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I’m so excited that I’ve got half a mind to scream out loud. I’m excited about photography again recently. There is a photo contest coming up, specific to and located in Death Valley. I’m trying to figure out which photo(s) to enter. I’m limited to two entries this go around, so I’ve got to choose a little more carefully than the shotgun effect of the last one.

It’s exciting (expensive), frightening and wonderful all at once. Over the years I’ve fallen more and more in tune with Death Valley; it’s solitude and it’s quiet beauty. Few people go high up into the mountains and even fewer wander outside the tourist areas of DV. I like these lonely areas, I find serenity there and am reminded of Buzz Aldrin’s famous description of the moon as, “Magnificent desolation”. What a perfect description for Death Valley.

I’ve even applied (by submitting some sample photos) to a stock photography company.  I’m excited for a lot of reasons lately.

Well the planning and preparation for the (sometimes) annual summer Sierra Nevada backpacking trip is in full swing.  There are alot of variables to juggle; people, places, times.  The trip dates are the closest to being final, the trip location is coming along though not quite nailed down and the final biggest variable is entirely up in the air; the number of people.

This time around there are a lot of problems with people.  The usual suspects that I hike with both have issues that may prevent participation so I invited my boy, Scott.  Though, Scott might not be able to make it depending on the number of trip days involved.  Scott also may bring one or two people, or none.  The shorter number of total days the trip is the likelier he is to be able to go.

So, party one has a freshly broken arm and a busted up shoulder.  He has surgery on monday and may not be all healed up by trip time.  He also has a baby due just a month and a half after the trip.  With two bad appendages, he also has trouble (as in can’t) train up to get into the shape he needs to be in for the trip.

Party two is in the process of either a) moving a hundred miles away and taking a new position and all that entails.  As well as dealing with trying to get some significant time off for the trip or b) staying where he’s at and just hoping that he can get time off in the middle of a staffing shortage.  In both cases he also has a long distance relationship to make work as well.

Party three has twins who are turning two just a few days before the trip.  I remember getting the message from him minutes before stepping off onto the HST a couple years ago that he had the twin girls.  That was great news to hear just before leaving.  He also may or may not bring with him one or two people on the trip.

So, between all that the number of people varies from 1 (me) to 6 potentially.  Hopefully over the next few weeks we’ll start straightening this all out.

Since I’ve never stated which company I work for on this site, I feel like I can speak of this.

Yeup, huge layoff today at work. From the minute they shutoff email/internet access we all knew big things were going on today. The premiere RPG producing division in the industry is gone now. Up to this point, since Feargus left it was gone in all but name. Now it is even gone in name. My department lost 12 last week, and another grip of people today. As recently as a month or two ago we had about 60 people, now we’re down to 17 or so. I’m sure there are more cuts to come sometime in the near future as well.

I’m almost disappointed in not being laid off. It would have worked out well for me to go back to school, collect GI bill fundage, maybe some unemployment fundage and just relax for awhile until I got bored of that. Almost everyone I know is now gone, peeps I’ve worked with for almost 4 years, side note - it’s odd to think I’ve almost worked here for as long as I was in the Corps.

I think one of the worst things about today was the lack of email/internet access. I was bored out of my mind all day long. I suppose the Street Fighter tournaments we had distracted us from the tumbleweeds rolling through the offices though, so that was good. From over 400 employees at it’s peak a few years ago to fewer than a hundred now, quite the fall we have had.

So, I just feel like blabbing still. Quite a few good people are gone now, one of my mentors is gone, some people I would consider friends and now all that’s left is a skeleton crew. I’m done.