My New Office

NOTE: This particular post is extremely graphic-heavy. Give it a minute to load!

As some of you know, I recently acquired my dream job. I'm working at a company in Utah, though I'll not mention the name.

I work in wilderness therapy now. It is a combination of two of my passions, the outdoors and helping others. I work with troubled teens and young adults, teaching them primitive living skills. While I do talk to them about their various issues, my primary role is to simply keep them safe. It is a joy.

I could go on about the various sites or details about the job, but once you see my office, you'll understand why words simply won't do it justice and why I can't imagine working in a cubicle ever again. And, I think you'll see why I love this job.

So with that, I've got a lot of pictures for you. Obviously I'm holding back (because I took a TON), but you'll get the gist of it. Enjoy (and come visit)!

It isn't a trick of my lense. There was actually a cool prism effect going on in the clouds.

Beautiful!

Yep. We got deer here, too.

Looked like some weather was coming in.

Yup. The weather came, indeed.

Inside one of the shelters we built, a few hours after sunrise.

I truly love my new office.

We were heading down a long, lonesome road.

More snow there, off in the distance.

One of my co-workers, pretending to be Chewbacca.

Beautiful dawn.

My kind of place.

Well, that's it for the pics. I whittled it down to these ones, but I took over 100 over the course of 8 days (and that WAS using self control).

We hiked about 15 miles this last shift, but hopefully the students will be up for a LOT more once the summer hits.

The job is near Zion National Park, so while I might not update the blog for awhile (I'm busy darn it), I will definitely update it once I get some hiking in over there. I've seen some pictures from co-workers adventures and I can hardly wait!

See you next time!

Quick update and a thing that made me say, "HAH!"

Hey all. Yeah, it's been an age since I last updated this post. So...

Really quick to get you updated - I've been hiking, of course but I'm not posting pictures because I'm being lazy. Awesome, right?

I got the job in Utah and fell in love with the scenery there. I'm now looking into possibly getting some land and starting a cult...I mean, starting my own sustainable farm or something. Been looking at pricing and it'll be pretty damn cheap. I'm excited at the potential of this state and will (eventually) post some pictures of my new "office", which is more badass than your office...or city, for that matter.

Finally, that thing that made me say "HAH!" has nothing to do with the outdoors, but is all about PETA. We all love them. They make us feel bad for eating meat and even owning pets (that we love dearly). Well, looks like the pompous Oz-like wizards have finally had their curtain pulled back.

The big reveal is well documented at PETA Kills Animals - you should check it out and mention it to all of your friends. This is the equivalent of Green Peace pouring crude oil all over the Alaskan wilderness, then bitch slapping baby seals with maces made from used sticks of uranium and the farting radon gas in their faces (PETA might be okay with this as long as you aren't keeping them as pets, right?).

I'm not knocking any of my friends that are all about PETA. I just hope that you won't be so damn smug about it now. YOU might want to love animals and treat them ethically, but apparently your beloved organization just wants to talk about doing it. Maybe you should consider this?

Anyway, that's all for the time being. I hope all of you are doing well. I do realize that the blog has slumped like mad, but I'll start getting it more up to snuff once things get settled down a bit more.

Be safe everyone (and get the F*CK outside!!!!!).

“Shock”tober, Vegas Style or the Beginning of the End?

“Oh, America. I wish I could tell you that this was still America. But I’ve come to realize that you can’t have a country with out people. And there are no people here.” - Zombieland

Welcome to Las Vegas. At 131 Square Miles and a population of over 500,000 in the city proper (over 1,000,000 in the Metro Area), it’s a close knit town. Well, sorta.

Still, Las Vegas is America’s party town. People come here to do the kinds of things that you can do in just about any major city, but we won’t look down on you for it. Hell, it's how we all make a living. If you like to party, booze it up, get your freak on, or get it on with a freak, LV (America’s Armpit) is the place to go.

While the Strip is the place most folks talk about, it isn’t really my scene. To me, the Strip is like dinner at a fancy restaurant - don’t bother if you aren’t wearing a jacket and don’t like to look down on the little people.

No thanks.

Fremont Street is wear I run. It has the atmosphere of a college keg party, and for pure entertainment value, the Strip doesn’t touch it.

Free concerts almost every night? Yup. Talented entertainers that don’t cost an arm and a leg? Bingo. Booze that’s dirt cheap? Hell yes.

But Halloween is a special time on Fremont Street. Sure, on any given day you can see folks in costume. But nearing the 31st, it becomes a dream for people who love All Hallows Eve.

That’s right folks, we’ve got it all. From zombies (shit tons of them, given a boost by the zombie walk on the strip) to girls  in hot costumes and dudes wearing dresses, there’s a little bit here for everyone. Ninja turtles seemed popular, and for some damn reason I saw a LOT of panda bears. Seriously. WTFs with that?

But what I noticed the most were the couples. While Halloween has traditionally been a holiday for the kids, filled with ghost stories and lots of sweets, it seems to me that it’s become a tradition for people in love.

So many of the costumes went together. Kings had their queens, Lucy had her Ricky (in black n white, of course), and Red Riding Hood had her Big Bad Wolf. Smiles were a plenty and there was lots of kissing and PDA. Can’t fault people in love.

Some highlights of the night were sexy storm troopers  showing bare midriffs and wonderful curves (Lucas, why didn’t you think of this),  the gingerbread man, and an adorable little gal dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast (she got her picture taken with some soldiers - seeing little Belle with a huge gun was super cute). Why was this kid out a 00:45? Oh, and the remote control Jigsaw riding the tricycle was pretty damn sweet.

The fun and cuteness just seemed to emphasize something that’s been nagging at me. I don’t belong here. Kids? Cute, but I miss Caleb and hate that I can't get him out here sooner. Couples? Hah. I’m alone here, at least until someone gets off her ass and comes out to me. Costumes? I don't think so, Tim.

And while I don’t feel so great about that, given what I saw here tonight, it may not be a bad thing. Not having someone that I'm attached to here could potentially save my life.

You see, all fun and cuteness aside, it seems that the college atmosphere of Fremont Street may have gotten out of hand tonight. At least, I hope that’s all it was. Because tonight, I may have been witness to the start of one of the greatest fears of my generation - the zombie apocalypse.

We’ve all thought about it. The possibility of some sort of virus that drives people mad and turns vegans into flesh eating psychos is there on the fringes of our minds. But what if it’s not just a fear? What if it isn’t just some silly notion?

Case in point, the gentleman I met tonight. We’ll call him Bryant in order to maintain his anonymity. Hopefully, my respect for his privacy won’t doom us all.

I met Bryant in the bathroom of the Fitzgerald while I was washing my hands. He stumbles in, pain and confusion etched on his face. His hand is covered in blood.

“Holy shit man,” I said. “What happened?”

“This crazy bitch just grabbed my hand and bit me!”

Isn’t that how it always starts in the movies?

Bryant’s story was a bit out of the norm on fair Fremont Street. There are plenty of whorish girls, traipsing about is short skirts looking to get their mouth on something. There are plenty inebriated men and women making out and nibbling each other’s necks. But a full on bite? Near Halloween no less?

Hmmm.

I turned on the water for him and told him to get it cleaned up. It was swollen and a bit purple where she had bit him. Hopefully, all it will do is leave a nasty scar.

“Why the hell she bite you?”

Bryant took a moment to answer. “I don’t know,” he finally said. “I was drinking my beer and she went to grab it. I pulled my hand away. Then she just grabbed my wrist and bit down!”

I’m hoping that this ghoul was just a very drunk chica. However, I would question the likelyhood of a person chomping down on a guys hand because he didn’t give her his beer. I wonder if somehow, she caught the virus and that it was starting to get to her.

Sorry for the poor image quality and total lack of blood. It didn't occur to me to get a picture until after it took the picture. That big purple blotch on his hand is the bite, right by his vein, and it was f'ing deep. There was a lot of blood and I apologize for my lack of foresight.

That being said, Las Vegas is not a physically large town. Like sardines is the way we’re packed in this little valley. If there is going to be an outbreak, what a great place for it to start. Awful convenient, I’d say.


So, if you find that a great, unmentionable disaster afflicts the 702 over the next few days, you heard it here first. If Sin City is placed under quarantine for an unknown reason, you’ll know why.

Hopefully, this is just an isolated incident. Hopefully, nothing will come of it. Hopefully, all of you who love Halloween will get to come out here and experience it for yourselves. I can promise you, there isn’t anything like it in the USA.

Then again...we may not be here next year. If the mystery girl who chowed on Bryant’s hand is patient zero, well, hopefully the slogan will be right. Hopefully, what happens in Vegas will stay in Vegas.

Happy Halloween everyone.