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...

Thank God for my portable toilet...

Okay, back from my first excursion into the mojave desert. Er... interesting sort of describes it... kind of weird, kind of uncomfortable... I think if I had to describe it in one word that word would be: dirty. I've never been dirty like I was dirty in that desert.  Stephanie calls what we do "dry-camping" because there are no showers.  By the end of the 4th day I was covered so much in my own scum that I couldn't even recognize myself!  On the other hand, I can pitch a tent in less that 5 minutes, I can walk along the edge of cliffs for miles, I can poop in the desert, and (thanks to Stephanie's constant lectures) recognize and name most flowers in the mojave desert. Let me start at the beginning...


Well, the work I do is very simple.  Stephanie and I have a list of coordinates for various abandoned mines throughout the desert, given to us by the Bureau of Land Management.  We find these mines using our handheld GPS units (stupid Garmin crap, accuracy somewhere within 18 feet, wtf??). Once we're there, Stephanie takes pictures while I record different dimensions of the mine with my GPS unit.  Ahhhh different dimensions! What a wonderful idea... anyway back on topic... 


That's it. That's all we do.  I take a few points with the GPS and we move on to the next mine, the whole process takes about 10-15 minutes.  Most of our time is spent actually trying to get to the mines, so we cover about 12 a day on average.  Most of the time, we just have to climb a hill to get to the mines.  Sometimes, the mines are located on a cliff face or at the top of a dried up stream channel.  Naturally, Stephanie makes me go get the pictures of the mines on the cliffs. But I have some rock climbing experience so it's actually pretty fun!  Still, I don't know why we have to camp... all the mines are pretty much within a mile of civilization, we could just use our $29 per diem to get a room at Motel 6 for the night, but Stephanie likes to go out of her way to poop in the woods, I think she enjoys it actually.


Going to the bathroom in the wilderness is not bad, especially since I have my portable potty with me! This little three-legged tripod has a toilet seat and cover, perfect for the stingy camper like me who refuses to poop straddling a cactus.  I cringe at the thought of trying to poop without this thing, how does Stephanie do it? In fact... when does she do it!?!? I've never seen her go when we're out in the field!! This crazy lady has a bladder the size of a watermelon and apparently she doesn't have to pee like a normal person.  I'm very picky about where I pee, and when picking a camping spot, I always tell Stephanie to stop near a hill, so that I can walk over said hill and pee in peace. 


Sleeping in a tent is pretty cozy, but an air conditioning unit would be nice.  I was fine sleeping in the wilderness, until one of my friends told me a story about a camper who was mauled and eaten by a pack of coyotes. Thanks a lot by the way.  Especially since it wasn't two nights until a pack of coyotes showed up at our campsite.  Stephanie was dead asleep by then, of course!  It was dark, and I was just getting comfortable when I heard the pad of paws outside my tent.  I sat as still as I could while I listened to the pack of coyotes check out our campsite.  I could hear them poking around a bit, but they didn't cause any trouble.  It wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't just heard a story about a girl being eaten by coyotes.  I kept thinking that if those coyotes wanted me, it wouldn't take much to rip through the thin layer of cloth standing between me and their teeth...  Anyway, they were actually pretty cute and the way they talked back and forth was equally so.


The absolute worse part of the trip, even worse than the absence of showering, was an incident that occurred while Stephanie and I were driving to one of our campsites.  Stephanie pulled our truck onto the freeway and I was just beginning to relax after a hard days work.  I felt something tickle my leg, like a hair under my jeans, but I ignored it at first... until it started moving up my pants! 
"Stephanie, er... I think there's something in my pants..." I told her.  
"Do you think I should pull over?" she asked.  I still wasn't sure if it was anything to worry about, but then whatever it was was suddenly wriggling its way further up my leg.  I quickly slammed my hand down and grabbed whatever it was through my pants and held on to it firmly with a section of my jeans.
"YES! WE NEED TO PULL OVER NOW IT'S IN MY PANTS!" I screamed like a lunatic, I had no idea what it was but the thing I was grasping definitely had some substance to it!  Stephanie swerved the truck onto the side of the freeway.  As soon as the truck had stopped I kicked open the door and leapt into the desert, still holding the thing through my pants.  As I'm running frantically out of the truck, Stephanie calls back:
"Don't hurt the poor thing!" DON'T HURT IT!?!?!? Really, Stephanie!? Like I'm going to worry about whether or not I'm hurting whatever it is inside my pants! I'm trying with all my might to squish it without letting it touch my skin, I'm squeezing it as hard as I can while trying to hold it as far away from me as possible, which isn't very far considering it's inside my pants!!!  Anyway, I continue to quickly strip on the side of the freeway.  It wasn't a crowded freeway, but there was steady traffic.  I really didn't care at the moment. I unzipped my jeans, kicked off my boots, and whipped my pants off on the side of the road.  I flipped my pants inside out to find them absolutely covered in bug guts.  And in the center of this scene of slaughter was the carcass of a recently dead 2-inch centipede: 

Um... yeah talk about ew. I named him Dead Skog for those who care to know.  I think he was more disgusting then the truck stop showers that Stephanie and I stopped at one night.  I came out feeling dirtier than when I arrived... didn't know that was possible but it was.  Anyway, it kind of sucked that I had to wear the remains of Dead Skog on the inside of my pants for a few hours because as hard as I tried, I just could not get all his guts out of my pants.  But at the truck stop shower I got most of him out.  Dead Skog still lives on in memory only now, sorry Stephanie, he was slaughtered very slowly, and in a lot of pain, inside my pants.  I have the gut spots to prove it. Well... had.  And unfortunately he will never get a proper burial because I chucked his body into the desert as far as I could.  I wonder what all the people driving down the road were thinking?

Destination: Reno

Ooooookay! Finally made it to Reno! Unfortunately the drive was relatively uneventful... got pulled over once, stayed in one crappy hotel, hit one animal, saw one crazy man, saw one herd of wild horses and a porcupine! Okay, let's start at getting pulled over...


I wasn't even speeding! And I get pulled over a LOT for speeding haha.  I was just minding my own business when this cop pulls me over across 5 lanes of traffic, over what!? Apparently my license plate cover is illegally covering up the state name.  Okay, that would have been fine if that was all, I do have every intention of following the law.  But then he asked me where I was going. "Nevada." "What's in Nevada?" "I have an archaeology job there." "What will you be doing?" "Camping out in the wilderness." He then makes me get out of my car and meet him behind the vehicle.  He runs some sort of background check on me, then asks me to open my trunk.  Ooooookay... I get pulled over a lot, Mr. Suspicious Cop, and I've never been searched before!  He asks to see my tent and open my suitcase! Why??? I'm a little girl traveling by myself to Nevada, am I really a threat to anyone? Go waste your time on someone else! Well, he let me off with a warning at least, sheesh! On to the crappy hotel...


My mum made a road trip guide for me, with which places to stop at and goals to reach for each day.  I used this guide to determine where I would stay for the night so I didn't end up staying in some podunk town in the middle of nowhere.  Well... on the second night I reached my goal and felt good about driving for a few more hours... unfortunately even a few hours later I was still in the middle of nowhere.  Still, Little America sounded cute, and the hotel looked friendly so I pulled over in Little America, Population: 64.  (Not bad, I also stopped at one point in Buford, Population: 1 haha!) Anyway, I get to my room and discover it's outside... you know... like the Bates Motel. To make matters worse, the shower curtains were white and slightly translucent so I could see shadows on the other side.  Nuh uh! I am NOT getting murdered in the middle of nowhere behind a slightly translucent shower curtain in a bathroom in which some guy may or may not be staring at me through a hole in the wall! Needless to say, I took a shower with the curtain open. On to hitting one animal...


I love animals! A guy I know told me a story once about a raccoon who ran out in front of him when he was driving over a bridge.  He swerved off the bridge and into the water to avoid hitting the raccoon.  I loved that story! I always thought I would do the same thing for any animal. Well, there was nothing I could do to avoid this.  I was going 80 down the freeway (don't worry mum the speed limit is 75 down here) and this bird flies out in front of me.  I didn't even know I'd hit it, it didn't make a sound, it flew right under my car, I would have thought it just flew right on by.... would have.... except I looked out my rearview mirror to see a giant cloud of feathers spout out behind my car...... morbid... On to the crazy man...


After 3 days of traveling alone in a car, by myself--and the only human contact I have is when I'm saying "checking in" or "checking out--" I thought I was the one going crazy.  When I tried talking to Reshanne after 2 days of driving, she said I sounded like a person who had had no human contact for a while because I was saying things out loud that normal people don't.  I also wasn't "making proper conversation" or something like that... and I thought, if this is how I am after just 2 days, I don't even want to know how weird I'm going to be after a week of camping out in the wilderness with just Stephanie for company... let alone after a whole summer of this!!  Just as I'm pondering this possible future of mine, I see a man walking down the road with a dog.  He looked like he hadn't shaved in months.  He was so filthy and disgusting, showering was a no.  He had on a dusty backpack and so many layers of dirt-caked clothing, the only explanation was that he must have been traveling out in the wilderness for some time.  I had my window rolled down, and as I passed the man, I could tell that he was talking to his dog, his only companion on his long journey.  He was talking to him like he was a human, saying things like: "Rover, did you hear that woman back there!?! I'm telling you, Rover, people these days don't know what they're talking about!" Oh God please, pleeeaaase don't let me end up like Crazy Dog Man.  Although... Extended Stay does allow pets, so I was thinking about maybe getting a companion of my own out here. It would be nice, especially a German Shepherd, which would be a loyal friend and offer me some protection so I wouldn't feel so alone or vulnerable to desert-wackos.


Well, Im meeting my boss and camping-partner Stephanie for the first time tomorrow morning, maybe a day of paperwork, then it's off to the field for a week! I will update again when I return. Adios!

I Set Forth On A Journey!

I worked at the theater for three years.  It was actually a psychic in New Orleans who said I wouldn't be working at Cinemark much longer when I had no intention of quitting.  I have two degrees in archaeology... but I was happy working as an assistant manager of a level-one movie theater in Ohio. Hey, it isn't all bad! Free movies and popcorn, Christmas parties, poster auctions, award shows, special screenings before the movie release, and of course many interesting and fun people to work with!


After I graduated from college, I wondered why I still worked at the theater.  There was nothing keeping me from traveling the world looking for adventure now that school was over. Sometimes, I thought about buying a plane ticket to anywhere and just leaving for a while to spice up my life.


Well, the psychic said that I was just sitting around waiting for something to happen without really trying to do anything myself... which is true... I kept waiting for something amazing to happen! I thought maybe one day an opportunity would just fall into my lap, and well, it kind of did...


All I had to do was sign up to have archaeology jobs sent to my email via ShovelBums. I got tons of emails every couple days about available jobs, but none really seemed that interesting, until I got this email:


 1 Archaeological Technician, AmeriCorps, Great Basin Institute, Nevada. 
Recruiting an archaeological technician to work as part of a two-person team surveying historic and pre-historic cultural resources that will be impacted by the closing of historic mines. Extensive travel is required. Project work is conducted in 15 of Nevada's 17 counties.


Roam around Nevada looking for cultural resources in abandoned mines? If that's not chock-full of adventure, I don't know what is! Plus, I'll get to experience so many things that many people know are out there but never get a chance to see for themselves! Mountain sheep, desert tortoise, Joshua trees...


Of course... there are a couple of... um... interesting details... such as I will be camping in the field for about six days at a time, and I've never been camping! And I will be pooping in the middle of the desert, how do you even begin to deal with that!?!? Did I mention sleeping among rattlesnakes and scorpions!?!? Yikes! But every adventure starts with a trek, I mean, Frodo didn't exactly take a limo to Mordor. I suppose it would have made things pretty dull... 


Still, driving to Nevada is going to be the hard part. Three days in my car with over 128,000 miles that may or may not survive the journey, with a radio that doesn't work, by myself... I shouldn't have read that magazine article in Cosmo! A girl was traveling across the country for a new job when she stopped for the night at a hotel... AND NEVER CHECKED OUT! Her mangled body was found in the woods days later. As if I didn't have enough to worry about! Sheesh! My dad thinks I should buy a gun. He thinks I could use it in the field to shoot rattlesnakes that crawl into my tent, or crazy miners who are hiding in the abandoned mines?? I think I will do more harm to myself probably... 


Well, the job is one week on then one week off from May 10th to September 17th.  I will be living in an Extended Stay Hotel in Reno on my weeks off... maybe take some mini-vacations to Las Vegas, to California, maybe visit my family once or twice... I will miss Reshanne the most of course, she's my twin sister and my other half of an egg.  There's no internet connection in the field, but I will add new posts when I get back from my latest adventure in the Nevada wilderness.