Almost forgot....finally got a pic of the piebald deer living near the park. It appears to be around 2 years old, but could be male or female for all I know right now. It actually started to walk towards me for a little while yesterday while I was taking the pics. Its mostly white on the underside and up its back, then normal brown colored on the top. I think its awesome looking and hope to get some better pics sometime soon.

Well I went out into the fields of Phase II today and very successfully GPS'd all four areas. I was then able to very successfully transfer the info onto my computer as .ssf files. However, my GPS software won't export them into ArcView shapefiles, or at least not properly, so I'm kinda stuck....which means I get to surf the web all afternoon looking for the answers. Too bad I'm working on a 44 K connection that is slower than molasses. Anyone out there in interweb land have any thoughts on how I can fix this?

High point of the day was boss man telling me I can work from home to do GPS stuff now. Guess who's not gonna be in the office Monday!!

So its another crazy windy day here at the park. At last check we were up to 42 mph on our wind meter thingy. Feels like our trailers are gonna get blown over. Had a little excitement this afternoon when a vehicle got stuck in some mud and we had to get the bulldozer to pull it out....bet you all wish you had my job huh? Yeah, it sucks right now.

So I've recently been added to someones "ignore list", and I'm a little upset about it. I was simply expressing an opinion, which is something that everyone does only this time my opinion was contrary to this other persons. So what is the moral of the story? Only express opinions you are sure match up with other peoples? Yeah, sure, big guy...I'll get right on that. If you can't accept different opinions then why even communicate with others? They might disagree with you and you just might be forced to accept that.

So everyone is very impressed by Kobe scoring 81, but here's my question...isn't basketball a team sport? What are the rest of the guys doing while Kobe is running all over the court? These aren't the school yard boys from 5th grade, these are NBA players who have proven themselves worthy of that at some point in time. So why does Kobe get to run all over the court and showboat? Seems a little anti-team pro-Kobe to me.

I think that is one of the reasons I just can't get into basketball. Its too easy to leave the team behind and play just for yourself. That doesn't really work in football. Look at Mike Vick. He tries to do it all himself, and thats why the Falcons haven't been in the playoffs since he's been QB and won't be as long as he is. They are team sports for a reason, you need a whole team to play properly. More coaches need to remind their players of that.

I think the guy I respect most in the NBA right now might be Antonio Davis. Davis saw his wife being involved in a verbal altercation with another man in the stands and rushed into the stands to see what was going on. He was trying to protect his family and instead got booted from the game and suspended for 5 games. Now I'm sure he knew that would happen, but is that really the same as the Brawl last November? I don't think so. This was a guy being a man when it comes to his family. Great article here.

Enough sports. The weather today sucks, I feel like crap, and I'm bored at work...pretty typical of VA in January. Oh well. No wonder I talk about sports so much.

Hell yeah!! Pittsburgh's goin to the Super Bowl!! To be honest, I don't think it matters who we play, they guys are just so determined to get Jerome that ring, they'll do whatever they have to. Love that Steeler football! Lets go get that one for the thumb!

Imagine you are a man in jail with hundreds of scary convicted felons. You are in the cafeteria when a big bear of a man approaches and says, "So, what are you in for?". What do you think the response is gonna be when you say, "I helped my girlfriend plant a finger in my chilli from Wendys to try to extort money from them." Man, talk about being someones bitch...you couldn't even get away with conning a fast food joint. The "ladies" are gonna be all over these two like white on rice. I really like the fact that they both had other outstanding charges that are going to make their sentances longer. I know I would certainly be getting my face in the paper and on the news if I had outstanding warrants. I guess at least you can redeem yourself a little since it was a real finger. Anything to make you feel better. How stupid.

Do the people who audition for American Idol really think they can sing, or are they just trying to get on TV? I can understand (kinda) some of them if they are just trying to get on TV, but the ones who really think they can sing are hard to watch. Its especially bad when they are accompanied by a family member that thinks they are the greatest singer in the world. Sad to watch. Its almost as though most of the people who try out for this show have tone deaf relatives. Incredible.

BTW, did you hear about the guy from the 'Burgh who had a heart attack in a bar on Sunday watching the game? Right as the Bus lost the ball on the 2 yard line, this guys heart freaking stops. Talk about into the game. Lucky for this guy there were two firefighters in the bar with him who did CPR till the ambulance came....dude wants to go back to the bar for the game this week, but his pacemaker won't be totally calibrated by then and he could have another heart attack, so they want him to stay in the hospital. Now thats a fan!

Go Stillers!

Today I feel bad for all the people that said that the Steelers had no chance of winning this game. The whole game was ours right up until the last 1:20, but the fates aligned properly and we came away victorious. I feel a little bad for Indy, in that their storybook season really didn't end up that way at all, I feel for Tony Dungy and his family, and I really feel for Vanderjagt, but I'm freakin ecstatic that my boys pulled out the victory. Love the TDs by Randel-El and Heath Miller. Love the interception by Troy Polamalu (which was an interception, no matter what the blind guys wearing stripes say). Love the one-handed, God I hope this works tackle by Ben Roethlisberger:

Love the Steelers...what else is there to say. Denver awaits, but we've gotta take a minute and just celebrate the win that no one thought would happen.

Here we go Steelers, Here we go! Pittsburgh's goin' to the Super Bowl!

Today we planned on removing a limb for some of Stephen's parents neighbors, but nature got in the way...in a number of ways. Tree work is all about having the right angle, something that was proving very difficult to do in this particular tree. The 30 mph winds didn't help either though. We were there for about 3 hours and didn't really accomplish anything, so we're going back next weekend.

Tonight we put new horns on my car. The old horn sounded like the old nerdy guy on the Simpsons, while the new one is more along the lines of Duffman...you can't really miss him when hes in the same area. Love it. They came off of an '85 Caprice classic station wagon, and my Corolla means business now.

The Skins lost, which part of me is a little upset about, but the real game is tomorrow. Hopefully my 'Stillers won't suffer the same fate as last time at Indy. Got to watch some hockey today too...finally. I love the new rules with OT and shootouts. Saw a great OT between Philly and Colorado today; Avs won on a great shot. We're gonna go to the Pens-Caps game here on Feb 11th. I'm excited, but I'm pretty sure the Pens are gonna lose, cause we have the absolute worst defense in the league this year, but it will be nice to see Mario and Sydney again. And we're getting the $5 cheap seats, so it should be a good time....if I don't get a nose bleed from the altitude.

Ah, gotta love random state government holidays. Today the state of VA celebrates the fine confederate holiday of Lee-Jackson Day. Which means that I got to do what I wanted for once instead of sitting at my desk being bored. Trip to the gym, wash the car, do some laundry...wait a minute...what happened to doing what I wanted?!? At least I get Monday off too, perhaps then I can do something fun.

So the Steelers have a freakin huge game on Sunday and what does Joey Porter do but start jawing about how the Colts don't play real football, they just try to trick you into losing. Well Joey, I hate to tell you, but they tricked us damn good a few months ago. You should only talk smack if you won the first meeting slick. We got our asses handed to us, and now you're taunting them. Is that smart? No. Shut the f up and just play ball.

Rant over. Go Steelers!

My husband has informed me that my blog is boring, but I told him thats his fault, since he reads it, thus eliminating one large topic. So I work with what I've got.

Here are some pics I took today. When I took the pics it wasn't too foggy, but enough to look creepy. By the time I got back to my desk to edit, I couldn't see my jeep anymore. Now its 60 degrees and sunny. VA has some weird weather.

10:45 AM:

2:45 PM:

Today is a pretty blah looking day. Its really foggy, so foggy I can't even see the water from my desk anymore. It looks like the world just ends at the fence. Days like today usually make me want to stay in bed, but I'm surprisingly in a good mood cause I just found out I'm probably gonna get to do some cool stuff at work. One of my co-workers from another district just called to tell me hes working on a burn plan for one of his parks, and we can probably use a similar plan for two of my parks. Burning these fields would be really cool, and I hope this all works out. Other than that I'm just sitting round looking at wildflowers to plant out in some fields here and waiting for it to get bright enough to take pics of the foggy woods. Pictures like that are intriguing to me because they seem so soft and comfortable. Hopefully I'll be able to get some decent shots. I'll post if I get anything good.

So I don't feel so bad about having nothing to do at work because one of the other people with my position says he is in the same depressive state now as well. It doesn't make me any less bored, but at least I don't feel like I'm slacking off.

My hands are healing remarkably well considering what I did to them. I only have one band-aid left, out of the five I started with. I might even be able to climb somtime this week.

Why do the stupid people always end up as the ones in charge? We have a guy here who is totally obsessive about everything being done right, so he decides to do it himself, even though its someone elses job description. Well thats all fine and dandy, but then he does it WRONG! Then the person who should have done it in the first place has to go back and redo it, which sometimes takes longer. How is that kind of ineptitude deserving of more pay and responsibility? I'll never understand.

So this is my first run doing the whole blog thing, but work is really slow so I figured I'd give it a go. I don't think my life is all that interesting, but this will give me something to do all day. I really like my job when I have things to do, but in the dead of winter its pretty slow, so I spend a lot of time on roadbikereview.com and doing crossword puzzles on washingtonpost.com and usatoday.com. The USAtoday site is pretty cool cause it tells you automatically when you put in the wrong letter, which I do often.

I'm married to a wonderful man I met at Virginia Tech. His name is Stephen and he's a mechanical engineer, which means he makes all the money in our relationship. Luckily we are into the same kind of activities, and go climbing and camping a lot.

I guess when I'm not working on crosswords or talking to people on RBR I'm either riding my bike or rock climbing at Sportrock. Stephen and I only started seriously climbing a few months ago, but we're both getting pretty good at it. I had a rough time on Sunday at the new Earth Trex gym in Rockville, so my hands are pretty ripped up, but thats ok, they'll heal. I used to work at REI, which was one of the coolest jobs I've ever had, but the money just doesn't work out right in NOVA.

I'm a rabid football fan, with my two teams being the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Us Hokies have been taking crap for a while now about Marcus Vick, and I'm damn glad the school finally wised up and kicked his ass out. He's gonna have a great time in jail. As for the Steelers, well we've had a pretty good season, but this game at Indy is gonna be tough. I think they learned a lot the last time we played there, and I'm hoping they can put some of that knowledge into work on Sunday.

So I guess thats all I really have to say for now...I guess this will be easier when I don't have to explain my life story all the time. So for now, heres a pic of my bike and hopefully soon I'll have pics of Stephen and I to put on here.