December 23, 2009
Yesterday I headed to the airport to catch an early flight to MN before the snow storm hit. My original plan was to come home Christmas Eve but with freezing rain and 6 to 13 inches of snow on the way (to MN) changing my flight seemed like a good idea. The airport in Denver wasn't bad the only run in I had was with a crazy TSA lady who was telling people to move through the security line faster even though there were kids in front of us moving slow...I guess she didn't see them??? I also ventured over to the customer service desk hoping to have them help me book a flight to Orlando in March. Come to find out that customer service people don't know how to book flights only people at the ticket counter (outside of security) know how to book flights...weird.
Today I was at my sister's house and Abbi said to the younger kids "Yep, that is aunt Jamie she still has her coat on". Well, I guess having a legacy of the girl who always has a coat on is better than no legacy at all :).
The snow has started to fall here in MN and according to the weather it will be snowing for the next 72 hours!
December 23, 2009
December 21, 2009
Pavement Markings and More...
December 21, 2009
So my morning consisted of a panic because it seems there is a big snow storm moving across the upper portion of the states this week. Not good for flying into MN on Thursday. After some frantic phone calls I decided rather than be stuck here on Christmas with no Christmas tree I changed my flight. Now I'm flying to MN tomorrow night and will hopefully beat all of the bad weather.
Today at work I came across a few weird things in Grand Canyon. I'm not really sure what this pavement marking means but either it is a legitimate park service marking or someone is playing a funny joke. This symbol is the same symbol the rock band "The Red Hot Chili Peppers" use. Usually pavement markings are for rescue vehicles or helicopters but this area was heavily wooded and no chopper could ever land in this spot...hummm.
The other interesting sign I saw was for cougar crossing and the sign said "next 10 miles". I forgot to grab the image but I never thought of cougars when I was walking around the north and south rim. If you take a trip there keep your eyes peeled.
December 14, 2009
More of Denver
December 14, 2009The good news is that it is not below zero anymore and I'm starting to unthaw. The bad news is that work isn't all that exciting but I'm still being very productive. I found another sign that is a bit odd and had to post it. Why would the park choose to have a sign like this? Not only would speeding kill bears but it can also kill pedestrians! I guess we know where the park's priorities are :). This was in Yosemite.
Yesterday while I was looking over a recipe book I'm making of my grandma's recipes I decided to have the travel channel on TV. There is a new show on called Meet the Natives. I was sort of skeptical but left it on that channel anyway. It didn't take long and I was hooked. It is a great show that shows 5 men from Tanna coming to the United States for the first time. They are on a mission to spread the word of peace. It is an eye opener to see their perspective on the United States. It made me realize how much we have in this country but often take it for granted. They went to Yellowstone National Park and saw snow for the first time. It was funny to see them accidentally come close to a bison and run and then try to figure out what the animal was. They said "that is no cow!" They also asked a man living in Illinois "Why do you clean the grass, so cows can graze?" The American said "Because it looks good" and the Native said "Sure". He defiantly didn't understand why we spend time raking the leaves...interesting perspective. It made me think about some of the odd things Americans do. Anyway, it is a great show and definitely made me appreciate my country a little more. I encourage you to check it out if you can.
http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Meet_the_Natives
December 9, 2009
The Office
December 9, 2009
Why does it have to be so cold? Typically Denver will have one cold day and then it will warm up but 2 or 3 really cold days in a row is rare. It feels like I'm back in Grand Forks, ND. Temperatures have been below zero and the only good thing about it is that I finally get to wear my extra super warm winter jacket.
This week at work I've been working on post processing GPS from the truck. The process involves quite a few steps. I take the raw GPS from the truck and run a correction program, which can take a long time to run depending on how many miles we collected. Then I have to import those files into a database and run 2 more programs to get the database the way we want it. Then I export the GPS table from the database and manually edit a route if needed. Sometimes we run a route long so I have to cut them off, manually delete points. After the routes are the way we want them I then have to merge each day's GPS together to get one GPS road file for each park. That file has to be put onto a delivery USB for the data processing contractor. I've been doing this for about 10 parks. That is just one thing I've been up to in the office this week. I've also been working on a geodatabase that allows us to visually see all of the parks we are going to in our next collection cycle. That in itself is pretty easy to make but I was putting some data behind the images so that took some more work.
On a different note I read that there is only one living person who has visited all 390 national park sites. I never really thought anyone would make that a goal. I made a rough estimate for how many parks I've been to and came up with 80...sounds like a small number compared to the total of 390! There are some really small parks that you wouldn't really think about like Ford's Theater in DC or the New Orleans Jazz National Historic Site. Those parks consist of one single building, no parking lots or roads.
As I write this I'm watching Wrecked on TV. I have to put in a plug for one of my favorite TV shows. It is on the speed channel and it is about a Chicago towing company called O'hare. If you want to see what tow truck drivers go through this is a great show to watch. Next time I'm in/near Chicago and my work truck breaks down I'm going to give them a call and maybe we will end up on their show :). I'm sure they don't tow many road analyzer vehicles. http://www.oharetowing.com/
Why does it have to be so cold? Typically Denver will have one cold day and then it will warm up but 2 or 3 really cold days in a row is rare. It feels like I'm back in Grand Forks, ND. Temperatures have been below zero and the only good thing about it is that I finally get to wear my extra super warm winter jacket.
This week at work I've been working on post processing GPS from the truck. The process involves quite a few steps. I take the raw GPS from the truck and run a correction program, which can take a long time to run depending on how many miles we collected. Then I have to import those files into a database and run 2 more programs to get the database the way we want it. Then I export the GPS table from the database and manually edit a route if needed. Sometimes we run a route long so I have to cut them off, manually delete points. After the routes are the way we want them I then have to merge each day's GPS together to get one GPS road file for each park. That file has to be put onto a delivery USB for the data processing contractor. I've been doing this for about 10 parks. That is just one thing I've been up to in the office this week. I've also been working on a geodatabase that allows us to visually see all of the parks we are going to in our next collection cycle. That in itself is pretty easy to make but I was putting some data behind the images so that took some more work.
On a different note I read that there is only one living person who has visited all 390 national park sites. I never really thought anyone would make that a goal. I made a rough estimate for how many parks I've been to and came up with 80...sounds like a small number compared to the total of 390! There are some really small parks that you wouldn't really think about like Ford's Theater in DC or the New Orleans Jazz National Historic Site. Those parks consist of one single building, no parking lots or roads.
As I write this I'm watching Wrecked on TV. I have to put in a plug for one of my favorite TV shows. It is on the speed channel and it is about a Chicago towing company called O'hare. If you want to see what tow truck drivers go through this is a great show to watch. Next time I'm in/near Chicago and my work truck breaks down I'm going to give them a call and maybe we will end up on their show :). I'm sure they don't tow many road analyzer vehicles. http://www.oharetowing.com/
December 3, 2009
Back to Denver
December 3, 2009
Today I flew back to Denver. The flight went well and was uneventful. I didn't watch the movie because it lost my interest in the first 10 minutes. I think it was called "It Might Get Loud".
At the Dulles airport I was going through security and the TSA guy looks at my stuff and says "Oh, it's you. We got a call from the mayor of Denver and he said you couldn't fly back on this plane today." Uhhh TSA humor, gotta love it.
After landing in Denver I was walking to the train and heard an agent on the speaker talking to passengers going to California saying something along the lines of "this airplane has a possible engine problem so they need to do a test loop around the airport to get a better idea of what the problem is." I would not want to be those pilots that had to do the test loop in the sky...no way! Anyway, it happened by coincidence that one of my friends landed at the Denver airport about 30 minutes after I did. She was on her way to Nashville. I waited for her and we ate lunch together before she got on her next flight. It was fun and good to see her again.
I'm back in Denver for a couple of weeks until I go to MN for Christmas.
Today I flew back to Denver. The flight went well and was uneventful. I didn't watch the movie because it lost my interest in the first 10 minutes. I think it was called "It Might Get Loud".
At the Dulles airport I was going through security and the TSA guy looks at my stuff and says "Oh, it's you. We got a call from the mayor of Denver and he said you couldn't fly back on this plane today." Uhhh TSA humor, gotta love it.
After landing in Denver I was walking to the train and heard an agent on the speaker talking to passengers going to California saying something along the lines of "this airplane has a possible engine problem so they need to do a test loop around the airport to get a better idea of what the problem is." I would not want to be those pilots that had to do the test loop in the sky...no way! Anyway, it happened by coincidence that one of my friends landed at the Denver airport about 30 minutes after I did. She was on her way to Nashville. I waited for her and we ate lunch together before she got on her next flight. It was fun and good to see her again.
I'm back in Denver for a couple of weeks until I go to MN for Christmas.
December 2, 2009
Sterling, VA Meeting
December 2, 2009
Yesterday and today our program had a Kick Off meeting with the company that will be processing our data and building our new truck for our next collection cycle. It was a full two days and we got a lot done.
Yesterday at the hotel we ran into someone that works in the FHWA Western office whom often works with us in our program. It was nice to run into a familiar face. We all went out to dinner last night and it was a good time.
Today at lunch the representative from the processing company said "do any of you have kids" and we went around the table and everyone said "yes" except for me. The guy said "you are probably too young to have kids" and I just laughed and said "what do you mean, how old do you think I am? I'm sure I'm the same age as you" and he said "no way" and then guessed I was 26...nice! Looks like I'm still lucky to have people think I'm in my 20s. Turns out that him and I are the same age...I knew it! He said "I look way older than you". I don't know about that but it is funny how often my age comes up when I first meet people. I guess I'll take the compliment while I can :) .
Tomorrow I fly back to Denver.
Yesterday and today our program had a Kick Off meeting with the company that will be processing our data and building our new truck for our next collection cycle. It was a full two days and we got a lot done.
Yesterday at the hotel we ran into someone that works in the FHWA Western office whom often works with us in our program. It was nice to run into a familiar face. We all went out to dinner last night and it was a good time.
Today at lunch the representative from the processing company said "do any of you have kids" and we went around the table and everyone said "yes" except for me. The guy said "you are probably too young to have kids" and I just laughed and said "what do you mean, how old do you think I am? I'm sure I'm the same age as you" and he said "no way" and then guessed I was 26...nice! Looks like I'm still lucky to have people think I'm in my 20s. Turns out that him and I are the same age...I knew it! He said "I look way older than you". I don't know about that but it is funny how often my age comes up when I first meet people. I guess I'll take the compliment while I can :) .
Tomorrow I fly back to Denver.
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