PixlBit

Yes, Cary, I finally bought AC: New Leaf, and I'm blaming my current obsession on you.

It's been another busy week in a busy summer. So much so that I took today off just to relax. So far, so good on that front. As to what I've been up to, well, here's the rundown in the usual format.

I'm tired, so gonna keep this brief.

Good morning, Pixlbit Nation! Forgive the excessive mid-week cheeriness, it's my weekend.

Where does the time go?! There really aren't enough hours in the day for work and all my hobbies and interests. And there'll be less time this week than most. I'm headed to Kentucky early Friday morning for my nephew's graduation. We'll be coming back the next day, so quick trip, but it will be so worth it. Many of you former 1uppers have been reading about Bean's and my adventures for years, and now he's all grown up. Thursday I head to my sister's in NH, where I'll spend the night before heading to the airport in Boston in the early AM. On the way, I'm stopping at a friend's house to do some odd jobs for her that she isn't physically able to do (climb ladders and change lightbulbs, mostly) and also some mechanical stuff.

Ranger stuff: Still busy at work. Spring cleanup is still ongoing due to the late spring and also lack of the usual volunteers who normally help us out. The next week is going to be long, as I want the place looking good for the holiday weekend and I plan on working whatever it takes to get it looking that way. The good news is that we are now fully staffed, and the new hire seems like he may not have an off switch. This makes me happy.

Work's been keeping me busy and very tired. We had our annual bird watching festival the last weekend in April (was that really just a week ago?!) and most of my time was spent getting the park looking decent for that and getting the plumbing issues sorted out so we could open the bathroom building in time for the festival. I can now say with no hint of uncertainty: I do not want to be a plumber when I grow up. I replaced the tank bolts in two toilets, replaced the tank to bowl gaskets for both of them at the same time because the old ones fell apart as I was wrestling with getting the old bolts removed, and fixed a couple of leaks from various valves. I was less successful up at HQ - the leaky sprayer in the kitchen sink was a pain to remove and then getting the parts to plug it off permanently was problematic at best. I thought I had it fixed, but when I checked for leaks today, the bucket I put under it was half full. It'll be back under the mouse-infested sink tomorrow. Could be worse, could have had a toilet explode and embed porcelain shrapnel in my forehead like the maintenance mechanic last week. Who knew plumbing could be so dangerous?

I had this mostly written, got called away to do something and never got back to it. I'm too tired and lazy to incorporate it into a new blog, so enjoy it for what it is.

It's been a busy first week back at the park, but nearly as busy as it will be as soon as the snow melts. Mostly I'm putting signs back up that fell over during the winter and picking up the litter that's emerging as the snow melts. But I also get to do a lot of nature observation while I'm doing that, which is pretty darn awesome, if you ask me.

Ranger Stuff: First day back to work at the Park!!! To say I'm happy about it is an understatement. I woke up not feeling so great this morning and debated working today (I usually have Sundays off until Memorial weekend), but I'm glad I went in. Pretty easy first day, mostly catching up with my boss about stuff from the winter, as well as upcoming events. Then a quick cruise through the parking lots picking up a minimal amount of trash and noting what trees need to come down this spring and which signs need work, and then Andy (my boss) met me and we scouted for the pre-school program for our intern. No animal tracks to be found, but it's terrible snow for tracking right now. Then we went down to shore to check and see if the island ospreys were back yet. Nope, not an osprey to be seen. I think this may be the first year I've come back before them. We also have a very fat red squirrel hanging out on the little covered entryway and getting into the litter bucket. I think she's preggers, so probably eating for five. She's not happy with me, I put a lid on the bucket so she couldn't strew trash all over the yard at HQ.