Prediction:

As Gustav gets ready to unload on New Orleans all I can think about is how this hurricane is going to launch Bobby Jindal into the national spot light where a love affair between Fox Noise, the GOP, and all of their ignorant minions will ensue. This will set up a show down between Barack and Bobby in 2012.... and I don't think it will be pretty.

I despise elephants.

A normal person would probably be more concerned about the safety of all the people that are about to lose everything... I am not normal but I am concerned, thats why I am voting for Barack...

Twilight on the Lagoon

Mike and I took the airboat out on Mosquito Lagoon last night. We were doing clapper rail surveys but we didn't hear a single one... probably because the water is so high. One of the mags on the engine came loose and sprayed oil everywhere... Miles from anywhere, all I could think about was missing Barack's speech... but we were able to tighten it back up with our leathermans and limp back to the ramp.

I was kind of hoping we would get back after dark because I really wanted to see the bioluminescence that an airboat would stir up... although I think the lagoon might be too diluted with all the rain to see anything spectacular anyway.

I am doing the turtle surveys this weekend for the last time. I am going to try to get out there super early... maybe I can catch some hatchlings heading out to sea to begin their lives. These are the things I will miss about this place... Mother earth you are special.

Oh Gainesville--Come to Me

Reset, renewal--that's what you do-al. Why do I have to come to you though? Its nice to refresh the mind. Never seems to happen without some unresolvable stress... you can't do anything about it, but you can't let it go. And this drives you crazy because you are a fixer and nothing drives a fixer nuts like not being able to fix. The fun occupies 90% of the air but that itch distracts you just enough that you put an asterisk by that funness.

Maybe what's bothering me is that I have to do a speech tomorrow and I haven't started it yet. I even had an extra week, because I was suppose to do it last week but Fay saved me. Or maybe its the fact that I return to T-ville and all of my gadgets are malfunctioning. The Triz is being all weird again. My home computer is not willing to go online anymore, and I am pretty sure it is the computer and not the modem. And all of my data in every single GIS project I have done in the last two years is mysteriously undefined now... I needed to move it all to the server anyway, which would require that I redefine them, but now all my work is inaccessible for the time being.

Whatever. One month left. Need a new car. Need to fix my computer. Need to fix my life. But right now I need to write that speech... One step at time...

Opps!

So we are getting the worst of the storm right now and Mr. Barky Von Schnauzer has not been out since yesterday afternoon. So he finally sucked it up and went out this morning. It was early, I was tired. I was just going to eat something and let him back in. Like I said, it was early, I was tired... I forgot about him. I ate, took a shower, got dressed, looked at the radar... Oh no! I ran out back and my poor puppy dog was drenched! I couldn't help but laugh... Know wonder he hates me!

Fay Day

Ahh. What a nice morning. I woke up before Jesus. The drive in was black and white. The sky and water were dark gray, and the trees were still just silhouettes. An isolated shower was coming in as I was going out over the bridge. I watched the marsh disappear as the crying cloud moved off shore. I stayed dry though. Hopefully that cloud had some tears left for my yard. Been playing in the flower beds lately. Tearing stuff out, moving stuff around, buying new stuff--the quest for all natives. Yet the storm water system drains just behind my house, so naturally there is an arboretum of exotics just over the fence. I can't wait for the storm to get here. I love storms. And of course everybody is freaking out. I had a bunch of routine errands to run when I was sucked in to the mad rush for storm supplies. I almost felt it necessary to tell everybody that I was not at the store for storm supplies, that I just needed some staples, but I didn't, I just contributed to the congestion and consumption. At least I can't be accused of being unpatriotic.

So I asked Rose and Jo if they would come get Gunner if the weather got too bad while I was still at work... They were like "sure... yea we have pretty much been getting him everyday while you are work". hmmm... he didn't tell me that. No wonder he hates my guts, thinks I am boring, and stares at me hoping I die... it's because the neighbor ladies spoil him rottener than I do.

Story Told Through Random Lyrics

I know you’re lonely for the words I ain’t spoken… but You made it clear, it was strictly a deal, of spring time love, and that’s how I should feel… You said ‘like it or not that’s the way it’s got to be, you got to love yourself before you can ever love me’… Down the street, I watched you go, like there's no tomorrow, where we know… All those simple thoughts, all those peaceful dreams, share the space with a hard worked day, but it's the little things, not expectation, that make life worth living…Sometimes we forget who we got, who they are, who they are not, there is so much more in love, than black and white… I don’t know why I have to but this man must move on… So tonight I’ll burn the lyrics cause every chorus was your name… Can’t have it. My road it may be lonely just because it's not paved, it's good for drifting, drifting away.

Mass-ah-ge

I got a massage tonight. I found this school in Merritt Island that has 1 hour massages for $25... They also have $6.50 haircuts, but given my track record with cheap cuts, I should probably pass on this one (see blog entry "High Maintenance"). Although, maybe the price would ease the annoyance... Anyway, so yea the massage was good... It is pretty hard to complain about a massage though. I used to get them all the time at the Florida School of Massage in Gainesville; same deal, cheap student labor. But I guess it has been about three years.... I am a huge advocate of massage vs. chiropractors. It just makes more sense... work at the root of the problem, not just on the symptoms. They can tell so much about your body just by feeling you. Being touched is a basic human need... I think that's pretty much why I have never had a bad massage.

News Flash: Global Warming is Real!

I am so fucking sick of upper management talking about global warming as if it is some new idea... As if they are fucking informing us... Have you been living under a fucking rock? It is blatantly obvious that they know less about it than elementary school children. They talk about in such general terms as if it not yet an accepted phenomenon. It is like somebody telling a joke that you heard in high school thinking that it is going to launch their career in comedy. How do these people get in these positions? Seriously, the last three staff meetings they talked about global warming as if we had no clue... That we should start using these new spiral lights... News flash, that shit's been out for years. Stop insulting my intelligence and wake the fuck up. It is infuriating that these people have the power.

A City Girl Can't Be Made Out of Anybody Here

Last night I went out paddling on the lagoon to see the bioluminescence. The wake of the boat, every stroke of the paddle, and the spooked fish light up the water like little Ms. Tinkerbell's wand. We got devoured by mosquitoes and the moonlight diluted the glow but the stars were out, the water was calm, the mood was peaceful and the beer was cold. All in all it was a fabulous time. I think I am going to give a presentation on bioluninescence and lead a tour for MIWA members around the next new moon.
So this morning I was at the beach and somebody had dug a huge hole the day before and didn't fill it in... Well I was laying about twenty feet away from it and I noticed a couple people looking down in the hole. Then a young father was fetching an overthrown football when he yelled for his kids to come over. So curiosity finally got to me and I went to see what they were doing. Well it turns out that a nest of loggerhead turtles had hatched the night before up by the dune and as they were heading for the sea nine of them fell into the hole. It was about 11:00 am so they had been baking in the sun for a few hours. I assumed they were dead until I picked them up. They were alive, all nine of them! I took four of them and let the kids take the rest down to the water to release them... Basically I am a hero... But I guess somebody has to be the hero... Baby turtles are so adowable!

Two Men and A Truck

I sorta love helping people move. You always end up with new stuff. Like new and improved clothes lines, dishes, swings, books, coffee tables, free lunch, free dinner, and free beer to ease a sore back. And that natural no-brainer feeling that we get when we make sacrifices for others. Moving sucks but its always nice to have friends willing to help. Nothing is ever that bad when others are willing to help ease the burden.

High Maintenance

Seems like every time I pay to get my hair cut I hate it. Why can't anybody cut my hair like mama? Maybe I am overly critical of the haircuts I pay for because they cost money. Or maybe mama is just too good. Torn. Torn between doing it myself and paying for it. Usually my frugal ways sabotage any chance I might have of getting a decent cut. If I do it myself I have to wait three weeks for it to grow to the length i like it. If I pay to have it cut, it is usually too long in two weeks anyway. Maybe I have always been this picky and I am just too shy to tell the lady exactly what I want... Puppy dog still loves me know matter what my hair looks like...thanks buddy I love you too.

B in T

Mr. Obama will never disappoint. This was a once in a life time opportunity to see the next president at a town hall meeting. I feel very fortunate and grateful to have been in attendance. I took a billion pictures and not a single one of them turned out. This is the best one.

For You

Adapt the pace of nature, her secret is patience. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

My Golden Ticket

So I got my ticket to see Barack tomorrow. I left work and stood in line in a scorching parking lot for 2 hours. They were giving out two per person and I was probably #400 in line a line of like 2000... well with two people left in front of me the security guard came out and said "attention everyone, we appreciate your patience but as of right now.....(pause) we are only giving out one ticket per person". Huge sigh of relief. I thought he was going to say they were all gone with only two people left in front of me.

Anywho... I have a date with Barack tomorrow morn! Can wait. Truly a once in a lifetime chance to see him in such a small town.