I Ain't Afraid of No Bugs!

While many people back home spend their Saturday relaxing and enjoying the fact that school was out for the summer, I was hard at work half a world away. In this country they call France, there exists rather large creatures known as Bugs. In Georgia, these creatures are not a problem inside your house, because we have invented the screen door to keep them out. When Springtime arrives you can cool off your house just by opening some doors and letting the breeze sweep in. And just in case you don't have a screen door, you can cool your house the expensive way: with A/C. Unfortunately for the French, neither the screen door nor the A/C has been discovered. Well, seeing as how Spring is here and the heat is just around the corner I decided to solve this little problem. I started with the A/C. I know what you are thinking- "I can't believe David and Walter (with all his heat transfer know-how) built an A/C system for their apartment!" Don't worry, we didn't. I copped out and bought a cheap fan. It works great...for circulating the already warm air in the room. Determined not to be beat, I went to work on my next innovation: the screen door.

Walter, Rani, and I headed to a home supply store. We wandered for a while looking for just the right materials to build this door. About an hour later, the three of us sauntered out of the store carrying a nice roll of polymer mesh, some duck tape, and two pieces of 4m pipe (12+ feet each, for those of you who don't do the SI units). With a trusty saw that I borrowed from Dan, we proceeded to build the most beautiful screen door that France has ever seen. It fits perfectly into the outer doorpost. I rearranged my room so that my balcony door could open all the way. It's nice; I can sit on my bed and look out the window onto the Technopole. Last night I spent some quality time just sitting in the cool of the dark, a breeze coming in from the damp night, listening to music from Amistad. It felt like home. Now I just need a bunch of friends, family, and home-made ice cream. And crickets. You can't hear the insects here, just the crows on the island. It's too bad. As you can see, I've got a picture of what the screen looks like. Check it out, and for those of you at home with the friends, family, and ice cream, know that every time you sit out on the porch and enjoy the summer nights, I'll be right there too, just six hours ahead. I'll let you know when the really beautiful nights are coming