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.