A busy Sunday

Hari Senin kemarin (tanggal 28), Kepala Bagianku pengukuhan Guru Besar. Rame-ramenya baru sekarang tapi sebenarnya SK-nya udah keluar sejak setahun kemarin. Aku & temenku, Bu Ita, didapuk jadi panitia konsumsi. Sebenarnya kerjaannya ga berat-berat amat, kami cuman ngawasin makanan yang udah disiapin pihak catering & mengkoordinir (terutama) sisa makanan setelah acara, mau diapain, dikemanain dll.

Acaranya seperti biasa dibagi dalam 2 sesi, sesi pidato pengukuhan di Balai Senat Gedung Pusat & sesi ramah tamah (makan-makan besar) di Wisma Kagama. Acaranya Alhamdulillah Puji Tuhan berlangsung lancar. Pas akhir acara pidato, aku & bu Ita pindah ke Wisma Kagama. Ga lupa bawa 3 bouquet bunga meja yang cantik-cantik & wangi. Aku naksir berat bouquet bunga yang sedang ta bawa, ada roncean melatinya.

Sayangnya, kami memiliki bunga itu ga lama. Di Wisma Kagama, bouquet bunga-nya ditaksir beberapa ibu-ibu tamu undangan.. hiks :( Jadilah bouquet-bouquet bunga itu berpindah tangan. Yahhh, belum rejeki namanya. Tapi untunglah sebelumnya kami udah foto-foto sama bouquet bunganya :D

Pas semua tugas udah kelar, hari udah sore. Kelihatannya ga kerja apa-apa tapi asli, kaki & badan rasanya penat banget. Walhasil, jam setengah delapan malam aku udah tidur. Capek!

Rencana berangkat & Schedule Baru

Kemarin siang, pas lagi enak-enak makan siang (kelaperan berattt.. heran deh, tiap abis meeting bareng teman-teman plus Head OIA-nya UGM, aku selalu jadi lapar berat!) mbak Vit sms. Isi sms-nya bikin aku nyaris keselek. Bunyinya gini :

"Mbak, kalau visa kita bisa jadi cepet, mau ga kalau kita berangkatnya Juni sebelum exit permit habis? Jadi, kita ga perlu perpanjang exit permit lagi.."

Uhuk.. uhuk.. uhuk..

Sik.. sik.. Exit permitku abis tanggal 14 Juni & punya mbak Vit tanggal 10-nya. Hmm, berarti we should departure no longer than June 10! Aku buru-buru check kalender. Alamaaaakkkkkk....... tinggal sebentar lagi :( Selama ini emang aku ga gitu merhatiin waktu yang berjalan too fast, banyak banget urusan disana-sini yang bikin aku ga sempat merenungkan waktuku di Indo hanya tinggal sebulan lagi.

Aku buru-buru balas sms mbak Vit & balik nanya : emangnya MVV kita bisa selesai dalam jangka waktu sebulan? Soale, baru 2 hari ini je diurusnya. Mbak Vit jawab : kata Adit (temennya yang kerja di kedubes Belanda di Jakarta) bilang bisa.

Hmm.. Let me think. & proses mikirnya makan waktu sampai sore karena sorenya aku baru balas lagi : kita kudu yakin MVV itu bakalan bisa selesai at least pertengahan mei, karena kita masih harus collect visa & booking ticket.

Trus pagi dini hari tadi, aku sms lagi, lebih detail, bilang : kalau mau berangkat Juni, kita harus collect visa akhir mei / awal juni, sekitar tgl 28 mei s/d 6 juni & berangkat sekitar tanggal 8 atau 9 juni, jangan sabtu karena kalau nyampe di sana minggu, bahaya.. semua toko tutup, wah, bisa kelaparan.

& sekitar jam 7 tadi mbak Vit confirm. Ternyata tiap rabu kedubes tutup. Kebetulan, soalnya mei akhir aku masih jalan-jalan serombongan kantor. Kita janjian collect visa tanggal 5 atau 6 juni & berangkat minggu tanggal 8 atau senin tanggal 9.


Well.. so aku punya list schedule baru :

1. Besok senin tanggal 28 April : pengukuhan guru besar kepala bagianku (9 pagi -3 sore)

2. Selasa 29 april

• Pagi : ambil tabungan.
• Siang : meeting di kantor, kelar meeting : beli Euro & transfer biaya deposit housing lewat BCA, kudu sudah ditransfer sebelum jam 3 sore.
• Malam : ke surabaya

3. Rabu 30 april pagi, ke catatan sipil surabaya minta kutipan akta kelahiran, syukur-syukur sudah ada terjemahan inggrisnya.

4. Next week : sekitar tanggal 5 s/d 9 mei :
• urusin terjemahan akta kelahiran di penerjemah tersumpah (semoga bisa dikirim lewat pos)
• Sign contract dengan UGM
• check MVV & booking ticket

5. Selama bulan Mei : prepare semua keperluan : clothes, rice cooker, setrika lipat, koper, kets, drugs etc

6. Mei 23 s/d 27 : ke Bandung, Bogor & Jakarta

7. Juni tanggal 5 atau 6 : collect visa

8. Juni tanggal 8 atau 9 : departure


..


Berarti ke Bandung, Bogor & Jakarta bener-bener jadi jalan-jalan terakhir sebelum aku berangkat, terutama buat Aca. Tinggal sebulan lagi waktuku sama dia. Aku kudu memastikan, dia mendapat perhatian penuh sebelum aku akhirnya pergi.

Merancang biar bisa irit...

Seems like it's only happened to us, me & Mbak Vit ;)) paling ga, pak Mul gak ikut-ikutan mikirin & ngerancang tips & trik buat bisa ngirit selama di negeri orang ;)) Kasihan banget deh kami ini. Hiks. Tapi mau gimana lagi, beasiswanya kan ga banyak & kudu diirit. Lagian, selama study di Eropa kita sebisa mungkin menyisakan dana buat jalan-jalan & itu ga sedikit.

1. Peraturan Tentang Makan :

• makan kentang tiap hari; beli beras 5 kg harus cukup untuk 1 bulan
• bawa bekal ke kampus
• kurangi minum manis
• ga beli tahu tempe sering-sering, sebulan 2x aja
  
• makan daging seminggu sekali (vegetarian itu sehat)
  
• beli sayur & bumbu pas pasar mau tutup, dapet murah banget bahkan gratis
• buat ngirit bumbu : masak masakan barat aja.. atau china : bawang putih + garam :D
• jangan makan sambal banyak-banyak, cabe mahal bo'! Kalau gak bisa makan tanpa cabe : bawa biji cabe dari Indo & ditanam di pot taruh di kamar :p
• jangan sekali-sekali menolak undangan makan. Haram hukumnya! (Nggilani banget! :p)
  

2. Peraturan Tentang Barang :

• jelikan mata lihat pengumuman barang bekas
• selalu beli barang di pasar loak
  
• jelikan mata di setiap tempat sampah (mulung barang yang masih bagus & laik pakai : kasur, kulkas, wajan, suthil, panci ;)) BTW, aku ga pernah ngebayangin diriku mulung di negeri orang :p Bedanya ntar mulungnya ga pakai caping & cupit)
  
• tutup mata kalo pas jalan2 ke centrum kota lain
• batasi ke boeken fiesten (kalo pas buku2 murah dijual, wah gila, pengen mborong aja.. padahal berat juga bawanya & ga ada biaya shipping)
• batasi telfon.. coba pake skype aja & jangan pake Asia card.. Muahal!
  

3. Peraturan Tentang Lain-lain

• jalan kaki / naik sepeda kemana-mana, senyampang kaki masih kuat ngayuh
  
• main sebulan sekali aja
• ke luar negeri 4 bulan sekali aja :p

Well.. so far itu dulu, ntar ditambahin lagi kalau udah nemu ide baru :D

We Can Choose Not To Choose

Sebenarnya kita sadar bahwa hidup ini penuh dengan pilihan-pilihan dan kita punya pilihan untuk memilih yang baik dan tidak memilih segala sesuatu yang kita rasa tidak baik.


Kaya sekarang ini, banyak banget wacana disekitarku untuk step back, banyak godaan (according to mbak Vit, makin bener jalannya, makin besar & banyak godaannya). Godaanku datang dari Barcelona. Waduh mana tahan kalau yang itu! Dr. Juan lagi-lagi nanyain aku mau ga gabung di risetnya :( Di satu sisi, aku cinta mati sama Belanda (bukan gara-gara Michiel - orang yang satu itu kudu dienyahkan dari masalah ini). Ternyata Pak Mul juga gitu, dapat godaan dari NUS, sampai dibayarin segala sesuatunya buat sowan kesana, tapi beliau milih Belanda gara-gara cinta berat sama Belanda.


Alasan kedua, visaku sudah diurus & form visiting scholarku juga sudah dikirim (aku ntar bakal seruang sama Dr. Ram, DK. 04 :D). Segala sesuatunya berjalan sesuai rel, meskipun seringnya pake tersendat-sendat. Barangkali kami kudu menempatkan diri seolah-olah lagi naik tuk-tuk disepanjang rel-nya Lapindo, dan sometimes kudu turun tangan betulin relnya yang bengkok. Alon-alon waton kelakon. Slowly, but sure.


Alasan ketiga, kami membawa nama UGM, Indonesia, Uni di Belanda yang sudah dengan tangan terbuka lebar menerima kami sebagai student & network dengan Professor yang sudah terjalin baik. Kalau kami akhirnya step back, mau ditaruh mana muka UGM, Indonesia & Uni di Belanda? & bagaimanapun wajarnya alasan kami, pada akhirnya kami tetap akan dapat pandangan sinis penuh tanya plus kening penuh kerut dari orang-orang sekitar, terutama yang ga ngerti masalah dari awal.

Itu tadi masalah pribadi. Masalah non-pribadi yang sekarang jadi pemikiran bersama di kantor juga ada. Judulnya tetep : kami bisa memilih untuk tidak memilih. Alasannya bisa macam-macam, tapi yang pasti semuanya tetap harus dalam konteks meletakkan kepentingan (bahkan perasaan / emosi) pribadi jauh di urutan paling bawah & paling ga dipikirin dan menempatkan kebutuhan kantor secara real dan tepat setinggi-tingginya. Tentu saja pilihan untuk tidak memilih ini selalu ada konsekuensinya, dan mungkin tidak hanya 1 orang yang akan kecewa. Tapi karena balik lagi, kita harus menempatkan kepentingan (baca : kebutuhan) kantor di atas segala kepentingan pribadi / golongan, maka efek mengecewakan 1-2 pribadi rasanya layak untuk diambil. Sekarang mungkin ga enak, tapi kami yakin, kami akan mendapatkan hasil baiknya nanti seiring waktu. Alasan lain, kami tidak ingin mengulangi kesalahan masa lalu. Dulu kami memilih orang yang salah karena pressure disana-sini (orang yang terpilih tersebut pada akhirnya mengeluarkan wacana gender) dan saat ini, meskipun wacana gender harus keluar lagi, tapi demi memilih yang setepat-tepatnya sesuai kebutuhan kantor, kami harus merelakan hal itu terjadi. Kami menyadari bahwa dulu kami seharusnya tidak peduli dengan pressure 1-2 pihak dan cuek dengan wacana gender. Efek dari pilihan kurang tepat itu masih terasa sampai sekarang, dan masih akan berlangsung lama..

Sigh..

Semoga memang yang terbaiklah yang akan terjadi. Bismillah..

Be-Te

Hari ini kalau boleh diibaratkan, perasaanku kaya gado-gado. Apa aja ada. Pagi ini aku happy, karena di rumah OK, nyampe kantor & check email, Prof-ku kirim email dengan kabar OK, cuman mulai agak siang udah mulai bete gara-gara paspor biru yang super duper leled prosesnya & ketambahan Pak Dekan cerita yang intinya mengiyakan bahwa seperti mbak Hilda, salah satu seniorku yang dulu juga ke Balanda buat S3 (dia ke Utrecht), ngurus paspor birunya bisa sampai lumutan. Perlu pake lupa dulu pernah ngurus paspor biru, baru paspornya jadi. Bayangin, kalau ngurus paspor ijo sehari jadi, yang ini dari Januari belum jadi-jadi juga Huh! X-(

Betenya nambah pas aku coba telp ke Pak Sungkono di DIKTI sana beliau bilang kalau calling visa bukan diurus lewat beliau. beliau juga ga terlalu ngeh dengan berkas-berkas yang kudu disiapin untuk calling visa, tergantung kedutaan besarnya mintany apa.. gitu kata beliau. Duuuh.. tambah puyeng. Padahal kata bu Nunik KUI, ntar yang bantuin ngurus Pak Sungkono juga :(

Tapi yang bikin happy lagi, pas siang aku check email dari mbak Rina Erlangga, cover bukuku ternyata mayan keren. Yah, meskipun kayanya, terbitnya keduluan aku berangkat ke Belanda.

Perempuan Dapat Membuat Perbedaan!

Lihat slogan ibu-ibu ini, coba kalau berhasil, kan dunia tambah tenteram, karena jumlah pemabuk jadi berkurang :))

















Thanks Pak Djok Luk!

Top 10 Things You Can Do to Reduce Global Warming

Burning fossil fuels such as natural gas, coal, oil and gasoline raises the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and carbon dioxide is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect and global warming.

You can help to reduce the demand for fossil fuels, which in turn reduces global warming, by using energy more wisely. Here are 10 simple actions you can take to help reduce global warming.

1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Do your part to reduce waste by choosing reusable products instead of disposables. Buying products with minimal packaging (including the economy size when that makes sense for you) will help to reduce waste. And whenever you can, recycle paper, plastic, newspaper, glass and aluminum cans. If there isn't a recycling program at your workplace, school, or in your community, ask about starting one. By recycling half of your household waste, you can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

2. Use Less Heat and Air Conditioning

Adding insulation to your walls and attic, and installing weather stripping or caulking around doors and windows can lower your heating costs more than 25 percent, by reducing the amount of energy you need to heat and cool your home.

Turn down the heat while you’re sleeping at night or away during the day, and keep temperatures moderate at all times. Setting your thermostat just 2 degrees lower in winter and higher in summer could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.

3. Change a Light Bulb

Wherever practical, replace regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. Replacing just one 60-watt incandescent light bulb with a CFL will save you $30 over the life of the bulb. CFLs also last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, use two-thirds less energy, and give off 70 percent less heat.

If every U.S. family replaced one regular light bulb with a CFL, it would eliminate 90 billion pounds of greenhouse gases, the same as taking 7.5 million cars off the road.

4. Drive Less and Drive Smart

Less driving means fewer emissions. Besides saving gasoline, walking and biking are great forms of exercise. Explore your community’s mass transit system, and check out options for carpooling to work or school.

When you do drive, make sure your car is running efficiently. For example, keeping your tires properly inflated can improve your gas mileage by more than 3 percent. Every gallon of gas you save not only helps your budget, it also keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

5. Buy Energy-Efficient Products

When it's time to buy a new car, choose one that offers good gas mileage. Home appliances now come in a range of energy-efficient models, and compact florescent bulbs are designed to provide more natural-looking light while using far less energy than standard light bulbs.

Avoid products that come with excess packaging, especially molded plastic and other packaging that can't be recycled. If you reduce your household garbage by 10 percent, you can save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

6. Use Less Hot Water

Set your water heater at 120 degrees to save energy, and wrap it in an insulating blanket if it is more than 5 years old. Buy low-flow showerheads to save hot water and about 350 pounds of carbon dioxide yearly. Wash your clothes in warm or cold water to reduce your use of hot water and the energy required to produce it. That change alone can save at least 500 pounds of carbon dioxide annually in most households. Use the energy-saving settings on your dishwasher and let the dishes air-dry.

7. Use the "Off" Switch

Save electricity and reduce global warming by turning off lights when you leave a room, and using only as much light as you need. And remember to turn off your television, video player, stereo and computer when you're not using them.

It's also a good idea to turn off the water when you're not using it. While brushing your teeth, shampooing the dog or washing your car, turn off the water until you actually need it for rinsing. You'll reduce your water bill and help to conserve a vital resource.

8. Plant a Tree

If you have the means to plant a tree, start digging. During photosynthesis, trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. They are an integral part of the natural atmospheric exchange cycle here on Earth, but there are too few of them to fully counter the increases in carbon dioxide caused by automobile traffic, manufacturing and other human activities. A single tree will absorb approximately one ton of carbon dioxide during its lifetime.

9. Get a Report Card from Your Utility Company

Many utility companies provide free home energy audits to help consumers identify areas in their homes that may not be energy efficient. In addition, many utility companies offer rebate programs to help pay for the cost of energy-efficient upgrades.

10. Encourage Others to Conserve

Share information about recycling and energy conservation with your friends, neighbors and co-workers, and take opportunities to encourage public officials to establish programs and policies that are good for the environment.

These 10 steps will take you a long way toward reducing your energy use and your monthly budget. And less energy use means less dependence on the fossil fuels that create greenhouse gases and contribute to global warming.

Taken From : http://environment.about.com/

What Causes Global Warming?

Scientists have determined that a number of human activities are contributing to global warming by adding excessive amounts of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide accummulate in the atmosphere and trap heat that normally would exit into outer space.

Greenhouse Gases and Global Warming

While many greenhouse gases occur naturally and are needed to create the greenhouse effect that keeps the Earth warm enough to support life, human use of fossil fuels is the main source of excess greenhouse gases. By driving cars, using electricity from coal-fired power plants, or heating our homes with oil or natural gas, we release carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere. Deforestation is another significant source of greenhouse gases, because fewer trees means less carbon dioxide conversion to oxygen.

During the 150 years of the industrial age, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased by 31 percent. Over the same period, the level of atmospheric methane has risen by 151 percent, mostly from agricultural activities such as raising cattle and growing rice.

The Consequences of Global Warming

As the concentration of greenhouse gases grows, more heat is trapped in the atmosphere and less escapes back into space. This increase in trapped heat changes the climate and alters weather patterns, which may hasten species extinction, influence the length of seasons, cause coastal flooding, and lead to more frequent and severe storms.

How Do Humans Contribute to Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Global Warming?

Throughout most of human history, and certainly before human beings emerged as a dominant species throughout the world, all climate changes were the direct result of natural forces.

Industrial Age Accelerates Global Warming

That changed with the start of the Industrial Revolution, when new agricultural and industrial practices began to alter the global climate and environment. Before that time, human activity didn’t release many greenhouse gases, but population growth, deforestation, factory farming, and the widespread use of fossil fuels are creating an excess of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and contributing to global warming.

Science Links Global Warming to Human Activity

In February 2007, a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), representing the work of 2,500 scientists from more than 130 countries, stated that human activity "very likely" has been the primary cause of global warming since 1950. (In science, nothing is ever claimed to be "certain" or absolute, which leaves open the possibility of further research and discovery, but the term “very likely” indicates more than 90 percent certainty and is considered virtual confirmation.)

The IPCC report also said that human activity has been a major contributor to climate change since the start of the Industrial in the mid-1700s.

What are Greenhouse Gases?

Many greenhouse gases occur naturally, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. Others such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) result exclusively from human industrial processes.

Human Activities and Greenhouse Gases

Human activities also add significantly to the level of naturally occurring greenhouse gases:

• Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere by the burning of solid waste, wood and wood products, and fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal).
• Nitrous oxide emissions occur during various agricultural and industrial processes, and when solid waste or fossil fuels are burned.
• Methane is emitted when organic waste decomposes, whether in landfills or in connection with livestock farming. Methane emissions also occur during the production and transport of fossil fuels.

The Properties of Greenhouse Gases

Greenhouse gases vary in their ability to absorb and hold heat in the atmosphere, a phenomenon known as the "greenhouse effect." HFCs and PFCs are the most heat-absorbent, but there are also wide differences between naturally occurring gases. For example, nitrous oxide absorbs 270 times more heat per molecule than carbon dioxide, and methane absorbs 21 times more heat per molecule than carbon dioxide.


Taken From : http://environment.about.com/

What is the Greenhouse Effect?

After 150 Years of Industrialization, Climate Change is Inevitable. The “greenhouse effect” often gets a bad rap because of its association with global warming, but the truth is we couldn’t live without it.


What Causes the Greenhouse Effect?

Life on earth depends on energy from the sun. About 30 percent of the sunlight that beams toward Earth is deflected by the outer atmosphere and scattered back into space. The rest reaches the planet’s surface and is reflected upward again as a type of slow-moving energy called infrared radiation.

As infrared radiation is carried aloft by air currents, it is absorbed by “greenhouse gases” such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone and methane, which slows its escape from the atmosphere.

Although greenhouse gases make up only about 1 percent of the Earth’s atmosphere, they regulate our climate by trapping heat and holding it in a kind of warm-air blanket that surrounds the planet.

This phenomenon is what scientists call the "greenhouse effect." Without it, scientists estimate that the average temperature on Earth would be colder by approximately 30 degrees Celsius (54 degrees Fahrenheit), far too cold to sustain our current ecosystem.


How Do Humans Contribute to the Greenhouse Effect?

While the greenhouse effect is an essential environmental prerequisite for life on Earth, there really can be too much of a good thing.

The problems begin when human activities distort and accelerate the natural process by creating more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere than are necessary to warm the planet to an ideal temperature.

* Burning natural gas, coal and oil —including gasoline for automobile engines—raises the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

* Some farming practices and land-use changes increase the levels of methane and nitrous oxide.

* Many factories produce long-lasting industrial gases that do not occur naturally, yet contribute significantly to the enhanced greenhouse effect and “global warming” that is currently under way.

* Deforestation also contributes to global warming. Trees use carbon dioxide and give off oxygen in its place, which helps to create the optimal balance of gases in the atmosphere. As more forests are logged for timber or cut down to make way for farming, however, there are fewer trees to perform this critical function.

* Population growth is another factor in global warming, because as more people use fossil fuels for heat, transportation and manufacturing the level of greenhouse gases continues to increase. As more farming occurs to feed millions of new people, more greenhouse gases enter the atmosphere.

Ultimately, more greenhouse gases means more infrared radiation trapped and held, which gradually increases the temperature of the Earth’s surface and the air in the lower atmosphere.


The Average Global Temperature is Increasing Quickly

Today, the increase in the Earth’s temperature is increasing with unprecedented speed. To understand just how quickly global warming is accelerating, consider this:

During the entire 20th century, the average global temperature increased by about 0.6 degrees Celsius (slightly more than 1 degree Fahrenheit).

Using computer climate models, scientists estimate that by the year 2100 the average global temperature will increase by 1.4 degrees to 5.8 degrees Celsius (approximately 2.5 degrees to 10.5 degrees Fahrenheit).


Not All Scientists Agree

While the majority of mainstream scientists agree that global warming is a serious problem that is growing steadily worse, there are some who disagree. John Christy, a professor and director of the Earth System Science Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville is a respected climatologist who argues that global warming isn’t worth worrying about.

Christy reached that opinion after analyzing millions of measurements from weather satellites in an effort to find a global temperature trend. He found no sign of global warming in the satellite data, and now believes that predictions of global warming by as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the 21st century are incorrect.



Taken from : http://environment.about.com/