Two Little Words

I look back at my last post, and contemplate the indignant and roiled state in which it was written. I was mad. I was inconceivably fed up with my situation, and, considering all that rotten boss has put me through, it was most definitely justified. I am not a quitter. I have never quit (nor been fired!) from a job, and I was not about to start now. I did not want to screw over my project by not completing my stay, and I certainly didn't want to burn my bridges with the UDWR, especially since I've worked here in the past and may again in the future. I was so torn on what to do (even though it sounded like my mind was made up in my last post). Then, on Sunday, my phone rang. It was Kevin. I did NOT want to talk to him just then, so I let him go to voice mail. I listened when I got home, and he actually APOLOGIZED. I was floored. His brain actually worked enough to realize that he was way out of line in the way he talked to me (either that or his wife told him so). Regardless, that was really big of him, and my entire attitude changed dramatically...it's amazing what those two little words, "I'm sorry," can do. So I am going to stick it out...only 3 more weeks, I kept telling myself.

So here I am, on the Wednesday of my first remaining week. Kevin was "better" on Monday, though still rather patronizing, on top of his usual flakiness. Ugh. Still, I had a pleasant week ahead of me. I trapped two squirrel plots in really wonderful habitat but STILL didn't catch any. How disheartening! I did catch a chipmunk, though. Anyway, on my way home today I went to set traps in Ogden Canyon - one of the most inaccessible (though close to home) plots we have. Kevin's been there several times, and I have been there once, and it's just rediculous...steep, horrible undergrowth, inhospitable to clumsy humans. I was determined to get my traps set, though...no matter the price.

So I scaled four separate areas of the mountain, being forced down due to rockslides and mud on the first three. I made it up on the fouth one, though it was outside my plot. Once "up" (it was still about a 65 degree slope), I stumbled and crawled and injured myself in every way possible (though luckily not nearly as badly as I could have - I seriously wondered if I'd make it out a vegetable in some instances), but I managed to set three traps...unfortunately, I'm pretty sure they're all outside the actual plot, and they're all a lot closer together than protocol asks, but it was impossible to move around up there, and I'm sure that Kevin will be thankful when he goes to retrieve them. Which brings me to this...it's going to be really tough for him to get them back because I essentially slid back down the way I went up, and now there's no "easy" way up again...not that the way I took was easy - it took over an hour to get about 25 meters in. Oh well...not my problem anymore. I still have two more to set, which will be tomorrow's mission, but I'm going to set them in another part of the plot, hopefully far from that nightmare.

So next week is the dreaded pack trip into the Uintas. Luckily, we're going with two coordinators who have been here a while and have experience. I'm hoping we pair up with one apiece and do our pika work (so I won't have to work with Kevin). Plus, we'll have horses with us, so that should be exciting, if nothing else. Kevin has delusions of doing 11 pika points next week (we only need to do, like, 4 more, by the way), but we'll see how that goes. I'm not going to break my neck for this project, I've decided. I'm tired and I just want to go home!!

So that's life 'til now. This weekend is the State Fair (to enjoy, not to work - although I had a blast working it the other day - I never realized how good I am at interacting with the public). I have a few other ideas of entertainment for the weekend beyond that, but we'll see how it goes. Write soon!!