Ode To A Gentle Giant

Even though I moved almost a year ago, I still keep up with some of the happenings around the Q. Every few days I'll check the news websites and whatnot, just to see what's up. It's pretty interesting to me to see the contrast between the types of news that gets reported in NM versus SLC.

I was perusing the usual channels when I came upon this story.

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S1481058.shtml?cat=516

To say the very least, I was appalled. I can't even imagine how desensitized a person has to be at their job to do such a thing to any animal, let alone magnificent creature like a GIRAFFE!!

The reason I bring this up is that, just before Em and I moved our little family up to Utah, My family took a nice outing to the zoo. I took a couple hundred pictures (literally), and a good 40 to 50 of those were of Kashka and her 2 DAY old calf. She was calm but protective of her little one, and at the same time she seemed proud to show off her progeny. She was captivating.

There was something that seemed to connect me to her, as I had witnessed the birth of Henry only 3 weeks earlier. Something inside me seemed to feel like she knew I was in the same boat, looking out for my little one as he was learning the ways of this new existence.

When I read the article this morning I knew right away that it was her. I looked up my photos to check, and yes, those were the same markings. I wanted to cry. She was one of the most beautiful creatures on the planet and someone was so wrapped up in taking the short route to get done with his day that he desecrated her body for the sake of saving himself a bit of time.

I know she was already gone, but what does this say about how this person cares for the living animals in his charge? I know this is an isolated incident. I've met many of the zookeepers there and they are almost as passionate about the animals as they are about their own children.

Kashka was a great being and I know this world was made better by her being in it.

It's Been Fun, But...

Well, it was a fun ride. I enjoyed the time together, but now I must bid adieu to the hills of the dancing sun. I wasn't expecting it to end this quickly, but I received a something better.

In other words, I have a new job.

I got a phone call on Wednesday morning from FedEx saying that they wanted to set up an interview. What? I applied more than two MONTHS ago, before I got the fire starting job, and hadn't heard anything back at all. I had the interview later in the day just before work. It went well and the interviewer said that, pending a background check, they would offer me a position.

I told my manager at work later in the day that I would most likely be quitting, that I would miss the work up there and that I was thankful for her giving me the chance to work for her. She said that she didn't like me anymore. Not really. She was glad to have me for as long as she could and understood that I was doing what's best for me and mine. She also said that she hoped she could find someone half as dependable and quick-learning as I was.

*gush*

Well, I started FedEx Saturday morning at 3AM, and then went to work at 2 in the afternoon. This will last til April Fools Day. Fitting.

The hours will be less, but the pay will be the same, if not a bit more. Also the schedule is Tues-Sat, meaning NO MORE WORKING ON SUNDAYS!!!

More for less is good these days.

The sights, sounds and smells of wildlife.

I've told a few people about some of the interesting wildlife happenings at work a few weeks ago, but I figured I'd share with everyone since I haven't been on in a while.

It seems like most of my encounters happen after dark. The first one I had was with a momma moose and her yearling calf.

I was on the way home from work after 11 o'clock in the evening when I came across a couple of cars going RRREEEAAALLLYYY slow on the winding road from the resort. I was about ready to go around them when I spotted Momma and her not so small son. They had been fixtures on the upper portions of the canyon and they decided to take a shortcut down the road to get to their next destination.

The funny thing (well, not so funny for the person in the truck nearest to them) was then when truck closest to them tried flashing their brights at the beasts, momma got mad an gave a love tap to the hood of the vehicle. Eventually they tired of the raucous and detoured at about what seemed to be a 90 degree up slope on the canyon wall. (Spider-man has nothing on these guys)

Then, about 2 weeks ago, I was headed toward the van at about 10:30pm and heard a couple of owls hooting to each other, seeming to signal that spring is right around the corner. It sounded just like out of the movies.


Lastly, on Friday as I was finishing with one last request before heading home, I was talking to Em on the phone when I smelled the odoriferous emittance of a skunk. I asked her if they hibernate for the winter and she confirmed that they did.
Smells like spring is in the air...

My Lappy

You know how when you take something apart, and put it back together, you almost ALWAYS end up having a screw or a nut or bolt laying around extra?

Ya, that happened to me today.

In case you were wondering, I dropped my laptop at work a few weeks ago. It only caused (mostly) cosmetic damage. Everything continued to work, but one hinge was busted and a corner of the lid was pretty mangled as well.

So, I waited as long as I could, (which was when pieces started falling off into my hand) and then went shopping online for parts. No big whoop, right? I've built computers from scratch before. I knew what I needed which was mainly a new lid and front bezel for the screen.

Well, 2 weeks after buying my stuff, I got a package in the mail and everything was only a little banged up after being on the slow boat from China (literally, Hong Kong). I had previously downloaded the service manual so I knew what to do.

I got everything torn apart and found that I needed a mounting bracket for the actual screen. I thought I remembered a piece of that in my hand earlier. Oh well, back online and luckily I found a guy in Texas that had a set so I bought them and got them on Monday.

After what I figure to be a total of four (4) hours over a three day period, I have my computer back together (a la Humpty Dumpty). I'm just glad I still have the know-how with computers. And, it saved me probably 200-300 bucks.

The only thing I couldn't figure out was where the last little screw was from. Oh well, we all need a screw loose at times, right?