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?