By God, it's a fountain!

Long long ago (back in 2009, the year I went mental and other things happened) in the far distant smelly tar lands (Taft, California) *shutters* some of my crew members came across something that they thought I would like. At the time I was telling them of the adventures I was having fixing my house and landscaping my backyard. I was collecting rocks for a pond that my sister was constructing while I was out doing field work. Now there aren't many rocks in Taft. There's a lot of sand, and sticky stinky sand, but not a lot of rocks... that I'd be willing to display anyway in my glorious and wondrous backyard. HA! I did procure a coyote skull and a sheep skull however, and several other crew members took home some animal bones as well. We had a lovely cat skull sitting on the dashboard for a few weeks. It was adorable until you looked in its dead empty eye sockets and your soul turned black with despair.

Anyway, I'm getting distracted. At the end of the day when we would all meet up again, they said, "hey, we found something you may want". So off we went to find the GPS coordinate they logged. Low and behold they had found a stash of transmission tower ceramic insulators. These weren't your cute aqua glass insulators that people spend $50 bucks a pop at overpriced antique stores. No sir. This was an intact 40-50 pound ceramic insulator. And I thought it was beautiful. I thanked the crew members who found it and thought of me. We heaved it into the back of the SUV, and off we tootled. My first thought was to get it home and turn it into a fountain.

Well it made it home and sat in my backyard for years. It was a stand for tomato plants for a few years. It also held strawberry plants when we rebuilt the main vegetable garden beds. But finally after years of neglect and wishing it was still hanging off a steel transmission line in the dessert, it has become a fountain!

One of my nephews drilled the hole needed to run the rubber tube, and my sister one day took our old pond apart (we never took the time to maintain it) and replaced said pond (mosquito breeding ground) with our new fountain. TA DA!!

isn't it just the cutest thing ever?

and it works!!

Trees Trees Trees: Part 3

So um, I still have 12 sticks in 12 pots, but miraculously 9 of them now have leaves!

 All 3 Goldenraintrees!

 The lonely White Flowering Dogwood (1 of 4)

 All 3 Eastern Redbuds!

And both Crapemyrtles!

I love the leaves on the Eastern Redbuds and the Goldenraintrees.

All of these lovelies will grow big and strong and in a short few 20 years, they will look like this:

A full grown Eastern Redbud

Goldenraintree

White Flowering Dogwood

Crapemyrtle

Now, as I said before here: Most are up for grabs. I am willing to part with both Crapemyrtles only because I already have one in my backyard and three in my front yard. The City of Gilroy obviously LOVES Crapemyrtles! I'm not complaining, they are beautiful trees, and they bloom in the summer, not spring. Two of the Eastern Redbuds, and two of the Goldenraintrees are also up for grabs. Since only one white flowering dogwood took root, I'm keeping him.

So these little sticks with leaves are ready for their forever homes. However, I think they should stay in their pots for a bit longer. But then again, I don't know anything really about keeping trees alive, especially baby ones.

So far only one has been truly spoken for. My mom has laid claim to one of the Crapemyrtles. Whether she remembers sending me that email or not.

If anyone wants one, please let me know and we can arrange their pick-up/delivery. I'm serious! I cannot plant all of these in my yards. Well, I could but then mowing would be like a mowing/edging obstacle course.

Trees Trees Trees: part 2

Long, long ago in the not to distant past I wrote this: Trees Trees Trees. And then I waited. And waited. And waited. And then thought, "how rude, that I gave them money and then they don't send me my stupid trees that they promised."

They finally arrived, on December 24th. Merry Stickmas!

Yup, I now have 12 sticks. I have three Eastern Redbud sticks. Four White Flowering Dogwood sticks. Three Goldenraintree sticks, and two Crapemyrtle sticks.

I went to the great and wondrous Home Depot (on December 26th) and bought pots and soil for the sticks and went to town potting the twelve sticks.

don't worry, I made little labels so I know which stick is which

Obviously, I can't plant all twelve sticks in my yards. Well, I could but then I wouldn't have a yard anymore, I'd have a stick forest. (for some strange reason, I like mowing my lawns) So, here is the deal. If all twelve sticks survive and take root and live. (I don't have the greatest track record with trees) Eight of said sticks are up for grabs. I want to keep one of each for myself obviously, and I will find places for them in my yards. So come spring/summer, and I haven't killed them with love, kindness, and water, and they bloom and grow leaves and stuff, I shall post again who has survived. And whomever said they want one or two can come pick them up.

Live long and prosper little sticks!!

Trees Trees Trees

So back when I had a real job, not that my current job isn't real, but when you know, I had like money and stuff, I used to donate to quite a few different organizations. Such as The Red Cross, National Park Foundation, State Park Foundation, Yosemite Conservancy, and Sierra Club, and held memberships (with donations of course) to the SAA (Society of American Archaeology), SCA (Society of California Archaeology), Santa Cruz Archaeology Society, New Zealand Archaeology, and Sierra Club, among others. The only one I have kept current and still belong to is Sierra Club (because I like and usually agree with what they fight and lobby for). In the past, I think I also donated to The Arbor Day Foundation because this came in the mail.

At first I wasn't going to fill it out. When stuff like this comes in the mail these days, I usually just dump it into the recycle bin. But I held on to this one. I actually read it. So I decided to do it. So for filling out the survey and donating $20.00, I will get 10 trees, and the Arbor Day Foundation will plant 10 trees in a park somewhere in the US. I think it is a pretty sweet trade off. However, I know now that I will become inundated with even more stuff in the mail asking for money/donations from The Arbor Day Foundation and other similar agencies, it's just how these things work. I think my recycle bin can handle it. The 10 trees will be (according to my survey) 3 American Redbuds, 3 Golden Raintrees, and 4 White Flowering Dogwoods. I've always liked redbuds and dogwoods!!

So I'm curious in what state I will get my 10 trees. In the lovely picture, of course it shows a lovely family planting a young perhaps 3-5 year old sapling in their front yard. Somehow I don't think they will be sending me 10 3-5 year old saplings. They better not come in seed form either. I can't grow trees from seeds. I've tried and failed. My best guess is that they will come to me like my now dead Spruce that came with the Wall-E DVD. He came in a tube.

I've decided I will keep you all posted on the 10 trees. When they arrive, how they arrived, in what condition they are in, etc. Also, I don't have space for 10 trees. So if I can keep them alive and get them big enough to safely plant in a yard, and you live nearby... let me know, you may get a tree.

Well, I'm Impressed anyway

I did this to my thumb

 With this lovely mallet

While making this paver patio in my parent backyard!

Considering all the tools and power saws I used, this one small injury is nothing but miraculous. Impressed I didn't loose a finger or an eye... or Quirk the Cat.

When I grow up...

I never knew what I wanted to be when I was younger. I can remember when I was about 5 or so, telling my parents I wanted to be a boy when I grew up. I thought the peach fuzz on my lip would grow into a mustache. Thankfully, it never did. When I was a child, besides turning into a boy, I wanted to be a Park Ranger. I thought they were cool. I still do think they are cool. Also wanted to be an Olympic Athlete, and an Astronaut, even after watching the Challenger explode on live tv in my 2nd grade classroom.

In 1993, after watching Jurassic Park I decided I wanted to be a Palaeontologist. Then I wanted to be a Geologist, Coroner, a fighter pilot, a Navy Seal, and an Author. After watching Dante's Peak in 1997, I wanted to be a Vulcanologist. Then a rescue squad member, Firefighter, Smoke Jumper (Hotshot), EMT, Script Writer, Set Builder, Coast Guard, Photographer, Columnist, Travel Writer, Pastry Chef, and a Forensic Anthropologist. There was also Professional Musician, Mountain Climber, Explorer, Naturalist, Adventure Travel Guide, Oceanographer, Glass Blower, and Welder.

In 2005, I got my first Archaeology job. But I didn't stop. To survive as a successful archaeologist, one needs other skill sets. So I thought Biologist, Botanist, Geologist (again), Forensic Anthropologist (again), Geographer, and Osteologist. I never did any of those, perhaps a reason I'm no longer employed as an archaeologist. Then I thought, time for a new career as a Landscape Architect, Construction Worker, Park Ranger (again), Freelance Writer, Adventure Tour Guide (again).

Right now I'm trying out Entrepreneur.

But seriously, I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. Anyone have any ideas?

News Update

First blog of 2012. Today I realized (well, I’ve known for a while now) I am not a dog person. I can tolerate them and live with them, but it isn’t by choice. There’s a new dog in town. Her name is Sura. She is a ridgeless Rhodesian Ridgeback. She is almost 5 months old and belongs to my sisters husband. I live with my sister and her two teenage sons with their little weiner dog Pepper. My sister’s husband only lives here part time. So Sura is here, part time. Well, when said husband goes to work, Sura stays with us because he works 3-4 12 hour shifts. Today (Monday) he worked, my sister went to work and my nephews went to school. Which left me with Pepper and Sura. Pepper doesn’t like Sura that much. And even before my sister and her husband got Sura, I said I didn’t want another dog. But apparently I don’t have a say in the matter. Well, lets just say taking care of Sura is like taking care of a colicky toddler. They won’t stop screaming, nothing you do is right, and you can’t take your eyes off of them, and by the end of the day, you want to pull your hair out. So when my sister came home to check on us, we decided that Sura will go to doggy day care on the days that her husband works. Hurray!

Now don’t get me wrong, Sura is a very pretty dog and she is pretty smart. She is only 4 and a half months old and can sit, stay, drop things she’s not suppose to put in her mouth, plays well with other dogs, and has figured out how to open doors. She will be a very well behaved dog when she grows up and be very sociable. I just don’t want to babysit her or take care of her. She isn’t my dog. I like cats. Cats are very low maintenance. You feed them and clean their litter box. That’s it. If they like you, they may curl up and sleep on your lap. They pretty much take care of themselves. They even give themselves baths. But sister is allergic to cats, and Pepper is a neurotic territorial ferret that tries to kill cats, so we can’t have them. *sad face*

Which brings me to another subject. If and when I get my soda/ice cream/ book store, I would like to have a shop cat. It would live at the store and hang out with the books and lounge on the comfy sofa’s and chairs and be loved by all the patrons.

And what’s this soda/ice cream/book store? Well, I am still unemployed (only been working a few days to a few weeks per month doing archaeology). I’ve realized that if I stay in archaeology, that is all it will be. So I’ve decided to pursue another dream. I have many, this shop is just one. Before the shop dream, I thought I’d go back to school and become a landscaper (yet another dream). I even applied to school, but when I went to register, the classes were all full with a 20 person wait list! I took it as a sign. That maybe that dream should be put on hold and to try a different one. So on a whim while sister and I were at the bank sorting out a checking account issue, we talked with a small business manager there. He made it sound like it could be done and helped us get started. A few days later he called and said we would qualify for a SB loan to purchase the building we were looking at for the shop. Some other stuff happened and we talked to some people and met some people willing to help us, and things are rolling along. Right now I am in the process of writing up our business plan to present to some potential investors. If all goes well, my new profession will be owner and proprietor of a small business, and landlord. By no means are we even close to making this happen yet. But we should know by as early as the end of the month whether or not this dream could become reality. I really hope we can do this. It is a lot of work, and the “work” I’m putting into it now is free labor. So I am still taking archaeology jobs when they are available to me, so that I can stay afloat a bit longer. If this dream can become a reality soon, then perhaps my financial future won’t look so gloomy, like it does at the moment.

My sister and nephews, and my mom seem to be on board, but dad is a bit uneasy. But I attribute that to his personality. He is by nature a worrier. And I can understand that, we are related and I also have this particular trait. This is a huge risk that may or may not work. We shall see, and I will try to keep you posted.

Decisions and holiday festivities

Killing multiple birds with one stone here. First off, it is major decision time for me. Can’t put it off much longer. I no longer have unemployment benefits. Apparently I worked too much in October. It was going to expire in January anyway. So I went and applied for school. Well, I didn’t actually go anywhere. I did it online while sitting on this very bed. I register for classes the week of December 14th. I will be taking Horticulture Landscaping classes. If anyone needs any work done, I’m available. (nudge nudge) Don’t have a part-time job yet to sustain this yet, but there is still time. This of course means that once school starts in February I will not be able to take archaeology jobs. Mostly because field jobs take me away from home for weeks at a time, and the whole point of going to school is actually physically going to school.

Which brings us to point number two. Archaeology. I will miss it. I love it, but it also almost destroyed me. I will miss my fellow archaeologists. They are very intelligent, gifted, loyal, down right raunchy people. It takes a special quality person to do the job, and I will miss them. I will miss the places I got to see and the places I will never get to. I was able to see and go places that most people never get to. Drive on roads that are locked, climb mountains where there are no trails, find artifacts that no one has touched in hundreds of years. I got to go to such a variety of places. I will miss exploring. I will however not miss the stress of report deadlines and client demands and expectations, the fear of angry and sometimes armed landowners who hate you just because you are an archaeologist. I will not miss the bureaucracy and blame being thrown at whomever is closest.* I was relieved when I got laid-off. A large burden that I never wanted in the first place was lifted. There were some responsibilities I hated, like having to deal with angry property owners, and clients who didn’t even understand what our job is and what it entails. Lets just face it, I hate confrontation. It makes me very uneasy whether it be clients or co-workers who don’t get along. Since being laid-off, all of those responsibilities no longer applied. I was essentially demoted. I am no longer a project manager/supervisor. I work now as just a field technician. I miss putting together site records, the artistry of drawing maps and features, manipulating photographs in the office. I have enjoyed the field work I have been able to do since that time. I enjoyed just being a member of the crew. I will miss it. I hope that perhaps during school breaks and over the summer I will have the opportunity to come back and do some field work. I’m not sure I can completely let it go. There is a part of me that will always crave it. The need to explore and find and see things for the very first time. Archaeology gave me access to feed that craving and paid me, to boot.

And thirdly, I’ll keep this one short. It is holiday season. I don’t tend to get excited about it. I don’t hang Christmas decorations, I only buy gifts for immediate family and don’t spend much on them (especially this year). It’s just not a big deal to me. I enjoy spending time with my family, don’t get me wrong. But I am like my father and his father before him. We like to be there. We want to be around everybody, but we don’t want to necessarily do anything. We just want to sit there and just be. When I think of this holiday time, it is for sappy hallmark movies and card commercials that make you cry. It is for movie marathons that last for days. It is time to watch Star Wars (episodes IV-VI only, I-III sucked ass) and Lord of the Rings (extended version), and old but good tv shows like Farscape and Firefly. And then watch them again with commentary. (Yes I do that, I admit it) It is for 1000+ piece puzzles. When I think of this time of year, that is what makes me happy. Oh and the BBC America channel always runs a Dr. Who marathon on New Years!!!! I have watched it 2 years in a row now. It is a great way to spend my birthday. Yes New Years Day is my birthday, you may be hung-over, but I will be in my comfy PJ’s gorging myself with food I shouldn't eat and watching Dr. Who for 12 hours straight. Bow Ties are cool!




*This is not necessarily individuals. Archaeological companies are usually the lowest on the totem pole of large projects that involve many agencies and companies, and often get the blame for running projects over budget.

It's that time again: and no it isn't my moon cycle!

It’s time to write another blog post. Life is still in limbo. I have now been unemployed for over 8 months now. It is starting to get scary. I’m starting to get anxious about the whole thing. The longer I am unemployed the harder it becomes to find permanent work. I haven’t been a complete lazy ass. I worked off and on (1 or 2 days a week) for 2 to 3 of those months for my former employer as a construction monitor. I did a week long survey with a former co-worker at his company. And I spent about 2 months landscaping my parents backyard. I changed my diet (got mostly healthy) and lost 20 pounds. I also installed hardwood floors in my house! That seems so long ago now.

I’ll be working the next 2 weeks for my former employer again. I’ve just been out for so long now that I find that I just don’t want to do anything. It is getting harder to get out of bed in the morning... or more like noon. It is hard to even get motivated to mow my own lawn, do laundry, or even get dressed.

I seem to go through a few weeks of deep depression, then a few weeks getting out of it, and a few days of motivated work looking for jobs or fixing things around the house, and then I slip right back into the depression.

I think I am more frustrated with myself than I am with the economy and my lack of a fulltime job. I can’t seem to make any decisions about my future. I have a feeling that for me to successfully transition out of archaeology and into something else will take a lot longer than I want it to. I want it to be instantaneous. It will, in reality, take going back to school and/or several jobs over the course of years to acquire the necessary skills needed. That thought just makes me want to curl up in a ball and never leave my bed again. It is like starting over. It is starting over. To become an archaeologist, it took going to 4 different colleges over the course of 4 years. We can add the 6 years it took to get my BA in English when I thought I was going to be a famous and wealthy author, if you want. Will it take that long again? I have greater responsibility now. I was living rent free then, and only worried about paying school loans and tuition.

Oh to be young and free again. I’m not old yet, I know. Unless you’re talking to a teenager. I know I am complaining. I certainly don’t have it that bad. I have unemployment benefits, a healthy body, a working car, a roof over my head, and food. I am not in danger of loosing any of these things. And if I did, I have the support of my family to help me. There are many people worse off. Now I feel guilty for complaining! Ugh, the perils of being the offspring of my parents (the guilt is strong in our blood).

Tomorrow’s goal is to get out of bed before noon, and spend some time outside in the sunshine. The sun is good for my melancholy.

The first eight

It is finally time. I was a bit scared to step on the scale this morning. What if I didn’t loose very much? I know I lost at least 5, and a friend said I look like I lost 10. Well today was the day. The first eight weeks are up. It was time to measure up and move on. I will go ahead and say it, when I started this I didn’t want to say how much I did weigh. So, two months ago to the day, I was 162. Today, eight weeks later, I am 144. I have lost 2 inches off my chest and 2 ¼ inches off my waist. I was actually shocked when I actually did step on that scale. I’ve never lost 18 pounds before. Well, I’ve never had to before either.

Today I start step two of the diet. It is all about reintroducing carbohydrates back into my system slowly and doing it with the right carbs. So still no potatoes, chips, and sugar related carbs. However, I can now eat fruit!!!!! Which is good because strawberries are in season and living in a place that grows strawberries and cherries and sells them at every fruit stand and not be able to eat them would be torture. I can now introduce whole grain breads, pastas, and rices back in. and sweet potatoes!!! Of course everything in moderation. In step one I was allowed only 5 grams of carbs every five hours, besides the carbs I don’t have to count that was in cheeses, meats, and allowed veggies. Now that is up to 11-20 grams and I have to eat them at every meal. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and before bed snack. So I guess I get to go shopping for whole grain breads and cereals. I have to make sure that what I eat in carbs also has at least 2 grams of fiber. Gotta keep me regular.

I’m excited. It means I will most likely be on this step for another 8 weeks (ugh), but I will get to eat a more varried diet. It was getting hard on step one to keep things going when I was limited. But I did learn that I like brussel sprouts, and ricotta cheese pudding, and that I cannot cook pork chops, but cauliflower is tasty.

The first week of step one was really hard. The book said I would loose the cravings I had for potato chips, french fries, and all around battered and deep fried goodness. I still crave those things, but I can handle it now. I haven’t gone on a binge feeding of an entire can of Pringles and box of Red Vines yet. I also didn’t notice any physical change in my body until well into the 3rd week or so. The first 4 weeks I did pretty good. I had an off plan meal maybe twice, but I was exercising 4 to 5 days a week with 30 minutes of cardio (on the treadmill) and 30 minutes with weights. Weeks 5 and 6 were spent installing the new hardwood floors in my house. I count that as extreme work-out. (I think I still have bruises from that) My lunch and dinners weren’t always great during that time, but I tried to keep the fast food consumption down to a minimum. Very hard when every night the family was bringing over fast, easy, comfort food. After the floors, I took week 7 off, from exercise only... sort of. I went for walks or rode my bike or pulled weeds in the yard. And the last week, I spent gardening (major weed pulling and landscaping). The treadmill is still burried in the garage behind living room furniture that hasn’t made it back into the house yet.

I am amazed and thrilled with myself for actually completing the first 8 weeks of this new lifestyle. I didn’t think I would finish it, to be honest. But I was and still am dammed determained to do this. Nothing else was working. And this is!! 18 pounds lighter is proof!! I do feel better. I have more energy, not depressed, no anxiety (we will see if that changes when I go back to work), and I fit into most of my clothes again. My wardrobe was limited to 2 pairs of “fat” pants, and a handful of shirts. I refused to buy another pair of bigger “fat” pants. Those “fat” pants are now work pants covered in paint splotches and grass stains. I am back down to where almost everything (almost) fits again.

I still have some weight to loose. And now on Step Two, I will continue to loose weight, work-out and eat right. I will weigh-in again in a month (4 weeks), and I will let you all know the continued progress. Today, I celebrate with a meal at In-N-Out Burger. Hey, I’m allowed!!!

She's guilty!

I have been unemployed for almost two months now. I have been looking for work, granted not every hour of the day. I have been enjoying the time off. If it wasn’t raining so much the backyard would look amazing! However, I have only been able to start many backyard projects and then a week of rain happens.

For some reason though, I feel guilty. I feel guilty about staying up late and sleeping in. I have always been a night owl. I hate mornings! There is no reason why I shouldn’t be able to enjoy this freedom while I have it. Who knows when I will get the chance again? When I retire? Bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Also feel a bit guilty because I am not working. I am getting unemployment checks and staying up late and sleeping in and pulling weeds in my backyard. How is this productive? And gee wiz, why do I feel like I need to be productive? I feel like I have to do something... anything. Why? Is it so ingrained into me to be a productive member of society?

I just want to sleep in and watch movies and TV all day. Is that so bad? And when that new job comes along, I go back to being a productive member of society. Right now though... I’m going to hulu to watch some old TV shows.