Wyoming... Pt. 2- Just kill me now and get it over with

Day 2-

Our day started with a quick meeting with the local team at our hotel and then we started our 1 1/2 hour convoy to Pinedale where we would be working. Why we were staying so far away? No clue. Imagine driving for 110 miles and not seeing any houses, gas stations, fast food... NOTHING but sagebrush and antelope. Just before we got to Pinedale we entered the “town” of Boulder... pop. 75.

There in Boulder was a single gas station/bar that we stopped at to go to the bathroom before hitting the streets for work. I was having a hard time staying awake during the drive so I bought a Diet Mountain Dew and some sunflower seeds and chatted with my co-workers until we were all ready to go. As we left, in all my awesomeness, I rolled my ankle on the less than 6” step outside and fell to the ground. Looking back I must have looked a little something like this...



My left ankle did this awesome snappy crunchy thing and I was in a LOT of pain. After getting some ice and taking some time we decided to take me to the “hospital” in Pinedale. You would think in a small town the wait would be shorter because how many people could possibly be hurt? Nope, me and McD waited for an hour before I got called back. After 6 x-rays and lots of prodding it was determined that no, it wasn’t broken, just a bad sprain. They gave me a big walking boot brace and then the nurse went to find me some crutches. When she came back she gave me the crutches and told me that they were going to be too small but they didn’t have any other sizes except for someone who was 5’10” or over... I’m 5’2” on a good day so too small it was. At first it wasn’t too bad but very quickly I got rashes where the top rubbed on my ribs and elbows. Not fun.

McD and I finished paperwork (yay worker’s comp!) and went to get lunch since it was now 2:30pm. It was decided from the powers that be, that if I wanted to work, I could do my routes from my car and that would be fine. Awesome, thought I, I won’t lose any time. After lunch I decided to do a small area I had about 15 miles north of Pinedale. I thought this would give me time to chill out and just drive.

It was a beautiful drive, clear and cloudless skies and mountains that were beyond breathless.

When I got to my area I got a small taste of what the rest of the week was about to hold... as I was driving around my block (which was square on my map) I got to one corner to take a right, there was no right... there was a field to my right and a fence in front of me... hmmmm....
I took some time to watch the antelope run in front of my car and then did the other side of the block the hard way... driving around the long way.


After finishing up all of the 8 houses that were there I headed back to town.

Wouldn’t you know it, when I went to pull out from the country road onto the main road here comes a white truck flying over the crest of the hill. I had to either slam on my breaks in the middle of the road or floor it... so I floored it and took off as fast as the Aveo could go (which wasn’t very satisfactory). I continued to go fast because when someone pulls out in front of me, I’m pissed and they had better be going at least as fast as me. Well apparently, in Wyoming, white truck is code for UNDERCOVER COP... great. Lights go on and I pull over cursing to myself and wanting to crawl into a hole and DIE. The officer asked my my license and registration and asked the age old question... “So, are you in a hurry?” I explained to him my day and he excused himself to his truck to run my crap. As soon as he started walking away I started to cry... what was I going to do? I couldn’t afford this? Am I going to lose my job? Well, Mr. Officer was super nice and came back and told me to slow it down, he didn’t want to have to clean up an accident. He asked me if I would be ok, to which I told him yes, I would take a moment before I started driving again, and then he was off. I collected myself together and then, very cautiously, set off. FUCK!! REALLY?!?! Whew. That was close.

Luckily, the rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Once we got back to Rock Springs OG and I went to Applebee’s for dinner and had a MUCH needed beer. OG and I grabbed 6 packs at the store and watched the Laker’s game in my room which was not exactly a relaxer... but oh well. After that, all I needed was sleep, and sleep I did....

Until I woke up at 5am the next day... will this hell never end??

Wyoming... Pt. 1-Don't worry... I will

Well my bloggy friends, after a week (ok 5 days) in Wyoming and a weekend to unwind back in civilization, I think it's time to update you on the amazing mess that was my trip.
(names have been changed to protect the innocent bystanders)

Backstory (in case you live under a rock) - I work for the Census Bureau and the region that I've been working in has been completed. Thusly, they decided to send some of us good eggs to help in Wyoming where they were having some... issues... I was one that got picked... We left on Monday

Day 1- Steph took me to Safeway to our meeting point. There were 7 of us going none of whom I had ever worked with, seen, or talked to except for one phone conversation with McD, our CL. We were to meet at noon and at 10 til we pulled in and had no idea what to look for. We were going in government vehicles wich look just like any other vehicle just with different plates. We drove around the parking lot to no avail so we parked in the back to keep an eye on things. Finally I saw a guy walking across the parking lot with a suitcase, dead give away that you AREN'T there to grocery shop! I got out of Steph's car and met my new co-workers. Already there was OG, Game Master, and our ACL, Sandwich. Co-Pilot showed up soon and there we were, 5 strong, waiting for McD +1 to get there. at 12:30 they showed up and I became one of 3 women, though CLEARLY the guys were going to be more fun. McD said that I should ride with her and +1 so we could have a girls car and a guys car.... ummm... ok, sure. The ride was terribly boring but I got a lot of knitting done so that was good. Every once in a while during the 6 1/2 hour drive they spoke to me, but I wasn't begging to be part of the conversation so I pretty much remained in my little iPod world.

Once we got to Rock Springs we had to go to the airport to pick up our rental cars... this is their idea of an airport....


and what airport could be complete without dead animal heads mounted on the walls??



We had to call the girl from the rental car company to come and give us our cars. They were open but a note on the counter said that she was "in town cleaning cars. Call for assistance". So we waited and watched the end of the Bulls/Celtics game (awesome!) on TV. The only other person we saw while there was the 1 TSA agent that works there... yeah... big airport.

My car was a red Chevy Aveo. As long as it gets me from point A to point B who cares right??? I was soon to find out that that theory was not even close to being right.



We caravaned into town and went to dinner at a terrible place, but it was 10 o'clock at night and we were starving. Finally we checked into our hotel and went to sleep. The next day was to start at 8am... and start it did.

Really?!?

This is APRIL??

Everything's coming up Kitty!

Good things that happened today (in no particular order...)
~My photo prints arrived from Snapfish.com
~My registration package for the BolderBoulder came in the mail complete with my shirt and race bib!! I'm runner F361 and I can't wait to cross my very first finish line with my dad!
~I found out that I AM going to Wyoming for work!! That will be fun! I leave Tuesday
~I won the drawing for a spot at another Food Network Challenge taping! (Pending work schedule of course)
~Tonight is trivia night at Old C's and I'm feeling a comeback! Hans... beware!
~I saved over $25 at the grocery store... spent $40. That's awesome!
~Stocked up on Cadburry Cream Eggs to hold me over for a little while (they were on post-Easter sale). I got 4 packs of 4. Eating one a week that'll last me about 4 months. By then they won't be good anymore and/or I'll be sick of them (yeah right!)
~I got an email saying that I'm being called back for the second phase of testing for the Department of Treasury job I applied for!! Yay! I take the test 2 Monday's from now.


On the down side... it's been raining all day and cold... and wet. Yuck! Oh well, as long as it's not snow (which we ARE supposed to get!)

Unthinkable...

Mama Kat always has thought provoking writing prompts and usually I'm too lazy to post even though I look at the prompts every week!! Well, this week I decided to post because one prompt in particular caught my attention...

and the winner is #3 - Tell us about a local news story that's all the buzz right now in your neck of the woods.

The first thing that came to mind is that Jay Cuttler left the Broncos and the hype surrounding the new QB... BORING!! I'll start to care when football season actually starts.

The real story around here is about a murder in Greeley, CO that took place this past summer. The trial is starting soon and jury selection is underway. The reason there has been so much press is because it is being considered a hate crime. A man met this girl online and after they went out ended up back at her place. Little did he know, but was soon to find out, that biologically, she was a he. The guy then beat her to death with a fire extinguisher. I hope he gets the maximum sentence because of this sick sick crime. I don't care if you think being gay/transgender/etc is wrong or right; KILLING someone is ALWAYS wrong.

Rewinds and Reruns

Things here in the Mile High City are going good... good enough anyway. Things keep rolling along as they always do. All you can do is roll along with it and hope for the best. April means 2 things... Amy's birthday and taxes. Amy's birthday is tomorrow and I hope, for once, she has a good one. Amy has a perpetual streak of having a bad birthday on the actual day of her birthday but good celebrations for her birthday on other days. I hope tomorrow is wonderful and breaks the bad streak!

Taxes, on the other hand, are always bad and this year sucks more than normal because, you see, my dad's accountant does my taxes (they are a little complicated actually) but the accountant had to go to the hospital last week because of heart problems so there was a delay in getting them done!! Therefore my dad is UPSing me my taxes over night. I have to get them all signed, checks written, and in the mail tomorrow!! I DO NOT want to have to deal with other last minute tax doers at the post office... I don't like going to the post office on a normal day let alone the busiest day of the year!! That's why I want to get them out tomorrow as opposed to waiting until Wednesday, the actual deadline.

Work is going alright. Our team is actually almost completely done with our region and as we finish up we will be sent to other regions to help them finish. I was asked if I would be interested in going to Wyoming to help there because they don't have enough people! It's still tentative but I would love to go just for a change of scenery for a little while. Besides, I've never been to Wyoming!

Well, as most people know, I LOVE reality TV so here is my take on my favorites this season as we grow closer to the end of many of them...

Celebrity Apprentice- By far one of the weirdest things I've ever seen was Joan Rivers getting mad... she looks exactly the same as when she is happy except she narrows her eyes a little bit. I'm glad Brian was gone; let's face it, he was just plain boring. I'm rooting for Jesse James because, unlike Peirce (last season's winner), he's not a complete douche but is super good at what he does.

Amazing Race- Still in love with Margie and Luke. Looks like some serious drama is going down next week with them so that'll be interesting. I was really pissed the midgets didn't get eliminated this week, they bug the hell out of me.

America's Next Top Model- Allison better thank her lucky stars she looks like a Madame Alexander doll because that's all that's saving her from going home. I think she's fabulous and am rooting for her to go all the way but wake up girl and give us a smile or something!

Hell's Kitchen- Now that they are down to the final 5 I am rooting for Robert. I hate Ben, Paula is boring, Andrea's a bitch, and Danny just doesn't do it for me (he is, however, my second choice). Honestly though, I've never seen a shittier season as far as service goes so it's been a bit painful to watch.

Survivor- I only have one thing to say now that the merge has come and gone-- If you don't kick Coach off soon I'm going to start banging my head on the floor everytime he comes on the screen!

So there's my reality catch up but seriously, if I only had to pick one show to watch a week it would be LOST. I love that show!! I know it's either a love it or hate it show and I used to be the former beleive it or not! ABC put all the seasons online for free so over the summer, when everything was between seasons, I started watching it from the very first episode and was hooked! For those of you who watch, can you beleive that origionally Ben Linus was only supposed to be a minor character on the show for a few weeks?! The response was so good that they turned him into arguably the most important character in the show!!

Alright, I suppose that's enough for now.

~HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY!~

High 5 Friday

I know, I like to jump on bandwagons as much as I love to jump off... but here's one from Kris that I liked and it's short so here goes!!


Five People I Would Love To Have Lunch With:
~I'm editing this one and doing 5 dead and 5 alive because I couldn't decide!~
Dead
1. John Lennon
2. Princess Dianna
3. Edgar Allen Poe
4. Mother Theresa
5. My Grandpa (my mom's Dad)
Alive
1. Donald Trump
2. Johnny Depp
3. J K Rowling
4. George Lucas
5. Micheal Jordan

Five Things That Disgust Me:
1. Pickles.
2. When people hurt animals and think they don't have feelings
3. People who pray on children and hurt/corrupt/abuse/neglect them
4. Other people's filth. I don't want to clean up your stray hairs or see them on the shower wall!
5. When restaurants take a simple, classic dish and try to make it classy and thereby totally make it inedible.

Five Things That I AM Fascinated With:
1. Left Handed people. Don't ask me why... just always have been
2. Harry Potter. Don't you judge me!!!
3. Fairies. I still believe!
4. Children's beauty pageants. It started from an HBO documentary I saw a long time ago and now I watch all the specials and shows about them... it's a train wreck!
5. Reality TV. I watch because I'm more interested in the people who would do that than what the show is actually about. Talk about a train wreck!!

Stand up and be counted!

It's been a while since I posted a REAL post so here's a little update on my life... as if you care...

I started working for the US Census Bureau as an Enumerator on March 19th. This is actually a temporary job consisting of 10 weeks but I could be offered more work after that if I'm needed/wanted. I have a hand held computer which contains lists of addresses and maps. My job is to verify every address on the list and make a spot via GPS on the map as to where the house is. This includes a LOT of walking... to the tune of about 7-8 hours a day of it. Every address in the country will be done like this (even yours!) so be nice to them and don't give them looks like they are a stalker or something. Also- don't call the police on them, that's just down right mean!

Thoughts on this job so far:
~I like to pretend I'm really house shopping for my dream house. I see a lot of houses for sale but so far I'm sure I can't afford any of them.
~I have a an even worse hatred for Windows based operating systems now and I didn't think that was possible. Our hand held computers have awesome capabilities but because they are Windows based they CONSTANTLY crash, freeze or both.
~I judge people by the contents of their recycling bins. I don't have much to keep me amused so yeah, if you have an empty container of Muscle Milk and a million bottles of Vitamin Water cluttering up your bin... I WILL judge you, your life, and your family.
~I love talking to people but I HATE knocking on doors. Part of our job is to make a "courtesy knock" in order for people to know who we are and why we are standing on their steps. It's like a FedEx knock; real quick and then we bolt. However, if you answer the door I have to turn around, go back, give you my spiel, hand you a little form and then answer all your dumb questions. Please, just let me do my thing and know that I am not going to rob you... besides, no one is trying to rob you during daylight hours... that would just be stupid.
~I NEED to get some new music on my iPod. I have over 2300 songs on my iPod which would last me 6.1 days but it's a lot of shit I don't want to listen to any more so I'm bored with listening to the same thing over and over during my 8 hour shift.
~The cats brighten my day, even more so if they let me pet them! I carry my camera with me and whenever a kitty comes up to me I take a picture of it. I will eventually put the Census happenings as it has to do with cats up on here soon. It will be super adorable. DON'T YOU JUDGE ME!!
~Lastly, (for now) if you don't know what the census is... please educate yourself!! I know that we all can't be smart, but honestly, this happens EVERY 10 years... without fail... It blows my mind that people don't know what I'm talking about.

Right... that was more than I thought I was going to write.

That should hold you for a few days at least... BACK BLOGGER!! BACK!

From my friend Jason...

In 1972, Joe Miller was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Tulsa Junior College .

On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Joe approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee, inspected the elephants foot, and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Joe worked the wood out with his knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.

The elephant turned to Joe, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Joe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Joe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Thirty-five years later, Joe was walking through the Tulsa Zoo with his family. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Joe and his family were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Joe, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1972, Joe could not help wondering if this was the same elephant. Joe summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing, and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Joe's legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

Probably wasn't the same elephant.