The Voice that Sailed a Thousand Ships....

If I said it once, I've said it a thousand times...I love my Sirius satellite radio mostly, because it feeds my addiction to NPR. Recently though, my steadfast and true support of sed NPR satellite radio stations are beginning to wane and it is all because of.....



fucking Diane Rehm. I, on several occasions, have wished harm on this women. It has nothing to do with the content of her talk show. Actually, when she is out on leave and has a guest host it is quite interesting and, at times, thought provoking. There is one reason and one reason only that I want to gouge my eardrums with a sharp knife every time I hear her show....her voice. She sounds near death. I want someone to take mercy on her or force her to retire. If you need a sample, check it out here. Now, after I have shared my feelings on this topic PLEASE don't tell me she has some sort of terminal illness or some other awful ailment because then I would feel like a total shithead for all of the ill will I have had toward Diane Rehm.

Sundance....



I just returned from a trip to Park City, Utah. I went for a natural resource professionals conference. I find conferences, in general, to be painful. My brain gets overloaded with ideas that fly right out of my head the second the conference concludes. This one became increasingly painful as the expectations for me to "network" increased exponentially as the conference droned on. I met some feds. I met some NGO folks. I met some academics. In all instances, I was a good bit younger and female which, apparently, makes it OK to stare unabashedly at my breasts. I served as the designated driver for the group of five that I traveled with because the second we stepped off the plane, the conference became their booze cruise. Things became increasingly more excruciating due to the fact that Park City, Utah is in the top five most beautiful places I have ever been and I was stuck in a hotel trying to keep a smile plastered on my face while business cards filled my pockets. The free time I ended up having was squandered away in sleep. Networking wears my ass out and I am DEFINITELY not skilled in such endeavors. The last day of the conference came and I started counting down the seconds before I could leave. What a shame. From here on out, I will only attend conferences in places like Hot Springs, Arkansas or Macon, Georgia so that there will be nothing else to do than waste two hours listening to some over zealous educator spout off about marketing tactics and needs assessment. Blah! Blah! Blah! I may be having a career crisis. Love the research...hate the sales pitch. I can't even stand when the sales people at the Gap try to offer me "socks to go with that T-shirt." How on earth can I be expected to "sell" my research? I need a gimic. Ugghhh!

Usually...

If you need the 411 on Athens or you just want to see some familiar faces talking about Athens, check this out. Thanks L.o.L for the heads up.

The boy was out of town this past weekend picking up his new car. It is lovely and very fun to ride in. I enjoyed a lot of me time (no offense to the boy). I did a lot of reading, shopping, sleeping, and movie watching along with logging some seriously quality time with the dog.

I head to Park City, Utah this weekend for a conference. I have been approaching this weekend and beginning of next week as an all expense paid trip thanks to the university and the USDA. I envisioned pool side afternoons and long hikes in the mountains until a few days ago the hammer came crashing down and one of the bosses decided that I need to pull together a poster and be ready to pitch our project to the USDA and anyone else at the conference that shows interest. A little heads up would have been nice. Now I am nervous about the trip. Me and the good ol' boys in the mountains. Should be interesting. Wish me luck. I plan to avoid post conference cocktails mainly because I am afraid after a glass or two of wine and one inappropriate comment about me from my office mate and things are going to get ugly.

Swim, Bike, Run....

I ran my first triathlon of the year on Sunday. It was in St. Petersburg, Florida. It went well. Considering I had only been out on the bike twice prior to the race and the ocean was HUGE for the swim, it went very well. I like to compete. It keeps my stress level low and my ego in check. I have always had a competitive nature that has manifested itself in many different forms. I would say athletics is the most healthy of the forms.

The boy and I stayed in a weird "beach resort" that was neither on the beach or very resorty. Picture the hotel from the Shining minus the twins but plus a lot of old folks from up north that the boy and I are pretty convinced were ex-mafia members and their wives. Scattered through the sea of retirees were a few young couples that looked equally as confused as the boy and I. All in all, we had a lovely and weird weekend.