Fighting a good fight

As a lot of you may already know, since moving to Colorado I have taken a great interest in prairie dogs. I had never seen a prairie dog before coming to CO. I see them everyday on my way to school at Frontrange in Westminster and I say to myself that one of these days I'm going to run off the road because I'm too busy prairie dog watching.

Shortly after my first semester at Frontrange began, I noticed that acres and acres of land on both sides of Sheridan were being plowed. I couldn't for the life of me think of any reason this was being done. It was obvious that it wasn't because they were planning on developing the land (not in the near future anyways) so what the f? I'm sure there was some reason but it bothered me so much because that land was home to thousands of prairie dogs and these tractors were bulldozing everything in site with no concern for them.

I couldn't think of anything else to do so I e-mailed all of the city councilors of Westminster and gave them a piece of my mind. I also e-mailed the prairie dog coalition asking for advice but I never heard back from them. So that was last semester; this semester all those acres and acres of land are still just sitting there....plowed. The prairie dogs seem to be just fine and all is well for now.

So the reason for this post is my new crusade for the prairie dogs! There is a lot on the northwest side of Sheridan and 112th that has been under development for a long time now but the development has been moving really slowly. There are prairie dogs on the lot that have been having to cross the sidewalk to find food in the manicured lawn next to Sheridan for about 2 months. I see them over there everyday on my way to school and it breaks my heart. There is absolutely no where else for them to go. The lot is bordered on two sides by road, another side by a gas station, and on the other side I believe there is a preschool or something. Basically they are stranded and at the mercy of the bulldozers.

About a week ago I noticed that the development was picking up, there was a lot of heavy equipment around, and they were starting to build. And there were the prairie dogs...everyday, forced out into the only place they could still find grass. It was SO sad! I realized that if the day came that I drove to school and the lot was paved and there were no more prairie dogs to be seen that I would blame myself because I waited for someone else to do something instead of being proactive and doing something myself.

So two weeks ago I e-mailed the prairie dog coalition and got no reply. So I e-mailed them again and still no reply. Finally I called and got a msg that everyone would be out of the office until the19th. I waited and called on the 19th and spoke with someone who said they would read my e-mail and get back to me. Two days went by and no e-mail, so I called again. They told me they never received my e-mail so I gave them my e-mail address and I finally received an e-mail the following day giving me pointers on how to start the relocation process. I started by calling a few of the well know relocators and got a hold of someone that had actually started the process of moving those very same prairie dogs months ago. Unfortunately she had had to go in for emergency heart surgery and was unable to finish the process. She told me that to her knowledge there were no more prairie dogs at that location. She was happy to hear that some had survived and willing to engage in the process of moving them once again. She gave me the contact number for the development company and agreed to start some of the necessary paper work.

I called the development company and spoke to the woman whose name had been given to me by the relocator. This woman was a complete idiot. I told her that I, along with a well known prairie dog relocator were beginning the process to move the animals off the lot and if she could please forgo any plans on poisoning or other lethal means of removal it would be greatly appreciated. She told me that there weren't any prairie dogs on the land that they had all left. I thought to myself, "Um, yeah, but I'm calling about the imaginary prairie dogs ?" I mean, seriously? Why the hell would I waste my time tracking down your number if there weren't any prairie dogs? I'm hoping this company is just an equal opportunity employer and required to hire a certain amount of dumbasses

Anywho, I informed her that there were indeed still prairie dogs living on the land and to please let me know if any plan was to be implimented to get rid of them. She agreed and we hung up. Whether her tiny little brain was able to comprehend the words coming out of my mouth is still uncertain.

Last week sometime bulldozers plowed over the only remaining burrows of the prairie dogs. And they didn't just plow over them, they piled about four feet of dirt on top of them. I found this out two nights ago when I went out there to throw some hay and veggies for them (Deb, the relocator, told me I could do this to supplement their scarce food supply and also to get them used to treats so that they would be easier to trap)

Needless to say, I was devastated. I was almost in tears thinking that if I had only acted sooner they might all still be alive. I was also very pissed off because I had just spoken to a woman, however incompetent she was, who assured me that they would be fine on the outskirts of the lot until early June at least! What a lying biatch! So, not giving up hope, I went back there today to see if I could see any prairie dogs and I did. There were three that I could see, down from the five or six I usually see, but maybe the others were being shy. So I gave them more food and I will continue doing what I can to help them get out of there.

Sorry this was so long, I have even more to say but I'll save it for later. :)

softball is fun!

We played some softball today and it was great! A ton of people showed up and I think we are going to have a really strong team. I hope I'll be able to play. I am seriously thinking about taking an EMT class this summer and it takes place 5:30-10:00pm, Mon-Fri. I think the class starts in the beginning of June and goes through the middle of July. Maybe they'll decide to change the time, I'll keep my fingers crossed! Hmmm, but we can't a winning team without a winning name. Any ideas???

Shake and Bake Baby!!

Paul and I just got back from a weekend trip to my hometown for a little snowmobiling action! We met my friends Josh and Candice at the airport and stayed one night in Reno at their place then headed to Quincy the following morning. We gathered the troops (me, Paul, josh,Candice, Candice's brother Ben, Josh's friend Keith, and Candice's friend aurora) and hauled six snowmobiles to Bucks Lake. Bucks Lake is like a miniature version of Lake Tahoe....it's awesome. I've been spending summers up there since I was twelve.

Anyways, once we arrived at the mountain summit we had to park and unload the snowmobiles and ride the rest of the way in on them. We made our way about a mile and half to Bucks Lake Lodge. In the winter this lodge is only accessible via snowmobile. It is a restaurant/bar and a bunch of cabins. We had rented one of the cabins for Fri/Sat night.

Friday night we did a night ride and it was incredible. For those of you who aren't familiar with snowmobiles, they are a lot like jet skis but on the snow. You can get them up to about 140 mph and they can climb pretty much anything! They also have headlights for night riding. So we took a trip around the lake in the light of a full moon, it was beautiful!



The next day we all woke up around 9:30 and went for another ride. It great because you can bring beer with you for the ride and take beer breaks every 20 minutes or so! After a couple of hours of riding we were headed back to the lake to meet up with Candice's family at another cabin. On our way back, Josh, Ben and Paul cruised up the side of a steep hill to goof around. After about 10 minutes both Josh and Ben had returned, but no Paul. They went back up to find him and find him they did....with his snowmobile stuck vertical, head first in a tree well. Paul observed the "ownage of the tree" but was basically uninjured otherwise.

It took about 30 min to dig out the snowmobile, luckily it was unharmed as well because it was being borrowed from Candice's cousin Chris. We finally met up with the rest of the family and all of us (about 12 people in all) took off once again to explore the countryside. We all stopped at a hill that was pretty cool for goofing around and hung out there for about an hour, trading snowmobiles and cruising around. Well, once again everyone returned to the bottom but no Paul. So a couple of us went up to look for him. I found him with his snowmobile stuck in about 3 feet of slushy snow (it was about 4:30 in the afternoon by now and it had been sunny all day) on a very steep hill. I ran up the hill to help him dig it out and was soon joined by some others. In Paul's defense, there were other tracks going up the hill so it wasn't a completely crazy attempt! Once we got him unburied we realized that in his attempt to free himself he had burned up the belt and the snowmobile was no longer mobile. The first incident Paul was riding Chris's snowmobile, this time he was riding Chris's wife's snowmobile. So it took us about a half an hour to replace the belt and we were on our way once again. Needless to say, Paul had established quite a reputation for himself by now! :) Once back at the Lake it was time for some Tree Smackers!!




Bucks Lake is famous for it's Tree Smackers. It's a concoction similar to a Long Island Ice Tea but more fruity. They are VERY dangerous and called a Tree Smacker for a reason. So we ended the day with a few drinks and then hung out in the cabin playing Whales Tales for the rest of the night. We headed home the next morning. By this time, I was so sore I could barely walk. Every muscle in my body hurt and I actually fell down once b/c my legs just gave out. A lot of people don't realize what a physical sport snowmobiling is. But you are pretty much standing up the whole time and throwing your weight around all day.

All and all, good times were had!

It's all downhill from here

I'm kinda hooked on playing low buy-in sit -n-gos right now. I play the 5 to 10 dollar 18 to 27 person tourneys and have cashed in the last four I have played. It's the first time my Stars account has ever increased without outside influences. I think I have figured out why.

I use the analogy of skiing because it's the first thing that comes to mind. When I first started skiing, I was a balls out, straight down the hill kind of skier....making turns was for wussies! After learning how to ski when I was 17, I tried out for the high school ski team and ended up wiping the floor with all the veteran girls on the team in the giant slalom event! Needless to say, I didn't make any new friends that winter :) Anyways, I ended up qualifying for State Championships that year and got 31st out 120 in the G.S event. Crazy right?! But did I mention that I couldn't finish a regular slalom course to save my life? That's my point! Skiing a regular slalom course requires skill, finesse, and experience. I had none of those things. What I did have was no fear and that is why making those "giant" sweeping curves down the mountain was right up my alley.

Anyways, because giant slalom was what I loved, I had no desire to venture off the corduroy into waist deep powder and spend the day soaking wet and freezing cold. I kept to the groomers and improved my form for the next few years to come. Finally, I had no choice. My friends forced me out of my comfort zone into the fluffy stuff. Man, was it terrible! I felt like it was my first day ever skiing! I was noob once again! After a few hours of torture I finally returned to the groomers and I couldn't wait to rip it up down the hill. But oh no! As soon as I set ski on that trail I felt like Darrell Hannah in Splash the first time she trades her tail in for two legs. I couldn't get my form down, I kept catching an edge, I was putting all my weight behind me...I was completely screwed up. It took me another 3 runs to finally feel like I was back in the saddle.

My point is, poker is like skiing. You have cash games and your tourneys. Just like you have regular slalom and giant slalom, powder and groomed. I came into the game of poker a completely unskilled player, knowing absolutely nothing about poker. Therefore, I accelerated at the low buy-in sit-n-go's. Low buy in sit-n-go's are my giant slalom event. Then I tried to play cash games. Paul worked with me, Bag worked with me, Ben worked with me....heck, even Truman worked with me. It was obvious I was not a cash game player so back to the sit-n-go's I went :) But funny thing, after all that cash game play, my tourney game was completely screwed up! I couldn't make it to a final table if my life depended on it. I had been skiing in the cash game powder and when I returned to the comforts of my corduroy sit-n-go's I didn't stand a chance.

The light at the end of the tunnel:
The last time I was in Vegas with Paul we met out friends Justin and Katie (ha! Wolf, if you're reading this...that was for you!) and Katie and I played in a 50 person tournament at Ceasers 2 days in a row. The first day I asked Paul if he had any advice for me and he said "Just play old school kermy style." So, I really tried to be crazy and bludgeon people. Unfortunately, their battle axes were a little bigger than mine and I was out in 33 place :(

The next day Katie and I entered into the same tournament determined to stick it out. I replayed all my stupidly, non-kermy style, played hands from the previous day in my mind and formed a game plan. I kinda felt bad for my table this day because little did they know I was bringing a big ol' can of crazy frag with me and I planned on opening it up and dumping it all over the place!

Well, that big ol' can of crazy frag got me to the final table that day and I haven't looked back. I actually attempted to play a cash game with Paul, Ethan, Katie and Justin that night. I did SO TERRIBLE that Ethan couldn't get to sleep that night when he got home. He got up and typed a list of basic cash game rules for me so that Paul wouldn't kill me the next time we played a cash game together:)

Long Story Short: I'm a tournament player, not a very good one, but a tournament player. I'm not good enough to be, nor do I really want to put the time into being, a decent cash game player. It's two completely different games and I'm going to stick with what comes naturally to me. Just like giant slalom...to be one of the greats, you've got a be a wee on the crazy side sometimes.

YUM YUM!

I got home tonight at about 7:30 and decided to make some cornbread from scratch. I know what you're all thinking, "Easy there! It's a Wednesday!" :) I actually attempted to make some last night using the recipe that comes on the back of the cornmeal bag and it was so terrible Zoe wouldn't even eat it. So tonight I got a great recipe from www.allrecipes.com. and it turned out really good. But it kinda sucks cause I'm the only one here and I'll probably only end up eating one or two slices. So, if anyone is in the neighborhood and wants some yummy cornbread, you know where to look! ;)

That McDonalds McSkillet commercial IS really dumb. Thank you Pickle for enlightening me :)

Are you kidding me?!

This is pretty much the saddest thing I have ever seen. For two reasons. 1) It's freaking sad and 2) What kind of people actually do this kind of thing? Do they get their two weeks of vacation a year and say..."Sweet! I can finally go out and obliterate those damned tiny, burrow living, pup rearing, evil little critters!" WTF!!

http://www.bossranch.com/new/hunting.htm

Man, its so hard

I don't know why, but every time I sit down to post something I feel like it needs to be this great and awe inspiring post that will knock the socks off of everyone. But, I must teach myself that its ok to post crap. So here goes :)

I've really gotten into cooking lately. My mom still freaks out because while I was in highschool she tried so hard to get me to cook but I always had other stuff going on or I just didn't feel like it. But it's weird now. Sometimes I'll just get so excited about cooking a new recipe or slapping together trusty favorite. I think I'm growing up...or something. Anyway, Alia made the best dinner the other night for Pickett and me and I can't wait to try it out when Paul gets home.

Tonight I had sesh-wan beef from May Wah and it was meh. It's usually much better so I am very disappointed :( I had a stupid speech to finish for my stupid speech class. I'm not a big fan of the speech class in case you didn't know.

I'm giving a persuasive speech tomorrow on why online poker should not be made illegal. It's going to be a lot like Annie Duke's speech to Congress. But then, I have to argue the other side of my speech later on. That will bite a big one. O-well. School is not fun this semester at all. But, I need something to blog about later so I'm going to leave you in suspense.

Question: If you could make a "pocket guide" to anything....what would it be?

Hello?? Is anyone out there?

I just got a laptop and I am very excited to be typing this in my bed! I just wanted ya'll to know that I am going to make a concentrated effort to blog more often. Even if I don't have anything interesting to say, I'm just going to say stuff.....stuff....stuff....stuff. So everyone get prepared to be delighted and well.......stuff :)