Until recently I felt that between anyone on Earth there existed strong bonds, hardwired into us, tying people together with common experiences, perspectives, understandings. I thought that if any two people from history could communicate, they could find a common ground, some shared feeling that one experience would evoke in both of them. But the latest book I've read seems to indicate that some people have lived whose circumstances are so incomprehensibly different as to make them completely other.
My old impression arose from the diverse reading I have pursued. No book I read left me completely outside, unable to identify with the author or characters. From the Iliad and the Odyssey, to Augustine's Confessions, to Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich, to the Captivity and the Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, to With Fire and Sword by Henryk Sienkiewicz. You may say that what made each work last to this day was this appeal to all generations, and you would be right. But I have read such a variety, always looking for understanding, and always finding it, that I began to wonder. No longer.
The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, by J.R.R. Tolkien, has opened my eyes to the Elder (or Poetic) Edda, from 10th century Norse mythology. As he said, "Old Norse poetry aims at seizing a situation, striking a blow that will be remembered, illuminating a moment with a flash of lightning." It does not clearly define circumstances or people's feelings. The retelling by Tolkien which I posted on Shephanim successfully captures this energy characteristic to Norse sagas. Even once I understood the events I could not comprehend the people.
This probably only makes sense to me, but that doesn't mean that I'm also other.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Lehigh University Steam Tunnels
"Where would one find these tunnel entrances? I've been wondering since I arrived at Lehigh last year." Plm209 18:45, 14 August 2006
"I don't recommend trying it today with confined space OSHA regulations, but since you asked:
Obviously, the tunnel access doors are on the basement or ground floors of the buildings, often by stairwells. In the UC, it's by the stairwell at the east end where ROTC is now and where the radio station was. This was our usual starting point as the transmitter powering the cables was there.
After climbing over, under and through "Gertler's Dragon" (a massive underground connection that linked different pipe runs, sometimes blowing steam through a relief valve and named after a former Chief Engineer of WLRN), you could come out in Chandler in a janitor's closet under the central stairs. From there you get to the powerplant.
Or after the dragon you could go uphill through Drown and come out in Richards at the bottom of the west end stairwell. I confirmed that door still exists two years ago when my daughter was a freshman in Richards. However it's locked.
Hint. To follow the tunnels above ground (which is the only way ANYONE should explore them today) , wait for the first light snowfall and look for where it's melted by the heat. The path is very evident in the Freshman quad." GCW50 14:32, 15 August 2006
"We found tunnels like this all over our campus (Lehigh University)… we used to explore in the middle of the night.. One time we checked it out during the day and came up on a tunnel in the path to the University Center… my friend was first and popped his head up and someone called out his name.
I guess someone recognized him and was wondering what he was doing in the "sewer". That was a funny scene. A few months later there were locks on most of them, but we still managed to get in." MayaP 2006-02-13 09:36:34
"For an inquisitive child of 12 or so, Lehigh was a treasure chest. What wonderful huge Gothic buildings with
mysterious "cellars"! The Lehigh Chapel alone had vast cellars hardly anyone knew existed. Also, one could
spend an entire day walking the many steam tunnels carrying the high pressure steam pipes for heat to the
various campus buildings from the powerhouse. What a maze of ducts in the "attics" of these immense gothic
buildings—a world unknown to students and faculty, but known to me because my father had to care for, and I worked in, some." Willard Litzenberger ('41)
"Exploring Lehigh's secrets is one of my hobbies. I've been through the notorious 'tunnels', and on top of or underneath many a structure in my time here." Trevor Drummond ('10)
... yes, I know how to get to most of these places. No; I won't tell you.
"I don't recommend trying it today with confined space OSHA regulations, but since you asked:
Obviously, the tunnel access doors are on the basement or ground floors of the buildings, often by stairwells. In the UC, it's by the stairwell at the east end where ROTC is now and where the radio station was. This was our usual starting point as the transmitter powering the cables was there.
After climbing over, under and through "Gertler's Dragon" (a massive underground connection that linked different pipe runs, sometimes blowing steam through a relief valve and named after a former Chief Engineer of WLRN), you could come out in Chandler in a janitor's closet under the central stairs. From there you get to the powerplant.
Or after the dragon you could go uphill through Drown and come out in Richards at the bottom of the west end stairwell. I confirmed that door still exists two years ago when my daughter was a freshman in Richards. However it's locked.
Hint. To follow the tunnels above ground (which is the only way ANYONE should explore them today) , wait for the first light snowfall and look for where it's melted by the heat. The path is very evident in the Freshman quad." GCW50 14:32, 15 August 2006
"We found tunnels like this all over our campus (Lehigh University)… we used to explore in the middle of the night.. One time we checked it out during the day and came up on a tunnel in the path to the University Center… my friend was first and popped his head up and someone called out his name.
I guess someone recognized him and was wondering what he was doing in the "sewer". That was a funny scene. A few months later there were locks on most of them, but we still managed to get in." MayaP 2006-02-13 09:36:34
"For an inquisitive child of 12 or so, Lehigh was a treasure chest. What wonderful huge Gothic buildings with
mysterious "cellars"! The Lehigh Chapel alone had vast cellars hardly anyone knew existed. Also, one could
spend an entire day walking the many steam tunnels carrying the high pressure steam pipes for heat to the
various campus buildings from the powerhouse. What a maze of ducts in the "attics" of these immense gothic
buildings—a world unknown to students and faculty, but known to me because my father had to care for, and I worked in, some." Willard Litzenberger ('41)
"Exploring Lehigh's secrets is one of my hobbies. I've been through the notorious 'tunnels', and on top of or underneath many a structure in my time here." Trevor Drummond ('10)
... yes, I know how to get to most of these places. No; I won't tell you.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Domineering Windows
My professor's presentation today kept being interrupted by the Windows XP nag screen: Your computer will be restarted in 15 minutes.... To stop this service, open [Command Prompt] (Start>Run>cmd>Enter) and type the following command: sc stop wuauserv.
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