unseasonably warm, nursing tomatoes, and flu I think

The weather has been way too warm -- particularly for a gal trying to get her deer and elk in early in the season. Drove up Rock Creek to Donaghue trailhead and only encountered a mere skiff of snow, and that only in the shade. NWS has the interior of the park with highs in the upper 40's to lower 50's. Ann bought a bunch of climate data and I'm going to try to get it sorted this weekend to check our weird year to the norm.

Though it has been too warm for hunting, the tomatoes came into the entry a month or so ago for a bit of babying. Mom started a couple for me this spring and pops delivered them for me - a cherry and a pear (both little tomaters). I bought another bigger plant in Bozeman for comparison. Mom's work was much better, as always. Even so, I was worried that by mid-August my yield was exactly 1 tomato.

Anyway, the yield got better and the addition of a grow-light (thanks mom) has kept things going into November. Actually there are a few new starts on one of the plants. I managed a couple gallon bags of tomaters. Not enough to can, but nice to have in the freezer to pop into pasta sauces, chili, or stew. Mom also put together a great mini-herb garden with 3 different varieties of basil, tarragon, parsley, and mint. They have been very nicely productive throughout the year and add a bit of green to my diet as well.

And on to the flu. At least I think it's the flu. It's also the reason I'm up writing in my blog at 0230 on a Thursday. I got pretty chilled during my hunting forays last week and weekend and wasn't feeling so hot on Sunday (chills, fever). Thought I could pull myself together, but no luck. Aims warned me that flu season had arrived (Mitch and Tuck were sick a few weeks ago) but I was convinced I would side-step the sick this year. No luck. I'm a horrible patient. I barely managed to take care of Bob's dogs and Michael's cat the past few days. It's great when a walk outside requires half an hour recovery time under a down comforter. Anyway, I'm feeling almost normal after a ridiculously long sleep/nap/sleep cycle. Really I don't know how long I was asleep. But now I'm wide awake in the wee hours so I figured taking the time to wash out my sweat-drenched linens and get my blog caught up would be a good use of my time.

Anyway, I gotta pull myself together and get into work early. Probably will need to work all weekend to get caught up as well. I loathe being sick.

MADE ME LAUGH

OK folks, here it is: The Humane-Restraint Suicide-Prevention SLEEPING BAG

ROFL

http://deals.woot.com/deals/details/e9148cf6-88c8-4d0a-9d2e-d6e0072245b2/humane-restraint-suicide-prevention-sleeping-bag#46

Random Rambles - Cheese

OK, so I just watched a PBS special (per Netflix) called, wait for it, "The Cheese Nun"

No, I have not gone crazy.

I'm thinking of branching out in my microbial endeavors and cheese seems to be the next logical step.

This ex-hippie now-nun from Connecticut decides to make cheese. Goes to U Conn and gets a doctorate in microbial ecology, wins a Fulbright to go to France to study fungi, ends up working there for a few years then coming back to her cloistered life in the US. She studied the diversity of fungi in regions throughout France and is a champion of the small cheesemaker (save the microbes!). Altogether a great story and worth a watch.

So I'm thinking about cheese. I love cheese. I love beer and cider and bread, and have tried to do my best with those microbes, so what the hell? Let's try cheese.

Mozzarella first - I wonder if I can get a bison to stand still for milking? (totally kidding)

Making Cider

OK, earlier in the summer I put out a call for apples. It was, however, a bit of a shock when I came into work one day and found a bushel in my office. With deer and elk season due to start on Saturday, I felt a bit rushed to get the cider pressed and fermenting into a luxurious amber alcohol.

What else does one do in Gardiner on a Wednesday night?

The plan:

chop apples into manageable chunks

run apples through the meat grinder

put pulp into cheesecloth in a collander over my big brew pot

squeeze pulp

repeat

The good news:

Trudy came in just as I was getting started. If not for her, a bushel of apples would be in the compost pile still with their juice.

You see, it's really hard to squeeze juice out of apple pulp with just your hands. Pulp squishes everywhere and it takes a lot of work.

So...

Trudy went for her juicer!

Not just any juicer either -- "The Champion" industrial juicer!

I called Ssej in for reinforcement (what the hell would I do without such great friends?) and we got to work. With a break in-between to video chat with Kendra on Skype, we managed to get through it all. 1 bushel of Paradise Valley apples = about 3.5 gallons of apple slurry.

Pasteurized on the stove, added a cup of corn sugar, half a cup of local honey, and 2 tablespoons of pectic enzyme (breaks down the solid bits). Poured it all into my new 3.5 gallon carboy and pitched some lovely English Cider Yeast. Can't wait.

THANK YOU TRUDY & JESSI!!!

...and Eddie was his usual helpful self

The Television Saga - really boring

So, I watch TV. Mostly DVDs, mostly things I have already seen (TV series, old movies). It's often just background noise while I clean or work on the computer, but I do have the TV on a lot.

So I bought a used "AKAI" 36" widescreen flat screen (not flat panel) TV earlier in the summer off of Craigslist. The thing weighs a ton and just barely fits on my corner unit. It's huge and I luv it.

Thursday the picture went funky. I was very sad and thought, well I should start looking on Craigslist again. But then decided to upgrade to a TV I could lift on my own. Off to town for shopping. Jessi gamely came along for moral support. Found a great deal on a 32" Philips and grabbed it.

On the drive back, joked to Jessi that when I got home the old TV would probably work fine...

...not so much a joke...

It works just fine. No problems. Picture and sound are great.

So now I have a 32" Philips flat panel in a box in my living room.

It's about $20 in gas to drive back to Bozeman, and a minimum 3 hour drive.

Blah.

waiting for data to copy from one place to another

This is what I spend most of my time doing.

moving data

renaming data

concatenating data

zipping up data

extracting data

merging data with other data

parsing data

editing metadata (data about data)

data collection

analysis

cartography

That's what I got in this line of work for. And instead I sit and manage data most of the time (at least that's what it feels like today.)

Conference time again

How do I get roped into these things?

When a friend pops in the office and asks if you would mind helping with the conference in October - the answer is "sure, no problem!"

Then October comes, the boss takes off for a couple weeks, and the conference rolls around.

I'm just a soft touch, I suppose.

Short (2 day + 1 evening) conference. Good to see old friends and co-workers who have moved on to other places and other jobs. Fun to commiserate with current friends and co-workers. Long days, but all in all a pretty good time.

Thomas, Suzanne, and Ginger are visiting for a few days as well - just touring the park and soaking.

Unfortunately I have a bushel of apples that need to be ground and juiced and sauced, but they will have to wait.

Busy fall days, but the weather is holding - frosty nights and bluebird sunny days. Can't ask for more than that!

no, it really was THAT busy this year...

As an aside, there are still late-season bus trips rolling through the park - I got in line behind a load of Asian visitors attempting to order fast food at McMammoth today.

Yellowstone National Park

P.O. Box 168

Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 5, 2010 10-114

Al Nash (307) 344-2015

----------------------------------------------------

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK NEWS RELEASE

----------------------------------------------------

Yellowstone Breaks September and Annual Visitation Records

It’s official. Yellowstone National Park has already broken last year’s record visitation figure, with three months left in the calendar year.

For the first time ever, Yellowstone National Park hosted over half a million visitors during September. The 550-thousand recreational visitors to the park last month shattered the previous September record of nearly 490-thousand set last year. September was the fourth record breaking month in a row for Yellowstone.

Park visitation during the first nine months of the year topped 3.41 million, above the 3.14 million who came to Yellowstone during the same period on 2009. With three months to go in 2010, year-to-date visitation has topped last year’s record annual visitation record of 3,295,187.

Visitors 2010 2009 Change

---------------------------------------------

May 250,445 261,763 - 4.3 %

June 694,841 643,844 + 7.9 %

July 957,785 900,515 + 6.4 %

August 854,837 752,983 + 13.5 %

Sept. 550,504 489,438 + 12.5 %

Total 3,416,905 3,143,816 + 8.7 %

Recreational Visitors September Year to Year Change

--------------------- ------ -------------------

2010 550,504 + 12.5 %

2009 489,438 + 11.9 %

2008 437,552 - 5. 7%

2007 463,994 + 8.3 %

2006 428,369 + 8.9 %

2005 393,362

Visitation figures were up at all five park entrances when compared to year-ago levels. The West Entrance remains the park’s busiest, with nearly 216,000 visitors in September.

July is typically the park’s peak visitation month, followed by August, June, September, and May. In 2009, the park recorded just over 150,000 visitors during the months of October, November, and December.

Detailed park visitation information is available online at http://www.nature.nps.gov/stats/.

- www.nps.gov/yell -

weird sleep schedules

I've been so tired lately. So very tired.

The dog doesn't help. I swear half the time he channels a human, the other half a cat. After drinking water he licks his paws, then he sleeps. He vacillates between the Zen "chicken-butt" pose, curled up in a compact ball, and the arching-backed, legs splayed "I can take up more space than you on the couch" position. And he snores. Just like having any other man around the house, really.

But I digress. It's 10:25 pm on a Monday and I woke up an hour and a half ago. Nothing quite like coming home from work so exhausted you pass out on the couch for 4 hours or so, then wake up in a daze to face a long sleepless night. Joy.

Add to that I have day 2 of training tomorrow. Another 8 hours sitting in an extremely uncomfortable folding chair at a plastic table in the former Mammoth Elementary School, talking about the possibility of becoming a supervisor. Drinking way too much coffee. Dreading heading back to my overstuffed email inbox at the office.

I'm rambling now. You should definitely stop reading.

I think I shall read my lecture on raster analysis. Nothing like a little fuzzy reclassification to put you right to sleep.

One day off...sorta

It's been quite a week. Work is not slowing down, seasonal employees are leaving, and we have 2 late-season fires to deal with. Top it all off with the boss taking off for 2 weeks leaving me in charge (how foolish is that?).

Anyway, all this means that when a Saturday shift needs to be covered, no one else wants it, so it's down to me to change my weekend plans.

Finally got some sleep at least, but I've been missing out on hanging out with the boys online at night. Today is catch-up day, working around the house. I'm doing a bit of fall house cleaning and sorting through some more books to get rid of. I figure the ones I don't need I can take to AZ at Thanksgiving. Cannot wait for that trip.

I'm managing to mix a bit of studying in, but it still seems like way too much to do and too few hours in the day. Well, back to work.

"half a skull"

Migraine is a neurological syndrome characterized by altered bodily perceptions, severe headaches, and nausea. Physiologically, the migraine headache is a neurological condition more common to women than to men.^[1][2] The word migraine was borrowed from Old French migraigne (originally as "megrim", but respelled in 1777 on a contemporary French model). The French term derived from a vulgar pronunciation of the Late Latin word hemicrania, itself based on Greek hemikrania, from Greek roots for "half" and "skull".^[3]

^{welcome to my world}

^{I thank my dad for these (thanks pops) but in this post-chemo/radiation world they seem to hit more often than before diagnosis. Supposedly going to a gluten-free diet is supposed to help but I have not gone that far. Yet.}

^{I feel like ass.}

^Blergh.

Another humanoid on the planet

Welcome to the world Jack! Kendra and Doug are the proud parents of a tiny poo machine.

I am so happy for them, and feel so bad for the kid 'cause he's gonna have to put up with all his non-related 'aunties' and 'funcles' who will pester him his whole life.

6lb 14 oz 19.74 inches

the picture catch-up episodes - in somewhat logical order

The dogs of Gardiner - Callie and Eddie passed out after play.
I titled this photo "3 dog night" - not that the three of them are the most energetic in the world, but they pass out well on the floor.

Spring road trip, Arizona to Montana. I started at a conference in Denver, flew to Phoenix, convinced pops to fly Tuck in from Shreveport. We spent a couple days in Arizona, then packed up for the migration north. I love their house down there. Here's pops and TJ looking at the green of the desert - lots of rain this spring down there.
CC and TJ in GRCA - Tuck was a baby when he was here last, and poppa had never been. We spent a fun day touring the south rim.

the picture catch-up episodes - continuation

Poppa's first visit (Tucker's second) to the Grand Canyon - had to DRAG him off the major byway, but I think it was worth it.
Poppa in his natural environment - looking at old cars - rural Utah.
The end of our trip - poppa visits the Tetons for the first time!
Squashy eggs and math homework - a typical morning for Tucks 6 weeks in Montana.
Tuck hiking into the Boiling River - we went a few times while he was here and the boy whose first words were "hot" and "pring" is happy as a clam. Just like his mom (and CC) - luvs soaking in hot water

Tuck enjoys the beauty of the Boiling River - and spots a badger across the Gardner River lol!
Ben and Tuck play rugby - Gardiner style
Poppa and TJ on the Lewis River. It's spring - the snow is almost gone!
CC and Mike hiking the Lower Geyser Basin, searching for Norris' road.
Ben in his happy place - the leather chair next to the TV, in Warcraft land.

The stupid things we do

1. Get sick 2 nights before the Park to Paradise Triathlon

OK, atm I am blaming the questionably old cream cheese I scarfed on crackers, but suffice it to say I woke up at 4 am Friday morning with severe gastrointestinal distress. Fell asleep on the bathroom floor, time unknown, and woke up at noon Friday on said floor.

2. Agree to work on the day before P2P

What the hell was I thinking? I have a TON of little projects to get done, and I arranged an afternoon meeting with Bob at the HRC. I have been volunteering for this race for like 9 years now - I should know better.

3. Call my boss immediately after waking up to explain what I'm doing today

This is basic. Don't know if I even made sense on the phone. 'Nuff said.

4. Agree to make 2 big pots of veggie-friendly chili for the P2P picnic

Again, thought this would be easy. I have a big tub of Bear Creek Damn Good Chili and it's really easy to make and spice up. Problem: read the ingredients (rendered chicken fat and beef broth) not a vegetarian delight. Off to the store to buy ingredients for my homemade chili (after above meeting) Tossing together ingredients quickly, water boiling, looking over meeting notes.

Pots boiling over on the stove, still tired and not feeling very well. Put together the signs for tomorrow and they look fine, still need to go up the hill and get vests. What a day.

Missing post?

So I spent a few hours downloading my 2 SD cards (6gb) of photos and video from the first half of the year (yikes), sorted through them, pulled some for the blog, resized them, and THOUGHT I got them posted last night. Guess not.

Spent a lazy evening at the river metal detecting -- haul = 1 dime, 10mm shell casing, huge snelled fish hook. Convinced Ssej to give up taking the recycling up the hill and go along (I valiantly offered to take the party bin of glass up with my stuff today). Corso and Eddie came along too. Eddster still won't go very far into the water, but he isn't as afraid and will come up to me when I'm wading.

Tried out the new fishing rod, the "emmrod" and am not convinced of its prowess. Just used the spinning setup. Need to watch more youtube videos on that one.

Ran into 3 raft/yakers from Boze who were using AlpacaRafts and I'm more stoked than ever to get mine on the river. Theirs were set up for whitewater, with spray decks, and one guy came into the eddy upside-down (said he was testing how far he could take it).

Anyway, I'm not convinced that fishing from my inflatable is a great idea...yet.

Herbs are growing well, and my tomatoes are producing green blobs. Almost cold enough to start bringing them in at night to nestle under the grow light.

How is it mid-August already????

July heat and high visitation

Summer has reached the Rockies. We are in the high 90s in the banana belt here in Gardiner, and the interior of the park is in the 80s. A heat wave.

The Eddster is handling the heat pretty well - drinking gallons of water and hanging out in the cave here, mostly.

The park is INSANELY busy - more than usual. We had a record-breaking year last year, with almost 3.3 million last year. Almost 700,000 last month...

----------------------------------------------------
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK NEWS RELEASE
----------------------------------------------------

Yellowstone Sets Visitation Record For June

Nearly 700,000 visitors came to Yellowstone National Park during June. It marks the second record June in a row, and the third record June out of the last four years. Visitor numbers this June are 100,000 higher than those recorded in June 2008.

Recreational Visitors 2010 2009 Change

-----------------------------------------------------

January 25,595 24,770 + 3.3 %

February 29,108 28,355 + 2.7 %

March 21,028 17,317 + 21.4 %

April 32,763 24,831 + 31.9 %

May 250,445 261,763 - 4.3 %

June 694,841 643,844 + 7.9 %

Total Year-To-Date 1,053,780 1,000,880 + 5.3 %

Recreational Visitors June Year to Year Change

-----------------------------------------------------

2010 694,841 + 7.9 %

2009 643,844 + 8.5 %

2008 593,405 - 2.7 %

2007 609,606 + 9.4 %

2006 557,213 - 0.5 %

2005 560,014

So, it's tougher than usual to find a nice, quiet place to fish or sketch, but in another month I'll have the park back to myself.

Very busy with work, and with course work, but managing to squeeze in a little fun.

The "new Steve" (he hates being called that) happens to be a brewer, so we have put together 2 batches so far. The first is a dunkelweissen (dark hefeweisen) and is just OK. Hopefully it will mellow a bit. We fired up a Koelsch on Friday, and the fermentation may have stalled. So not much luck yet. I just ordered ingredients for a Kriek Lambic. It's going to be my most involved beer to date, with about 5 months wait before even sampling the initial product. It's best drunk around one year later, so next summer should be the real test. I love Lambic. The whole brewing operation is one big chemistry experiment and I love it. Only two big fails so far, and some great successes. I'm planning on visiting the local orchard this fall to do about 10 gallons of cider - the last batch was excellent - very dry and refreshing.

EXTREMELY jealous

OK, Eric & Trish's pics of beautiful Copper River Salmon is making me feel very jealous. I keep thinking one of these days I will head up to do some fishing, but I will just have to be satisfied with my lake trout ambitions this year.

Posting once a month, I guess

Well, it's been a whirlwind 5 weeks. A great conference in Ft. Collins followed by a trip down to Arid-zone to help Pops with a drive north. TJ visiting Pops, then staying with me for 5 weeks was an added bonus. Mostly...

Naw, Tuck and I had a pretty good time - he made a new buddy in Ben and got to fish, hike, bike, play rugby, grill out, play Bingo, go crazy on the computer, and generally hang out with the Gardiner Gals. Pops came back last weekend for opening of fishing season and to pick up Tuck. Bad fishing in the streams, iced over lakes, and cold wet days made for no luck fishing.

Finally, one fish each on Joffee lake! Nice little browns that are back in the ecosystem to grow bigger and eat bugs. Need to take Ben and Izzy up there...

Pops and TJ were off to Spokane, and I made it home in time to upchuck my breakfast. Looks like the flu being passed around the YCR found a place to nest. Been living on gatorade for the past couple days, can't find my phone, and have way too much to do to be sick right now.

The weather is a perfect mirror for my mood. Cold. Wet. Miserable.

Ugh.

days like these

So, there are days when I feel brilliant, inspired, full of promise and ideas.

Then there's today. I feel un- all of those things.

Smacking my head against a wall, attempting to finish a project and having NO success.

Damn you ArcGIS!

making up for lost time...

...is impossible!

After being laid down with ANOTHER wicked cold (as were Christie and several others) and still having bouts of coughing and clogged ears...ok I'm done whining now.

Super-volunteer Kat was also laid out with the same cold earlier in the week, so with Ann on vacation and Steve gone for good, it was a skeleton crew this week in the office - Julie popped in for 2 days and was a HUGE help. A few emergency requests, no remote sensing software (the ERDAS license was down and computer support has no answers for us yet) it has been an interesting week of work. Kat, Em, and Heidi pitched in with an impromptu afternoon of lab cleaning and re-arranging which looks quite good, imho. I still have a big list of items to do so I'll be going in this weekend as well.

So much work, I'm behind on school and trying to catch up. Stuck on a math issue and I need to do a remedial math refresher in the trig/precalculus realm. It's been a LONG time since I took those classes! I picked up a good used textbook on my Phoenix trip and am lugging it around hoping that by osmosis the correct theory and formulae will soak in. Suppose I should crack the book and get to work.

Woke to 3 or so inches of fresh snow this morning. Ah, spring in Montana is here!

Sick...again

I'm certainly convinced that something is afoot. After returning from a few days rest and relaxation in Mesa, the sore throat began, then the tight, phlegmy chest, hacking cough, fever and headache. Jeez. This is getting ridiculous.
Two days on the couch (sorry for the lack of fun during your visit, TC) and every pharmaceutical in the cabinet later and I'm still feeling crap.
So in between bouts of sweating I've decided to deep-clean the house (in case there's something afoot in the cave here). Beautiful days outside and I spend most of them either couch-bound or in the office.
Oh, and I'm feeling very sorry for myself.
:)

Spring???

Well, it's March. We have very little snow and are having 50+ degree days. Weird weather, but nice to get outside in shirtsleves. The Gardiner dust bowl is in full swing - no snow cover to keep the dust down. I think I'm going to suggest that our friends here splurge on a load of gravel to cover some of the dirt in the parking areas on our road. We'll see how that goes.

I'm on my "shift" taking care of Ruffers. Has not been very fun to tell the truth. He's been pooing in the house and I've spent more time cleaning carpets in the past week than anything else. The good news is, I think I've tracked down the source - he's raiding the cat food when left alone at home. He's fine when spending the day in my yard and nights at my house. The cat food is getting put away when Ruffers has to be home alone (sorry to Lucy the cat!)

Add to that I'm having issues with my computer suddenly deciding to go blue screen of death on me on a regular basis, and it's been an interesting week. The darn thing is just out of warranty, of course.

Been doing a ton of schoolwork and work-work as well, so super busy. And not much of a social life. The nasty cold/flu/strep crap looks like it's finally clearing up so that's a plus.

and...

to add to the joy of a snow-free yet cold February, I'm sick. Again. I think each and every bug that swam through the North American continent made a stop in my respiratory tract this year. Diagnosis (this time): acute upper respiratory infection, acute pharyngitis, with a side of streptococci. Super.
Stay away from my house for a while - you can call me "typhoid carrie"

February Musings

Well, it's February. It's cold. Very little snow this year (depressing for skiing). The cold just seems to settle in the bones. Ho hum.
Spent some time helping out a co-worker who is headed for 3 weeks in Tanzania (for work), then read Tricia and Eric's blogs of their Hawaii trip, Jessi is gone to Guatemala, and I'm thinking - what in the heck am I doing here???

Clear scans and a clearer outlook

So every year I have to get a CT scan to check for the dreaded lymphoma. I usually do this before Xmas, but this year with the big trip down south it did not get scheduled until last week. Thanks to the crack staff at the Bozeman Deaconess Cancer center (more on them later) they managed to schedule all the scans on the same day - AND have the techs process them, write up the reports, and get them to my doc by my 3:30 appointment.
Good news - scans are all clear! Yay!
Ok, so now a bit on the Cancer Center - I can't stress this enough - having spent WAY too much time in the Spokane Cancer Center, Bozeman is a much happier place.

Spokane:
Good docs
Warehouse of a main waiting room (with the most uncomfortable chairs EVER - ask my mom and dad)
Going in every day and having to give your name to the same receptionist (apparently has too many faces to see)
Chemo room is a HUGE sterile warehouse, with about 30 chemo chairs and 3 TV's mounted far away up on the 12-foot ceiling. You get your own wireless headphones but have to watch whatever the nurses decide. 10 of the chairs face the "wall of heads" a cheap-looking display of styrofoam heads with wigs people have donated. VERY depressing sight. Inmates from the county jail are brought in for chemo in shackles and jumpsuits.
Radiation waiting room - managed to be scheduled (daily, for 2 months) in front of a guy who brought his whole unwashed family in early to enjoy free coffee.

Bozeman
Main waiting room feels like you are walking into a friend's living room - Comfy couches, arm chairs, fireplace, HUGE flat screen TV, treat and drink bar, kids' corner with puzzles, fish tank, and toys. Receptionist greets you by name even though she hasn't seen you for 6 months.
Chemo rooms are very cozy (2 of them, 8 beds each) with curtains to surround your area and a personal flatscreen TV on every chair. No used wigs. A small display of free warm fuzzy hats donated by a knitting/craft club if you need one.
Radiation/CT/Mammogram suite - except for the big loud machines, you would think you are in a day spa. Individual changing rooms with locking cupboards for your stuff. Sweatsuits and terrycloth robes to wear instead of the gaping cotton gown. Smaller waiting rooms for each group contain espresso carts!
And they have the BEST phlebotomists around. Can't even feel blood draws, for crying out loud!
This is why I will drive 160 miles round trip for blood work - those peeps are incredible.

Small note on Mammograms:
Whatever sick Nazi man invented the mammogram machine needs to have his nads squeezed in it. Daily.

where my day takes me

OK, so I'm entering data and there's a note that makes no sense in the context, "edge of treeline next to door (sic)"

And that's what I put in the database (the "sic" is mine). I know how to use it, just couldn't recall the etymology of it. Go to Wikipedia. Note that:

"On occasion, sic has been misidentified as an abbreviation for "said in context", "spelled in context", "said in copy", "spelling is correct", "spelled incorrectly" and other phrases.^[3] These are all backronyms from sic."

Backronym. Cool. Word I've never heard or used before. Click on the link, and for those of you who are wondering:

A backronym or bacronym is a phrase constructed after the fact to make an existing word or words into an acronym. Backronyms may be invented with serious or humorous intent, or may be a type of false or folk etymology.

The word is understood as a portmanteau combining back and acronym. Its earliest known citation in print is "bacronym" in the November 1983^[1] edition of the Washington Post monthly neologism contest (1983–2004): journalist Bob Levey quoted winning reader "Meredith G. Williams of Potomac" defining it as the "same as an acronym, except that the words were chosen to fit the letters."^[1] Actual use of the word is found in texts since at least 1994.^[1]

[edit]Backronym versus acronym

An acronym is a word derived from the initial letters of a phrase:^[2] For example, the word radar comes from "Radio Detection and Ranging."^[3]

By contrast, a backronym is constructed by taking an existing word already in common usage, and creating a new phrase using the letters in the word as the initial letters of the words in the phrase. For example, the United States Department of Justice assigns to their Amber Alert program the meaning "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response."[3], although the term originally referred to Amber Hagerman, a 9-year old abducted and murdered in Texas in 1996.

The idea that a backronym, like an acronym, is a pronounceable word is sometimes broken, even by dictionaries providing examples such as DVD(an initialism)^[4] and SOS (a representation of the emergency signal used in Morse code).^[5]

Explaination

Ok, so I flummoxed one person - Jessi. TC2 got it, though.
You see, I have this sticky note on my desk that I was writing on while talking to someone or listening in on a conference call (can't recall which). It says "What if".
Now I know there was more that went along with that thought, but I neglected to write it down. So the sticky is just sitting on my desk.
When I'm dealing with a particularly rough day or a GIS problem that just won't be solved I glance at it and allow my mind to wander/ponder a bit. More often than not I end up having a better day and/or solving the problem.
It's just a thing.
There isn't an answer guys.

?

what if?
if then, when?
:)

A long, long trip

OK, so the trip meter puts me at about 4,600 miles. First leg from Gardiner to Bossier City took about 2 days. It was a marathon drive with a purpose - needed to get to see my boys!
A trashed house and a line of broken computers to fix sobered my enthusiasm quickly. (Ended up leaving with 2 of 5 running - brought the laptop back to get a new hard drive installed, but the 2 desktops stayed. I'm hoping the 2 left behind will get fixed, but I'm not holding my breath.) Cleaned up quite a bit of the house, had a major breakdown (see post below) semi-enjoyed Christmas (mom and dad had to brave the Texas blizzards and made it for the x-mas afternoon) Two days of power cleaning and house-fixing later, the caravan hit the road. Oma and Poppa driving truck, pulling trailer with broken car - me, mitch, and the dog trailing behind in the Element.
In case you were not aware it is a LONG drive across Texas. Oh, and El Paso is nowhere you will ever want to live. We tried visiting 2 hot springs in the NM/AZ area but the first was lackluster and the second was closed due to excessive partying. Sigh. Wanted to be back home where the hot springs are beautiful and available. Visited casa de oma & poppa in Gold Canyon, AZ - GORGEOUS house, but way too little time to appreciate the beauty of the area.
Mitch and I drove north to the Grand Canyon and woke up on New Year's day to a beautiful view of the canyon. Cold, but a very nice day. We drove up through Zion (stopping at park HQ to see if Greg was around, but then realized it was a federal holiday) and made it to SLC that night. Mitch hopped on the plane headed for Spokane to visit his dad while the dog and I drove north for home. Really sad leaving Mitch - it was a fun road trip with him.
Eddie and I drove through some bad weather in Idaho and holed up in Butte for the night. Last night before returning for work and I'm exhausted. Another relaxing vacation.

Loiusiana sucks ass

Believe me, I put some thought into the above statement. Perhaps I judge a bit too harshly by lumping in the ENTIRE state, but I will go so far as to say that Northern Louisiana sucks ass.

The weather here is horrible. It's either hot and wet, cold and wet, or cold an dry (rare). Never just "pleasant". People here are rude. Now I'm talking service people in general here. They would rather talk to each other, or a friend on the phone rather than helping a customer. Note that WalMart no longer has the "did your salesperson greet you pleasantly today?" question on the electronic pad. People drive like crap down here. Enough said.

Everything molds (back to weather, above) and rusts. I get deathly ill EVERY time I come down here. I'm convinced it's the climate.

The whole place feels like a ghetto, and this is coming from someone who lives in Gardiner for crying out loud. There may be antebellum homes and mardi gras, but it just is not worth the bother. Raze the whole state and drill for the oil. Smells like swamp and petroleum here anyway.

Louisiana xmas break, 2009

As is typical, nothing is ever boring at sister's house.
Only took me 2 and a half days to drive the 1800 miles down - though I was pretty worn out after doing it all by myself. It will be nice to have Mitch with me on the trip north to share the load. Hunter Eddie settled into life (aka the softest spot in the house) like he never left. Gotta wonder what's going on in his mind.
Mitch and I have gotten time to hang out which is really cool, but Tuck man is still in school until the day before xmas. Aims is working a lot as well, so it's just me and the boys until the evenings.
I've fixed one computer up for TJ and am working on a second at the moment, as well as moving a ton of crap around the house, so staying very busy.
Chilly down herre, but nothing like up north for sure.

Quite probably the shittiest week ever

Joy and fun for the holiday season.
No luck hunting.
The GIS server was (still is?) down this week, then I got roaring stomach cramps Wednesday - thought it was food poisoning so i threw out all the leftovers in the fridge. By day 2 sure I have the stomach flu. Day 3 and I'm finally feeling a bit better. Sleeping a lot.
Still SO much work to do.
Supposed to be leaving for the deep south next weekend, but have no idea how I'm going to get everything done before then.
What a week.

Lessons learned - hunting season 2009

I know many things.
So many things.

I am an excellent marksman.
I suck as a hunter.

You can't do the majority of your hunting on closing weekend.

Blowing out your knee at the beginning of hunting season sucks.

Roy knows best. Always listen to Roy.

Hunting without a truck is un-American (I still do it)

99% of hunters are male
the 1% that are female are sitting in the front seat of the truck with their man.

JoJo and I are the only two women out there hunting by ourselves.

Even though it's the last day and I don't have ANY tags filled, I will still pass up a shot on a beautiful buck 'cause I'm not positive I can get a clean kill.

The freezer is empty.

I am sad.

no luck hunting...yet

so unfortunately there's no carcasses hanging in Jessi's garage yet - a fact for which I'm sure she's eternally grateful!

Headed out tomorrow - wish me luck.

OMG - I'm FAMOUS

lol, well, not really

The amount of work, interview, phone calls, emails, etc. that went into this VERY short article...

Ah well, I don't know.

http://www.thesca.org/hands-on/2009/10/mapping-yellowstone

how lucky can a girl get?

I have THE GREATEST friends.

So first of all, my car is broken and I need a ride from Livingston to Bozeman to pick up the rental. Ssej hops up and says sure. Spent the day running errands - Ssej picks up medicine for "Drool" the cat (one friend), we return and pick up and return library books (for another friend), and have a House-watching appetizer-filled evening for Allie's birthday. (sans House - it's moved to Friday)

Right now Heidi and Allie are sniggled on the couch under a down blanket. Em has Callie at her feet, and Ssej and I are on separate computers.

A perfect Monday.

broken knee, broken car

Well, I guess things could be worse.
Apparently I have a "derangement of the post medial meniscus" meaning I ripped up some of the cartilage in my left knee. One week of knee brace, a cane (trekking pole in my case), and a Vicodin scrip - wait, does this sound like someone we know an love? Paging Dr. Gregory House...
Then we will re-evaluate.
Either more of the same, or in for an MRI and possible surgery.
Hunting season is definitely in question at this point, and I'm VERY upset about that.

Next big fun.
Taking recycling in, got backed into by government employee in government vehicle. Govt. does not carry regular insurance - instead you file a tort claim. (isn't that a dessert?) Joyful. Car is still driveable, but Ellie the Element, aka the TARDIS, is my good friend and now we are both broken.
I'm certainly feeling sorry for myself today.

so I know the big news is of Obama...

...but you need to get an update on our weather for the year.

dead of Winter (snow, wind, snow, wind) = November - April

Spring (rainy, chilly) = May, June, July

Summer (warm to hot days, chilly nights) = August, September

WINTER (snow, wind, snow wind) = 30 September

One week later? low of -1F/-18C

High tomorrow? 31F/-1C

I want to cry.

Photographic catch-up

I have been remiss in my posting this summer - so here's a photographic diary for ya:

fishing with Ben and Izzy at Yellowstone Lake, Jeff, Poppa, and Tuck visit the park, making beer and cider in the kitchen, and tons of other daily fun I did not take photos of! Just too busy this summer. Seems like I missed June and half of July this year - just runs by too fast. Now the talk is of hunting tags and snow. Might have to head south for a while to extend the season this year.

35, man, I'm old

OK, so it's my birthday again. No matter how hard I try I can't seem to outrun it. The ladies came over and made me chicken fingers, jalapeno poppers, bbq chicken pizza, and bananna split sundaes. MMMMM. Health food.
Bigger party Saturday. Stay tuned...

Fishin...

Well, after my killer craigslist find of 5 spinning rods, huge tackle box (not much tackle), 4 piece 5-weight rod with case, fly vest with net, box of flies, neoprene waders (too small), and boots (perfect fit) $20. That's not a mis-print. Had to drive a bit, but TOTALLY worth it.
Tried spinning at the Gardner/Yellowstone confluence and caught one small rainbow. Had ripped lips so I took it easy and let him go - I use barbless hooks cause I can't stand mangled fishies. Jessi got a picture, I think.
Couple more bites, but no more brought to shore. Salmon flies were hatching so next time I bring the fly rod and try my luck.
I dragged Jessi along and she made me laugh - sitting in a camp chair with her ipod on playing her game boy - getting back to nature!
Eddie actually got his toes wet - perhaps the life jacket was a ridiculous purchase since he barely goes near the water...
Anyway, hope we have better luck when Jeff, Tuck, and pops show up on Friday. I can't wait!!!

Explainations

OK, so I realize the last blog entry was a little cryptic, but that's what you get when Jessi is typing in your blog. Yes, I shaved my head. There were many reasons - the hair is going to locks of love, btw. Suffice it to say I have been having a rather melancholy time of things lately and needed a big change.
There was definitely alcohol involved (kids, don't try this at home) and the one who shaved my head was on whiskey shot #2 I think. There was full video coverage and I promise to at least get some stills up for you all.

Quotes from shaving my head

Heidi (begging to be the one to shave) : I would not send you out looking anything but completely bald
Carrie: Allie would you please do it? You've shorn sheep before
Heidi: Do you want me to practice on Hunter, would that make you feel better?
Allie: Heidi's been drinking and baking
Allie: Oh my lands, you have a scar... This is so personal, we're going to see all your scars
Heidi: It's not too late, it won't look bad, just a little thin
Allie : Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God...
Jessi (after holding hair for about 30 seconds, freaking out): I have hair in my hand! There's hair in my hand! (and doing a little high-stepping dance lol)
Carrie: It feels about 20 degrees cooler
Allie: I was doubtful, but [bald] looks good on you
Carrie: Thanks Heidi, you're a mensch.

Enjoying the soft air of Louisiana

Well, it's day 2 in Bossier City and so far we have done a ton of work - I say "we" but really the constant stream of the boys and their friends keep things going. Spreading gravel, digging a vegetable garden, building a chicken coop, cleaning, cooking, and endless laundry!
I'm trying to cobble together two working laptops from three semi-functional ones as well. Apparently the biggest post-graduation party on earth is happening here Saturday, so we are getting the yard up to scratch for that. Movies are happening in the back yard (ala Gardiner, yay!) including one the boys put together. They have been making short movies using whatever cameras they can find, and editor extrordinnaire "G-Whiz" perfects them on his laptop. They're doing an awesome job and are crazily creative.
Anyway, I promise to take some pics and get updates this week.

Hunter Eddie's evil twin in G-Town

I've run into this guy a time or two, and friends have done a double-take thinking Eddie was stolen. Well, they finally met yesterday, Hunter and "Cha-Cha" I think her name was. Sniffed noses and bits, then Cha-Cha went nutsy - jumping and snarling. Eddie turned away.

Jessi got this great picture, though.

Just another Thursday night in Gardiner

So, I'm just back from Livingston, picking up a convalescing dog with loose bowels. The phone rings. Jessi says, hey, can Trudy and I come over? Sure. Bottle of wine, some leftover venison spaghetti, phone rings again. Heidi. Wants to know if I have "Wedding Crashers" nope, but come over 'cause we're eating and watching the series finale of ER. K, maybe. Phone rings again. A frantic Heidi "THERE'S WATER POURING INTO MY BASEMENT!!!" Did you turn off the water? AAAARRRGGGHHHH! Ok, we'll be right over.

Yup. There's about 1/2 inch of water covering the concrete. Heidi's on the phone with her landlord (who lives in Idaho, not anywhere nearby). Jessi and I are trying to ID a valve we can turn off the water.

I run back for Trudy and found a couple of shop vacs. We have decided that we all earned our Lady Scout merit badges in leaking water heaters. Here's a couple of pics from the fun.