better late than never

Hello! Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, it has been a busy week. I've been working like crazy to get my draft done. I am almost done with all the writing and I spoke with Stuart, the guy from Energy solutions that is helping me with my paper, and we hashed out what the different papers would look like. i wrote outlines and started cutting and pasting yesterday and I feel like it is finally coming together. On Thursday morning I went to an AIA sustainability conference with Caitlin, called design dc. I went to an interesting presentation about solar installations from normal PV, to built-in pv and transpired solar or solar hot air, like we have on the cabin. Then I heard about all the things they are doing to make the AIA headquarters carbon neutral, which was pretty cool. They are cutting shafts in the building to facilitate as much natural lighting and ventilation as possible. They call is "passive building, active user" and it is part of AIA's 2030 campaign which is a carbon/energy reduction campaign they have to make buildings carbon neutral by 2030. It gave me a lot of respect for dad and how long he has been pushing for this kind of design. I mentioned that on the way out of the conference and, for an example, was telling Caitlin about dad's wind turbine design. She said, someone is already doing that. I said "who?" and she said she had found a video on you tube and emailed the guy to try to get one at University of Miami because it is the only wind power that will work with the low wind speeds they have there. I said "what did the video look like?" turns out it was Dad's wind turbine and she has emailed him about the project. What a small world. Speaking of a small world, on Friday I went to Nuclear Waste Policy briefing by the Brookings Institute, which was interesting. But the most interesting thing was that I after I had asked some questions at the conclusion of the conference, I was turning to leave and someone taps me on the back and says "Sarah!". It was Sarah Anderson, a girl I used to work with at the candy store. In the back of my mind, I knew she had moved to DC, but had forgotten and she is probably the LAST person I expected to see there. She was an english and journalism major and is working as a reporter for RadWaste monitor. It was amazing and took a good half hour to get over it after the encounter. I went back to the office to finish the draft, yay! and then I met her up in Bethesda where she lives with her boyfreind, who I also know, and we had dinner. It really feels like all roads lead to DC and the longer you live here, the more you start to know everyone, somehow. I'm going to a show at the Kennedy Space Center today of Space Pictures accompanied by the symphony in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11th mission. Then I might work a bit, go to a museum or two, have a slow day. Hot outside, maybe go sit down by the river. 3 weeks left. Yikes!