Progress Review this week

Ah the life of a soil scientist. The review thing. This one is different than most, since we did the field portion last fall and this week will be slogging around in the database, checking mapunit design and composition, NASIS data, and all our mapping to date on the GIS. Soil survey has changed a lot since I started this job back in the 70's. I would write a soil series from a handwritten description by hand, would send it off to a distant office to be typed, and to another distant office to be checked against existing soil series. Maybe in 6 months we would get it back, approved and edited. Now we do all that ourselves, from descriptions that are entered in NASIS and out pops a series description that we edit and check on the internet for other series that may be the same. Our database used to be generated from a thing called a SOI 5, a 2 page form that we also filled out by hand and that was sent off to another computer somewhere to create soils tables. That's all done in NASIS now, National Soil Information System, which pops out reports by the hundreds and you just have to find the ones you want. Sounds easy, right? ha! Consistency is still and always the issue. The more data you generate the more it all has to match. Hence progress reviews in the office.

That's what I will be doing all week this week, in addition to keeping my two visiting soil scientists busy, and making sure that the review team leader from the state office is satisfied with the quality of the work. As usual, quality and quantity are the needs, both at once, and for less money and less time and more and more information generated and used. Just for fun, check out the final product here: http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/ and here
http://www.soils.usda.gov/

Thoughtful conversation

I really like Andrew Sullivan. Over the past few years, catching him now and then on a news or a talk show, he has seemed to me to represent what a thinking conservative might be, and I liked to listen to him because he made sense. I felt I could hear him and perhaps understand that "right of the right" movement in this country that wasn't informed by radical preachers screaming hellfire and damnation. So my ears would perk up when he appeared.

Because I truly respect his intellect, I searched and found his blog, and lo and behold, he is an Obama fan. Today I found a post there that said all that I wish I could paraphrase for my conservative friends who once supported the war and no longer do. Maybe they aren't as articulate but maybe these are the principles beneath what they are thinking that causes that shake of the head and frustration with Bush's war.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/03/what-i-got-wron.html#more

Most of my friends were with me protesting the war before it happened, left of center, I am not a total radical lefty liberal. Stacy calls us "progressive liberals" whatever that means. But wherever you fall on this balance, take a minute and read this post by Andrew about why he was wrong about Iraq.

And my grandsons have been there, are still there fighting, while even once strong supporters like Andrew Sullivan are rethinking their position. I would imagine that Steven, doing his job and doing his best, called against his will, but willing to serve, knows that up close, at the level he is doing it, it's good work. I honor him. The sadness at the highest levels of government in this country don't have anything at all to do with how I feel about young men willing to serve this country. It's a quandary, for sure.

So after a break from work, I'll go back to thinking about rock fragments, and iron content, and pH and horizons and quit worrying about my grandson in Iraq and all the missteps and ego that put him there in the first place

Rocky Point

I'm home in Rocky Point. Mo is outside plowing snow and I am trying to catch up. It's snowing outside right now. The snow is so deep here that Mo has boards over her windows so that they don't get broken by the crashing snow when it melts. You can't see over the snowbanks in front of the porches. I am in jammies and will remain so until bedtime. No plans for anything other than knitting, tv, reading blogs, catching up on Quicken, and just hanging out. Tomorrow is David's wedding, late afternoon trip to Klamath for a sweet friend and his bride, then a lovely dinner at the Ragland afterward and back to Rocky Point. Sunday morning I will leave early enough to hopefully get home before dark. Back to Jamestown and my kitties which I do really miss.

Funny, the travel blog is for some kind of public consumption I guess. Mo says, "don't put anything personal in there". She likes to share it with her family and friends, but of course it's then not the place for me to ramble on and on about "stuff". This is the "stuff" place, and only my best friends even know where this is. It's my ramble site. So I'm rambling. I really really want to put photos in here of all this snow, but of course in Rocky Point it's still dialup unless you pop for satellite service, so no photos till I get back home. Back to cats and my DVR. LOL I do love that DVR thing where I am not tied to TV for anything at all, but when I want it I get just what I want when I want! Talk about instant gratification!!! Time to catch up on all my guilty pleasures, like American Idol and the L Word.

I have all sorts of visions of Kauai, some of the dream was just what I imagined, maybe even better. Some of it was just another place to travel, maybe not as magical as I had imagined, but then I guess that happens. The waterfall moment was incredible, it's what sticks in my mind from the whole place, that and the snorkel day, and the combo sound of tropical breezes, ocean waves, and the fans, mixed with birds in the morning as the sun rose quietly. I would go back, yes, for sure I would go back. But some of the magic of Kauai is also right here in the states in places like Edisto Beach, same sighing wind and surf sounds and palms. Maybe not the drama of the NaPali coast, or Waimea Canyon, but maybe a bit more laid back. Kauai could have been a bit more laid back if we hadn't wanted to see as much of it as we could. If I went back, I would beach and snorkel more, and I would try to get to the NaPali coast on a kayak.

But now, instead, I am reading work email, thinking frustrating thoughts about deadlines, and goals, and people coming in that I have to manage. Work. Life. For now. Just for now. 15 months.

Jeremy's birthday and he's somewhere in Texas training, Steven in Iraq, blogging thank goodness, Matthew working in Colorado, for the moment a bit absent, Deb doing her thing, doing well in Portland, Melody living her amazing creative life, Deanna back on the road, John learning to live a different way now that Linda is gone. All the people I love, coming and going, and I am coming and going, and coming back. Watching the snow. Reading blogs. Keeping the fire going while Mo plows the snow. Life is good.

Kauai

Ahh, yes, I am here and trying to blog, but the internet isn't making it very easy. Seems as though the router is in the other unit and the owner of this place doesn't want to disturb them, so our connection isn't working. So then the air card does work, but omigosh, it's as bad as dialup here in the more remote regions of this island. So if you want to see how I am doing, don't forget to go over to http://www.mohotravels.blogspot.com/ to read all about it. Hopefully before long something will actually be up there. I'm relaxing, swimming, snorkeling, eating a lot of very sweet pineapple and generally having a fantastic time. I'm writing and reading and enjoying every minute of this except for the momentary frustration when I attempt to do anything online. Our cell phones are working, however, so if you need me, just call. And of course, the pictures are on my picassa page too.

A walk in the park

California development mentality

Leap Day in Sonora

Sometime, sometimes I take pleasure in this part of California. I think this may have happened last year at this time as well, but springtime in the Sierra Nevada Foothills is quite lovely. After work last night, running to the store before going home, out behind an ugly parking lot, I was brought up short by this fiery sky. Leap Day 2008. February going out with a brilliant show of fire.