Yesterday was our first field trip! Heidi and I had 50 kindergarten boys from a private boy's school in San Francisco come up for a creekwalk (we took them in two groups, plus parents). Unfortunately we didn't see any fish, but we talked about their life cycle and what kind of habitat is good for them and what SPAWN does to help keep their habitat clean. The one thing we didn't cover that would've been good is what they could've done at home.
It was rushed, but it went well considering the craziness of the day before - discovering that kindergarteners need car seats and thus weren't taking a bus, but instead taking 18 cars, discovering that a movie was being filmed at the site we wanted to take them (so we couldn't)... Overall, it worked out.
Yesterday morning, however, my computer broke. The LCD display is on the fritz, says Dell. Today at work I hooked it up to an extra monitor that happened to be lying around, and after someone else blew a fuse, my laptop LCD display decided to start working again.
So I don't know what it's deal is, but I'm not paying to get it repaired until it's really, really broken.
Our second restoration day is on Saturday, we're expecting a big group, but we don't know where our food donations are... somewhere still in the land of FedEx, I suppose.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Sunday, November 26, 2006
It's so much easier to compose these when I'm not in front of the computer
Like, when I'm on the plane or the bus and I'm bored. Now I don't feel much like writing about Thanksgiving week.
Wednesday was a full day of travel, leaving Mitch&Julie's at 3:30 AM and arriving in Paw Paw around 8 PM. I had a layover in Cincinatti (both directions) and the plane from Cin. to Chicago and back was small; we stepped outside to board and deplane and walking up the built-in-door stairs. Arriving in Chicago, we flew around the city and I tried to identify streets, where I used to live and so on. I miss Chicago like crazy.
My father's food was delicious. For Thanksgiving we had caviar, duck pate, mussels marinara, salad, duck, rice pilaf w/ chestnuts, green beans, orange sauce, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. It was the first time I can remember having guests (friends of my mom's from work) and it was tasty. I moved around so much these past couple days though, that I felt like I didn't really spend much time at home. I was in CU for a night, then back to Paw Paw and then off to Chicago the same day.
My flight today was at 6:10 AM, so I spent the night at Jess' in Bucktown since she lives off the blue line - double pluses: see Jess, don't have to leave Paw Paw at an ungodly time. I miss Chicago like crazy.
It was warmer in Chicago waiting for the El to come at 4 AM than it was in SF when I arrived at 11:30 AM. I left my winter coat and scarf in Chicago and while I waited for the Marin Airporter (a coach type bus that takes people from Marin to the airport and back), I wished I hadn't.
Oh, right, and (I think) I went through security at O'Hare with Lil' Kim and her entourage. That or Lil' Kim has marketed carry on bags, the woman was wealthy enough to have private security with her, and Fendi boots, bag, and belt.
Wednesday was a full day of travel, leaving Mitch&Julie's at 3:30 AM and arriving in Paw Paw around 8 PM. I had a layover in Cincinatti (both directions) and the plane from Cin. to Chicago and back was small; we stepped outside to board and deplane and walking up the built-in-door stairs. Arriving in Chicago, we flew around the city and I tried to identify streets, where I used to live and so on. I miss Chicago like crazy.
My father's food was delicious. For Thanksgiving we had caviar, duck pate, mussels marinara, salad, duck, rice pilaf w/ chestnuts, green beans, orange sauce, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. It was the first time I can remember having guests (friends of my mom's from work) and it was tasty. I moved around so much these past couple days though, that I felt like I didn't really spend much time at home. I was in CU for a night, then back to Paw Paw and then off to Chicago the same day.
My flight today was at 6:10 AM, so I spent the night at Jess' in Bucktown since she lives off the blue line - double pluses: see Jess, don't have to leave Paw Paw at an ungodly time. I miss Chicago like crazy.
It was warmer in Chicago waiting for the El to come at 4 AM than it was in SF when I arrived at 11:30 AM. I left my winter coat and scarf in Chicago and while I waited for the Marin Airporter (a coach type bus that takes people from Marin to the airport and back), I wished I hadn't.
Oh, right, and (I think) I went through security at O'Hare with Lil' Kim and her entourage. That or Lil' Kim has marketed carry on bags, the woman was wealthy enough to have private security with her, and Fendi boots, bag, and belt.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
busy busy busy
We had three "events" begin this weekend, so this past week was crazy busy. On Thursday, our Winter Salmon Seminar Series started, and on Saturday our creekwalks and volunteer creek restorations began. We also wasted about a day for this KPFA public service announcement, only to never record it.
Probably about 3/4 to a whole day was spent writing the PSA (it's amazing how difficult it is to write something 30 seconds long and still pack in all the info you can) and finding 50 seconds of appropriate instrumental music (which is also, surprisingly, really hard). On Wednesday Heidi and I drove out to Berkeley to the KPFA studios to record it. We arrived early, grabbed breakfast, got to the studio and waited 30 minutes for someone to come out and get us.
Once the guy came out, he looked at our script and said, "Who is this a benefit for?", the answer to which is no one. (We were prepared to advertise our creekwalks, the fee for which doesn't completely cover the cost of running them. They hopefully will bring benefits to the salmon through informing and educating people, but that's not the same as a fundraiser/benefit.)
Our script not only was for an inappropriate event, but it was also missing information that we were unaware had to be included - the benefactor, the fact that SPAWN is a non-profit, the cost. We explained that we had not solicited them to do a PSA, we had submitted our event for the community calendar and one of his employees (whose name he didn't even recognize) called us to invite us to record a PSA. He put us on the Community Calendar, which is still broadcast on air but simply read by a DJ - what we had initially asked for.
So we wasted a half day going to Berkeley for no reason. We wasted SPAWN's money on gas and the toll. We wasted nearly a whole day preparing the damn thing in a crazy busy week.
It was just really, really frustrating.
-------------------------------------------------------
Thursday marked the start of our Winter Salmon Seminar Series, as well as a 12 1/2 hour day for Heidi and I. We set up the hall and had previously done all the media for the event - some flyering, but mostly sending info to local papers and online calendars. So when ~35 people showed up, we were very excited to see our efforts pay off.
Saturday started the creekwalks and our restoration days, so Friday was full with preparation. Again, these are things that Heidi and I had done all the media for, so we were a little disappointed for the numbers that had RSVP'd to the creekwalk, but it's early and the salmon haven't actually started running.
As for the restorations, we were unsure of how many people we would get. We had gotten some responses - the local high school requires its students to complete community service hours, so we knew some of them would show up, and besides those we had about 2 others say they would come. We ended up with 9 volunteers - more than we had expected! I'm sure the fact that it was a beautiful day (I spent most of it wishing I were in a t-shirt instead of long sleeves) didn't hurt our numbers. With all the help, we ended up getting quite a lot done. They planted torrent sedge along a particularly erosion-ready part of the creek bank, spread seed, planted dogwoods, elderberries, coyote brush, mystery plant (we couldn't remember the name), and removed non-natives.
We also got promises of future food donations from the company Nature's Path - by our next restoration, we'll have a sample box of 200 granola bars, so we probably won't need to ask for any other donations until mid-March (or maybe even never!).
And finally, not work related, I drove up to Willows, CA yesterday to visit a friend from college who is working up there. It was nice to have something to do and it was nice to see him. Incidentally, Willows happens to be where Dusty Baker goes every year to pheasant hunt and he was there last week - Michael even met him. Anyway, it was a pretty town with lots of nut trees. It's very flat there, but only because it's nestled in between the Sierra Nevadas and the Mendocino National Forest (with some mountain range within it; I can't find the name and neither could Michael).
I think that's enough for now. I'll try to update a little more often, just in case someone's relying on this for close-to-daily entertainment (I already got told by my mother today that I haven't updated lately - and she never even checks this thing).
Probably about 3/4 to a whole day was spent writing the PSA (it's amazing how difficult it is to write something 30 seconds long and still pack in all the info you can) and finding 50 seconds of appropriate instrumental music (which is also, surprisingly, really hard). On Wednesday Heidi and I drove out to Berkeley to the KPFA studios to record it. We arrived early, grabbed breakfast, got to the studio and waited 30 minutes for someone to come out and get us.
Once the guy came out, he looked at our script and said, "Who is this a benefit for?", the answer to which is no one. (We were prepared to advertise our creekwalks, the fee for which doesn't completely cover the cost of running them. They hopefully will bring benefits to the salmon through informing and educating people, but that's not the same as a fundraiser/benefit.)
Our script not only was for an inappropriate event, but it was also missing information that we were unaware had to be included - the benefactor, the fact that SPAWN is a non-profit, the cost. We explained that we had not solicited them to do a PSA, we had submitted our event for the community calendar and one of his employees (whose name he didn't even recognize) called us to invite us to record a PSA. He put us on the Community Calendar, which is still broadcast on air but simply read by a DJ - what we had initially asked for.
So we wasted a half day going to Berkeley for no reason. We wasted SPAWN's money on gas and the toll. We wasted nearly a whole day preparing the damn thing in a crazy busy week.
It was just really, really frustrating.
-------------------------------------------------------
Thursday marked the start of our Winter Salmon Seminar Series, as well as a 12 1/2 hour day for Heidi and I. We set up the hall and had previously done all the media for the event - some flyering, but mostly sending info to local papers and online calendars. So when ~35 people showed up, we were very excited to see our efforts pay off.
Saturday started the creekwalks and our restoration days, so Friday was full with preparation. Again, these are things that Heidi and I had done all the media for, so we were a little disappointed for the numbers that had RSVP'd to the creekwalk, but it's early and the salmon haven't actually started running.
As for the restorations, we were unsure of how many people we would get. We had gotten some responses - the local high school requires its students to complete community service hours, so we knew some of them would show up, and besides those we had about 2 others say they would come. We ended up with 9 volunteers - more than we had expected! I'm sure the fact that it was a beautiful day (I spent most of it wishing I were in a t-shirt instead of long sleeves) didn't hurt our numbers. With all the help, we ended up getting quite a lot done. They planted torrent sedge along a particularly erosion-ready part of the creek bank, spread seed, planted dogwoods, elderberries, coyote brush, mystery plant (we couldn't remember the name), and removed non-natives.
We also got promises of future food donations from the company Nature's Path - by our next restoration, we'll have a sample box of 200 granola bars, so we probably won't need to ask for any other donations until mid-March (or maybe even never!).
And finally, not work related, I drove up to Willows, CA yesterday to visit a friend from college who is working up there. It was nice to have something to do and it was nice to see him. Incidentally, Willows happens to be where Dusty Baker goes every year to pheasant hunt and he was there last week - Michael even met him. Anyway, it was a pretty town with lots of nut trees. It's very flat there, but only because it's nestled in between the Sierra Nevadas and the Mendocino National Forest (with some mountain range within it; I can't find the name and neither could Michael).
I think that's enough for now. I'll try to update a little more often, just in case someone's relying on this for close-to-daily entertainment (I already got told by my mother today that I haven't updated lately - and she never even checks this thing).
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Photos from the move out here and another attempt at humor
My mom sent me a CD with all the photos she took while we were driving out here. I was lazy and hadn't posted them yet.
So, without further ado, here they are. And no, none have been photoshopped (because my mom actually CAN take a photograph).
My mom really wants to capture Utah and the way the
salt flats have a mirage. But I refused to stop the car.
Salt flats in Utah
Salt flats 2/Moonscape
Eventually I had to pee, and conviently I used a rest area.
Mom was happy. There was a pet area at the rest area.
Red rocks in Utah
Sagebrush in Utah
outside the house I live in (me and mentor Paola)
The kitchen I use (plus mentor Paola)
Again, outside the house I live in.
With my new Nissan Sentra (new is relative).
Native plant nursery (plus mentor Paola) (at the house I live in - down the hill).
I live off this road. On the way to the ocean
The Pacific Ocean
A WWII lookout, in fact
Again, the Pacific
At Stinson Beach
a palm tree on a beach in California. Imagine that.
A tropical iceland. Two days later it was
foggy and freezing on the same beach.
Muir woods - natural bridge
Circle of redwoods @ Muir Woods. The way they
propagate themselves is interesting and creates these
rings of young trees around a dead adult.
Muir Woods
Muir Woods
Muir Woods
Mom and I in a tree
Me, still in a tree (Ah! It's going to eat me!)
So, without further ado, here they are. And no, none have been photoshopped (because my mom actually CAN take a photograph).
My mom really wants to capture Utah and the way thesalt flats have a mirage. But I refused to stop the car.
Salt flats in Utah
Salt flats 2/Moonscape
Eventually I had to pee, and conviently I used a rest area.Mom was happy. There was a pet area at the rest area.
Red rocks in Utah
Sagebrush in Utah
outside the house I live in (me and mentor Paola)
The kitchen I use (plus mentor Paola)
Again, outside the house I live in.With my new Nissan Sentra (new is relative).
Native plant nursery (plus mentor Paola) (at the house I live in - down the hill).
I live off this road. On the way to the ocean
The Pacific Ocean
A WWII lookout, in fact
Again, the Pacific
At Stinson Beach
a palm tree on a beach in California. Imagine that.
A tropical iceland. Two days later it wasfoggy and freezing on the same beach.
Muir woods - natural bridge
Circle of redwoods @ Muir Woods. The way theypropagate themselves is interesting and creates these
rings of young trees around a dead adult.
Muir Woods
Muir Woods
Muir Woods
Mom and I in a tree
Me, still in a tree (Ah! It's going to eat me!)Well, that's all the pictures I have. I'll try to remember to take pictures and then to post them.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Election day!
I have been bursting with excitement over this for the past couple weeks. I got up early to vote before work
-No on 85
-Yes on 87
-No on 90
-Eggers for Water Board
-Jared Huffman, for waterever he was running for (former Water Board head - leads our Technical Advisory Committee that SPAWN is a part of - I had cake at his last meeting, how can I not vote for someone my bosses support (&cake)?)
-Diane Feinstein!
-The non-Schwarzenegger (it's like picking between someone you think it's gross and bad, and someone you just think isn't very good/borderline bad). Doesn't matter, Ahnold's gonna win.
I wasn't as invested in any other races
I hope you all voted!!
The democrats won the house! I'm still waiting for the Senate.
Umm, the Daily Show isn't live for me. WTF.
-No on 85
-Yes on 87
-No on 90
-Eggers for Water Board
-Jared Huffman, for waterever he was running for (former Water Board head - leads our Technical Advisory Committee that SPAWN is a part of - I had cake at his last meeting, how can I not vote for someone my bosses support (&cake)?)
-Diane Feinstein!
-The non-Schwarzenegger (it's like picking between someone you think it's gross and bad, and someone you just think isn't very good/borderline bad). Doesn't matter, Ahnold's gonna win.
I wasn't as invested in any other races
I hope you all voted!!
The democrats won the house! I'm still waiting for the Senate.
Umm, the Daily Show isn't live for me. WTF.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
a dresser!
I hate living out of boxes and suitcases. It's been over a month and I still haven't unpacked - I basically do the same load of laundry over and over. Just the past week I moved back into Mitch and Julie's though, expecting to soon be able to find many of my missing items (somewhere near the bottoms of boxes).
Unfortunately, the free dresser I got from Marin FreeCycle had clearly been kept outside for a number of years and needed a lot of cleaning. Because of daylight savings time, it's dark by the time I get home from work, so I can't take the drawers outside to give them the scrubbing they need.
And at work, this week has been busier than most (preparing for a really busy season), so it wasn't until Thursday that I was able to take an afternoon off (a rainy, rainy afternoon) to get the dresser cleaned.
It wasn't until today that the drawers were dry and ready to get stuffed with clothes.
It's so nice to be finding things now that I can unpack - stuff I need to mail to IL, floss, shoes, etc.
Unfortunately, the free dresser I got from Marin FreeCycle had clearly been kept outside for a number of years and needed a lot of cleaning. Because of daylight savings time, it's dark by the time I get home from work, so I can't take the drawers outside to give them the scrubbing they need.
And at work, this week has been busier than most (preparing for a really busy season), so it wasn't until Thursday that I was able to take an afternoon off (a rainy, rainy afternoon) to get the dresser cleaned.
It wasn't until today that the drawers were dry and ready to get stuffed with clothes.
It's so nice to be finding things now that I can unpack - stuff I need to mail to IL, floss, shoes, etc.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
