Big Gulp

I hate using cliches but I don't know what to say other than I bit off more than I can chew this last quarter.  The good news is that it's over, and if I ever decide to take my minor in Environmental Science to second Bachelor's Degree, I finished the one required class that may deter me from going back in the future.  Now the only hard class I would have for that second Bachelors would be Organic Chem, but I have a team of pharmacists to back me up with that one.  No one understands BioStats except ubernerds.

I can now say that I could teach a beginning GIS class, and that I've discovered that I get really irritated when I find out people are memorizing information for A's rather than learning skills.  But what does it say about a teacher when people get A's in the class, but can't demonstrate basic skills on the software required for the field?  I should have enjoyed that class, but it made me lose respect for the off campus program instead.   I've also learned that since I work full time, intern part time and have a full load at school, that I need to stop helping classmates so much and get back on my personal learning wagon.  Especially when they have twice the amount of study time I do - it seems like it would be the other way around.

My break has started out stressful with record flooding in the area over the weekend.  We spoke with several senior residents of Darrington and Oso who told us they had never seen the creeks rise that fast or the river spill over the dikes in such a short time.  We were cut off into both Darrington and Arlington, and an aerial picture of Sunday would have shown swollen creeks and rivers surrounding small patches and strips of land, it was amazing from an ecological perspective.

I got to see firsthand forested wetlands absorbing flooding and salmon bracing themselves against the trees, which would have made for a moving picture but by that time my camera had died from all the filming I did at the Boulder River bridge.  The popular little beach at Fortson Hole also washed out when we were headed out to look at the river from the old mill site, and we watched the swinging tree wash into the wetland.  I'm not sure how the log jam held up, but plan to investigate later today with a fully charged camera battery.

Not only did Arlington, Darrington and Granite Falls experience record flooding on both forks of the Stillaguamish, the effects of the extraordinary swift waters were devastating.  There are numerous sink holes and washouts along highway 530 where the river and its tributaries filled their banks, topped the levies and spilled into the stormwater ditches.  In some areas the DOT ditches directed flood water into landowners low lying land and into their homes.  Some people's land has been changed forever.  I can't imagine that any engineer considering a flood six feet above record levels, or the creeks rising so fast.  Nothing like a loaded warm Hawaiian storm in the middle of ski season to devastate the Northwest. 

The Whitehorse Trail Bridge over the Boulder River as the river overtakes its levees

Under the Dogpile

Bleh.  That is how this week has felt.  The engineer at the parks department said yesterday, that she was "just staying ahead of the nipping dog," when it came to her projects, and I told her I felt like I was under the dogpile.  I wasn't really ready for school to start, I passed a kidney stone, and my kids were gone for most of the week.  I think the really great weekend made the week seem worse than it was, though.

In fact, Friday and Saturday couldn't have been any better.  The Hermit turned 40 on Friday, and I was able to throw together a great dinner and a cake in the matter of two days.  Wednesday, I was completely incapacitated by the kidney stone, so I decided to completely change the menu.  We went from bbq ribs and chicken to brats, hamburgers and turkey burgers.  I spiced up the Americana bbq with some easy antipasto salad with all fresh herbs, cheeses and garlic, a variety of cheeses, crackers and bread, and a mean bruschetta that was a hit with the adults and the kids.  All of the herbs and most of the veggies were from the garden, which should have about 40 ears of sweet corn ready for harvest really soon. 

After the bbq, we hit the casino with his family, and managed to stay up until 3:30 am somehow.  His brother and wife, and cousins had driven up from the Seattle area to meet the rest of us, and we managed not to lose too much money.  We had reserved a room at the resort, which was really nice, and it was great that we didn't have to drive anywhere, but hotels really need to warn people when they have all feather down bedding.  That way those of us who are allergic to it can bring our allergy medicine and sleep better, hint, hint.

On Saturday, I manned the parks table at the Centennial Trail expansion opening in Arlington, while the family hit the Bite of Arlington downtown.  Both events had a pretty good turn out, though I hope the Bite is bigger next year.  The weather was supposed to be rainy, but we had 70 degrees of sunshine instead.  Of course, the county executive canceled at the last minute, big surprise, and the parks director was on vacation, but the head planner did well handling all the PR, and the mayor and our county councilman stepped in, too.

Unfortunately on Sunday, I had to work, and that's how the rest of the week has gone.  I will top off this week with an 8 hour Biostats lab in Poulsbo on Saturday.  Exciting, right?  Like I said, I wasn't ready for school this week, so, bleh.

Metabolize This

So I am home sick and bored out of my mind, everyone. Last week I started feeling really tired, and had a sudden onset of severe pain on Tuesday afternoon. If it had been on my right side, I would have immediately gone to the ER, because it was bad enough to think appendix, but it was on the left side, under the rib cage. The pain would lull then come on strongly, and persisted for a couple of days, long enough for me to actually go to the doctor. In case you didn't know, healthcare workers hate being patients.

The nurse practitioner I saw immediately ordered a CT, but I talked her into an abdominal ultrasound, to save myself from over-radiation, and money. On Wednesday, they called me into see the actual doctor to discuss my results and options. I knew that didn't sound good, and from my previous history of colon polyps, ovarian cysts and kidney stones, I knew it had to be one of the three. Turns out, my left kidney is very enlarged and almost completely blocked, however, they could not see what was causing the blockage. I immediately sent my thanks to God that I didn't have to see the gastroenterologist, or the OBGYN, and asked what the next steps were.

Here is where the difference between a good doctor and just any practitioner comes in. He let me know that the easiest way to diagnose me would be a CT scan, but wanted to know what my concerns were. I passed a large stone last summer with no hospitilization, and told him, it was probably a stone, and that I'd rather just pass it than be radiated and pay a fortune. After all, it's not like the CT machine is going to blast the stone or anything. Still concerned about the pain and possibility of infection, he decided to run some more UA and blood tests after questions about what the stone looked like and discussing my family history of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

After the two of us made "2 and 2 make 4" as the doc put it, the diagnosis is hyperuricemia, or too much uric acid in the blood. This is actually a rare cause of kidney stones, but aside from giving old people "the gout," it has been linked to high triglycerides (which they discovered in my blood two years ago), stroke, insulin resistance, and metabolic disorder, even in people like me who are not overweight. So without knowing what is causing it, I have been forced to change to a vegetarian diet until more tests come in.

Somehow I think all the past maladies in the last decade are linked to a metabolic or digestive disorder. When I was really young, my diet was restricted to goat dairy, whole grains and non-dyed foods (yummy, right?), then somehow I "outgrew" the problem as an older child. However, I still would get bad allergies, and feel "gooky" after eating, (I don't know how to explain gooky without grossing everyone out). Then came the colon polyp and out went cow dairy again, with the exception of processed cheeses. Then the ovarian cysts came, and I cut back on the soy, and settled on gaining ten pounds with Depo-Provera to keep them from forming.

Now here I have rare kidney stones, and something in the back of my mind is telling me that I really never "outgrew" anything, but who, except millionaires, can afford all of these medical tests? Just in the last week, I've spent 100 dollars on copays alone, just to see someone. Now I have to go back today, as it seems an infection has set into the blocked kidney, which is accompanied by a horrible headache/low fever that narcotics won't even kick. There goes another $35.

So today, I'm fighting the malaise in order to search the vast web-world to find some vegetarian recipes that will actually fill me up, just to avoid another day in bed and stupid daytime t.v. My family has refused to jump on board with no-meat meals, so I need to find some recipes I can cook, then add meat for them. It's turning out to be a bit like looking for ocean front property in Arizona, as George Strait once put it. At least I'm finally on a path to finally discovering a healthy me.

Keeping my Head Above the Water

Wow! Welcome back to the e-world. It's been an insanely busy summer, that didn't really feel like summer, unless you're a northwestern native, which clearly with all my complaining, I am not. Hopefully next year there will be better weather and more time off.

Lately, my life feels like it's flying by faster than I can keep up. I ended up working at my internship for most of my staycation, but I can't complain when I'm working on trails and at the fair. There have been lots of changes at work, my babies are both in middle school where I have been volunteering with the band, and the hubby turns 40 in nine days! We are going to have an awesome night of family, friends, bbq, gambling and a his-and-hers pampering at the Tulalip Resort.

My parks internship has been extended into November, and I am about to go back to the city in three weeks. Not sure how working 6 days a week with school is going to work out, but at least I only have two classes this quarter, one of which is intro to GIS, which I already took at EvCC. Of course, I have to take it again, just to get that 300-level class on my transcript, but it should be cake.

Speaking of cake, I need to get busy on the over-the-hill version. See you peeps later!

What Day is it Again?

Well here I am at a midpoint in a long 13 day stretch of working. I get to work seven days in a row beginning tomorrow, and am strongly considering taking another day off at the internship, just so I can keep some mental clarity. I've noticed on six day stretches that my days begin running together, and by the time I'm closing the pharmacy on Fridays, delerium has made everything funny to me. Delerium is not a good thing when you are dispensing medications.

I really don't want to take another day off from the Parks Department, though, because my map is finally finished to the point where I can begin implementing our no-mow project. We'll be expanding and enhancing existing vegetation plots, wetland and streamside buffers, and allowing more meadows to grow in the county parks, using Willis Tucker Park as a test site. Once I get our measurements and crunch the numbers showing how much money we can save on mowing labor, gas and fertilizer I may be able to justify the purchase of some wildflower seeds for the meadows. I'm thinking of donating some lupine and digitalis seed from my personal seedbank, and even holding a work party in late August to dig and pot other native plants on our land such as elderberry, vine maple and various ferns for the enhanced sites.

Today we're leaving the sun up here in the mountains and going "down below" to the foggy beach at Kayak Point for my step-dad's family picnic. I really have a hard time relaxing there, because I see all the litter and feel like I need to start picking it up. Not just out of habit because I worked there for 3 years, but because we're expected to do that at all park sites when we visit despite your position. Actually, I'm sure I'll end up picking up litter, I can't help it.

Speaking of Parks Department Administration, I've been catching up on all the Thursday night shows I missed because of class. I'm not a big tv buff, but there are a few shows I like to catch when I can, and one of them is "Parks and Rec" on NBC. My favorite quote so far? "I think all government should be privatized. Chucky Cheese could run the parks department. Drop in a token, go down the slide. Drop in a token, take a walk. Drop in a token, look at the beach." Seriously - LMAO!!!

And on the Seventh Day - They Still Couldn't Rest

Ever feel like you work your butt off, but can't catch a break? The hubby and I have been trying to spend a little quality time together between our insane work schedules, but lately we've been thinking that we've somehow pissed off Aphrodite. The kids were all gone for a week, but that was my 60 hour week between my two jobs. Then, when we think we've scheduled some time together, his kiddo comes home unexpectedly.

I'm not sure if it was random, or if he just didn't listen to the schedule, but if the kid had come home 10 minutes later, we would have been down the trail. I was mad because, miscommunication has changed our plans before, but not too mad, because I went to happy hour at the Irishman with my schoolmates and our program director earlier that day, and was in a pretty good mood. That and there were some awesome falls on "Wipeout" that night, and you can't help but laugh at people tumbling into the water.

The crazy work schedules have prevented us from camping this summer, too. The tents and tarps are still bundled from my Mt. Rainier trip, placed efficiently together for a summer camping trip. Summer is half way over, and I still can't see any opportunities in the near future. It's been a strange one anyway, with the cruddy June weather, working insane hours, and traveling across the mountains to check up on grandparents. The latter is tough on the hubby emotionally, but I've been through it with all of my grandparents, and will have plenty of support for him.

We have been able to landscape the front of the house and grow an amazing garden with what little free time we've had. I have snow peas and snap peas coming out of my ears, and the green beans and blueberries are about a week away. I'm really looking forward to all of the corn in September, though. There is nothing better than a fresh ear of corn from the garden with dinner.

Luckilly we've had a couple of days to catch some good hikes with the kids, and found a "private beach" off of an old path on the Sauk. The river no longer traverses it unless it's flooding, but it's a great place for a picnic. The kids skipped rocks in a old flood pool and climbed boulders, while we rockhounded and found some gnarly gneiss. I found two ten pounders both with mixed with black, but one was layered with greys and white calcite, and the other with blues. I can't wait to cut and polish them.

Here are some pictures from last week.

What the F*** America?

It's been hard to do anything with my free time lately, because I really just want to rest. I know that sounds insane, but I'm ready to admit that working six days a week is really hard. I have a new appreciation for Americans who have to work two jobs, seven days a week in order to make ends meet. I'm working at the parks department office for school credits and job experience only, I can't imaging having to work like this every week of your life just to pay the bills with no end in sight.

Okay, now that I've depressed everyone, you can all join in my sorrow in my recent discovery that all Americans are pretty much global jerks, each in their own individual way. I'm no exception, as I keep eating seafood, knowing that the oceans and fisheries are on a critical tipping point from overconsumption and acidification from pollution. But there are a-holes of every aspect across our country who use the Constitution to justify their right to be one.

There are those who think it's their right to overharvest the land, whether it be trees, minerals, oil or fish, as it's all for the taking to them. There are others who think it's their right to throw their trash wherever they want, or others who think it's their right to be unemployed and sit around getting high all day from prescription medications at the expense of the tax payers, and yet others who think they should water their lawns in the dead heat of summer, despite water shortages.

What has happened to the country who saved the world twice in the Twentieth Century? Why is the first country to go to the moon now trying to ban science in their school curiculums? Why are we encouraging people to have tons of children by giving them tax breaks? Why do we think it's okay to to become bankrupt because you got a severe injury or illness? Why do we think it's okay to throw our grandparents into "rehabilitation centers" where most of them are overmedicated and succumb to deadly illnesses or abuse? Why do we think it's okay to sue anyone over just about anything?

I really don't understand this new evolution of America, and I really am not liking it. It's time people pulled themselves up by the bootstraps and snap out of it. This division needs to stop, and we need to stop the "I'm proud to be ignorant" attitude, because this is not the time to allow a "Great Slack-off." We are at a critical point in the world where we may have to prepare for mass migrations within forty years, and we're still arguing over whether we should do anything about Climate Change. Our excuse?

Well there are many, but the biggest partisan one is that we don't have enough information on whether it is anthropogenic (human caused) or natural? WHO CARES?!! If we all agree it's happening, then who the hell cares what it's caused by? Let's do something about it!

And this crap about science being offensive and not worthy of teaching?! Well, without science you would have no electricity, doctors, pharmacists, engineers, roads, sewers, space program or defense system, cars, or oil for your cars. What kind of America would that be? I wouldn't want to live there. So shut up about science being scary and encourage your kids to excel in science and math. And stop arguing about our environment and religion, and just make America a nice place to live.

Time to Be Back

Here I am, back to reclaim my Saturdays. No more trips to Sequim or long road trips to Mt. Rainier or Spokane, but it's been weeks of great experiences. I've learned how to measure trees, tons of native plants, hydrology, soil science, and even got in some snowshoeing on Mt. Rainier which was a major feat. Not because I played in the snow, or camped in the mud, but because I made it up a trail from Paradise, that I couldn't even go a quarter mile on when my dad took me 20 years ago. Don't judge - I was raised a flatlander and had just moved out here. The other feat was getting one of our housewife classmates through the mud camping and packing her excessive baggage and shoes into my car. Oh, and I need to mention that I got a 3.83 out of this crazy 16 credit quarter.

My poor little car put so many miles on these last 3 months, and now I'm depending on it to get me to and from work in Arlington and Snohomish 6 days a week. I wasn't sure how working 6 days a week was going to go, but the first week wasn't so bad. Work seems to be flowing better at the pharmacy, although there are always going to be those busy days with strange situations. I'm just not as tired as I thought I would be, but I guess I'll have to wait a few weeks to really judge that.

The internship down at SnoCo Parks planning department has been great so far. I've met most of the planners now, and cannot believe how many concurrent projects they have going. I definitely need to inquire about getting some files and a clean drawer. I've run into so many familiar faces just in my first two days, it's been great.

I sat in on the depressing Sr. Ranger budget meeting and talked to Jack, my boss the last year I was at Kayak Point, as well as other rangers we had done various things with. Jack and I didn't really hit it off when he came to the park, as he changed everyone's shifts and work partners, and I couldn't really tell how he felt about seeing me in the administration office. It was nice to see him though, and catch up on life.

Then on Thursday, Ranger Tom came over to my cubicle to say hi. He's probably the most involved ranger in the community as he does raptor shows and bat box demonstrations all around the county parks and at schools. When I was in high school, I did most of my Honor Society community service with him in his Ranger Explorers program, and he got me the seasonal job out at Kayak Point after I graduated. We caught up for a while and he threw me some ideas for one of the camping projects I am working on. I wonder who I will run into next week.

I'm not really sure what I'm going to do today with my only day off. It's pretty gray and damp outside, so I'm sure some housework will be involved, but I want to try and finish my pumpkin patch before all the pumpkins I planted become too rootbound in their pots. I want to get some hiking in too, so I hope summer shows its face around here soon. Come on sun, you can do it.

Headed Down the Homestretch

I just want to let everyone know that I am still alive. This quarter has been amazingly busy, but I've pulled it off. I have one portion of a final assignment due tomorrow and then...School's out for Summer! Not to worry, with the busy schedule and lack of sleep, I've learned an awful lot, between field work and my internship. Next week I begin my 6 day work week - 4 days at the pharmacy and 2 days at the SnoCo Parks Planning Department. Even with that schedule, free time is coming soon. More to come later...

Whiners Not Welcome Here

I can definitely say that I have not been this busy since high school. Even today, I don't have time to post much, but thought I would throw out an update despite my insane schedule.

Work: Our volume is up, and the new DSHS Provider One rollouts seem to be going rather smoothly. This was a surprise to me, as over time I have become very cynical of Medicaid "improvements," but this one will actually improve efficiency and streamline prior authorizations. And for once, a software rollover has occurred without big glitches, and it was the government, not private agencies, that was responsible. Take note Premera and Regence. If the state can do it, so can you.

Internship: I've been spending Thursday mornings at City Hall interning under the Natural Resource Manager. So far, I've gotten a lot of insight into the Puget Sound Partnership and county politics. We have also been planning for a community garden at the old Country Charm Dairy, and an addition to the connectivity trails in the city. Just like when I went to pharmacy tech school, there's so much that you can only learn on the job, and I'm soaking up as much as possible.

Oceanography: I've been spending most Saturdays near Sequim at the DOE's Battelle Marine Lab. Last Saturday, we waded through the seaweed beds doing a biological survey, and taking samples for a photosynthesis and primary production lab. I'm not really a seaweed person, but it was fun, and I found a sheet of Nori that was over 4 square feet! Wrap that around your sushi (yuck!). When it came time to crunch numbers after the lab, I found out that people in my group "didn't like math." Well, who does really like math? Annoyed, but wanting to get home as soon as possible after all day on the beach and pier, I busted out the Calculus as fast as I could.

Forest Ecology: The Saturdays we haven't had Oceanography labs, we've gone to the peninsula for this class. We've picked up an old DNR study from the 1960's to track Douglas Fir production versus the effects of thinning in low precipitation conditions. As I'm sure you can imagine, this is done in a stand in the Olympic rain shadow near Sequim.

This weekend, we are joining the Natural History of the NW class on Mt. Ranier. The Everett students have been excited for weeks, and we've been planning our homework around the trip. However, the students from the peninsula have done nothing but complain about the trip, and many didn't show up for class last night as they are leaving today for the trip instead of tomorrow.

They are also complaining about the cost of the camping trip, but they're staying an extra night. The only reason I can gather that they are leaving early is to have an excuse to not turn work in on time, and to complain about the cost. This is offensive to me, as my classmate and I loose 6 hours of work time to travel every weekend, and have been paying for ferry trips all quarter. Despite the time we spend traveling every week, and both having families and full time jobs, we've been able to turn everything in on time all quarter. It's been so hard not to just spout off in class lately.

Environmental Politics: This class has been taking up much more time than I thought, but is the most interesting to me. In fact today, I plan on collecting more research for my term paper about the Gulf oil spill. I picked off shore drilling as my topic at the beginning of the quarter after Obama approved a plan for exploratory drilling off the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to Florida. Three weeks later, BP proved my point, and because of their disaster, it's been cake finding data to support my position. Hopefully all of you have joined me in a boycott of BP. Oh and don't feel sorry for them when they whine about how much they have spent in clean up so far - it's 4 days worth of profits for them.

Officially an Intern

I officially have an internship. I no longer feel like a lost puppy in a scary world of big dogs, now I have to help my classmates find some. We're kind of on our own out of the WWU Huxley Everett campus, since our program director, and most of the faculty is located out of Port Angeles. There were plenty of internships posted for the Olympic Peninsula, but those of us in Everett, were forced to look on the Bellingham campus postings.

This not only means that we have to compete with students out of the large main campus Huxley College, but we also have to compete against students from UW, Central, Evergreen and other large universities here on the west side. Needless to say, the paid internships have pretty fierce competition, and I wasn't willing to wait around another 3 weeks to see if I got any of those positions. I figured I might as well get a head start on everyone else for unpaid positions, and cold called 8 agencies last Wednesday.

Snohomish County Parks Planning Department was the first to get back to me, with an internship plan included. A day later, the City of Arlington called me back, and wanted to make an internship plan with the Natural Resource department. I took the SnoCo position, because parks are kind of my passion, and they were always so good to me, even as a student volunteer in high school. A lot of projects we started in the mid 90's are full-blown parks, trails and campgrounds now, and it's fascinating to me seeing what they've become after only being involved in the early grunt-work. I still want to talk with the City of Arlington to see if there's an opportunity to work for them one day a week during the next school year so I don't have to wait for internship hours next summer to graduate - we need a minimum of 300 hours.

I'm really excited for the SnoCo position, though. I went into the interview room, expecting a one-on-one with the Planning director, but ended up in an actual meeting with other planners. He brought in Chris, who was the planner I interviewed for a class project last quarter, and two other planners. I was expecting the regular questions, you know, "why do you want to work here, what are your strengths/weaknesses?" etc, but it was actually a brainstorming session to throw projects at me. Towards the end of the meeting, the Parks director walked in, and I got to meet him, too. Then last night, the hubby turned on "Parks and Rec" and I felt like a dork. Whatever, I like my future projects.

Some of my work may end up on the SnoCo website, or at public meetings. I'll get to use ArcGIS, GPS, and AutoCAD, and of course Power Point for presentations. I don't care how dumb Amy Poehler makes Parks staff look, I'm excited. And speaking of excitement, I've got to jet for a day of preparations for Tay's 13 th birthday party tonight. Minute-to-win-it games, possibly the box-in-a-box game, and tons of 12 and 13 year olds at the Darrington Community Center. Jealous much?

Drill Baby Drill? Now I've Officially Lost My Hope

Environmental politics. Those two words sum up my two favorite topics, and I think it will be my favorite class - ever! In a quarter of forest ecology with Dr. Busywork, and Oceanography which I've yet to determine if I like, there is a shining beacon every Thursday night. My biggest problem in the class will be narrowing down the topic of my term paper.

When I read the syllabus, I thought I would write about the recent presidential approval of offshore oil and gas exploration off of the Atlantic coastline from Delaware to Florida. However, there is some interesting county politics going on regarding two "sustainable" communities that have been placed on hold. I put sustainable in quotes, because I am always suspicious when the Democrat councilmen oppose the developers, and the Republican ones support them.

The oil exploration topic is interesting, though. Especially since Senate Republicans, led by John McCain, vowed not to cooperate with Democrats for the rest of the year. Then, as soon as Obama approves the oil bill, they suddenly want to cooperate on jobs and oil bills.

The approved zones in the Atlantic are off the coasts of "red states" with the exception of Delaware and Maryland which swing sometimes. The EPA recently announced a Save the Chesapeake campaign, naming it not only the largest, but most polluted estuary in America, but now it's okay to drill off the shelf 50 miles from the coast. The other zone is off the north coast of Alaska, directly off the shelf from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, infamously known as ANWR in Congressional debates. This is what the Republicans want for ANWR. This is the natural beauty that ANWR really is.

It's sad that Obama has folded like this. He promised to preserve the coasts from oil exploration in his campaign. Just like he promised Universal Healthcare instead of this Insurance Goldmine healthcare system they created. The Green Jobs are also no where to find, I'm currently visciously fighting for unpaid internships in an industry with no openings. The "Hope" has faded away. I'm happy Oilman Dubya is gone, and there will be no drilling in ANWR, but what happens when an extreme ice pack destroys a drilling rig or two, or some other accident occurs? What would happen to my Bay if an extreme hurricane caused an accident?

On a Sustainable note, I'd like to give a huge thumbs up to the City of Arlington for improving such a walkable community downtown. Yesterday, as I was still sans textbooks and waiting for Amazon, I went downtown to run a ton of errands, and got sucked into a few extra local businesses. Since the parking situation has improved, it's much easier to park, and walk everywhere, and the storefront improvements are really working. I'd like to see some more greenery, but not everything is practical in my perfect world. I found myself meandering, and picked up some good used references at the new bookstore on Division. I still have to place another order with Amazon, but, saving any bit of money is great.

Argh! Them Pirates got me Tranced

Haven't blogged for a while, but it's been an incredible two weeks. Last week was final exams, which included the worst one I've ever taken in Dispute Resolution class. To my surprise I got a perfect score, the first perfect score I've ever gotten on a final, but I had to work REALLY hard and give up a concert and a wedding shower in Wenatchee to do it. Why anyone would want to be a lawyer, I don't know. I get a headache just thinking about mediation.

I ran the Mercer Island 5K for Colon Cancer awareness on Sunday, and finished in 37 minutes despite forgetting my inhaler. I even ran halway up both big hills! Strangely, I felt kind of dizzy halfway through the run, which I thought was asthma, but it ended up being a horrible virus that kept me up all Sunday night, and sent me home from work on Monday with a 102 fever. So I'm thinking my time will be way better next year with health on my side.

I also have to admit, that I've been completely captivated by Michael Crichton's new book, Pirate Latitudes. I've always been a Crichton fan, so I knew I would like the book, but there's no biology, chemistry or physics in the book like his others. It does, however, have a lot of history of the Carribean and Port Royal, and a great plot full of pirates. And I love pirates!

I recommend that everyone watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution tomorrow night at 9pm on ABC. I've blogged a little about the environmental and health effects of the American Diet, but I think Jamie's done a great job putting this problem into laymen's terms, and everyone should watch it. Hey, and for those against the new health care bill - if we all ate better, health care costs would go down! Amazing.

Yet Another Reason to Think About Who You Do Business With

In Natural Resource Economics class, we were asked to go to the EPA's case files and report on one. I could not believe some of the cases my classmates and I found. They ranged from illegal leopard hunting and smuggling to wetland filling and sewage leakage in low-income housing in Mississippi. In 1989, the governor of Maryland launched a "Chesapeake Born" campaign to increase public salience about the health of the dirty Bay after water quality surveys turned up more than dirty syringes from Jersey.

Part of that campaign was for school children of every grade to write an essay about the plight of the state fish, the striped bass. I won the county contest, and my essay went on to the governor for his compilation. This contest, and earlier trips with my dad to places like Blackwater Refuge and Assateague Island, made me interested in Ecology. Here's the case I found that hit close to home:

Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Co.

In 2006, the Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Company of Phillipsburg, NJ, was convicted of 32 of 34 counts of violating the Clean Air (1 count) and Water (22 counts) Acts, exposing employees to dangerous conditions (4 counts), and impeding and obstructing Federal regulatory and criminal investigations (9 counts). The facility is owned by McWane Industries which is one of the world's largest makers of cast-iron water and sewer pipes, and was the 4th sentencing of a McWane facility since 2005. The trial was 7 months long, and was the longest in environmental crimes history.

Four managers of the facility were also convicted of environmental and work safety crimes. According to federal prosecutors, the company violated the Clean Water Act by discharging petroleum contaminated water and paint into storm drains which lead to the Delaware River, a tributary of the Chesapeake. They violated the Clean Air Act by burning tires and excessive amounts of hazardous waste paint in their furnace. They maintained a dangerous workplace by altering accident scenes and concealing serious worker injuries from health and safety inspectors which resulted in the death of one employee and multiple severe injuries. The company impeded and obstructed federal and state investigations by routinely lying to OSHA and environmental investigators.

In April of 2009, the company was sentenced to pay an 8 million dollar penalty and 48 months of probation that requires biannual reports to the court, for what the EPA called an eight year conspiracy to pollute the air and the Delaware River. John Prisque, the plant manager, was sentenced to 70 months of federal prison. Jeffrey Maury, the maintenance Superintendent was sentenced to 30 months, Scott Faubert, the Human Resources manager, 41 months, and Craig Davidston, the finishing department manager, 6 months.

Even though the Chesapeake is polluted by many point and non-point sources along its tributaries in 6 states, this facility was in obvious violation of many crimes spanning beyond environmental crimes. Many people suffer from the pollution ranging from those whose immediate groundwater is effected, to the people who fish, crab and harvest shellfish from the Bay. Shellfish harvesting has been closed for decades, placing more pressure on beds in smaller bays off the barrier islands of Delmarva. Scientists have been telling locals to stop eating trout, flounder and halibut caught in the bay and its rivers since 1989, and in a recent study released in January, the blue crab population has crashed, leaving regulators rushing to implement restrictions before the crabbing season begins this summer.

The EPA did not say how long the facility had been polluting, but the investigations occured over an eight year span. Being the fourth conviction of its parent company, the marginal costs of the corporation obviously omitted the external costs of its pollution for years. Excluding the human factor of their OSHA and L&I violations, the company profitted off of not paying for the proper environmental disposal of its waste, and these actions should make its investors and customers question the ethics of these profits.

While I feel the criminal sentences of the managers is fair, because human lives were in danger, the company's penalties seem light, especially since it was McWane's fourth conviction. The probation period does not seem long enough when the EPA is stressing the priority of cleaning up the Chesapeake's tributaries. Sometimes, as in the recent corruption in the banking system, companies deserve to go out of business. Leaving the market is just as much of free enterprise as entering and supplying the market, and this does not seem like a corporation that deserves to serve our market. Perhaps with a larger financial penalty for McWane, a smaller company could grow and serve the market more responsibly.

La Vida Loco

So I've been cleaning nasty messes all morning thanks to my mom's dog Wally, who we took in about five years ago. Last year, the vet told us he had Cushing's Disease, which will eventually shut down his whole body control. I knew it was getting bad the last two weeks, as he fell while walking three times, of course I wasn't sure, because he was still trying to knock down the garbage can for a nasty treat.

But this morning, he's drank 4 bowls of water, puked 6 times, bloody pooed all over the living room, and is now hiding under the bed. I think it's time to go to the vet again, but I'm going to give it a day in case he did get into some bad garbage in the neighborhood. He and the neighbor's beagle, Mocha, eat the grossest stuff out of the neighborhood cans! In fact, Mocha even likes to drag one neighbor's poopy diaper trash into the uptight, almost retired neighbor's yard. Now that's kind of funny.

For the last six months, I've been adding more multi-grain products to our diet to reduce the amount of wheat we eat, for the sake of my colon and food intolerances. We've also been trying to buy local as much as we can, including food and hardware store supplies. Not only because it is a green improvement, but I'm tired of the community still looking at us funny, even after 6 years of living here and volunteering at the school. I've been buying my morning coffees, when I don't make them at home, from Brandi's Coffee Stand up at the Whitehorse Store, and this morning, we had a long conversation about how what we eat affects arthritis.

I thought I was the only 32 year old with arthritis, but it's good to know someone else who knows what I'm going through. It's also nice to know there's one more mom to sit by at sporting events. We talked about carpooling to Trader Joe's in the future so we can buy gluten-free products, without feeling too guilty about driving over 30 miles to get them. I'm sure some of the locals (including the Hermit) will think we're loco, but it sucks when your finger joints swell up, and you know it's because of something you ate. I have enough problems with tendonitis from typing to have to worry about an arthritis flare on top of it.

There's tons to do on the school front. I have one term paper down, but one more with a presentation to go, and finals week is approaching fast. However, that also means that Spring Break is coming soon, and I can start my new Michael Crichton book. I have "A Civil Action" in the wings to read after Crichton's book, and I can't wait to read for pleasure once again (and watch Survivor instead of hearing about what happened). I remember when excitement for Spring Break meant I was traveling somewhere. What happened? Darn kids

When it's Cold Enough, You Can Taste the Air

So, with a raging case of typing tendonitis, and 2 major papers due soon, this must be brief. For my Dispute Resolution class, we have to write a 10 page paper on 3 major environmental or planning controversies. Since my thesis paper in Planning class is on the Paine Field commercial service controversy, I'm of course including that one.

An easy transition into the next subject, and perhaps a preview of what's to come in Mukilteo, I'm including the Sea-Tac 3rd runway dispute. Sadly, what I've noticed is that all of the good, peer reviewed articles on airport noise and air pollution are European. I'm really becoming interested in the effects of air pollution and asthma, as allergies, specifically seasonal ones are on the rise.

In one way, the crazy conservatives are correct that increased carbon dioxide in the air increases plant biomass production, but that is not necessarily a good thing when you suffer from asthma or allergies. The El Nino effect has amplified allergy reactions in the Northwest this year, and could be a future trend. Even with 5 different asthma and allergy medications, I'm still goopy enough from tree allergies for a sinus infection to set in.

With all of my pre-med classes that don't count for anything but extra credits just hanging out, I thought I'd use my knowledge to at least focus on the health effects of pollution. I'm really thinking about doing my Senior project on growth rates, allergies, asthma and some other health effects from polluted air - specifically wood smoke pollution. Many of you probably didn't know this, but Darrington had the dirtiest air in Washington 4 years ago, according to EPA and WADOE studies.

Hopefully, what I find out will help the town council convince more people to buy pellet stoves. I think the key will be comparing health care costs in the town to the cost of buying fuel for propane or pellet stoves. Some sunny mornings you can taste the smoke in the foggy air. As soon as I drive 1 mile out of town, the air is cleaner even on the foggiest mornings. The conversion program he's been working with only gives vouchers to replace wood stoves with pellet stoves or propane, but I think I will search for another alternative as well. The great thing about the town council is that Rankin has been working with the 4H salmon program at the school the last two years and is really open to cleaning up the environment. Wish me luck.

It's a Wonderful Weekend

Forgive me if this doesn't start green, but last weekend was so awesome, I have to share. I know my posts have been sporadic lately, but understandably so, as my life has been non-stop lately. We also have a situation brewing that seems to be getting much more complicated than I thought it ever would, and all because of a very selfish person, that I can't say anything to. Grrrrrr...I'll explain more in a few months after it all comes together/falls apart(?).

I did take a 5 day break from work that allowed me to catch up on life a little, and enjoy my birthday which is something I rarely take time to do. In fact, I can count my awesome adult birthdays on one hand. My 21st was absolutely crazy and weird, my 29th was a drunken karaoke blast, and last Friday, the Hermit gave me another birthday I'll never forget.

He definitely went out of his way to sweep me off my feet. Last year, we had to cancel a dinner reservation, because he didn't solidify a drop-off time for the step-kid, so I told him I was going out with my girlfriends for my 32nd. It was not the first time we had to drop plans due to a lack of communication, so I was really mad. However, I decided to give him another chance after he surprised me with reservations to the Bistro San Martin, which is the nicest restaurant north of Everett to Bellingham.

I started the day by going into town, to my favorite Philipino Great Clips hair dresser so I could donate my 11 inch braid to Locks for Love. I didn't know that they cut your braid off with an electric razor, and my eyes must have been the size of saucers, because he stopped and asked if I was sure I wanted it cut, twice.

I have to admit, I was kind of nervous about short hair, after all the short hair disasters my mom made me wear in my childhood. You know, first the Dorothy Hamil bowl-cut, then just horrid, short cuts that severely needed layers to ease the mushroom effect. He did a great job with my thick, curly hair, though. I'm not used to people stopping me to rave about my hair, so I've felt rather bashful lately.

That afternoon, we caught the step-kid's JV game with my mom and step-dad and the kids. Afterwards, I got a griddle from my mom, and they took the kids to their place. We had a few hours to kill before dinner, so we hit the Tulalip Casino to blow forty dollars each. Having ADD, I hate slots, but I sat there and kept winning as I waited for the Hermit to lose his money so we could move on. Next, we hit the roullette table, and I placed my first chip on 12 for my birthday. Sure enough the ball landed on 12! I kept winning, and had to lend the Hermit chips to keep playing. When we left, we were still up $70 despite his bad luck.

We wrapped up the night at the Bistro, where we had Merlot and Ceasar salad to start. For my entree, I of course chose the Dungeness crab cakes, then felt kind of guilty the next day, as I read about fishery regulations for my Resource Economics assignment. They were absolutely delicious, but I promise no more crab cakes until the crab population stabilizes. When we got home, he gave me Ken Burn's latest documentary, "The National Parks, America's Best Idea," but I had to promise I wouldn't make him watch it again. Last fall, I hijacked the t.v. for a week to watch the PBS special.

The next day, we went shooting with the Bro-in-law on our lower property. I successfully emptied a .45 magnum nailing the target almost every time! Hell yeah! Who could be a bad-ass Ranger if she wanted to? Actually, it seems that the larger gun is easier for me to handle than the smaller calliber firearms.

Afterward, my step-sister came up for dinner with her two kids, and my 3 year old niece entertained us with a Jayden show on my piano. She cracks me up. After they left, Tay started getting ready for her first formal dance. She definitely has more fashion sense, and more of a social scene than I did in 7th grade. At that point in my life, I was only focused on good grades, softball and conquering Super Mario Brothers. Her dress was stunning, and all of the girls looked gorgeous.

For Valentine's Day, I got my weekly Starbucks date in the morning, but instead of rushing to work, I came home and made brunch with Tay. She made omlettes, and I shuffled between the stove-top and the new griddle making hashbrowns and blueberry pancakes. Of course, we wrapped up Valentine's Day with the annual bacon-wrapped steak meal. All-in-all, it was a great weekend that was much needed.

Donations Needed All Around

First off, I want to vent. I am so upset that Survivor is having a Heroes vs. Villians game during Winter quarter. Don't they know I'm in class until 9pm on Thursdays? I can't wait for March when we switch to DishNet and get a DVR!

I am doing a few things for cancer this year. Tomorrow, I am chopping of 10 inches of my curly locks for Locks for Love, which is a birthday present to myself. What better way to spend your birthday than helping others, right?

Okay, here's my plea for a donation - On March 21, I am running in the Mercer Island Rotary's 5K for colon cancer. I have a history of colon cancer on my dad's side of the family, and I had a cancerous polyp removed in 2003. I'd like to raise $300, but it would be great to get even more. If you are interested in helping visit my site: http://www.active.com/donate/preventcc/ALindemanLucas

I've also got a couple of other community projects swirling around in my head. I wish I had the time to dive into them right now, but they'll have to wait for Summer break. Darrington needs a new floor and roof on the Community Center, and Arlington officially transferred the Graafstra's Country Charm Dairy into municipal property last week. Bill Blake, the Natural Resource manager has already drawn up plans to turn it into a multi-purpose recreational area with a hiking trail, off-leash dog park, monitored swimming beach and campground. Of course, not all of the plans may come through, but what a great process for me to learn.

Tomorrow, I plan on making my resume rounds to draw on some of those internship opportunities. I'll be swinging by Arlington's City Hall to make an appointment with Mr. Blake, as well as a trip to the Darrington Ranger Station to follow up on my SCEP program application, and a stop by Darrington Town Hall to offer my EIS, NEPA and planning services. If you want to donate to the Darrington Community Center fund, let me know. I'm getting really antsy to work in the field, and right now, I'll take my hours wherever I can get them.

And for all of those people saying that Snow-maggedon is proof that Climate Change is not real - first of all, Climate Change doesn't mean there will be no ice or snow. It means that there will be more extremes in storms, snow, rain and drought as well as unpredictable shifts in the atmosphere. Second, it is an El Nino year. That's why we've had sunny and dry winter weather here in PNW. California has gotten our rain, which follows the shifted jet stream on to Texas, Tennessee, and up to the Mid-Atlantic. When I was a kid in Maryland, we had awesome snow in El Nino years - nothing new, just more extreme now. Third, just look to the poles or our alpine glaciers to watch Climate Change happen every day. And there you have it.

Spotted Owls Don't Live in Mukilteo, Silly

So it's T-13 days until I donate all this hair. It took about 2 years to grow out all of the sun, color, and swimming damage, and I decided my birthday would be the best day to give it away. Some lucky little girl is going to get a wig full of thick, curls, and I'll quit accidentally pulling my hair in random ways.

In sad community news, the Everett Symphony played its last concert at the Everett Civic Auditorium last night, and said goodbye to Dr. Cobbs after over 30 years. I thought I was a good trumpet player until Dr. Cobbs placed me at 2nd trumpet in the Youth Symphony, but he turned us all into musicians. Unfortunately, I had to work last night and missed the concert.

The Symphony said they are going to restructure, and come back in the next 2 years at a different venue, and with new musician contracts. That just means it will be in a smaller venue, and a lot of the good musicians who expect to be paid well will leave. And, of course, no Dr. Cobbs to lead. They didn't mention the fate of the Youth Symphony either.

Speaking of the Youth Symphony, my visit to Kamiak HS (where we used to practice) last week was very entertaining. Aside from the many times I was hushed in the visitor's balcony during a US Senate session, I had only gone to one public meeting in my life. The Paine Field Public Hearing was an absolute hoot, and not boring at all, like I expected.

Over 500 people showed up, and the mediator actually threatened to kick all of us out 6 times while I was there. Of course, I was absolutely silent after the old fellow sitting next to me told me not to mention to anyone else that I was from Arlington. Apparently, the Mukilteo residents think that commercial service should be added to the rinky-dink Arlington airport instead of Paine Field where they already have a full 747 capable runway. I was polite though, and didn't laugh everytime I heard someone say the service should be added to Arlington, but NIMBY's don't think with common sense.

I do have to say that the way the FAA and the airport ran the process was very arcaeic. First of all, they hired a firm from Oklahoma to do the EIS, which even the thought of an Okie pisses off PNW yuppies. They sat on the stage and looked down at the public commenters, and at times, I swear some of them were texting instead of listening. The firm's presentation was very one-sided, and even though I understand they are trying to move the process along quickly, I'm afraid that having every conclusion as, "no significant impact," when there are obvious schools, parks and stores in the airport vacintity, is just asking for a fight.

One guy did crack me up, though. He tried to claim that he recorded the hoot of a spotted owl in the half-acre wooded plot behind his home. In Mukilteo? On a half-acre without old growth? Hahahahahahahahahaha. Sorry, that's what I felt like doing in the middle of his 3 minute comment. Some people don't realize how much they can hurt their cause when they try to use science they don't understand.

After his endangered species claim, the crowd erupted in applause and shouts, and was one of the many times the moderator threatened to clear the room. What I don't understand is why they are fighting the wrong battle. Everyone knows that the county can't stop the service because it's against Federal Law to ban commercial flights from an airport deemed essential by the FAA. Why aren't these residents demanding pollution fees from Horizon and Allegient? Why are they not fighting for quieter jet technology, and cleaner fuels? Don't stall growth - demand smart growth, and we just may get somewhere.

Flying High on NIMBY Drama

Tonight I am headed to Kamiak High School in Mukilteo for research on my term project in Planning. The FAA and SnoCo are holding their 3rd and final public comments hearing regarding commercial service at Paine Field. The last two meetings have been heated with dozens of NIMBY's booing those who support adding commercial flights to the airport.

In the Environmental Planning world, a NIMBY is someone who opposes a public project on the Not In My Back Yard argument. During some of my research today, I scrolled down the HeraldNet airport story to read some of the comments and found a gem:

N(aive)
I(nsular)
M(ukilteo)
B(ombastic)
Y(uppies)

Tonight's going to be a dramatic showdown. I can't wait.

Planning on Networking

I have officially hit this quarter full speed ahead. I've decided to use the Paine Field dispute in Mukilteo as my term project in both my Environmental Dispute Resolution class and my Intro to Planning class. That means, I have to attend the public hearing on the 21st, which fits into another Planning assignment which is to attend a Planning meeting or public hearing.

Basically, the FAA wants to extend limited commercial flights into and out of Paine Field which is currently charter and Boeing test flights only. Of course, the county officials and Mukilteo citizens are steaming mad. I'm most interested in how they think they are going to control both commercial air and ferry service off of SR527 and Mukilteo Blvd. more than the environmental impact of extended service.

Tomorrow morning, I'm driving to Willis Tucker Park in Snohomish to interview Chris Mueller, one of the Senior Park Planners for SnoCo Parks. I've got 16 questions ready to go, and 4 more follow-up questions for yet another Planning assignment. And on the 26th, I have an interview with the US Forest Service for an internship to job program. If it requires regional transfer, though, I won't be able to take a job with them. I'm excited to make all the new contacts though!

Feeling Better and Planning Plans

It's been a while since I've posted, but I had to kick an amazingly awful sinus infection, while somehow making it through all my shifts at work. This also resulted in the worst headache and lamest New Years Eve ever, but I feel much better now that I've finished my second antibiotic. I took the youngest to the clinic yesterday, and requested a z-pack for him, too. He seems to be kicking it now as well. The one good thing about being sick is that I was able to get through 300+ pages of my new Steven King novel, "Under the Dome," and it is turning out to be a classic King page-turner. I'm sad I have to put it aside for school now.

I've been to two of my three classes this quarter, and am going to the third tonight. On Mondays I have Environmental Dispute Resolution, which looks interesting, if he can keep us on topic. Monday night's class continued the complaints from certain Poulsbo students (who are in their 50's and going for their second Bachelor's mind you) about the Discussion Board on Blackboard from last quarter. Our class is in a much smaller teleconference room this quarter, so we had some complaints of our own about those students with our mute button on. Hopefully the park ranger can reign things in next week.

Last night I attended my Environmental Economics class with the great surprise of an on-campus professor! Dr. Burke lives in Bellingham, so she'll be at our campus most of the quarter. And while we silently deal with the technology snafus with the professors on the other campuses, those campuses had nothing but complaints last night about our technology issues. Other than that, we had a great review of Microeconomics, which I remembered all of thanks to the most awesome Professor Hu.

I'm really interested in learning how to place dollar value on non-market items such as clean air and water, so I can help the Darrington town council clean up our dirty air reputation. It's too beautiful around here to have the status of the dirtiest air in the state! I think Dr. Burke will do a great job getting us to that point. She reminds me of Dr. Pape, my Biology professor and advisor at EvCC.

A lot of younger people didn't like her, and didn't do well in her class, but if you already had a good work ethic, you could learn a lot from her and the class. She inspired me to continue my original Environmental Science degree and scrap pharmacy. I am so happy that I did, because that led me to Environmental Planning and Policy. Tonight is Intro to Planning with another one of my first quarter professors, Gail, and once again she has blessed us with not requiring a text book and posting all of her lecture power points. We love you Gail!

The Great Cat Wars seem to be easing up at our house, and both new cats are easing into their new homes, while our three other cats seem to be comfortable around them, at times. The youngest's cat, which he has named Meg, seems to be growing her fur back. She had shed a lot at the shelter. And the old grandma cat we adopted (which already had the boy name of Teddie), no longer primarily dwells under our bed. She can use her front legs to climb up to many places, and seems to be able to get away from the little devil-dog just fine.

Juggling our schedules should be interesting for this month as all three kids are playing basketball, and I'm back at school. So forgive me beforehand if I forget something, the calendar looks like a clusterbomb hit it.