Snow in Iceland

Did I get out just in time, or did I miss all the fun?

According to the BBC, Reykjavik experienced record snowfall this past weekend:

Record breaking amounts of snow fell in the city of Reykjavik in Iceland last night and the pictures are amazing.

The snow in the capital peaked at 51 cm.

Only once in history has this been topped, when snowfall in the city reached 55 cm in January 1937.

When we arrived Monday morning, there was no indication that any snow had yet fallen in Reykjavik.  However, come Tuesday, the snow started coming down such that our 6-hour Golden Circle Tour lasted 8 hours:

The snow didn't stick, at least in the city, as you can tell from this video from Wednesday:

This is what it looked like in front of our hotel on Thursday, the morning we left, though:

If you haven't done so already, go check out the pictures at the BBC link.  Did I get out just in time, or did I miss all the fun?

Back To The Grind

Even after being off for a week, getting back to work today wasn't so bad.  Getting back into my master's class--drowning in material I don't yet understand--that was bad.

Iceland Pictures--Puffy

I first tried to go to Iceland in 2011--but a couple months before the trip I was injured in a skiing accident and couldn't travel.  I think it was prior to that trip that I bought a puffin Beany Baby at a discount store--$2, if memory serves.  I thought it would be fun to take pictures of the puffin at various places in Iceland.

When I finally made it to Iceland a year and a half ago, I did so without the puffin.  I'd forgotten it at home.  I didn't make that mistake this time.  No, the mistake I made this time was taking and posting all these pictures of Puffy :-)

click to embiggen

 Visiting family

 In the window at Cafe Loki, across from the Hallgrim's Church

 Resting on a bed that was plenty big for him, but tiny tiny tiny for me

 At the geysers

 At Gullfoss

 Puffy and I enjoy Gullfoss together

 At Thingvillir, the most Icelandic of Icelandic places

Filmed In Iceland

But not by me!

Iceland Pictures and Video--Geysir and Strokkur

Geysir is the geyser from which all geysers get their name.  It used to erupt 100m into the air, now it doesn't erupt at all.  Here's a picture from July 2015:

Nearby Strokkur, though, still erupts every 6 minutes or so.  It's more like an explosion than a fountain, and the water is spit about 100 feet into the air.  Here's a 2015 summer shot of Strokkur, with a crowd waiting to see the big event.  Notice all the greenery!

I didn't take pictures this trip but I got some good video, which I spliced together (editing out all the waiting) and put on Vimeo.  You'll see Strokkur erupt from a distance, then up close, and then in slow motion.  Notice all the whitery!

Iceland Pictures--The Cemetery

Our hotel was a 10-15 walk from the downtown core, and this cemetery was directly along the route.  We passed through it several times because it was so peaceful and moving.  Here are a few shots:

click to enbiggen

No Vikings in here, as the cemetery dates back only to the 1800s.

Iceland Pictures--Hallgrim's Church

Reykjavik is a beautiful little city, and the high point, both figuratively and literally, is the Hallgrimskirkja, on a hill in the middle of the city.

These first two pictures are from my trip there in July 2015:

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Also in July 2015, here's the view from the church tower:

As I said, it's a beautiful city.

In July, it could be sunny and 60s or it could be rainy. This past week it was in the 30s, with weather alternating between sunny and snowy--often within an hour or less:

It didn't snow the first day or so, and then...

It never snowed for long, and as I said, sometimes it would go from clear to snowy to clear again within 2 hrs. Very wild!

Cool Currency

What about this 100+ year old 100 Mark note from Germany?

click to enlarge

Granted, it's a bit larger than I'd like to carry around in my wallet, but it's a true work of artistry.

Too Much Government

I endeavor to avoid politics when I travel--there's not a lot of good that can come from such discussions in other people's countries! I just came across this, though, and I have to say that banning something for no reason other than personal preference is not a trait I'd want in a politician:

Pineapple on pizza would be a forbidden fruit, if the president of Iceland had his way...

When one student asked him what he thought about pineapple on pizza, he launched into a tirade — explaining he would pass a ban on the topping, if he had the power, according to a translation by Iceland Magazine.

I still wouldn't mind staying here a couple more days, though.

Last day

The weather ran the gamut again today; this time, though, the snow stuck on the ground in Reykjavik.  I've been wearing this rabbit skin hat I brought to keep my head warm, but I don't really like it.  So I bought an Iceland beanie with fleece inside :)

There's a cemetery between the hotel and the main downtown district.  We've walked through it a couple times.  This morning, before the snow fell, I caught a glimpse of this 19th Century (?) headstone with runes on it.  Very cool.

I'll post more pictures and video when I get home, when I have access to what's on my phone. Great trip (except for not seeing the Northern Lights). Bus picks us up to take us to the airport just after lunch tomorrow (it's 10:44 pm here right now).

A Natural Tease

Strokkur, the geyser on the Golden Circle Tour, sure knows how to be a tease.  Wait long enough, though, and you're bound to see an eruption.  I captured one in slo motion.  It's not high quality video, and it's kinda long, but the end--when you see the beginning of the eruption--that's way cool.  Video is here.  For comparison, here's video of Strokkur that I took a year and a half ago (summer).

Then we went out on the Northern Lights tour.  The forecast was very positive, the reality was the opposite.  No sighting at all.  In other words, we froze out on the water for no good reason.  This picture sums up my feelings on the Northern Lights tour:

A Teaser Pic For Today

Just got in from the Golden Circle tour. It was supposed to last 6 hours, it lasted 8. Here's why:

The weather alternated between cold and yucky and cold and reasonable clear.  One road was closed, that created a small problem.

Now we're heading out for a quick dinner and then the Northern Lights tour!

Update:  we didn't get to see the Northern Lights.  Extremely disappointing.

I've Made It To Reykjavik

I am physically exhausted, having gotten only a couple hours of sleep in the last 34 hrs. But I can't go to bed (it's 9pm here) without posting a picture:

It's one of my favorite sculptures in Reykjavik.

Recording Your Professor

Readers might recall that, early last semester, a student and that student's parent pushed our school hard to allow the student to record me during class.  I'm quite against that--I don't want to accept the risk of having teenagers, with their video-editing savvy, to have video of me.  No good can come from that.  Add to that concern the fact that our newly-adopted textbooks all have online videos and tutorials, and there's no legitimate reason to record me.

University professors are a little different.  In many cases they're lecturing to a hall of students who don't have the opportunity to ask questions during class.  Accordingly, some professors allow students to record them, some don't.  That seems eminently reasonable to me.  However, I'm not sure it's appropriate to hide behind a "no recording" policy when doing and saying things in class that you'd regret if word got out:

A student who recorded his professor’s post-Election Day rant against Donald Trump has been suspended, but his attorney vowed on Wednesday to fight the sanctions, calling administrators’ decision punitive and a violation of the student’s Constitutional rights.

Student Caleb O’Neil was suspended for a semester from Orange Coast College for allegedly violating a policy that prohibits recording professors, but his attorney, William Becker, called instructor Olga Perez Stable Cox’s tirade against Trump an “unconstitutional act that needed to be documented."

Which constitutional rights?  And a professor's tirade is unconstitutional?  Uh, interesting.   But let's continue:

Becker told the Register “this is an attack by leftists in academia to protect the expressive rights of their radical instructors at the expense of the expressive rights of conservative students on campus.”

This is no doubt true.

I probably tilt towards the student in this case as I tilt towards Edward Snowden--violated the rules, but did so to expose wrongdoing.

Update, 2/27/17:  The suspension has been vacated:

The Coast Community College District board of trustees has directed Orange Coast College to revoke its suspension of a student who secretly video-recorded his human-sexuality professor calling President Trump's election victory "an act of terrorism"...

But, the OCC statement said, "without condoning the unlawful recording of a lecture, the student's desire to voice his displeasure is understandable."

"The student in this case felt he could not freely share his political views in a classroom, which is why he felt his only recourse was to record a lecture he felt was unfair," according to the statement.

"The teacher in this case felt she was sharing her views and responding to a student who voiced concerns about the political climate," the statement added. "Without condoning what was said, the angst and distress she has felt, as hundreds of hateful and threatening messages were directed at her, is understandable."

"It's time to move forward with increased empathy and understanding of the differences that have and will exist on a campus filled with individuals from an array of backgrounds who bring them a wide range of political views, religious affiliations and ideals," according to the statement.

Cool Currency

I'm writing and scheduling this post in early December, with plans to leave for Iceland in a couple days:

click to enlarge

Actually, all of these "cool currency" posts were written in early December and scheduled for later dates!  Oh, Darren, you're thinking, you're so sneaky!

Not An Overwhelming Victory

Not a crushing defeat either, though.  I got my first test back in my current (and last!) master's course.  I expected a low A, I got a high B--89%.  I'm more disappointed in that than perhaps I should be, but I'll let this serve as a motivator not to slack off.

I've been getting up every morning for the past few weeks and studying 15-20 min for my cumulative test, which I take in April.  Talk about high stakes--if I score well enough, I get my master's degree.  If I don't score well enough, I don't.

Ugh.

Compelled Vegetarianism Lauded In The People's Republik

Vegetarianism is good for the environment--so let's force it on kids!

Oakland schools partnered with the environmental group Friends of the Earth (FOE) to fight global warming by making student lunches climate-friendly.

FOE gave kids a lunch menu designed to eliminate foods it says are “unsustainable for our planet.” The new menu features far less meat and more plant-based food. Any meat or cheese the school did use came from “pastured, organic dairy cows.” The student’s lunch menu went from beef hot dogs and pepperoni pizza to vegan stir fry tofu and vegan tostadas. The new FOE-approved menu served meat and cheese-less frequently and reduced the portion sizes.

Tofu?  Does anyone really like tofu?

“This is a landmark moment for school food,” Jennifer LeBarre, head of nutrition services for Oakland Unified School District, said in a FOE press statement. “We were so excited to see how the data showed that we could reduce our carbon and water footprint by serving healthy, delicious food –– like the vegetarian tostadas with fresh made in-house salsa, that kids absolutely love –– all while saving money.”

It's ok to force this on your own kids, but it should be criminal to force this on other people's kids.

You've Probably Heard About The Oroville Dam Spillway

Sacramento is in no danger, but tens of thousands of people were evacuated.  They're being told that the immediate danger has passed and that they can return home:

With the crisis at the Oroville Dam stabilized for now, authorities announced Tuesday that the 188,000 people evacuated Sunday will be allowed to return to their homes but should prepare to move again if a new emergency arises.

The announcement by Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea, who ordered the mass exodus Sunday afternoon amid fears that the dam’s emergency spillway might collapse, came in a 1:40 p.m. press briefing in Oroville...

Despite that, officials said they are confident that the steps taken to repair the hillside along the emergency spillway – using helicopters to dump boulders into holes and pour concrete on top of the piles – have made the structure safe in the event that the emergency spillway must be used again.

They also said such a scenario is highly unlikely, with the next series of storms predicted to be much weaker than previous ones...

More storms are predicted to hit the area starting Thursday, but Croyle said they are not expected to be powerful enough to produce rainfall that will create another problem.

Meanwhile, a massive effort is underway to fill in erosion in front of the emergency spillway that led to officials ordering the evacuations. Authorities have 40 truckloads moving 30 tons of boulders every hour, two helicopters dumping rocks every 90 seconds and 125 construction crews at work.

“We’re aggressively attacking the erosion concerns that have been identified...,” Croyle said. “We have a long spring runoff ahead of us, and we’re prepared for that...”

You'd think that perhaps they'd be doing maintenance on dams all along, but we in California have other priorities:

The flood danger from the Oroville Dam receded Monday, but California was hit by a wave of criticism for failing to heed warnings about risks to the spillway at a time when the state spent generously on illegal immigrants and high-speed rail.

California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, came under fire amid reports that federal and state officials for years rebuffed or ignored calls to fortify the massive 50-year-old dam, which provides water to more than 20 million farmers and residential consumers...

 A radio talk show host, Mr. Donnelly said California “has been so busy defying President Donald Trump in order to protect illegal aliens from deportation that it forgot to do the things government is supposed to do, like maintain infrastructure. Governor Brown is now going hat-in-hand to beg the Trump administration for emergency funds.”

That's a bit of hyperbole, at least as far as raising the topic of defying the new president.  California has been spending money on illegals and building the bullet-train-from-nowhere-to-nowhere for many times longer than the few weeks Trump has been president.

Built in 1968, the Oroville Dam, located about 70 miles north of Sacramento on the Feather River, is the tallest dam in the nation at 770 feet, but environmental groups argue that the project’s infrastructure needs have been a low priority.

In 2005, advocacy groups led by Friends of the River urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to order the state to reinforce the dam’s earthen walls with concrete, citing the erosion risk, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

The agency rejected the request on the recommendation of the state Department of Water Resources and local water agencies, which would have been on the hook for improvements that could have cost as much as $100 million.

Reinforcing the Oroville Dam was not included on Mr. Brown’s $100 billion wish list of projects prepared last month at the request of the National Governors Association in response to Mr. Trump’s call for $1 trillion in infrastructure improvements, CNBC reported.

One project that did make the list: California high-speed rail, a pet project of Mr. Brown’s with an estimated price tag of $100 billion that has become for state Republicans a symbol of out-of-control government spending.

What's just as bad, these reservoirs we have in California, and the dams that create them, aren't designed for water storage as much as they are for flood control.  That's partly why, for the past 5 years of drought, so much water has flowed out of our reservoirs--well, that, and we have to keep tiny fish that no one has ever seen alive (thank you environmentalists).  We haven't added water storage since the 1970s, despite the fact that our population has grown so much since then.

This is California, this is what you get when one party runs both houses of the legislature for so many decades.  Heckuva job, Brownie.

Turning An Argument On Its Ear

Is he a closet Republican or something?

CHRIS KENNEDY, the Chicago-area businessman and son of the late ROBERT F. KENNEDY who entered the Democratic race for governor last week, had some strong words about needed school improvements across the state — and in Springfield.

During an interview with The State Journal-Register, he mentioned the city's three public high schools.

He said at Lanphier and Southeast, "less than 10 percent of the kids who graduate ... are ready to go on to a university, enter a trade school, go to community college, or enter the workforce without remedial education. Ninety percent of those kids, therefore, are going to be doomed to a life of economic oppression"...

"The state needs to step in," Kennedy said. "What is the economic impact of having all of those people unable to take care of themselves? Where is the moral outrage in the community?"

His is the best argument for school choice that I've heard in a long time.

Whirlwind

My latest master's course isn't a full-on course in abstract algebra, rather it appears to be an eclectic pick-and-choose of topics that (I hope) will illuminate some of the interwovenness of algebra and geometry topics.  The first test, which I took last week (no score yet!) dealt with groups, permutations, and isometries of the complex plane.  Yes, I know, not a lot of commonality there.  And now we're into some topics related to triangles on spheres before moving onto the platonic solids.

It's nothing if not interesting.  And one of our homework problems is amenable to a solution using matrices--my first course in this program, 4 1/2 years ago.  It's taking me awhile--the solution, given but which we're supposed to derive, is pretty ugly, which makes matrices even more difficult to use--but I'm going to keep at it!

Update:  Got it!