Pre-Vacation Excitement!

Today, tomorrow, and the next day I leave! Well, after work, anyway...

I'm so excited! I've got my writing done for the week, so I won't have to worry about that while I'm gone; I did my laundry on Sunday night, so I'm ready to start packing this morning. Work is slowing down, and I've only got a few more weeks to put up with the grumpy vegan before he's gone (hopefully for good)! He actually got upset with me for bringing the museum a pack of 1's when they only had 6 left in the drawer - can you believe it!? I'm trying to figure out if that's retail ignorance or if he's really that full of himself.

Anyhow... this weekend was the first weekend I didn't get my hike or bike in: for one, I only had one day off; for another, my bike is currently out of commission. Next weekend the bike at least won't happen again because I'll be on vacation and I'm not bringing my bike along. So, with the exception of these two weeks, I've managed to do my hike and bike every weekend this season, just as I hoped, and I hope to continue that when I return from the coast.

This morning I'm going to knock another large item off my to-do list: I'm going to inventory all of my food, plan my meals, and write up a grocery list so that I won't have to go to the store next month at all. That's the hope, anyway. I just hope that the epic-looking food co-op in Sacramento isn't over-priced.

Fall is creeping up rather quickly now. The mornings (and evenings) are getting colder (by feel, if not by actual temperature all the time), and it's taking everything in my will to not get out the heater before I leave. (I have to wait 'til it's at least September, right!?) Eric says that the aspens will start changing color any day, and I sure look forward to that. But also with the coming of autumn is my own homecoming, which seems very likely to occur sometime between October 1st and November 15th, depending on how late I decide to stay at Bodie, and how much time I take in coming back. I might work through October just to make sure I've got the paycheck coming in for November, but I might decide that I'm just mentally spent and leave at the end of September or part-way through October... we'll see.

One-Day Weekend Extravaganza!

Sitting in my church clothes - one button missing on my shirt, eating the remainder of some Haagen-Dazs chocolate ice cream - I didn't feel like being a complete pig last night, and trying to figure out how late I can leave.

I'm house-sitting for Mark and Lynn again, but I only got today off this weekend in preparation for my whirlwind mini-vacation next weekend. I drove up last night and spent the night watching Ondine, drinking a nice, cool fuzzy navel and eating chocolate ice cream. I slept wonderfully, though my extra-odd dream streak is continuing. I think that my subconscious is trying really hard to figure some things out right now.

I went to church this morning at Walker Baptist Church. The little place was packed with friendly people, and I was delighted to find that I had happened upon them on a potluck day. I LOVE church potlucks! If you didn't know already, my plan (if I ever get married) is to have a church potluck for my reception. (All of which will, of course, be coordinated by the magic of the internet so we don't end up with 5 green bean casseroles and no mini-sausages in sauce!) Anyhow, it was really nice to be able to fellowship with other Christians. The last time I did that was the fourth of July weekend in Bridgeport.

After a fun reminiscence of singing VeggieTales with some of my coworkers, one of those singing explained that we were all forced to listen to the same Christian music as children, and one not singing declared that all Christians must have been dropped on their heads as babies. I guess the reminiscing wasn't so fun after all. I love Bodie: it's a great place to work, with great coworkers, and great fun! God is very visible in the beauty of that place. But I miss the Christian fellowship that I can find in other places. I may have Sundays off, but that doesn't mean that I can afford to drive 23 miles to church every Sunday and 23 miles back again - an hour of driving for a little over 2 hours of fellowship. Maybe I'm just not trying hard enough, but I try to leave town as little as possible, if I can help it, to save on gas and to save my dad's car from that awful Bodie road.

But at the same time I feel as though I owe some sort of allegiance to Bodie. I'm part of the community there. It's where I got my start, and its where I've invested a lot of myself. I feel like they count on me in some respects - as if I have a future there. So could I give it up to do something else? even if that something else is a job that I've always wanted? And what if that something else doesn't work out - will I still be able to come back? Will Bodie wait for me? or will I have to wait for Bodie to open up room to hire me and, in the meantime, consign myself to the turbid swirling of the unemployment pool?

As much as I like it out here, I'm a Michigander at heart, and I long to be able to find fulfilling (and decently-paid) employment in my home. It's just that, so far, I have yet to find that. I'm sick of people bashing my home when the have never even been - they don't know the first thing about Michigan! As weird as it sounds, I even miss the ridiculously hot and humid days of summer because they were coupled by going to the beach and cooling off in the waves. Not to mention your skin doesn't get nearly as dry in the humidity of West Michigan as it does in the deserts of Arizona and California.

Anyhow - chances are I'll be coming home soon. Perhaps in October, perhaps in November. It all just depends. But I hope the time goes by fast, because I want to be with my family again.

Productive, or no?

I've been trying to be more productive lately, but I've definitely hit the excessive point on my computer use wave. C'est le vie, I suppose. I'm sure I'll be over it soon. Still, I have made a solid to-do list and have been hacking away at it one thing at a time.

But that doesn't mean I'm not still spending an excessive amount of time staring at a screen. For instance: starting last night and going until about 3 o'clock this afternoon, I watched all 12 episodes of Book One of the Legend of Korra on www.avatarchapters.tv. The last episode still made me cry the second time around.

Yet in spite of that, I have been rather productive. Today I baked my first-ever loaf of regular (non-dessert) bread. It turned out alright - very dense, but for my first time baking bread (and at over 8000' elevation with whole wheat flour) I think I did a pretty good job. And now I'll hopefully be able to satisfy my cravings for things like French Toast and Bread Pudding. Mmmm....

I also wrapped my handlebars on my bicycle - they're a bright and clean blue now and I'm fairly pleased with the wrap job. I don't think I've got the art perfected yet, but it's certainly coming along nicely. And this just in time for the big ride I hope to do tomorrow! I also reheated and added noodles to another defrosted bag of my homemade minestrone soup. Very delicious! I've still got two more quart-size bags in the freezer, so I'm pretty excited about that.

Now I'm watching "Gold" - a movie John lent to me on gold mining in South Africa - so that I can return it to his collection (yes, this is also on my to-do list). Then I also have to return the electrical tape that I nabbed for my handlebar finishing.

Anyhow, I think I've about had it with the computer for the day. Tomorrow I'm going to drive toward Mark and Lynn's, park at a Forest Service Day Use Area, then ride my bike up to their house to water the plants, then bike back. It should be a pretty good ride - and down a newly paved section of hwy 395, nonetheless! I have to 'get in shape' in case I do decide to do the High Sierra Fall Century in a few weekends.

VideoSong

So this is what I do with myself in my spare time:

In other news:

• I'm about to get my student consolidation loan paid off to under the $12,000 mark - my first goal to be met. Woohoo!! It's nice to be working a real job and making the big bucks so that I can pay these things off. I hate having debt!
• The job search continues. With at least 25 applications filled out, I have only gotten in the pool for 6 so far, and one of those I just heard back from that someone else was selected for the position. Other than that, I haven't heard back from any of the other 5. But after talking with long-time Bodie volunteer Ed, I may have a lead on winter (or spring) work that would at least keep me employed a few more months out of the year... more on that to come.
• I have finally established the dates for my mini-vacation to visit my aunt and uncle in the Bodega Bay area. It's been over 10 years since I was last at their home, and I look forward to seeing them and my cousins again. That'll be the tail end of August and the very beginning of September. It's only for a few days, but it's better than nothing!

Well, I think that about covers it for now. I need to start getting ready for work - these 8-hr work days sure give a lot of extra shoulder time in the work day!

Until next time!

Lightning Show

Currently listening to: Carve Your Heart, Dashboard Confessional
Currently eating: Pineapple Upside-down Cake with extra creamy whipped topping.
Currently watching: epic lightning show.

This morning the weatherman promised me that there would be rain. And he was right: he didn't lie to me. We got our storm clouds in by the afternoon and a nice sprinkling of rain. But just when we thought it was all over, I came out of Ed and Joanne's trailer to find the sky clouded over once more with whole horizons being lit up by lightning shudders that tear the space between light, energy, and sound with a crack! It's a truly beautiful thing.

This evening I showed Botswana photos to Ed and Joanne - we spent a good 2 hours looking, telling stories, asking questions. I think they enjoyed it, and I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to share so much again.

Tomorrow I'm going on a hike with Eric and Mark and Lynn - weather permitting (I'm not sure what we'll do if it's pouring!) - and I'm really looking forward to it. I've hardly gotten to see those two retirees more than two minutes since I got here because they're always always up to something!

I find myself wishing this evening (as I have on many evenings) that I owned the Avatar: The Last Airbender series on DVD so that I could pop in an episode and watch it before bed. They're short, fun, and unfortunately don't load well on my poor internet connection. Perhaps I ought to pay up the money and download them for my iTunes or something like that. Though I would much prefer to have the hard-copy DVD.

I just saw another mouse in the house - looks like I'll have to set up a trap again. Of course, Denise will flip. Perhaps she'll leave town this weekend...

Two Weekends of Relaxation

Alright - I've finally gotten things together enough to upload pictures from my last couple weekends, so here goes!

 My campsite at Grover Hot Springs was absolutely perfect - just the right size for one tent, secluded, surrounded by trees, just up the hill from the parking spot, and not even very buggy at all!

 Grover itself is a beautiful state park and I highly recommend it. This is their alpine meadow which is so beautiful and has a nice log bench that you can sit on and just stare at the scenery for hours.

 In the town of Markleeville, I stopped by the historical society museum and was delighted to find that they had a cute little stamp mill. Supposedly it's in working condition - I would love to come back when they are open some day and see if that's true.

 Now on to Cerro Gordo. "The Hill", as it was often called back in the day, was a silver mining town of a few thousand souls. Now it is just over a dozen buildings and has a steady population of 2, with the occasional other members of the Cerro Gordo family visiting to raise it a bit higher. This particular cabin (the little one-room in the bottom left corner) is the one I chose to remodel and move into - I did a concept drawing of the inside and outside and everything! ;)

 This is the Chinaman's house where Cecile and Roger stay when they are up there to help the caretakers. I got to stay in there - very nice little 3-room, 1/2 bath house.

 This is the view from town looking out over the Owens Lake bed and off into the Eastern Sierra. The large building with the balcony is the American Hotel - a very fine establishment and absolutely stunning on the inside.

 This is the Belshaw House - though it may not have been the Belshaw house. Another fine building where people come up and stay sometimes.

 And of course, I saw this on my way through Lee Vining while I was heading back this weekend and I fell in love. It's a beautiful truck - 1970 custom Chevy pickup. They want $3300 OBO for it, and personally I think it looks like a great candidate for running on wood... Hmm.... If you'd like to see more pictures from my weekends, click here.

Anyhow, it's good to be back in town. Things have settled and I'm happy to be here for the next couple weekends so I can save up for my big trip at the end of the month - I'll be taking some extra time off and driving to the coast to visit my relatives over there. My sense of taste seems to be improving - I would say I've just got dulled taste now, as I seem to be able to taste everything that I've eaten, just not very well. Still, dulled taste is better than no taste, I would say!

Keep on truckin!