Unit 10; Final blog

Hi everyone,

Well, this is the final blog for this class.  I am sad but also glad I had the chance to take this class and meet each one of you.  We all prevailed and pass the class with flying colors and that is a outstanding accomplishment.  Kudos and pat yourselves on the back.  Thank you for your support and kindness.  I will take all that I have learned from you and apply it in my future classes.

Julie, your the greatest and will miss you.  You are a outstanding professor and made me feel at ease the first moment I started your class.  Thank you for all your encouragement and support.

Good luck to all of you in the future and hope to see you in future classes.  Have fun and relax.  I will miss you all. 

Have a happy day from the small town girl from Idaho.

Tracy :)

Unit 9 reflection.

Hello fellow classmates and Professor Pal,

I write this blog with a sad heart.  It is always hard at the end of the class because you have made so many new friends and knowing you may never see or hear from them again.  As Julie stated " we start out as total strangers and over the course of nine weeks we all become closer."  For me it is hard and exciting at the same time to start a new class wondering if you will see other classmates from previous classes.  I hope we will see each other in the future but know that we may not.  Good luck to all of you in your future endeavors.  I am answering Julie question on will I continue to write on my blog and the answer is yes.

I really like writing blogs and it is a way to share things that are on my mind or my frustrations.  I hope all is well and take care.  Until we meet again.

Tracy :)

Unit 8 Fall is in the air.

Hi fellow classmates,

Well it is close to the end of September and the leaves are starting to change colors.  When the leaves start turning I know old man winter is not far behind.  I love when the leaves change to the reds, golds, and yellow but I am not ready for the white stuff on the ground.  This September has been super as far as weather the temperatures have been what us Idahoans call an Indian Summer, mid 40's to upper 30's for nighttime.  Mid 70's to low 80's for daytime temperatures.  We have had a couple of morning were the nighttime temperatures went below freezing which in turn fried my marigolds.  The rest of the flowers look pretty good if the deer would stay out of them, they really like to eat the petunia blooms.  I can see where they had a tasty treat, the plant is still there but the flowers have been perfectly cut off by their teeth.  I am attaching a photo of the two that like to eat my flowers, these pictures were taken earlier this year when they were little but they still have their spots.  Enjoy the fall while it lasts.  Tracy

Unit 7 My life as an assistant manager at a Idaho State Park.

After doing my rough draft on bullying and started thinking about my job.  I decided that 5% of the park visitors I talked to on a daily or weekly basis are bullies.  When they get caught with their hand in the cookie jar (breaking the rules or not paying their fees) that proceed to call you every name in the book and question your family's  heritage numerous times.  The visitor put it back on you that it is your fault for running the camping trip.  I often wonder if they act like that at home or they place of business or work.  When these people start yelling at you for all the wrong reasons it is hard to keep a smile on your face and calmly explain the fees or rules to them.  Sometimes, I have had people get under my skin to the point, I have to walk away and calm down before I approach them again.  Anyway these were my thoughts for this weeks blog after completing my rough draft of my paper.

Have a happy day.
Tracy

Unit 6 My frustrations with modern technology.

Sometimes I wish I was independently wealthy so I did not have to worry about going to work and could be a full time student.  I work 40 plus hours a week and this being Labor Day Weekend Holiday has not helped.

This is one of my days off and I have spent most of the day working on an Anatomy assignment and was at the end during the APA formatted reference page when my computer locked up twice and the margins kept messing up. In addition, I have a writing comp II rough draft paper due, which I have done most of the research but have yet to start on the draft. Furthermore,  there are other assignments due for this week.   I sit here swearing at the computer and in the back of mind I hear this voice.

An IT specialist that keeps our computer performing  properly at work has been in the office where I work and he always hears me swearing at my computer.  He always tells me "its not the computer's fault, it is the person operating the computer." I have a hard time believing his statement but it makes me laugh when I get frustrated at any computer. 

So because I was frustrated and swearing at my computer, I decided to write my blog on the man, who's voice is always in my head, when I do these things.  I hope this blog made your day a little happier too. :)


Tracy

Unit 5, Thursday at work.

I am an Assistant Manager of a Idaho State Park and I thought I share my life at work and how crazy it can become at a moments notice. Last Sunday, August 22, 2010,  I get a phone call from a co-worker at the state park where I work stating there is a forest fire on West Mountain and it was getting close to the state houses and yurts.  Monday I call the park office to find out how the fire was doing and what may of started it.  My supervisor stated the fire was a hold over from a lightning storm that went through the previous week and the fire was still growing.

Wednesday August 25, 2010 the Boise National Forest had brought in a Type II fire team to work on the fire.  My supervisor and I went to a debriefing meeting at 5:00 pm. Which at that time they were explaining what could happen with the fire on Thursday August 26, 2010 because of the red flag warning that was in effect.  The area residences around the fire's location were but on Level 1 and 2 evacuation notice including our 4 campgrounds in same area.  On my compliance patrols that Wednesday evening my top priority was to explain the situation to our volunteer campground hosts that on a moments notice the evacuation notice could go to Level 3 and we would have to evacuate the campers in their campgrounds and them as well.  The fire was very active all through the evening hours on Wednesday.  Because of my previous fire fighting experience I worried all night about our campground volunteers and the fire activity.

Thursday August 26, 2010, at 8:30 am. My supervisor and I got a phone call from the sheriff office saying that some of the area residences were at the Level 3 evacuation stage because of the fire behavior and it was on a rapid growth. My supervisor and I decided to close the campground until further notice and evacuate the campers but leave the volunteers there for a while until we had to move them.  A co-worker and I headed to the campgrounds that were going to be affected and to tell the host they may have to move to a safer location.  As we were driving north on the highway I was watching the fire activity and decided to make the call.  We were going evacuate the volunteers along with the rest of the campers for everyones safety.  I called my supervisor and made arrangements for our volunteers.  The fire had grown from 100 acres on Sunday August 22 to 1300 acres Thursday morning August 26.  I have posted a picture of the fire taken about 1:00 pm MST Thursday.

The Hurd Fire. August 26, 2010 1:00 pm MST

Unit 4: The stubborn three-year-old grandson.

This weeks post about how stubborn my three-year-old grandson can be.  Ethan is the greatest and the love of my life next to my son.  I thought his dad was stubborn at Ethan's age but he does not hold a candle to this little boy.

When Ethan does not get his way, he either tells you "I don't like you anymore or stop it."  It is funny because he has the most serious look on his face.  You can usually break the stern look by getting him to laugh and then the drama is over.

I guess Ethan and my son come by their stubborn streak honestly because I am the same way.  I usually go after what I want and most generally get my way.

Life is grand with the stubborn streaks.
Tracy :)

Unit 3; My life as a student and working full time.

August 16th, 2010


I find myself totally stressed this week, trying to balance work and school.  At work, four out of the five days I left work late, which means I get home late and still have to do dinner and homework.  My normal work week starts on Tuesdays and goes to Saturdays.  I get up at 5:30 am and leave the house at 6:30 am to be to work by a little before 8 am.  On Wednesdays I work a night shift which starts at 2:30 pm to 11:00 pm.

For the last month work has physically and emotionally drained me.  There has been a lot of stuff going on and also dealing with busy campgrounds.

I have two difficult classes this term in school which requires a lot of research and writing.  I feel like I am always doing things at the last minute because this last two weeks I can not seemed to stay focused.  My goals are high when it comes to work and school.  I want to do and be the best I can be.

I know I am not the only one that is trying to balance school and work.  I hope someone is having better success at it than I am at the moment.

Tracy

While driving to work last Saturday I saw three Mule deer bucks.  Their antlers were in velvet and they were at least 4 or 5 point bucks.  If I would not had somebody behind following so close I would have stopped and got their picture.