So today I spent HOURS searching for jobs, and I actually found a lot of stuff that I'm interested in. Of course, they have to be interested in me back, but that's another issue.
I found one job ad that was all cheeky, like "tired of being left in the technological dust" and "we never sleep here, so you can always sleep on the floor." Stuff like that. So of course I made my cover letter just as cheeky right back. "Dear Team Who Never Sleeps (because "Human Resources" sounds stupid..." And of course they wrote back to me ten minutes later, interested. And of course they are located in Stanford. Which is, what, an hour and a half away? By car? Which I do not have?
Still, I would commute to Idaho to finally get a job I love at a company I love, so I'm just going to roll with it for a while. We'll see.
On the writing front, I've finally filled in all those unfinished patches, and am now attempting to print it out to have Luke read it. Attempting, because my catridge faded halfway through the 166 pages. Punk.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Closets
The last days of our trip, the short version:
Crazy Driving: corkscrew curves, smashed between the sparkling Pacific Ocean and towering tree-covered California mountains. Beautiful, less sickening than I would anticipate, and Joe drove most of the way.
Big Sur: we couldn't find the trails. We ended up walking through an overcrowded campground for most of the time, making me exceedingly frustrated. At last we got away a little, and found some redwoods, which we huge, but small by comparison to what we will see someday in Sequoia National Forest.
Monterrey: we got the last crappy, overpriced yet affordable room in the whole city. Actually, it was north of the city in Marina, but no matter--we were 2 blocks from the beach. We sat and watched our first California sunset on the cooling sand, then had a terrible dinner at a frightening place called AJ Spurs. Overpriced meat, too much food, terrible service, and half-hearted servers singing "Happy Birthday" to someone every five minutes. The only good part were the free root beer floats.
Now, a week and a half later, I am sitting in an extended stay hotel in San Bruno, a half hour south of SF. Joe and I are waiting for Christy to get home to drive us to move some of our stuff into our new apartment. I can't wait to be settled. Hopefully we'll get our boxes of books on Friday. It would be nice to fill our giant empty apartment with SOMETHING. It's funny--in San Francisco they have these extra little rooms off every room in an apartment--sometimes two. They call them "closets." In NYC we call that a second bedroom.
Crazy Driving: corkscrew curves, smashed between the sparkling Pacific Ocean and towering tree-covered California mountains. Beautiful, less sickening than I would anticipate, and Joe drove most of the way.
Big Sur: we couldn't find the trails. We ended up walking through an overcrowded campground for most of the time, making me exceedingly frustrated. At last we got away a little, and found some redwoods, which we huge, but small by comparison to what we will see someday in Sequoia National Forest.
Monterrey: we got the last crappy, overpriced yet affordable room in the whole city. Actually, it was north of the city in Marina, but no matter--we were 2 blocks from the beach. We sat and watched our first California sunset on the cooling sand, then had a terrible dinner at a frightening place called AJ Spurs. Overpriced meat, too much food, terrible service, and half-hearted servers singing "Happy Birthday" to someone every five minutes. The only good part were the free root beer floats.
Now, a week and a half later, I am sitting in an extended stay hotel in San Bruno, a half hour south of SF. Joe and I are waiting for Christy to get home to drive us to move some of our stuff into our new apartment. I can't wait to be settled. Hopefully we'll get our boxes of books on Friday. It would be nice to fill our giant empty apartment with SOMETHING. It's funny--in San Francisco they have these extra little rooms off every room in an apartment--sometimes two. They call them "closets." In NYC we call that a second bedroom.
Friday, August 11, 2006
California
After the Grand Canyon, it was finally time to head into California. Somehow we managed to time it just right to hit rush hour in L.A. on a Friday afternoon, but we were still OK. Joe drove and I navigated. We took the long way around the city so we didn't have to go THROUGH the city. Then we were on Highway 101.
When you're still in the L.A. area, you can't see much ocean yet. We were trying to get as far away as we could, but 101 is still running mostly west at that point, so we were blinded by the sun. Besides we were exhausted. Suddenly a mini golf course loomed on the horizon, dominated by a ten foot tall Cinderella-like castle.
"Oooh!" Joe and I looked at each other. "Should we stop?"
We considered. Probably not, we decided. We should try to get a lot farther tonight.
We looked at each other again. "Well?"
"I think I'm taking this exit," Joe said.
"I think I saw a Motel 6 back there too," I said.
It took us a while to find mini golf again, and even longer to find the Motel 6 (there were only 5 rooms left when we got there!!!), but it was totally worth it. We relaxed, played mini golf and skee ball, ate sushi, and slept well in our barely adequate, leaky AC, Motel 6 room.
When we discovered that we had barely gotten a room here, we decided we should really reserve something ahead of time if we wanted to spend the next night near Monterey. So we started calling hotels from our AAA books.
Sold out, sold out, sold out, we have just one standard room left.
"Really? How much?"
"$225."
I nearly fainted. We were on the verge of deciding to wake up at 5 a.m. and drive straight through until San Francisco, when Joe discovered that Motel 6 kept a book of all their hotels in the room. We called up the Marina location (just outside of Monterey) and got one of THEIR last rooms.
Whew.
Tomorrow: Monterey, Big Sur, Crazy Driving
When you're still in the L.A. area, you can't see much ocean yet. We were trying to get as far away as we could, but 101 is still running mostly west at that point, so we were blinded by the sun. Besides we were exhausted. Suddenly a mini golf course loomed on the horizon, dominated by a ten foot tall Cinderella-like castle.
"Oooh!" Joe and I looked at each other. "Should we stop?"
We considered. Probably not, we decided. We should try to get a lot farther tonight.
We looked at each other again. "Well?"
"I think I'm taking this exit," Joe said.
"I think I saw a Motel 6 back there too," I said.
It took us a while to find mini golf again, and even longer to find the Motel 6 (there were only 5 rooms left when we got there!!!), but it was totally worth it. We relaxed, played mini golf and skee ball, ate sushi, and slept well in our barely adequate, leaky AC, Motel 6 room.
When we discovered that we had barely gotten a room here, we decided we should really reserve something ahead of time if we wanted to spend the next night near Monterey. So we started calling hotels from our AAA books.
Sold out, sold out, sold out, we have just one standard room left.
"Really? How much?"
"$225."
I nearly fainted. We were on the verge of deciding to wake up at 5 a.m. and drive straight through until San Francisco, when Joe discovered that Motel 6 kept a book of all their hotels in the room. We called up the Marina location (just outside of Monterey) and got one of THEIR last rooms.
Whew.
Tomorrow: Monterey, Big Sur, Crazy Driving
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Canyon So Grand
We arrived at Grand Canyon Park later than we had hoped--about 1 in the afternoon--then had to wait in line at the entrance for a half hour before we could even drive in. $25 just for us to get in! Not so bad, I suppose, since that's the only fee.
It's very confusing when you first arrive there. We parked in the first spot we found, not even sure if we could stay there, took a few pictures from a vantage point there and thought, what now?
At that point, Joe was not particularly happy, being hungry, confused, and less optimistic than me that we would figure everything out. So we sat down and ate our Arby's sandwiches on a bench (the best view I've ever had for a picnic by the way, though the Colusseum in Rome is a close second). Then I tore apart half the trunk to find Joe's sneakers, slathered us both with gobs of sunblock, and headed towards the Vistor's Center where a nice forest ranger explained everything to us.
First we hiked 2.5 miles along the Rim Trail, the easiest hike in the park. The Grand Canyon is amazing (obviously) but still feels distant, like I'm looking at a computer generated backdrop. There aren't a lot of safety fences there--they like to keep it very raw. You can go right up to the edge and if you trip, you're screwed. The Canyon is ten miles long and about a mile across (I think) and the most beautiful part is the individual rock formations. They are so unique and are on such a large scale that they are breathtaking.
Next we went a little ways down Blue Angel Trail. This is the easiest trail to take that goes below the rim. We didn't want to go too far because it was pretty hot out, and I don't take well to heat. Besides, neither of us is exactly in tip-top shape, and the altitude makes breathing even harder. So we meandered down the trail a bit, already feeling the heat. There is mule poop all over the trail, but I didn't get to see any mules. Boo. However we did see Indian Rock Paintings, ancient red paintings of deer high above us on the rock cliff. The Grand Canyon was inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years until the bastard white people threw them out to make it a national park. We took it easy walking back up, stopping the shade to drink lots of water. We saw one middle-aged man sitting on a rock sweating and gasping and rubbing his legs while two women hovered worriedly around him. They said he needed electrolytes and eventually some people walked by and offered him their Gatorade (which we didn't have or we would have gladly given it). I don't understand the mechanics of dehydration completely, but I know that water isn't enough. You need salt and electrolytes too.
Finally, we took the free shuttle bus (okay, I supposed that's where our $25 goes, and it's totally worth it) out to the farthest end we could get to--Hermit's Point. The ride was really neat. From there we could finally see the Colorado River, which I know is huge, but just looks like a tiny brown ribbon at the bottom of the Canyon. At the point you can see the Canyon laid out in all its glory, almost end to end.
We decided to stay for sunset. We wanted to avoid most of the craziness though, so we stayed away from the most popular spots and just went out on a point near our car. It was very cool, the way the setting sun hits the cliffs all slanty, highlighting each ridge, though it wasn't life-changing or anything, probably due to our less-than-great spot and a lot of clouds. Christy says that sunrise is even better, but we didn't know yet where we were spending the night and besides, I managed to lose our receipt for re-entry, so we would have had to pay again.
The Best Western we'd hoped to stay in was sold out, but we managed to find a room at the Red Feather Inn that was even cheaper anyways. Still more expensive than going back to Flagstaff for a room, but worth it to have a relaxing night of watching zombie movies after a hard day of hiking. I only got sunburned on my legs a little and got a little heat rash (aka flesh-eating disease) on my hands.
All in all, our "winging it" has been working well.
It's very confusing when you first arrive there. We parked in the first spot we found, not even sure if we could stay there, took a few pictures from a vantage point there and thought, what now?
At that point, Joe was not particularly happy, being hungry, confused, and less optimistic than me that we would figure everything out. So we sat down and ate our Arby's sandwiches on a bench (the best view I've ever had for a picnic by the way, though the Colusseum in Rome is a close second). Then I tore apart half the trunk to find Joe's sneakers, slathered us both with gobs of sunblock, and headed towards the Vistor's Center where a nice forest ranger explained everything to us.
First we hiked 2.5 miles along the Rim Trail, the easiest hike in the park. The Grand Canyon is amazing (obviously) but still feels distant, like I'm looking at a computer generated backdrop. There aren't a lot of safety fences there--they like to keep it very raw. You can go right up to the edge and if you trip, you're screwed. The Canyon is ten miles long and about a mile across (I think) and the most beautiful part is the individual rock formations. They are so unique and are on such a large scale that they are breathtaking.
Next we went a little ways down Blue Angel Trail. This is the easiest trail to take that goes below the rim. We didn't want to go too far because it was pretty hot out, and I don't take well to heat. Besides, neither of us is exactly in tip-top shape, and the altitude makes breathing even harder. So we meandered down the trail a bit, already feeling the heat. There is mule poop all over the trail, but I didn't get to see any mules. Boo. However we did see Indian Rock Paintings, ancient red paintings of deer high above us on the rock cliff. The Grand Canyon was inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years until the bastard white people threw them out to make it a national park. We took it easy walking back up, stopping the shade to drink lots of water. We saw one middle-aged man sitting on a rock sweating and gasping and rubbing his legs while two women hovered worriedly around him. They said he needed electrolytes and eventually some people walked by and offered him their Gatorade (which we didn't have or we would have gladly given it). I don't understand the mechanics of dehydration completely, but I know that water isn't enough. You need salt and electrolytes too.
Finally, we took the free shuttle bus (okay, I supposed that's where our $25 goes, and it's totally worth it) out to the farthest end we could get to--Hermit's Point. The ride was really neat. From there we could finally see the Colorado River, which I know is huge, but just looks like a tiny brown ribbon at the bottom of the Canyon. At the point you can see the Canyon laid out in all its glory, almost end to end.
We decided to stay for sunset. We wanted to avoid most of the craziness though, so we stayed away from the most popular spots and just went out on a point near our car. It was very cool, the way the setting sun hits the cliffs all slanty, highlighting each ridge, though it wasn't life-changing or anything, probably due to our less-than-great spot and a lot of clouds. Christy says that sunrise is even better, but we didn't know yet where we were spending the night and besides, I managed to lose our receipt for re-entry, so we would have had to pay again.
The Best Western we'd hoped to stay in was sold out, but we managed to find a room at the Red Feather Inn that was even cheaper anyways. Still more expensive than going back to Flagstaff for a room, but worth it to have a relaxing night of watching zombie movies after a hard day of hiking. I only got sunburned on my legs a little and got a little heat rash (aka flesh-eating disease) on my hands.
All in all, our "winging it" has been working well.
Monday, August 07, 2006
I Heart New Mexico
Well, we've arrive safe and sound in San Francisco, but I'm going to pick up where I left off in...New Mexico.
It is beautiful there, and out of all the states we visited, it is the one I would most like to return to. I was amazing by the landscape...red, rocky outcroppings, trees, canyons popping up around corners. We stopped quickly in Albuquerque (is that how you spell that?) to eat some tasty burritos, then stopped at "the cave of fire and ice." We had to drive 20 miles in the backcountry of New Mexico until we got onto Indian land. The "fire" part is an ancient volcano crater, a half a mile across. You hike up and up until you can look over this giant, dizzying hole. The path we walked on was covered with lava, and you can see the path the lava took 10,000 years ago from up there.
The "ice" part was a cave, just 30 feet or so below the surface, where it never gets above 31 degrees. It is part of a collapsed lava tube. The ice on the bottom is twenty feet thick and would be even thicker except the people in that area used to chop blocks out of it to keep their food cold! No one knows how it started, but the ice that's already there helps it stay that cold.
We saw some little lizards on the way back and learned about the trees in the area, which are very cool, though prone to being hit by lightning because of the iron in the lava rocks around them.
The Zuni Pueblos were just 30 minutes away, but we didn't have time to go see them. That will be number one on my list for when we return!
We stayed in Gallup that night. All in all, wonderful people in New Mexico.
Tomorrow: Canyon, Grand.
It is beautiful there, and out of all the states we visited, it is the one I would most like to return to. I was amazing by the landscape...red, rocky outcroppings, trees, canyons popping up around corners. We stopped quickly in Albuquerque (is that how you spell that?) to eat some tasty burritos, then stopped at "the cave of fire and ice." We had to drive 20 miles in the backcountry of New Mexico until we got onto Indian land. The "fire" part is an ancient volcano crater, a half a mile across. You hike up and up until you can look over this giant, dizzying hole. The path we walked on was covered with lava, and you can see the path the lava took 10,000 years ago from up there.
The "ice" part was a cave, just 30 feet or so below the surface, where it never gets above 31 degrees. It is part of a collapsed lava tube. The ice on the bottom is twenty feet thick and would be even thicker except the people in that area used to chop blocks out of it to keep their food cold! No one knows how it started, but the ice that's already there helps it stay that cold.
We saw some little lizards on the way back and learned about the trees in the area, which are very cool, though prone to being hit by lightning because of the iron in the lava rocks around them.
The Zuni Pueblos were just 30 minutes away, but we didn't have time to go see them. That will be number one on my list for when we return!
We stayed in Gallup that night. All in all, wonderful people in New Mexico.
Tomorrow: Canyon, Grand.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Oklahoma!
Now, while Kansas is disgusting in its boringness, Oklahoma is actually rather stunning in its starkness. The soil turns red and rocky. Oil machines dotted the fields in one area. At first we thought they might be irrigation machines, since they were only 10 feet tall or so, but then we saw them in fields that had no crops. Those huge, huge energy generating windmills lined the highways too. We guessed they are 120 feet tall or more. Those windmills always freak me out. I imagine that when the apocalypse comes and the world end, those arms will just keep on turning, even when there are no more humans.
We blasted past Oklahoma City to a cute little town called El Reno. Sid's in El Reno is famous for making onion-fried burgers. They take a ball of ground hamburger, thwack! it onto the grill, smush it flat, then drop a handful of sliced onions on top of it. They press the onions into the meat and fry it up crisp. It was one of the biggest suprises of the trip. Who knew non-rare burgers could be so delicous? The waitress was really nice too.
"So," she says, as soon as we order, "where y'all from?"
"New York."
"Y'all must have a book to know what to order." We laughed and told her we had "Road Food." They get a lot of out of towner from being featured in a few books.
We pressed on to Amarillo, TX. Texas is amazing, sweeping expanses of grasslands. We saw the second largest cross in North America. There are lots and lots of "Jesus Loves You" type signs here, both handpainted and purchased by organizations. Lots of bumper stickers too. It is vastly different from New York, and even different from Wisconsin.
By the time we got to Amarillo, we were exhausted. We considered going to the Big Texan where they have the 72 oz steak and a limo with steer horns on the front to pick you up for free. But instead we bought a six-pack of Lonestar at the Shell station and ate dinner at the IHOP.
We are moving slower lately. Stopping earlier and leaving later. We're having fun, but it does get tiring.
We blasted past Oklahoma City to a cute little town called El Reno. Sid's in El Reno is famous for making onion-fried burgers. They take a ball of ground hamburger, thwack! it onto the grill, smush it flat, then drop a handful of sliced onions on top of it. They press the onions into the meat and fry it up crisp. It was one of the biggest suprises of the trip. Who knew non-rare burgers could be so delicous? The waitress was really nice too.
"So," she says, as soon as we order, "where y'all from?"
"New York."
"Y'all must have a book to know what to order." We laughed and told her we had "Road Food." They get a lot of out of towner from being featured in a few books.
We pressed on to Amarillo, TX. Texas is amazing, sweeping expanses of grasslands. We saw the second largest cross in North America. There are lots and lots of "Jesus Loves You" type signs here, both handpainted and purchased by organizations. Lots of bumper stickers too. It is vastly different from New York, and even different from Wisconsin.
By the time we got to Amarillo, we were exhausted. We considered going to the Big Texan where they have the 72 oz steak and a limo with steer horns on the front to pick you up for free. But instead we bought a six-pack of Lonestar at the Shell station and ate dinner at the IHOP.
We are moving slower lately. Stopping earlier and leaving later. We're having fun, but it does get tiring.
We're not in Kansas anymore (thank God!)
Kansas is an awful, horrifically boring place, to the point of pain.
Joe and I attempted to kill each other but were unsuccessful.
Joe and I attempted to kill each other but were unsuccessful.
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