Firefly

I saw a firefly tonight. It made me really excited, I really like fireflies. I think the only other time I've seen them was 11 years and a few days ago. There were a whole bunch then, it was awesome. This time there was just one.

Last night we had crazy weather... tornado watches and severe thunderstorm warning, maybe some flash flood warnings I'm not positive. Sky was lit up every 2 (or less) seconds, don't think I've ever seen that much lightning before. Ultra windy. It was awesome. But a little scary.

Last couple days of rotation should be more relaxing, instead it's been the two busiest days non-stop. Glad it's pretty much done.

Things I'm considering

especially since I'm at home during the summer. Most things have been on the list a few years, maybe I'll actually do some of them. Let me know if you're interested too, maybe we can do it together...

Sailing lessons - small boats on glenmore, though it would be cooler to be part of a crew on a big ship.

Kayaking lessons - though I've been around mayne island near vancouver, didn't seem there's much to know, so maybe river or whitewater courses?

Survival course - I know a friend took a Karamat one a couple years ago, it's in early July, you'd need time off to do it though.

Stowaway on a train - there are places it goes slow enough to hop onboard, maybe a flat-car or something, would be neat (though illegal I'm sure) to do.

Boomdeyadda

Saw this commercial on discovery channel, it's awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5BxymuiAxQ

Lincoln

My last couple days in richmond, I learned of a 'trendy' part of town, and of an old theatre they had there. It turned out to be super cool really old theatre with giant chandalier and a Wurlitzer pipe organ that gets played before saturday shows. So I went both nights, didn't really have anything better to do. I had tried to talk to a couple strangers, but they weren't very receptive. The girl taking the tickets at the theatre was pretty friendly and fun to talk to for a while. The benefits of having a 'captive' audience.

Anyways, as mentioned, I'm in Lincoln now... haven't really done anything yet. Actually it's been almost two weeks and not much to say. The first few days here were busier than the previous two weeks with work. Finally got a couple 2AM phone calls, ruining the "perfect" streak we had going. One of my King Air pilots showed up so that's good, he got to switch to the lear to stay with Intermap. Anyways, nebraska is pretty flat. Occasional trees. I got drained by the intense sun and high heatwhen I went jogging a couple times. Amazing how much water you lose. (like a few litres in under an hour). Walking around a park one evening was about all the excitement here. Oh, I saw some fireworks one night, I think it was cause there was a baseball game. At the time I was eating some birthday-cake ice cream with cookie dough mix-in, it was devastating.

One of the best things actually is the housecleaning staff. Instead of the usual sullen ladies that most places have, this place has smiling friendly vietnamese ladies. It's such a world of difference even to have people saying "Hi!".

Another nice thing is the robin on her nest near the office window.

Any work rotation is incomplete with bloging about rental cars. It's USA so everything is automatic. Richmond was nice cause I had a civic. Lincoln has a dodge charger or some such awkward beast. Oh how the gas pump kept going and going. So many reminders why I stick with compacts. It's frustrating here we're sharing a car, which was fine overseas but this is USA where you can barely leave the hotel without a car. I'm sitting here waiting for them to come back from lunch so I can go do work.

A week left...

Lincoln

Relocated to Lincoln Nebraska today. But my luggage didn't! That makes 4 of the last 7 flights.

I want to ask a black woman here to do something stereotypically black, say something with attitude while doing the neck thing or finger waving thing. That would be awesome. But I might get my ass kicked.

I think it's hilarious when locals get confused by my "accent". Someone asked if I was from Ireland.

What I did in Richmond

Things have been going really well with the radar here, so there hasn't been much urgent stuff, so I've had a relaxing time. Push the less urgent parts into different parts of the day or forget about it till another day.

There was "art in the park", but I mainly just walked around a park. There was an annual asian festival, I said a couple words in indonesian to indonesian people to impress them, but otherwise nothing too exciting there, it was just more like home.

After some stuff at the airport one evening I went cruising aimlessly around country roads. Lots of roadside signs talking about the US civil war. Ended up at "deep bottom", was another reminder why I really want to live by a lakeside someday. Also reminded me of the one downside, an abundance of mosquitoes.

Another day went to Pocahontas State Park. This is the area where the whole John Smith and Pocahontas stuff happened. Just walked around there... picked up trash that had been discarded along the trail, what's wrong with people. Got tired, sat with my laptop and did some work, so much better than in an office.

With pocahontas on my mind, I decided to watch the movie. Unfortunately I ended up with it in Spanish!

While looking for a restaurant, I found the university and wandered around there a bit... so many people out and about, it looked like fun. Though realistically they were probably just going home from studying or looking for food. Still, would be fun to just hang out around there if you had some friends to hang out there with.

Yup those are the thrills of being in the field.

More Richmond

After my longest stay in calgary since starting my job, coming to the field has it's ups and downs. I haven't been to this part of the world before.

The best way I can describe it is "green". There seems to be so much vivid green here. Everywhere is forest, except for those areas cut out of the forest to make room for buildings and roads. And it's dense deciduous forest. I really like it.

It's also black. You can really tell the difference when you listen to the radio for example, the style of speech and the types of music etc. Otherwise, I don't have much cultural experience here yet.

Walking outside in the evening reminded me of Brampton in 2003, it was so nice. Jogging in the park today I'm not sure what it reminded me of, but was warm and humid and foresty. The river is brown and rocky making white water.

Definitely like the geography here, at least for now. Otherwise I don't really know what this place is like. Yesterday didn't even leave the hotel till a short walk before bed.

Lots of history here, it was the civil war south capital, amongst other claims to fame. Also is simply part of the first developed part of north america.
Would like to stay here longer, but we're probably leaving monday. Can't imagine nebraska will be as nice as here. At least there I won't be concerned about what I'm missing if I don't get to go out and explore.