Environmental News...

"To save a tree, remove a Bush" - bumper sticker I saw a few days ago.

Obviously, it's a bit too late to remove a Bush... But man the news in the natural resources and environmental world has just made me angrier and angrier. Maybe I should go to law school so I can sue all these stupid politicians. Want to know why I am upset with the current administration, and the next 4 years will be soooo painful??

Bad:
Audit: EPA minimized mercury risks - Internal agency report finds rules based on industry plan

Good:
Rule on shooting gray wolves overturned - Judge: Bush administration violated Endangered Species Act

Battle:
Calif. sues U.S. over Sierra logging plan

Not looking good:
House to move on arctic refuge drilling

Don't even get me STARTED!!:
U.S. Waters Down Global Commitment to Curb Greenhouse Gases

WOOOOOOOOO!!!!

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!

Detroit Winter Blast Festival

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. :)

I moved, I worked... and I came home!

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.

 Thank you, Mother Nature

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.

One more for good measure...

Going away dinner at Papa Vinos!

Tired! Not done packing! 2-4" of snow tonite! Waking up in 5 hrs!

Ugh!