Weekend Woha

What else to say really? I love weekends. Sometimes I wonder if I'm made to work - and then I think about the time I was unemployed and how it drove me nuts. I do need human contact - but the weekends always seem to be too short.

Today was a busy day. I went for a hike with Phil and Ellie in the Jemez. There were showing me all the edible mushrooms near their house.

I came home to assemble Hunter's 6th birthday cake (which is when I noticed the cats have made the transition to the den for winter without me) - and the of course party the afternoon away. Now I need to clean up and have a cup of tea ... awaiting the eminent doom of MONDAY!

Running

I just found an interesting stat on my Nike/IPod page. It keeps track of distance run each month. Here are my totals so far this year:
Jan: 8.81 miles
Feb: 18.71 miles
March: 30.42 miles
April: 21.26 miles
May: 12.33 miles
June: 38.3 miles
July:48.93 miles
Aug: 24.99 miles
Sep: 27.7 miles (but there is still tomorrow).

Rumors

Since the days of Nanos (a director here at the lab) there have been more rumors than employees. Tonight while out to dinner I heard more. I hear them every day. Most days. And with any rumor you know there is a chance this one could be true ... but there is an equal if not greater chance it will not be true at all. But, you keep listening. You keep wondering if this one. This last one you heard is going to be the one. I wish that I could stop listening to them. Stop caring about them. But, they are like a train wreck. I want to hear it so that if/when this one is true - I can think, "Yes. I hear that from Jane Doe 2 weeks ago."

Since these rumors are all about work. Funding. The Lab. That sort of thing ... I don't feel too terrible about listening to them. Normally when they are about people I feel wrong listening or even remotely encouraging that type of behavior.

Rumors from this evening:
1. They will be RIFing people regardelss of budget.
2. DOE/NNSA are talking about shutting down either LLNL or LANL. 10 year, long plan out closure.
3. They will start giving us comp time.

I'm really pulling for #3 to be correct :)

F*!$

People suck. Not all people - please allow me to clarify - but some people. I'm not sure if I posted about this a while back - but in June of 2006 I was in a tiny car accident with an elderly man from California. The cops came and said it was neither of our faults. That neither of us had the right away and it was just a bumper bump ... this type thing just happens every now and again.

I got a call a month or two ago that the old guy is suing for more money. He doesn't believe that what was given to him was nearly enough. Today I got a certified letter from Farmers telling me that he is suing for over $50,000 ... which is what they will cover. They have recommended that we get a lawyer ... because if he is awarded anything over $50,000 ... they wont pay and we are suppose to. This whole thing pisses me off. What in the hell is wrong with people???

To make myself happy I took one of my small gnomes on a backyard adventure. There is nothing like a traveling gnome to make anyone fell better. At least for a little bit!

Bugs

Seems like there are more bugs out this year than ever. I keep running into spider webs and rescuing bugs from inside the house. This praying mantis was in the garage. It appears as if something is wrong with his side. Any ideas?

Leaves Of Change

I was just walking back from the library and I noticed that some of the trees are starting to change color. Fall is an incredible time. My hand are always cold - which means my rings never fit properly. The smell in the air is different from all summer. More of an earthy type air.

Fall is football, squash, curry, costumes, orange, browns and golds. Fall is the death of green and the hibernation of folliage.

While working on cleaning up the side of the house and building a wood shed (I'm freaking tired as all get out from all the work this past weekend) I found these two critters. Anyone know what the brown one is? I think the spider is a very large Orb Weaver.

Reasoning With The Devil

Last night the question of the "purpose" of a blog came up. Is it to bitch? To journal for the world. I've totally asked this question before. Ranting? Day dreaming? I say all of the above. And whom ever finds the will or time to read it - should enjoy.

What is going on here. In this neck of the woods? Well our budget is crap and last Thursday (for those of you NOT in New Mexico) our director came out and said that they are making plans for a RIF (reduction in force). Up to 2500 people. The idea of getting rid of people or laying off doesn't scare me too much. The idea of what my house will be worth when 2500 are let go does. I'll have a house that isn't worth 1/8th what I paid for it. How long will I be forced to live in this town until I can sell it?

Last night we were looking at jobs elsewhere. It makes me very nervous to take a job somewhere else and have a mortgage here. Although there was a job for someone on oil drilling platoforms. Moving around the world, out on those deep-sea-rigs .... sounds dreamy to me!

Lately there has been a large influx of praying mantises at the house. I've taken a bunch of photos - but have yet to upload them.

Also, I've watched a bit of the food network and want to know ... why is it that the British lady has the most amazing vocabulary out of all the other cooks? I like to just listen to her show for her verbal conquest of the English language. Any ideas on how to buff up ones arsenal?

Gardening

I was out getting veggies from the garden and from the fruit trees when I found this. Amazing. I love to see how things will grow one way or another. Nothing can really stop them! The peaches are flawless and smell amazing. I like to rub the soft fuzzy outside skin on my face.

Travels

Mike got home very late last Wednesday night. I was at the airport for ours (which normally doesn't bother me ... except for what the sign said). As you can see there was no real information and I wasn't sure if they were going to be landing at any minute or not. He was on the Atlanta flight. I've never actually seen a message like this. Turns out, this is what ABQ puts on the signs when there is lightning and planes can't land. Really informative!




Friday morning (very early 4AM). We went to San Antonio to hang out with my brother and his family. We saw their new property, went to the river walk, and went to Sea World. It was a fast and fun trip! His wife is incredibly sweet as are his girls. It was also pretty interesting to watch my brother as a dad. Not often I get to see him be the responsible one.