On the Edge: Night flares and Final Resolutions

The moonlight, flares, and razor wire...it is almost pretty

Today I slept until 11:30 am...it was like magic! Well, I didn't go to bed until 5 am, so it sounds better perhaps than it was, but I feel really refreshed and alert again. I have switched to an afternoon shift out here, so starting tomorrow I will come on shift at 4 pm and work basically until 4 am (or whenever the work is finished). We are hoping that splitting the shifts so that we work with overlap will help us to work fewer hours individually and get more done in an efficient way. Well, that is the plan at least; we will have to see how is goes. I came in a bit early today, at 12:30 because I couldn't sleep anymore and couldn't bring myself to going to the gym this morning...I now feel a little guilty about it, so I will need to really hit it tomorrow to make up for the fail today. I have some big news though...turns out that NO ONE showers at 11:30 in the morning here so I got a HOT shower!! I can't tell you how amazing it felt...I will tell you what folks, it is the little things in life, seriously.

Processing and rockin' out...

So, today I thought that I might finish out my New Year's Resolutions since the last two aren't very exciting and nobody reads on the weekend anyway. I suppose that we need to recap, as it has been a while, so:

1) Fat gross, fit sexy
2) Best Dad EVER!
3) Out with Debt
4) Vacay!!
5) Books make us smart - 1 a month of VALUE

Okay, that brings us to the last two, and I will cover them one at a time. Number six...I solemnly resolve to write in my journal at least once per week and on my blog at least once per week throughout this upcoming year. So, this resolution has the intent of forcing me to write, whether in journal, blog, or whatever. When I was younger, I had high aspirations of being a writer, and I was often told that I was pretty good at it. In those days I wrote religiously in a journal...three pages at least everyday. Sometimes all three pages were just stream of consciousness rambling, but sometimes I would get pages of truly good stuff which would be able to be developed into something much more. I miss that...I miss the composition book that I seemed to have with me always...I miss those first few moments before anything went down on the page, the struggle to undertake something so monumental as overcoming mental and creative inertia. It was exercise for the brain and for the soul. I always felt refreshed and alive after the writing, the way that many people experience an exerciser's high. In any case, I want to feel that way again. I want to feel like I am leaving a testament to who I am, why I do what I do, and how I felt about it. A journal is a place where we can be honest about ourselves and intentions, and a record of we have been. I just like the idea. As far as the blog goes...I made that part of the resolution because I am TERRIBLE at keeping in touch with people who mean a lot to me. I mean, terrible isn't even strong enough to describe how bad I am at it...a blog is a way for me to pass along what I am doing, where I am, and how I am feeling without having to try and do it individually. It helps me to stay connected. Man, I wish I were a better friend, son, brother, father, and partner...I am just one of those people who is so comfortable being alone (though I am remarkably extroverted which makes it weird) that I just forget to stay in touch. This year I will keep the blog, but I may take it further to make a point of speaking or writing to the people that I most care about regularly, so that they will know just how important they are to me. And that should just about cover my sixth resolution...

Now for number seven, the last of my resolutions for the year...I solemnly resolve to take the GRE this year so that I may begin considering a return to graduate studies. I don't know for sure if I will be able to go to grad school next year or not, but I want to have all of my ducks in a row anyway. I just really miss the academic world...I miss have the opportunity to learn new things all the time in a sort of set environment. I know that I want to take courses on Metamorphic Petrology, Structure, Tectonics, and Stratigraphy, and just because it is the field that I work in perhaps even a course or two in seismic processing and GIS. I believe that having the MS will make me a more valuable employee (especially on paper), and potentially open up some additional opportunities for me. For now though, I am very happy with where I am in life and my career. Regardless, I plan to really focus on doing the groundwork to do even better on the GRE than I did last time.

Well, there you have it, seven resolutions to help guide me in the New Year. I love this time of year, as it is the time when all of our best intentions are still intact...we still have time to make our dreams of a better life, a better me, come true. So much optimism in January, and if we don't act on it, it turns to panic in July, and despair in December. I have felt that way so many times before that this year I am owning my resolutions. I have already started on all of them and will not stop.

It has been a bit wet here the last couple of days, so the mosquito population has exploded inside of the camp...I can't tell you how vile the mosquitoes are here. The only swarms that I can compare them to are the black flies in Maine, maybe the mosquitoes up in the interior of Alaska. The weather has been going back and forth between cold and warm, so everyone out here is starting to get sick. It is turning into a bit of an epidemic...about a quarter of the senior staff are fighting off illness right now. I hope that I don't get sick...I have way too much work to do.

The night tonight is beautiful...if you can face the hordes of mosquitoes. I managed to get some pretty decent pictures of the full moon and the camp at night that I will share. Bogdan, the QC Chief (we talk all the time because QC and DP share a trailer), is an avid film photographer and has been giving me quite a few pointers for my own photography. I always have wanted to get more into photography, but it is a daunting hobby to try and get into. I have two 35 mm film cameras at home that I plan to start using again when I get home. Plus, as I learn more and more about my digital camera that I bought last year I am discovering that it is a good deal more impressive than I realized. I really like taking pictures and hope to get better at it.