| 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 |
| October 10, 2006
5 days left!! Don't forget to bring a PHOTO ID so you can get on base. The ceremony starts at 10am. See the wedding pages for directions and other info. |
| September 15, 2006
ONE MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| June 29, 2006
Today's Quote: I may not be a doctor, but I know there is no better cure for a sour face than a couple of boards and some choice waves. - David (Lilo & Stitch) |
| June 27, 2006
The first day of summer has come and gone. It sure is nice to be home for the summer. I've been surfing and hanging out at the beach and really enjoying my bike rides to work. The flowers are in bloom and people are out running, walking and biking. I can peek out the windows at work and see plenty of people enjoying the water and I wish I could join them. I celebrated International Surf Day with a girls-only surf session at Tourmaline. I caught one wave, then one caught me and I figured that made us pretty even, but I guess I was wrong because I also received a few bruises. The water was so warm, I was able to "trunk it" despite the fact that several others were still wearing fullsuits. Saturday was the Ocean Beach Street Fair which was a blast, and surprising not super-crowded (just nice-crowded). We got to see Brain Buckit play and got the great news that Amy and Corey have moved back to San Diego. Yay!! 
For those who haven't heard, there are some huge fires in New Mexico right now, as is the norm for this time of the year. The Bear Fire is smack-dab in the middle of our study area (or, where our study area was since we aren't doing field work this year). It started last Monday and raged out of control for the better part of last week. They are finally getting it somewhat under control; 71% contained as of this morning per the Morning Report. I've been in contact with some former field crew members who live or work in the area. The mushroom cloud picture was taken by Dan, who lives in Glenwood (about 90 minutes from camp), on the day the fire started.
The map is from the New Mexico Fire Information website. Our base camp is near the top of the map between the Airstrip and Negrito Work Center. The fire is covering the majority of our study area. All the people (campers, Forest Service) in the area were evacuated shortly after the fire started. My hope is that is was a fast moving fire that cleared out the underbrush but still left the bigger trees (for the owls of course!). I talked with Gary who is stationed in Reserve while he works logistics on a few other smaller fires. He said that it is pretty crazy out there. He's seen Chuck in his element, running logistics for the Bear Fire. So as I sit at my office everyday, I try not to worry too much about my owls. The owlets (if there were any this year, it has been very dry) would be able to fly by now so hopefully they got out in time. On the brighter side, we weren't out there having to evacuated ourselves and all our equipment.
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| June 14, 2006
May grey, June gloom. It has been so long since I've been home during this time of year; I'd forgotten what it was like. May was a whirlwind of activities, mostly on the weekend. We spent five straight weekends anywhere but home. Destinations ranged from San Jose to Baja and various places in between. We got skilled at the fast weekend packing. Not to say it wasn't fun - we had a blast visiting people, celebrating birthdays, weddings and kitchens. We went to a wedding in San Jose and turned it into a mini-vacation weekend, driving through Half Moon Bay and visiting UC Davis for Picnic Day (pictures). We celebrated Prem's 40th birthday, Erik & Casey's new kitchen and saw Jake Shimabukuro (an a-MAZ-ing 'ukulele player), all in LA over the course of three weekends. Clarke took a surf trip down to Baja and my mom and I went to LA to visit my sister. Then finally we were able to spend a weekend at home hiding from the tourists that flocked to San Diego for the holiday weekend. And I used to think we were homebodies. Work is keeping me busy enough. Now that the 2005 report is finished (I say that lightly), we're working on the multi-year analysis combining six years of data to write one mondo report. And yours truly is in charge of the data mushing. As I progress backwards through our years of data, I want to go back in time and kick myself - my organizational skills have certainly improved in the five years I've been working here but unfortunately that doesn't help the fact that I have to interpret what the me of 2001 was thinking when I started this job. GRE studying is coming along; we're (Jen and I) hoping to take the test in July. I'm not exactly looking forward to it, but it's the next step. I am worried about the fact that the entire test is computer-based. I'm all for the advancement of computers, but when I'm taking a test, I like to scribble and makes notes and that is particularly difficult to do on a computer screen. I'm particularly dreading the essay portion of the test. Ah well, at least I can take it a few times if I need to. Wedding planning has slowed down quite a bit. I'm not complaining...I'm just surprised. The major contracts were settled a while ago so it has been minor stuff here and there. We started our registry and the shower and parties and in the early stages of planning. |
| April 26, 2006
Long time, no update. Needless to say, life has been busy. Wedding stuff has been taking up its fair share of time, along with work, hula, my new tahitian class (quite the workout!) and studying for the GRE. There isn't a lot of time to spare. I took a brief trip to New Mexico (only one week) to retrieve the rest of our equipment. It's too much to haul back every year so the stuff that is fairly hardy stays in storage in Silver City. Sam and I drove the truck and empty trailer out there, and spent a few days going through our dusty dirty stuff and hauled most of it back home. It was nice to see Chuck and El, Mr. and Mrs. Capshaw, Dana and Liz and of course, good ol' Silver. We took a trip to the Gila Cliff Dwellings and visited our two favorite Silver City restaurants. Now that we're back at the office we've been unpacking the dusty dirty equipment along with moving other things around in our roof storage. So thankfully all my time hasn't been spent sitting in front of a computer. I just found out today that I got accepted to present a poster at the Wildlife Society Conference this fall in Anchorage. That's right...this fall...about three weeks before the wedding. :) I'm excited and a definitely nervous, but I've been working with this stuff for over five years now, I think I know what I'm talking about (let's hope so anyways). My halau (hula group) is going on a study tour of Hawai'i over Memorial Day weekend. Clarke and I have decided to be money-smart and not go so that we can afford the wedding and honeymoon (woo hoo!). We're bummed about missing out on the great experience (not to mention vacationing with our hula sisters and brothers), but we're so excited about the wedding that it pales in comparison. We're still dancing and uke-ing away though, and I've even starting taking the 'ukulele class. Our halau performed at a convalescent hospital a few weeks ago for a friend's 96th birthday. So I'm going to try to update more often. It might not be earth-shattering news, more of a day-to-day (or week-to-week) thing, but it will happen more often. |
| February 12, 2006
Well, I suppose I need to post the biggest news first. We're engaged! Of course, most of you probably knew that by now. But that won't keep me from yelling it from the mountaintops. Or, in reality, mentioning it every chance I get. I'm excited, can you tell? For those who haven't heard the story, check out the wedding section of my website. And I've spent some time updating my site in general. Hope you enjoy the new design! Ok, the other piece of big news...I will NOT be going back to New Mexico this year. The contract has been renewed for one more year for data analysis but no more field work is going to be done. It's a bittersweet feeling really. I love the field but being home is the greatest thing. So anyways, take a look around...you'll see some new stuff, some old stuff. The plan is to update things a bit more regularly, so check back often! |
