I'm moving to California. :)
This really shouldn't be new news to anybody since I accepted the job in September, but I still get a lot of questions. I should have written this post months ago, but school doesn't leave me much desire to type any more than I have to. Quite a shame, I used to really enjoy writing for fun! I only have another couple weeks left so perhaps I can write a good one about my recent trip over Thanksgiving week to visit my future home.
What, When, Where and Why: Lisa's New Adventure!
What: Permanent wildland firefighter with the Forest Service
When: Moving to Cali probably by early January; job starts March 1st.
Where? March-April at the Academy in McClellan, CA; then Stanislaus National Forest, Hathaway Pines
Why? Permanent job, closer to Timmy!
I probably wrote in an entry once or twice or even five times that I didn't want to move out there. Tim has been out there since July, which has been about as much fun as long distance relationships can be (in my book, NOT fun!). The options to make things work were not particularly attractive on my end, as I was hoping the next time I move would be to either Alaska or even back to Montana. I was "stuck" in Colorado for at least a while, to finish my Masters degree at Colorado State. So we either continue long distance (boo) and he agreed to move where ever I want after I graduate in May (although I doubt this would have happened, he has a great job out there) or I find a way to move out there.
I applied for term and permanent wildlife jobs with the federal government; mostly Forest Service, as those are the closest job to Tim besides the park he works at. Unfortunately, Pinnacles is small and does not hire many terms or permanents, so it was unlikely I would land anything there anyway unless I wanted to be stuck as a seasonal yet again. Since the park is fairly isolated from other federal lands, the closest jobs I could find in any case were at least 2 1/2 hours away.
I figured since I was trying to move to Cali, I might as well put in for a couple fire jobs. I mean hey, the state burns like crazy every year, lots of overtime and hazard pay, job security... Why not? So I put in for a permanent fire job. Although fire wasn't the direction I had planned to go - especially considering I am finishing my 2nd degree in wildlife - I do well in fire and really enjoy it.
Out of the jobs I put in for, I was offered... the permanent firefighting job. Surprise!
There wasn't even an interview. The lady in charge called my old bosses and they gave raving reviews; was left a completely unexpected job offer in my voice mail in September.
Here's the deal: Permanent wildland firefighter on the Stanislaus National Forest,which borders Yosemite National Park to the north. It is HUGE - about 900,000 acres (compared to Rocky Mountain, which is about 245,000 acres). It is one of the oldest national parks in the country.
But it's not just a normal permanent job. It's part of the Wildland Firefighter Apprenticeship (also known as "Jack") Program. Which has its own... quirks, compared to a normal permanent job.
The job starts March 1st, and I will generally work March-October, 6 months permanent season. I am excited to have winters off still! While I am in the program, my job consists of formal training as well as rotations doing different wildland firefighting duties. This year, around mid-March, I have my first month of the academy - this year it will be basic academy, next year is advanced. We take a bunch of fire classes, have physical fitness requirements we must pass when we first get there, as well as daily PT. I live in a dorm and the academy is in McClellan, CA at a converted air force base. Mid-April, I will be done with this. My first rotation is on a Type 3 engine out of Hathaway Pines, CA for 2010. In 2011, advanced academy is also a month; my rotation that summer will be on a helicopter crew. It will be either on the on-forest helicopter, or on Yosemite's helicopter. I will be "graduated" March 2012, at which point I will switch to a 12 month year-round permanent somewhere on the forest.
I told them straight up that I'm trying to move to Alaska, and they said they would help me do this once I'm done with the program. The "golden goose" of permanent status with the feds means "STATUS" - eligibility for jobs that you can't apply for without status. It means that next time I move for a permanent job, all of my moving expenses are paid! I won't have to sell everything I own in order to move to Alaska! Yay! Another nice surprise is I was rated at the highest grade offered for this position; it is lower than I am making working for special projects at Rocky, but it is higher than I would be ranked on a "normal" fire crew because I am not a squad boss yet. Yet another thing that worked out in my favor is credit for my previous experience: the program goes from either 2-4 years, with those extra years needed for folks to work on a hand crew, an engine, and a helicopter. I had enough previous experience, I was given almost full credit for 2,000 hours of previous experience, so I don't HAVE to work on a hot shot crew. This made me happy. :)
So it is a pretty nice gig. Not without some downsides though: The biggest part is that in order to take this job, Tim has to take Logan for a while. While I am required to live in the dorms, I obviously can't have a dog for a month. Once I move to Hathaway, I can get my own place and have him with me... but, working fire, I need to be flexible to either stay out late chasing smoke or actually fighting fires on the forest, as well as being dispatched where ever they send us. We will see how this works out, but Tim will probably have Logan for most of those 6 months. Also, I am now "owned" by the government. If I don't finish the program, I theoretically have to pay back the costs they spent on my training. I am also required to work for the feds for at least x number of years after the program. I am NOT required to stay in fire after I am done. So I may still be able to do wildlife, either in the "off" season during the winter, or after the program is finished.
I can focus on whatever I want within fire when I am there: fire ecology or aviation management for example. No, I do not get to FLY helicopters or airplanes. I would love to do helirappel (descending from a flying helicopter from a rope) but they don't do it on our forest. I'd probably sprain my ankle anyway. ;)
I originally was a little nervous about what I am getting myself into... I mean, I'm going to be 29. A lot of people from federal, local or state fire agencies participate; many of the folks are scrapping young men in their early 20s. I had wanted to make fire a career when I was 23 and in Montana... but when the funding for my job went away and I found another job elsewhere, I figured I would stick to once-a-year fire dispatches, with a different career focus. But you know what? I'm good at that stuff. It's a gorgeous area. It's a permanent job. I will miss my Rocky Mountains, but at this point, I am SO excited! Still a little nervous, and Tim will still be about 4 hours away. We will see how it goes.
Oh, and I'll be finishing my masters degree online, so add a few classes onto the complexity of my spring. Yikes! I have enough credits overall to graduate... but I didn't fill certain requirements. I had not planned on moving when I started the program, so it wasn't a big deal. BUT my advisor helped me make it work so I would be able to move.
So that's the scoop. I am finishing classes the next 2 weeks, packing up my stuff from my downtown Estes apartment and putting it in storage; driving to Michigan for Christmas and hang out for a couple weeks; and then heading to California. Tim found a new place to live, which is far from his work and I feel kindof bad... but it's affordable and he can take Logan. So I'll be moving in with him when I get out there, near Greenfield, Ca. I am not sure if I am spending New Years in Michigan or Colorado, but it probably won't be in California. I will definitely be in Cali by January 7th - Tim's birthday!
Hopefully that answers everybody's questions. I have a paper to write now, guess this was a good warm-up. :)
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Tim's move to Cali; sitting and sweating
Greetings from sunny, ridiculously hot California!
Why am I in California? Here's the long version:
Two weekends ago, Tim and I took a sweet hike through the Mummy Range in Rocky Mountain, his last jaunt in the North Fork before becoming a California boy (again); leaving the Chapin Pass trailhead at 4:00 am, we were already blanketed by clouds overhead. Fortunately, the 3:00 am rainstorm ended just as we began our hike, and didn't reappear as a vicious thunderstorm until after our peak bagging. We skipped Chapin to save on time, and get to the top of our final peak before the afternoon (when daily thunderstorms are to be expected). Got to watch a nice sunrise between Chapin and Chiquita... only to be socked in by a thick cloud, which sat on top of us, bringing with it some COLD weather, winds, and 20' visibility. I know better, but pulled an alpine faux pas (is that the spelling?) and didn't bring a warm hat or gloves. It was cold enough that I couldn't move my hands. At least I was wise enough to bring self-heating hand warmers so that I could at least unzip my backpack with my frozen claw-hands!
We summited Chiquita (13,069 ft) and Ypsilon (13,514 ft) in these conditions. As we decended into the saddle between Ypsilon and Fairchild, the clouds lifted and we could see for miles! As a bonus, the winds died down and the sun warmed my cold hands. Which was fortunate, because the hike up Fairchild was some serious rock scrambling, over both small and huge boulders. Brutal on one of my knees, to the point that it is still bugging me today. In any case, the last 500 feet elevation gain up Fairchild was fairly easy and the rocks were more forgiving and not nearly as steep; Fairchild was at 13,502 ft.
This is when the thunderstorm started rumbling from the west. Our goal to include Mummy and perhaps Hague's Peak in our jaunt was "cut short" - though I'm not sure you can call a 12.5 mile hike up 3 mountains as "cut short" in the first place! (I bought a snazzy fancy-pants watch that gives elevation, distance, heart rate, etc... seems fairly accurate, but can't be positive it was 12 miles.) Besides brief gropple and rain, we were able to decend down from Fairchild, down the broad saddle, past Crystal Lakes, and literally unlocked the Lawn Lake Ranger Cabin just as it began to rain. And rain. And rain. We lit a fire in the wood stove and relaxed at 4 pm. 12 hours of hiking! It's no surprise we were alseep by 6 pm. ;)
The hike out was a comparatively easy 6.6 mile downhill. Mummy Mountain will have to wait for another day when Tim comes out to visit.
Tim packed and we had a little party at the Rock Inn; it was a whirlwind of activity last week before we left. I had to work, since I already don't have enough time saved up yet to take off this entire week to be out in Cali; no rest for the weary!
With Tim's belongings packed neatly away in a 14' Uhaul, towing his truck behind us, we set out last Thursday in the evening. We learned quickly, from our drive up Trail Ridge Road, that a 14' Uhaul does not have much towing power up the mountains. Which kept our progress slow the entire trip; Berthoud Pass, Eisenhower on I-70, all the ups and downs in Nevada (apparently it's not flat along US 50), and Yosemite... Snail pace. Made it as far as Grand Junction on Thursday night and stayed with a former Rocky traildog, Conrad. I didn't even get to see him! We arrived at 2 am and then he went to work in the morning.
We plowed through Utah's heat and arrived at Great Basin National Park in Nevada on Friday evening. Unfortunately, we missed the cave tours for the evening and had a dilemma - camp out and lose time on our travel, without the guarantee to get into a cave tour in the morning (and not have any camping gear easily accessible in the Uhaul... there was talk of pulling out the mattress and sleeping on that...), or skip the awesome-looking caves and keep going. The less-stress option was to keep going. We stopped at 2 gas station in Nevada, neither of which had a Nevada road map; however, they had California, Oregon, and other random places far far away. Which was weird. We ate at the worst, strangest McDonalds ever with super space cadet girl getting our order wrong 4 freaking times... and some 15 year old girl looking like some 50s farm wife with her old fashioned hair and man, I felt like I was living in that HBO series True Blood with the way those people talked and acted in Ely, Nevada... I was convinced there were vampires nearby and we needed to find a place to hole up for the evening. Made it to Tonopah, which was just as bizarre as everywhere else. I am sorry, Nevada, I don't like you.
Saturday, made it through Nevada without any other freakishness and finally saw the lovely snow capped mountains in Mono Lake, California. By the way, the road between Mono Lake and Yosemite National Park is a HOOT! Like being on a rollercoaster. They made an otherwise straight and boring road, that much more exciting with its abruptly undulating dips and hills. Just goes to show, Nevada has no sense of humor with their even-terrained flat roads!
We breezed through Yosemite, although a day ahead of schedule, Tim wanted to get to Pinnacles and relax. The valley between Yosemite and Pinnacles - the valley where a lot of the big Cali cities are - was flat and boring, as I had been through there before on the way to and from wildfires. Agriculture. Yuck. Was happy to see another mountain range - although without any snow on its ~2-3,000 ft "peaks" - and drive into the oak savannah.
We may be out of the city, but are certainly not out of the heat. It's killin' me, folks. Seriously. I'm melting.
So my first and lasting impression is, Pinnacles is a nice place to visit...but sure as hell wouldn't want to live here. At least, not in July and August. I'm pretty sure today it was already 90 degrees by 10 am; supposed to be 105 degrees or so. I'm taking refuge in a coffee shop in Hollister, about 30 minutes away.
Pinnacles is a neat little park. Strangely, they have a pool at their campground. I enjoy the little lizards running around but have yet to be unpleasantly surprised by a rattlesnake. Intead, the reservior in the park was the waterpark for snakes of all different sizes. I told Tim, all I have to do is show my mom photos of these snakes (which I am going to do) and she'll tell me not to live there. ;) I did a 5.3 mile hike yesterday morning; hoped to get an earlier start, but didn't make it on the trail til 9:45. HOT. But I'm stubborn. It was a nice hike, steep climbs up steps carved into the rock were interesting... but I needed to make it quick. Managed the hike in 2 hrs 15 minutes by running nearly the entire length of the Condor Gulch Trail downhill. Good thing too, I am not used to this heat. Came out pretty well, barely a sunburn. ;)
We did take a quick trip to Trader Joe's in Monterey, my how I have missed Trader Joe's! It's amazing that it is actually almost COLD, with that ocean wind blowing. I'd much prefer that climate, but there's so many freaking people. Is there no happy median in this state!?
Lots of stereotypes have come true - such as the hotshot jackass crotch rocket riders that pop wheelies for no reason, almost get in accidents around curvy roads, and shooting up between lanes wrecklessly. I told Tim if he acts like that, he's yesterdays news. ;) Also, the ads in the local arts/music paper including things such as SmartLipo, face lifts, and EAR RESTRUCTURING! Seriously, they are EARS people! Ears! Ears do not need improvement. Sigh. But, the tee-hee bimbo blondes with fake boobs and bikinis are nowhere to be found, even on the ocean... it was probably 65 degrees, guess they keep to southern latitudes, and far from the interior heat. I wonder if fake boobs have an optimal temperature range??
Well, time to be hit by that oppressive heat and head back to the ranch. Literally. Tim is living/house sitting for his former boss, whom owns a nice chunk of sizeable property adjacent to the park. She owns a horse. Since she isn't around, I don't know the horse's name, so I just call him Horse. The house stays pretty cool, but I still found myself tossing, turning and sweating. Although the nights are much more comfortable, I still miss my 60 degrees or below Rocky Mountain evenings.
Tim's settling back in very easily, since he used to work here. I don't see myself willingly moving here, but the soonest would be January, if I can find a way to finish my degree at Colorado State either online, or something. Only have a couple classes left after Fall semester. Well, anything can happen between now and then. I hate long distance enough as it is, but did I mention Tim doesn't get cell phone service or internet at his new place? Guess it's back to courier pigeons and the pony express.
PHOTOS galore:
Mummy Range Peak Baggin'
Tim's Going Away Party
The Move
Why am I in California? Here's the long version:
Two weekends ago, Tim and I took a sweet hike through the Mummy Range in Rocky Mountain, his last jaunt in the North Fork before becoming a California boy (again); leaving the Chapin Pass trailhead at 4:00 am, we were already blanketed by clouds overhead. Fortunately, the 3:00 am rainstorm ended just as we began our hike, and didn't reappear as a vicious thunderstorm until after our peak bagging. We skipped Chapin to save on time, and get to the top of our final peak before the afternoon (when daily thunderstorms are to be expected). Got to watch a nice sunrise between Chapin and Chiquita... only to be socked in by a thick cloud, which sat on top of us, bringing with it some COLD weather, winds, and 20' visibility. I know better, but pulled an alpine faux pas (is that the spelling?) and didn't bring a warm hat or gloves. It was cold enough that I couldn't move my hands. At least I was wise enough to bring self-heating hand warmers so that I could at least unzip my backpack with my frozen claw-hands!
We summited Chiquita (13,069 ft) and Ypsilon (13,514 ft) in these conditions. As we decended into the saddle between Ypsilon and Fairchild, the clouds lifted and we could see for miles! As a bonus, the winds died down and the sun warmed my cold hands. Which was fortunate, because the hike up Fairchild was some serious rock scrambling, over both small and huge boulders. Brutal on one of my knees, to the point that it is still bugging me today. In any case, the last 500 feet elevation gain up Fairchild was fairly easy and the rocks were more forgiving and not nearly as steep; Fairchild was at 13,502 ft.
This is when the thunderstorm started rumbling from the west. Our goal to include Mummy and perhaps Hague's Peak in our jaunt was "cut short" - though I'm not sure you can call a 12.5 mile hike up 3 mountains as "cut short" in the first place! (I bought a snazzy fancy-pants watch that gives elevation, distance, heart rate, etc... seems fairly accurate, but can't be positive it was 12 miles.) Besides brief gropple and rain, we were able to decend down from Fairchild, down the broad saddle, past Crystal Lakes, and literally unlocked the Lawn Lake Ranger Cabin just as it began to rain. And rain. And rain. We lit a fire in the wood stove and relaxed at 4 pm. 12 hours of hiking! It's no surprise we were alseep by 6 pm. ;)
The hike out was a comparatively easy 6.6 mile downhill. Mummy Mountain will have to wait for another day when Tim comes out to visit.
Tim packed and we had a little party at the Rock Inn; it was a whirlwind of activity last week before we left. I had to work, since I already don't have enough time saved up yet to take off this entire week to be out in Cali; no rest for the weary!
With Tim's belongings packed neatly away in a 14' Uhaul, towing his truck behind us, we set out last Thursday in the evening. We learned quickly, from our drive up Trail Ridge Road, that a 14' Uhaul does not have much towing power up the mountains. Which kept our progress slow the entire trip; Berthoud Pass, Eisenhower on I-70, all the ups and downs in Nevada (apparently it's not flat along US 50), and Yosemite... Snail pace. Made it as far as Grand Junction on Thursday night and stayed with a former Rocky traildog, Conrad. I didn't even get to see him! We arrived at 2 am and then he went to work in the morning.
We plowed through Utah's heat and arrived at Great Basin National Park in Nevada on Friday evening. Unfortunately, we missed the cave tours for the evening and had a dilemma - camp out and lose time on our travel, without the guarantee to get into a cave tour in the morning (and not have any camping gear easily accessible in the Uhaul... there was talk of pulling out the mattress and sleeping on that...), or skip the awesome-looking caves and keep going. The less-stress option was to keep going. We stopped at 2 gas station in Nevada, neither of which had a Nevada road map; however, they had California, Oregon, and other random places far far away. Which was weird. We ate at the worst, strangest McDonalds ever with super space cadet girl getting our order wrong 4 freaking times... and some 15 year old girl looking like some 50s farm wife with her old fashioned hair and man, I felt like I was living in that HBO series True Blood with the way those people talked and acted in Ely, Nevada... I was convinced there were vampires nearby and we needed to find a place to hole up for the evening. Made it to Tonopah, which was just as bizarre as everywhere else. I am sorry, Nevada, I don't like you.
Saturday, made it through Nevada without any other freakishness and finally saw the lovely snow capped mountains in Mono Lake, California. By the way, the road between Mono Lake and Yosemite National Park is a HOOT! Like being on a rollercoaster. They made an otherwise straight and boring road, that much more exciting with its abruptly undulating dips and hills. Just goes to show, Nevada has no sense of humor with their even-terrained flat roads!
We breezed through Yosemite, although a day ahead of schedule, Tim wanted to get to Pinnacles and relax. The valley between Yosemite and Pinnacles - the valley where a lot of the big Cali cities are - was flat and boring, as I had been through there before on the way to and from wildfires. Agriculture. Yuck. Was happy to see another mountain range - although without any snow on its ~2-3,000 ft "peaks" - and drive into the oak savannah.
We may be out of the city, but are certainly not out of the heat. It's killin' me, folks. Seriously. I'm melting.
So my first and lasting impression is, Pinnacles is a nice place to visit...but sure as hell wouldn't want to live here. At least, not in July and August. I'm pretty sure today it was already 90 degrees by 10 am; supposed to be 105 degrees or so. I'm taking refuge in a coffee shop in Hollister, about 30 minutes away.
Pinnacles is a neat little park. Strangely, they have a pool at their campground. I enjoy the little lizards running around but have yet to be unpleasantly surprised by a rattlesnake. Intead, the reservior in the park was the waterpark for snakes of all different sizes. I told Tim, all I have to do is show my mom photos of these snakes (which I am going to do) and she'll tell me not to live there. ;) I did a 5.3 mile hike yesterday morning; hoped to get an earlier start, but didn't make it on the trail til 9:45. HOT. But I'm stubborn. It was a nice hike, steep climbs up steps carved into the rock were interesting... but I needed to make it quick. Managed the hike in 2 hrs 15 minutes by running nearly the entire length of the Condor Gulch Trail downhill. Good thing too, I am not used to this heat. Came out pretty well, barely a sunburn. ;)
We did take a quick trip to Trader Joe's in Monterey, my how I have missed Trader Joe's! It's amazing that it is actually almost COLD, with that ocean wind blowing. I'd much prefer that climate, but there's so many freaking people. Is there no happy median in this state!?
Lots of stereotypes have come true - such as the hotshot jackass crotch rocket riders that pop wheelies for no reason, almost get in accidents around curvy roads, and shooting up between lanes wrecklessly. I told Tim if he acts like that, he's yesterdays news. ;) Also, the ads in the local arts/music paper including things such as SmartLipo, face lifts, and EAR RESTRUCTURING! Seriously, they are EARS people! Ears! Ears do not need improvement. Sigh. But, the tee-hee bimbo blondes with fake boobs and bikinis are nowhere to be found, even on the ocean... it was probably 65 degrees, guess they keep to southern latitudes, and far from the interior heat. I wonder if fake boobs have an optimal temperature range??
Well, time to be hit by that oppressive heat and head back to the ranch. Literally. Tim is living/house sitting for his former boss, whom owns a nice chunk of sizeable property adjacent to the park. She owns a horse. Since she isn't around, I don't know the horse's name, so I just call him Horse. The house stays pretty cool, but I still found myself tossing, turning and sweating. Although the nights are much more comfortable, I still miss my 60 degrees or below Rocky Mountain evenings.
Tim's settling back in very easily, since he used to work here. I don't see myself willingly moving here, but the soonest would be January, if I can find a way to finish my degree at Colorado State either online, or something. Only have a couple classes left after Fall semester. Well, anything can happen between now and then. I hate long distance enough as it is, but did I mention Tim doesn't get cell phone service or internet at his new place? Guess it's back to courier pigeons and the pony express.
PHOTOS galore:
 |
| From Mummy Range Peak Baggin' |
Mummy Range Peak Baggin'
 |
| From Tim's Going Away Protest |
Tim's Going Away Party
 |
| From Cali or bust! |
 |
| From Cali or bust! |
The Move
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Has spring reached the Estes Valley??
It's warm, it's windy, it's sunny, and we haven't had snow (and not just any snow, 3 FEET of snow) in 2 weeks. And there's a dandelion outside the coffee shop window.
Plus, I start work in 2 weeks. MUST be spring!
My term job, which I have been on furlough since October, expires in a couple weeks also. Is it weird that I kindof want to celebrate? I'll be making MUCH better money as a seasonal maintenance worker, with a lot less controversy and headaches. Look for me driving the military hi-low and replacing wood picnic tables with 1300 lb concrete tables! Ahhh, living the dream, ha ha!
I had one final exam this week, a big presentation to the Open Space advisory board for Fort Collins tonight, and my last final next Wednesday. I still have a big public relations plan to develop for my correspondence course (BLEH! worst distance learning course I have EVER taken) as well as my paper on paleohydrology to be published for Park Break. So, I don't quite see the home stretch yet!
I'm excited for classes next semester; Wildlife Disease Ecology, Evolutionary Ecology, and Wildlife Field Studies. Sadly, my internship playing with baby squirrels and raccoons ends next week also. The picture is of my fellow intern, Ali, feeding a squirrel with a syringe. That's when they were sweet and cute! Now they're little terrors, their razor sharp nails drawing blood. My hands look like I got into a fight with Edward Scizzorhands! The baby raccons are the cutest things EVER. Even when they were tiny, they are strong and stick to your clothes/skin like velcro. They are too young to pee or poop on their own (like baby kittens) and we have to rub their privates to get them to go... and once they start peeing, they totally relax and start making little cooing noises, while they just saturate tissue after tissue! It sounds gross but seriously, they depend on mom (in their case, on us pretending to be mom) to help them relieve themselves, so I'm sure it's the best thing ever when they finally get to go!
The biggest news, which is really BIG news, is that Tim is moving up in the world... up, and West! He snagged a rare permanent trails supervisor job at the park where he used to live, Pinnacles National Monument. It's great for him, but I have no desire to move there; I also don't believe in long distance relationships in most cases, unless you are married and there's no other comprimise. I'm very happy for him, but well you can see the dilemma this poses. He leaves in July. I have a good job and school for the next year here in Colorado, and I don't like the hot weather, no snow, too many people, too much pollution, and living on an earthquake fault line. I'm trying to get back to Montana, or Alaska. Hell, even Canada! It's a very small park and opportunities are limited for me. So, what does this mean?? No easy answers here! Will I end up in Cali?! Or is this the end of a 3 year relationship?! Dun dun DUHHHHh (dramatic music)!
Well, needless to say, I'm a little cranky. :P
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Irrelevant, random distractions from homework
I'm pregnant!
Wait for it...
Wait for it...
APRIL FOOLS!
I do this to Tim every April Fools Day, and he has never once fallen for it. I figure my mom might poop a cat, so I thought I'd give it a try. Then again, she knows me pretty well so she probably won't fall for it either. Now, if I were to say I just adopted 3 puppies, she'd probably believe that (because I probably WILL do that sooner than later!).
Speaking of puppies, I'm supposed to be busy doing homework but I feel like I accomplished a lot today so far, so I was inspired by Tara's facebook selection of her favorite dogs... So I started looking at Wikipedia dog breeds. Apparently, besides German Shepherds (the best dog in the world), I have a thing for rare northern breeds. So this is my puppy "wish list"; if nothing else, learn a little bit about some neat dogs that I had never heard of before. When I make it to Alaska some day and raise my own sled dogs, this might be much more relevant!
The Canadian Inuit Dog (Wikipedia): Like a malamute on 'roids
Here's a Canadian Breeder's website for them
Tamaskan Dog: Another sled dog, this one is from Finlad... looks wolfy but isn't a wolf
Czechoslovakian Wolfdog: shepherd with eurasian wolf generations ago
Utonagan: a mix of husky, german shepherd and malamute, what bliss! plus it looks like a wolf, but isn't a wolf. ;) sled-dog potential perhaps?
And the Northern Inuit Dog (different from the Canadian one): another husky, malamute, gsd mix... though in my quick search there is a debate about Inuit sled dogs vs hybrids just using the term inuit... oh well I like the pictures anyway. To be researched another day...
And of course, since the internet is full of random stuff... Tell me, have you ever heard of a breed of cat called a CHEETOH?! Pretty groovy looking. Too bad I don't have a good working relationship with felines (ACHOO)... I think cats know I'm allergic and they go out of their way to be friendly just to make me sneeze!
What else have I been up to? I did the "quinzhee or die" snow cave trip with my wilderness class about a month ago; I went to Mt. Rainier and Olympic National Parks a week later to study volcanoes, natural disasters and such; it was so much fun, pretty much non-stop learning and talking and traveling every day. Took me a while to make up for lost sleep from traveling and school work and being sick. Finally feeling pretty good though!
Also was psyched that my lovely doctor friend Kim, who sadly moved to Portland for her residency a year ago, was in town for a couple weeks! I got to meet her boyfriend, drink margaritas and watch basketball, and then hit up some delightful March powder at Breckenridge. She's my original telemark ski inspiration and her advice was soooo helpful, I'm mad at her for going home. ;) Just kidding (sortof)! The good news is she can come out to Colorado for a month for her residency next February! Yay! She wants me to come out to Portland for her 30th birthday to run a 1/2 marathon, but the furthest I've ever run is 7 miles... and overtraining recently gave me a mild case of plantar fascitis! We shall see, I have until June...
I started my unpaid wildlife rehabilitation internship a couple weeks ago. The baby squirrels are starting to arrive, but so far I've tended to the needs of some rather cranky waterfowl. The house finch is cute and scared to death, but I love giving him his little bowl of fresh fruit. He loves grapes! The pigeon got a new roommate, a dove... Pretty easy to deal with them. We have 2 Canada geese, and we have an uneasy cooperative relationship right now. As long as I feed them first, then leave them alone for a while before I come back to do any cleaning, they seem to almost tolerate my intrusion. Otherwise it's a lot of hissing. The real bastard is the swan! It's apparently a domestic swan and it's HUGE. I swear its head is up to my chest or higher! And he is NOT happy to see us. I took on the task of getting way back into his cage and washing it out with the hose; somehow, I made it out alive and he didn't even freak out on me. Stress kills wildlife pretty easily so it's very important to cause as little stress as possible... but what about me?! Having a bird that big hissing and coming after me stresses ME out! ;)
Tim and I went skiing in the Park last weekend after that awesome dump of snow refreshed the crusty, melting leftovers. We went up from Bear Lake Road towards Flattop Mountain, then took a right and followed the trail towards Odessa. Somebody put in an aweful trail that made NO sense, so we went a bit out of our way... eventually went past the Banana Bowl to the Drift and guess what, the wind was HORRIBLE. It LITERALLY knocked both myself AND Tim (big strong burly Tim!) over! I could barely breathe, asthma does NOT like cold air being violently forced into my lungs. I can't even guess how windy it was, probably some of those gusts at least 60+ mph. On top of that I'm not that great on skis; by the time I got to the Drift, between the wind and fatigue, there was no way I was gonna get any tele turns in. I was pretty cranky at that point. We turned around and our trip took about 4 hours total... literally 3 hours 40 minutes to get there, 20 minutes to get back!! I was pretty damned scared of how steep and through the trees it was on the trail we blazed ourselves, but I made it out ok and had fun. Gotta keep hitting the gym so I can go out a few more times for spring skiing in the backcountry!
Oh yeah, and Tim is becoming a conspiracy theorist. :P I despise some of these "reporters" that he has shown me, just so happens they are conservatives but even any liberal that is as derogatory or disrespectful just plain pisses me off. The loudmouth type, YELL first ask questions later type... think radio talk show. I wish I could remember this one arsch's name, but then again I don't want to promote him. The one thing I will admit is that the whole Sept 11th attack is mighty suspicious.... We watched this Architects and Engineers for 9-11 DVD and I'm sold, it sure as hell looks like those buildings were demolished via explosives INSIDE the buildings. Don't jump down my throat if you disagree.... watch the DVD. What really got me is that 3rd building that fell... the one that the planes did NOT hit... It sure as hell looks just like those videos of imploding old casinos in Las Vegas! What's up with that?!
He's also getting into this "New World Order" thing about Obama wanting to take over the world or something. I don't know much about it but I'm not sold on that. We also went and saw that Nicholas Cage movie, "Knowing"... I actually really enjoyed it. ;) You know they say the world is going to end in 2012 right? I figure, why freak out about it. If the Apocalypse comes, or if a big solar storm destroys Earth, there's not much I can do about it. So I have a lot of shit to do in the next 3 years. Then again, didn't some other prophecy say the world would end in 2018? Besides the naysayers saying the world would end in 1999, 2000, 2003, 2009... Ha ha. Maybe I'll just pretend it will end in 2015, a nice comprimise. Guess I got a lot of traveling to do between then and now, "just in case". Of course, my plan is to move up to Alaska and homestead. You know, grow my own food and gotta have chickens of course. This part I'm not kidding about. To live a self sufficient life, solar power and off the grid... Yeah, that's my dream.
Everybody is freaking out about the government taking over the car companies.... really, is socialism that bad? Canadians seem to enjoy it. ;)
That's what's floating around in my head for now.
Wait for it...
Wait for it...
APRIL FOOLS!
I do this to Tim every April Fools Day, and he has never once fallen for it. I figure my mom might poop a cat, so I thought I'd give it a try. Then again, she knows me pretty well so she probably won't fall for it either. Now, if I were to say I just adopted 3 puppies, she'd probably believe that (because I probably WILL do that sooner than later!).
Speaking of puppies, I'm supposed to be busy doing homework but I feel like I accomplished a lot today so far, so I was inspired by Tara's facebook selection of her favorite dogs... So I started looking at Wikipedia dog breeds. Apparently, besides German Shepherds (the best dog in the world), I have a thing for rare northern breeds. So this is my puppy "wish list"; if nothing else, learn a little bit about some neat dogs that I had never heard of before. When I make it to Alaska some day and raise my own sled dogs, this might be much more relevant!
The Canadian Inuit Dog (Wikipedia): Like a malamute on 'roids
Here's a Canadian Breeder's website for them
Tamaskan Dog: Another sled dog, this one is from Finlad... looks wolfy but isn't a wolf
Czechoslovakian Wolfdog: shepherd with eurasian wolf generations ago
Utonagan: a mix of husky, german shepherd and malamute, what bliss! plus it looks like a wolf, but isn't a wolf. ;) sled-dog potential perhaps?
And the Northern Inuit Dog (different from the Canadian one): another husky, malamute, gsd mix... though in my quick search there is a debate about Inuit sled dogs vs hybrids just using the term inuit... oh well I like the pictures anyway. To be researched another day...
And of course, since the internet is full of random stuff... Tell me, have you ever heard of a breed of cat called a CHEETOH?! Pretty groovy looking. Too bad I don't have a good working relationship with felines (ACHOO)... I think cats know I'm allergic and they go out of their way to be friendly just to make me sneeze!
What else have I been up to? I did the "quinzhee or die" snow cave trip with my wilderness class about a month ago; I went to Mt. Rainier and Olympic National Parks a week later to study volcanoes, natural disasters and such; it was so much fun, pretty much non-stop learning and talking and traveling every day. Took me a while to make up for lost sleep from traveling and school work and being sick. Finally feeling pretty good though!
Also was psyched that my lovely doctor friend Kim, who sadly moved to Portland for her residency a year ago, was in town for a couple weeks! I got to meet her boyfriend, drink margaritas and watch basketball, and then hit up some delightful March powder at Breckenridge. She's my original telemark ski inspiration and her advice was soooo helpful, I'm mad at her for going home. ;) Just kidding (sortof)! The good news is she can come out to Colorado for a month for her residency next February! Yay! She wants me to come out to Portland for her 30th birthday to run a 1/2 marathon, but the furthest I've ever run is 7 miles... and overtraining recently gave me a mild case of plantar fascitis! We shall see, I have until June...
I started my unpaid wildlife rehabilitation internship a couple weeks ago. The baby squirrels are starting to arrive, but so far I've tended to the needs of some rather cranky waterfowl. The house finch is cute and scared to death, but I love giving him his little bowl of fresh fruit. He loves grapes! The pigeon got a new roommate, a dove... Pretty easy to deal with them. We have 2 Canada geese, and we have an uneasy cooperative relationship right now. As long as I feed them first, then leave them alone for a while before I come back to do any cleaning, they seem to almost tolerate my intrusion. Otherwise it's a lot of hissing. The real bastard is the swan! It's apparently a domestic swan and it's HUGE. I swear its head is up to my chest or higher! And he is NOT happy to see us. I took on the task of getting way back into his cage and washing it out with the hose; somehow, I made it out alive and he didn't even freak out on me. Stress kills wildlife pretty easily so it's very important to cause as little stress as possible... but what about me?! Having a bird that big hissing and coming after me stresses ME out! ;)
Tim and I went skiing in the Park last weekend after that awesome dump of snow refreshed the crusty, melting leftovers. We went up from Bear Lake Road towards Flattop Mountain, then took a right and followed the trail towards Odessa. Somebody put in an aweful trail that made NO sense, so we went a bit out of our way... eventually went past the Banana Bowl to the Drift and guess what, the wind was HORRIBLE. It LITERALLY knocked both myself AND Tim (big strong burly Tim!) over! I could barely breathe, asthma does NOT like cold air being violently forced into my lungs. I can't even guess how windy it was, probably some of those gusts at least 60+ mph. On top of that I'm not that great on skis; by the time I got to the Drift, between the wind and fatigue, there was no way I was gonna get any tele turns in. I was pretty cranky at that point. We turned around and our trip took about 4 hours total... literally 3 hours 40 minutes to get there, 20 minutes to get back!! I was pretty damned scared of how steep and through the trees it was on the trail we blazed ourselves, but I made it out ok and had fun. Gotta keep hitting the gym so I can go out a few more times for spring skiing in the backcountry!
Oh yeah, and Tim is becoming a conspiracy theorist. :P I despise some of these "reporters" that he has shown me, just so happens they are conservatives but even any liberal that is as derogatory or disrespectful just plain pisses me off. The loudmouth type, YELL first ask questions later type... think radio talk show. I wish I could remember this one arsch's name, but then again I don't want to promote him. The one thing I will admit is that the whole Sept 11th attack is mighty suspicious.... We watched this Architects and Engineers for 9-11 DVD and I'm sold, it sure as hell looks like those buildings were demolished via explosives INSIDE the buildings. Don't jump down my throat if you disagree.... watch the DVD. What really got me is that 3rd building that fell... the one that the planes did NOT hit... It sure as hell looks just like those videos of imploding old casinos in Las Vegas! What's up with that?!
He's also getting into this "New World Order" thing about Obama wanting to take over the world or something. I don't know much about it but I'm not sold on that. We also went and saw that Nicholas Cage movie, "Knowing"... I actually really enjoyed it. ;) You know they say the world is going to end in 2012 right? I figure, why freak out about it. If the Apocalypse comes, or if a big solar storm destroys Earth, there's not much I can do about it. So I have a lot of shit to do in the next 3 years. Then again, didn't some other prophecy say the world would end in 2018? Besides the naysayers saying the world would end in 1999, 2000, 2003, 2009... Ha ha. Maybe I'll just pretend it will end in 2015, a nice comprimise. Guess I got a lot of traveling to do between then and now, "just in case". Of course, my plan is to move up to Alaska and homestead. You know, grow my own food and gotta have chickens of course. This part I'm not kidding about. To live a self sufficient life, solar power and off the grid... Yeah, that's my dream.
Everybody is freaking out about the government taking over the car companies.... really, is socialism that bad? Canadians seem to enjoy it. ;)
That's what's floating around in my head for now.
Friday, March 6, 2009
From one adventure to the next... Hello Washington!
Busy!
Last weekend was my "quinzhee or die" field trip for my wilderness class. We went up to the Michigan Ditch road near Cameron Pass and, with Nokhu Crags in the background, mounded up our piles of snow. For hours. I mean, probably like 5 hours with 3 people. It was ridiculous. Our quinzhee started at a good size (10 foot radius) but somehow in all the shovelling it became a beast of snow. Other groups called it the "spirit turtle" because well, it looked like a turtle.
Next time I build a snow hut, there will NOT be a long tunnel entrance. Waste of time and a pain to dig!
I don't have time to write more about it but I ended up mostly not freezing my butt off all weekend. Sleeping with my wet clothes/frozen water bottle (to thaw it) didn't feel all that great but only my feet were cold. The quinzhee was significantly warmer than outside (maybe 0-5 degrees F outside, 20-30 degrees F inside??) but I didn't sleep very well - my sleeping bag was on a slope and I kept rolling, and I just couldn't get my neck comfortable!
We spent Sunday learning avalanche rescue and snow pit stuff. There's a pretty funny video of my 3 person group practicing with a transceiver...
I had a bunch of tests/papers due this week, and leave for Washington tomorrow for my Park Break thing. Woo hoo! In the midst of being busy I decided to waste more time and buy a new laptop. My old one has been on the fritz for a while (screen doesn't feel like working all the time) so what the heck, went to Best Buy and bought a new one last night. It takes SO much time to get rid of all the pre-loaded crap and customize it properly, when I really should be getting my apartment straightened and packing for my 5 am drive to the airport tomorrow morning.
Speaking of the apartment, I did finally move! I now live DOWNTOWN Estes. Yeah, crazy huh, I'm in the middle of all the tourist drama now! It's small but it's cute and coming together pretty nicely. And the best part is I was able to pull my delightful mattress out of storage for the first time since last May... no more sleeping on government beds or my futon! Wooo!
Been on a bit of a fitness craze lately, it will be nice when I'm in a little better shape and can run from my new place, around the lake, and back.... perhaps a 5 mile run?? Not quite there yet... plus the damn wind is just unrelenting lately. Ahhh, spring in Estes.
So tomorrow I fly to Seattle and then will be picked up by the Park Break folks and whisked away to Mt Rainier National Park to study dam removal and volcano stuff. I believe on Monday I will then go to Olympic National Park and study glaciers and the fact that the park is pretty screwed; many of the rivers now sit higher than their roads/infrastructure. Flooding left the park pretty nasty in 2006 and it will probably just keep happening. I'm so excited! I think there's about 6-7 people so it's a small, intensive field study and looks like it goes all day until the evening (some programs at 7:30 pm). I have so many friends between Portland and Seattle that I really wanted to see, but looks like I'm on a short lease and a full schedule. Oh well, they can come out here. ;)
Actually Kim flies in on Wednesday from Portland, the same day I get back! I'm not sure what her schedule is; Tim was planning a backcountry cabin ski trip to the North Fork NEXT weekend (no rest!) but I'm not sure if I'm going or not. Kim may be going to Telluride, and maybe we'll do some skiing and goofing off. Karaoke too, and make total asses of ourselves. ;)
Oh and we went to the Red Wings - Avs game on Wednesday and of course they didn't let me down. GO WINGS! I was worried considering the Wings had not won against Colorado yet this year (hey, the Wings killed them EVERY GAME last year so don't rub it in) but we wallowed in victory in the posh club level again. We had some rowdy good natured Avs fans behind us, and Univ. of Michigan Alumni all to my right (we got our tickets through the Alumni Association), it was a good mix. I still can't get over how many Wings fans live in Colorado though! It's enough that we get a good stadium-wide cheer going. When the Avs would say, "Red Wings Suck!" we'd start up with, "Who's Got the CUP?!" ha ha ha!!!
Ok back to being semi-productive. Will take a lot more photos in Washington than on my snow cave trip... should be rainy but hopefully a bit warmer (though it's looking like 40 degrees the whole time).
Last weekend was my "quinzhee or die" field trip for my wilderness class. We went up to the Michigan Ditch road near Cameron Pass and, with Nokhu Crags in the background, mounded up our piles of snow. For hours. I mean, probably like 5 hours with 3 people. It was ridiculous. Our quinzhee started at a good size (10 foot radius) but somehow in all the shovelling it became a beast of snow. Other groups called it the "spirit turtle" because well, it looked like a turtle.
Next time I build a snow hut, there will NOT be a long tunnel entrance. Waste of time and a pain to dig!
I don't have time to write more about it but I ended up mostly not freezing my butt off all weekend. Sleeping with my wet clothes/frozen water bottle (to thaw it) didn't feel all that great but only my feet were cold. The quinzhee was significantly warmer than outside (maybe 0-5 degrees F outside, 20-30 degrees F inside??) but I didn't sleep very well - my sleeping bag was on a slope and I kept rolling, and I just couldn't get my neck comfortable!
We spent Sunday learning avalanche rescue and snow pit stuff. There's a pretty funny video of my 3 person group practicing with a transceiver...
I had a bunch of tests/papers due this week, and leave for Washington tomorrow for my Park Break thing. Woo hoo! In the midst of being busy I decided to waste more time and buy a new laptop. My old one has been on the fritz for a while (screen doesn't feel like working all the time) so what the heck, went to Best Buy and bought a new one last night. It takes SO much time to get rid of all the pre-loaded crap and customize it properly, when I really should be getting my apartment straightened and packing for my 5 am drive to the airport tomorrow morning.
Speaking of the apartment, I did finally move! I now live DOWNTOWN Estes. Yeah, crazy huh, I'm in the middle of all the tourist drama now! It's small but it's cute and coming together pretty nicely. And the best part is I was able to pull my delightful mattress out of storage for the first time since last May... no more sleeping on government beds or my futon! Wooo!
Been on a bit of a fitness craze lately, it will be nice when I'm in a little better shape and can run from my new place, around the lake, and back.... perhaps a 5 mile run?? Not quite there yet... plus the damn wind is just unrelenting lately. Ahhh, spring in Estes.
So tomorrow I fly to Seattle and then will be picked up by the Park Break folks and whisked away to Mt Rainier National Park to study dam removal and volcano stuff. I believe on Monday I will then go to Olympic National Park and study glaciers and the fact that the park is pretty screwed; many of the rivers now sit higher than their roads/infrastructure. Flooding left the park pretty nasty in 2006 and it will probably just keep happening. I'm so excited! I think there's about 6-7 people so it's a small, intensive field study and looks like it goes all day until the evening (some programs at 7:30 pm). I have so many friends between Portland and Seattle that I really wanted to see, but looks like I'm on a short lease and a full schedule. Oh well, they can come out here. ;)
Actually Kim flies in on Wednesday from Portland, the same day I get back! I'm not sure what her schedule is; Tim was planning a backcountry cabin ski trip to the North Fork NEXT weekend (no rest!) but I'm not sure if I'm going or not. Kim may be going to Telluride, and maybe we'll do some skiing and goofing off. Karaoke too, and make total asses of ourselves. ;)
Oh and we went to the Red Wings - Avs game on Wednesday and of course they didn't let me down. GO WINGS! I was worried considering the Wings had not won against Colorado yet this year (hey, the Wings killed them EVERY GAME last year so don't rub it in) but we wallowed in victory in the posh club level again. We had some rowdy good natured Avs fans behind us, and Univ. of Michigan Alumni all to my right (we got our tickets through the Alumni Association), it was a good mix. I still can't get over how many Wings fans live in Colorado though! It's enough that we get a good stadium-wide cheer going. When the Avs would say, "Red Wings Suck!" we'd start up with, "Who's Got the CUP?!" ha ha ha!!!
Ok back to being semi-productive. Will take a lot more photos in Washington than on my snow cave trip... should be rainy but hopefully a bit warmer (though it's looking like 40 degrees the whole time).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)