time change

jet lag was a lot tougher coming home than going to china. and then last night i had to set my clock back. i didn't get an extra hour of sleep though. i did get an extra hour of work. i think i'm back to normal for sleep, whatever normal is considering i work 40 hours a week at my day job and 12-18 hours a week at the bar.

post-china

the time change going there wasn't that bad. the experiences had over there were wonderful. and now i'm so very glad to be home. i got in last night and of course it was halloween so i didn't get to sleep until very late. i'm hoping that the jet lag isn't too bad.

post-panic and pre-china

i love going to panic shows. the hardest part is saying goodbye when it's all over. but there's no time for missing the music, and the family i have among fellow fans. i have to start packing for my trip to china.

my mom and i are going on a tour of china for 16 days. the time change is going to be brutal. it's 14 hours ahead there and it's a very long flight. but i really can't wait to get there.

an average monday

or maybe not... after waiting over an hour for my Super Shuttle van to pick me up and having to rush through the airport to catch my plane I then got to sit on the plane for 40 minutes waiting for the toilet to be unplugged before we could take off. But I made it to Boise and grabbed a quick bite to eat before heading off to see Widespread Panic. A great show. Too bad they couldn't play in a smaller venue. There just weren't enough people there to fill the place. But those of us that were there had a blast. now i'm home (at my hotel - which is the best hotel suite I've ever stayed in) getting ready to go to work tomorrow. first thing i'm doing in the morning (besides breakfast) is quiting my job. i wish tomorrow was already over with.

home sweet home?

not sure that home is "home sweet home" this time. i like the idea of being home but all i want is to go back out on another fire. my apartment is a disaster and i am resisting doing laundry. it's nice to have some solitude and quiet but at the same time i really miss the drone of helicopters going back and forth overhead.

so for now i'm going to head out and say hi to some friends. maybe i'll do laundry tomorrow.

beds are overrated

i was excited to sleep in one but i feel like i sleep better when in my tent now. and this hotel bed is way too soft. a hard and unusual adjustment to make i figure. i'm thinking about sleeping on the hotel floor tonight. except i know it's not as clean as the inside of my tent. i wonder what the housekeeping crew would think if they walked in and found a tent set up in the room. maybe i'll do that. :-)

last day on fire assignment

so it's been a long few days. 20 days to be exact. on august 7th we moved from Lowman Ranger District office to an area on the outskirts of Garden Valley. this is a full blown fire camp with catered food lines, a shower trailer, and plenty of porta-johns. i'll miss fire camp. before camp was here this area was an empty field. now there's yurts with office like settings inside complete with internet, copy and fax machines, and air conditioning.

of course seeing as making maps is an essential part of managing a wildfire these days i get to be in the trailer with the computer support folks. it's been a blast. the trailer is incredibly dusty from their last assignment which was in arizona. one can't complain though, b/c at least we have a/c.

there is a "camp crew" which consists of a bunch of teens who clean camp, make sure every yurt and trailer has a cooler full of water, gatorade and ice. they empty the recycling and trash daily as well and hand out the bag lunches.

i love doing the work that i've been doing. i had the opportunity twice to go up in a helicpoter and GPS the perimeter of the fires that our team is managing. the first flight i went on was an A-Star. a small helicopter with bucky as the pilot. he did a great job of keeping one skid in the black and one in the green though i swear we were only 100 feet off the ground in most cases. i'd fly with him again any day. the other flight was a much larger aircraft and the pilot was not as nice as bucky but he was very skilled. it was a windy day and still no one got sick.

as excited as i am to sleep in a bed again i'll miss this job. i already cant' wait to go out on another assignment.

fire assignment

so i can't believe how much time has passed. it's been absolutely wonderful. who knew there was so much to learn and see and so many great people to work with even though for almost 16 hours a day i don't leave my desk. ok. that's not entirely true. i get up to run to deliver maps and to go pick up food we've ordered from the local deli.

so i'm in Lowman, ID. there's not much here. the span between the town and the Warm Springs Airstrip where our helibase is located has 3 places to eat. i LOVE the deli for breakfast and lunch. and the Sourdough Lodge and Haven Lodge both have been having great specials for dinners. but none of the places are used to 20-25 people walking in starving every single night for a few weeks in a row. besides the Sourdough has been feeding some of the fire crews. the guys love it (i've noticed they like to get the milkshakes) and it's cheaper than catering for the number that we have.

here are a few pics that i and others took during the first two weeks here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/rmtnfern/TrapperRidgeWFU

i love this. i only miss a few of my friends and wish i had cell service. i might go to town tomorrow and give some of them a call.

finally going

i thought i would never get to leave. and just when i was busy with several projects i get the first of what will most likely be many many calls today. now it's time to go home and do laundry.

new distant cousin

my dad and step-mom were here for a quick visit and we were talking about different parts of town and friends i had that lived in these different parts of town. i mentioned two of my friends names and my step-mom looked at me funny and asked what the girl looked like. i thought it was an odd question, but then she wanted to know where she was from, what kind of job she has, and if she was in wisconsin last month. um. wierd. turns out. my friends little cousin is my second cousin on my dad's side. how wierd.

the world is a small place. always treat the people you meet with courtesy and respect for you never know, you might be part of their family.

and my family grows ever bigger.

soccer rules

this is truely a great article and it makes me wonder what can i do to make my city of denver a better place to live?

http://www.westword.com/2007-07-05/news/community-pitch/1

and i don't wonder why i love soccer so much even though as a kid i never had the opportunity to play it. is it too late to start now?

so much for spring cleaning...

so much for spring cleaning yesterday. my friends from the midwest called me and came and picked me up not more than 5 minutes later. the only thing i regret all day was being rushed and forgetting my camera.

riding down the street with them yelling "Happy 4th of July!!!" to every pedestrian they saw i realized it would be a long but very funny day. sure enough we soon stopped at K-Mart and bought a huge backyard swimming pool. we proceeded to our friends house (all the while still shouting greetings to folks out the windows). setup of the pool went surprisingly smooth with 6 guys helping and no directions being read. after a while it was up to our ankles as we put chairs into the pool and cooled our feet. a few hours later the water was up to the seats of the chairs and we all got out and sat around the outside of the pool. it seemed like moments later (but who knows for sure) that we had our first swimmer. he came running across the patio, jumped into the pool, creating a huge wave event that took out two of us. the soaking was nice and cool until the clouds drifted over making it a tad chilly.

the grill was fired up and massive amounts of food were consumed. we, along with every other household in the neighborhood enjoyed our own fireworks as dusk fell. the dogs HATED them. i napped with two of the dogs while most everyone else went on a trek up the hill to watch fireworks all over the front range. another session with the grill left us all very satisfied. i left a few hours later before the next round of folks ended up in the pool.

a wonderful holiday. happy birthday america and to a few friends. cheers.

happy birthday

i'm glad for the day off to relax. my life has been wonderful of late but it's been moving a touch fast. today is for spring cleaning, naps, and making sure everything is in order should i have to leave town for work. i'll celebrate america's and my friend's birthdays from home. though if i get cabin fever i may head out tonight for some fireworks. i should actually be able to see them from in my apartment.