Meet 9 point

There's a hot stud that's been hanging out by my place. He likes to come around in the afternoon and check on the fallen bird seed. He has four points on one antler and five points on the other. You can see the one bizarro antler point that points straight down. Today he was hanging out with a much smaller buck and they ran off together. I guess it's back to male bonding time after the rut.

Snow Day!

It's snowing! We are under a winter storm warning with a potential of 4 to 8 inches of snow. I'm guessing we'll be on the lower end of that. The flakes started nice and fat and now they are barely noticeable. I'm hoping that doesn't mean sleet and rain are on their way. Boo to that.

I'm fortunate to have the ability to work from home. Almost everyone in my company can do that. I mean the technology is there, so why not use it. So why is that some people still insist on coming in. Must be that annoying martyr syndrome again. There are still some people that are technologically challenged but let's get with the program. It's not that hard to log on to the server from your home computer.

In preparation for the snow, I went to check on one of my secret and "illegal" bird feeders stashed in the bushes. It was gone. No doubt stolen by raccoons. I went around the nearby woods edge to see if I could spot it on the ground and noticed an almost identical bird feeder hanging (with food) in a tree along woods edge. I knew it was not mine. So someone else has a dirty little secret like me. I also hung up my other bird feeders on the deck and the birds have been going crazy for it.

Some thoughts

I haven't had any eventful field work or weekend outings lately. As you can see, winter is here a bit early and it's snowing as I type. So here's some thoughts and things going on.

I survived the company's holiday party and the accompanying bad news speech. Somehow I was at the table with the president and other major higher ups. Also present were two admin staff who were trying to start some major gossip about two married co-workers (not married to each other). At least that's who I think they were talking about since they wouldn't completely spill the beans. I'll keep my skeptical eye on that situation, but right now I'm a non-believer.

No raises and decreased bonuses again this year. Fantastic! Today I was just told that they won't be supplying tissues to us anymore. What next? Bring your own toilet paper? Work has been slow to come through the door but I'm always looking for ways to organize, market, or improve the office. I've been trying to keep busy. Aside from the lack of tissues, another thing that really irks me is that sick people still come into work. I'm not sure if they want to be sainted for their valiant effort. But seriously, you will only spread your disease to others and it's not like we are busy. So stay home and get better!

In non-work news, I've been battling somewhat of a medical mystery. I've spent way too much time and money at doctors and pharmacy and getting poked and prodded this month. What I have learned is that everyone should do their own research. Don't totally rely on doctors, because your ailment may not be their #1 speciality. They don't explore alternative or most up-to-date treatments. Plus these days, any sort of test is farmed out to a lab....so annoying. You can't even get a stinking x-ray at a doctor's office anymore. The internets are a fantastic place and I'm keeping my fingers crossed with my self-diagnosis and treatment. So far the kartek diagnosis and treatment has been the most successful. In theory, I'll hear the results of my tests tomorrow. If I was wagering, I'd say that the tests would all come back normal and provide no new information. Then I'd be back to square one...just poorer and more frazzled.

The Slow times

Work's been slow. I'm sure a lot of people are saying that. So the few times I can escape the mundane slow moving office, it's a treat. Here's some forgotten pics I took on my day two at the big farm estate. It sure was cold that morning as I crunched through the ice in my car and on foot. The rain had stopped in the middle of the night and froze on all the plants making it appear like winter. For some reason, the dried goldenrod mesmorized me. I guess it was extra white and in the best dried shape before it slowly decomposes over winter.

Groundhog day

The state is out verifying the wetland boundary we delineated eons ago at that big farm estate. Since a lot of time has passed, a bunch of our wetland flags are missing. They either got clobbered when the farmer mowed the fields or removed by others. I have a short list of suspects who might have removed the flags since I could see a large truck had ridden along the wetland boundary and now all the flags are missing. Coincidence, I think not.

So I'm back out there to find the old flags and replace them with shiny new ones and assist the surveyors in re-establishing the flags I can't find. Rain was predicted for most of the day so I was surprised when I got the game on phone call early this morning. Sure enough it rained intermittently all morning and the surveyors hunkered down in their truck because their equipment can't get wet. I got to head out there first since the surveyors first had to find some stake in the ground and wait for the rain to let up. Boring. A herd of deer ran across the field and the red tailed hawks were startled to see a human about. It's always nice to be the only person in a spot surrounded by wildlife.

I slapped on full rain gear and went on a mission to find the old flags and replace them with new ones. That took most of the day and the rain mostly stopped around noon. Good thing, because my maps were getting soaked and falling apart.

The half dirt/half gravel road quickly began to flood and the more dirt areas became mud pits. It was the most off roading I got to do with the RAV-4. Overall, the new tires worked well. It was more controlled chaos than uncontrolled madness. I did drive into a too deep muddy rut slightly off the road and had to back out. After that muddy ride, I decided to hoof it in the muddy spots. I really don't know how I'm going to get all that mud off my car. It's inside the door jambs too.

After the rain stopped, there still were a lot of clouds. It's that heavenly sky time with sunbeams poking through. Iin the far distance, one sun beam made it to the ground and was moving with the wind. It looks like an alien spaceship was shining a beam of light to earth in search of it's next abduction victim.

A rainy vaca

I just got back from another relaxaton in Vermont. It much needed as usual. Unfortunately, it pretty much rained the entire time. There were a few hours of non rain here and there but we only saw the sun once for about 5 minutes. That severely limited any sort of outdoor activities. There were more obstacles for horseback riding so I dragged my riding boots up again for no reason. Another snafu was we had no heat the first night. It was a cold night as well. When we pulled up at 1 am, there was already frost everywhere. It was not a good night for sleeping. I woke up early and started a fire in the wood burning stove and a few hours later the heat guy came and fixed it in a snap.

In the few moments of non-rain, we hiked up to the waterfalls and enjoyed the pleasant outdoors. I snapped these few shots there.

In the distance, you can see the mountain is covered in clouds and mist.

The dogs spent most of their time relaxing or playing. Two dog toys were sacrificed this weekend. They all sat down and curled up like this. It was too cute not to take a shot of the dog triangle.

The Yellow Room

Surfers have the green room. Well I've decided that I get a yellow room. It's when the sugar maple yellow fall foliage is in full yellow glory. There are parts of the woods where it's almost all sugar maple and everything is just blazing yellow. The forest floor is yellow and the leaves are glowing yellow with the sun peeking through. Pictures don't do any justice of course.

At the same site of the yellow room, there was a nice gurgling stream.