7.27.06 Musings

Well, I'm back in Wichita. It feels nice to be home and now that I've gotten settled in the microfiber living room furniture I'm getting less exited about heading to Yellowstone on Saturday. At least I don't have to drive and maybe I can read one of the new books I got at Haslam's in Tampa, which, by the way, was a uber neat book store John and Sara introduced me to.

I should probably give a shout out to Uncle John and Aunt Sara, who were very hospitable to me while I visited them in Tampa. Sometimes when you visit people it's not always relaxing. I mean, you have a good time, but you never get fully comfortable. I am happy to say that was NOT a problem. John and Sara, I really enjoyed the two weekends we spent together.

Now for a shout out to Kristine (Hi). Last weekend, Kristine and I finally coordinated our days off - I actually didn't have the day off, but that's a long boring story - for a trip to Sanibel Island. (Here's a link for the motel where we stayed.) We had planned to do a lot of outside things like biking, canoeing, shelling, etc. while there so when it was raining Saturday morning I wondered if our plans would be thwarted. Kristine and I made it an adventure anyway. After breakfast we thought the rain had let up (and it had for about ten minutes) so we decided to go for a bike ride through a nature preserve and around the island. It was a warm rain so it didn't really bother us, but then the light rain turned into a major lightning and thunder storm so we booked it to a restaurant to get inside. After ringing out our clothes in a bathroom sink, we had a nice lunch. I ate the best Key Lime pie ever there. Seriously, ever. It had this awesome topping with raisens and dried cherries in some sort of cream cheese or stiff custard. Wow. Later the rain really did let up and we did some shelling on the beach. While on the beach I came down with a case of shell toe and Kristine was striken with foam foot (pictures to follow in some subsequent posting when I get the desire to download them off my camera).

Now, my work in Florida is officially over. Brandi said to give her a call if I ever needed a job again. Who knows if I will, but it's still comforting. As usual, the end was bittersweet. I'm glad to be back, but I certainly made friends I will miss. Who knows, the world of archaeologists is kind of like the world of Mennonites. I just might run into some of these people again on some other project or at a conference.

Speaking of Mennonites, did anyone else realize the Tour de France winner Landis is/was Mennonite? Crazy. Here's an article I read about his family and hometown, if anyone else missed it in the news. Here's another one that was in the Mennonite Weeklyhttp://www.mennoweekly.org/.

Finally, for those following the Aviators (Jeremy's football team) there is some drama and the championship game has been cancelled. He's kind of bummed about it. Here are two links for info in the Wichita Eagle [1] [2].

Right-o. I am almost positive I won't have Internet access in Yellowstone so I hope y'all enjoy the next two weeks of your lives and I will post when I return.

Caught in a Storm

Earlier today I noticed how full my pockets were while I was biking. I stopped at a bike shop to purchase a pouch that I can put stuff in. The guy who helped me wasn't very knowledgeable, but whatever, I got what I needed and headed to the Hammock State Park to ride the trail.

I started to notice the sky was getting cloudy and dark so I headed back early from the park and stopped at a health store to get some multi-vitamins. While I was in the store it started to really pour. There was lightning and roaring thunder. The lady in the store practically forced me to stay in the store and not try to head home. I waited about 40 minutes in and outside the health store and chatted with the clerk. Finally, the rain let up a little, but there was still periodic lightning. The store clerk still didn't want me to go home. She told me she was going to call her son, who works at a nearby bike shop, to see if he could take me back to the Kenilworth Lodge. Ha, ha. So it turns out the kid who sold me the bike pouch was the son of the health store clerk. That's crazy. He said business was slow today so he came to pick me and my bike up.

We had a nice little chat on the way to the motel. He told me he didn't really like selling things in the store and his specialty was fixing bikes. Basically, he was apologizing for not helping me much with the pouch. I told him I didn't like selling things either so I understood. He also told me his mom is always volunteering him to do stuff, but he doesn't mind. Last time his mom volunteered him to do something it was pumping gas for an elderly lady at a gas station. It was wonderful to run into such a nice family today.

My Lover is a Superstar

There's an article in the Wichita Eagle about Jeremy. Some of it is a bit cheesy ("cheesy mega" as Polly would say), but it's still really neat. I have not seen the actual article in print where, apparently, there is a picture of Javers in a lab coat holding a biology book and a football helmet or something (tee hee). Now y'all can say you know someone famous, even if it's only for fifteen minutes.

More Photos from FL

Paul, Dave, Lauren, some random golfer who claimed to know a bowler who went to Wichita State University, Dustin.

Quinn chopping up some garlic for a cookout.

Lauren at Vero Beach. Notice her right hand is blurry because she was moving it very quickly to cover her face. Yeah, Lauren, I finally got a decent picture.

This lizard was hanging out below a table at the motel pool. These lizards are all over the place down here. In fact, this is the kind of lizard that jumped out of the toilet paper dispenser onto my hand.

Quinn, me and Dustin with 40s. Mmmmm, nothing says lovin' like 40 ounces of $1.49 malt liquor.

Dustin trying to cover up after getting sunburned at Vero Beach.

Lizard Encounter

I was in the bathroom of a motel in Vero Beach on Saturday. When I reached for the toilet paper a lizard came shooting out of the dispenser and onto my hand and arm and then the floor. I wasn't expecting that to happen so it kind of freaked me out.

myspace.com

Okay already, I got a myspace account. You can view my profile at www.myspace.com/ambercschrag. I don't know how much I will keep up with it, but at least India, Brian and Brent can stop bugging me about having an account.

Florida Photos

Here are some photos I have taken here in FL:

Kat opening up a card on her birthday.

Lauren and Dustin (my coworkers) at the pig roast party in Athens, Georgia.

My room at the Kenilworth Lodge.




The roasted pig in GA.




Dave and Mike (coworkers) at Kat's birthday party.

The Weekend

On Saturday four of my coworkers and I attempted to witness the Discovery Shuttle Launch at Cape Canaveral. Unfortunately, the launch was cancelled about ten minutes before it was scheduled to happen. We then drove (very very very slowly due to all the traffic) to Cocoa Beach to get a motel room so we could at least enjoy the beach the next day, but they were all sold out. So we just went home. Oh well, the whole day was certainly an adventure.

On Sunday we went to Vero Beach. The ocean water was nice and warm, but it drizzled off and one during the day so it wasn't very fun to lie or walk around the beach. After we were done swimming we ate at a restaurant right on the beach. I have been trying to eat different kinds of fish while down here in Florida. Yesterday I had a Mahi Mahi sandwich. It was yummy yummy. I have also crossed Swordfish and Grouper off my list.

About a week ago a was in the elevator at the motel and I smelled old fried food. I looked around and found an onion ring in the corner. I'm not sure why, but that really cracked me up. Somebody lost a smelly onion ring in the elevator.

I Finally Found Something

So Athens, Georgia was a good time last weekend. The roasted pig was delicious and so was the Georgia peach pie. I met someone who took and anthropology class with my second cousin. That was crazy. It was also cool to meet some of the archaeologists at the Museum of Natural History in New York where two of my coworkers interned. Now when they talk about those people I can picture them in my head.

Last weekend was Ath Fest (or Athfest?) in Athens so they had a bunch of live music at night. A couple of us from the party wandered over there shortly after midnight. I was talking to a guy about how I thought the bands we were listening to were pretty good. He said Athens had a good music scene and was really pumped that I, an outsider, was showing interest. He said he would burn me some CDs of local bands and send them to me. He was drunk at the time, however, so I'm not sure if he'll remember to do it.

Today it was back to digging shovel tests. At the end of the day I found my first artifact this summer. It was a flake 40 - 50 cm below the surface. For anyone who doesn't know, a flake is a piece of rock that gets chipped off while making stone tools. Sometimes flakes are even used as tools. At first I was bummed because my find means we have to dig six extra holes around the positive shovel test pit (a.k.a. STP - does that make anyone else think of Stone Temple Pilots?). Then I got excited because I remembered the reason I took this job and the reason I am in archaeology - so I can find artifacts that shed light on the past. One tends to forget this when you dig too many holes without finding anything but sand and palmetto roots.

Update from Florida

Something I am putting on my skin is taking the paint off my watch. I'm thinking it's the sunblock. Weird. I wonder if this has ever happend to anyone else.

Two of my coworkers, Quinn and Lauren, have written a horror film script with the all the crew members as characters in the story. I have not read the final draft, but I hear I am one of the killers. The other killer is Dave, who is a crew chief. Apparently we want to steal everyone's per diem so we can go to Reno, NV to get married. For those of you that know my love of pears (hmmm ... that's probably everyone), in one scene I give one crew member, Mika, a poisonous pear. Thrilling. They talked about trying to sell it to a production company so look for a horror film about archaeologists in the future.

Tomorrow marks the seventh day of work for me this week. My wrists and forearms are really starting to hurt. Advil has become a good friend. This weekend I might head to Georgia with Lauren and Quinn. They are driving eight hours just to go to a party in Athens on Saturday night with some people from the Museum on Natural History in NYC. An eight hour road trip just for a party - sounds like fun to me.

Tonight, we are celebrating Kat's birthday (another crew member who can't stop talking about sex - a little shocking at first, but now I'm used to it). The motel is letting us use their grill by the pool so we will have a cookout. I'm pretty pumped about a hot dog right about now.

Avon Park

This place where I am working, Avon Park, is a bizarre juxtaposition of federal land use. Most of it is an airforce bombing range, but there are quite a few other things going on here. Some land is devoted to a wildlife refuge/conservation area. Other tracts here and there are rented out to cattle farmers as grazing land. When you first get past the entry gate there is a park area with campsites and lake access. Right after the camping area lies the juvenile detention facility on the north side of the road and the adult correctional facility to the south. I'm not so sure all those things logically go together or belong in the same place. It's kind of like the goverment had an all purpose chunk of land in the middle of Florida where it's hot and not very scenic (except by the lake) and they decided to use it in as many ways as possible.

Yesterday, during a downpour over lunch, we visited the juvenile delinquent staffed bowling alley / cafeteria. Most of us got our lunch there. It was actually pretty good and they even had a fresh salad bar.

Today and tomorrow have become our weekend because some bombing exercises prohibit us working on the range. It is nice to have a couple days off, but to make up for it we are working seven days in a row next week. Yummy.

Another Rain Day

The effects of Alberto have been moving over Sebring and Avon Park. It's really not that bad, just light to heavy rain off and on. Yesterday we quit work at noon because it started raining too much. Today we went out there and waited in the trucks for a while. Then we tried to find our next project area. We went down a road called "Blood Trail" and ended up in a place titled "Tick Island." Yep, those names sound appetizing. We spent the whole time in the trucks and in an administration office break room then came home after noon again. I wonder how much of the summer will be like this. I like the time off, but I'm getting used to not working. Going back to digging holes in the hot sun could be painful.

Javers' Fed-ex buddy probably sent my bike yesterday so hopefully I will get that soon. How exciting.

Gatorade

I found out yesterday that Gatorade was invented in Florida. I'm glad because I drank it on Friday and today and I think it really helped my energy level (or maybe I just tricked myself into thinking I had more energy).

This job is crazy. All day I dig a holes with a shovel. When I accepted this job I thought I was going to be more pedestrian survey, which is mostly walking. This is mostly digging holes and a little walking. Usually, I'm by myself working on a transect - a line of holes to be dug - so I'm really glad I bought an mp3 player before I came. The first couple days I didn't bring my mp3 player out in the field and when I spend that much time by myself doing manual labor all kinds of crazy thoughts go through my head. The music is certainly a nice distraction. Most of the mp3s are off Javers' computer so I'm listening to a lot of 311 right now. I'm also liking his Weezer and Linkin Park/Jay-Z collections. Has anybody heard of Heather Nova? She is also good times. Listening to all his music kinda makes me miss ol' Jeremy too.

Last weekend I rode Amtrak to Tampa to see Uncle John and Aunt Sara. On Saturday we went to an aquarium and a strange, but amazing, exhibit at a science center called "Bodies." Whoever made the exhibit took real human bodies, soaked them in acetone then used a vacuum to replace cellular material with silicone rubber. At some point during the process the bodies were sliced various ways or divided up to expose the different bodily systems (i.e. muscular, nervous, endocrine, etc.). One of the most interesting for me was the circulatory system. They took away all the bones, muscles, organs and nerves. All that was left was the mass of fluffy red vessels in the shape of a whole person and specific parts of the body. Crazy.

On Sunday John and Sara drove me back to Sebring via a college campus with some neat Frank Lloyd Wright buildings and the Bok Conservatory, which has nice gardens and a big tower that plays songs on bells. I'm glad I have some time on the weekends to take in the local sights down here. Next weekend I think I might rent a car and do something with some of the other crew members. Does anyone have suggestions?

Off to Florida

I finished the pre-session course I took on Friday. It was all about biological anthropology which studies human/primate variation today and in the past (a.k.a. human evolution). We spent quite a bit of time in class looking at skulls - skulls of modern humans and great apes and skulls of early hominids - and learning the differences between features. Yesterday afternoon, as I on a plane to Memphis, I kept looking out the window and seeing the skulls of Homo erectus and Australopithicus and gorillas in the clouds. Who would have guessed that class would have such an impact? I think I should tell Dr. Moore-Jansen about it when I get back to score some brownie points ... or maybe they would just be nerd points.


What is my problem with packing sharp objects in my carry-on luggage? Does anyone besides Joe Dick remember when I tried to pass a few large J.A. Henckels kitchen knives through security in Frankfurt, Germany. Yep, the language barrier didn't help the situation either. This time I tried to bring my 10 in. metal file (for filing shovels and trowels, not nails) on board. I must have looked innocent because the lady told me with great regret she would have to keep it at the airport. Oh, well.


Now I am here in Lakeview, FL or Avon Park, or whatever the name of this town is. The motel is pretty cool, it's old and the rooms have neat little closets and old-school sinks. There's lots of good woodwork too. We just had an orientation meeting so I met the other people I will be working with. Apparently, we have to dig at least eighteen circular shovel test pits a day (spaced according to the field supervisor) that are 1 m deep and 50 cm in diamter. Sounds like a lot of work to me. At least the soil is sandy.

New Job

I just got a call this morning from Brandi Carrier Jones from Geo-Marine in Virginia about a job. Originally, I was in contact with her about working in Kansas, but she called to say that job has been put on hold and she could really use help in Florida. I guess this means I will be spending the next two months there. Tonight I have to find a flight to Orlando that leaves on Sunday evening. It's amazing how fast this all happened, but I think I really need to do it because it will be a great learning experience and help me with the rest of school and finding jobs in the future.

Apparently, we are staying in this really nice hotel that has a business center with computers and Internet so I should be able to keep y'all posted. Wish me luck!

Photos

Here's some photos India took at the drag show ...

Grilling

I just bought a small charcoal grill from Sarah for $2 and Javers and I are trying it out tonight. They even had lighter fluid and charcoal on sale at our local Dillons grocery store. (We actually have three "local" Dillons - it's crazy how every mile intersection out here on the west side of Wichita seems to have a Dillons, Walgreens, bank and gas station.) It's like Dillons just knew I needed grilling supplies ... trippy.

Some marinated chicken is on the barbie as we speak. I made an asparagus dish too so it should be good eats tonight.

Well, I am finally done working at MHA. All I have left to do is complete some final paperwork tomorrow morning. Ahhh, I have this great sense of freedom and relief knowing I don't have to do that again. The next two weeks I will be taking my presession class and then who knows what I will be up to after that.

This morning, I bought two books from the bargain rack outside Borders that looked interesting. Has anyone read or heard of The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst and A Separate Peace by John Knowles? New uneducational books are so exciting.

A Sigh of Relief

Exciting news: I just finished my last requirement of the semester. It was a take-home final that was supposed to answer the question "what happened to the Paleo-Indians, when and why?" I thought it would be no sweat because it was only supposed to be three to five pages long. As I was researching and writing I began to realize it was going to be hard to synthesize all the information in a concise three to five page essay. The whole thing probably took longer than studying for a final test. Well, whatever, it's done.

Now I have a week off ... except I should really read the textbook for my summer presession class. Hmmm ... they just opened the pool and hot tub here at Huntington Park/Palace/Estates/Whatever this week so maybe I'll just sit by the pool and read fun stuff instead. Very tempting.

Later today I am traveling home to SoDak. with Nick, who is moving some stuff back and maybe doing some job searching. Speaking of jobs, I resigned from my MHA job effective May 21. I know I've said this before, but I really hope I can find an archaeological job this summer or frankly any job at this point since I don't have MHA to fall back on anymore.

Alrighty then, I better get to school to hand this final in before Dr. Hughes stops accepting them at 10 am.

A Kellie Kind of Day

Today reminded of Kellie because it was cloudy and cool. Okay, Kellie is not cloudy and cool, but she does like days like this.

Drag Show

Okay, so I went to the drag show last night at a gay bar/club in Wichita. I believe there were only four people in the show - two males and two females. I am convinced they just kept changing clothes, wigs, and drawn on facial hair (the girls dressed as guys) to make it look like there were more performers. The girls dressed as guys just sort of pranced around, but the males dressed as females actually had some good dance moves and super high heels.

According to India, this particular show was not as good as the other one she saw earlier in the year so I am tempted to go back again sometime. It really was quite entertaining. I would suggest at least one drag show per lifetime so if you've never been find your local gay bar immediately.

Holy Cow Batman

This semester is almost over. Wow. My first few months of graduate school was certainly a roller coaster and an adjustment. Here's to a better Fall 2006.

I applied for a number of summer archaeology jobs. Three agencies have responded saying they have all the seasonal work they need ... as of now. That's the trouble with archaeology - it's all so hit and miss. Sometimes a big contract will come through in the middle of the summer and then they will need all kinds of help. If nothing comes through now I hope I can get in on some of that action. Otherwise, I might be working for some party carnival service here in Wichita. A fellow anthro. student, Jerry, told me his relative runs one of those and they usually need more help in the summer. Ooooh, I could be a carnie. How glamorous.

This week finds me busy putting the finishing touches on the Southwest Art exhibit for my Museum Exhibition class. It seems like there are so many details to tend to yet, but I'm sure it will come together. I just got one of my maps back from the printer today and I'm not totally happy with it. The map title is not as readable as it could be. We don't have the budget to reprint anything so I guess I will just have to deal with it. Maybe I will pretend I didn't make that map (tee hee). The opening is May 8 and anyone who's around then is more than welcome to come. I imagine there will be free food.

Tomorrow night, I am going to a drag queen show with India (an anthro. student) and possibly Javers if I can convince him it will be good times and he won't be too uncomfortable. I've never been and am really looking foward to it. Crazy.

Sprinkler Relief

Good news folks, because of all the rain on Monday and the cool weather yesterday and today I have given myself a few days off from sprinkler duty. Now that I have so much free time I think I will apply for an archaeology job this summer during part of June and July. I have two summer classes, one for two weeks right after the spring semester ends and the other one the first two weeks in August. The time inbetween will find me jobless unless I stay with MHA. Hmmmm ... let me think about that one ... I don't think so.

New Bike

I got a new bike today. I am pretty excited because it is the nicest bike I have ever had and it actually fits my body. Usually, I end up riding bikes that are too big for me and it isn't comfortable. The weather here has been very nice lately so hopefully I will get some riding in this week.

A New Profession: House-n-Dog-Sitter

Alright then. I'm back. I had a rough couple of weeks there with a large amount of schoolwork due. It actually wasn't that much, I just freaked out and went way overboard on my research and now realize that I probably wasted time reading things I did not need to read. I also know a lot more about using mitochondrial DNA to figure out where the first people in the New World came from and when they came. But that is probably boring for most of you so instead I will tell you about my new part-time job.

Last weekend I house and dog sat for the Anthro. Dept. Administrative Assistant, Nancy and her husband while they were at some conference in TX. (I went to KC for some fun and "religious" Good Friday activities so Javers covered for me on Saturday) Nancy has two little Yorkies and if any of you remember my relationship with Laura Pankratz's Yorkies in Keystone you might be wondering what the hell I was thinking agreeing to watch Nancy's and Chuck's dogs. I think one of Nancy's dogs, Bonnie, truly hated me. Nancy diagnosed Bonnie as old and crotchety. I agree. She growled at me and flashed her teeth every time I was in viewing distance of her. I figured once she began to recognize me as her food source things would get better, but they never did. She stayed in a dark closet the whole time I was there. Whatever, her choice. Jack, on the other hand was rather enjoyable. Jack was also not all Yorkie so I still think Yorkies are total snots.

This weekend I am house and dog sitting for my advisor, Keith Prufer and his wife,
Bethany Myers (who teaches my Intro to Arch.). Their dogs and I are getting along well. I think they take their pets very seriously because they have to be fed twice a day and they get all kinds of vitamins and supplements. I also have to give them half a can of vegetables every day. I get to pick between spinach and carrots. Mmmmm...

Keith and his wife have a nice big house with a huge yard (for being in town) and a very elaborate homeade sprinkler system to go along with it. It takes me 45 minutes just to run around and turn it all on and change water flow directions and whatnot. It is quite comical.

I'm posting instead of researching for my paper and here it is ...

Yesterday morning, I had it all mapped out. I was going to take specific roads to get to the MCC 5K in Hutchinson. Everything went well until I ran into some construction in Hutchinson, ended up on a detour and ultimately got lost. I finally found the park about 3 minutes before the race was scheduled to start so I ran to register and picked up my number. As I was safety pinning my number to my shirt and trotting down to the starting line the gun went off. I made it down to the trail, but got stuck behind all the walkers so the first couple minutes of the race was spent trying to navigate my way up through the walking horde. I don't think I tripped anyone or cut anyone off - at least there was no angry shouting in my direction, but these people were passive agressive Mennonites so if I did make someone mad they probably just took time to pray for the forgiveness of my sin.

Anyway, the race went well and I ended up getting first place in my age range of 20-30 year olds. I was pleasantly surprised to find out I placed considering my time was a little over 24 minutes (I think), which is decent, but not really worthy of the beautiful medal the presented to me (no national anthem was played). I have my suspicsions that there were not very many 20-30 year old women participating in the race.

After the race I checked out the MCC sale. It's a neat experience to go to other sales and I encourage anyone who has interest in MCC sale phenomena to check out others. Maybe we can all learn something from each other.

Last night was Jeremy's first football game. They played the Topeaka Koyote's and won so Javers was pretty excited, although in pain today. Apparently the Koyote's have not lost a game in three years. Nick, Charles, Sarah, Luke, Clint, Travis, Theresa (two of Jeremy's brothers and sister-in-law) and myself went to the game to show our support. It was fun. Sarah mentioned that next time we should make a poster/sign to hold up during the game. Mom, can you get out your Sharpie colleciton and work something up? Also, while you're at it, would you decorate some paper lunch bags for me to take to school? Maybe you could put mammoths and arrow heads on them. Thanks.

My Counseling Session

I actually went to a counselor at school a couple days ago. She was nice and easy to talk to. She told me not to beat up on myself so much. To combat this, she said I should write down on a piece of paper five postive or neutral (NOT negative) things about myself or the state of my life. When I am in a depressive spiral I am supposed to get out this piece of paper and read the statements. I told her that sounded silly and started laughing in her office. She said it IS silly, but it helps to visualize the statements and she pointed out that it made me laugh just to think about how dorky it sounds. True.

I also need to learn how to get used to the overwhelmed feeling I have all the time. It is just going to be a fact of life for a while. I cannot worry about trying to get everything done because it is not physically possible. Well, I hope I can make this work.

Okay, Jeremy's family is here this weekend and we are going out right shortly. His first Aviators game is tomorrow night. Tomorrow is also the MCC sale in Hutchinson. I'm running the 5K and afterwards I will load up on German food.

Another Random Update

Reed and Sue ventured down to south central Kansas this past weekend. They spent Friday night with me in Wichita. Saturday morning we went to a couple presentations of an anthropology student symposium, but the presentations were bit boring and I needed to get away from the school and Wichita so we skipped out early and went to Newton to see Nick and eat cookies and strawberries at the Bogards.

Later, on Saturday night we saw Nick in Of Mice and Men. He was Lennie (Lenny?), the mentally challenged character who just likes to pet soft things and dream, but gets himself into trouble because people don't understand him. It was very good - Nick (and others) were amazing. The show did, however, leave me depressed. No warm fuzzies from Steinbeck.

It was really good to see my family again. I just wish I was in a better mood while they were here. I am very consumed in my own life right now and very overwhelmed with all I have going on. I feel like a complete mess and it is driving me crazy. I'm worried it is driving those around me crazy too. I need to learn how to cope with all this stress better. Thanks to those who have thrown some tips my way recently - I hope they can help me get through this stress. I need to start enjoying my life more. I might even check out the counselor on campus to see if he/she has some good coping techniques since they probably deal with people in my situation all the time. At least that's the way it seems around campus right now. Everyone I talk to looks like they want to pull their hair out ... or a professor's hair.

Okay, whew, positive attitude here I come. Maybe I'll eat an acorn squash. That would totally make my day.

Blanco Canyon, Texas

Last week, Texas messed with me. The weather was so extreme that out of six days down there we only excavated for two and a half days and only fifteen to twenty hours at that. Despite issues with the weather, I did enjoy getting to know some more anthropology department students better. And enough can't be said about the hospitality of the locals during the week. They took us out for supper twice and gave us extra blankets.

In the days before spring break, the area of Texas we were heading to was suffering from wildfires. I rode with Mackenzie and Troy, other anthro grad students. We saw scorched grass along the Interstate, but it was foggy, rainy, and fireless during our trip. Mackenzie knew her Ford Escort would not make it down the roads leading to Blanco Canyon with the wet clay-like soil so we pulled up to a sketchy motel in Floydada and the three of us spent the night in a dirty 10' x 10' room with a clanky heater. And that was the last time I was truly warm until the following Friday.

On Sunday morning we tracked down the director of the small town historical museum associated with the Coronodo site we were supposed to be working on. I gave Carolyn a call and she invited us over to her house for a while. The rancher who owns the land in the canyon where the site is has a son who lives in town. He gave Troy, Mackenzie and me a wild ride in the water-soaked soil down to the WSU campsite. The first 10 miles or so out of Floydada were paved, but the remaining few unpaved miles were the muddiest trip I have ever been on. At one point, while Monte was elaborating on all the different kinds of snakes (per Troy's anxious request) we got sucked into the ditch. The side of the truck was almost perpendicular to the ground and Monte kept saying "all we gotta do is get her rockin' and we'll be fine." After a couple minutes of trying to rock the truck to get traction I pointed out to Monte that smoke was rising from his engine. He did not seem to mind and soon we were out. I sincerely hope his truck is alright. Later in the week we stopped by Monte's house to pick up a cot and some more blankets and I saw it sitting outside all cleaned up so the transmission must still be working.

After the rain stopped sometime Sunday night it got windy. Then the wind stopped and it became frigid. By Wednesday night it was snowing, which was actually about the warmest night we had. Thursday night it got down to at least 8 degrees. I mean, seriously, I never thought I would be camping in weather like that. This is definitely one for my personal record book.

Dr. Blakeslee did not make us excavate unless it was over 35-40 degrees so we spent most of the time huddled around a mesquite campfire. I do not think I have ever been so cold continuously for that long before. The nights were pretty bad. It 's hard to have a relaxing sleep when you are shivering. Once we got the extra blankets and I realized I needed to put a blanket between my air mattress and my sleeping bag it got better. Also, when we were in town, I purchased a few packets of those hand warmers you expose to air and shake to activate. They last six to eight hours so I would get a few going before I went to bed and then throw them in the sleeping bag with me to try to keep warm. One night two of the handwarmers mysteriously ended up in my sweatpants. I must have put them there in my sleep without even knowing and found them later when I was changing - made me laugh.

During the days we tried to think of things that would occupy the time and keep us warm so we went on hikes up the canyon walls and through the canyon (it was not a very deep canyon - only took us about ten minutes to walk up). Wednesday we went into Floydada to check out the museum and sit around in a heated building. Part of the day I, along with a few other students, spent exploring the town on foot. On Thursday the rancher gave us a propane powered flame thrower and let us burn some big mesquite wood piles from the cleared area around the site and the camp. That day I actually got hot.

On Friday it was finally warm enough to work, but it was the last day we were there so David and I finished up our unit. Dr. Blakeslee found a dark soil stain on the floor of the unit that extended into the ground to the south, but we did not have time to excavate that area so we covered the floor in plastic and filled it back up with dirt so whoever works on the site next could investigate the stain further.

Now I am back in Kansas and school starts again today. The pile of reading and research lurking over me is causing that unpleasant stressed feeling to return. Ughh ... school. I think I'm going to feel this way for the next two years. On the bright side of things, the rest of my student loan money was disbursed to me last week so I am going to go pick it up this morning. I really need a new pair of running shoes and I should pay off the credit card I have been using to purchase things in the last three months. Using a loan to pay off a loan - this is life.

Thanks to all who sent their birthday greetings (it was March 20, in case you didn't know) either through voice mail messages, emails, or cards. Know that you are all important to me and I'm sorry if I don't have the time I would like to devote to each of you. I'm trying, but I feel so incredibly busy it's hard for me to manage much of a personal life right now. I guess some people are just better at that than others.

RV

I was watching one of my favorite TV shows this morning, Sunday Morning on CBS, and I heard about this new movie coming out called RV. Okay, how exciting is that? I hope it's good.

Spring Break

Yipeee!! Spring break is finally here. I signed up to go on a dig with one of my professors (Dr. Blakeslee) near Floydada, TX -- Blanco Canyon. Blakeslee thinks he's found a Coronodo camp site so it will be 16th c. Spanish stuff. It sounds neat, I have never dug at that kind of site. Sometimes I wish I could have the week to just lounge around and work on a paper I have due in April, but I hear from people who have been on the trip prior years it is a very good time. It will also be some good experience for me. I can work on my paper when I get back. Ha, yeah right. When I am down in TX there will be no Internet access, computers and even the cell phone reception is shoddy so don't look for a post for a week or much communication from me at all. Upon my return I will let y'all know how it went.

Also, I should mention that I decided not to move to my own apartment. I called the lady I signed a lease with a few weeks ago and begged her to release me from the obligation. It would be nice to live closer to school, but in the end it just didn't make financial sense for me to live by myself. I would miss Jeremy, too. At first I felt that morally I shouldn't live with Javers. That hung over my head for a while and it still does a bit, but I'm getting over it. I feel good about my choice now.

When we first moved down here it was a bit weird and taxing getting used to each other on a daily basis along with all the stressful transistions in our lives. Now that we are more settled in it's really comforting to have someone to come home to at night (when he's not traveling for work, which is the case about two days out of every week) and share the day's adventures or lack thereof. So for now, my address will remain the same. Come and visit anytime. Remember I got those really nice towels? Yep, they are plush.

p.s. My birthday is on Monday so if you need an excuse to celebrate on a run-of-the-mill-Monday you can use my 25th as a reason AND it will be the first day of Spring too. Rock 'n' roll.

Flying

My how time flies when you're having ... fun? I have noticed time goes so much faster since I started school. Every day I am just running, running, running and it's never a rigid schedule. I think my life before grad school was a bit more monotonous so it seemed to go at a slower pace.

I found out some exciting news while at school today. Keith, my advisor, asked me to stop by his office today. As a side note, I'm starting to really like Keith. When I was in the process of enrolling at WSU he was always rushed when talking to me and I got the feeling he didn't know what was going on with my enrollment or understand the policies of the graduate school. After getting here, I realized that he is new at the school as of last year and that I am his first and only advisee. He has actually been helping me out quit a bit - talking to financial aid on my behalf, loaning me a book for a class, trying to find me a job, even trying to find me friends by telling peole they should be my friend. He knows how I don't have much money so he is going to pay me to watch his house/pets while he goes to a conference for a week in April.

Anyway, so I went to visit him today and he told me I got the City Archaeologist position at the school. It is a two semester part time graduate assistant appointment that gives me much, much cheaper in-state tuition and pays me a modest stipend per semester. It starts next fall and I'm very excited about it. I didn't think I would be much of a contender for the position because I had to get references and my professors don't know me as well as the other students who applied (that might have actually been beneficial for me!!). Also, I get the feeling like some students who have anthropology undergraduate degrees have more experience and knowledge than me. But alas, I am the next Wichita City Archaeologist. I get my own office and computer in the anthropology buidling too. Pretty wicked.

This also means I can probably quit my Mental Health Association job by next fall. Yesterday I spent three and a half hours with my client who was in crisis. He was severely emotionally escalated, stormed around the house yelling at me, threw pillows and a soccer ball at me, and kicked me. Because he kicked me I had to fill out an incident report so next Monday I have to go in and talk to my supervisor about it. Sorry Jared, but the whole thing made me regret taking this job. If I stay on for more than 90 days and you get your $50 referral bonus I think you should take me to DQ for a Blizzard.

I am Dumb

Last night I went for a run on the Sedwick County Park trails (it's near the zoo and Javers' apartment) and I lost my car key again. You think I would have learned my lesson. Nope. I was retracing my steps and asking everyone I passed if they had seen a key lying on the path. Finally, one lady said she saw some kid playing with a key that looked like mine on a part of the path that was about 3/4 mile away. I booked it over there and the key was propped up on a stick coming out of the ground. Thank God!! Okay folks, second time's a charm. You know how sometimes you just believe in something so strongly that you convince yourself it will work. Well, I will stop trying to prove to myself that my idea to weave my car key in my shoelaces is genius and come up with a new solution.

Birthdays

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Rachael and Mom!!

Yep, yep, yep

Yep, yep, yep. That's an ode to Javers. He cracks me up. They guy doesn't even like cookies, but last week he brought home a big box full of eight normal sized boxes of girl scout cookies. Does that mean I am supposed to eat them? I can't have that many girl scout cookies around at one time - too tempting. I took some shortbread cookies to the Anthropology building today. So, hmmm ... that leaves only seven boxes left.

I feel like so much has happened since I last posted. I don't really have time to write a book (Intro to Archaeology test to study for and CSI is going to be on in 10 minutes) and you don't really want to read a book so I'll just say everything is fine. I suddenly got really busy with school and the new job. I met my three kids/clients for the first time last week and I think I will be able to handle them. Mostly, they just have trouble focusing on school work and have poor social skills, which means they don't get along with their peers very well. Regardless, I am excited to receive my first paycheck on Friday.

I signed a six month lease for an apartment a lot closer to school. It's only $200 a month. It is not the nicest place I have ever lived, but I think I can afford it and I didn't see any rodents or big bugs crawling around when I visited the place. Ha, I am sure it will be fine.

Finallly, this is not my news, but Kellie called last weekend to say she and Dustin are engaged. Super exciting. K-Dawg, how 'bout that black wedding dress?

What's New

I did start my part time Children's Attendant Care (CAC) job last week. It made the week busy so it flew by. So far, the job has consisted of classroom training and a few hours of shadowing. It has been interesting learning how to respond to these kids and keep them motivated to accomplish their mental health goals. Laura, the trainer has a phrase that she drilled into our minds: "seek first to understand, then be understood." It sounds like a good way to go about the job and I hope that idea of seeking to understand others before trying to make them understand me spills over into the rest of my life.

School is fine. For the first few weeks I was actually kind of bored. Now, with the job and more school work piling up I am definitely not bored anymore. No stress at this point either, so I may have found a good balance.

I am getting to know some people from the anthro. dept. better through. I wouldn't call them friends yet, but they are certainly very friendly. Those curious anthropologists - full of questions and intrigued by everyone. I think I will go to Texas with one of my professors and some other students for some excavation during spring break. This should help me get to know other students in the department, too.

Okay, it's 10:30 already and I need to get to work!

New Job

This morning, Denise from the Mental Health Association (MHA) called and offered me the Child Attendant Care Worker job. I accepted and I start on Monday evening. I honestly don't know much about it yet outside the general information I got from Jared and the lady who interviewed me so I hope training goes well and I am suited for this kind of thing.

Question of the Day: Are Warrenties a Waste of Money?

I just realized it has been a while since I last posted. Time flies when you're having ... fun? Actually, things are going better. Most of my frustrating issues are still there, but I'm learning how to deal with them and getting more used to this transition. Jeremy's apartment is feeling more like home. I even broke in his new microfiber furniture last night by spilling tea all over the chair. He said not to worry because he got everything Scotch Guarded and bought all kinds of warrenties and insurance and razzamatazz when he purchased the furniture. I usually view those kinds of things as a way for companies to make a little extra money off of me - the poor, vulnerable consumer. Jeremy, on the other hand, gets excited about warrenties and insurance and smooth-talkin' salesmen. Well, it's a good thing because the Scotch Guard worked and it looks like my tea left no trace on the chair. Whew!

I had a job interview with the Mental Health Association on Tuesday for a position working with children and adolescents. Jared Smith works for the MHA and introduced me to that position. Today, I have an interview with Sherwin Williams. Yeah, the paint store. Sarah found a want ad in the classifieds so I applied. On Tuesday, when I opened up a checking account at Commerce Bank here in Wichita, the banker told me Commerce had teller positions available and I didn't need to have any prior experience. Hey, I'm keeping my options open right now.

Kristine's in the area for a few days. On Friday, we (I don't really know who all "we" will include) are eating at the Bread Basket in Newton. Oh boy, I should probably start fasting tonight in preparation for a big German/Russian Menno meal tomorrow.

From Wichita

I am now writing to you from Jeremy's apartment in Wichita, KS. I got here last Wednesday afternoon and spent Thursday and Friday taking care of some school stuff and looking for looking for an apartment. On Thursday, I found out that only half of my student loans were dispersed in January. The other half come at the end of March. That's just great considering the other half of my loans was what I was supposed to live on. Now I am trying to find a job. I hope I can go to school and work at the same time and not get too stressed out. As long as it's not like working at the museum and ShopKo at the same time, I think I can probably handle it.

My life is making me emotionally volatile right now. This feeling of being in limbo that I have had for the past week and a half, since I quit my jobs in Sioux Falls, is driving me nuts. I just need somethinig to hold on to and hopefully school can give me that. I think I'm going to go in and talk to my advisor, Keith, today. He said something about setting up a plan of study for the next two years. That should make me feel better. A plan of study is kind of like a map and I LOVE maps. Later I am having lunch with Jeremy at some Chinese buffet in Colwich (where ICM is) and then I'm off to Newton to visit Sarah.

Hopefully, I will be more comfortable with my new life the next time I write.

moving, moving, moving

I am back from Emily's and Jon's wedding in Ohio, which was a great time. Now I really need to focus on packing and tying up loose ends. Everything that doesn't fit in my car needs be loaded up in the U-Haul on Thursday night. I still have today off from work so I'm going to use it to pack. Well, I was planning on using today soley for packing/preparing to move, but I woke up late and have been procrastinating ever since. It's already 2:30 pm. I better stop writing and get to work.

Christmas

Christmas has come and gone. I had a three day weekend with no work - including ShopKo - so I found some time to lounge around and do family things. The Schrag family Christmas celebration was on the 24th. It spanned two delicious meals and involved pass-around-while-music-is-playing gifts with an international theme. Everyone seemed so happy with their presents that only one or two people stole someone else's gift. One thing I found interesting about the Schrag gathering was how non competitive most of us are. Someone got out a few board games, but we ended up just sitting around the living room with all of us trying to answer the same questions, not even keeping score.

On the afternoon of the 25th Reed, Sue, Nick and I went to a movie in Sioux Falls. We saw The Family Stone. I would recommend. After the movie I dropped Mom and Dad off at the IHOP (one of the few restaurants we found to be open on Christmas) and filled the car up with gas at the station across the street. While I was filling up, Nick went up by the convenience store to smoke. After I filled up I moved the car up by him and went in to pay.
As I was leaving a strange man stopped me to tell me a man in a stocking cap was trying to break into my car. I thought about and realized that Nick was wearing a stocking cap and this guy probably didn't realize he was my brother. I laughed, but thanked the guy for looking out for me. Reallly, it was very nice of him.

I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful Christmas. I will be flying to Ohio tomorrow for the Suter/Wiebe wedding and I am looking foward to it. I bought some yarn for a new knitting project today. I wanted to knit during my flights, but now that I think about it, having knitting needles on a plane might be illegal. Hmmmm...

Friday

First and foremost I need to give a shout out to my good chum Phil Gratz from Bluffton, OH. Phil, welcome and I’m looking forward to spending some quality time in your hometown next week. Yeehaw … vacay!

Today Rachel Ries is the Noon Concert performer at the Old Courthouse Museum. I switched with Paavo so I could be over here today for her performance. I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing her. Her new CD is good driving-to-work-music for me because it calms me amongst the traffic.

Tomorrow I am heading to Freeman for some Schrag family Christmas and then on Sunday I think I will just hang out with my immediate family. Sue mentioned going to a movie. Any suggestions? All this Brokeback Mountain hullabaloo interests me. I also want to see Syriana and the Squid and the Whale. Are these even in theaters right now?

Sudafed

This may sound strange, but I do believe that taking Sudafed semi-regularly since the end of August made me mentally and emotionally unstable and irrational. I remember Polly complaining in college that she could not take too much Advil Cold & Sinus or just plain Sudafed because it made her crazy. I believed her, but I thought she was just a very rare and special case. Now I am not so sure.

It all started back in August at my yearly allergy and asthma check up. Dr. Smith stuck his little light up my nose and exclaimed to the intern beside him, "wow, you snould look at this!" He told me I could take periodic steroid regimens to reduce the swelling and inflamation or take Sudafed when I felt especially plugged up. I opted for the Sudafed because prednisone (a steroid) does weird things to me too.

I didn't notice any change at first, but by November I was irritable (easily annoyed and mean) and very emotional. One time I was sitting at the front desk of the Old Courthouse Museum and I could not stop crying. I wasn't even sad or upset about anything, but I kept crying. I even started to laugh at the situation and I still couldn't control it. I thought, what is wrong with me? I didn't have anything to be that depressed or stressed out about.

I did some research on the Internet (yeah, not very scholarly, I know) and found some other peoples' testimonies on how pseudoephedrine made them crazy, too. One girl had been taking decongestants daily since she was in junior high. It changed her disposition, but she did not realize it until ten years later. Now she is off pseudoephedrine and back to her "old self," if she can even remember what that was. Another source I found was a more scientific study that said pseudoephedrine had caused emotional instability in some of the people in the study.

These findings encouraged me to stop taking Sudafed for a while to see if it helped. I stopped right around Thanksgiving and have felt fine since. There are probably other variables involved so I will conduct this "trial" for a while longer, but still, what a crazy experience. I talked to a nurse at the allergy clinic to ask her about my suspicions. I told her I thought Sudafed was making me crazy and she laughed. I laughed too because it is kind of a funny and strange situation. Now I am congested at times, but a happier person.

Staff Meeting

This morning at the end of our staff meeting Bill had us each tell what our plans for the holidays were. It all took me back to elementary school when, after winter break, we went around the room and said what we did over break and what we got for Christmas. It was sort of funny, but it was also neat to hear what everyone was doing.

Mary Lou's Christmas tradition was interesting. She and her grandkids bake a birthday cake for baby Jesus on Christmas Eve. It sounds funny, but it is a neat idea. I wonder how many candles they put on the cake. Jesus is old.

I like Marty's Hanukkah plans, too. Her family rents out the fire hall in Mitchell (she hopes there aren't any fires in town that day) and plays rousing games of volleyball. I wouldn't associate volleyball and Hanukkah, but maybe it's a sacred Jewish tradition ... um, I doubt it.

Slippery Roads

Yesterday I dropped my car off at the downtown Firestone store to get a flattening tire fixed. After work I walked to Firestone to pick up the Malibu (by the way, it’s the opposite of Malibu here in SD right now) and on my walk I had a mishap. I was trucking along because it was so cold and I came upon the Duluth Ave. and 9th St. intersection. I needed to cross 9th Street and it was pretty busy at 5:05 pm. I saw an opening and figured if I trotted across the street I could make it. Well, I ended up falling flat on my ass right in the middle of the intersection. At first I just wanted to sit there for a bit, wallow in my pain and then slowly get up. Then I realized that the reason I was running across the intersection was to beat an oncoming car. The whole thing must have looked pretty comical because I was trying to get up and crawl across the intersection at the same time. It is a good thing the oncoming car noticed me a slowed down because I probably would have gotten hit. I really didn’t want to look at the driver because I knew he/she was probably laughing, maybe on the phone with a loved one sharing the bit of humor. Then I started to laugh and massage my sore butt because, really, it was quite a funny situation. Ha.

Brrrrrrrr

It's so c-c-c-cold at the Pettigrew Home & Museum. I found the electric blanket in storage and I now have it set on hi-warm and wrapped around my legs. This place needs an electric jacket to keep my arms warm too. The museum is trying to save money this winter so we have to keep it cool in the buildings. Julie said she would make me some coffee to thaw me out so I will have to go upstairs soon to get a cup. Oh, but I love it, I really do. Being cold makes me appreciate things that make me warm, just like being hot makes me appreciate things that cool me off.

New Towel

I just tried out my new towel this morning and I'm going to give it two thumbs up. It is so soft and luxurious compared to my other towels. My old bath towels are nice, but 6.5 years old and starting to lose their soft touch.

I figured it was time to add another bath towel to my stash because I want to change towels every few days for sanitation reasons. If I have one more towel I can go longer without doing laundry. Plus, when I have guests over toward the end of the towel cycle I only have my beach towel or the weird benzoyl peroxide dyed purple towel to offer them. Yeah, that's welcoming: "Here you go, here are my crap towels. Please, have your choice of the towels I never use and be sure to come again." If you come to visit me now I will let you use my wonderful new towel. It's tempting, I know.

Last Day of November, Yo

I hope y’all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I have to practice using "y’all" more now that I’m moving to KS. I had a pleasant Thanksgiving. I should actually say ThanksgivingS. When it was all said and done I experienced three. They were all good times … good times. I went to my first Javers family Thanksgiving. I would have to say that they are all ordinary Americans who basically eat and do the same things my family does on Thanksgiving. Surprise, surprise. I might have, however, actually enjoyed a crazy second cousin named Fred who only wears pink, shouts phrases in pseudo-Spanish to make everyone think he knows the language, and insists he needs to hide under the table to avoid assassination.

Yesterday, I told Julie I was officially resigning on January 8, 2006. She said she would really miss me and got a little teary eyed. I didn’t want to look at her because I knew I would probably start to tear up too. She really encouraged me in my educational efforts. The event made me very reflective for the last two hours of the day. I will certainly miss most of my coworkers. I hope I can find employment in the future with such neat people.

ShopKo

Sigh ... I just finished my fourth day of part time seasonal work at ShopKo. After the first day I wondered how I would ever make it, but now I am getting the hang of things. Basically, I just have to tell people where they can find items (which is tricky because half the time I have no clue) and straighten up the aisles. Today, an older couple asked me if we had any of those Dutch shortbread cookies that come in a tin. We looked all over the food aisles and the seasonal Christmas aisles and found no shortbread cookies in a tin. About ten minutes later I was walking around the pharmacy area and I found a display of cashews and those crazy shortbread cookies. I gasped, picked up a tin, and scurried around the store looking for the couple. I finally found them on their way out and saved the day. Yeah, Amber Schrag - hometown hero.

Yesterday I worked for three hours with Scott folding and refolding the three towel aisles. Talk about tedious. Today I helped Adam, build two treadmills for a display. That was a little different and fun. Maybe this job won't be so bad, but when I work at the museum all day and then hit up ShopKo till 10:45 pm it ... sure makes ... me ... ... ti...r...e...d ... ...zzz...

Congratulations Shelly and Jon!

This past summer Shelly (an ex-roommate) and Jon scooted by my apartment on their roller blades to throw rocks at my patio door and tell me they were engaged. Last Saturday I went to their wedding with Dawn and Amanda. I didn’t really know anyone else at the wedding very well, but I still had a delightful time.

The DJ at the reception/dance made Dawn and me chuckle. I would compare his voice to that of a game show announcer. When the wedding party came in to the reception hall to sit down, he called off their names as they walked in – reminded me a lot of “The Price is Right.” During the meal, I am not even sure what he said, but he made several other announcements. Dawn thought he sounded like a circus announcer and a great idea popped into my head. Would it not be the most exciting thing ever to have a circus at your wedding? People could hit the dance floor OR watch some tigers do tricks. Yeah, if I get married I think there will have to be a little circus, even if it’s just some neighborhood dogs running around in elephant costumes and a clown.

Squash

I have a new obsession. Well, it's not quite an obsession, more like a quest or a keen interest.

I used to think squash was disgusting (except maybe when I was a baby). I always liked pumpkin desserts, but that is where I drew the line. Everything changed a couple years ago when I saw my mom heating up a section of butternut squash in the mircrowave for her supper. She told me how easy it was to cook and gave me a taste. I decided it didn't taste too badly after all. She gave me a couple sweet dumpling squash from a local orchard and I went out and bought a butternut squash.

This year the whole squash thing has become a quest to try them all. I started out with what I was used to and ate a butternut squash. Then I wanted to try the popular acorn squash. It was great - good texture and flavor. Next was a spaghetti squash. That one was strange - all stringy once I cooked it - and it the flavor was weak. Now every time I go to the store I pick up a new kind of squash to try. Some of them are terrible. The kabocha variety must originate from Japan because "kabocha" is the word for squash in Japenese. The kabocha squash I had was awful. It might have been good in a soup or some other dish, but by itself was terrible. I just bought delicata and carnival squash that I can't wait to try. I really hope I can get to all the varieties of squash before they disappear from my local supermarket.

Work

I had a fun day at work yesterday. A couple weeks ago told I Bill I was considering trying to get into graduate school for the 2006 spring semester. When people at work ask me what's going on in my life, I usually don't like to hide things. I feel like it eats away at my integrity. I want to be honest and tell them what is really going on so many of my coworkers have heard all about my plans. Julie, my supervisor, suggested I let Bill know too, just in case he inadvertently hears it from someone else first. I did and now I think he's trying to entice me to stay. He makes comments like, "If you are still here next summer I will send you on a museum sponsored archaeological dig for a week or two" and "we should get you more involved in other departments at the museum." It is nice he appreciates the work I do, but I don't think that's going to be enough right now. Thanks for trying, Bill.

Last week he decided I should help the Education Department and April (the curator of Exhibits) prepare for Archaeology Day Camp to be held next summer. Yesterday we went out to set up and bury the site. During Archaeology Day Camp kids participate in a simulated dig where they excavate and analyze a site created by the museum staff. The site is supposed to represent a 1900 cabin in East Sioux Falls (a quarry town) that burned down. Yesterday we measured out the units, built up the stone foundation of the cabin and planted the artifacts. Because the house burned down we burned a bunch of the artifacts. It's kind of like doing archaeology in reverse. We know what we want the kids to think happened so we planted artifacts and built remnants of structures in a way that, when excavated, would tell the story we wanted to tell.

It was a fun activity that helped break up the monotony of sitting at the front desk and staring at a computer screen. Lately, I have been working on writing an exhibit script on the evolution of shopping from department stores to enclosed malls. It's interesting, but I have been working on it off and on for a year and I needed a break.

Graduate School

Yesterday I got a letter saying I am officially accepted to Wichita State University. Everyday this whole thing gets more real.

I have to take three or four prerequisite classes before I can start the graduate program, but those should be fun. They are all about anthropology and archaeology methods, theory and history. I guess my next step is to get registered for classes.

I also need to figure out this whole financial aid thing. Here I go again with more loans. Maybe school won’t be too stressful and I can get a part time job or something. Once I find out how much money I can borrow to live off of, Sarah and I can start really looking for a place to live. I hope it works out to live with her because I think it could be a great experience. And she has furniture!

Break Time

I’m tired of studying for the GRE during my breaks at work so I’m updating the old blog this time. This whole test is completely unnecessary stress. I found out ex post facto I don’t even need the GRE for admittance into a masters of arts program at WSU. Apparently that is a sign I should work on my research skills. Part of me wants to buckle down by reading the 80 pages of possible essay topics or looking through all 65 pages of math review. The other part of me wants to say “who the hell cares because I don’t need this test for anything right now.” Hmmm … which part will win?

So what’s going on in my life beside that? Last weekend Reed and Sue took the Windstar down to Kansas for Fall Fest. I went along and so did Jeremy. He was going to look for apartments, but ended up walking around in the rain on Saturday with Sarah and me. It was hard to just walk around and check out the booths because every ten steps or so I ran into someone I wanted to talk to or someone who wanted to talk to me. It was nice to catch up with old friends and acquaintances, tiring however. Props to Sarah, who was a terrific host and is always a pleasure to stay with.

Last weekend was so hot and humid, now it is so cold. I took the bus to work this morning and waiting for it outside made my chin numb. The boiler maintenance person came this morning to get the heat going here at the Pettigrew. Brrrr … It should be a little warmer this weekend. I am hoping to find some time to go to a local apple orchard because warm apple sauce sounds so go right now!

Donations

Okay, I gagged a little in the copier / mail box room today at work. The county (I'm a county employee) is sponsoring another blood drive. Oh sick. Does anyone remember my experience at the last blood drive? It is all documented in the Bags O' Blood, April 11, 2005 post. Based on that experience I do not think I will be donating any blood this time around. Maybe I will use the "I'm HIV postive" excuse if anyone pressures me.

I can't believe the advertising Human Resources is doing for this either. The fliers in our mailboxes have the words "Bloodmobile" written in a red goopy looking font. Just thinking about it makes my hands, legs and feet all tingly. I am honestly having a hard time typing this right now. I feel like my ring fingers are going to burst. Yuck ...

To find out what happens to my fingers tune into the next posting ...

This Ain't No Short Bus

I'm not sure if it was rising gas prices, a pervading fear the Malibu will break down and cost a million dollars to fix, my love of public transportation (oh the maps, schedules and all the intriguing people!) or all three, but I have started to take the bus to and from work whenever I can. Sometimes I need to take my car if I have an errand or obligation during or right after work. Otherwise, I try to wake up in time to catch the bus.

The cost to ride the bus is $1.70 a day. I am not sure this is saving me that much money because it probably only takes a little less than a gallon of gas for me to drive to and from work. I am, however, not using my car, which might make it last a bit longer. I also realized that when I ride the bus I don't experience the stress that accompanies driving during high-volume traffic times. When I ride the bus, I'm not all pissed off by the time I get to work. I get a good chance to calmly wake up and on my way home I do some reading to wind down from the work day. Who knew riding the bus could be so therapeutic?

I am only in my second week of bus riding. I do it about three or four days out of the five-day work week so it's still a pretty new thing for me. I might get tired of waking up half an hour early and when it gets colder outside, I might not be as excited to walk two blocks and wait outside for five minutes for the bus to come. Too bad Sioux Falls doesn't have a subway. Now that would be really fun.

Heritage Hall Museum

Freeman Academy's Board of Directors recently asked me (and four other people) to be on the Board of Trustees for Heritage Hall Museum and Archives. It sounds like quite an honor for someone who is only 24 - and it is - but I think it could also be a lot of work.

This history museum has an extenisve collection and is more like a storage shed ... no, two storage sheds and four historic buildings (two churches, a farmhouse and a school). There are no real exhibits. Pretty much everything that the museum owns is displayed in a semi-ordered, semi-random state. Justin Brewer, Sarah Shorthill's high school acquaintance, would say "your shit's in disarray." A few items have partial descriptions, but most of the collection is just there for periodic visitors to interpret for themselves.

At our second meeting last Thursday, the board members were encouraged to dream big and think of how they would like to see the museum improve. Three things came to my mind. 1) I would like the collection, the artifacts, to be better documented and better preserved. 2) There should be themed exhibits that interpret the collection for visitors. 3) If the museum had occasional events, maybe they could draw more people in.

Others in the group shared these same visions with me, but I could tell there would be dissent from some down the road. Some of the board members feel almost everything we own should be exhibited. They think if items are not exhibited and just "stored" then the people who donated the items will get their feelings hurt and it would result in bad PR for the museum within the community. I think if it is explained to the donators that when their items are exhibited it actually causes the item(s) to deteriorate at a more rapid pace (light, handling, temperature and humidity changes, etc.). If donators want their items properly preserved they should accept that they will not be exhibited all the time.

A second problem I foresee is some of the board members of the museum forcing history down people's throats. An example: a few members have a passion for old farm equipment. One member complained that "kids these days" don't know anything about old tractors and obsolete machinery like threshing machines. He thinks it is important to make sure "kids" get educated about this stuff. I guess I do too, but we need to figure out a way to make it appealing to most people or offer alternatives. We need to have other exhibits for people who have absolutley no interest in that old tractors. Ultimately, it is the public who should decide what we exhibit.

I have run into these issues at the museum where I work now. My boss loves Civil War reenacting and early Sioux Falls history. He does not understand why other people do not share his passion. Seriously, not everyone wants to pertend they lived in 1860, we all have different interests.

As I mentioned above, our second meeting was only this past Thursday so we are just getting started. The possibilities for this museum are endless. The obstacles are vast. It will be a unique learning experience and I am excited about getting involved at this level. Unfortunately, I will probably be moving to Kansas in January. (I am waiting to see if I get accepted to graduate school before officially committing to the move.) This means I might have to cut my board term short. If this happens, I sincerely hope I can maintain my involvement to some extent from a distance.

My Local Brazilian Steakhouse

Last Friday I had a new eating experience at a newly opened Brazilian restaurant in town. If you have never heard of or eaten at a churrascaria you should seek one out in your home town or maybe when you are on vacation.

The concept is fairly simple. The whole menu is all-you-can-eat and you have two main choices—just the salad bar (I think this restaurant tried to feature traditional Brazilian salad-bar-type dishes) or the salad bar and the meat.

At each seat is a circular paper disc that looks kind of like a coaster. One side is red and one side is green. When the green side was up these authentic gauchos (Brazilian cowboys … yee haw) came to the table with chunks of meat on skewers and sliced off a section. After I got some meat, I tried out my Portuguese and said “obrigado,” which means thank you. The gaucho looked at me like “yeah, nice attempt.”

When the red side of the disc was up that was a sign that you did not want a gaucho with meat on a stick to stop by at that time. Sue was sitting by me and soon after the meal began gave up using the red/green disc system. She resorted to grand gestures (it appeared some of the gauchos did not understand much English) and a loud voice. “Yoo-hoo, over here, I need some of that.” Funny.

The gauchos had many different kinds of meat—beef, lamb, pork and chicken—all cut and prepared uniquely. I would say there were about 12 different meat choices. By the end of the night I was satiated with protein. Too much MEAT! It kind of reminded me of an opposite experience I had at a Mennonite youth conference I attended in Winnipeg, Canada about 10 years ago. The food at the conference had little meat and what they did serve was not very good. During the week I ended up eating a lot of pasta and bread. By the end of the conference I had a terrible meat craving. Seriously, when I got home I just ate meat for a couple days. After my Brazilian meal on Friday, however, I did not even want to look at meat for a couple days.


I put some photos of Jeanette's and Mike's wedding on the post about that event. I think it was called "Kansas." I wanted to put some more on, but Blogger.com was having some technical difficulties. I will add a few more later so keep checking if you are interested.

Stress

Whew, what a stressful week I have had! It probably stems from a combination of things, including the volunteer newsletter at work, deciding whether or not I want to take the GRE, deciding whether or not I want to move to Kansas to stay close to Jeremy, working too much, having too many other commitments and obligations outside of work and Maureen.

First, the volunteer newsletter. It is something I do every month and I take a little pride in it because I worked hard to bring it from a boring report format to a newsletter format with interesting articles and contributors. This month, however, things did not come together. The computer at the Pettigrew could not handle all the graphics in the newsletter and would often freeze up when I tried to go past page 3. I lost an article Bill (the director) wanted me to put in. When I called him to find out where he had saved it on the network so I could print off another copy he told me it was not saved on the network. Seriously, who types up something like that on a computer and then doesn't save it somewhere? So I scrapped his article and tried to find something else to fill the space. In the past few months I have been trying to get a volunteer to make a contribution to the newsletter. This month it was Jan Koski. She is very interested in death, mystery and the supernatural. She wanted to do a story on Pettigrew's mausoleum and why his second wife and kids are not buried in it and if his brother's ashes were really stolen. The people at the cemetery were not helpful so her story got held up, but she finally got it in. Then there were copier problems I won't even get into right now. It's done, but it took way too long and caused too much stress.

In addition to museum work now I have all these golf course commitments. This weekend I am working Friday night, Sunday and Monday. I am sooooo tired of working so much. I have hopes of recuperating during the week nights, but that never seems to happen. There is always some commitment, some other obligation I have to meet. Too much demand for Amber, she's starting to get worn out.

Tonight at the archaeological society meeting (one of my many obligations that I enjoy and regret at the same time) I talked to Maureen. Maureen is a character. I started talking to her after the meeting. We covered a wide range of subjects, mostly about her and her adventures in life with different kinds of people in all different kinds of places. We both agreed that leading sheltered unenlightened lives is unhealthy and leads to ignorance. She then started talking about how she lived in the ghetto in Chicago and how she had to be defensive to protect herself and her belongings. Maureen asked me what I would if I had a gun and someone was raping me. I thought, holy cow, she really gets down to business. I told her I was a pacifist and these situations had crossed my mind, but I hoped I would not use the gun to kill the person hurting me. She told me I was foolish and would react differently if I really was in that situation. Maureen really thought I had not gone over these situations in my head. I mean, I cannot say what I would and would not do as truth because these "bad" situations have never happened to me. I will not try to predict the future. I do know that I have strong nonviolent beliefs though, and I have rationalized and analyzed them. We just have different world views and I do not think mine makes me foolish. I don't think hers makes her foolish either. Anyway, I guess she can think whatever she wants. Hopefully I can convince her I am not just some idealistic fool.

Lately, I have had to think a lot about my near future. I signed up to take the GRE (test required to get into most graduate school programs) October 15 at 9 am. I decided that I still want to persue archaeology and to do that and get the kind of job I want, I need to get more education. So here goes. Wish me luck.

Jeremy is moving to Colwich, KS (near Wichita) as soon as he finishes his dissertation. He thinks I should move to Kansas too. It has been a hard decision to make, but I think I will go with him. Initially, I was not so sure it was a good idea, but then I started looking at my life right now. I would miss the friends I have made in Sioux Falls and the community I have established for myself. I would miss being close to my parents and extended family. I am not, however, extremely tied to my job, which does not support me financially. It would actually be a good time for me to break away and pursue my archaeological dreams. Originally, I was attracted the the University of Montana's archaeological program, but Wichita State University has one too. I have always thought education is part institutional resources, but mostly what you, the individual, makes of it. I am sure I can get a good education anywhere I go as long as I apply myself and look for good opportunities. Since I might be moving to Kansas sometime this winter does anyone know of someone looking for a roommate? Hook me up, yo.

I am thinking next week has to be better.

Dells Rocky Run Golf Course, May I Help You?

I am working at the golf course right now. I did all the cleaning, stocking and food preparation earlier today so now I’m just taking it easy serving up the occasional hot dog and Bud Light. We got these new cheddar dogs that are brats with cheese in them. The squirrelly things came all strung together like Schmeckfest sausage or those old school brats that you always see dogs stealing from butchers. After I took them apart I put them on the hot dog rollers and they did not lie down straight so part of them took a really long time to cook. Trent said they tasted good, though. Cheddar dogs … what a great idea. You know what they should do? Make hot dogs that have ketchup, pickles, mustard, relish, onions, and cheese mixed in with the meat. I bet that would be good.

I wish something exciting would have happened at the course, but the day has been pretty standard. I guess that I could report that someone called in looking for a lost 9 iron. I have no idea what a 9 iron looks like so I had to go back and look through all 40 or so clubs in the lost and found to see if his was there. Yeah, it wasn’t, but boy do we have a lot of clubs in the lost and found.

Something that I learned this summer working at the golf course is that golfing is an expensive hobby.There is no way I could golf occasionally on my Museum Interpreter salary. For one person green fees and cart rental is $35.50 at Rocky Run. I think I will stick to running and kick ball for my sport fixes.

The Hayloft

Last night the Schrag side of the family had one last meal together before the college students in the family left for another year of school. The Hayloft was the restaurant of choice. It is a very small cafe on Hwy 42 a couple miles south of Canistota which is 30 minutes west of Sioux Falls. The first quirky thing about The Hayloft is that there is nothing else around it. At first I was not even sure we were in the right place. Jeremy and I came from Sioux Falls and planned on meeting everyone else there at 6:30. We got there just a bit late and I did not recogize any of the cars so I went inside to ask the name of the restaurant. All the locals eating curiously looked up at me and some lady said, "Are you in the right place?" She told me it was The Hayloft and I said thanks and went back outside so those people would stop staring at me.

Soon the other Schrags arrived and we all went inside. The second quirky thing about The Hayloft were the table settings. All the dishes and cups were different. Everyone was recognizing CorelleWare they had eaten on before.

The third quirky thing was the decor. There were probably hundreds of plates adorning all four walls in the cafe. They reminded me of the plates my Grandpa Hoppe used to collect, except he put his in vaults and cupboards where no one could see them. There was a poster with Tom Daschle's photo on it thanking him for 27 years of service. That ubiquitos picture of the two farm kids in coveralls kicking the dirt was also hanging up. A picture of the Austin wrestling team with their shirts off was resting on a shelf. Austin, MN? Avon products were loaded up on shelves by the bathroom. Were those for sale?

The food was very reasonalby priced and decent. My steak was not the best I had ever had, but the salad bar was great. Those deviled eggs ... mmmm. I had to laugh when Nathan's gravy for his chicken fried steak came in a serving bowl. They must not have had anything smaller. Throughout the meal I noticed there was a lot of random food around that no one ordered, but they just gave to us. In the beginning an employee brought out a tray of carmel rolls. Several jars of Tootsie rolls were already on the table to snack on. Finally, just before we left another employee/owner brought us some stale popcorm. Again, very quirky.

I liked the strange little Hayloft cafe. I think I might go back again someday.

Tiny Homes

I was listening to NPR this morning on my way to work. What good radio - I always find myself learning so much about the world when I listen to Morning Edition and All Things Considered (on my way to and from work). And most of it is interesting stuff that is not usually covered by other media sources. It is hard for anyone to compete with the quality of Fox News, but I would still encourage everyone to check out their local public radio and TV stations, if you don't already.

Anyway ... so I was listening to Morning Edition and they were interviewing this guy who builds small homes. We are talking tiny tiny homes. Jay Shafer started buiding these small houses in 1997 and named his company, Tiny House Company, after his first house (Tumbleweed). He said his main goals were to cut down on home maintenance and minimize his impact on the environment. Shafer lives in a 70 sq. foot home amongst the Redwoods north of San Francisco, but he does make home up to 750 sq. feet. I just thought it was all very interesting.

Ode to Dorothy

This post goes out to my homie Dorothy Kaiser. A couple weeks ago the museum received some copies of the 2005 Traveler Magazine. This is a free tourist publication that highlights places of interest to visit, lodgings and restaurants, most of them in the Black Hills. As I picked up a copy of the Traveler last week I was instantly reminded of Keystone, Miner’s Motel, Dorothy and her love of one particular part of the Traveler Magazine.

I worked in Keystone, SD one summer between college and one season after I graduated where one of my jobs was working the front desk at Miner’s Motel. When I worked the evening shift Dorothy was most likely my companion.

She is from Sturgis, but during the work week she lives in a trailer attached to the back of Miner’s. Dorothy is about 80 years old. She is on the stout and on the shorter side. Dorothy used to be quite the smoker and now she has emphysema and has to use her inhaler quite a bit, even after just walking from her trailer in the back of the motel to the front desk. Dorothy drives around in a gray Dodge Caravan from the late 1980s with a Bear Country USA sticker on the back bumper.

She has short hair, except for one long thin braid dangling from her back lower right hairline. This braid is usually adorned with a variety of clips and barrettes. I loved it when Dorothy would quickly swing her head flinging the braid around to rest on the front of her shoulder just like someone who had a full head of long hair might fling his or her hair around.

Dorothy is also full of stories. I think some crazy things have happened to her, but I also think her storytelling abilities turn some of the more ordinary experiences she has had into epic adventures.

Dorothy used to tell me the reasons she like the Traveler so much were because 1) she liked looking for Miner’s Motel in the lodging listings under Keystone and 2) she enjoyed the Did You Know space-fillers interspersed between the ads and the area highlights. Many of the Did You Know facts were fuel for Dorothy’s stories. Here are just a few from the 2005 issue that I am sure Dorothy would find particularly interesting:

DID YOU KNOW
South Dakota’s state insect is the Honey Bee. Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found edible.

Catfish have over 100,000 taste buds. South Dakota’s state Catfish record is 97 lbs. It was caught in 1959 and held the world record for over 40 years.

An Adult porcupine has approximately 30,000 quills, which are replaced every year.

The Crouch Line Railroad which ran up Rapid Canyon from Rapid city to Mystic from 1890 to 1947 would cross 110 bridges (about 4 bridges per mile), while bending and twisting its way through only 30 miles of the Black Hills, all the while negotiating turns and curves sharp enough to equal 14 complete circles. Passengers would often joke that the engineer could slap hands with people in the caboose as they passed.

In 1823, while hunting with the Ashley fur party, Hugh Glass was so terribly mauled by a grizzly bear that two members of the party were left behind to do what they could and to bury him when he died. Fearing for their own lives and believing his condition hopeless, they took his weapons and deserted him. Living off rain, wet tree moss, snakes, mice and bugs, Glass crawled for 3 months to make the 190 mile trek back to Fort Kiowa on the Missouri River to find the men who had left him. Today Glass is remembered in songs, books, a movie and a historical marker.

Deadwood’s Methodist Church was the first church ever visited by Calamity Jane. It was her own funeral.

Gold is so dense that a one ton cube would measure only 14.2 inches per side. A lump of pure gold the size of a matchbox can be flattened into a sheet the size of a tennis court. The largest gold nugget ever found weighed 172 lbs., 13 oz.

The Key Saga

Get comfortable, this story is going to take a while. I don’t mean to sound dramatic (well, maybe I do), but I had quite a traumatic night on Wednesday. After my day at work and then kickball in the early evening I was in the mood to just be by myself, away from people. I decided I wanted to go for a run on the bike trail at the friendly Sertoma Park. Thunderstorms were looming and there was lightning in the west so I figured I better hurry to get my run in before the rain.

The run was very refreshing, but toward the end of it, as I was heading back to Sertoma Park the lightning and wind really started picking up. As I was nearing my car the rain came. I reached down to take my car key out of my shoe and … it was gone! Now, I have been intertwining my key in my shoelaces while I run for the past two years and have never lost it. Why then? Why such bad timing? I was standing in the pouring rain, right next to my car and I could not get in. Even if I found a phone somewhere and called a locksmith, once I got in my car I would not be able start it. All of the buildings at the park were closed by this time so I did not even know where to go or what to do. I felt so completely helpless.

The first thing that came to my mind was “you have to find that key.” I started walking back over the elevated trail (which included a bridge) in the middle of all the lightning and rain. It was probably not the safest move, but I was determined to find this key. As I walked along I realized I couldn’t see anything because of the rain and the clouds covering the sun so searching for my key was stupid at this point. I was also thoroughly drenched and cold. I ran another ¼ mile to where the Interstate crosses the trail and sat under the bridge on some Red Sioux Quartzite rocks. I was so depressed. I started sobbing.

After about ten minutes I decided I wanted to keep looking for the car key. The rain let up for a moment and I started searching along the trail again. I walked about another ¼ mile and then it began to rain pretty hard. The next overpass was a couple hundred feet away so I ran to it and sat under there for twenty minutes. Thoughts like “you are never going to find your key,” “you are going to die out here” and “lions and raccoons are going to eat you” kept running through my mind (even though I knew I probably would not really die or be eaten alive). It was right at this point, when I was so hopeless, that a lady came running along the trail right by me. She stopped to ask if I was okay and I told her my story. She said she, or maybe it was someone she knew, lost his/her car key and did not have a spare. A dealership made a new one and it only cost $30. This made me feel a lot better. I knew if the key did not turn up and I could make it home somehow I could call a dealership the next morning and get a new key made.

Right after she left the rain subsided and what was left of the sun at 9:00 pm peeked through the departing clouds. A cold front came through with the storm and I was still wet so I was pretty cold just sitting under the overpass. I decided to walk the rest of the distance I ran along the trail earlier in the night to see if I could find my key. If I could not find it after that I would wait until tomorrow morning and call a dealership.

Because of the large amount of rain the trail was flooded in parts. This made looking for the key a bit tricky, but I walked down the entire trail I had run on before and still could not find my key. Turning around I walked back, still searching, awhile longer. I cut across the river and started walking along 57th St. to a gas station. 57th St. is a road with a lot of new developments on it so it does not have always have sidewalks. In fact, the part I was walking along was very muddy because there was no grass planted yet. After I maneuvered the deep mud, there was very steep ditch. I was hanging on for dear life to these metal ropes that ran along the road while trying to pull myself along toward the gas station. What terrible luck.

Finally, I reached the gas station and I tried to think of some people I knew who might give me a ride home. The four phone numbers I could remember that I tried all went to voice mail. I left messages and waited at the gas station for about ten minutes, but no one returned my calls. I knew my best option was to walk home. The gas station attendant said she would tell anyone who called back that I started walking home along 57th St.

When I got home 30 minutes later Dawn and Kellie were there so they let me in. I borrowed Kellie’s car and drove it to Sertoma Park so I could get the VIN from my car, which I would need to get a new key made.

The next morning I told Julie I would be about an hour late to work and I called the parts guy at a Chevy dealership in town. He said it would cost right around $50 for a new key. Okay, I do not have a lot of extra cash to be spent on things like that so I took Kellie’s car (Dawn gave her a ride to work – God bless them … and America) back to the park and told myself I had 20 minutes to look for my key. If I did not find it in that time I would have to go to the dealership and shell out the $50.

I walked for approximately 200 feet and I found it! It was such a beautiful moment in my life. It was like Christmas. It was better than Christmas. And in the end it wasn’t even about the $50. I was happiest I found the key because I had spent so much time looking for it and walked so far along the flooded trail, in the mud, pouring rain and lightning. I was so ready to spend time by myself that night and when I finally got my wish and I was all along crying under the overpass all I wanted was someone to magically come and save me. Crazy how that works.