Walking to Wyoming
Life is good in Montana, slightly boring during the week, but still alright. Frank's in Wyoming for a month for work again. All my friends here are out doing fieldwork all week (the downside of having all geology friends) or out of town on vacation (Jess and Jason and Sheila). But I guess that's okay because I've done a lot of work already and its only Wednesday. I finished the bulk of my lab work for my thesis, now I just have to sort through all the data and get it in some form that I can actually analyze. I just keep telling myself that Excel, Matlab and Grapher are my friends.
My other job is going very well. I work much faster than my boss anticipates so usually the things that are supposed to last me two weeks, only take me about two days. So I don't have to spend as much time each week on it, gives me some more free time. I felt bad because I am getting paid for 15 hours a week, but usually only work about 8. I told my boss about it, and he said that he was "paying me for a product," so I shouldn't worry about it. He said he was very pleased with my work and even more excited to know I might be willing to work on the project through the spring semester.
I've also been making a point to do something active everyday. I either go for a bike ride or a walk or go use the stationary bike or elliptical trainer down in our apartment's gym if its raining. Andrew was also kind enough to give me his punchcard for the Griz pool before he moved so I could go there in the summer, but they have wonky (that's my new favorite British words thanks to Becky) hours (like 5-7:30 am or 4-5 pm) and its hard to make it during those times. Maybe later this week I will try out the outdoor pool, I just need to call and see when they have lap swim. The only problem with biking or walking near my apartment is that we live in an industrial park and the road we live on is very busy from like 8am until about 6pm and doesn't have good sidewalks or bike lanes. Early in the morning or after 6, the roads are deserted. So I really either need to get up very early or wait until later in the evening (but then its so hot, even at 8pm last night, the temperature was well over 80 degrees). Its just a bummer, I wish we lived in a more residential area where I could bike or walk through a neighborhood. Maybe I will start going over to Blue Mountain or the Rattlesnake to go for a hike, but I feel so silly driving to go excersize. Oh well, what can you do?
Hopefully this weekend, Colleen, Connie and Julian and I will go floating on the Blackfoot because it is supposed to be 95 or hotter. It would be nice to hang out with those guys too. We'll see what happens.
So, you're probably wondering about my subject line... Well next Monday or Tuesday I am going to be heading to Wyoming (driving though, not walking). ShoDown (a wonderful local country band, who also sings the Cow Song) sings a song called Walking to Wyoming and its one of my favorites. Yup, so I'll be headed to Casper, Wyoming to visit Frank. I have four weeks of vacation from work, so I thought I should start taking some. Frank will still have to work during the day (he doesn't get any days off while on the road for work), but I'm going to go exploring around Casper. Rumor has it that Independance Rock (who gained notariety in the Oregon Trail game) is less than an hour's drive from Casper, so I'm going to look up directions on the internet and go check it out. There are a bunch of museaums (for those rainy days) and lots of hiking trails and stuff. I'll definitely be able to stay busy while Frank is at work. I think I'll stay until Friday or Saturday. So, I won't be walking, but I am heading to Wyoming.
I really should get back to work, it appears my computer is done downloading data from the viscometer. Blah, I really came to hate that thing.
My other job is going very well. I work much faster than my boss anticipates so usually the things that are supposed to last me two weeks, only take me about two days. So I don't have to spend as much time each week on it, gives me some more free time. I felt bad because I am getting paid for 15 hours a week, but usually only work about 8. I told my boss about it, and he said that he was "paying me for a product," so I shouldn't worry about it. He said he was very pleased with my work and even more excited to know I might be willing to work on the project through the spring semester.
I've also been making a point to do something active everyday. I either go for a bike ride or a walk or go use the stationary bike or elliptical trainer down in our apartment's gym if its raining. Andrew was also kind enough to give me his punchcard for the Griz pool before he moved so I could go there in the summer, but they have wonky (that's my new favorite British words thanks to Becky) hours (like 5-7:30 am or 4-5 pm) and its hard to make it during those times. Maybe later this week I will try out the outdoor pool, I just need to call and see when they have lap swim. The only problem with biking or walking near my apartment is that we live in an industrial park and the road we live on is very busy from like 8am until about 6pm and doesn't have good sidewalks or bike lanes. Early in the morning or after 6, the roads are deserted. So I really either need to get up very early or wait until later in the evening (but then its so hot, even at 8pm last night, the temperature was well over 80 degrees). Its just a bummer, I wish we lived in a more residential area where I could bike or walk through a neighborhood. Maybe I will start going over to Blue Mountain or the Rattlesnake to go for a hike, but I feel so silly driving to go excersize. Oh well, what can you do?
Hopefully this weekend, Colleen, Connie and Julian and I will go floating on the Blackfoot because it is supposed to be 95 or hotter. It would be nice to hang out with those guys too. We'll see what happens.
So, you're probably wondering about my subject line... Well next Monday or Tuesday I am going to be heading to Wyoming (driving though, not walking). ShoDown (a wonderful local country band, who also sings the Cow Song) sings a song called Walking to Wyoming and its one of my favorites. Yup, so I'll be headed to Casper, Wyoming to visit Frank. I have four weeks of vacation from work, so I thought I should start taking some. Frank will still have to work during the day (he doesn't get any days off while on the road for work), but I'm going to go exploring around Casper. Rumor has it that Independance Rock (who gained notariety in the Oregon Trail game) is less than an hour's drive from Casper, so I'm going to look up directions on the internet and go check it out. There are a bunch of museaums (for those rainy days) and lots of hiking trails and stuff. I'll definitely be able to stay busy while Frank is at work. I think I'll stay until Friday or Saturday. So, I won't be walking, but I am heading to Wyoming.
I really should get back to work, it appears my computer is done downloading data from the viscometer. Blah, I really came to hate that thing.