La Cross
Today, Dad and I drove down to La Cross because he had set up a meeting with the guy who 'taught' the Storm Spotter class the both of us went to earlier this month. While I really didn't have high hopes, Dad had the idea that maybe Rob (the guy we had the meeting set up with) might know of some meteorological job I could look into that didn't involve having a degree - a "start at the very bottom and work your way up" kinda job that I could look into and get experience with before returning to school in a few years to get the actual degree. As I figured, such jobs are few and far between, and most of them are reserved for students actually enrolled in a meteorology program. However, we did get a tour of the La Cross National Weather Service building for our troubles, and just general geekery at seeing that kinda work in action. As expected, there are lots of cool computers involved, and Rob showed us a little about tracking storms and predicting where they will go. It was very cool.
After the Weather Service, Dad and I went in search of one of his old college buddies, Bill. We found him (though, really, he wasn't that hard to find since my Dad knew where he lived) and surprised him, because he hadn't gotten the email Dad sent saying that we would be in the area. Anyway, the three of us went out to lunch at some Chinese place which had extremely good Crab Ragoons, Egg Drop Soup, and Terriaki Chicken, but was otherwise rather "blah". I think it was still nice for my dad to catch up a bit, though.
After food, Bill decided that he wanted to get a picture of me and Dad at one of the parks they had frequented as erstwhile college students back in the day (as my father, mother, and Bill had all gone to school together in La Cross), so we went driving around town attempting to find aforementioned parks, which was actually a little harder than they thought it would be since all the roads and stuff have changed in the last 35 years since they graduated. We got lost once or twice, but in the end, ended up making it to both parks and took lots of pictures, even if it was raining.
By this time, it was getting to be around 3-ish, and Dad and I had been on the road since a little after 8, so both of us were kinda running out of steam. We dropped Bill back off at his place and started making the 2.5 hour trip back home. Dad made it a point to stop in Black River Falls along the way to visit a few more friends of his in the area (Dave and Jean, though only Dave was home) - a stop which I was greatful for since I had had an entire glass of tea, two thirds of a glass of water, and a bottle of orange juice since lunch, so the bathroom break was welcome. We stayed there for about twenty minutes, Dave showing Dad all the changes he had made since the last time he'd been up there, and me finding myself with a lap full of kitty cat. Then Dad stopped at a little old fashioned General Store that he and Mom had found last time they were in the area, which sold ice cream on the cone *and* cheesecake on a stick (which is basically a slice of cheesecake stuck on the end of a popsicle stick and dipped in chocolate), so we each got one of those before making the rest of the trip home with no more excitement than the swarms of bugs that started coating Coyote's windshield with bug guts in about the same consistency that one would expect from a light rain shower. That was kinda nasty, and I don't look forward to driving around with a bug massacre on my windshield for the next few days before I can get to a gas station to squeegee it all off.
So, yes. That was my day. Quite long and eventful, and as soon as I got home, I went up stairs and napped for about three hours. YAY naps.
After the Weather Service, Dad and I went in search of one of his old college buddies, Bill. We found him (though, really, he wasn't that hard to find since my Dad knew where he lived) and surprised him, because he hadn't gotten the email Dad sent saying that we would be in the area. Anyway, the three of us went out to lunch at some Chinese place which had extremely good Crab Ragoons, Egg Drop Soup, and Terriaki Chicken, but was otherwise rather "blah". I think it was still nice for my dad to catch up a bit, though.
After food, Bill decided that he wanted to get a picture of me and Dad at one of the parks they had frequented as erstwhile college students back in the day (as my father, mother, and Bill had all gone to school together in La Cross), so we went driving around town attempting to find aforementioned parks, which was actually a little harder than they thought it would be since all the roads and stuff have changed in the last 35 years since they graduated. We got lost once or twice, but in the end, ended up making it to both parks and took lots of pictures, even if it was raining.
By this time, it was getting to be around 3-ish, and Dad and I had been on the road since a little after 8, so both of us were kinda running out of steam. We dropped Bill back off at his place and started making the 2.5 hour trip back home. Dad made it a point to stop in Black River Falls along the way to visit a few more friends of his in the area (Dave and Jean, though only Dave was home) - a stop which I was greatful for since I had had an entire glass of tea, two thirds of a glass of water, and a bottle of orange juice since lunch, so the bathroom break was welcome. We stayed there for about twenty minutes, Dave showing Dad all the changes he had made since the last time he'd been up there, and me finding myself with a lap full of kitty cat. Then Dad stopped at a little old fashioned General Store that he and Mom had found last time they were in the area, which sold ice cream on the cone *and* cheesecake on a stick (which is basically a slice of cheesecake stuck on the end of a popsicle stick and dipped in chocolate), so we each got one of those before making the rest of the trip home with no more excitement than the swarms of bugs that started coating Coyote's windshield with bug guts in about the same consistency that one would expect from a light rain shower. That was kinda nasty, and I don't look forward to driving around with a bug massacre on my windshield for the next few days before I can get to a gas station to squeegee it all off.
So, yes. That was my day. Quite long and eventful, and as soon as I got home, I went up stairs and napped for about three hours. YAY naps.