Alright..it's been awhile
Hey.
Remember me?
Yea, it's been busy here. For you all who don't know this is "NEPA season" which is a lot like "fire season" only inside a building. They have Pulaskis...we have computers. They have MREs in the ash, we have sandwiches eaten at the keyboard. They have deadlines dictated by the weather and fuels, we have deadlines dictated by the Ranger and fiscal year.
I was sequestered for the past three days reviewing an EA with my team. We pushed through it, while the rest of our other work piled up. I have at least five projects on my list...waiting for me. Holidays don't help government workers like you might think..they actually can dig into timelines and leave us with little time to get stuff done. Many members of our core team said they will be working at least PART of this weekend because of this coming holiday.
Not yours truly, however. I shall not get stuck, because I don't have to be. I seem to be able to give 120% when it's needed and can easily slip into 100% when it's "situation normal."
Otherwise, what have I been doing?
Since Christmas I have gone snowboarding twice. The second time was insane. I got to work at 0545 and left at 0800...taking 6 hours off last Friday because we received a TON of snow last week...and the gondola was closed on Thursday because of wind...so Friday showed me two feet of powder on EVERY RUN....ALL DAY! It was simply incredible. Powder turns until we were absolutely too tired to continue. We hiked and found more snow than others could ever dream of around here. We skied until our legs burned (seriously, we were so tired and sore we were falling down from exhaustion), we got a couple pilsners and rode the 20-minute gondola down to the truck, talked about the world, and headed home...perfect!
I have been in CDA lake a total of five times now this year. The first two were mine alone...and mine always. The second two were with a close friend...his first time(s). It's a funny story because I dared him the second time...we were standing down there dripping wet and I told him, "if you were a man you'd do it again." I got some resistance from him, so I jumped in again to prove the point. He HAD to follow suit! It's the way guys are I guess. Of course...the second time in within five minutes made us crazy-cold and both our fingers didn't function correctly for awhile. Something you can laugh about later I guess. Well, then we got into the beer downtown and were pretty proud of ourselves...so we "trolled" for someone to commit to jumping in the lake by walking down the sidewalk and asking people if they'd jump in! We finally found a guy with a group who was game (it was his girlfriend's birthday...I think he did it for her) and he and I jumped in (my buddy politely declined). Nicely, this fella bought us all a drink at the resort and we all danced there the rest of the night.
I am part of a trap league now, so we're shooting on Sundays. I shot like crap, as did most of the team (except for the newbie), last weekend. Hopefully, this Sunday shall go better. That's really all there is to say about that. No big group there at any one time. Just a place to shoot and get a score. Nothing like how my Dad shot in Kamiah where it was a big event. Kinda a bummer, but the positive is that it's small, local, and full of people just there committed to shooting, teams, and camaraderie.
Ice fishing is coming into it's own. I want to go get my new license(s) tomorrow so I can go out. The ice is finally good and I have a "hankering" for perch. Shoot, I just want to sit on the ice and be cold I think. There is something odd about ice-fisherman. I think it's the silence, the unknown, and the expectation of what MAY happen. It's like life condensed down into a simple man, a hope, and then a change (twitching rod tip). After that, you land a fish...deal with the excitement...adjust your technique appropriately to gain the advantage...then return to the game. Again and again. Ice-fishing can darn near be equated to life. Hmmm, that's an interesting thought. I'll try to think about that more while I'm out there this weekend.
Uh, other than the normal workday, bar-nights, cold weather, snow....then rain events, and random spats of entertainment...not too much else is really noteworthy.
I live and I make do. I always have a problem with winters...but the more time I spend in one place, the better time I have and the better I can deal with it. The relationships, the activities, the attitude all morph with time and create something that works for me. I have found friends, new hobbies, and patience in every place I reside.
What have you found this winter?
Just a hint:
Get outside as much as you can.
Remember me?
Yea, it's been busy here. For you all who don't know this is "NEPA season" which is a lot like "fire season" only inside a building. They have Pulaskis...we have computers. They have MREs in the ash, we have sandwiches eaten at the keyboard. They have deadlines dictated by the weather and fuels, we have deadlines dictated by the Ranger and fiscal year.
I was sequestered for the past three days reviewing an EA with my team. We pushed through it, while the rest of our other work piled up. I have at least five projects on my list...waiting for me. Holidays don't help government workers like you might think..they actually can dig into timelines and leave us with little time to get stuff done. Many members of our core team said they will be working at least PART of this weekend because of this coming holiday.
Not yours truly, however. I shall not get stuck, because I don't have to be. I seem to be able to give 120% when it's needed and can easily slip into 100% when it's "situation normal."
Otherwise, what have I been doing?
Since Christmas I have gone snowboarding twice. The second time was insane. I got to work at 0545 and left at 0800...taking 6 hours off last Friday because we received a TON of snow last week...and the gondola was closed on Thursday because of wind...so Friday showed me two feet of powder on EVERY RUN....ALL DAY! It was simply incredible. Powder turns until we were absolutely too tired to continue. We hiked and found more snow than others could ever dream of around here. We skied until our legs burned (seriously, we were so tired and sore we were falling down from exhaustion), we got a couple pilsners and rode the 20-minute gondola down to the truck, talked about the world, and headed home...perfect!
I have been in CDA lake a total of five times now this year. The first two were mine alone...and mine always. The second two were with a close friend...his first time(s). It's a funny story because I dared him the second time...we were standing down there dripping wet and I told him, "if you were a man you'd do it again." I got some resistance from him, so I jumped in again to prove the point. He HAD to follow suit! It's the way guys are I guess. Of course...the second time in within five minutes made us crazy-cold and both our fingers didn't function correctly for awhile. Something you can laugh about later I guess. Well, then we got into the beer downtown and were pretty proud of ourselves...so we "trolled" for someone to commit to jumping in the lake by walking down the sidewalk and asking people if they'd jump in! We finally found a guy with a group who was game (it was his girlfriend's birthday...I think he did it for her) and he and I jumped in (my buddy politely declined). Nicely, this fella bought us all a drink at the resort and we all danced there the rest of the night.
I am part of a trap league now, so we're shooting on Sundays. I shot like crap, as did most of the team (except for the newbie), last weekend. Hopefully, this Sunday shall go better. That's really all there is to say about that. No big group there at any one time. Just a place to shoot and get a score. Nothing like how my Dad shot in Kamiah where it was a big event. Kinda a bummer, but the positive is that it's small, local, and full of people just there committed to shooting, teams, and camaraderie.
Ice fishing is coming into it's own. I want to go get my new license(s) tomorrow so I can go out. The ice is finally good and I have a "hankering" for perch. Shoot, I just want to sit on the ice and be cold I think. There is something odd about ice-fisherman. I think it's the silence, the unknown, and the expectation of what MAY happen. It's like life condensed down into a simple man, a hope, and then a change (twitching rod tip). After that, you land a fish...deal with the excitement...adjust your technique appropriately to gain the advantage...then return to the game. Again and again. Ice-fishing can darn near be equated to life. Hmmm, that's an interesting thought. I'll try to think about that more while I'm out there this weekend.
Uh, other than the normal workday, bar-nights, cold weather, snow....then rain events, and random spats of entertainment...not too much else is really noteworthy.
I live and I make do. I always have a problem with winters...but the more time I spend in one place, the better time I have and the better I can deal with it. The relationships, the activities, the attitude all morph with time and create something that works for me. I have found friends, new hobbies, and patience in every place I reside.
What have you found this winter?
Just a hint:
Get outside as much as you can.
posted by geotracker12 at 6:49 PM
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