time.

Krakow to Prague I did on the night train, arriving on Tuesday morning. Prague is a beautiful city, and after a while of running around on the rest of the trip, I took the time just to hang around and read, relax. I bought the Davinci Code in Krakow before I left and read the 600 pages in 3 days. I had a few beers and lunches in the parks around Prague, and used the internet a few times to catch up on some world news. I also indulged myself a few times too many. I got on the McDonalds sundae train...I ate 5 sundaes in 4 days. They have changed so much since I was a kid. Used to be able to get penuts, then they started charging for the little bagged penuts (surly because some allergic reactions forced lawsuits to ruin sundaes for the rest), and now you don´t get peanuts. I thought we used to get cherries too, but I could be wrong. At least I have discovered that the long battle between chocolate and caramel is finally decided. Caramel it is. Sorry Jenn, strawberry has no place in this debate.

Pawel came in to Prague from Rzesow on his bike friday morning. He took the 13 hour drive straight and arrived at 3am. Friday included some relaxing and recovering for Pawel and for me, reading a new book that I bought which I have on purpose guarenteed to not finish in 3 days by purchasing a boring text. With Pawel in the city it was having a partner in crime again, so we hit up a few bars and had a few beers. Saturday mostly the same thing, and I headed out to Munich last night at 10pm. So, I will be here now for a week long conference before heading back. So far it is working up to be a fun time, with 6 friends coming in...Should work to offset some of the less interesting aspects of a technical conference.

I will have to put a bit more love into these posts...in the next few days I would like to get creative again, given more time to expediate the message.

P  ¶ 04:19   2 comments