The Amazing Salmon

Whoa two in a row!  Honestly, I'm just killing time waiting for Darrington schools to report so I can know whether or not to set the alarm when I go back to bed.  I think the school should be closed, but they were open yesterday despite the 18 inches of snow and all of the crashes and jack-knifes out here on the highway.  Not exactly safe bussing conditions to me, but who cares about safety when you're trying to boast about staying on budget, right?

After going through two large snowstorms that have turned to ice within 2 years time, I can definitely say that when the Hermit eventually goes to Scandinavia to trace his roots when we are older, I will be hanging out in South Germany or France while he visits Ice world.  Not a fan of perma-snow.  At least this one hit us in February and not December so it will only be a week or two of white instead of months.  I just hope our fruit trees are okay, since the pear blossoms indicated it was time to prune them to stumpiness on the 13th.  Maybe it snowed enough to insulate them before the temp dropped into the teens?

I did run across some very interesting fish facts last night while researching one of my term papers, and I would love to share them with you.  First amazing fish fact - juvenile salmon are territorial, including a dominant individual, and that fish is much larger than the rest because it is an aggressive glutton.  Second amazing fish fact - salmonids can exhibit hyperactivity.  Of course this usually gets them noticed and eaten by larger fish, but ADHD in fish seems kind of funny to me.  And the third and most amazing fish fact (to me at least) - fish can cough.  I'm not sure how it sounds or what it looks like, but according to fish scientists, they cough.  Now I hope you all feel a little smarter knowing these trivial salmonid facts.  Time to recheck the school report.

Update:  School is closed.  Enough parents must have complained yesterday - good job Logger moms.  Trying to stay positive about Ice world - I caught air in a tobogon yesterday, and today it gave me a  chance to sleep in for once.  Good night world.

Forecast for Fun

Before I begin, I need to get something off of my chest that has been bugging me for several weeks - a janitor is not an environmental technician, a garbage collector is not a sanitation engineer, and a librarian is not a scientist.  This is why - unless you took classes and tested for a license, you are not a technician of any kind.  If you do not use AutoCAD or CATIA every day, you are not an engineer of any kind, and if you do not work in a lab, in a clinic or in the field, or study results from a lab, clinic or the field, you are not a scientist.  NOW QUIT CLOGGING UP THE SCIENCE JOB BOARDS WITH YOUR BOGUS TERMINOLOGY!!!!

Ok, with that said, it's time to brag about the awesome snow going on here.  We have 16 inches so far, and plan to hit our 40 foot sledding hill on and off throughout the day.  Perhaps construction of a snow man will happen as well.  The plan is to research one paper, then play.  I think that's a good way to break up the monotony and prevent cabin fever.  If you have a four wheel drive vehicle, you may want to check out Oso today as the eagles are hanging out waiting for salmon above the river.  It's a beautiful sight.  However, if you don't have 4 wheel drive, don't go past Skaglund's Hill.  I'm not sure if you can get past it anyway, as there was a jack-knifed 16 wheeler blocking both lanes last I heard.

The weather forecast calls for snow all day and night, with temps diving tonight into the teens.  Something tells me we won't be planning rain gardens in Gleneagle tomorrow.  Unfortunately by Monday, a pineapple express storm is supposed to move in and shoot snow levels way up with a ton of rain to go with it.  Can you say flooding?

Graduation Contemplation

So I'd like to say that I have so many exciting things going on that I haven't been able to update my page lately, but that would kind of be a lie.  Don't get me wrong, we have a lot of exciting projects in the works, but I'm just in the boring research phase of my city projects and school papers.  My head throbs daily from reading so much and the arthritis in my fingers refuses to deflame from all the typing, but it will be worth it in the end.  Heck, I found out the head librarian in town has an Oceanography degree, so even if those Baby Boomer planners continue to refuse retirement there's always research work in the library, right?  NOT - I'd find myself beating my ADD head against the wall everyday.  It's too quiet in there.  Who gives up the ocean for a library anyway?  Crazy lady.

Speaking of my future career plans, I did make it through the first round of cuts for the Associate Planner position at Snohomish County Planning and Development.  I don't feel very confident about the interview though.  I did all of the right things, held up my posture, smiled, firm handshakes all around, gave off a self-confident aura until... the curveball question.  It all went downhill after that.  I said so many uhs and ums after that, I wouldn't hire me.  I HATE uhs and ums.  I'm sure it's not as bad as I make it sound, but compared to all of my pharmacy interviews where I came out feeling like a stud it was cow material.

So, I'm applying for more positions at private firms and other municipalities as they come along, and hopefully I'll network into something.  Until then, I'm still a giant Pez dispenser at the pharmacy, and a freebie at the city.  I hope you all can make it to our Humanimal series at the City of Arlington every Thursday in May, it's going to be fun.