Aspen

June 26, 2005

Today was the day to replace the swamp cooler pads. The smell of fresh Aspen pads makes a aromatic signal of the beginning of summer.

Once again getting back to "normal"

June 26, 2005

Not long ago I wrote that things were getting settled down and back to normal. I'm now a bit more leery of saying such things, afraid to tempt fate and all. Of course not holding any belief in fate immediately takes this story down a strange course.

Wednesday evening we had dinner with family and then dallied to pursue the latest offerings at Borders bookstore. In the middle of looking at the latest books on CD the phone rang. A fellow Sandy Valley-an was calling to ask what I knew about the fire. Nothing. We wrapped up our browsing and headed for home. Along the way we passed through the valley north of Jean where Goodsprings sits. In the black of night the valley floor looked more like a cooling lava flow. Red embers formed long veins criss-crossing the valley. Turning to Sandy Valley road and heading towards Columbia Pass things looked bleak. The hillsides to the north of the road were red masses of magma. Across the pass, however, the fires were held at bay by a ridge of mountains that protected the road.

Entering the valley the first signs did not bring any encouragement. The yard lights and windows that normally double as beacons for the neighborhood failed to shine the way home. Through the evening the wind continued to drive from the direction of the fires towards Sandy Valley. Spot fires came within a couple of miles of town but never finished their journey down the hill. Nevada Power, the electric company supplying the southern part of Sandy Valley, estimates that 100-150 power poles were burned overnight on Wednesday. By late Thursday the utility company was operating each of the affected communities from generators.

Adapting

June 24, 2005

This has been a week characterized by my attempts to adapt. I am trying to adapt to a culture as well as to a way of flying. The flying is coming a little more easily.

The following comments were directed to me over the past several days at different time, in different contexts but give an example of the issues I face.

"Stop thinking so much."
"You should not cross the street without asking your platoon leader."
"You need a haircut."
"Your T-shirt is the wrong color"
"We all know about your past experience and your age but . . ."

I keep forgetting that, at this point in my army career, independent decision making is not a good thing. Whenever I make a decision for myself someone gets upset. What is worse, they usually seem to believe that I am acting on my own because I think I am "better" than they are. The reality is that free thinking is a hard habit to break.

I am writing this entry at 0217 early Friday morning so please forgive any rambling. I flew from about 1930 until a little after midnight. This was the third night in a row that I flew. I will fly Saturday and Sunday nights also. The instructors are trying to get me up to unit standards as quickly as possible. I am flying well but still have trouble holding a good hover at night with goggles on. The goggles limit my depth perception and field of view. I could tell that this was frustrating my IP tonight almost as much as it was frustrating me.

I should probably give an amusing anecdote at this point but, frankly, I am beat. I am going to bed.

Back to reality

June 19, 2005

I started the journey back to reality today. About ten days ago I left for the CALI Conference in Chicago followed by the 59th session of Nevada Boys' State in Reno. The past week has been an exhilarating and exhausting experience. The highlight of the week for me was working with such a wonderful staff. The more than twenty people who busted their backsides all week to make sure the program went well were amazing. I've rarely encountered teams that work so well together and have never been a part of one.

Other notables include being supremely impressed with the caliber of young men that took part in the program. The quality of the questions they asked guest speakers, the intensity they showed and the creativity in solving problems are all remarkable. Now it's back to the email box to get some more work done....

Riding Solo

June 19, 2005

I decided on Wednesday evening that since I was scheduled to fly at 1500 on Thursday I would use Thursday morning as productively as possible. Naturally that meant testing out my new Suzuki DR-Z-400 on the dirt trails at Land Between the Lakes (LBL). I couldnt find anyone to go with me so I did what any responsible, mature adult would do. I went alone.

As I was gathering my gear together for the one hour road ride to get to the trails I couldnt help but think back to my search and rescue days. How many missions started something like this? A guy goes out riding, hiking, climbing, biking, whatever, alone in an unfamiliar area and, before he knows it he is the subject of a search. I wasn't going to be that guy so I threw my handheld GPS and cell phone in my bike toolkit before speeding off. I also wore all of the body armor I had purchased a week earlier. I was clad in brand new padded pants, shin guards, knee guards, boots, chest protector, spine protector, elbow guards, gloves, helmet, and goggles. Oh yeah, I also wore my MP3 player. Gotta have tunes.

I arrived at LBL at 0830, just when the park was opening. I paid my entry fee and noted that absolutely no one else was there. I would have the park to myself. It was a good thing I had all of my gear, both electronic and high impact plastic, to keep me safe on my solo adventure. I set my "bingo" time at noon. That was the time I would have to be leaving the park to be sure that I'd make it home in time to shower and change for work.

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