Dog Days

The 'Cusian/cny weather has been angry for some time, determined in no certain manner to bedevil its dwellers. These dog days of summer, the sun turns its face on Syracuse with practiced inspection and the slow, lulling care of a tenored librarian. Unannounced he will look away and there will be only lightening that walks miles in minutes.

If it weren't for an abundance of scientists (who failed astronomy) and Triple Doppler, I might find myself in one of these storms, musing if Judgment Day "had come early this Sunday in August Two Thousand and Nine."

It was in this position that indeed I found myself week after week. One particular night, the lightening strikes were so abundant, they looked like an advancing contingent of albino Ents. Naturally, I was frightened and irritated but inspired. Nature is wonderfully entertaining when studied from the climate contrilled confines of the iSchool here at Syracuse U. But out in the borderlands, where happiness goes to die.. nature is law sans order.

In the past 6 weeks I've put 3600 miles on my car, half on Fridays and half on Sundays. I've fished with friends, vegged with family, proposed to my girlfriend, and sung my fair share of solo tunes behind the intrepid helm of a bright orange Honda Element. After all of it, I've come to three conclusions. 1 - I wish my car could talk. 2 - Adventure is as fundamental as breathing. 3 - ICS means home.

An addition to the ICS Family?

I was hoping to write this blog today with a picture of our newest member of the ICS Family. However, she has been very shy and has yet to make her debut.

Continuing the trend of ICS employees getting married and then having children, I am the newest to take on this challenge. I started early by getting married 11 days after I started here at ICS, and soon followed with the coming of my wife and I's first child.

Our daughter's name will be Abigail Jane, and with any luck I will be able to report better news by the next blog!

A Drill or not a Drill

There was mayhem at the office yesterday.

The Onondaga Sheriff's office in coordination with Syracuse University Department of Public Safety, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement and public safety officials successfully diffused a hostage situation, with only one injury, right outside our doors. Our only saving grace was the orange sign with an "X" that signaled we were not to be involved.

Around 10 am, we heard shots fired and two men wandered the third floor halls, right in front of our office, with guns reigning terror upon Hinds Hall, Syracuse University. Luckily, they were successfully apprehended in under an hour as a helicopter descended onto the quad in front of Hendricks Chapel to rescue an injured woman.

The location of ICS headquarters on the main campus of Syracuse University always brings about some interesting days. Drew recently wrote about our delicious ventures to Marshall Street which boasts of cuisine from all over the world and previously I've written about the fine attempts to apprehend the Hinds Hall Burglar, but this really took the cake.

Every year various law enforcement and public safety agencies coordinate at Syracuse University to hold a massive drill involving actors and public officials who put on a good show for the journalism master's students who are required to write about it as "disaster reporting training."

Last year, they invaded some South Campus apartments, set a car on fire and held a few students hostage. A guy even got tasered.

This year, they landed a helicopter on the quad and cut a car to pieces with the jaws of life, just for demonstration.

We were given advanced notice of the drill, so shots being fired were not really a surprise and the office as a whole elected to opt-out of participating so we could get more work done for our clients. (Personally, I thought it would have been great to have some fun and pretend to be held hostage, but I guess it's not what I get paid to do...shucks).

It's certainly interesting here on campus when most of the students are gone for the summer.

--Kate