Shot in the Dark

It is late at night and I am delerious from salmon on the brain, but I just wanted to update everyone that I got the job!  Even after I thought I blew the interview, my title is now Associate Planner for Snohomish County Planning and Development Services.  This was all the result of a class assignment for our Senior capstone class where we were required to turn in a final resume, ready to send to a potential employer.  I was going to put it off like everyone else, since I had one that just needed some updating, but the county posted the position the same week the assigment was given.  I took a shot in the dark and sent in my newly updated resume.

Today, I met a whole office full of planners, engineers, permitters, IT, and inspectors, and was shown my cubicle and "a good GIS computer".  I had to chuckle at that one, as sometimes the park planners (including myself) would freeze the Willis Tucker server by using too many GIS applications, to the point of almost crash it on time card day. 

After my intro meeting with one of the department heads, I'm trying to figure out whether it was really my GIS and data skills that got me hired, or if it was my retail pharmacy people skills.  I told them in my interview that I had been called every name in the book, had things thrown at me, and yet I still didn't mind confronting Trouble customers (notice the capital T - Elvis shout-out).  I think all three interviewers wrote down that response, and today I got to hear about "new approaches" and "customer service" when dealing with stakeholders (such as large developers?).  It's all good, I can handle it.

It will be strange not working in a pharmacy full time.  Even when I was 9 my dad had me sweeping floors, filing prescription numbers and filling vials.  I should have known that it wasn't a long-term career choice at that age though, as my favorite part of hanging with my dad at work was pulling the gate down at the end of the day.  It meant it was finally time for the pharmacist to go home, and mind you sometimes this was long after everyone else had left.  So be nice to your local pharmacy staff even when you called in your prescription 4 hours before and it's not ready.  You never whose hand they had to hold that day, or what kind of crazy person they had to deal with.

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.

Closer to Home

This week has been a great one, I must say.  But first, I have to brag that my daughter took one in the face for her basketball team and still scored 8 points in the game.  Way to wear a shiner to the dance, and make your team proud! 

Our visit to the Elwha River last weekend was a great opportunity to become more familiar with the Olympic National Forest and to hang out with the other Seniors from the peninsula campuses of Huxley.  The rivers in Western Washington were all running at or just above flood stage, so the Elwha was raging, and it made the discharge falls from the lower dam loud and powerful. 

We all chose our top three category picks to work on for the Environmental Impact Statement of the dam removals, and I'm hoping to get Natural Resources so I can have a chance to research the historic fish run numbers.  It will be interesting to keep an eye on recovering run numbers and see if, and how long it takes to see those numbers again.  So far, I haven't seen anyone else choose the category.

I'm interning much closer to home these days, and have a lot of great projects lined up at the City of Arlington.  Last year the city was able to obtain enough grant money to combine with their funds to purchase the old Country Charm Dairy.  Plans for the lower flood plain portion of the acreage include a large open play field (which I intend to write a low-mow plan for), a community farm and garden on existing farmland, a fishing pond, trails, a 26 site campground, and a safe swim area with an interpretive salmon education sign system.  To connect this property with the future downtown riverfront park plan an interpretive ecological and historical water trail for human powered watercraft with four pull-out areas is being designed.  Then Arlington will be a walkable and rowable city.  How cool is that? 

I'm also helping a fellow Senior intern with a four night ecology class curriculum sponsored by the city.  I'm not a great teacher, but I'm getting more patient.  At least this will be in front of a crowd and not as frustrating as tutoring.  I'm thinking about what portions I would be able to teach well and I'm leaning towards toxicology, flooding and perhaps some forest ecology if my friendly ex-forester neighbor will let me borrow some books.  The final night will be a green networking night, and I'm hoping to get the SnoCo PUD, the SnoCo Green Team and SnoCo Public Works there.  The Public Works biodiesel booth was an absolute hit at the Darrington Community Science night two years ago when I asked them to make some on site.  I love watching the public get excited about science, especially loggers.

Prescription for Reduction

A recent assignment in my pollution class was to weigh in on how every citizen can reduce toxic pollution in our nation's waters.  As a class we had all agreed that the indulgent consumption of the average American's lifestyle made everyone responsible for toxic pollution.  Whether you drive too much, dispose of large piles of plastic every week, fly excessively, leave pet waste, wash your car on pavement, use excessive fertilizer on your garden, or use birth control you are contributing to water and air pollution. 

While it is ridiculous to force a choice between peeing estrogen or having babies (or hot flashes if you're on the mega-estrogens), there are many other things we can all do to reduce our contribution.  Many people have become astute to picking up their pet waste, using car washes and using phosphorous free soap products, but there are many other things that can cut down on contaminants even further.

One solution is to learn xeroscaping and growing low or now mow lawns. Seed mixes are available for every state to ensure growth and nativity, and most include nitrogen fixing clover to eliminate fertilizer application. If you have the money, some no mow meadow mixes include native wildflowers to entice butterflies. No mow lawns also reduce green house gases by eliminating the need to mow and weed eat. Xeroscaping refers to growing native plants that are drought resistant, and can include beautiful succulents in California and Arizona. Another solution is to plant a rain garden or bioswale ditch. All surface run off is infiltrated by the native plants before it becomes groundwater or runs to the nearest stream.

A problem that most people don't think about is the disposal of their pharmaceutical medications. Some pharmaceuticals are hormones or endocrine disrupters, others can bioaccumulate like anti-depressants, and antibiotics that linger in the water lead to resistant bacteria. Unfortunately we also face a time of record prescription abuse, and many teenagers and adults have died from overdoses, so to keep it out of the wrong hands, dispose of any unused narcotics immediately.

For a long time the proper disposal method was to flush meds down the toilet. However, after the 1999-2000 USGS survey, the EPA and FDA recommend placing the medication in used cat litter or coffee grounds and throwing it away, or placing it in a sealed container, filling it with water, and throwing it away. While these disposal methods keep it out of the immediate water supply, it can seep into the groundwater in the future during the breakdown process in a land fill.

As a pharmacy technician, I recommend taking your medication to your local sheriff's office or Group Health Pharmacy. Washington state only has a pilot pharmaceutical take-back program in effect, so you are limited to those drop off locations. This program is funded by the tax payers, so I do not see it expanding. In some other states, the pharmaceutical manufacturers are mandated to fund take-back programs and you can dispose of them at any licensed pharmacy or through the mail.

Another thing you can do to reduce pharmaceutical waste is to ask your doctor for a trial supply of a new medication to ensure you will not be disposing of 3 weeks worth if it does not work for you. Finish ALL of your antibiotics, and DO NOT flush them what ever you do. Last, call your state legislators and ask them to demand the pharmaceutical companies pay for a pharmaceutical take-back program in Washington.

Winter Work

Rain, rain, rain!  I haven't been so excited to see rain in a long time.  Over the last 3 weeks, we've only had 2 days of green lawn between the ice and snow.  I know everyone in the lowlands was excited for snow, but I'm happy to see the rain.  Sorry guys.

This Saturday I will be headed over to the Olympic National Forest, near the Olympic Hot Springs to the site of the Elwha dam removal.  It's part of our project for our comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment class, but is a historic project for the state of Washington, and a victory for the Elwha Salmon runs.  Billy Frank, chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission provides a great commentary on the dam removals in last Spring's NWIFC News.  This website contains pictures of some recent, very large catches by the US Fish and Wildlife service on the Elwha.  Increased breeding habitat should increase runs within 5-8 years, and with fish that size, it should provide some great fishing (and eating).

I'm not a big fan of winter field work, but it comes with the territory, and this will be a great project for my resume.  I'm not worried about being cold at all this year.  The Hermit finished my winter field wardrobe with a fully insulated Carhart work jacket and another wool hat under the Christmas tree.  I'll be dry and warm with the jacket, hat, Atlas gloves, Columbia pants, wool socks and Columbia boots. Last year I was the nice guy and parted a lot of my gear to unprepared people, then ended up being cold later.  This year, they are on their own.  I don't think you have any business being in the ecology field if you don't know what kind of clothes to wear anyway. 

However, I don't know what kind of field gear repels sparkly vampires.  I'm tired of that joke guys.  And no, I'm not going to Forks, and no, I will not pick you up some of the vampire wine that goes with the gay vampire books.