So, here I am in lovely Wisconsin, working at Ft. McCoy, a Reserve training center. Pretty different. I am the historic archaeologist(for now) and i am trying to wrap up the historic homestead survey, which involves me and my assistant driving around in this behemoth dodge ram that only has rear wheel drive, going out to the sites (thank god they've been located already), usually stomping through waist high field grass and or raspberry bushes, and measuring old foundations and cellar holes. After collecting all the information about a site I can without actually digging, it's on to the next one. Myobjective is to determine whether each one is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Most aren't. Anyway, wha tmakes life interesting is all the hoops I have to jump through because1. it's the government and 2. it's the Army. i have to carry a radio at all times and check in with Range Control before we go out, to make sure we don't wander into any "wet" areas (ie direct fire live ammo). We have to be wary of UXO (unexploded ordnance). We got to have all the different types of UXO shown to us and what they do to you if you screw around with them. and of course, having to be at work at 7 is not my cup of tea, whcih effectively makes my bedtime 10pm. However, I get to see some damn interesting things. It's quite the experience to be going about your business when a flight of Cobra attack helicopters flys over your head - ten feet over your head ( ok, we were in the truck, but still...) Hearing teh artilliry is pretty neat. And all the wildlife is great. I see lots of hawks, deer and tons of wild turkeys. You think grouse are scary when you spook them out of hiding? try a fucking huge ass-turkey! Plus, the folks i work with are nice, and I got sent out on an all expense paid trip to Baltimore to attend the week long army 101 orientation course. pretty nifty. I also get time off to go to conferences, which is cool, so I will be in Quebec in January and Philly in april. You have to be careful about ticks, though. One site i was ate, within five minutes i flicked off 8 deer ticks. which are this big:*. Ok, maybe this big:@. But the nymphs, which are the really dangerous ones, are this big:. (the period. No shit) So far, I haven't been bit, but I have taken the vaccine as a precaution. So, that's it in a nutshell. more stories later as they happen.

now I know what brings thee to Tomah.

I thought you would. but hey! Its the boyhood home of the guy who drew "Gasoline Alley". Plus there are hitching posts at wal Mart for the Amish. no Shit.

I have Amish clip-clopping up and down my street all the time. Scares the hell out of my cat, poor Jave.

and of course there are the Amish meth labs. i am having a terrible morning thinking about VOKDA, no more VODKA for me, from now on it is VOKDA or nothing. today, i hope i choose Nothing.

I stil have trouble understanding Amish drug dealers. It seems to me just plain ridiculous to stick with that culture if you're going to cheat. Like the radical amish who drive cars, but only black cars. Give it up already.

Sheila-- VODKA is bad. Nothing is better. Better than nothing. Nothing better. See?

Vodka is a goood thing!!

Q:What do you call an Amish man with his arm up a horses ass?A:The mechanic

Got a story for you. My father is an archaeologist. He was working on an army base, using my mom's beat up old Volkswagon bug as a field vehicle. He and 3 of his people were digging on top of this dam when this helicopter came by. This thing kept circling them, like it was trying to figure out what they were doing. After a while it flew off. After another little while, somebody showed up in a jeep asking them what the hell they thought they were doing. My father showed the guy his papers and explained everything. The Jeep guy was very apologetic and explained that he had gotten a report from the guy in the helicopter that there were 4 hippies out on the dam, burying a Volkswagon.

I use to live at several dams out here in the desert,the last one,Horse Mesa was so isolated that it had a 1 room school house and I only went out of there every 2 weeks to buy groceries,it was that bad.I also lived at Bartlet Dam without even a phone,we had our own generator for power.I swear I use to hear chamber music at night.

Lucy What a great story. What part of the country does your dad work in? We have Range Control to guide us so that doesn't happen much and we have little badges we have to wear out in the field. Before the badges, teams would get ambushed by guys doing the MILES training and capture them, sure they were a trick of the people they were training against. Sometimes the radio jargon is too much for me. Like, why say I reas you Lima Charlie when it takes less syllables to say I read you loud and clear. And then there's the term That's a solid copy when you mean I understand. Whatever happened to Roger?

He was working in Oregon at the time. However, he now works in Maryland. Remind me to tell you the Historic Annapolis story sometime.

Wow that was a while back. I thought that Lucy departed before I moved down here. Anyway, since this is my last day at work, I thought I would revisit this thread and wrap it up. (if y'all got something to say, say it before 4pm eastern, because it will be a while before I'm back) Pretty good experience overall, even though I am thoroughly sick of living here. I feel like I packed in three years of experience into two. I got to do a lot of things I never did before, like participate in a controlled burn, direct volunteers, get my mug on tv, and so on. Still, things could have been better, at least on the side of things outside work. I'm really glad that this site exists, it's been a link to sanity and decent moods throughout my stay. I hope I can get back onto the web within a reasonable length of time, because it's a hell of a time sorting through all the stuff that piles up when you take a break! so, if anyone really needs to get a hold of me, the email is doktorsemillama@yahoo.com. If you are going to be in the Columbus area, my door is open (if I'm there at the time). I look forward to meeting more of you, as well (Kalli - email me so I can get a hold of you before I traipse into DC in May). I'd better stop before I get too melodramatic.

You going for the PHD at ohio state?

Going to work for a private firm. In the private sector for archaeology, sometimes a Ph.D can hold ya back. I probably will go for one, but not til the debts are paid off.

Sem,good luck with your move,I will miss your posts,so I looked up an internet cafe in Columbus,it's JaVa's Cyber Espresso Bar.1173 N.Hamilton Rd. phone# 614-418-9228 $6.00 a hour.Maybe they have computers at the library.

awwwwwwww she's SOOOOO sweet

oh and sem if you wanna know where the local bath houses are, lemme know