June 25, 2007

Today, Michael made me a fantastic salad and an Enormous artichoke for dinner (oink!). Before dinner we walked downtown in Silver City and I took photos of several of the old buildings. Very picturesque!

This building was, according to Michael, a brothel at one time. It's quite pretty. Can't you just picture the "Ladies of the Evening" draped over the balconies calling to the miners?

This is the local Episcopalian church. It has lovely stained glass windows.

This is the 1st ChURCh of WhAT'S HAPPENING.

Michael, leaning on a fence.

June 24, 2007

Back in Silver City. This is what happens when you leave the Gerbera Daisy in the window for a couple of days without water. Poor thing looks like a wilted salad.

June 23, 2007

So, when Steve and I are out of town, of course, we stop the mail. This is what arrived today. Out of this huge pile of shit, the only things worth keeping (and they are NOT in the pile), were three bills (oh, joy), and a pamphlet on "how to care for your back."

June 22, 2007

Back in the corner, left of the window, is our new photograph, "Sunstone," from Allen (who works with me in Hurley). I'm sorry you can't really see it, but it is a lovely photo of a winery and has just the right color yellow to compliment the yellow wall on the other end of the living room.

Aaaeeeiiii! The pond is out of control! The waterfall has slowed to a trickle and I found a dead gecko in the skimmer and one of my goldfish floating belly up (way too late for smashed peas!). Guess what I'll be doing this weekend!?

June 21, 2007

THIS is my cubicle - my VERY OWN space in our new office in Tempe. I've actually been to visit my cubicle TWICE. I have my very own phone; however, I'm not entirely sure what the phone number is, and I've never actually accessed my VoiceMail (so if someone leaves a message, it has essentially gone into a black hole).

Although I've only visited twice, it's nice to know it's there.

June 20, 2007

Heading back to Phoenix. I'm hoping that some day I'll look back at these gasoline prices and laugh - although I 'm not holding my breath!

June 19, 2007

Today was my MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Awareness) and Pit Driver training refresher course. Hours of fun... I doodled on my coffee cup a bit. If you look closely at my cup, you can see the "zero and beyond" logo that matches the logo on the "Code of Safe Practices" booklet.

June 18, 2007

Today is Steve's birthday! Happy Birthday, Baby! Here, Steve relaxes and catches up on his email before opening up his gift from your's truly.

This is Steve's birthday cake. I got some of those candles that twinkle like sparklers, but I couldn't manage to get a picture of them actually doing the sparkle thing. (Dang!)

June 17, 2007

Matching boo-boos. We don't know where they came from, but Steve noticed that we each had one in the same place! ha!

June 16, 2007

Today's photo features my laundry spread all over my hotel room because for some reason the second load didn't dry properly and I didn't want to have to wait another 30 - 45 minutes (and pay another $1), while the stuff dried. (I don't like to leave my laundry unattended for long - my favorite pair of Hello Kitty pajamas - the ones with the sparkles - disappeared on one of my trips here, as did a pair of slippers.)

June 15, 2007

Big fun, today! Ron (left), Steve, and I went out to run the geophysics on the J well. We ran a gamma radiation and resistivity probe and the caliper tool. This is the equipment I was trained on last Friday, so this morning I passed along my wealth of knowledge to these lucky fellows. Minimal swearing and no blood was drawn. It's Miller Time!

June 14, 2007

O.K., remember the bird nest from the 12th? That was, like, the day-before-yesterday? Compare that to today - same nest! That bird has been BUSY!!

June 13, 2007

Tonight, Steve, Michael and I had dinner at Isaac's, after which we walked to Penny Park (which is a TOTALLY cool community-built park). I went on the swings and down the slide. Way fun. During our postprandial stroll I picked a piece of lavender and Michael picked the mimosa flower, and combined with a rock I had collected earlier, voila! The Picture of the Day!

June 12, 2007

Now, here is a clever bird! I'm thinking that wire is supposed to keep the birds away, but this bird had used it to advantage and constructed a very sturdy nest! I was getting a book out of my car when I heard singing, and when I looked up, this is what I saw. How totally cool!

Bonus photo: This is the top to one of my favorite pairs of pajamas (looooove pajamas!). It's Earl and Mooch from "Mutts." I LOVE Mutts! Mooch reminds me of my kitty, "Hey Cat," (who's since gone on to that Great Litter Box in the Sky). Hey Cat would eat that bird up there! I remember the time he came in and threw up a scorpion on the carpet. Sniff sniff. I miss him!

June 11, 2007

The sign that hangs above the door leading to the room in which we prep samples and run the XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence) analysis. It was kind of a slow day and VERY windy and then it RAINED. I was not inspired. I had a headache. One of these might be nice on the bathroom door at home, though...

June 10, 2007

Went hiking in the Gila, today. All kinds of green things are starting to sprout. The light was so pretty on this patch of ferns. I brought home some lichen, too, and I'm keeping it on a paper plate in the window - sprinkle a little water on it and it perks right up!

June 9, 2007

Down the hall from my room: the Enemy of Good Eating Habits. D8, the peanut M&M's, is my downfall. I swear, I will NOT succumb to temptation, tonight...

June 8, 2007

Today, I was out working with John learning geophysics (which went quite well, I might add). On the way back from our work site we saw these two pronghorn trotting down the road. At first they spooked, but then they crossed in front of us and headed out into the grassland. Yet another reason I enjoy field work.

June 7, 2007

This is me holding a cicada. I just love cicadas. They're those insects you hear buzzing on hot summer nights in Phoenix. I've often seen them in the trees, and found their exoskeletons after they've shed them (like a snake sheds its skin), but this is the first time I got to hold one (it had landed on Allen's shirt). It's feet felt a little scratchy. I took it over to a tree and let it go and it let out a little chirp.

June 6, 2007

I drove up the fence at the smelter this morning. This is what's left of one of the stacks. Large metal tension bands had held the stack together, and so it retained a bit of its shape after it fell. The second stack was just a pile of rubble.

June 5, 2007

Today, when the stacks fell, I was staring at this: The console of the treadmill in the cardio room at the Holiday Inn Express. I just couldn't do it - go watch, I mean. Steve went and got video, as did many, many other people, and I've viewed the video and photographs. It was fascinating. Over quickly. Huge cloud of dust. And I was plodding along, listening to my iPod, watching the clock until I knew the moment had passed.

Bonus photo: Michael gave me this darling little cactus that has been putting out these lovely pink blooms. I've got it on the window ledge in the hotel room. Makes it feel a little more homey.

June 4, 2007

For the past year, this has been the view whenever I have driven to the trailer that serves as our field office. The smelter stacks in Hurley. Tomorrow morning at 10:00, explosions will destroy these two sentinels that have stood for decades, keeping watch over this small community.

I know they are inanimate objects, and I would be thrilled if a similar fate were in store for, say, Glen Canyon Dam, but I can't help but feel a little bit sad.

June 3, 2007

Just a still life of the coffee maker, cups, and a lovely little cactus plant that Michael gave me. The cactus has two pink flowers, although they're kind of hard to see in this picture.

June 2, 2007

Well, I might have to change this to "Project 363," as I did not take a single picture for the past two days! Today's photo, however, features the drill rig and work vehicle where Steve and I were doing some geophysical testing on a well. It was hot, dusty, and buggy. The calipers wouldn't talk to the computer. The generator ran out of gas. Then the computer died entirely in the middle of a run with the gamma radiation probe. All-in-all, just another day in the field.

Bonus photo: There were some pretty flowers!

May 30, 2007

Nasty wreck on I-10 East on my way to New Mexico. You know, those big rigs like to tuck up real close to each other, and it looked like a chain reaction involving four, maybe five, trucks. This is the worst of it, here. The second in line just had a dent in his front grill. I don't know if anyone was hurt - I certainly hope not.