Work, The President and Housemates

WORK

Hi all It has been a while since I have written but in all honesty not much has been going on since my last posting. I have completed the Raptor Surveys, YEAH! Now comes the report writing portion, BOO! I know that it is necessary but it means that I am stuck inside for a time. As of right now Bruce has not kept me in to write it which worries me a little. This means that it probably will not get done until the end of the summer which is jam packed full of activities. I would like to attempt a bit of writing now but I am out in the field doing so many other things.

So what are these other things that I am doing? Well the primary one that I have been assisting with is stream measurements. We are looking a fish crossings in the park and possibly getting money to redo a lot of culverts that currently do not allow fish to freely pass through. The primary concern is the Brook Trout. If this happens then there will be a lot of work for Bruce to hire for concerning this project. right now it is in its infancy so we shall see.

I have also been giving our precipice falcons some of my time lately. We originally thought that this new pair this year had attempted nesting twice. but on July 7th I found a juvenile on the cliff face that the adult birds were feed. To say that we were surprised by this event would be a great understatement. So I have been out watching and trying to determine approximately how old this bird is by its behavior. It has been some long hours in the driving sun but I can say that my farmers tan is progressing nicely.

We have also been watching a pair of common loons on Eagle Lake that started nesting really late in the season. We expect a hatch very soon, likely this weekend. We are really hopeful that this nest is a success because all the other nests that we watch and a local group watch have failed. So this is the only hope this season for a success. I will keep you all posted on what is happening there, hopefully I will be able to get some photos of the little ones.

The President

Well President Obama came to visit our little island this weekend. he arrived on Friday and left today. There were all kinds of preparations for his visit. The Law enforcement took the brunt of the meetings with the Secret Service and the planning of the visit so I don’t know too much outside of what I was involved with. I will say that I did not get to meet or even see the president or his motorcade. My roommate on the other hand did get to meet the President and his family yesterday. he happened to be at the right place at the right time, I am happy for him and jealous of him all at the same time. Lucky bastard.

My involvement extended only to traffic detail to ensure that the rerouted traffic made it efficiently through an intersection of the park. woohoo.

The only thing exciting that I got to do was on Friday there was a visitor that broke their ankle and I got to participate in the carry out of the patient. We were on the west side of the island and the incident happened at the top of a trail called the perpendicular trail. I got pulled from traffic duty because everyone else was taking care of the presidential visit. Add to that, there were two other injuries going on at the same time. The Rescue teams were spread thin and they just needed bodies to carry people. It was a great experience and I wouldn’t mind doing it again. the trail was maybe two miles long on the way out, it took about 20 people to get her safely out in three hours to accomplish.

HOUSEMATES

Well last night was a fiasco at the house. I have three housemates that are party animals. I don’t mind that so much but it is when they go out and then come back to the house that it becomes a problem. One of these three is LOUD, and if you know me that is saying something because I know that I am loud but this person is ridiculous. this person has a laugh that I honestly think can raise the dead. The other two aren’t so bad but when they come back form someplace that they have been out to it is a little much…especially when I have been asleep for a few hours and I am woken up by them. Last night just plain pissed me off. Me and Elliot, in our own rooms, where crashed out and they came crashing in the house last night and woke me from a dead sleep. I was mad. I got up and told them that maybe they should keep it down since Elliot was trying to sleep just 10 feet away and that since they woke me up and i sleep up stairs it was probably a little loud. One girl as i was walking away said ‘but its Saturday’ and i shot back that ‘its after 10 o’clock’ (which is quite hours in shared housing) to which she said again ‘but its Saturday’. I just let it drop there. I heard them for a bit more and then finally they moved there little get together out side. I was very appreciative about this. I had thoughts that I would make a god awful racket this morning while getting ready to do laundry but I didn’t, I am too damned nice.

So my way of getting back at the one who said ‘but its Saturday’ is turning off her internet. She hasn’t paid yet so I feel justified in doing this. I know vindictive but at least i am on the high ground.

Whew, I feel better now that that is off my chest. so until next time…