2001.06.13

So my sister was graduating for the second year in a row...this time from the credential program at UCDavis. I easily got half the day off from work, and Ted, Tracy, and I had quite an adventure driving up there in time for the 5pm free food...

The idea was to leave before rush hour hit. And we did that. Of course, by the time we hit Fairfield on 80E, traffic started slowing down...then I noticed the following van:

This is a Fairfield School District teacher supporter of some sorts, I think

So while in the jam, we find out that the freeway's closed in Vacaville due to brush fires (yay for extreme dry heats). We end up getting off the freeway at some obscure street, and calling my sister to get an alternate route into Davis. And this alternate route went straight through the boonies of BFE, with very few signs of life, and even a cow and a mini-cow! Now if only I had the camera ready when we passed those...

This is a police barracade at an entrance to 505 south. So the deal was something like this: the brush fire happened around the place where 80 and 505 meet; the 80 was closed due to smoke, and the 505 shut down because of some injury accidents that happened as a result of the fire...lemme guess: rubberneckers?

So after all was said and done, we made it there with time to spare. The ceremony and free food happened at the Putah Creek Lodge, slightly off the south end of campus, and it was this nice ritzy place unlike anything seen near Berkeley.

Hard to see, but this is a passing-by shot of the dairy on the Davis campus, where they have cows! Of course, the downside is that it smelled like cow as we passed by...

Here's a shot of this pond-like thing near the lodge. With it were a lot of duckies...but just look at how nice this thing looks...sheesh!

And speaking of the duckies, here are two that wandered onto the grass...

Here, I was going more for the shot of the sun's reflection off the water. I think I got a few ducks in the shot too.

And this is just a whole lot of ducks swimming in one direction. For kicks, we discovered that if you throw a rock into the water, ducks will chase after it as if it were food that was just dropped in.

And this is what ducks look like when they're sleeping or something. They turn their necks around and bury their faces in their back feathers or something like that. It looks pretty funny...

I had to take this shot because I was quite alarmed at just how green the water was in this shot. Now do they dye the water in this pond much like Disneyland dyes their water?

And of course, a shot of all the people who graduated and received teaching credentials. I look at this picture, and one thing comes to mind: "I don't think we're in Berkeley anymore, Toto!"...and for that matter, we're definitely not in Berkeley engineering anymore.

So after it was all over, Ted, Tracy, and I mooched my sister's campus parking permit and wandered around, since none of us had ever really explored the campus. Since they were in the middle of finals and everything, it would've been rude to bug the few people we knew there, and so we wandered around the east side of campus, where they have eggheads all over campus. To be really annoying, we wandered into their library...and got in easily. No security guards checking ID, and no one giving a second thought to three people wandering around. Wow, this definitely isn't Berkeley...

Of course, one of the first things we had to do was feed our 'net and e-mail addictions. Here are Tracy and Ted on some computers on the second floor...

Though just like Berkeley, they have huge signs posted near each computer stating that the 'net is to be used only for research and that any e-mail activity on them is prohibited...of course, they have about ten times the number of public-access machines in their 'brary, so I don't see it being as much of a problem there. Anyhow, just when we were wondering what happens if someone's caught doing e-mail, we came across this:

Check out what's against the wall - looks like a normal study booth, except it's CAGED! and locked too! So I'm wondering - is this what they do to you if you're caught eating in the 'brary or using the 'net for something other than research purposes? Lock you up in a non-net-enabled study cage?

And here's a close-up shot of one of these study booths. Looks like someone was here recently...But it's so cramped!