unplugged

Greener tip No. 002
b(eco)me powerless
Devices that are "on" even when off waste energy and account for 10% of your electric bill. Put chargers together on a power strip and turn it off while you're away. Unplug unused refrigerators, toasters, coffee pots, blenders and cell phone chargers.
COST BENEFIT: Most people use their chargers only 5% of the time they have them plugged in, wasting both energy and money. Unplugging unused appliances can reduce the phantom energy use in your home and save you up to $170 a year. Kitchen countertop appliances alone, when unplugged, can save the average family more than $80 a year.
BARE FACTS & STATS: it takes a tree-packed forest with an area equivalent to 500 soccer fields to absorb all the carbon dioxide produced by mobile phone chargers that are left plugged into outlets.

Finally!!!!

After 6 months of NCARB bureaucracy, calling them once a month, then once a week, and finally once a day, they finally forwarded my records on to the Texas Board, who accomplished their task in only a couple of weeks. I'm now officially an Architect - no more skirting around the 'What do you do?' question!

Rice Baseball ranked number 1!

According to "Baseball America"

Hindu wedding weekend

So, a couple of weekends ago we travelled to Houston to attend our friend Amit's wedding - quite the event! The festivities started much earlier in the week with families trading wedding outfits and bread, and the women getting mendhi.
On Saturday morning (bright and early for a weekend!) we all went to the temple to join the groom's family and friends outside. The groom and his sister were sitting on top of the back seat of a convertible (home coming style) - Amit had all the necessary items he was in charge of bringing to the bride, including a coconut, a lime, some spices, and the invitation. In front of his car were all the family and friends, dancing away (we had to in order to keep warm!) to some Indian music blasting out of another car in the front of this 'parade' of people. Even the older members of Amit's family were getting into it! We eventually arrived at the temple, where we greeted the bride's party. There was a small bit of 'one-up-manship,' where each family tried to raise their respective bride or groom higher than the other - Jigna (the bride) won, getting tall enough to place a garland of flowers around Amit's head.
Everyone funneled into the reception area where the wedding was to take place on the stage - for the next three hours! We were able to stay seated, and were fed during it, so not bad. There was a lot of chatter going on, which seemed to be the norm, as the immediate family and Amit and Jigna took part in the ceremony on the stage. The gentleman performing the ceremony would occasionally break into English to explain some parts. One of the parts I thought was pretty interesting was towards the end - 7 women from the groom's side and 7 women from the bride's side each came up to the newly married couple, hugged Jigna, and whispered some advice in her ear. Afterwards we were fed (again!) some delicious lunch, before breaking for the afternoon. I took the opportunity to take a nap, while Kyle and gang took the opportunity to play Rock Band.
Around 6 we were all back at the temple, for the reception this time. Amit and Jigna were in some new, spectacular outfits (so much beadwork!). Another wonderful meal, and then they broke out the dancing sticks, and everyone went crazy! Lots of fun dancing around, and great to sit out for a little bit and watch the family perform the dancing.
Anyways, a great weekend - what an experience!

Thanks to Betty (seen here with her friend Alice) and Khoa for the photos - we of course forgot our camera. Also pictured are Sarah and John, who was kind enough to host us and the dogs in Houston!

Revenge gone wrong

oops
Not really a good idea to go erasing drawing files...