It's been a long time ...

It's now March 2010 ... and I haven't posted a thing on this blog since September. Why? Lazy I guess ... or maybe I didn't have anything to say. Now that would be unusual ... for me.

Thanksgiving and Christmas have passed by ... along with a visit from the Alaskans. We had a wonderful time with them, and it was a whirlwind visit to say the least.

Vacations ahead ... yes, we're planning stuff. Washington DC in May, Western Canada coupled with an Alaskan cruise in mid-August. Yes, an Alaskan cruise ... something I never thought we'd do ... but we decided to give it a try. It will give us an opportunity to see a part of Alaska that we may not get to see anytime soon, or by any other means.

That's it for now. Hopefully I can get philosophical or say something meaningful one of these posts ... ha!

adios ...

one week

One more week until I zoom off to the wilds of Denali. Well, the wilds of Fairbanks first. Then Denali.

Co-workers are asking me what I'll be doing up there ... and when I explain, they give me that side-ways glance, as if to say, "you, my friend, are a strange one". Yup. That would be me.

Three day weekend coming up too. And actually a decent weather forecast. Looks like some hiking & canoeing are in order!

Neglect

I haven't written anything on this blog for over a month ... and there had been a long lapse between previous posts as well. Nothing to write about? No, not at all. Just haven't had the ambition to put anything down in the blog. Lazy? More like procastination.

In two weeks I should be in the Denali backcountry ... volunteering for the NPS as a Backcountry Observer. For a whole week!! I can hardly believe that this is happening.

A few months back I was surfing the web, looking at NPS jobs, and ran across a Volunteer America webpage, and just out of curiousity, checked the Alaska page for volunteer opportunities. Lo and behold, there was this Backcountry Observer position, and people were needed for hunting season, or at least until September 25th or so. I filled out the application, submitted it, and waited for some sort of response. And then I e-mailed my daughter-in-law up in Alaska ... she's the volunteer coordinator for APLIC (which is part of the NPS) ... she contacted her counterpart at Denali and put in a "good word" for me. In early August I received a call from Ranger Scott at Denali ... about the position! We exchanged several e-mails, and I confirmed my interest in the opportunity ... and then I was set ... September 12 to September 19!

Of course, no problem getting the time off at work. I have the best boss around, most definitely. She's probably more excited than I am!

So now I'm getting ready ... I have dehydrated meals to take with me, and I'll be bring a variety of clothes. I'll borrow equipment from Patrick once I get to Fairbanks. Awesome!!

In the meantime, we've gone canoeing a bit, exploring the Raquette River a couple times, and likewise for the West Branch of the Sacandaga. A lot of fun.

The weather has been uncooperative ... lots of rain this summer. And I mean LOTS of rain. Which kept the bugs around much longer than they needed to be. Mosquitoes and deer flies ... in great abundance all summer long. Crazy.

over two months later ...

I haven't written anything for over two months ... just didn't have much of anything to say. Not that I do at the moment either.

Layoffs ... not gonna happen now ... the gov and the unions worked out a deal. Like we all knew they would. And everyone looks like a winner.

Job ... going great. Love it.

Maine! We went to Maine for a "long weekend" (5 days) ... I love downeast Maine, and it's one of the places I would love to live (there or Homer, Alaska). We walked and hiked every day ... we took the dogs!! They had a blast. Fog? of course. Skeeters? of course. Clouds? of course. but we did have some sun & we managed to spend an entire afternoon on a beach, all by ourselves (in Petit Manan Wildlife Refuge)!! Hit heavy rain around Boston, and then near Albany... where a dashboard warning light came on and the car bucked all the way home (throttle issues). Took the car in right away ... their diagnosis? moisture in the throttle system.

The car. A disappointment. It has lots of room, reasonable gas mileage, but it seems to be a money pit. Brakes, tie rods, etc. We have toyed with the idea of getting a different car, maybe a used Escape. I dunno.

Weather. We have had little summer this year. Lotsa rain. Lotsa cool weather. Unreliable forecasts.

Canoeing! We went down the Spruce Lake outlet a week ago ... very very nice!

Hiking!! Pharoah Lake today ... Hadley Mtn a few weeks ago. Squeezed in those hikes between rain days.

And that's all she wrote.

it's been a while ...

since I've posted anything.

Took a short trip to Florida to meet my sister & discuss the health situation of our parents ... we accomplished a few things, but there's still more to do for them. It's tough to see your parents get so frail ... even our Dad is showing his 89 years. And there's much to do around their house & they really don't see it ... we washed windows, planted flowers, trimmed bushes ... but ran out of time.

Florida is not my cup of tea ... too flat, too hot ... and it's like rows and rows of masoleums, no one around during the day, and very few in the morning & evening either.

But it's the weekend again ... and Mother's Day as well! We'll have fun!!

looking ahead ...

Well ... the union meeting was last night, and it was the typical dysfunctional gathering. The initial presentation was pretty good (regarding civil service rules about a reduction in workforce). But then the floor was opened for questions and comments ... and it's apparent that those in charge (at the union) aren't really interested in hearing views/opinions that differ from their own. And then you could feel the discord between those employees who've been working for the state for quite a while and the 'newer' crowd.
What did we learn? Not a whole heck of a lot! But if there are any layoffs, it's going to be quite a while before anything comes to pass ... like in November or December. And then there may be choices to be made rather than accepting a layoff. Who knows? We'll just have to wait and see.

I am fighting a head cold ... the past two nights have been really rough, with my head plugged up despite the use of nasal spray. I'm taking amoxicillin now and that seems to be helping out.

Signed my evaluation this morning ... MT told me that I'm off probation now. Definitely good news!!

Saturday is supposed to be our first canoe jaunt of the season ... and it's supposed to be warm & sunny! Warm as in 80 degree temps! wow. It'll feel good to get out like that and enjoy the water.

it's freezing in here!

Okay ... much of the winter it was very cold in the office because the heat was never up very high ... and now the air conditioning is on, blowing cold air everywhere. And it's rainy, cloudy, and chilly outside. Amazing.
And to top that off I'm not feeling all that well ... went to bed last night feeling like I was coming down with a cold, and sure enough, that's what I have now ... stuffy nose, slight headache, general run-down feeling. At least it's supposed to get warm and sunny by the weekend so I'll be able to bake whatever bug is in me!
Tomorrow is our union dinner ... this should be interesting. The union president answered my email ... but his response seems to indicate that he only read part of the letter, or pretty much ignored the other things I said. But what else could I expect? Apparently the union doesn't take criticism very well.