Meet The Moon

So I sold my dead car for $500! haha! And with that money I bought The Moon. My new scooter. Kevin named it after I read him the first page of the manual, which goes something like this: "When driving, please you keep the relaxing Moon and wear comfortable clothes, obey the traffic rule and prohibit making The Moon impatient." So Kevin named my scooter The Moon because apparently, according to the manual, that's its name. And you can't make it mad. Actually, I love riding my little scooter. It gives me such a feeling of freedom because there are no doors or windows or seat belts! It was a little scary at first to ride, and I was a bit wobbly, but I got the hang of it and now I love to cruise down the highway singing to myself... which no one can hear because the wind carries it all away! 

The guy who bought my car met with me on Saturday so I could give him the title.  We drove to the DMV (BMV) and he asked me about what I was doing in Nevada. I said an archaeology job. He asked how long I was staying. I said until the end of August, since I plan on going back to school in the fall. He said; "Good. Go to school and get a career. Don't get married. You get married and you'll have kids and forget about your dreams." Well, I'm not planning on getting married any time soon thank you very much. I am going to have a career. Unfortunately, I just found out today that my references for Leicester were never sent any information regarding what to send to the university for my application to graduate school.  And seeing as there were only a few spots open a couple weeks ago, my chances of getting in are slowly dwindling down to 0. Which made me think, what am I going to do if I don't get into Leicester? And I came up with, travel the world :) By the end of my job, I'll have enough savings to pay for a semester of grad school... or a trip to wherever I want on earth. Maybe I'll start in England to be with Reshanne, then move on to the the rest of Europe, then Asia, then Africa, then Australia. Maybe I'll just keep moving until I run out of money, then buy the last plane ticket back home. Then I'll have no money and no career... but at least I haven't wasted my life. 

The Death of A Long Time Companion

So it finally happened... after days of barely holding on, my long-time companion and loyal friend died a terrible sputtering death.  Old Dodger was more than just a car, he was someone who came with me on all my adventures.  He took me to Hocking and back, to my first archaeology job, to Cinemark, across the country! He was true and wise and always reliable... never broke down in the winter... always had air conditioning and heat... yes it's very sad to have to part with my good friend :(


I woke up this morning hoping to go to Toy Story 3 and then over to Midas to get my belt fixed... which I thought was the problem.  I never made it out of the driveway.  I had to call a tow truck to come take me and Dodger to Midas.  That's how I met Sean, the friendly boat-mechanic-in-training who wants to move to Orlando to work on real ships haha (and go to Disney of course!). It was free getting to Midas in tow because I have roadside assistance... but having my car break down is the closest I ever wanna come to giving up my life of fun and making friends with a fox in the countryside... uuugggghhhh blog books. Sean tells me wonderful stories about a mall in Sparks called Legends and a casino that changes colors called Silver Legacy. Opening my eyes to the many places I never went before I became immobile. Thanks Sean. Anyskadoo, I arrive at Midas with my car and say a bitter farewell to Sean-the-boat-mechanic.  In walks smarmy Frank; the auto repairman. He calls me Girly.


"Hey Girly, what can I do ya for?" Ah smarmy Frank.  He insists on trying to jump-start my car even after I told him that my roommates, and Sean-the-boat-mechanic, already tried that. Yes, it didn't work, no surprise there. In fact, the battery was fine.  It was the timing belt that got drunk and slipped down the stairs, causing all sorts of damage and $2,000 worth of craziness... so it was at about this point in the conversation, this point:


"We're looking at a minimum of $2,000 in repairs" 


-that I lifted the white flag and abandoned my dear friend. Sorry loyal buddy, but I just can't afford that kind of repair. It was then that we parted ways and I called my roommate Peter to come pick me up at Midas. Hey, but we passed Sean-the-boat-mechanic on the way back home! He was helping some folks needing a tow on the side of Mt Rose Highway :) So no Toy Story 3, no car, no way back home.  I am officially stranded in Reno. Forget Legends an Silver Legacy, I can't go to the grocery store and get some milk if I need it.  I can't even do my laundry. I found a Jeep Wagoneer for $200 on Craig's List, and thought about driving it around illegally for a few weeks without registration or insurance... but even then, how do I get to the Jeep Wagoneer in the first place? How??? With what vehicle!?!? Siiigggghhhhhhh.....


But on the bright side... someone left a window open in our house and a raccoon hopped in through the window and moseyed on down into the living room.  Then he opened up the pantry and helped himself to a box of crackers.  It was a most delightful experience. The cute little darling. 

True Adventures of a Cartographer

So for the past week I've been making maps.  I've been mapping all of the mines that Stephanie and I did field work for, and the mines that she and Jessica looked at too.  It's 10 hours a day in the office putting all of our GPS stuff into ArcMap which can get a little repetititive. haaaa pun. okay... anyway, I think I'm going crazy.  See, as part of the maps, I have to label all the features with these little lines that go from the labeling box to the mine.  This guy came in to talk to me at about 6:00pm, just after 10 hours of looking at the computer screen.  He was standing in front of a window that was made up of many small panes of glass and when I looked up at him, my eyes completely wigged out!  All the little lines connecting the window panes looked just like the lines I was making on the computer and for some reason my eyes were still connecting the lines to things... I couldn't even look at him!  I looked up, my brain started connecting lines, and I just slapped my hands over my eyes. When I peaked through my hands to see how freaked out this guy was, he was just looking at me like it was nothing LOL! Not even a pause in the conversation we were having hahaha!


In the office, Stephanie doesn't like noise, it bothers her to have any sound when she's trying to work, so the office is dead silent all the time.  This makes things very difficult because I constantly have How To Train Your Dragon stuck in my head and I catch myself humming the first note of a song... then I stop before Stephanie yells at me, but it must be kind of weird to hear me randomly hum a single note out of nowhere.  I really reaaaaally wish I could listen to music while I make the maps... I'm listening to the music in my head anyway lol! Sometimes, I get to the good part in my head and want to run away. I just want to knock everything off my desk and start running! Sigh... but I can't do that. I wish I had a piano here. A nice baby grand. My fingers are itching to touch the keys! I want to feel music around me.  I would kill for a piano right now. I hope I haven't forgotten how to play all the things I love, like Yann Tiersen... and I would love to play Forbidden Friendship, Test Drive, and Where's Hiccup. Now I'm dying for a piano! I think I'm going through piano withdrawal, my hands are shaking. Speaking of drugs, my roommate Erik offered me some pot.

A Note on Area 51

Next to Area 51 is a small town by the name of Indian Springs.  This little town in the middle of nowhere caused quite a stir near the end of WWII, right before the time the design of the first Stealth Fighter was released.  The design was kept completely secret, not a soul outside the military base knew it's complete form. About a year before the aircraft was to be made public, the toy company Mattel released their version of the Stealth Fighter model toy that was oddly, yet exceedingly, accurate. Officials at Area 51 were less than pleased.  Before the toys were released though, the residents of Indian Springs grew fond of a popular coffee mug design that depicted the Stealth Fighter. When government officials walked into this town and saw practically everyone with a Stealth Fighter coffee mug, they went ballistic.  How was it that everyone already knew the design of this supposedly secret aircraft? And why did everyone put it on their coffee mugs??? Ah small town humor... 

My 2 Whole Days in the Field: Part 2

Okay, this post really does not have much to do with archaeology, but it's an atypical occurrence none-the-less.  As you know if you've been reading my blog, I was for a few short days, homeless.  At the time I was camping so no big deal, I had a tent, sure, just no place to come home to. Anyway, my boss Chris called to let me know that there was a room available across the street from the Great Basin Institute. It's a house that the crew supervisors use. Well, Stephanie and I drove back up to Reno this time around because we aren't going to be going down to Las Vegas anymore.  We passed some cool stuff, including Area 51 which Stephanie has some great stories about.  Apparently, she did some work on site as an archaeologist with some ex-military guys, but she couldn't tell me everything because I didn't want her to have to kill me afterwards.


Anyway, 7 and 1/2 hours later, 10:30 pm, we arrive in Reno.  I drop Stephanie off at the airport, where she left her car, and I drive to GBI.  Chris had left me a message on my phone saying he had left the key to my new house in a desk drawer in Suite 102.  I picked up the key and drove over to my house, which is just across the street from the institute.  There were no lights on but I went up to the door and knocked... no one answered.  I tried the handle and it was open so I just walked in.  John, a guy from GBI, had given me a tour of the house before so I knew which room was supposed to be mine.  I made my way down the hall and turned into my room... to find someone sleeping in the bed.  I was a little confused but I was determined to get some sleep.  I had just gone to WalMart to get a comforter and I was so dead tired! All day we were looking at mines, the lizard incident mentioned below happened the same morning. Anyway, I had my backpack with a change of clothes and my tooth brush, and a pile of linens for my bed and showering needs. "Hello?" I called into the darkness.  No answer. "Excuse me?" I called a little louder, but still no movement from the person in my bed.  I knocked on the door loudly and repeated "EXCUSE ME!" And STILL no answer.  I decided it was pretty pointless to continue so I wandered around the house trying to come up with a place to sleep.  I checked the other rooms and one even had an empty bed with no blankets.  I decided this is where I could stay for the time... and I hoped to god no one would come home and find me in their room... even if they did, I could pull a Snow White and clean the place.  All this time I was madly texting Kevin: "Oh my god! There's someone in my bed! What do I do? He's not answering me!" and Kevin's texting: "Wake him up, the guy's probably piss drunk passed out in the wrong bed." 


Well, no one came home that night, I was asleep in a bed that wasn't mine but I was happy because I was sleeping.  I had to be at work at 7:30 so I had to get up early.  Around 6:30 I'm dozing and about to wake up when someone comes waltzing into the room. He screams! I scream! We both scare the living shit out of each other. A couple  apologies later I find out that I'm sleeping in his bed. And he was sleeping in mine, yes... piss drunk passed out in the wrong bed, thank you Kevin for calling it, how ever did you know? He admitted that he liked to drink (and judging by the other very distinct odor coming from the living room he also likes to dabble in illegal drugs) but not to worry... he cleaned my room for me, even vacuumed! His name is Erik by the way, and he is the crew supervisor for the group cleaning hiking trails. Ah if only he cleaned the kitchen... or the bathroom. Guys are dirty, sheesh! Anyway, got to work at 7:30 only to discover that I don't work until Monday, and not only am I the only one at the office, I missed out on precious sleep. I got some ArcMaps completed though, I put in a few hours hoping to also use the internet for a while. Turns out I don't even need to go into the office, I have internet at the house, contrary to what Chris told me before I moved in.  Do we also have cable?? I haven't checked yet. 


My other roomies don't come back until Monday (all guys, all slobs judging by the mess in the bathroom) but once I meet them maybe I will write another entry! I'm improving the house bit by bit, I cleaned the bookshelves, added a little girly flare to the bathroom, and bought a microwave.  How the hell did these boys survive without a microwave??? Well, no fear, I have everything taken care of, and I got paid! Did I already say that in my last entry? Well I might have mentioned it, but I'm very happy about that.  And I'm very happy that my bank account will be back where it should be in a month, and am VERY happy that it's a good possibility that I will surpass my $5,000 savings goal for the University of Leicester.  Still haven't heard back from them... except that they thought I was Reshanne.  Actual email, word for word:


Dear Jana, 

I have received your application for the MSc in Museum Studies.
I note that you have been offered and accepted a place for Psychological Research Methods MSc at this University, so I presume you want to withdraw your application for our course. Please confirm. 

Thanks 

Christine Cheesman

And my shrewd reply: 

Dear Christine,

No, I did not apply for the Psychological Research Methods MSc, my sister did. Please do not withdraw my application. Bitch, I don't want to be career-less because the University can't tell the difference between the name "Reshanne" and the name "Jana."

Sincerely, 

Jana, JANA Reeder

Anyway Tom, I hope you're happy.  That's 2 whole posts just for you! And you have to admit this was a good one; Area 51, a drunk guy sleeping in my bed, going to work on the wrong day, the University mistaking me for Reshanne... yes, it wasn't a bad post at all, savor the moments! peace out for now

My Whole 2 Days in the Field

Well, I didn't have much to write about, but since Tom insisted that I post something or he was going to murder everything that I love, I decided to write down a few things...

Let's see... well, I only looked at 4 mines this week.  Yep, just 4. That's because Stephanie and I were just cleaning up the maps, looking for any mines that she and Jessica (Stephanie's old assistant) missed.  They were all hard to get to, that's why they didn't do them in the first place.  Mine #737 was probably the most fun, Stephanie drove up to the mine, which was very high up on the side of a steep cliff, and she explained that she and Jessica could not get to the mine by climbing because it was too high, so she wanted us to drive 2 miles down the road and follow a path that eventually winds near the mine.  Er.... NO WAY! I was NOT going to walk 2 miles to record a stupid mine.  I took one look at it where we were from the car and I said: "You know, that looks totally do-able. I'm just gonna climb it." No, it did not look do-able, but I also was not going to walk 4 miles round trip for one mine that takes 10 minutes to record.  Stephanie thought I was insane! I thought; screw it, I'm climbing this thing if my life depends on it! So Stephanie handed me her camera since she wasn't about to cimb up after me.  I didn't even stop to think about it I just booked it up that cliff. About half way up, I heard a rustle in the bushes next to me.  Normally, I wouldn't care because there are all matter of lizards, antelope ground squirrel, and other creatures that are too small to worry about.  The monster that came tromping out of this bush scared the living shit out of me! It was a lizard about a foot long, but it wasn't like any lizard I had seen before.  He was all fat and chunky, and this internet sucks so I can't post a photo but it was a freakin Gila Monster!!!!! A FREAKIN... MONSTER LIZARD WITH BLACK SKIN AND MURDER IN HIS EYES!!!! Look one up right now! Those things are scary. They're even scarier when they're running straight for you! And this one was pounding his way across the cliff face, out of his bush, and straight for me!  Needless to say I screamed bloody murder and scrambled up that cliff faster than I thought possible. I was kicking rocks and grabbing at any hand holds that would get me as far from that thing as possible! I crawled my way over the edge of the cliff and onto the platform of the mine.  I rolled over on my hands and knees to look over the edge of the cliff, and there was the beast. I watched him contently waddle the rest of the way down the cliff and into the ravine below. Ew. Oh but I saw bighorn sheep so it was almost worth it.

No more Vegas

Should I even bother posting on this thing anymore? There's been a change of plans and I'm not going out into the Mojave desert again. Well, one last time. I'm going tomorrow for just a few days, then for the rest of the summer it's paperwork time! Not adventure at all.  No more camping, no more looking at abandoned mines, from now on it's 10 hours a day in the office making maps with GIS. The worse part is I'm running out of money and I can't afford the Extended Stay all month.  When it was every other week I was fine, but now that I'll be living permanently in Reno, it's impossible! So I cancelled my reservations at the Extended Stay and officially am homeless.  When I get back to Reno next week, I have no idea where I will go.  My boss, Chris, said there was an available room with GBI housing and I told him I want a room there even though there's no internet and no cable and no laundry! So now I'm going to be homeless, broke, lonely, bored, and dirty. Woohoo.... my summer rocks... best summer everrrr.

A LIGER!


On a better note though, this past week was really fun! The zoo, planetarium, movie theater, shopping centers, casinos, resorts, arcades, restaurants... good times, noodle salad.  I got to pretend that I wasn't so alone and far away out here.  I was so happy!!! I had so much fun and there were a couple of reeaaaaallllyyyy good laughs this past week, it's been a long time since I've laughed that hard haha.  My favorite thing was probably walking around the deserted resort! Kevin and I walked around this resort that didn't really open for another week, but all the stores and stuff were open.

The Northstar at Tahoe resort, now imagine no people. So cool! Except that also meant that horseback riding wasn't going on, and neither were any of the other outdoors activities. It was still fun though! Oh! And I won some money playing Blackjack at the Grand Sierra resort and casino.  That was a pretty cool place too, lots of stuff to do besides gambling. 

So my last week with money and a home was fun. Now it's off to the wilderness one last time, and then I'm coming back to nothing. No friends. No family. And to top it all off, for some reason the font on this half of the post is bigger than the other font size! WTF? How did that even happen.... sigh... Oh yeah, in case you wanted to know how archaeology was a week ago, it was the same as three weeks ago, so just read the last post over again but this time read it over imagining the temperature a bit higher and the mines a little further up a cliff. Why can't we all just lounge round on a beach... in hammocks... with a nice cold drink, a good book, good music... and indoor plumbing. Is that too much to ask for? I don't think so...