What?

I also have no idea what this song is about, but it's catchy.

Private Plane

This past spring I was in Northern Idaho for a week. On a corner near to where I was staying was sign for a BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway) field office. After a few days of seeing this sign I thought I should look into what kind of jobs they were hiring for when I got back home. Long story short, one thing led to another and this past week BNSF flew me to Dallas, TX for an interview. I currently enjoy what I'm doing for a living (most of it anyway) and anyone who knows me knows that I am all about living in White Pine County, but one should never turn down a good opportunity.

They flew me right out from Ely which was nice. Ely has one flight a day provided to us by the government EAS service. The flight rarely has any passengers on it. This means that I was the only person on the plane.

Some perks of having a plane and crew at your sole disposal: the gate attendant comes up to where you are seated to get you a bottle of water and pick up your bags to lead you to the gate for boarding; the pilot meets you at the plane steps, shakes your hand and welcomes you onto the plane; once you're on the plane the pilot puts your bags away and helps you fold the seat in front of you down so you can put your feet up on it; your flight leaves early because you requested them to.

I could certainly get used to having my own plane (even if it is on the government's dime- no wonder the country is broke).

The interview went well... I guess. I was impressed by the company and interested in the position that they were hiring for, but I won't find out for a couple of weeks whether or not they want to hire me. I felt pretty good about at least getting the interview given the number of people that had applied for the position. This interview was the last round and there were about 16 people they flew down to interview for 5 positions. Dallas was hot and muggy. I was able to meet up with some friends from Provo that I hadn't seen in almost two years and we had a nice dinner at the Texas Roadhouse- go figure.

I came back to Ely to find the weather cooler. Sometime around the first of August winter usually stops by for a quick visit to remind us that it's only a matter of weeks away. Late summer is a great time in Northern Nevada. Thunder storms usually roll through in the afternoon and evenings. If you go out to the rail yard or out to the airport you get a great view of the storms as they move across the valley to the North.

Make sure you enjoy the rest of the summer!

NO... MORE... FOOD!

When my family undertakes to plan and prepare a holiday meal they have no restraint. My family won't pick a few dishes and that will go well together and then call it good. First, they think of every possible dish (side or main) that has ever been associated with said holiday. Second, they make a list of everything they want to eat for said holiday. Third, they review the two lists and refuse to remove any item from either list. Fourth, they ask any extended family or guests what they would like to eat for said holiday and they add those items to one of the two original lists. Fifth, they make EVERYTHING and it takes days. The meal is usually over in a matter of 20 minutes or so and everyone is sick. Then they bring out dessert.

There you go. That was my 4th of July--well, that and copious amounts of time with family and a monsoon with hail and flooding in the middle of the parade.

Garage II

Since I happened to have the silver bug out I thought I'd take some pictures to show. It's kind of dirty, but you get the picture.

The Battle

For some time now there has been a family of foxes (and by family I mean some bastard pups, 2-3 looser males, and at least one female of bad reputation) living under the carpenter shop down at the railroad. Nothing quite undermines a building like a giant hole (i.e. fox den) under its foundation. So in my naivete I decided that the foxes must go and that I could easily get rid of them. The battle started some time ago. I began by just filling in their den while they were out. After a few times of me filling their den in I figured they would get tired of re-digging it, take their shoddy squirrel skin throw rugs, and go back out into the valley to live. No such luck.

Round 1 to you, Foxes.

Next I tried spreading bleach around the entrance to their den as someone at the BLM told me that the smell of the bleach would drive them away. Apparently I was dealing with the cleanest family of foxes ever. After laying down the bleach it seemed like they invited even more foxes over to live with them.

"You know the weirdest thing happened the other day, someone just cleaned my den for me while I was out."
"I've got to come and see that! I'll be over this afternoon with my less than reputable sister."
"Sure, bring the whole pack with you."

Round 2 to you, Foxes.

Nearing the end of my patience with these foxes I went back to the department of wildlife to try to get them to take the stupid things. I was informed that they didn't want anything to do with foxes as they aren't native and bother everyone's precious pheasants. You see, I'd been operating under the assumption that these dumb things were protected, but now the gloves are coming off. Yesiree, you filthy neck warmers. This episode of Jersey Foxes (Ely edition) is soon to be over! I'm going right for the jugular this time.
.
Round 3, TBA...

Running with the Jet Set

Travel Stats:

• 14 hours travel by car
• 8 cities
• 6 flights

• 2 weeks gone
• 2 much food at Pat's BBQ
• 1 batch huckleberry muffins
• 1 carry-on
• 1 rental car
• 1 car purchase adventure
• 1 graduation
• 0 tornadoes
• 0 checked bags

If you're exhausted and glad to be home then you know it was good vacation. This vacation was two visits rolled into one big, long trip. I started by flying into Spokane where the goddaughter's family picked me up and took back to Bonners Ferry to spend a week. The weather was cold and rainy, and company was great. I, of course, made a stop at my favorite book store. I then had to ship my books home as I had no room to take them on the plane with me. As of today they haven't arrived yet, but I haven't lost hope yet.

In addition to all that I got to try out a new Brazilian restaurant in Coure d'Alene as well as other good food. I was also around for my friend purchasing a 1980 3/4 ton Chevrolet truck. It'll be fine, I'm sure.

Next, it was onto Missouri to see my Uncle and his family. As we taxied up to the terminal in St. Louis I couldn't help but notice that half of the terminals windows had plywood instead of glass thanks to the last tornado. The rental car office took the time to let me know that if I got caught in a hail storm that I would be responsible for the damage. As cold as Nevada is at least I don't have to deal with tornadoes and softball sized hail stones. They had a few severe weather warnings out while I was there, but thankfully the only things trying to kill me were the legions of gnats and the oppressive humidity. We took a little hike to a cave located on base and were rewarded with the only scenic view in rural Missouri. 

Next time that I visit them they might just be living outside Shenandoah National Park instead of a US Army base in the backwater of Missouri. I can't wait for that! On the way back through St. Louis I visited the Transportation Museum, ate at a great pasta restaurant and stopped by the impressive Union Station. I returned to Ely to find snow still on the ground and clean, dry air that I can breath. Spring? Summer? Who needs them.

What's next? 

Spokane's Pig-out in the Park?

Hawaii for someone's graduation?

Amtrak cruise?
New York?

Who knows...

Shining Moment

Last weekend there was a big road race in Ely. This happens twice a year and means that during the weekend the town is full of Ferrari's, Porsche, BMW, and other very expensive high end race cars running around. Late Saturday night the trusty Bug and I ran over to the grocery store to pick up a few items for Sunday dinner. I happened to pull into the parking lot along with a Viper, Lamborghini and one or two other expensive cars. As I was getting out of my parked Bug one of the high school baggers that was collecting shopping carts in the parking lot kept spinning around to look in my direction. I thought nothing of it and walked into the store with the drivers of the fancy cars. After collecting the things I needed I got in line at the check out stand be hind the aforementioned fancy car drivers. It was at this point my night was made, perhaps even my week. The high school bagger who was out in the parking lot (now bagging at the checking stand) gets my attention and says, "that's a cool car you're driving." The fancy car drivers paused and look back in my direction to look at the ridiculous grin on my face. I don't usually tip baggers, but in this case I made an exception.

Two pints of whipping cream: $1.98

3 Cucumbers: On sale for $1.00

Having the coolest car in the parking lot:   Priceless