The missing photographer wasn’t missing afterall. Found it in today’s article from azcentral.com.

Steve Davidson, a local photographer has been missing and folks are looking to get out the word in more places. Maybe some Phoenix Metblog readers have seen him? Here are some of his fantastic photos which may give a clue to the sorts of places he goes (they think he was last in the Superstition Mountains). http://www.pbase.com/azleader.

Please help. MySpace page.

I read an article from azcentral that there would be year round schooling in some school districts. I am not familiar with the public school system here and slowly learn more about it before my daughter begins preschool. My daughter is only 4 months old, but even some have told me to sign up for preschool now. Go figure.

My school memories include taking naps, painting and eating lunch in preschool. Having my hair pulled by some mean girls in elementary school, and being in the nerdy group in high school. I had no idea of the finances that came with my academics. I will have to learn now.

I do know, however, how lucky kids are in this computer age. Finding answers to questions from class won’t take all day sifting through books in the library, like in my day. Just google it. I even read 4th graders in a Phoenix elementary school doing away with chalkboards and bringing in these interactive (computer screen) boards instead. Amazing.

Children now are going to learn so much so quickly now. I don’t know if this is a good or a bad thing, but I hope my daughter will have a well rounded education – art and science – while having fun at the same time. I know I’ll be there to support her every step of the way. I hope the education system won’t disappoint us.

I could not believe when I heard that San Francisco had a heat wave peaking around 108 degrees over the weekend. My family and friends complained to me how agonizing and unbearable it was. They told me from that some people died because they didn’t have air conditioning in their poorly insulated 50+ year old homes.

When we started furnishing our home here in Arizona (1 and a half years later and still furnishing), I didn’t like the ceiling fans. They looked grotesque to me and reminded me of that movie where someone was not stooping down when they walked underneath some helicopter propeller blades and horrifically got their head chopped off. What movie was that?

Anyways, I sometimes feel having living in both extremes, cold winters in Washington and hot summers in Arizona, I do not like them, but I will not complain. And when rain comes when I least expect it and cools my surroundings down, I am surprised, elated and welcome its visit.

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A friend of mine in Washington, who also has a 4 month old child, just told me she takes her son to a playgroup at the hospital that he was delivered. I thought maybe it was about time my daughter found some playmates too. Poor thing, she’s been cooped up at home since the summer started. Hopefully, somewhere close and maybe during the weekends would be nice. I searched for closest hospitals and they didn’t have any playgroups. The only ones were in Phoenix or Scottsdale – bummer. I wasn’t going to give up. I was going to find friends for my daughter if it means staying up all night looking for a place. Then I found it. Playgroups created by SAHM (Stay at Home Moms), Only Child Parents, and Young Mom and Dads all over the Phoenix area. They go to this site called MeetUp. It’s like MetroBlog but a place to meet in terms of your interests. Everything from pets to scrapbooking to films broken down by topics and/or cities. How cool is that.

Lloyd’s 24th thing that he loves about Phoenix would be one of my top 10.

I watched “Tom Brokaw’s Global Warming” on Discovery the other night and was astounded by all this scientific evidence about how bad the world’s climate has gotten. When Tom Brokaw said that the world’s climate would change within his lifetime, it made me sit up and listen. Heatwaves, hurricanes, tsunamis, the world is changing before my eyes.

I don’t believe it is possible to reverse global warming, but finding ways of decreasing the causes such as alternate sources of fuel and cleaner public transportation, like the Metro Light Rail should be put into the spotlight. Maybe, like New York, we will eventually have hybrid or fuel efficient taxis (Hybrid SUVs added to New York taxi fleet) or even buses. Though its 2 years off, it is a start.

We have been conserving energy very early on in our lives. When I was younger, I’d mow the lawn with a push mower, I would dry hang laundry and have sweeping leaves competition with my sister in the back yard.

As an adult, we always made a conscious effort to replace all of our light bulbs with energy efficient ones. We have never used our dish washer and always took short showers at home. We have more recycling products in our bins than we do trash. Last year, we even tried to endure the summer heat with no air conditioning. Of course we wouldn’t do it now with a little one in the house, but we use lots of fans around strategic parts in the house instead of turning the a/c unit all the way down. During the winter, we didn’t even turn on the heat. We just wore more clothing. You may think we’re crazy, but when people before my time didn’t have a/c,or other creature comforts to fall back on, I think we can survive by conserving a little bit.

Stop Global Warming

My girlfriend and I dropped my truck off this morning at Mr. Clutch (near Thomas and 32nd St – north side of the street). As we were pullling away we saw police in a parking lot across the street.

There was police tape over a dumpster. And a coroner’s van.
An employee at a nearby business informed me that a transient had died overnight or early morning. Probably related to either alcohol or heat. Or both.

Which is unfortunate. But a little less terrifying than our first assumption.

On a brighter note – I definitely recommend Mr. Clutch for auto repair. (He does more than transmission work).

The owner, Alex, is an honest businessman and good mechanic. A combination not always easy to find.

Updated 30 July 2006 – Looks like it was a hoax. WTF?!?

Some idiot released a pet aligator in an apartment complex pond in Mesa. They have been draining the pond, but no gator as of the morning news. Several ducks have been munched and at least three eyewitnesses have reported seeing it. A six-footer? Presh is gearing up and will be available to assist later in the day. Gator Posse Ho! Stay tuned…

Was reading my old hometown paper’s online edition this morning. The headline read Arizona prisons may get Island inmates. I bounced from there to Corrections Corporation of America’s website where they boast “Prison Privatization at its Best”. It is a fascinating read. I did not know that Arizona prisons import inmates from other states. Are we not producing enough of our own?