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!