Field Season Blues
I need a break.
I've been going almost non-stop for over a month now. I just finished an eight-day streak of surveys, and put almost 2000 miles worth of driving in during that time. Two days in a row I nearly got into a serious collision because of people pulling into my lane without looking first. The first time I almost swerved into a semi-truck before the driver realized I was there and pulled over to the side of the road (I guess they didn't realize they were in a merge lane... with a yield sign). The second time the driver responded to me honking my horn as I slammed on the brakes (and all the loose gear in the jeep went flying) by making some very rude gestures and aggressively driving around me, as if it was my fault for being on the road when he decided to pull out into it. I just don't get it. Louisiana drivers all think they own the road and don't care who's in their way. Big trucks. Macho redneck bullshit. Frustration.
The last time I had a day off was when I had a kidney infection that I was afraid to exacerbate by hiking in the Louisiana summer heat. Once I got my antibiotics I went out again, popping ibuprofen in order to keep going. Yesterday I lost my hand-held GPS unit in the field and had to hike back into the clearcut to find it. By a miracle I did. I would have lost a lot of data, days, and money if I hadn't. Stress.
I also had an unpleasant encounter with a loved one and had to spend a day dealing with that. The next day there was an undergrad camp staying at one of my over-night stops, and the noise kept me up well into the night. Exhaustion.
Last night I passed out sometime around 6:00pm and didn't wake up until 6:30am. I should be relaxing, but I'm so far behind on my data entry that I'm spending the morning doing that instead. My plan is to go to the office tomorrow, take care of some red tape there, and then head back up to northern LA to do another round of surveys.
One more month to go.
I've been going almost non-stop for over a month now. I just finished an eight-day streak of surveys, and put almost 2000 miles worth of driving in during that time. Two days in a row I nearly got into a serious collision because of people pulling into my lane without looking first. The first time I almost swerved into a semi-truck before the driver realized I was there and pulled over to the side of the road (I guess they didn't realize they were in a merge lane... with a yield sign). The second time the driver responded to me honking my horn as I slammed on the brakes (and all the loose gear in the jeep went flying) by making some very rude gestures and aggressively driving around me, as if it was my fault for being on the road when he decided to pull out into it. I just don't get it. Louisiana drivers all think they own the road and don't care who's in their way. Big trucks. Macho redneck bullshit. Frustration.
The last time I had a day off was when I had a kidney infection that I was afraid to exacerbate by hiking in the Louisiana summer heat. Once I got my antibiotics I went out again, popping ibuprofen in order to keep going. Yesterday I lost my hand-held GPS unit in the field and had to hike back into the clearcut to find it. By a miracle I did. I would have lost a lot of data, days, and money if I hadn't. Stress.
I also had an unpleasant encounter with a loved one and had to spend a day dealing with that. The next day there was an undergrad camp staying at one of my over-night stops, and the noise kept me up well into the night. Exhaustion.
Last night I passed out sometime around 6:00pm and didn't wake up until 6:30am. I should be relaxing, but I'm so far behind on my data entry that I'm spending the morning doing that instead. My plan is to go to the office tomorrow, take care of some red tape there, and then head back up to northern LA to do another round of surveys.
One more month to go.