Sunday, July 17, 2005

The New Science Complex SUCKS!

Whoever designed that building must have been on crack or something. The fume hood system should not be as easily knocked out than it is. One simple lightning bolt is all it takes. When the fume hood system gets knocked out, we all have to evacuate the building. Sooooo, do you prefer death by fumes or death by lightning?
So that's what happened last Thursday. Fume hood got knocked out while it was pouring rain outside. The safety officer pulled the fire alarm because many people (including myself) was reluctant to evacuate. So, out of the ice and into the frying pan I guess. Oh, and something about the fire system in that stupid building. First, the fire alarm is timid in comparison to other buildings. Fire alarms should be loud and obnoxious to the point that you'd rather get out just so you don't have to hear the sound. Another thing about the fire system is that if you don't get out of the building in time, the doors becomes vacuum sealed. Whoever thought it was a GOOD idea to seal the exits when the building is on fire? You don't put in a fire suppression system and trap the people in a burning building!
The fume hood system was not reset/repaired for a few hours, so we all went back into the building to retreive our stuff quickly and leave for the day (with the doors vacuum sealed, and only openable in brief moments). I heard that the building is expected to last only 20 years.
Oh, the other night I dreamed of a pigeon eating the eyeballs of a baby vulture. The baby vulture then just roamed around blind.
On the same night, I dreamed of death. It was a dream of thought, rather than a dream of images. It was a dream where it was pitch dark, and I was occupied with thought of death. The concept of there not being life after death was the concern. I believe in a life after death, but the possibility of there not being one is still there. What if it's just oblivion after death? I mean, you can look at it as taking a very very long deep sleep, but that's still not enough comfort for the existential horrors of it all. Most of us fear death, and everyone that's living all have to come to terms with it within their lifetime. Death. If there is no existance after life, then why live at all? Is life good? Is it good enough to come to existance, being aware of our own existance, only to know that we will eventually end? I believe it is cruel. To be forced into existance, liking it, and knowing it will all end. It's worse than dragging someone out of Plato's cave, make him a king, only to tell him that he'll be back to being a slave in the cave next week. It's worse than eternal damnation in hell. At least in hell, you still exist and have conciousness. The dream really made me wish I was never born. But that's not possible. I am alive, and will remain so until my untimely demise, and must make the best of the situation. Am I able to live my life with enough fullfilment that when I die, I can say, "it's fine if I cease to exist, because my life was great enough that I don't mind."? That's a difficult goal to accomplish.
I really don't know why that dream made me so uneasy. I have thought about death, and had come to terms with it a long time ago. Eternal sleep was not scary. Afterall, it is nice to sleep, and death should be something to look forward to, especially if one is lazy. And if there IS some sort of conciousness/existance after death, well, that's a bonus. So why can't I use those reasons to make myself feel better?