pq

that's "physically qualify"... i spent the past few days having a whirlwind tour of the medical facilities in the greater denver metropolitan area. getting poked, prodded, stuck and squished, peeing in little cups, and all kinds of fun stuff. even had to get my first mammogram--now i feel officially old. all in the hopes of going to the ice.

i hope i passed everything. i'm still an "alternate." on call, but maybe, maybe get to go. possibly as soon as a month from now. i still don't know. that's the challenging part for me, having things so up in the air.

it's 2am, i just arrived back at boss in utah. long drive, time for a beer. i brought some back from colorado so get a real one, not the utah variety.

took a detour last night to the family ranch in colo. hadn't been there since 2003, i think. much of the aspen groves have died. and there is so much development on adjacent property. i think we have the only large chunk of land there in that county that hasn't been subdivided.

when i left denver there had been a tornado warning. left the ranch today in time to miss the lightening/thunder storm, but later had an hour of stop-and-go traffic on I-70 because of some crazy flood -- mud and logs all over hwy. now back in s.utah where there's a forest fire raging. or at least it was when i left here earlier this week. ...what's with all the natural disasters i just barely miss?

almost hit a deer too on the way home. i still find it funny that i live in utah. but home is where the tent is, even if i only get to sleep in a tent every couple weeks. i start another course in a few days. this one will only be a 7-day. then i leave here for the summer. will go back to california for a couple days before flying to alaska for a short bit. then i hope i'll deploy to antarctica. if not though, i have a few fun options in mind.

oh hey, it's friday the 13th. cool.