@Cyanide. Ah, that makes sense. Especially if you guys are the most powerful players around. Rough beats. I've been to FNM and been paired up with friends. Always hate eliminating them...or being eliminated by them...unless its the finals.
I just think stereotyping legitimate attire is stupid.
What you wear can really influence how people view you. One of the most damning thing I wear are chacos. Pure hippie wear, but I wear them everywhere and even in the snow because I'm too lazy to put on my socks and boots.
Bought a new hat over the summer because I knew I was going to do a lot more interacting with people. Range folks for the most part. If a land owner approaches you they are most likely going to view you differently if you have a baseball cap with a bandana tucked behind to keep off the sun (making you look all arabish) vs if you are wearing a solid cowboy hat. One of our guys was even harassed a little and called a china man because he was wearing a pointy straw hat. He was bout as white as could be too...and I wasn't around. I got a lot of compliments for my hat.
Clothing instantly stereotypes a person just as much as symbols and jewelry. I don't know nuthin bout thumb rings...but I guess thats just something you'll have to deal with. Like folks thinking I'm a hippie with my chacos. We'll both have to resist violence.
Quote from dux »
Dang Dagg, I may be the only clanmate who can honestly say I don't envy your way of life. I don't mean that in a demeaning or offensive way at all. I just mean with my OCD, being a creature of habit/routine & an indoors man; your life would drive me nuts. Whereas, I bet you get antsy staying in one place too long.
Different strokes.
Is that why you didn't want to go to the Smokey Mountains or Mammoth cave while I was around? Mammoth cave was awesome too. And the diner I visited on the way over there. Royal Crown Cola paraphernalia everywhere, and I ate hominy for the first time.
Quote from charlie »
Hey, Dux.... when that happens, have a bit of humility, I mean, getting angry about it is going to make people think you are homophobic. If you tell the guy you're not interested and leave it at that
But after he buys you a drink or two. That's still okay right?
You know...now that I think of it...I don't remember thumb rings really being a "thing." I'm vaguely recalling something about old men from some old movie. Don't think I've ever seen one in real life.
I emailed New Zealand. I think the emeritus professor was either bored or feeling super helpful. Emailed me back 5 times, each with a different article and such. Great guy, really. His name started with a "Sir" they knight people over there or is it customary to call them that instead of Dr.? Ozian folks know that?
Also, is there a feud between Oz and New Zealand? My Ozian contact crossed out New Zealand from the map when I asked for vegetation information.
China emailed back pretty fast too. I wrote back but just used his last name instead of the whole Dr so and so...because that's how he signed his response. My initial letter, of course, starts with the whole Dr. so and so. Hope I haven't been insulting anyone.
Alex/Teia (for it avoids the matter of he or she, though I'd be more inclined to use she) seems interesting enough, and her gender identity (let's not pussyfoot, shall we) is of very little consequence to her role as a representative of those that Hannes has trusted to oversee the site in his stead.
Wait...Teia is actually a guy? Huh, this whole time I thought she was a girl. Though from your posts it seems I probably auta keep calling her a she. Gender identity is of little consequence on the web.
Quote from 9909 »
Edit: If it's not clear yet, I'm formerly known as Magic Mage
Magic Mage eh...that sound familiar. Should I know you more than in passing?
@Dux. Never heard of the thumb ring thing. I think instead of getting rialed up you just tell the guy "no". I had a guy ask me to dance once, no harm in him asking and no harm in me turning him down. Though it was at a range meeting....dangerous for him going there in a range meeting.
@Cyanide, what is this car thing that ria lost to? Sounds like some real funky games went on. Really makes me want to dig up my EDH deck and have some fun with it. Haven't touched magic since last January.
Little frustrated with work right now. I mentioned that I had only 80 hours to work with at the university. Well thats down to 38 hours and I'm realizing that I'm starting a lot of little balls rolling and wont be there to catch them. So I need to try to wrap things up, but thats not really going to happen cause I still need to finish continent specific maps. Not to mention I just started emailing a few dozen professors across the planet for collaboration...once they start responding I'll be gone.
Tsk, ah well. Best to do what I can. I have a cousin heading to vegas from holland on September 12th. I better hitch up the tucker bag and get ready to hit that road.
9909....you are welcome to say hi when you have something relevant to say, but please don't post like you just did. Making a series of Quotes of a sentence or two then inserting an "er." then repeating. It's needlessly cumbersome and distracting and I'd rather not see it.
Votan, if I remember right, has a long standing reputation in outside magic as a person who is overly aggressive, intentionally misrepresents others, and trolls. I don't know how true that is, but I have encountered her on one occasion and in that one instance those allegations seemed accurate. I had no idea she was a mod and I have no idea how well she is performing. Might be great for all I know.
Luck, awesome that you met stan lee. We need to see that picture. I'm also a fan of cyanide and happiness. There are some gems in that comic.
Congrats on your job Charlie. Glad things are going well for you.
Good to see you back Dux! Thought maybe you got lost somewhere under your cats.
I'll make sure to get a picture of that next time. I'll even wear my black field shirt.
My horse riding lesson was...well a very informative lesson. First I had to learn about this particular horse, her quirks, and her behavior. I was told that horses have very few neurons connecting between the left side and right side of the brain, so if they have a behavioral quirk on the left side of the body, often times that could be compensated by going to the right side of the body. I then learned a little about asserting my dominance whenever the horse tried to encroach upon my space. After that it was learning the parts of the saddle, what goes where and how to put it on. Finally, after all that I was able to get on the horse, and with some prodding get her to go in a somewhat forward direction.
....that was a two hour lesson. Never leaving a small pen and me being on the horse for maybe 10 minutes. ...I asked if I needed more lessons or if I could now go all man from snowy river... ....my instructor has me at another lesson next Tuesday. Then I'll be an expert.
currently, we're trying to clear cruft and other stuff. Is anyone going to volunteer a user page for their clan article?
What do you mean by "Clear cruft?" are you deleting dead clans or something?
I also do not know what this user page is of which you speak.
Its been on the back of my mind now and then to edit the wiki. We have a very long history, and over that history we have had a lot of members come and go. Would be good to remember some of them.
I'm going to take horse riding lessons this Friday. Something I should know as a range guy, but something I don't know. Hopefully a few lessons would be enough to not look like an idiot on a horse.
Oh come now Ria, are you not going to tell us how things went? Did you beat God of Cyanide?
Quote from vOTAN »
Missed your posts Daggs (you were never away for long, but with normal internet access... it's different :-))
It is nice having internet access. Gives me time to relax a bit.
I went to an Idaho section meeting for the society of rangeland management. Basically I drove 10 hours down, had a business meeting, toured some interesting rangeland treatments and landscapes, then drove 10 hours back. So 20 hours of driving in a three day stretch....hard to justify that kind of marathon running around.
I wont bore you with the details of our business meeting. Lets just say that we got together at 3PM, then cracked open the beers. We know our priorities.
I'm in Moscow and a professor friend of mine was kind enough to let me stay at her house, complete with internet.
So now I say, Wow, I am so mind blowingly bored right now. Now I've had lulls in the summer, staring at fishing poles where nothing is biting for five hours. Set up camp and had nothing to do for the evening, even read the same book twice (wasn't a bad book). But I guess my mind was occupied with thoughts or I was simply content. But I've been back to civilization for two whole days and now I stare at the computer with nothing to do...nothing I want to do anyway...just bored.
It's got to be the technology, the expectation that technology will continuously fill my brain with information and entertainment. And when it doesn't, well the brain doesn't switch back from passive to active and I'm left mind blowingly bored.
I went so far as to try and read up on current affairs of salvation. Read up on speak your mind even, which has always been a hotbed of drama. Apparently there are a lot of people worked up on the politics of something. I'm sure someone mentioned the gutter again. Ventured in the moderator lounge for the first time in a while. Let me tell you...everything is different now. New faces in Admin possitions, global, simple mods. It's like I woke up and found myself in the wrong class or something. Weird.
Also, apparently there's this new "friend" thing, I better go accept Ria and Votan or they wont speak to me. What are we...competing with Facebook now?
Rutts of absolutely nothing can be rather painful. Hang in there and keep applying for everything and anything. Eventually something will come along. Chain smoking'll cost you a pretty penny too. Don't know bout down there, but here you can buy two booster packs for one pack of cigarettes.
Not sure what's going on magic wise. I have my cards in my car, but I haven't played anything since Christmas. My reckless purchases last fall hurt my gaming money and I'm still hurt to this day. Specially without any income. So no magic from here to the future.
Votan. What did you see at the beach? Did you do any fishing? What are Portugal's beaches like?
My northbound trip found me at Hazard Lake, where I caught a small trout that I tossed into my ramen noodles. Next morning I want farther north to Dworshak reservoir where I caught 4 small mouth bass. I had a few others biting and pulling my line, but I haven't quite perfected tugging my line to catch the fish. I kept two of the small mouth bass. The biggest was barely a foot long, but long enough for me to appreciate. Grilled it on open coals and enjoyed it with some rice. From there I went the rest of the way to Moscow, ID. Hopefully I can find a job before too long.
Just got my school books for next semester. Between that and weekly tuition payments, I'm on the Ramon noodle diet for the foreseeable future.
As long as you know how to cook ramen. Far too many people don't like ramen because its bland or not filling, then I ask if they add stuff to it and they look at me dumbfounded. Not adding stuff to ramen is like not adding hamberger to hamberger helper. Of course its not going to be filling. I always add a fair helping of frozen vegetables, chopped meat, and an egg. If I'm feeling like I need an extra boost of fat I'll use bacon...that'll make the heart stop a few beats.
What classes are you taking Yuks?
Land of milk and honey...wasn't. My road had delays due to fire, both sides of the canyon had burned. Surface fire, possibly let as a back fire. The valley was smokey with pockets of fire still burning and a snag or two glowing orange in the dusk light. I turned on my main road and discovered it was a narrow one lane road, for two way traffic, going high over a steep cliff. The road itself was rocky and very difficult for my little two wheel drive hyundai. Drove over the biggest rocks just to avoid bottoming out. Two trucks tried to pass me and I tried to pull to the right...not enough...so I backed up then threw the car into the side of the mountain. Gave the trucks room to pass, but the chrunching grinding noise wasn't the best.
The reservoir was beautiful, but far from peaceful. The morning opened with the sounds of gunfire as people played with firearms. Motorboats and ski-jets churned the water I was trying to drink from into a muddy mess. I boiled the water as good as I could, but I'm sure those kids were peeing in it. It's why I prefer rivers...sure I might be downstream from a caustic and toxic mine, with water flowing through the ribcage of various carcases, but at least I don't know that. The evenings were filled with the sounds of generators...complete with one family having a very loud outdoor theater. One generator didn't even shut off until past midnight. So much for tranquility when you are around people eh.
Fishing was no good either. Had two fishing lines with worms on them for hours without even a nibble. Tried powerbait, lures, and spinners and still no nibbles. Fish were jumping all over and the osprey's were having a field day with fish dinners, and I couldn't get jack. Happens way too often with me.
So I left, still heading northbound with the promise of some work. I'll try fishing elsewhere, but I've learned to strongly dislike hunting for camping spots during the weekend. The area I'm in is a popular camping area and too many weekend warriors who know nothing of outdoor etiquette take over most camp sites.
I know, my bad for picking a site surrounded by people...but the map looked like it was fairly remote. Plus it was hard as hell to get to it...turned out there were other, easier, ways to get there. Took one of them out.
...Cars kinda leaking some clear liquid, engine light is on too...wonder if I should get those checked before driving hours away from civilization....
I think it'd be a good idea for Chris to take Mafia. And I know we are pulling no shows in contests and stuff, but I think it would be a good show if we could push a strong showing. Something to show that after that bit of drama we are still strong. That's if we are strong enough to do that. Seems we are all busy and stuff...I know I wouldn't be able to participate.
Daggs your trips sound like things that I want to do when I'm older. I'm planning on travelling when I graduate, but until then I am stuck here.
Well here's hoping you can do all the traveling you want when you graduated. That's when my real travels started. Of course you want to do it all in moderation. The only difference between me and some homeless bum was a job...and now that I don't have that, well....
No prospects yet. The NRCS is scrambling to find us at least two more weeks of work, and there's two weeks of work I can take in Moscow after some paperwork pulls through. Not much left to do now besides wait. I'm going to head north, to a Reservoir up in the mountains. Fishing regulations state that you can only catch 25 Kokanee a day, with a holding limit of 50. Well Kokanee is one of my favorite fish, and with catch limits like that...it's gotta be good fishing, right? So I'm heading to this land of milk and honey, Hopefully I eat well for a few days.
Sounds like you are having a blast over there in New York Ria. I've never been over there, but I've been meaning to cause I have relatives over there. Neat that you are hanging out with all sorts of salvation folks. Too bad Dux can't drive the few hours to say hi.
Glad to have you back Yuks. Been a long time since you've been around.
Charlie, didn't you say you had a good lead on a job?
So Kuna days....a day when we celebrate the founding of our great town of Kuna. A day of BBQ, fairs, games, and a long firework display. I went to the Kuna Kave Kids...or the KKK as they call it here...to celebrate the day. Good company and good beer and a solid couch to sleep on. Glad I stumbled in on this town after a hard week of gold mining.
...well its a long story really. The end of my work week was an adventure. We'd come in to the small village of kilgore..a place of about 50 people, largest metropolis in the county, looking for our study site. Our map was clear so we drove down a dirt road, passed a gate into private property, and encountered a rickety home made bridge. Was tilted and sketchy looking but I drove over it without checking...solid enough for our truck it seems. Drove down a little farther, but the road kinda ended. So we passed two more gates, drove the wrong direction, tore apart another gate and repaired it. Never take apart a complete gate without putting it back together...I always say. Leatherman makes a decent fence repair tool though I wished I had a fence wrench. Another fence and the small roadish paths I'd been following completely dissapeared. So....I drove down a cow path that looked kinda like a road...well I think it was used once in the past ten years but my partner was convinced that it wasn't a road and was nervous as all getup. Drove down this cow path and discovered a highly maintained gravel road that came from...somewhere....and followed it up before I cut back on more cow trails, bottomed out hard a few times, and discovered a sweet oasis of aspens to park that was only a quarter mile from our site. So we didn't get started till 2pm and didn't finish till 10pm.
We stayed at the local general store. It was a 101 year old building that still sold 2 cent candies and a center hub for the entire community. We stayed another night, sat and talked with the store owner and a few people. One took out a guitar and started playing some of that good old timey country songs. They were a bit surprised that I knew most the songs being sung. Well we drank, sunk, and talked till late into the night...great place to visit.
Well this was the last job of the week so we...my partner Isaac and myself...slowly started back to where the work vehicles go. Isaac is similar to myself in that we don't really have a place to go or a reason to go there, so we went fishing. Went to fish creak reservoir because Isaac had a good feeling about it. Well the last time we had a good feeling about fishing we followed my instincts to a lake...and found no camping or fishing...so followed his instincts to rapid river, a river half a foot wide with no water in it. So we went to fish creak reservoir and discovered a lake being drained. Dam had been busted out three years ago and now the muddy pool is just for salvage fishing. We parked down on the reservoir floor and looked to see what we could do...figured it was bad fishing...and drove off. Well tried to, the vehicle that wasn't even sunk in the dirt, wasn't moving. Seemed we were stuck fast in the middle of nowhere. So we spent two hours jacking up each tire, paved a rock path beneith each tire, then eased the truck out of the mud...finally sunk in, but I kept the pressure on to get out.
Well we finally found a decent fishing area about an hour later. Night and morning found no fish so we went down to the Owyhee mountains to mine for gold. Isaac and his friend has an operation deep in a secret place. An hour and a half past the nearest town, up a windy canyon road, then a steep hike down a ravine. We had a dredge and some sleuthing to work with. For four days I dug and dug, filling the dredge with material, looking for bedrock and that vein. Well we never got deep enough for that vein, but the nuggets were getting bigger and bigger. I think between the two of us we got about $100 worth of gold each. But I feel that we are close to that vein, I just feel it.
Before heading out we hiked up the old road to a delapidated cabin. It was built on the headwaters of our creak and was beat up. It worried me a little seeing empty chemical bottles and mine tailings coating the head waters of a creak that I had been drinking and cooking out of, but a little murcury and arsnic never hurt anyone. We weren't planning on a bigger hike, but curiosity got the best of us, so we followed a road for 3 hours. The full moon lit our way and most the roads were somewhat clear. We took stalk of our unprepared state. We both had knives, a lighter, and an empty bottle of beer....so everything was perfect for survival if need be. Still, we were thirsty and tired by the top of the mountain. It was an area that had radio and cell towers and a great view of everything. Near one of the cell tower buildings was a cashe of bottled water, so we helped ourselves to some...leaving a thank you note and a dollar, then went on our way. Got back to camp at 2am.
So that finished our trip. Went back to town to stay at Issac's families home where Kuna days was just starting. I'll be heading out here soon, but not for another gig. Seems the BLM failed to provide funding, so I am out of a job now. Back up plan? Camping. happens sometimes.
Hey Bel, Haven't seen you in years. You even dissapeared off msn, though to be fair I haven't been on that in years myself. You still in Europe or did you get to Canada like you had planned?
A card making contest sounds like fun, but I wont be able to participate. I'm still on hiatus and such. I'm currently at a hotel....a perk I sometimes get. Luxuries of shower and a real bed....kinda needed since we had already worked 15 hours and the target location was another 4 hours away.
I never caught fish around Mackay, but I did hike the tallest mountain...again. It's a fun steep climb that ends with over a thousand feet of scrambling, a knife edge walk over a snowbank, and another thousand feet of scramble. I started after noon so I would have the peak of this tourist mountain to myself. A good climb, and I was later greeted by a climber with...some smokeable herbs. Not to turn down a friendly gesture, I partook....just a small amount before the hike down. Really, I don't think it did anything besides give me a throbbing headache that lasted deep into the next day.
Work might slow down...to nothing, since the BLM might be dropping the ball on us. But we have a few good places to play in. Went to a remote area yesterday that took us an hour and a half up a narrow windy dirt road up some random mountains. We were looking for a campground, one called paradise...but, while looking for paradise we instead found the perfect place. Probably one of the nicest campgrounds I've ever visited with a pair of camp hosts that were extremely friendly. We sat and chatted with them for hours before settling down with a dutch oven dinner of chicken, potatoes, and carrots.
The site itself was steep, with a long hike and slopes of over than 70%. Basically, if someone fell we'd keep falling for a very long time. Fun place to play really and we ended it with another great dutch oven dinner of steak chunks, zatarans, cream of mushroom, and a slew of veggies.
Haven't found a rattle snake yet. Folks say they exist all over the place, but despite hiking all over the place I haven't seen one. I've got big plans for the next one. Got a recipe of glycerine and denatured alcohol to tan the hide...and well a free snack is always worth eating....specially when the fish aren't biting.
ahh, I wish I could do half the travelling Daggs gets to...
But you can. Same with everyone. I would love to explore Portugal and maybe take a train out through the surrounding nations. Some of those southern forests of Portugal are even considered relatively intact considering the historical land use. Not to mention the history of the place, the travel, exploration, and adventure of the people. I'll have to head there one of these days.
I can say the same about Oz and the wonders of that world. The south-west tip is suppose to be one of the most unique vegetated places in the world. High in biodiversity. I'd probably camp by a billabong happily roasting a jumbuck.
I suppose my stories have a touch of a romantic flare, since the hardships of life don't bleed through the narrative. ...well hardship is probably an exaggeration. More of an annoyance that my camp gear is all old, dilapidated, and falling apart. My good down blanket had two new rips in it, woke up with feathers all over the place. Third time that's happened and I swear there ain't much for feathers in that thing anymore. Probably aughtta replace it considering it's coloration is a deep dark yellow, when it was once a blindingly bright white. Tent's falling apart...which is probably the most troublesome bit. I've owned it for 8 years and the heavy use has caused the zippers to stop working and a few holes to tear into the rain fly. Taped it up and I'll buy some of that gorilla duct tape to hold it together. Not that I really need a tent, unless the gnats, mosquitoes, green heads, deer flies, or tabanid flies are out and about.
I do like camping by the rivers though, don't get access to that during my work days. There's a luxury in having a place for drinking water, cooking water, bathing, dishwashing, laundry, and bathroom so close (in that order).
But that's all randomness really. Been hanging out in Mackay again, the same place I lived for two weeks last fall when my apartment was getting ready. Nice resevoir to the north has cheap campsites and electricity...something I need since I am currently editing my mom's 12 page research paper. Last time I was here I was convinced that there was no fish..and I'm still convinced. Had a worm sitting in the lake for a good 4 hours with not so much as a nibble. In the mean time I ran spinners and lures with no luck. Been told that there's good fishing around, but I think the locals just talk up the resevoir to distract the visitors from the real fishing holes.
Been a bit busy to fish though. Wandered into the forest service office yesterday and got the range specialist to go out to the hills with me and identify plants. I've also been trying to catch up on all sorts of paperwork. There's also frustration in that the BLM hasn't gotten their act together and pushed through the permissions. We have 140 sites we need to visit, but can only go to 9 remaining sites. That's maybe 3 days of work. If the BLM doesn't follow through on something they should have gotten done weeks ago I'll be stalled. For how long is anyone's guess, but I'll tell you that its harder than anything to identify a dried stick with crumbed up leaves...my forensic botany is good, but not that good.
Wow, lots of magic posting. Dux selling off his money collection and votan kicking some legacy butt.
Good luck in the music jobs there Charlie, should be fun. My brother is working to get into that world right now...something about a music major with a masters in composition or something.
I don't have much time. 5:30 right now and I still need to make camp and see if I can't catch dinner. Got a piece of Carp from two days ago, going to dutch oven it with cream of mushroom and some vegetables, but I'd rather catch a fresh kokane.
We've inventoried a lot of country out here already. Though not nearly as much as we need. I've seen some rangeland about as beat up as I've ever seen. Landscapes with annual grasses so dominant and noxious that you can't use the land for anything. Might as well plow it over and put up houses...and this is coming from me. Our 8 man crew dropped to 5 for a bit when we lost one to a better job, one to physical limitations, and one to heat exhaustion. This job isn't for everyone, but we got the heat exhaustion gal back. I've even felt the heat myself a time or two, but then I'm a bit odd...I wear heavy jeans, a long sleeve black cotton t-shirt, and a big black cowboy hat. Some of my crewmates been calling me the man in black...or at least sing Johnny Cash.
The last week was rough....we got to one site just as lighting struck and a large fire flared up. We debated on working it, I would have anyway, but the gals were worried so we left it. Turned out it was a huge fire that burned for days...but missed our site by a mile so we would have been fine. Then it rained on us several days in a row...which wouldn't have been as bad if I hadn't been sleeping under the stars. Well it still wasn't bad, but my down blanket got heavy as it soaked up all the water so i was heating up and boiling under the blanket while slowly getting soaked with water falling on my face. Kept me up for an hour and took me several days to dry those blankets with my body heat. Also had trouble when one of our sites hit a steep ledge. Had to keep the measuring tape in my mouth as I climbed...nearly dropped a big bassalt rock on my partner's head. Rain didn't help there either.
Anyway, i'm off. I'll be at this cafe a time or two...got a 12 page research paper I need to finish for my mom...plus I gots tons of data to finalize. At least I'll try to post more if someone posts between now and tomorrow or so...Dux seems to think we're slower than mallasus in January.
So far so good. Already gushed blood all over it. I tried to slice a package open with the paper cutter...it got jammed so I pushed down on it to force the paper cutter to go through....forgetting that the other side of the paper cutter was the serrated blade. :-p ...oops on me, newb mistake. But you know what they say, "even monkeys fall from trees." ...specially when they've been drinking since morning.
I did try to flick it open when I needed the pliars...forgot that it wasn't a gerber. :-p
@Charlie
I watched the movie too. It was okay. There were a few things I didn't like though...as far as being cannon with other alien movies.
1) The giant squid monster. What was the deal with that..a precurser to the primative alien hand thing? I think they took too much creative liscence if they were trying to create an initial evolutionary design for the aliens.
2) What was the deal with the zombie guy? There are no zombies in Aliens. Having some broken body some crawling in and attacking people. Doesn't fit anything at all.
3) Why did the robot drug the guy with the bioweapon? Sure if there was a reason for it. But that seemed to come completely out of nowhere.
4) the whole reason they went to those planets sat kind of funny with me. All these ancient civilizations point to one set of stars...that happen to be an ancient bio-weapon facility? It's a stretch, but I suppose I could let it by.
Don't get me wrong, I liked the movie. But as an "Alien" fan I felt that there were a few oddities in here that could have been smoothed over. What did you think?
Sorry to see you go Teefoo.
Speaking about the Bat Cave...seems to be about time to talk about creating a new one. I can spearhead that....when I'm done with my seasonal job. No time now. Library I'm at right now is only open for another 40 minutes...and I need to format my computer...again.
Life here is good. I'm back to working seasonally. Inventorying the rangeland of southern Idaho. Means that I travel across all of southern Idaho collecting data. The information I collect goes into a large dataset that allows us to look at conditions and trends of Idaho's rangelands over a long period of time. Some of these sites have had data collected on them since the 50's, so it is an exhaustive data set. Should be fun.
And a hike under the full Moon? I gotta try that some day
Full moon hikes are awesome. There is plenty of light to see and the world is a highly textured black and white image. I've hiked down the second tallest mountain in the continental US by moonlight, down one of the steepest slopes too, extremely dangerous where every step caused you to slide a little on steep rocks and where any fall would mean death. Did it because I'm that much of a bad ass...and I kinda missread my map. Stupid maps'll get you every time.
I highly recommend a full moon midnight hike. You've got some good terrain in Portugal...mostly private land so I don't know where you would hike. But I bet you can find something.
I've been watching a little of Euro 2012. Heartbroken seeing my country lose to Denmark. That was just sad. Still a little bit of hope, but we need to beat Germany and Portugal. Sorry Votan, I was cheering for Portugal...but now that you lost...well the dutch neet to beat you. ...go beat Denmark though...that needs to happen.
Charlie and Ria, good luck with the job hunt. I don't know how the economy is over there, but its always a pain to be looking for a job.
Dux...no titans will be nice, but how do you know thats what will happen? Only half the sets been spoilered. I haven't looked at it at all though, allways hated the basic sets. No desire to play magic lately. Hope my cards are holding their own in my car though. 120 degree heat isn't the best, but they've sat in my car before so hopefully they are fine.
My cousin left for Japan this morning, so that part of my trip is over. I never realized how expensive it was to visit and hang out in vegas every other day. We did go see the movie "prometheus." I knew it was suppose to be a space horror flick, but I had no idea what the entire premise was. Took me by surprise and completely grossed the cousin out. The movie had some loopholes and problems though. But then I suppose that happens when you take creative liscence on a long standing franchise.
I've got a mock interview today. Very casual since I already have the job. I really need to keep looking though since I will be unemployed again in three months. The life of a seasonal.
What you wear can really influence how people view you. One of the most damning thing I wear are chacos. Pure hippie wear, but I wear them everywhere and even in the snow because I'm too lazy to put on my socks and boots.
Bought a new hat over the summer because I knew I was going to do a lot more interacting with people. Range folks for the most part. If a land owner approaches you they are most likely going to view you differently if you have a baseball cap with a bandana tucked behind to keep off the sun (making you look all arabish) vs if you are wearing a solid cowboy hat. One of our guys was even harassed a little and called a china man because he was wearing a pointy straw hat. He was bout as white as could be too...and I wasn't around. I got a lot of compliments for my hat.
Clothing instantly stereotypes a person just as much as symbols and jewelry. I don't know nuthin bout thumb rings...but I guess thats just something you'll have to deal with. Like folks thinking I'm a hippie with my chacos. We'll both have to resist violence.
Is that why you didn't want to go to the Smokey Mountains or Mammoth cave while I was around? Mammoth cave was awesome too. And the diner I visited on the way over there. Royal Crown Cola paraphernalia everywhere, and I ate hominy for the first time.
But after he buys you a drink or two. That's still okay right?
You know...now that I think of it...I don't remember thumb rings really being a "thing." I'm vaguely recalling something about old men from some old movie. Don't think I've ever seen one in real life.
I emailed New Zealand. I think the emeritus professor was either bored or feeling super helpful. Emailed me back 5 times, each with a different article and such. Great guy, really. His name started with a "Sir" they knight people over there or is it customary to call them that instead of Dr.? Ozian folks know that?
Also, is there a feud between Oz and New Zealand? My Ozian contact crossed out New Zealand from the map when I asked for vegetation information.
China emailed back pretty fast too. I wrote back but just used his last name instead of the whole Dr so and so...because that's how he signed his response. My initial letter, of course, starts with the whole Dr. so and so. Hope I haven't been insulting anyone.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
Wait...Teia is actually a guy? Huh, this whole time I thought she was a girl. Though from your posts it seems I probably auta keep calling her a she. Gender identity is of little consequence on the web.
Magic Mage eh...that sound familiar. Should I know you more than in passing?
@Dux. Never heard of the thumb ring thing. I think instead of getting rialed up you just tell the guy "no". I had a guy ask me to dance once, no harm in him asking and no harm in me turning him down. Though it was at a range meeting....dangerous for him going there in a range meeting.
@Cyanide, what is this car thing that ria lost to? Sounds like some real funky games went on. Really makes me want to dig up my EDH deck and have some fun with it. Haven't touched magic since last January.
Little frustrated with work right now. I mentioned that I had only 80 hours to work with at the university. Well thats down to 38 hours and I'm realizing that I'm starting a lot of little balls rolling and wont be there to catch them. So I need to try to wrap things up, but thats not really going to happen cause I still need to finish continent specific maps. Not to mention I just started emailing a few dozen professors across the planet for collaboration...once they start responding I'll be gone.
Tsk, ah well. Best to do what I can. I have a cousin heading to vegas from holland on September 12th. I better hitch up the tucker bag and get ready to hit that road.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
Votan, if I remember right, has a long standing reputation in outside magic as a person who is overly aggressive, intentionally misrepresents others, and trolls. I don't know how true that is, but I have encountered her on one occasion and in that one instance those allegations seemed accurate. I had no idea she was a mod and I have no idea how well she is performing. Might be great for all I know.
Luck, awesome that you met stan lee. We need to see that picture. I'm also a fan of cyanide and happiness. There are some gems in that comic.
Congrats on your job Charlie. Glad things are going well for you.
Good to see you back Dux! Thought maybe you got lost somewhere under your cats.
I'll make sure to get a picture of that next time. I'll even wear my black field shirt.
My horse riding lesson was...well a very informative lesson. First I had to learn about this particular horse, her quirks, and her behavior. I was told that horses have very few neurons connecting between the left side and right side of the brain, so if they have a behavioral quirk on the left side of the body, often times that could be compensated by going to the right side of the body. I then learned a little about asserting my dominance whenever the horse tried to encroach upon my space. After that it was learning the parts of the saddle, what goes where and how to put it on. Finally, after all that I was able to get on the horse, and with some prodding get her to go in a somewhat forward direction.
....that was a two hour lesson. Never leaving a small pen and me being on the horse for maybe 10 minutes. ...I asked if I needed more lessons or if I could now go all man from snowy river... ....my instructor has me at another lesson next Tuesday. Then I'll be an expert.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
What do you mean by "Clear cruft?" are you deleting dead clans or something?
I also do not know what this user page is of which you speak.
Its been on the back of my mind now and then to edit the wiki. We have a very long history, and over that history we have had a lot of members come and go. Would be good to remember some of them.
I'm going to take horse riding lessons this Friday. Something I should know as a range guy, but something I don't know. Hopefully a few lessons would be enough to not look like an idiot on a horse.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
It is nice having internet access. Gives me time to relax a bit.
I went to an Idaho section meeting for the society of rangeland management. Basically I drove 10 hours down, had a business meeting, toured some interesting rangeland treatments and landscapes, then drove 10 hours back. So 20 hours of driving in a three day stretch....hard to justify that kind of marathon running around.
I wont bore you with the details of our business meeting. Lets just say that we got together at 3PM, then cracked open the beers. We know our priorities.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
So now I say, Wow, I am so mind blowingly bored right now. Now I've had lulls in the summer, staring at fishing poles where nothing is biting for five hours. Set up camp and had nothing to do for the evening, even read the same book twice (wasn't a bad book). But I guess my mind was occupied with thoughts or I was simply content. But I've been back to civilization for two whole days and now I stare at the computer with nothing to do...nothing I want to do anyway...just bored.
It's got to be the technology, the expectation that technology will continuously fill my brain with information and entertainment. And when it doesn't, well the brain doesn't switch back from passive to active and I'm left mind blowingly bored.
I went so far as to try and read up on current affairs of salvation. Read up on speak your mind even, which has always been a hotbed of drama. Apparently there are a lot of people worked up on the politics of something. I'm sure someone mentioned the gutter again. Ventured in the moderator lounge for the first time in a while. Let me tell you...everything is different now. New faces in Admin possitions, global, simple mods. It's like I woke up and found myself in the wrong class or something. Weird.
Also, apparently there's this new "friend" thing, I better go accept Ria and Votan or they wont speak to me. What are we...competing with Facebook now?
Cheers,
Daggertooth
Rutts of absolutely nothing can be rather painful. Hang in there and keep applying for everything and anything. Eventually something will come along. Chain smoking'll cost you a pretty penny too. Don't know bout down there, but here you can buy two booster packs for one pack of cigarettes.
Not sure what's going on magic wise. I have my cards in my car, but I haven't played anything since Christmas. My reckless purchases last fall hurt my gaming money and I'm still hurt to this day. Specially without any income. So no magic from here to the future.
Votan. What did you see at the beach? Did you do any fishing? What are Portugal's beaches like?
My northbound trip found me at Hazard Lake, where I caught a small trout that I tossed into my ramen noodles. Next morning I want farther north to Dworshak reservoir where I caught 4 small mouth bass. I had a few others biting and pulling my line, but I haven't quite perfected tugging my line to catch the fish. I kept two of the small mouth bass. The biggest was barely a foot long, but long enough for me to appreciate. Grilled it on open coals and enjoyed it with some rice. From there I went the rest of the way to Moscow, ID. Hopefully I can find a job before too long.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
As long as you know how to cook ramen. Far too many people don't like ramen because its bland or not filling, then I ask if they add stuff to it and they look at me dumbfounded. Not adding stuff to ramen is like not adding hamberger to hamberger helper. Of course its not going to be filling. I always add a fair helping of frozen vegetables, chopped meat, and an egg. If I'm feeling like I need an extra boost of fat I'll use bacon...that'll make the heart stop a few beats.
What classes are you taking Yuks?
Land of milk and honey...wasn't. My road had delays due to fire, both sides of the canyon had burned. Surface fire, possibly let as a back fire. The valley was smokey with pockets of fire still burning and a snag or two glowing orange in the dusk light. I turned on my main road and discovered it was a narrow one lane road, for two way traffic, going high over a steep cliff. The road itself was rocky and very difficult for my little two wheel drive hyundai. Drove over the biggest rocks just to avoid bottoming out. Two trucks tried to pass me and I tried to pull to the right...not enough...so I backed up then threw the car into the side of the mountain. Gave the trucks room to pass, but the chrunching grinding noise wasn't the best.
The reservoir was beautiful, but far from peaceful. The morning opened with the sounds of gunfire as people played with firearms. Motorboats and ski-jets churned the water I was trying to drink from into a muddy mess. I boiled the water as good as I could, but I'm sure those kids were peeing in it. It's why I prefer rivers...sure I might be downstream from a caustic and toxic mine, with water flowing through the ribcage of various carcases, but at least I don't know that. The evenings were filled with the sounds of generators...complete with one family having a very loud outdoor theater. One generator didn't even shut off until past midnight. So much for tranquility when you are around people eh.
Fishing was no good either. Had two fishing lines with worms on them for hours without even a nibble. Tried powerbait, lures, and spinners and still no nibbles. Fish were jumping all over and the osprey's were having a field day with fish dinners, and I couldn't get jack. Happens way too often with me.
So I left, still heading northbound with the promise of some work. I'll try fishing elsewhere, but I've learned to strongly dislike hunting for camping spots during the weekend. The area I'm in is a popular camping area and too many weekend warriors who know nothing of outdoor etiquette take over most camp sites.
I know, my bad for picking a site surrounded by people...but the map looked like it was fairly remote. Plus it was hard as hell to get to it...turned out there were other, easier, ways to get there. Took one of them out.
...Cars kinda leaking some clear liquid, engine light is on too...wonder if I should get those checked before driving hours away from civilization....
Cheers,
Daggertooth
Well here's hoping you can do all the traveling you want when you graduated. That's when my real travels started. Of course you want to do it all in moderation. The only difference between me and some homeless bum was a job...and now that I don't have that, well....
No prospects yet. The NRCS is scrambling to find us at least two more weeks of work, and there's two weeks of work I can take in Moscow after some paperwork pulls through. Not much left to do now besides wait. I'm going to head north, to a Reservoir up in the mountains. Fishing regulations state that you can only catch 25 Kokanee a day, with a holding limit of 50. Well Kokanee is one of my favorite fish, and with catch limits like that...it's gotta be good fishing, right? So I'm heading to this land of milk and honey, Hopefully I eat well for a few days.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
Glad to have you back Yuks. Been a long time since you've been around.
Charlie, didn't you say you had a good lead on a job?
So Kuna days....a day when we celebrate the founding of our great town of Kuna. A day of BBQ, fairs, games, and a long firework display. I went to the Kuna Kave Kids...or the KKK as they call it here...to celebrate the day. Good company and good beer and a solid couch to sleep on. Glad I stumbled in on this town after a hard week of gold mining.
...well its a long story really. The end of my work week was an adventure. We'd come in to the small village of kilgore..a place of about 50 people, largest metropolis in the county, looking for our study site. Our map was clear so we drove down a dirt road, passed a gate into private property, and encountered a rickety home made bridge. Was tilted and sketchy looking but I drove over it without checking...solid enough for our truck it seems. Drove down a little farther, but the road kinda ended. So we passed two more gates, drove the wrong direction, tore apart another gate and repaired it. Never take apart a complete gate without putting it back together...I always say. Leatherman makes a decent fence repair tool though I wished I had a fence wrench. Another fence and the small roadish paths I'd been following completely dissapeared. So....I drove down a cow path that looked kinda like a road...well I think it was used once in the past ten years but my partner was convinced that it wasn't a road and was nervous as all getup. Drove down this cow path and discovered a highly maintained gravel road that came from...somewhere....and followed it up before I cut back on more cow trails, bottomed out hard a few times, and discovered a sweet oasis of aspens to park that was only a quarter mile from our site. So we didn't get started till 2pm and didn't finish till 10pm.
We stayed at the local general store. It was a 101 year old building that still sold 2 cent candies and a center hub for the entire community. We stayed another night, sat and talked with the store owner and a few people. One took out a guitar and started playing some of that good old timey country songs. They were a bit surprised that I knew most the songs being sung. Well we drank, sunk, and talked till late into the night...great place to visit.
Well this was the last job of the week so we...my partner Isaac and myself...slowly started back to where the work vehicles go. Isaac is similar to myself in that we don't really have a place to go or a reason to go there, so we went fishing. Went to fish creak reservoir because Isaac had a good feeling about it. Well the last time we had a good feeling about fishing we followed my instincts to a lake...and found no camping or fishing...so followed his instincts to rapid river, a river half a foot wide with no water in it. So we went to fish creak reservoir and discovered a lake being drained. Dam had been busted out three years ago and now the muddy pool is just for salvage fishing. We parked down on the reservoir floor and looked to see what we could do...figured it was bad fishing...and drove off. Well tried to, the vehicle that wasn't even sunk in the dirt, wasn't moving. Seemed we were stuck fast in the middle of nowhere. So we spent two hours jacking up each tire, paved a rock path beneith each tire, then eased the truck out of the mud...finally sunk in, but I kept the pressure on to get out.
Well we finally found a decent fishing area about an hour later. Night and morning found no fish so we went down to the Owyhee mountains to mine for gold. Isaac and his friend has an operation deep in a secret place. An hour and a half past the nearest town, up a windy canyon road, then a steep hike down a ravine. We had a dredge and some sleuthing to work with. For four days I dug and dug, filling the dredge with material, looking for bedrock and that vein. Well we never got deep enough for that vein, but the nuggets were getting bigger and bigger. I think between the two of us we got about $100 worth of gold each. But I feel that we are close to that vein, I just feel it.
Before heading out we hiked up the old road to a delapidated cabin. It was built on the headwaters of our creak and was beat up. It worried me a little seeing empty chemical bottles and mine tailings coating the head waters of a creak that I had been drinking and cooking out of, but a little murcury and arsnic never hurt anyone. We weren't planning on a bigger hike, but curiosity got the best of us, so we followed a road for 3 hours. The full moon lit our way and most the roads were somewhat clear. We took stalk of our unprepared state. We both had knives, a lighter, and an empty bottle of beer....so everything was perfect for survival if need be. Still, we were thirsty and tired by the top of the mountain. It was an area that had radio and cell towers and a great view of everything. Near one of the cell tower buildings was a cashe of bottled water, so we helped ourselves to some...leaving a thank you note and a dollar, then went on our way. Got back to camp at 2am.
So that finished our trip. Went back to town to stay at Issac's families home where Kuna days was just starting. I'll be heading out here soon, but not for another gig. Seems the BLM failed to provide funding, so I am out of a job now. Back up plan? Camping. happens sometimes.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
A card making contest sounds like fun, but I wont be able to participate. I'm still on hiatus and such. I'm currently at a hotel....a perk I sometimes get. Luxuries of shower and a real bed....kinda needed since we had already worked 15 hours and the target location was another 4 hours away.
I never caught fish around Mackay, but I did hike the tallest mountain...again. It's a fun steep climb that ends with over a thousand feet of scrambling, a knife edge walk over a snowbank, and another thousand feet of scramble. I started after noon so I would have the peak of this tourist mountain to myself. A good climb, and I was later greeted by a climber with...some smokeable herbs. Not to turn down a friendly gesture, I partook....just a small amount before the hike down. Really, I don't think it did anything besides give me a throbbing headache that lasted deep into the next day.
Work might slow down...to nothing, since the BLM might be dropping the ball on us. But we have a few good places to play in. Went to a remote area yesterday that took us an hour and a half up a narrow windy dirt road up some random mountains. We were looking for a campground, one called paradise...but, while looking for paradise we instead found the perfect place. Probably one of the nicest campgrounds I've ever visited with a pair of camp hosts that were extremely friendly. We sat and chatted with them for hours before settling down with a dutch oven dinner of chicken, potatoes, and carrots.
The site itself was steep, with a long hike and slopes of over than 70%. Basically, if someone fell we'd keep falling for a very long time. Fun place to play really and we ended it with another great dutch oven dinner of steak chunks, zatarans, cream of mushroom, and a slew of veggies.
Haven't found a rattle snake yet. Folks say they exist all over the place, but despite hiking all over the place I haven't seen one. I've got big plans for the next one. Got a recipe of glycerine and denatured alcohol to tan the hide...and well a free snack is always worth eating....specially when the fish aren't biting.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
But you can. Same with everyone. I would love to explore Portugal and maybe take a train out through the surrounding nations. Some of those southern forests of Portugal are even considered relatively intact considering the historical land use. Not to mention the history of the place, the travel, exploration, and adventure of the people. I'll have to head there one of these days.
I can say the same about Oz and the wonders of that world. The south-west tip is suppose to be one of the most unique vegetated places in the world. High in biodiversity. I'd probably camp by a billabong happily roasting a jumbuck.
I suppose my stories have a touch of a romantic flare, since the hardships of life don't bleed through the narrative. ...well hardship is probably an exaggeration. More of an annoyance that my camp gear is all old, dilapidated, and falling apart. My good down blanket had two new rips in it, woke up with feathers all over the place. Third time that's happened and I swear there ain't much for feathers in that thing anymore. Probably aughtta replace it considering it's coloration is a deep dark yellow, when it was once a blindingly bright white. Tent's falling apart...which is probably the most troublesome bit. I've owned it for 8 years and the heavy use has caused the zippers to stop working and a few holes to tear into the rain fly. Taped it up and I'll buy some of that gorilla duct tape to hold it together. Not that I really need a tent, unless the gnats, mosquitoes, green heads, deer flies, or tabanid flies are out and about.
I do like camping by the rivers though, don't get access to that during my work days. There's a luxury in having a place for drinking water, cooking water, bathing, dishwashing, laundry, and bathroom so close (in that order).
But that's all randomness really. Been hanging out in Mackay again, the same place I lived for two weeks last fall when my apartment was getting ready. Nice resevoir to the north has cheap campsites and electricity...something I need since I am currently editing my mom's 12 page research paper. Last time I was here I was convinced that there was no fish..and I'm still convinced. Had a worm sitting in the lake for a good 4 hours with not so much as a nibble. In the mean time I ran spinners and lures with no luck. Been told that there's good fishing around, but I think the locals just talk up the resevoir to distract the visitors from the real fishing holes.
Been a bit busy to fish though. Wandered into the forest service office yesterday and got the range specialist to go out to the hills with me and identify plants. I've also been trying to catch up on all sorts of paperwork. There's also frustration in that the BLM hasn't gotten their act together and pushed through the permissions. We have 140 sites we need to visit, but can only go to 9 remaining sites. That's maybe 3 days of work. If the BLM doesn't follow through on something they should have gotten done weeks ago I'll be stalled. For how long is anyone's guess, but I'll tell you that its harder than anything to identify a dried stick with crumbed up leaves...my forensic botany is good, but not that good.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
Good luck in the music jobs there Charlie, should be fun. My brother is working to get into that world right now...something about a music major with a masters in composition or something.
I don't have much time. 5:30 right now and I still need to make camp and see if I can't catch dinner. Got a piece of Carp from two days ago, going to dutch oven it with cream of mushroom and some vegetables, but I'd rather catch a fresh kokane.
We've inventoried a lot of country out here already. Though not nearly as much as we need. I've seen some rangeland about as beat up as I've ever seen. Landscapes with annual grasses so dominant and noxious that you can't use the land for anything. Might as well plow it over and put up houses...and this is coming from me. Our 8 man crew dropped to 5 for a bit when we lost one to a better job, one to physical limitations, and one to heat exhaustion. This job isn't for everyone, but we got the heat exhaustion gal back. I've even felt the heat myself a time or two, but then I'm a bit odd...I wear heavy jeans, a long sleeve black cotton t-shirt, and a big black cowboy hat. Some of my crewmates been calling me the man in black...or at least sing Johnny Cash.
The last week was rough....we got to one site just as lighting struck and a large fire flared up. We debated on working it, I would have anyway, but the gals were worried so we left it. Turned out it was a huge fire that burned for days...but missed our site by a mile so we would have been fine. Then it rained on us several days in a row...which wouldn't have been as bad if I hadn't been sleeping under the stars. Well it still wasn't bad, but my down blanket got heavy as it soaked up all the water so i was heating up and boiling under the blanket while slowly getting soaked with water falling on my face. Kept me up for an hour and took me several days to dry those blankets with my body heat. Also had trouble when one of our sites hit a steep ledge. Had to keep the measuring tape in my mouth as I climbed...nearly dropped a big bassalt rock on my partner's head. Rain didn't help there either.
Anyway, i'm off. I'll be at this cafe a time or two...got a 12 page research paper I need to finish for my mom...plus I gots tons of data to finalize. At least I'll try to post more if someone posts between now and tomorrow or so...Dux seems to think we're slower than mallasus in January.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
So far so good. Already gushed blood all over it. I tried to slice a package open with the paper cutter...it got jammed so I pushed down on it to force the paper cutter to go through....forgetting that the other side of the paper cutter was the serrated blade. :-p ...oops on me, newb mistake. But you know what they say, "even monkeys fall from trees." ...specially when they've been drinking since morning.
I did try to flick it open when I needed the pliars...forgot that it wasn't a gerber. :-p
@Charlie
I watched the movie too. It was okay. There were a few things I didn't like though...as far as being cannon with other alien movies.
1) The giant squid monster. What was the deal with that..a precurser to the primative alien hand thing? I think they took too much creative liscence if they were trying to create an initial evolutionary design for the aliens.
2) What was the deal with the zombie guy? There are no zombies in Aliens. Having some broken body some crawling in and attacking people. Doesn't fit anything at all.
3) Why did the robot drug the guy with the bioweapon? Sure if there was a reason for it. But that seemed to come completely out of nowhere.
4) the whole reason they went to those planets sat kind of funny with me. All these ancient civilizations point to one set of stars...that happen to be an ancient bio-weapon facility? It's a stretch, but I suppose I could let it by.
Don't get me wrong, I liked the movie. But as an "Alien" fan I felt that there were a few oddities in here that could have been smoothed over. What did you think?
Sorry to see you go Teefoo.
Speaking about the Bat Cave...seems to be about time to talk about creating a new one. I can spearhead that....when I'm done with my seasonal job. No time now. Library I'm at right now is only open for another 40 minutes...and I need to format my computer...again.
Life here is good. I'm back to working seasonally. Inventorying the rangeland of southern Idaho. Means that I travel across all of southern Idaho collecting data. The information I collect goes into a large dataset that allows us to look at conditions and trends of Idaho's rangelands over a long period of time. Some of these sites have had data collected on them since the 50's, so it is an exhaustive data set. Should be fun.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
Full moon hikes are awesome. There is plenty of light to see and the world is a highly textured black and white image. I've hiked down the second tallest mountain in the continental US by moonlight, down one of the steepest slopes too, extremely dangerous where every step caused you to slide a little on steep rocks and where any fall would mean death. Did it because I'm that much of a bad ass...and I kinda missread my map. Stupid maps'll get you every time.
I highly recommend a full moon midnight hike. You've got some good terrain in Portugal...mostly private land so I don't know where you would hike. But I bet you can find something.
I've been watching a little of Euro 2012. Heartbroken seeing my country lose to Denmark. That was just sad. Still a little bit of hope, but we need to beat Germany and Portugal. Sorry Votan, I was cheering for Portugal...but now that you lost...well the dutch neet to beat you. ...go beat Denmark though...that needs to happen.
Charlie and Ria, good luck with the job hunt. I don't know how the economy is over there, but its always a pain to be looking for a job.
Dux...no titans will be nice, but how do you know thats what will happen? Only half the sets been spoilered. I haven't looked at it at all though, allways hated the basic sets. No desire to play magic lately. Hope my cards are holding their own in my car though. 120 degree heat isn't the best, but they've sat in my car before so hopefully they are fine.
My cousin left for Japan this morning, so that part of my trip is over. I never realized how expensive it was to visit and hang out in vegas every other day. We did go see the movie "prometheus." I knew it was suppose to be a space horror flick, but I had no idea what the entire premise was. Took me by surprise and completely grossed the cousin out. The movie had some loopholes and problems though. But then I suppose that happens when you take creative liscence on a long standing franchise.
I've got a mock interview today. Very casual since I already have the job. I really need to keep looking though since I will be unemployed again in three months. The life of a seasonal.
Cheers,
Daggertooth