Summer was definitely meant to be enjoyed in a hammock, swaying back and forth in the wind. With temperatures on Saturday climbing to the mid 90s and today fluttering around the high 80s, there’s nothing else you can do but kick back, try to enjoy the heat, and save your energy.
92 F and Climbing
This weekend has been quite a journey. On Friday, Greg, Adam, and I headed to Albany, about a two hour car ride away. There we saw Ted Leo and the Pharmacists play at Valentines, a bar that appeared to be pretty much in the happening section of town. Opening for them was Radio 4, a band very similar to !!! that had easy to follow bass lines and pretty good vocals. Additionally, there was also a local opener that, unfortunately, was pretty bad. All together, the concert was pretty good. I liked the venue quite a bit because it reminded me of the ELS basement here on campus and there was generally a good vibe. The crowd was also more to my likening, being mostly Indie followers, and such, acting and dressing in that way. Plus, for the first time since I’ve moved to the US, I was able to legally go into a bar and buy myself a beer … Killians in this case which, by the way, tasted excellent.
Returning to campus at 1:45 AM, we were greeted with five sheriffs cars and a bustling of activity. Confused, we retired to our rooms only to find out the next morning that a student, Keshab Ghimire, a year below me had been found dead. Rumors spread and ultimately, it appeared that he had committed suicide. I personally didn’t know Keshab other than having spoken with him. He had come in to work in the Ferry building about two weeks ago for a morning, at which time Erik and I introduced ourselves. He was quiet spoken and apart from seeing him walk around campus, that was all the contact I had had with him. I’m not sure how I feel. I’m mostly disappointed that, as an EMT, I couldn’t have helped in anyway. I know it’s not our responsibility to deal with such issues but, John and I had discussed that at least if we had been ‘on-call’, there might have been something we could have done … or at least tried to have done. One other thing that bugged me, although in a different way, was when I spoke with my dad about the issue. His first words were, “thank God you weren’t on-call and had to deal with that.” I didn’t speak my mind at that moment, but if I had, I would have chided him that that is exactly the situation I would have wanted to be called in. When someone is helpless or in a situation of dire medical need, that is the point when we should act - if no one has aided sooner. I understand that my dad meant well and simply wanted to protect me from death and such dealings, but this not been the first time I’ve had to deal with such a situation. Oh well, life will continue much as it has on the hill and hopefully, the college will re-evaluate their policies dealing with students in need.
On a more up-beat note, we held a BBQ outside of our suite yesterday evening. In the morning, we had gone food shopping and tried to prepare for our BBQ. We bought some shrimp, corn, peppers, watermelon, and other supplies and had told our friends to drop by, bringing whatever they’d like to cook. Some twenty people showed up and personally, I had a good time. There was plenty of food and it was good to meet other summer students.
And so, we’re back to today, Sunday. I’ve sat in this hammock now for about two hours, after having had a delicious ice cream from Sweet Sensations. Don’t worry though, I’ve gotten my bit of execise for the day in, running ‘the Loop’ this morning in unfortunately, sweltering heat. I’m currently reading the book, A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. I’m only a little way in but his depiction of the preparation and first days hiking the Appalachian trail have cracked me up. I think it’s time to put down the computer, stop using the wireless internet I’ve set up, and get back to reading. Oh, and if you’re wondering, in one week I’ll be heading to Finland to enjoy three weeks of wonderful tranquility!
Thanks for your comments. For the picture of the weather, It’s actually a screen capture taken of the weather widget in Mac OS X 10.4.
Aram Kudurshian on July 18th, 2005 at 04:04 am
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Hello,
Congratulations for your blog which I find very interesting.
I’ve a question for you : which web site do you use for checking the weather ?
I find the screen captation very exciting.
Thanks in advance for your answer
bruno
bruno b. on July 18th, 2005 at 12:50 am