Sunday, July 11, 2004

burn

I'm hanging out, watching a show on National Geographic about smokejumpers and the tragic Storm King Mountain fire - the one in 1994 in Colorado that burned over 14 firefighters. Needless to say, it reminds me that in one week I will be taking a risk. The book, Fire on the Mountain by John N. Maclean, is an honoring and emotional recount of what happened and I highly recommend it!

Yeah, I think I'll sit in the air conditioning and watch fire on tv for right now. It's hot and sticky outside, and I need to recover from the wedding yesterday. ;) I'll write about that later. Maybe.

Thursday, July 8, 2004

Go West!

Taken from California Interagency Hotshots

See this photo? That's gonna be me in about two week. ;)

Yep, I got the job in Montana at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge! I'm gonna be a wildland firefighter on an engine crew!

Assuming I pass the physical and drug test, I will once again be packing my life into the back of a little green hatchback and driving halfway across the country. Hopefully I'll be able to dial-up AOL and keep this thing updated, but I'm nervous and excited to finally try my hand as a firefighter. Sure it's intimidating to think that I will be standing on the front lines of a dangerous and physically intense job, with only a hose and water to defend myself, but I'm thrilled!

Tentative start date is the 21st so everybody I have two weeks to party with y'all!

For fun and excitement, here are some more links and photos of fire stuff. ;)

  
Both from Wildlandfire.com

Wednesday, July 7, 2004

Soundtrack to my life!

I love music. And I love the fact that there are certain songs that I say "Ah ha! They know how I feel!" Yes, there seems to be a song to cover every emotion possible. So here's the start of the Soundtrack to my Life! Because everybody likes a good soundtrack. It just so happens that all the titles sound negative, but it's really not that bad. ;) And I linked to the albums on Amazon.com so you too can own my favorite music!

"Left Me in a Hole" - Yonder Mountain String Band

"Misunderstood" - Better Than Ezra

"Nowhere Fast" - Incubus

"Lonesome Road" - Leftover Salmon

"Warning" - Incubus

"Firecracker" - Ryan Adams

"I Do" - Better Than Ezra

"Control" - Puddle of Mudd

I'll add more when I remember more!

Added 7/13:

"If There's Still Ramblin' in the Rambler (let him go)" - Yonder Mountain

"Save You" - Pearl Jam

"Lonestar" - Norah Jones

"Fundamental"- Bonnie Raitt

Tuesday, July 6, 2004

thunder and lightening

I withheld from mentioning this since I first found out, but once again... moving may be in my very near future! I got an email a few weeks ago from a guy with the Fish and Wildlife Service at the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (an hour west of Yellowstone in Montana) asking if I was still interested/available for a fire crew position. He called to do a speed-interview on my lunch hour (talk about awkward when my boss asked "Who was that?"), which consisted of questions like: How do you feel about living in a remote area? Do you have fire training? Are you physically fit? I love federal intervies. ;)


Photo from US Fish & Wildlife Service

...And I got a message today, asking to call back about the job. Hopefully it will be an offer! Which means I'll be hauling out in two weeks! Yeahhhh!!

But other possibilites have also popped up that I will have to ponder. No worries, though!

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Any holiday that involves fire, explosions, and being outside automatically rocks! Thanks to my dad for raising me a proper pyro. ;)  Steve and I had to decide: Wixom fireworks, or Kensington? I couldn't remember which were better, but we chose the free route and went to the community park in Wixom, bug dope and blanket in hand. Yay fireworks!

Whizzzzz..... BOOM!

4 second silence.

swoooooosh.... BOOM!

crickets chirp.

Yeah, they were slow. One at a time. Hardly spectacular, but they did have a few nice varieties - a star, the one that looks like saturn and its rings, big color-changing sparkling ones. It was also nice how close and relaxed it was.

But dammit, we should have gone to Kensington!

It was done early so we hopped in Focus and zoomed to Kensington, and from the hiway we could see a barrage of fireworks. Was it the grand finale already? Nope - the whole show was just that awesome! In fact, it was so crowded that the exit ramp to the park AND the hi-way shoulder were both jam-packed with cars! We lined up and watched from a distance. Mental note: next year, Kensington! And get there early!

Besides that, I watched lots of movies, went for a bike ride in the rain, took a "scenic detour" on a hike, played catch, and lounged in a hammock this weekend. It's definitely summer. ;) Good movies: Jaws, Always, Intolerable Cruelty, and (even the 20th time) Pirates of the Caribbean. Bad movies: Bad Santa (bleh!) and Basic Instinct. Yeah, watched a LOT of movies.

Meatwad. Heh heh. Aqua Teen Hungerforce is definitely something. I can't decide if I think it's clever and funny, or just dumb. If you don't know what it is, I can't really explain it. Cartoon on comedy central about a meatball, a carton of french fries with a goatee, and a soft drink. Yeah.

Did you know they are supposedly making a "Guys Gone Wild" show? That's the rumor, at least. Who honestly wants to see frat boys drop trou and bare their hairy butts?

Time to watch Chappelle's Show! :)

Shower pics

Some pics from the shower we had a few weeks ago!

The wedding is this weekend! Months of planning and working (and spending $$) soon come to an end!