AHHH!!
I GOT A FULL TIME JOB! Like, I'm going to have benefits and money and security and get to drive a snow plow!!
Ok so it's not firefighting and not natural resources... but I get to do forestry work and that counts!
I never thought I'd be so excited to NOT move out of Detroit, doing a blue-collar job... But hey I like it, and that's all that counts!
Friday night, southeast Michigan was greeted by another snowstorm. Of course, I decided to wait until there were at least 4" on the ground before I decided to try and drive home. (It's more fun that way!) In these situations, I am always reminded of one simple fact: Just because some one has 4x4 does NOT mean they know how to drive in the snow. Seriously, some of these SUV drivers think that just because they have four wheels working for them, they will automatically be fantastic winter drivers; no need to exercise caution or patience, the car will take care of those details itself. Pfft. I might not have four wheels, but I do have more than a few braincells and common sense. :P
This set up a beautifully wonderful challenge in getting to downtown Detroit for the Winter Blast Festival yesterday, but Steve and I did make it (half an hour drive turned into over an hour, making our own lanes on the freeway). It was so worthwhile, and I can't wait until 2006 when the Super Bowl is coming! Detroit did a fantastic job of clearing snow so parking wasn't a huge issue, and the new Campus Martius park was alive with glowing lights, which reflected off the falling snow; 20 ft. tall burning torches; a huge Christmas tree; warming tents every 150 ft; plenty of live music... It was packed with people bundled up but having so much fun! They also had a huge snow slide, but the line was too long so we didn't get to ride it. There were, however, excited fuzzy huskies present for the dog sled demonstrations and to give dog kisses. :) Even better, they had large mobile HEATED restrooms instead of nasty little port-o-potties. We didn't end up eating there, but some of Detroit's best restaurants were serving food, all under $6.50.
So here's first-hand experience that Detroit is gonna ROCK next year for the Super Bowl, despite the cold! My pictures are on my Trekshare site.
I was playing on Photoshop and thought this looked kindof cool. :)
Yeah, you read that right - I moved, I worked... and I came home.
Believe me, I never expected to drive all the way down there, work one day, and leave for home less than 24 hrs from when I arrived! But trust me, it was one of the best decisions I've made in 2005. ;)
All signs pointed to staying in Michigan - including the heavy snow I was greeted with on Tuesday morning, forcing all freeway traffic to one or two slippery lanes, crawling along at 30 mph. The snow morphed into freezing rain somewhere in Ohio, but the clouds weren't done with me just yet! It poured nearly all the way down through Virginia or North Carolina. Overall, I think the weather cost me an extra 2 hours.
I spent my one day of employment raking pine needles and cutting down scrub oak within a 15 ft. radius of longleaf pine trees that had endangered woodpeckers in them.
Later that afternoon, I went into town to check voicemail and email and communicate with the outside world. Got some crazy news and I HAD to go home. I don't want to write down why I had to leave, but we'll just say it was entirely necessary and a very good decision!!
Left back for MI that night, but it was late enough that I knew I'd have to stop for the evening. So I call up my friend in Virginia out of nowhere and just ask him "What are you doing at 1 am tonite??" "Umm, drinking beer around my bonfire maybe? Why what's up??" And hence, I spent the night in Blacksburg, road weary and a bit flustered from the day's events, and passed out in the basement. I doubt he reads this, but Matt I promise one of these days, we'll sit down for longer than a few minutes when we're both healthy and not exhausted!
So began - and ended - my South Carolina adventure. Regrets? None. Just happy to be home where I belong right now!!
Wilbur my Navi-turtle, somewhere in Virginia? BTW, the weather was about 72 degrees down there.
Going away dinner at Papa Vinos!
Tired! Not done packing! 2-4" of snow tonite! Waking up in 5 hrs!
Ugh!
I've spent my last weekend day in Michigan sleeping, thinking about packing, pretending to pack, avoiding packing, chatting with people, and taking lots of painkillers to dull the after-effects of excruciatingly wonderful snowboarding this weekend.
Procrastination at it's finest. :)
Actually, considering we got home last night around 3:30 am, exhausted and sore, and I still managed to wake up before noon is amazing to me. Of course, I did take another nap this afternoon... but I've spent hours since then getting rid of old clothes to give to charity, recycling four grocery bags full of paper, sorting out boxes I haven't touched since college... Moving may be a pain, but at least I get a chance to "simplify my life" or whatever Zen enlightenment I might get out of eliminating some of my material possessions.
So, since I'm trying to pack, I found time to search flight prices from Detroit (DTW)to South Carolina. :) There are 3 airports that one could fly into, and so far I've found some fantastic fares. (Hoorah for alliteration!) $153 round trip is the cheapest. Here are the airport abbreviations to make it even EASIER for ya'll to look up fares to visit me!
Charlotte, NC - CLT
Columbia, SC - CAE
Myrtle Beach, SC - MYR
While cleaning my room, I found all my old painting supplies. Yes, once upon a time I was an aspiring artist. :) I felt guity for not having touched a paintbrush in over a year, especially considering I was in the middle of a painting of some wolves that was turning out very well... until I stopped working on it. This is what happens when you have too many hobbies!
Our dog Wilson knows somethings going on. Every time I move or leave for a long period of time, he gives me this look... like he knows that I'm leaving him, and he's trying to understand why I am going. I'm not kidding at all, either. Everybody in the family notices he acts a little weird... just follows me arround, then stands in front of me and stares at me. Sometimes he nudges me, but he's not begging. My mom says it's because he heard her telling people on the phone. :) For some reason, it's really hard to look him in the eye and not feel guilty about leaving him!
Wilbur the turtle will be my travel companion. How silly will that look, a turtle in a box as my navigator. I don't think he's as distressed as Wilson, because frankly Wilbur isn't that smart and runs into the glass of his aquarium all the time. ;)
This weekend was fantastic and I'm glad I got to have one last romp in the hills with my snowboard and some good friends. We trucked up to Boyne Friday night and spent all day tearing it up on Saturday. I can now say I am Master of the Easy Hill! The guys prompted me to try a black diamond or two... and it scared the crap out of me. I made it down all right - if you consider sliding down on your ass "all right". I need to be Master of the Little Bit Harder Hill before I try that again!
Anyway, back to cleaning. Here's a few funny pictures from our hotel room. My batteries died (again) so there's not much to show but some debauchery on the bed.
And so ends probably my last entry from Michigan for a while!
