Hot sub sandwiches, neo-nazis, and a cemetery stroll at dusk!

About a month ago I started my summer internship for the Women Marines Association in Lone Tree, Colorado. I've been marching along to the beat of my own drummer in creating donor forms, accession forms, databases, speadsheets, shelf layouts, box labels, etc.. Considering it's only been a month and I only work a few days a week, the project is starting to take shape and a real process is starting to develop. I find myself adding massive amounts of things to the "must read" list and thinking research topics that I would like to pursue in my own time (hmm, what is that again??). While I've been incredibly busy, the summer has still been very enjoyable. Catching up with old friends and making new ones have made all the tasks that come with 3 jobs a lot less daunting.

Last night, my supervisor Nancy Wilt and I went to a gas station in Larksburg, Colorado for dinner. Don't knock it until you try it! Best hot sub sandwich I've had since... well, ever maybe! We dined out on the mini front porch and watched the waves of Renaissance Fair die-hards stock up on middle-evil Marlboros, hotdogs, potato chips, and twinkies!! After eating, we took a short drive past the historic house owned by neo-Nazis and disguised as a Co-Masonic Lodge! No lie.

From there we went down a county road out into old horse ranch and homestead country that was so beautiful and green because of Plum Creek that runs through the area. Not too far along, we took another mini detour into the Bear Something cemetery! Through the narrow gated entrance and down a pebble road set the quaintest little church in a courtyard. With lined paths just wide enough to fit a car down (they were probably meant for a horse drawn coffin) and heavy tree coverage, the graves looked very peaceful. Supposedly there are some old Texas Rangers buried there but we didn't get out to peruse the stones in this cemetery. We did get out a few miles down the road the original Castle Rock cemetery though! People that had arrived in the early 1880s were pretty common. There were lots of Civil War Union soldiers and World War I veterans buried there. Also, there were two men that had died in combat in Vietnam. I took a picture of the cemetery's mini veteran's park. It was very beautiful to see at dusk. If you look closely you can see the mountain sunset reflected on the granite.

A hamster's life

Lately it feels like I've been a hamster spinning away on a wheel. I just kept going and going and am getting absolutely nowhere! As much as I try to look on the bright side of things, sometimes the sheer quantity of crap I have to do for other people just makes my head spin. I've had this bitch in the past, especially when it comes to people thinking that it's all just a piece of cake because it's just school. I got to thinking the other day about how much of my week is predetermined by school and work and it basically boils down to about 35 hours of work,12 hours sitting in class, 8 hours of free labor on my practicum, 2 office hours, and on average about 15 hours of reading and 4 hours of Atlas research. And lucky for me, grading starts next week so there goes another 6 or 7 hours a week. And sadly that's probably the lighter side of the reading load. I know I can't look at it like that because then it's just overwhelming and sucky. It definitely sucks at the end of the day knowing that there is a whole other day lined up and the next day off isn't even visible on a calendar. Yeah, I get it, my fault for signing up for all this crap but unfortunately I'm too far in now to justify a disgraceful exit.

File under "R" for Random

I'm still trying to figure out how I've managed to have it so easy this semester. I'm ahead by days on the course curriculum. It's kind of eerie. It's like someone hasn't told me something. There's got to be a catch somewhere, something I'm forgetting to do. The atlas missile research is slowly progressing. Secondary sources are in abundance; it's the original stuff that I'm having a hard time tracking down. My prospectus is due this next week, which is basically my attempt at selling my topic as something that is worthy of research because it has historical value. A nuclear bomb attached to a rocket in a community's backyard seems to have obvious historical value, but that's just my opinion.

My Records Management class has proved to be rather entertaining. I'm glad that I'm not the only one in the class that feels like a complete, unorganized slacker when it comes to personal records. Last week, we covered the basics of filing strategies. Very elementary concepts were covered, but all I could think was, "If this is all so simple, why the hell can't I maintain any form of organization with all my papers at home?" It really is laughable to think that my best strategy for maintaining my files are piles of stuff and then stuffed folders when I get sick of looking at the piles of stuff. Let's hope that when it comes time to searching for a job, they don't request evidence that I am organized in my personal life. Speaking of searching for a job, my resume is getting a little further along. Yes, I realize a turtle moves faster than I do.

3, 2, 1...we have liftoff!

Well, it's not exactly dealing with the Korean War but there may be some links if I dig deep enough. I have to turn in my research topic next week for my research seminar and I've decided to focus on Atlas missiles in Northern Colorado during the Cold War. Just from my initial search for sources, I've found they were actually raised, fueled, and on alert during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Localizing something as important as that event should make for an interesting read...hopefully. On a far more random note from early research, apparently you can buy old missile silos and covert them into your home! No joke, some people actually live in them! One silo even includes its own personal air strip! It's amazing what money can get you!

A sight less ordinary.

So I'm driving out to my parent's house and I'm on this two lane road surrounded by some cows and what not. And as I reach the bottom of this hill, what do I see? A sight very similar to the one on this movie poster...minus the creepy clouds. Oh, and the person was a woman not some creepy guy in a butcher suit. But there she was walking down the side of the road with a HUGE chainsaw in her hand. And while I felt sorry for her for lugging the thing down the road, I wasn't about to pull over and give her a lift. That's how people end up on the front page of newspapers. Anywho, I didn't return home that same way to see if any unsuspecting victim gave her a ride but I'm guessing probably not.

$425.00 = A whole lot of frickin' work

I think the picture is self explanatory.

Real life is WAY overrated.

At the beginning of last semester I posted a blog about how some people think that grad school is like living safely in a bubble secure from real life. While during the actual semester, that's totally not the case, I'm pretty sure that I can say winter break has been very much like living in some bubble. Sporadically working, sleeping until 10 or 11, traveling hundreds of miles, hanging out with friends and family, and having the man around to distract me was very surreal. I knew it would all end eventually and I'd have to wake up and drag my butt off to work at the crack of dawn with the rest of the world, but I can't help but think how nice just one more day would have been. All morning long I've had Diamond Rio's One More Day With You stuck in my head. I'd have to agree with the song, one more day really would just leave me wishing for one more. I've been spoiled rotten and can't help but feel blessed. If the first few days are any indication of how this year is going to go, 2008 should be fantastic! I'm really going to enjoy working on my resolution this year!