Power Outage

Below is an actual email...needless to say, my alarm clock didn't go off that morning and I was late to work! However, if you need an original excuse as to why you are late to work..."a vulture took down the power to my house" seems like a good one!!

ALCON:

The base experienced an unscheduled power outage at approx 0735 this morning affecting approx. 60% of the base. The outage was caused by a vulture strike on the utility pole. Power to most base residents is being restored at this
time. An extended outage is in effect to make necessary repairs to the utility pole. Power to these areas will be restored at approx 1100 AM.

v/r

Admin

Frogs, Tarantulas and Crabs, Oh My!

So, Im not sure if I told everyone...but when I go out walking at night I have to share the sidewalks (and sometimes even the roads) with the Banana Rats annnd these guys too!! They come out at night to snack on the grass on the sides of the roads and theres always something hopping, lurking or scuttling nearby when I go for walks!!! The Banana Rats get up in the tops of the brush and small trees, so they nervously shake around the bushes when someone walks by. The frogs sort of loose it and hop in random directions--sometimes right in to you. The land crabs either aggressively throw up their lil pinchers and stand their ground against you or quickly shuffle off sideways as fast as they can. As you might imagine, the tarantulas aren't scared if you walk by or even drive by--they just hold their ground. Thank goodness some of these guys run from me because it wouldnt take much for me to turn right around and run from them! Trust me when I say I didn't get close to take these pictures...thank goodness for 10X zoom!!

Where in the world is Jessica?

Jessy (I know how you love that nickname), are you coming to visit me or what? It's lonely out here. Mom is the only one who's ever put in the effort to come out and see me and I've been gone for 2 1/2 years. Come on Allens, really!?!? Guilt trip much?!?! ha. I'm just kidding. Don't worry about it. Dad said he IM'd you the other night (he had no idea how it happened and/or on what program) but you mentioned to him you might not make it. I don't want you to feel badly if you don't feel up to the extra travel or if you can't do it (despite my previous comments :)
The last thing you'll probably want to do is tack on more travel time and risk an even HIGHER chance your bags will get lost (we all know your history...)
On another note, if you do come, there's the potential chance that i won't be working, so we'll have OH so much time to lounge down at the pool and sip mimosas. I put in an FMLA claim at work and I'm eligible for disability leave, I just have to see the DR on Friday to stamp a big red "OK" on the paperwork and i'm home free....so to speak.
Anywho, hope the lizards and iguanas are giving you some peace and letting you snack at your leisure. Now you know how i feel with Kitten around. ha.
How'd your 9/11 race go? Come on girl, give us some updates. Love you and miss you lots!

xoxo

where's the luv?

wow, no one has blogged on here in a minute! I wonder if I will be the last one before you get home??

Cant even eat lunch in peace!!

Check out these videos--an iguana came up to me to see if Id feed him some of my lunch!  Of course I didnt because once he was within about 20 ft of me, I was outta there!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFE5fptaUIo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3BSO2t62TU

back to the grind....

hey jess, so i haven't been as active on here as before...probably bc i started my NEW JOB! i got the job @ lvegas (slang for leesylvania) and today is actually my 2nd day. yes, i am stoked. i am the "District III Visitor Service Specialist". salary paid too =) i dont want to go into too much detail about it, but so far so good. since lvegs is my "happy place", i dont mind the idea of working here for a very loooooong time. the people here are familiar and those that i just met are very friendly and nice. im located in the office right by the contact station when you come in the park. so close to home...mine an mom n dad's. i just hope i dont mix business with pleasure (meaning my running down there all the time).

oh, so to change the subject....i dog sat this past weekend for the Stearns'. they have 2, a lab and an australian sheepdog. the lab was soooo sweet and cute, reminded me of Ike (looks). the sheepdog is actually a much smaller dog with HIGH energy and will run and play all day long. he yearns for attention and competes with the other dog constantly.

stearns said they took advantage of me bc they never sleep on the bed at night (in which they knew no other way besides sleeping right up against me, including over me at times), they took me for a walk (instead of the opposite, where they would tangle their leashes around each other the whole time and stop at EVERY single mailbox just to sniff it), they begged to play fetch all the time (in which stearns said he just ignores them otherwise they will never stop "pestering" you)....but i did not know they did not usually behave this way. they weren't bad, dont get me wrong...let's just say, i was pretty much on house arrest while i was sitting for them bc traffic was so horrendous all weekend it wasnt worth going back and forth to home. they preferred for me stay there anyway, fyi.

so....i havent heard from ya in a while. i think we need a new jess quiz. how is your tan coming? scooba? u never answer me. any good toe squishing tails lately?? are you still using your nike plus????

miss ya xo

cattle guard who???

ok, im gonna google a cattle guard to see what the heck this thing looks like. i feel like i should know, but i guess i dont. that's crazy what happened to you, jill!!!! i cant believe no good samaritan even tried to do first aid or check to see if you were breathing! do u know what happened when you fell?? you could have a concussion.

i remember one time when i was little i went to kings dominion and this lady started grabbing me and pulling on my arm and shoulder. turned out she hit me on the way down as she fainted, she smacked her head on the pavement hard and was bleeding. i felt so bad i didnt try to catch her but i didnt know i was too young. we're glad ur ok for the most part. btw, prenatal vitamins might be something to consider for more iron. i know u love salad, but that's not enough...a good hunk of red meat once a week and supplements will triple what you get from leafy greens alone. take it from me, i always struggled with anemia. it'll take you about 2-3 months to get it back up if it's very low and at least a month if it's low at all.

jess, how is the nike plus??

Accident Prone??

First off, Jess, sorry I missed your call. I can't help it, I don't take my phone with me when I work out and that seems to be the time you call. We're going to have to set up a date/time so I can be prepared to answer. Joey and I decided Mom is the only one that can randomly answer her phone.
Second off, Jon, sorry I missed your call. I haven't been feeling well this week and I took yesterday off work to get sleep and run errands...so, while I was out running an errand I walked out of the store and collapsed on the sidewalk. I haven't fainted in several years, so that was a blast from the past! My point being, once I got home I turned my phone on silent so I could rest. I had a killer headache and neck ache since the fall. I ended the night with an intense fever that tricked me into turning the thermostat down to 65 degrees (i'll pay for that next month!) and then woke up shivering this morning.
Two saturdays ago I ran a 7-point-something mi race up in the mountains and was told there were two cattle guards on the course. They continued to warn the runners to "tip toe" over the guards. Well, me being delirious from the 4 miles I had under my belt, I decided to "tip toe" over the cattle guard by taking a ballerina leap into the air while running at full speed (perhaps my endorphins tricked me in to thinking I was superman), and I made it an impressive 3/4 over the guard and my foot went right into the trap. I was lucky I didn't break my ankle, but i did have a Fred Flintstone fat foot for the next week.
Other than that I've been having another lovely summer in NM. I get to watch the sunset from my balcony, which turns the sky purple and the mountains pink. There's nothing like it. I hope you all can visit soon. And I hope this post deters Joey from spreading more Jess rumors :)
Love you all xoxo

Jess is moving?!!!

so im thinking jon is right about jess joining scooby and the gang. that was her van. that's why she went back down to %$@#! jon, did u know that jess said she went scuba diving and a shark bit her foot?...she said she was lucky it didnt eat her, it was a near death experience. she also said she hit an iguana while trying to put in her contacts and driving. she was locked up for a week and has to pay a $5000 fine still. not that money matters to her....she hit the lotto and is moving to key west. i hear she bought Oprah's vacation home, so u can just have her condo.

we'll have to come down and visit. i want to live in key west...and meet Oprah! Jess, I'm hoping ur cool with us moving in. im bringing the cats too. maybe you could spear fish and feed them fresh tuna. are you going to keep the mystery machine now that you are moving? i think jon will want it, and if not, dad will. haha...

dang yellow jackets!!!

why do I feel like I'm the only one on here? c'mon people- blog blog blog!! ANYWAYS, so jess, maybe mom told you, maybe not, but I had to call 911 wed morning bc steve was stung by a yellow jacket and had a severe allergic reaction.
he was running with the kids (xc practice) in the woods and was stung. I wasn't there, but the kids had to help him back to his car, where he collapsed and thought he was going to "die". they drove him home where he came crashing into the house and fell to the floor. then he started gagging and turning pale. long story short, i ended up calling 911 and the paramedics took his blood pressure, which was so low they took to the ER. he was feeling much better after a few hours, in which we came home and he's feeling back to normal now. picked up his prescriptions, prednisone and some other stuff. he now has an epipen incase it ever happens again.
at first he was refusing to go to the hospital. he didnt want to sit in triage for 5 hours. good thing i did bc his blood pressure was so low who knows what could have happened!
anyway, just thought I would update you on the latest.

now i need to update my nike plus. steve got one too, his username is...uhh i have to check i forgot.

miss ya, hope you are doing well!

The 1 and only 1st Little Sister

Why is it that I cannot see anyone else's posts on the website? I only get emails with messages of what was said. This is making me feel very technologically challenged. I know I should be able to see whatever anyone posts! sigh....

...oh yes, and speaking of, Jessica, my breath and hot trash have nothing in common. As for "poor Steve", he was already up and gone. For some reason he gets up and does stuff during the day instead of sleeping till noon. He's so productive.

Oh yes, I wanted to add that you BETTER help the homeless kitty! that poor little thing will starve or get eaten or wounded by another animal! Don't make me come down there!!!!!...breaks my heart into a million pieces.

Last thing, Jill, I get calls from Jessica only if mom can call me from the house phone while Jess is on her cell phone. If I don't answer, I get no Jessica. I hate to say it, but it's one of the perks to living here. Or maybe she just can't get enough of her 1st little sister.....=)

the quiz

ps: i think only jill can change the quiz. i tried but there is no option! Jill, change the quiz, something- anything else!

lazy bones

omg! thats awesome. when and if you catch the person that drives that van, i dare you to shout- scooby dooby doo, where r u?!!!....im sure it will go over well.

since i just talked to you last night, i dont have much to say that's new since, EXCEPT that i received a call this am from the boss at leesylvania telling me that i am 1 of 3 candidates they have narrowed it down to and they will be calling references and checking backgrounds. so, here's hoping i am THE one. it's funny though, bc i accidently answered my phone this morning when i was still sleeping and realized it right away. but i had the ugliest morning voice and was soooo trying to play it off when he told me who he was. it was most embarrassing. you really arent foolin anyone when you have morning voice. i called mom immediately after and asked her if she could tell i just woke up, she said yes. LOL. hope the guy didnt think i was too lazy since it was 11 and was the second time he called that morning! haha....

Thought Id update the page...

Im tired of looking at the rat picture, so heres a new one of my favorite car here...I dont know who drives it, but Id luv to meet them!  Anyways, all is good here and I hope everyone @ home is doing well also.  Its sweltering hot...but I guess thats no different than home!  Yesterday, it was so hot, I thought I would cool off in the pool but since the pools are outdoors and are in the open sun all day, it felt like i was taking a warm bath instead of cooling off!  Oh well, it could be worse!  Havent gone diving yet, Im going to take a quick refresher class then start the advanced stuff.  Well, Im sitting outside on the comp and getting eaten up by the bugs, so Id better go...Also, i just petted a stray kitty and probably need to wash my hands quickly before I turn in to a sneezing mess!  Luv u guys!

Banana Rats are still rats...

I dont care what fruit you put in front of the word rat, those guys are still gross...take a look at the one that was under my car...yuk

Survived my first earthquake!!

Not that it was a big one...It woke me up, but it didnt keep me up!! I went right back to sleep! I definitely made a mental note before I went back to sleep to talk to my roomie about banging around so much though! I thought she was moving furniture or something!

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Maps/10/285_20.php

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010sqaq.php

Internet says it was a 5.4...there was no damage here but it was rumbly!

Pictures anyone??

So I have finally had time to go exploring and I found some of the beaches…there are quite a few!  Theres nothing here thats as nice as a tourist location, but I really cant complain!  Its been a tad rainy and overcast for the past few days but I hate to even tell anyone from DC about the less than perfect weather!!  All I hear on the news is about DC and snow of historic porportions!  Do you really have 3 ft of snow?!?!    Wow!  Well, I finally posted a bunch of pics for everyone, I will email out the link so everyone can see.  Theres pics of my place, the beach, Iguanas, the weird cactus trees here and some other scenery.

Right now, Im in a chair on the beach typing.  I always love the sound of the waves crashing!  My alarm clock here makes wave sounds, so I cant use it because it has a reverse effect on me…the sound makes me sleepy!!  Since the beach Im at has so many rocks, they make a cool clicking sound when the water runs back out and the rocks bounce off each other--its almost sounds like a pot about to boil over.  Since this isn't one a real sandy beach, I have it pretty much all to myself right now.  Its nice to relax on the beach without a thousand crazy kids running around.  Oh well, it looks like the tide is coming in, and a vulture is circling over me, so I better start heading back to the car!  I hope he sees something other than me he wants to eat! Vultures are another part of the interesting local wildlife here, they are all over the place.  I miss you all and hope you arent going too stir crazy!  Hopefully you get to make it to some superbowl parties still! 

Dad, I cant believe you havent sent me any pics of KC and LC checking out the snow!

Grandma, hows the weather where you are?  Are you able to get out and walk still?  Did you get any snow?

Jon, are you ok?  I hope you arent too bored if you are stuck in my place, I think its crazy boring there if you are stuck and have nothing else to do for a few days.  Theres only so much super Mario you can play before your eyes start watering and blurring over and your hands start getting deformed and tired!    Ha ha.

Lots of Love!

Feb 1-2

All,
I forgot to post pictures again!! sorry, I keep forgetting to upload
them to my computer! I will do it soon...at least you can see the
beach here and how pretty and clear the water is! Im still holding
out for a good pic of the iguanas for everyone!
Well, I have a roommate now, but I havent met her yet...we come and go
at different times and havent crossed paths yet. However, I think she
ate one of my Kashi bars...
I sort of feel like im on vacation here, the weather is so nice and Im
staying in a townhouse with a TV, phones and my own room. Its
definitely not like the other deployments I have done!! I dont think
it will ever feel like home though, because it doesnt have internet
and everything is so quiet during the night...no sirens out my window
makes it hard to sleep!! ha ha Speaking of sleeping, I thought the
chickens in my backyard were cute until the next morning. The stupid
chickens are actually ROOSTERs and every morning from about 0522-0527
those guys wont shut up!! When I come back home I might actually be
an early riser (for a while), because I can sleep through 2 alarm
clocks, but I havent been able to sleep through the stupid roosters
yet...I wish they would take breaks on the weekends!
The speed limit here on base is no more than 25mph...I have a bad
feeling about this, I almost want to stop an MP and make him give me
the ticket I will inevitably get.
I havent had my camera with me to take pics of the iguanas yet, but I
will send one as soon as I take one. I keep a close eye out for them
because if you make road kill of one of those guys its a $10,000 fine.
Im not sure why, if they are endangered or what...my ears stopped
listening to the people telling me afer they said $10,000!! With my
luck, Im going to get caught speeding at the same time I kill an
iguana! Mom/Dad...I think thats the only ticket that would be more
expensive than my parking tickets at Campbell!! LOL!
Luvs,
jess

Im having fun in the sun, are you? LOL

Hey everybody…Im here, I made it here Saturday afternoon, and just got my
phone card working. I have started calling everyone, so answer if a weird
number comes up on your caller ID, because it might be me!! It about 80+
degrees here (90 last night), but I havent mentally acclimated to the
weather yet so I keep carrying around sweaters…I must look like the new
person! The place I am staying is pretty nice, soo much nicer than Iraq or
Afghanistan! It's a 2 bedroom townhouse with a housekeeper! I don't have a
roommate right now, so I have the place to myself. Pics are on the way so
you can see what a "rough" life I have here!! LOL. Joey and Steve, I have a
Kurig coffee maker here and the housekeeper comes and refills my coffee
options every morning…I just might get addicted and have to buy one when I
get home too. Oh, they also make my bed and do the dishes…I wish I could
take my housekeeper home with me. The only thing bad about the house is
that the internet connection is still dial-up, and my little high-techy
computer doesn't have a plug in for a phone line! However, Wi-fi is free in
other locations, so I will have to do that for this trip. As soon as the
guy im replacing leaves, I will have the car to myself and will be able to
log in more often. Last night, me and the guy im replacing went to the
outdoor movie theater and saw the movie "Everythings Fine" and it was the
saddest movie Ive seen in a while, but it totally made me think of our
family (not exactly the same) but Dad, some of what the Father did totally
made me think of you. Tonight, Im not sure whats going on but we all might
grill out or just turn in early, not really sure--this deployment is all
about the tough choices! Ha ha. I will send pictures of the local
wildlife here as soon as I can. Last night there were chickens running
around in my backyard and while i havent encountered the the banana rats and
iguanas up close yet, I have seen a bunch of them, those iguana jokers are
too scary right now to get close to. All is well so far but I should go
because Im sitting in the 90-degree sun in the backyard listening to my iPod
while I type this and my battery is pretty low. Love you guys and talk to
you soon,
Hugs,
Jess