Burn it all down to the ground
Mood:  lazy
Some of you have asked me questions about what exactly is a prescribed burn and why do we do it. Well a prescribed burn is a forest fire started on purpose. We do these burns to cut back on fuel content on the ground as well as improve the forest stand for wildlife by clearing out the briars and getting rid of exotic plants. It can be fun but most often it is a lot of work. By the end of the day you smell like a camp fire and can barely keep your eyes open.

On the last fire we did at Jordan someone had a camera so I thought I would use the photos to walk you through a burn.

Early in the morning we check the fire lines that were prepared ahead of time and clear off any debris that might have fallen. Then the group is formed and we discuss the burn we are about to do and discuss safety which is very important.

Here we all are going over how to run the pumper in case the fire was to get out of control. That is me on the left with the light blue bandana.

Next the drip torches are filled.

Then we light a test fire. This is very important. There are certain burn criteria that we must meet before we can get clearance to burn. Two of those criteria are the direction the fire will run and where will the smoke go.

On the day of the burn the winds were suppose to blow southwest but it often changed when the wind sometimes came up off the lake. The goal was to send the smoke out across to lake to keep it off of roads and away from homes.

Once the test fire is lit it is now time to start the burn and a strip line is started.

The person running the line walks into the woods and tries to walk a straight line until he comes out the other side. After the first person enters the woods a second person waits about 15 minutes or so and then starts another line about 30 ft up from the last line until the area is done.

If the conditions are right the fire should take hold and run quickly. I didn't run line on this fire. My job was to make sure the fire stayed within the fire line.

The tool in my hand is called a flapper. It has a large rubber mat on the end which is use to suffocate the fire. It is used for grassy areas. In the wooded areas we used a tool called a rake. It isn't like the leaf rake you have at home it actually has 4 large sharp teeth on it. It is designed to you can rake dirt over the fire or chop up roots and small limbs to move them out of the way.

Close up of the Flapper

The Rake

It tends to get a bit smoky at times.

Sometimes it can total cover the road which can be bad for drivers. Luckily this isn't a heavily travel road.

Once the fire lines have been run then we patrol the fire lines and look for trees that can possibly fall on the line and spread the fire outside the contained area. If such trees are found then they are cut down. We also check to make sure no vegetation is burring close to the line. Wind can pick up and carry hot ash across the line and start a fire on the other side. This part of the fire process is called mop up work.

Once the mop up is complete you return to the staging area to wait for the burn boss to release you. You then put away your tools and go home.

You shouldn't have.....No I mean it....You shouldn't have
Mood:  lazy
The other day I came home to a Fedex notice on my door stating I had a package at the office. I was a bit confused because I wasn't expecting anything.

I drove up to the office and sure enough there was a large package waiting for me. I looked at the return address and noticed it was from my Aunt Dorothy (Dad's sister). What on earth was she sending me?

When I got back to the apt I grabbed a knife and cut into the box. On top was a card that stated that this was a house warming gift. That it was something my Mother's Mother had painted. I dug through the packing peanuts and this is what I pulled out.

WFT!!! Have you ever seen anything so hideous in your life? What the hell and I suppose to do with it? It matches NOTHING in my apt or my future home for that matter. Even if I were to do a nautical themed room I doubt I would even have the nerve to display it. I think my Aunt, like my dad, has completely lost her mind.

Now how do I get rid of it? My first thought is to put it up on Craig's List to see if anyone would actually give me money for it. Then I thought I would just give it to Goodwill. I remembered this lamp from somewhere. Then it dawned on me that my sister had the exact same lamp in her room when we were growing up. That's it!!! I will box it up and send it to Anne! :)

Some of you have asked me what you can get me for a house warming gift. Well let this lamp be a guide for what not to get me. LOL All kidding aside. You don't have to get me anything, but it you feel you must...giftcards to Lowe's, Home Depot, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Target and Walmsrt are excellent.

I made my first home repair yesterday and I am so proud of myself. The previous owners had put those tacky toilet seat covers on both toilets. Well at some point they had gotten wet and had bled and stained the toilet seats. So I had one hot pink and one teal toilet seat. I tried everything and could not get the stains out. So I ran to Lowe's buy new seats. I didn't realize there were so many different kinds. Rounds ones...oval ones...ones with metal hinges...ones with plastic hinges. Luckily I picked the right one. I was surprised how easy it was to put new seats on. I did it all on my own without help from anyone. *cheer* Now I just have to figure out how to light the pilot light on my hot water heater and I will be set.

I'm a homeowner!!!
Mood:  happy
At 1:00pm on Friday March 30th I closed on my very first house. I guess I am an adult now.
The closing only took about 30 minutes. I had already signed my mortgage papers about a month ago so there were just a few final papers to deal with. I thought I was going to have to pay about $800 at closing but it turned out that I didn't need any money. They actually gave me money back. Don't get too excited it was only $49. The Seller was suppose to show up with the keys but he never came. So I had to drive over to the house and try to get the lock box open to get the keys. After about 20 minutes and 2 phone calls to my agent I got the door unlocked. I then went inside with my steam cleaner in hand so that I could clean all the carpets. I turned on the sink...no water. *sigh* I called the water company and they said they can't get it turned on till Monday. Having to return the cleaner Saturday afternoon, I decided to buy jugs of water and boil it on the stove. I went back to my apt and grabbed a large pot and went back over to the house. I sat the pot on the stove and went to turn on the burner when I noticed the stove wasn't working. I pulled it out to make sure it was plugged in.yep! Then I went and checked the breakers. They all appeared okay. I called my agent again who then contacted the seller's agent. He was apparently on his way to my place to pick up his lock box and sign. He came in and looked at the stove and then called a friend of his who is an electron. Apparently there is a 2nd breaker box I didn't know about and sure enough the owners had turned off the AC and the stove. *sigh* Well now everything is working. I spent all afternoon cleaning the carpets. There are some stains I wasn't able to get up. I really should replace it but I just can't afford $1000 for new carpet. Put that on my to-do list.
Saturday morning I got back up and went over to the house to clean the kitchen, windows, bathrooms, and floors. I got most of it done except the floors and outside windows. I will try to get that done Sunday evening.
The buyer's remorse set in last night but after getting all that cleaner done and spending all that time in the house I am starting to feel like it was a good decision.
For those of you who live in Raleigh...On April 21st (that's a Sat.) if you are bored out of your mind...I could use some able bodies to help move some furniture. There isn't a lot. My hope is that I can get a good number of people together so that we will only have to carry one or two things. Then afterwards I am going to cook hamburgers and hotdog on my new grill. Oh yeah there will be beer too. :)

Check out a slidehow of the new house.

Do you think people will know who we are
Mood:  mischievious
Our new tent arrived today. You know the one I said I wasn't going to buy. Well they found a use for the old tent so I decided to go ahead and buy the new one. It arrived today and we put it up. I am worried that people wont know who we work for. What do you all think?

Bad Checks, Bachelorettes, and Email Hackers
Mood:  hungry
I know what a title huh? Guess you can tell I had an exciting weekend. Let's start with the bad checks...

As most of you read on Friday that the check my Dad sent for my house closing bounced. When I got home from work that night the following message was on my machine. The word in Italics is what was running through my mind as I listen to the machine.

"Hey Becky...it’s your Dad. Yeah I got that...recognized your voice. You really had me going today with that check stuff. I had YOU going...pretty much ruined MY day. Well not you but your bank. That is a relief...it’s my bank's fault then? I don't know what kind of bank you took that check to. Yeah probably wasn't a good idea to switch from the Check Cashing/Bail Bonds place to the guy who sits in his Cadillac with the tinted windows in the side alley. I guess he could be a little sketchy. But they should have cashed the check. No they should have...you didn't have money in the account. It was YOUR bank who called MY bank to tell them not to cash it. My bank apparently sent me new checks back in 2004 and I didn't realize what they were for. What they are for? They are checks Dad. You use them to pay for things when you don't have cash on hand. I didn't realize that the account number was different. It is pretty much the same except the last digit. So you have been writing back checks since 2004 and no one has stopped you till now. I am pretty sure the bank sent you a letter to tell you they were changing your account. But they said your bank should have cashed that check. Anyway I have sent you a new check. Fedex'ed it overnight. Sorry about the miz up Hun but hopefully this one will work. Yeah lets hope so. Wow I just realized that in a span of 30 seconds he managed to blame 3 people and not one of those three were him. There was me, my bank, and then his bank. We are all conspiring against him. *insert evil laugh here*

I did receive the check yesterday and ran to the bank to deposit it. I just hope it will clear by Friday.

Bachelorettes:

Lennie's friend Roisin (Rosh-Sheen) is getting married next weekend. Some how I got invited to her bachelorette party. I was introduced as either Rebecca the park ranger or Rebecca, Lennie's girlfriend. We met the Hibernia to have a few drink before heading to dinner at the Red Room. Lennie walked me in so I didn't have to locate them on my own. HE then decided to stay a bit and have a drink with the girl's. He wanted to buy Roisin a drink and we made him go and ask the waitress for an Organism. LOL He was pretty embarrassed but his did it. After he finished his beer he left me alone while he went down to join the guys at Tir Na Nog. The party was being organized by this woman named Karen who is a very "I’m in control" sort of person. There were so many rules to the evening that it was hard to keep up. Roisin could only have one drink per hour. Which I thought totally defeated the purpose of the party which was to get her completely trashed and then have her do things she would do sober. No one could wear wedding rings. Apparently it scares guys off. *shrug* That wasn't a problem for me...I don't have a wedding ring. Right now those are the only two I can remember. Once we got the "Buck a Suck Lifesaver Shirt" onto the bride to be we headed over for dinner. The Red Room is a Tapas place which I have only been to once. We sit down and someone orders a pitcher of Sangria...pretty sure it was Karen. Then I looked over the menu and picked out a few items I thought sounded good. Before I knew it all this food arrived. Apparently Karen took it upon herself to order for all of us. Half the stuff wasn't appealing to me. I think I had 2 pieces of Duck, half of a half of banana, and some spinach and feta dip. I let them have all the hummus and raw fish. We then decided to head over to Bogart's for dancing and Martinis. I was STARVING at this point and thought I would just grab and appetizer over there. We got over there only to discover they had some jazz band playing and it wasn't really "dance to" music. So we headed back to the Red Room who had a DJ but there wasn't much of a dance floor. I ended up leaving around 12:30. It wasn't the wild and crazy party I had hoped for. But seeing as I didn't really know these people I behaved myself. I need to get a group of girls together one night and let loose. Anyone game?

Email Hackers:

Now if you were just skimming the rest please read this section carefully. It could save you a headache in the future.

Yesterday morning I got up completely covered in hives. I think it was all stress related seeing as I didn't eat any coconut. I decided to stay home from work and thought I could use the day to start packing for the big move. I decided to check my email to see if the seller had sent back the repair request. I logged into my yahoo account and tried to enter my password but it kept telling me that it was invalid. I must have retyped it a dozen times. I then tried to go through the Lost Password screen but it told me that the information I entered didn't match what they had on record. I then went onto Yahoo Answers and asked if anyone was having the same problem. A guy responded to me that the same thing had happened to him. He gave me a number to call and said that someone had hacked into my email account. He also said to check my Ebay account. I tried to log onto Ebay and sure enough that password wouldn't work either. I called the number the man gave me and it was for Yahoo customer service. The woman was very nice and helped me set up new passwords and protections. When I logged into my email I saw a bunch of stuff that scared me. He had read a lot of my personal emails and even started responding to one Alex sent me. He didn't get a chance to finish it so he saved it in the drafts section. I also had all these messages from Ebay Sellers in response to some emails the hacker sent them. Some of them were very nasty. So I quickly contacted the Ebay Security Folks and talked to a really sweet guy and Fabian. According to him they have had a rash of this kind of stuff lately. He said they are more than likely located in Nigeria and they were working with law enforcement and the FBI to get this resolved. Here is how the scam works. You get an email from Ebay stating that they need you to change your passwords. I did receive the email but didn't open it which seems to confuse everyone working on the case. Normally when you open the email and click on the site, you are taken to a phony Ebay site. You enter your old password and BAM they have you. They use your password to access your Ebay account and then cause havoc with it. In my case they think the message sent had spyware attached. When I would go into yahoo to enter my email login and password a "cover screen" would pop up that looked exactly like the yahoo site. But instead of https: it would read http: They would capture my email address and password and then go in and change my information and then logon to Ebay and say they lost their password so Ebay would allow them to set up a new on. Then they would go around and try to get sellers to agree to go outside of the auction on items like playstations and cell phones. They then request the seller to provide them with the seller’s paypal info. They then hack into the paypal account and reroute the money to their account somewhere in Nigeria. Here is a sample of the email sent by the person who hacked into my account.

Dear seller,
Am Thomas Marry, a Sociologist in home of art in United kingdom, I fortunately came across your Item placed on this site, with which I'm really interested in buying from you and I'm buying it for my cousin who is on vacation with his Mum, who works for the American embassy in Africa. I want to get it for him as a birthday gift, I will be paying for it via PayPal as it is faster and get approved maximum of hour. All you need to do for the payment made is just to mail me your full names and your PayPal email account where you will like to credit your money too and a valid email address for confirmation of payment. With all this once payment is made and approved. I will like it to be shipped out Via USPS Global Express 3-5 working days before the end of next week. And will make you an offer of $950 USD for the item including shipping and handling of this item. mail me back to this email address: thom_jlo_marie05@yahoo.com

I managed to get everything worked straightened out and email all the people he sent responses to. Most of them were very sorry that this happened and one said that he had fallen for a similar scam and now only accepts money orders. It is so sad that there are people out there who devise these tricks to get you to let go of your hard earned money. Ebay has a great tutorial and keeping your account safe if anyone is interested I can get the website for you.

Well the hives are mostly gone now and Friday is fast approaching. I don't know how much updating I will do between now and then so I hope everyone has a great week.

Just when I thought things were getting better....
Mood:  irritated
As most of you know I have a VERY strained relationship with my father. Until I moved here to NC I hadn't spoken to him in 7 years. Our conversations since then have been brief and usually one-sided since I really had nothing to say to him. Well one day he called me to see how things were going and I told him that I had put an offer in on a house. He asked me what he could do to help. At first I said nothing because his gifts always come with strings attached. He said it would be string free. All he hoped for was that maybe we could start to mend our relationship. So I told him that I could use about $2500 to pay for my share of closing and get out of my lease on the apt. He agreed and sent me a check.

Last week I deposited the money and everything seemed to be coming together. Well Monday I got a call from my bank stating they put a hold on the check I deposited. The bank said they had gotten a call from my Dad's bank stating that funds may not be paid. I asked what exactly that meant. She said that it was common. That he might have automatic drafts to his account and they wanted to make sure those cleared before they paid the check he gave me. She told me not to worry that everything would be fine.

Well this morning I got a call from the bank to tell me that my Dad's check had bounced. WHAT!?! She said it was returned for insufficient funds and they were charging me $5 to send his check back.

At first there was this wave of anger. Then the worry set in because I had cut back on my hours at the pub because I was counting on his check. How was I going to pay my closing costs now and how the hell am I supposed to come up with $1400 to get out of my lease? In the end all of that was replaced with sadness. I thought...or I should say hoped...that he had changed. I thought that maybe I might get my dad back. Granted we would never have a great father/daughter relationship but we could at least talk and that was something. Now it is all ruined. I am sure he will have some sort of excuse. I called him and left him a message but haven't heard anything back. I don't really expect to.

Everyone has been great. My boss sent me out to "walk it off" because I was about to cry and I knew once that started I wouldn't be able to stop. I called my mom who I think was madder at the situation than I was. She calmed me down by saying that we would get the money somehow. Even Lennie has offered to help. I know that I am surrounded by great people and I thank the powers that be everyday for that. But they shouldn't have to come to my rescue.

It has just put a damper on the day.

I'm Still Alive...Just Barely
Mood:  lazy


What a weekend! I am so glad St. Patrick's Day is over although I had it a lot better than most. I was scheduled to arrive at the pub at 9:30AM. I was expecting most of the set up to be done prior to my arrival. It wasn't. So we had to scramble to get everything set up. We were told a week prior to the event that we would have a breakfast buffet. So when people called that is what we told them. A bunch of people came in for the buffet and after I sat them I went to ask the owner where the buffet was. He informed me that we didn't have a buffet just Bangers and Mash. We had some very pissed off people. Great start tot he day.

After the Race for the Oaks ended people started to flock into the bar to start drinking and eating. I quickly ran out of tables and we went to a 2 hour wait. The bar became so packed that it was impossible to seat people so I just gave up and told everyone who was waiting, "If you see a table open up...grab it!" That pissed people off who had been waiting for a table for over an hour. Oh well. I then started to go around and pick up trash. The occupancy of the pub is 200 people we had well over 1000 people crammed in there. The original goal was to block off the street and the park. People would come in and get their beer and head back outside. Well the weather was so cold that people didn't want to stand outside. It got so bad it would take me 20 minutes to get from the front of the pub to the back and trust me...the place isn't that big. About 7 o'clock Lennie came to me and asked if I was ready to go. Those of you who know me know that I don't like crowds. I suffered two panic attacks and had to hide in the mechanical room for a few minutes until I could breathe again. I went to Annie and the owner and told them that if they didn't need me I was going to leave. I had been there all day and was tired and hungry. They weren't happy about me leaving but at that point I didn't really care. I knew that if I didn't get some sleep I wouldn't make it back to work brunch the next morning. Lennie and I headed out, caught a couple songs from The Battlefield Band and then headed to get something to eat. We stopped first at Mosaic’s which is a VERY trendy club in Raleigh. If you haven't been there before you must try it out. We had a glass of wine then headed up to the Hudson Oyster Bar which is quickly becoming one of my favorite places to eat. Thanks to Dave for telling me about the place. Hopefully the next time you are in town I can come out and hear you play.

After dinner we headed back to my place and went to bed. I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow. Then up at 7AM Sunday to head back downtown for Brunch. Lennie came with me to see if they needed help cleaning up but they didn't so he ate and left. Lucky Bastard! I however had to stay. We were busy but not as bad as I thought we would be. I felt so bad for the waitresses who had worked till 4AM and then had to come back in at 9AM. They are young though and can bounce back quicker than I can.

After getting home I made spaghetti for Lennie and me then we crashed on the couch. I feel bad that I haven't been more active when it comes to Lennie. He is leaving for two weeks to go play war games with the Marines and whenever he comes over I am exhausted.

I was suppose to burn tomorrow but looks like the wind might be too bad. I will know this afternoon if I have to drive to Jordan or not. *sigh* This is going to be a rough week.

I don't know how much posting I will get to do so I hope everyone enjoys their week.

The Eggs Have Hatched
Mood:  happy
If you have been following the Norfolk Eagle Cam you will be happy to know that all three eggs have hatched. Both adults seems to be great parents. The female is very alert and you can see her scanning the area for predators. The males has been a great provider. He has brought back 5 fish and 2 sea gulls. If you look closely at the edge of the nest you will see the carcasses. At this rate all three chicks with have a great chance for survival. If you haven't been checking out the site...have a look. As of 1:57 on Friday both eagles were on the nest.

Eagle Cam

Also there is a great picture of the chicks on the Eagle Blog

Maggie the Cat seems to always land on her feet.
Mood:  hungry
My friend Tanya likes to call me Maggie the cat. Not because I resemble Elizabeth Taylor but because I always manage to land on my feet. Maybe it is just the luck of the Irish. :)

I decided back in December that I wanted to buy and house but I knew it would be difficult to come up with the extra cash I needed for the inspection, earnest money, and appraisal fees. The nest day I get offered a part time job at Tir Na Nog. Extra cash problem solved.

I was worried that the inspection fees would be costly but I found an ad online and managed to get $15 off the inspection. Then the guy said if I wrote a reference on his site he would take and additional $10 off.

After the inspection I submitted my repair list to the sellers. A lot of it I thought would be rejected because it was all stuff I could have easily done myself. But my agent said to put it down anyway. They could always say no. Well as luck would have it, they are trying to close on a house and they can't do that until they close on this one. The husband feared if he didn't meet my demands that I would back out of the deal so he has agreed to fix everything and even fix two things I didn't mention on the repair list.

I was a little worried about the condition of the roof. I contacted the builders and they representative agreed to meet with me out at the property. He said the roof looked fine but that it had some damage done to it by what looked to be a large tree limb. The owner expressed that the limb came from the dead tress on the neighbor’s trees and they he planned to fix the roof. The builder said that after I move into the house and have a problem with the siding or the roof that we would come out and take care of it free of charge.

As I got ready to leave the house I went over to look at the large dead trees on my neighbor's lot. There are about 4 of them and they look as if they could go at any minute. I knocked on the door to see if I could talk to the owner to see if they had plans to remove the trees and express the liability I would place on them if they damaged my roof. This little Hispanic woman opens the door and true to form...doesn't speak any English. The daughter of the family who owns my house came over to translate. I found out that this woman just rents the house but I didn't have any luck getting the name of the owner. I look at the deed records for Wake County and found out that the house is owned by the City of Raleigh. I called and talked to this REALLY sweet woman who said she would check it out. This morning I got a concerned call from her. She was appalled that she didn't know of this situation and said she was starting a work order to get them removed as soon as possible. She also gave me a form to give to the current owner to be reimbursed to the repairs to my soon to be roof because the damaged was caused by their trees.

So everything seems to be falling into place. Just when I think there is a hiccup the situation turns around and usually to my benefit. The lawyer has been booked and the appraisal is about to happen. So barring a major catastrophe March 30th at 1PM I will be the proud owner of the little house on Silverdene.

St. Patrick' s Day and massages too!!!!
Mood:  happy
Are you looking for something fun to do for St. Patrick's Day? Are you tired of bars who only offer green beer and no entertainment. Well look no further!!!!!

St. Patrick's Day O'Raleigh Block Party 2007!

Hosted by Tir Na Nog and a bunch of other people.

There will be a parade starting at noon at Moore Square so get there early and reserve your spot. Then at 4pm the party doors will open for the biggest block party Raleigh will see this year.

featuring the award winning Scottish rock legend The Battlefield Band. Also playing: The Best Local Party Band EVER...The Dickens!

Free Admission before 4pm. $5 Admission for Adults after 4pm, Kids under 13 Free.

I am not sure where I will be working but I am sure if you wonder around you will see me.

Are your muscle tired and sore will Primp Salonbar (that's right it is a salon and bar combined) in Raleigh on Glenwood is offering a great deal for the month of March. 60 minute deep tissue or Swedish massage for $40. Trust me folks...That is a great deal. I pay almost $80 normally. So give them a call an book your appointment.

Primp Salonbar
401 N. West Street
Raleigh, NC 2760
(919) 821-9885

Okay now that I got all the advertisements out of the way.....

The weekend weather was gorgeous! I managed to get some hiking time in between my shifts at the pub. As you read above we are gearing up for St. Patrick's day which should be huge. Looking forward to making some major money. We had a meeting last night at the pub to discuss the event but the only thing we did was look at a map and then were told there would be another meeting Tuesday afternoon. Which I can't attend because I have to work. *sigh* So basically I wasted an hour of my time. I could have been out hiking instead.

On the house front...I made a few phone calls and manged to get an appointment with the guy from Beazer Homes (the builders) to look at the defected roof. So keep your fingers crossed. If they agree to fix the roof then the rest of the repairs will be minor.

Helicopters, Eagles, and Shanty Shacks
Mood:  hungry

Yesterday the weather was finally perfect to fly. A little cold but the winds were much calmer than Tuesday. The above picture is of me and our pilot, Stanley. Stanley used to be a ranger at Ulmstead State Park but now flies for the Guard full time. You can see our lovely little tin can of a copter in the background. Stanley strapped me in and gave me the exact same death talk that Ty gave me last year. "In the event that I become incapacitated...." Once again I zoned out and imaged us all crashing to our death.

We left the airport at about 11:30am and headed straight for an area where a bald eagle nest had been reported. A co-worker and I had been out on foot the week earlier to locate it but no such luck. After about 10 seconds of searching by air I discovered it in a pine stand near a development.

I know the picture isn't real clear but if you look in the center of the picture you will see a white speck. That is the eagle. There were two birds on the nest and the female was in incubation posture. I now have to go back out and locate it on foot. But I was happy that we found it.

Next we flew towards to dam and the visitor center to take a few pictures.

The above is a picture of the dam. It isn't a concert dam like most of you are used to seeing. This is called an earthen dam. It is made out of rock, sand, dirt and grass with a conduit running through the center to release water downstream. On the left you see Falls Lake. On the right you will the tailrace and the emergency spillway.

This is a picture of the Visitor Center where I work. Can't you just imagine the views I have from my office? Jealous yet?

After a fly over to wave at my co-workers we headed up the lake to check out a few more nests. Two nests that we had observed last year were now gone. One destroyed by a storm and the other torn apart by a raccoon. We did see eagle on another nest and an adult and juvenile eagle soaring around below.

We had heard reports of some eagle activity up in the Beaver Dam Creek area so we headed up there next. While searching for the nest we discovered this.

Someone has built a Shanty Shack in game lands complete with rocking chair front porch. The only way to access this would be by canoe or kayak which amazes me because they somehow hauled all that building material out there. I am not sure if this is just a very elaborate hunting blind or if someone is actually living in it. I have given the info and picture to my boss so we will see what happens.

The flight lasted about 2.5 hours and there was only one insistence where I felt a little queasy. All in all it was a good flight but in all honesty I an glad to have both feet back on the ground.

Pictures
Mood:  don't ask
This is going to be a very short entry. I am SWAMPED with work. I have finally loaded the pictures to photobucket. I was going to do a really cool slide show but the govt has now decided to block photobucket and myspace. MEANIES!

Wimington Pictures

The Eagles Have Their Own Web Cam
Mood:  happy
I keep meaning to post this but I seem to always get distracted.

Many of you get jealous over the fact that I get to traipse all over the woods looking for bald eagles. Well thanks to the Norfolk Botanical Garden you can see a nesting eagle live right from the comfort of your computer screen. Unlike me...you wont have to wade through turtle infest swamps and tick infest grass. This is a great site for kids as well. The Eagle has laid eggs and is now in incubating posture. Hopefully within the next couple of weeks there will be chicks.

Enjoy!

http://www.wvec.com/cams/eagle.html

Helicopter a no go
Mood:  blue
We got the call this morning that it was too windy to fly this morning. I was so looking forward to it. We are going to try to reschedule for sometime this week.

The home saga continues. The pest inspection was supposed to occur this morning. I haven't heard back from my real estate agent. I am hoping that isn't a bad sign. I got my inspection report and I have gone over it 20 times. I just wish I knew more about building practices and materials so I knew just what I am in for. I know that I can not get the sellers to fix the siding. I am still waiting for a call back from the company that built the house. There are some things my boss said are easy fixes like replacing damaged siding, fixing the plumbing, caulking windows and doors. The roof however is what concerns me. The repairs the owner did are not correct and need to redone by a professional. As for the condition of the shingles...I think someone needs to contact the shingle manufacturer. Like I said...I just wish I knew more.

I went last night to the home of the lady from Craig's List who offered me some boxes. The woman and her daughter were VERY nice but I walked in the front door of this beautiful house and was hit with the smell of cat urine. It always amazes me that people who live with the smell can't smell it. But like I said they were both very nice and they gave me a lot of boxes.

Working at the pub tonight. I was hoping to get home around 9:30PM and start packing some stuff. But I know I will be too tired tonight to do anything. LOL

Still working on getting the pictures posted. Hopefully they will be up soon.

Dragonflies, Battleships, Home Inspections, and Helicopters
Mood:  lazy
Dragonflies:

My weekend was fantastic. Lennie took me to Wilmington, NC for a romantic weekend. We had been planning this for a month and all Lennie really had to do was book a hotel. As the weeks approached I kept asking him if he had managed to find a place. He would get this look on his face and would just say, "I'm working on it." Friday evening I picked him up and we headed south. As we got closer to Wilmington I asked where it is we would be staying. He smiled and said that he decided that we would just find a place when we got down there. I got a little angry. I didn't want to be driving all over Wilmington trying to find a place to sleep and end up in some bug infested rat trap. I took the exit for Market Street because I had stayed at the Wingate Inn there a couple of times. As I made the turn Lennie whipped a piece of paper out of his pockets that had some instructions on it.
ME: What is that?
Lennie: Directions
ME: Directions to what?
Lennie: I little place I found.
ME: What place?
Lennie: Some little place called the Dragonfly Inn

At this point I wanted to pull over and give him a huge hug. See I collect dragonflies and the fact that Lennie would remember that and would find us a B&B called The Dragonfly Inn was so sweet I just wanted to cry.

The Dragonfly Inn is a restored Colonial house in historic Wilmington. Both ladies who run it worked in the health care field for many years. All products from the food you eat, to the linens on the bed, and even to the soap you use are made of all natural organic products. It was such a fantastic place to stay and I felt totally relaxed there.

Battleships:

On Saturday Lennie and I got up and headed to the newly opened Aquarium in Ft. Fisher. They have done a great job with the layout of the museum and the exhibits. There are only a few changes I would like to see like the placing of animal identification plaques. Some were not right next to the exhibit so it made it hard to identify certain fish. I also felt the exhibits lacked interpretation. They seemed to be more informative. Which isn't bad but I think you really need to express to people why they should care that the sea turtles are declining in numbers not just...here is a sea turtle and this is what it eats. Maybe it is still a work in progress.

After lunch we decided to tour the USS North Carolina. I have been down to the Cape Fear River many times and have seen the ship but I never took the time to go on board. Lennie was in the Royal Navy when he lived in Scotland and is now in the US Navy Reserves here in the states so this was right up his alley. He took me around and explained everything to me. It was so fun to watch him get excited about something. At one point we went into the engine room and he lit up like a little kid. All I could do was smile.

Sunday morning we went for a hike at Carolina Beach State Park. Actually it wasn't really a hike. It was more like a really long walk. But it was nice and the weather was perfect.

I took some pictures and once I get them uploaded I will post a link.

Home Inspections:

Part of securing a loan and buying this house is getting both a building and a pest inspection. Both were scheduled for this morning but the pest guy called and said he was sick and wouldn't make it till tomorrow. My realtor and I met the home inspector at 10AM. He had gotten there early and had all ready done the outside. There were some minor problems inside like the kitchen sink was leaking and the hot water pressure was weak. The outside of the house was a totally different story. They didn't place a house wrap on under the siding so some of the wood was getting wet and starting to rot. The shingles on the roof appeared to be defective. They were drying out, curled up on the edges and cracking. They had done some repair work to the roof but it apparently was a homemade fix because he said they didn't lay the shingles right. There was no flashing on the roof or windows and there weren't any gutters. *sigh* So now I have to wait for him to give me the detailed report and then I go back to the sellers with what I found. Hopefully they will fix it all. The inspector stated that sometimes the builders cut corners and go with the bare minimum required by law. That way they can build cheap and sell high. He said there might be a warranty for the roof but that I would have to check.

Helicopters:

It appears that tomorrow I will be flying in a helicopter over the lake. I went last year so it was someone else's turn. The person who was supposed to go is in TX this week so I have been chosen to go in her place. I had a great time last year and I am really looking forward to going again.

Well I think that brings you update. Hope everyone had a great weekend. I will try to get pictures up soon.

Why can't humans be like this
Mood:  happy
In an age where we are at war with other nations and everyone can't wait to sue everyone else there is a bright spot out there. This morning as I scanned the AP newswire I saw the following article and it just melted my heart. If everyone got along like these four, the world would be a much better place.

Tiger, orangutan babies playmates at zoo
By NINIEK KARMINI, Associated Press Writer

CISARUA, Indonesia - Call them the odd couples. A pair of month-old Sumatran tiger twins have become inseparable playmates with a set of young orangutans, an unthinkable match in their natural jungle habitat in Indonesia's tropical rainforests.

The friendship between 5-month-old female baby primates Nia and Irma, and cubs Dema and Manis, has blossomed at the Taman Safari zoo where they share a room in the nursery.

After being abandoned by their mothers shortly after birth, the four play fight, nipping and teasing each other, and cuddling up for a shared nap when they are worn out.

"This is unusual and would never happen in the wild," said zoo keeper Sri Suwarni, bottle-feeding a baby chimp on Wednesday. "Like human babies, they only want to play."

The four have lived side-by-side for a month without a single act of hostility, she said.

Indonesian tigers and orangutans are both endangered species, threatened by rapidly shrinking habitats.

Conservationists estimate there are fewer than 700 Sumatran tigers still alive, while fewer than 60,000 orangutans remain in the wild. Around 90 percent of the jungle has been destroyed by illegal logging, poaching and cut-and-burn farming practices on Borneo and Sumatra islands.

The exceptional friendship will likely be short-lived, said veterinarian Retno Sudarwati, because as the animals grow up their natural survival instincts will kick in.

"When the time comes, they will have to be separated. It's sad, but we cant' change their natural behavior," she said. "Tigers start eating meat when they are three months old."

OMG What have I done?!?
Mood:  energetic
On Saturday I signed the contract for my new house. It almost didn't happen and I actually pulled my offer at one point. I gave them my counter offer That they pay $3000 in closing and I will pay $1000. The wife thought it was a great offer but had to check with her husband. I just knew he would be difficult and he didn't disappoint. He came back with the offer of $2500 in closing because he state they just put in a new stove. Ture he did but that was included in the purchase price. So when my agent called me back I told her no and to pull the offer. She called his agent back who then panicked and begged me to rethink. HE said he would talk to his clients to see what he could work out. They were going to leave their washer and dryer. I already own a set and mine is newer than their's so I was going to sell their set to get some extra money to do some things to the house. Well now they have agreed to take their washer and dryer and pay the $3000 in closing. I was a little upset but when I thought about it I think it is worth it because this way I don't have to worry about where to store them until I sold them. So in the end I agreed...they agreed and everyone seems to be happy. Now I have to get the home inspected and appraised by Mar. 30th which is the say I close. Here is the picture of the house for all of you who were interested. Sorry I didn't show this earlier but I didn't want to jinx it.

I was going to have a big "I'm a grown-up now" party the day after I close but so many people will be out of town so I think I might wait till the 1st weekend in April. So mark your calendars. Also for those of you who live in Raleigh if you are looking for something to do on Saturday, April 21st....I will need help moving furniture. I know it is not a fun job seeing as I live on the 3rd floor but if we get a BUNCH of people it wont take long and you may only have to help carry one or two things. I plan on buying everyone pizza and beer when we finish. I am hoing I can move most of the boxes in my car the weeks leading up to the big move.

Well that is about it for me. I need to get off here and start making some phone calls. I hope everyone had a great weekend...CATCH YA LATER!!!!

MIA
Mood:  hungry
Sorry I have been "Missing in Action" but with Valentine's Day and my mother's visit this weekend I just didn't have much time to write. To catch you up on what has been going on.

Wednesday 2/14:

As most of you know I don't really care for Valentine's Day. I despise the fact that society tells me that I must be with someone and I must get them a sappy card, some chocolate, and plan a romantic evening. Thank God Lennie feels the same way. At first we had just planned to have a quiet evening at home. I was going to cook and then slip into a little red number that Lennie has been eyeing in my closet and just see where the night took us. My boss at the pub however had different ideas. She gave us a gift certificate for dinner at the pub. So we went over there to eat and then came home. I slipped into my little red number and we took it from there. :) It turned out to be a pretty good night.

Thursday:

I had a Dr's appointment in the morning then took the rest of the day off to look at houses. I saw one that wasn't bad. The other three were horrible. One house came complete with two homemade Bidets. No, these weren?t nice porcelain bowls. These were those sink spray hoses like you have in the kitchen. They came out of the side of the bathroom sink and hooked on the counter were the toilet paper dispenser should have been attached. In the same house I went into a room that was supposedly the ?Man?s? room. It had a big screen TV against the wall and in front of it was a HUGE thing of Vaseline. At that point I was ready to leave. I am sick of looking at houses.

Friday:

I spent the day helping my boss understand a new computer program. I was ready to strangle him. Then I left to go work the Boat Show. About 6PM my mother called me to tell me that she got into town okay and that Lennie was going to take her to dinner. I was a little nervous about this seeing as the two have never met and because my boss at the pub as been after Lennie to propose. But both Mom and Lennie said they had a great time and no marriage plans were discussed. *breathe a sigh of relief* I don?t worry about my Mom being able to make conversation. She could talk to a wall and get it to talk back. But Lennie is a little on the quiet side.

Saturday:

We got up and ate breakfast then headed to the spa for facials. My skin was so dry it kept absorbing everything she tried to put on but it is amazing how better it is now. Soft and smooth and hydrated. That night we met up with Lennie at one of my favorite spots to eat, Firebirds. I called ahead at 6PM and had our names put on the list and the girl told me it would be an hour wait. No big deal we were planning to eat at 7PM anyway. We got there and the girl told us it would be another 20 minutes, so we just headed into the bar. 45 minutes later we were still sitting at the bar. I went over to check and see where we were on the list and the girl said we were next. We sat there another 15 minutes. This time Lennie went up and asked and they said we were the very next ones. I then saw a bunch of people (groups of 2 and 4) being sat. I then went up to speak to a manager. The manager was actually very rude to me. I will be writing to Firebirds. Finally at 8:30PM we had a table. The food was great as usual but the whole thing was ruin by the customer service. They didn?t comp our drinks or even offer us free desserts. Very poor!!! ;(

Sunday:

We got up and met Lennie at the Pub fro brunch. Tir Na Nog has the best brunch in town. Aster we ate Mom and I went shopping then headed back to the pub for the St. Patrick?s Day fundraiser. We grabbed a couple beers and listened to the music and watched the dancers. Then Lennie met up with us again and we headed to the new Hudson Oyster Bar for dinner. I must saw the food here was excellent.

Monday:

We met up with my Real Estate Agent to look at a few houses. One I liked a lot. It isn?t the ?perfect? house but it is in great shape and comes with all the appliances. I decided to take a day or two to think about putting in an offer. After we finished house shopping I decided to take my mom to Stein Mart. I didn?t think I was going to get her out of there. They were having a huge sale. Most things in the store were 50 to 70% off and the lady at the counter gave us a coupon for an additional 20% off each item. Mom bought a suitcase and some canisters and I think her bill came to $50. She saved something like $160. That night Lennie met us for dinner at Olive Garden and then he took mom over to Home Depot to get her the stuff she would need to fix her toilet at home. It was funny hearing Lennie try to tell my mom how to fix the toilet. I know all she is going to do is buy the stuff and have one of her guy friends install it.

Tuesday:

We got up and I got ready to go to work and mom headed back to WV. We had a great visit and I hated to see her go. I am glad she got along so well with Lennie. I spent all day thinking about the one house I looked at that I liked and decided to put in an offer. The agent said we would have a better shot of getting them to pay closing costs if I offered them the asking price, which was pretty reasonable. I called Mom, Lennie, and Alex and all of them said it was a good deal. I had trouble sleeping that night as my mind was racing with, ?Can I afford this??

Wednesday:

I made an offer on the house. I offered full price if they paid closing. The husband was out of town so the wife wanted to wait till he got home. The selling agent also informed us that there is another offer on the table. Was there really? Or was he telling me this to see if he could get some kind of bidding war going on? I told my agent that I am sticking to my guns on this. $129900.00 is the highest I am going to go. I am going to be financially strapped as it is. So then all night I wondered if they would accept my offer.

Today:

I heard from my agent this morning. They came back with a counter offer. They want me to pay $2000 in closing and they will pay the rest. I immediately said no. I don?t have $2000 and I think what I offered them is a GREAT deal. She stated that the $1000 I gave in earnest money could go towards that. I told her to see if they would pay $3000 and I would just use my $1000 EM for my share of closing. They also asked that I move up the closing date. I had asked for 60 days but was willing to close on 30 MAR. So now I wait to see if they accept my offer to their counter offer. I am going to give myself an ulcer. If they don?t accept this?they are idiots.

So I think that brings you all up to date on what is going on. I will keep you all informed on the house hunt. Keep your fingers crossed.

You want me to spend how much on what?!?
Mood:  don't ask
I have single handedly pissed off about 20 people today with just one word...."NO!"

One of my co-workers this morning came to me and handed me a request to spend $1900.00 on one of those festival tents. Looking over the request I remembered that we had actually purchased a tent similar to this one about 2 years ago. The employee agreed but said that the one we have doesn't have the District LOGO on it. My response was that we should look into getting the logo put on our existed tent instead of spending money to buy a brand new tent. I was then informed that the company making these tents was giving us a discount on the basis that all 5 projects were buying tents. If we don't buy a tent the other projects will have to pay full price. My response...."Oh well...sucks for them!" I also told the employee that we are still without a budget and we are only to be making necessary purchases to maintain normal duties. A festival tent doesn't meet those needs. The employee then looked at me and said they weren't going to be the one to break the bad news. So I then had to send out an email explaining that we were not going to participate in the tent purchase as of yet. That we would look into getting our tent modified and if the company couldn't do it then we would order one of the new tents. I also would need a memo from the District office stating that it was okay to purchase these items under the continuing budget resolution. Within a matter of seconds after hitting the send button I was inundated with nasty emails that basically said I wasn't being a team player. I am sorry but I would rather use my money on something worth while that we would actually get some use out of. The tent we currently have has never even been taken out of the bag. Am I wrong here? Maybe I am just too practical for my own good.

On a different subject. Last night, as I waited for HEROES to come on, I caught a run through of Grammy fashions. Most of the attire was great. It seemed like people got it right this year except for one...Imogen Heap. I love Imogen's music but someone needs to talk to her about her fashion sense. Incase you missed the red carpet this is what Ms. Heap decided to wear. What was she thinking?

On the Valentine's Day front. My boss at the pub gave Lennie and me a gift certificate for dinner at the pub tomorrow night. I normally avoid VDay like the plague but this year I am actually looking forward to it.

Birds should come with snooze buttons
Mood:  hungry
This morning at about 5AM a Red Shouldered Hawk decided to perch himself right outside my bedroom window and proceeded to call...LOUDLY! I opened up the window in an attempt to scare him off but he just flew back a minute or two later and continued to call. For those of you who have never heard the call of a Red Shouldered Hawk here is what one sounds like. Red Shouldered Hawk Just imagine that non stop for 30 minutes. I finally couldn't take it anymore and got up.

I am starving this morning and there is nothing in the office to munch on. Anyone want to run to Bojangles for me? LOL My appetite from being sick is slowly starting to come back. I was actually able to eat all of my lunch yesterday. I still didn't eat dinner but the fact that I am hungry today is a good sign.

Last night when I got home from the pub I logged on to my normal chat room and the subject for the hour was things that we never followed through with. Gosh I have so many of these. I always have good intentions but for some reason the task gets hard or I just can't seem to make time for it, so I give up. I know...I know...people make time for the things they want to do. Here is a short list of things I have started but failed to finish.

1. Learn to play the guitar. My dad got me a guitar for my birthday one year. I learned to play two cords before giving up because the strings hurt my fingers and I was always getting craps in my hands.

2. Learn to knit. For some reason I decided that knitting didn't look too difficult. I mean I went to college so I should be able to figure this out. I tried it on my own and wasn't getting anywhere. Just couldn't figure out what "pearl" meant. I decided to go to the local senior center to get some help. I got hooked up with a really sweet woman named Irma Jean Eyler who after about an hour of trying to teach me how to knit, placed her hands on mine and said, "Honey some people in this world are knitters and unfortunately you are not one of those people."

3. Learn Calligraphy. My intent here was to learn this great style of writing so that I could make some really pretty Christmas cards instead of buying the store bought ones. I bought a calligraphy kit and a book and got to the letter "a". I must have written that damn letter a hundred times and still couldn't get it perfect. So I put everything back in the box and hide it in my closet.

4. Learn to make pottery. I went with a friend to a pottery class and sat down at the wheel with a wad of clay in my hand. No one told me that you need to place the clay on the wheel and hold on to it before you start spinning it. I cranked that bad boy up and got it spinning really fast then dropped my clay onto it. The clay shot off the wheel and hit some poor woman in the back before it fell to the floor. The instructor came over and helped me get started. I had a nice vase shape going until I hit the side of it with my hand and the whole thing fell over. I decided that pottery just wasn't for me.

5. Learn the art of one stroke painting. My mother is quite the Donna Dewberry follower and when I came back from Ireland she convinced me to go to a class with her. There is a special way of loading two colors on a brush at the same time. I couldn't master it and everyone in the room, including myself, was getting completely frustrated with me. I decided to stop, rinse out my brushes, and wait for my mother in the car.

Now I don't want you to think I give up on everything. There are projects that I have started and finished such as:

1. Learn to Sew - I make my Halloween costumes every year and even made my dress for the Renaissance festival.

2. Learn to Cook - I love to cook. It is great when I find a new recipe that I can try out on my friends.

3. Learn Photography - This is something I have learned to really enjoy. It is very peaceful behind my camera and has become one of my ways to de-stress. I have even won a few awards.

My moral to this entry is that we may not be good at everything but you should at least try it.