Done, done and done.

The past few days have been fairly exciting here on the ranch, Friday especially. The week began with a road trip for your's truly. I went back to Ohio. To teach a course on chainsaw use and tree falling. Or felling. I'm not sure which is the more correcter. In any instance that was how I killed the first half of the week. It wasn't easy since I knew Friday was going to be a big day. The two events which I was anticipating were K's birthday and a formal job offer. The third event which I was not anticipating was our first showing of the condo. All three went off without a hitch. The condo purportedly showed well, albeit to a disinterested party. Kimberly's birthday was a success all the way around (my gifts: earrings to match an earlier necklace, a beach cruiser bike and a baby seat for said bike).

And finally, I was given and accepted a formal offer to the AFMO for the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest and Pawnee National Grassland North Zone. There are no real details at this time. There is one administrivial element which must be satisfied before I am considered an actual employee of the Forest Service and I have been told to expect all other information sometime around the middle of July (no guff).

P-p-p-p-p-p-p-pressure

The hiring process to which I have been alluding is moving along fairly quickly. Today I had my second (and final?) interview. Both my potential boss and the District Ranger were on the phone. The vibe, on the whole, was good. With any luck the final answer will arrive early next week.

In addition to the nail biting suspense of waiting to hear whether or not I have gotten an excellent job, I recently learned that I will be in a golf foursome with a big-wig at K's company. The words 'immanent danger' leap to mind as does 'embarrassment'.

With spring here we have taken it upon ourselves to tidy up the lawn, etc, around the condo. We mulched nearly everything, planted some flowers and grass, and mowed. It took a lot longer than I would have originally guesstimated, but it is a real pleasure to sweat a little and have clear accomplishments to look at at the end of the day.

The picture included here deserves no explanation. It was an experiment which ended. Poorly.

Spring has been sprung

So life in Chicago is getting very green. Or at least it has in the past two weeks. Somehow we have managed to complete all of our prescribed fires in spite of the compressed season. All of them were impressive, but I only managed to get pictures of Miller Woods Unit 7 and Unit 3. That's the fire world here.

In other fire news, I recently found out (in a frustratingly round about way) that RMF has already hired their seasonals for the season. Not so much as an email to me. On the other hand, things with the Forest Service are warming up. I'll make sure to let you all know as soon as there is something definitive.


In non-fire news, our condo is on the market now. There have been no calls, but it's only just been posted. We remain optimistic.

And this past weekend we were in Tennessee for a wedding. Kimberly's good friend Andrea had us down for her big day and we had a splendid time. My wonderful mother-in-law joined us which made things all the more splendid. She is truly a delight to hang out with.

Not much else to tell. I hope you are all well.

*YAWN* ..is that the time?

So I suppose I should probably get a post put up before I hit the one year anniversary of my last post. 'Twould be nice, yes?

Lots and lots has happened since July, '07. The pictures I took at the aforementioned Cascade Complex can be seen here. The experience was wonderful and frustrating, just like almost every other fire. Sadly I didn't get to go anywhere after that as my former boss took another job and I kinda got stuck at the helm back home.

In August I bought a Toyota Prius. Is this news? It is the first and perhaps only 'brand new' car which I will ever buy, but I am very happy with it. Someday I may even take a picture and post it.

Then in October I interviewed for a position with Rocky Mountain Fire, a fire department in Boulder county, Colorado. Sadly I ranked 5th on their list and they were hiring 4. Just the same they appear to be the best fit for me and my intention is to try and get a seasonal wildland fire job with them in the summer of '08. I haven't heard anything from them at this time but hope to soon.

The Holiday Season was fairly low key.

Then the big news of the year (for us) came at the end of February: Kimberly is pregnant. She'd due at the end of October, close enough to Halloween for us to go ahead and claim it as the date (I think it might actually be the 28th). So far she's doing very well and I am increasingly excited. We have picked names but are referring to it as 'Chaz' for the time being.

This spring has been rolling along well as well. I got a new boss at the end of January and he seems like a good fit for the program at the Dunes. In addition to introducing him to as many of the local Chiefs as we can schedule, I have started negotiations for automatic aid agreements with the seven Porter County departments which overlap the park. If this is successful we will finally be on the 911 system, a major win for us.

My second swan song has been negotiating to exchange one of our stations with the Park's auto shop building. I have mentioned it to many folk but it bears repeating here: our two fire stations are literally two hundred feet apart and are both at the HQ which is more or less centrally located. The auto shop is 8 miles to the west, which is coincidentally where the overwhelming majority of our fires occur. This would also be a coup.

But I'm not particularly optimistic about seeing all of these projects completed since we are still seriously pursuing a move to Colorado. As mentioned above I am looking to hire on with RMF as a seasonal. OR... the Arapahoe / Roosevelt National Forest recently flew a job announcement for an AFMO position in Fort Collins, which would work well as well. I would still prefer RMF in the long run but I haven't heard a whole lot from them lately. Kimberly, on the other hand, got some good news last week in the same vein. The Denver office of her company expressed a great of interest in getting her out there, the sooner the better.

After our employment issues are settled, all that remains is to sell the condo. We have had a lot of work done on it through the winter and it's looking pretty sharp. We should be listing here in the next couple of weeks. Woot!

On The Road again

Well, I just got the call to go to a western fire and will be heading out the door in a short bit. The name of the fire is the 'Cascade Complex' and I will be there as a Task Force Leader (TFLD) (p156) Trainee (the whole thing). This was what I went out as last year and with any luck I'll have a similarly excellent experience. I'm traveling with camera and hope to have some excellent shots to publish when I get back.

Oh bees.

It has been a long month and a half or so. After a fire tour to the U.P. and the BWCA (pix) I spent a week in Jefferson City helping teach basic wildland firefighter followed closely by a trip to Colorado Springs (pictures to come later?). Upon our return to the area I had a physical which was kinda interesting. Apparently I am only a few pounds away from being 'obese', technically speaking. I found the idea kinda laughable and easily dismissed, even when looking at this picture. Then I did a (very) little research to find out precisely what the doctors mean when they say obese. Turns out it's all about affecting health. Whilst I am currently considered overweight, I have not yet crossed the BMI threshold where my health is adversely impacted... in theory. In any instance I have decided to grow out my beard and not shave until I'm down to 200# ... or Kimberly threatens to shave it for me.

Weekender redux

Well, I put this one off for awhile... a week to be precise. This is my entry from last Monday (2007-03-05)......

Another weekend behind us, another three days of adventure for me. The original plan had been for K & I to travel to Madison on Friday for an interview then, after hooking up with K's pal Steph, we'd head on to Rib Lake for the Timm's Hill Trudge on Saturday. But poor weather forced a change of plans. I headed up north early on Friday for my interview with the Wisco DNR (which I feel like I blew. I'll hear sometime this week) after which I had lunch with my cousin Mike. After lunch I hit the road.... sorta. I went a grand total of four blocks before traffic came to a halt. It took me two hours to get to Edgerton. The fun part was talking with Mike as we drove along since he was in the same mess. It was one of the few times in my life I was happy about having a cell phone. Things got marginally better after Edgerton. ... for about two miles. Then things went to crap again. I ended up spending the night in Janesville along with a number of other travelers.

The following morning I hit a much improved road. Things went well until I came to the 90/190/294 intersection by OHare ... it always messes me up. This particular time I took 294 south, managed to grab Irving Park before I went too far astray, and made my way north on Cumberland. It was then that I made a discovery which made it all worth while. The St Joseph Ukrainian Catholic Church at 5000 North Cumberland Avenue has a breathtaking architectural style which really requires a special trip. Thirteen metal shafts of a golden hue capped with curiously -shaped slotted tips.

In lieu of the Trudge, Steph had come down and she and K cooked the day away, making Greek Meatballs and Spanakopita. Along with some home fries, the dinner on Saturday was heavenly.