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 ...
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Saturday, September 24, 2005
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
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.
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.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
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.
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.
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