It Could Only Happen Here...

Do you ever get in those conversations where if anyone heard you out of context, they would be completely confused? I get this happening a lot when talking about gameplay (videogames). But today, it happened at work.

A man came into the museum. Not in a rush, but very purposeful. He stopped long enough to ask me if the museum director was in "Yes," before walking right back out. A few minutes later he came in holding some sort of old beat-up gun. He walked right past me and on towards (presumably) the offices. I get on the phone and page the director.
He answers (which almost never happens).
"There's a guy headed your way with a gun."
His voice all of a sudden is very cheerfully excited, "I love when that happens. Thank you!" And he hangs up.
I stare at the phone for a minute. Was he being sarcastic and is now alarmed? Should I have specified? Or is he genuinely happy? I shrug and go back to work.

He was genuinely happy. We have since had a conversation about how I should indeed specify if a man with a gun comes in angrily looking for him. Otherwise, I'll just enjoy the ridiculousness.

Trouble in Paradise

I've been having some trouble with my "supervisor." That is in quotes because she doesn't really do much supervising. Once they hired me, she wanted nothing to do with the store. I've been getting most of my support and help from the bookkeeper. Which is fine, though a little annoying when she pulls her rank on me when she happens to want to be gone the same week I do. Though I can't complain too much because she hired me without doing an interview or looking at my resume or anything, simply because I've been around volunteering and she knew me and knew people liked me (which is how I hear the world works). So yay for that.

My problem comes from the fact that she basically stole three finger puppets from my store. We just recently got them in and they've been a huge hit. (Points for me because they are the first company I've gone after to bring in a new product!) First, she wanted me to sell them to her at our cost instead of the actual price (divide by .6 to get the price with a 40% profit). I told her she had to talk to the bookkeeper about that because I wouldn't even know how to make that right on the computer books. So she took them to talk to the bookkeeper....and apparently merely showed them to her before taking them home.

It has been a while and she still hasn't payed for them. I've asked her about paying a couple times and she comes up with excuses and jokes it off....and what can I do because she's technically my superior? I've mentioned it to the bookkeeper, who's talked about waiting a bit more and then she could always take it out of her paycheck. But I don't want to make enemies...it's a rough situation.

Then one of the days she was subbing in for me, another finger puppet goes missing. The computer thinks we have two when physical inventory is only one. I can't prove it was her. It's right around Christmas, so there are actually a lot of people coming in. Maybe it was one of them. But with that past problem, what else can I think?

Hopefully this is resolved soon. I don't like office drama.

Court Trip

  

So, court gave Jeff and I another excuse for a "vacation."

The drive up was a bit tense as we found our balance and Jeff stressed over possible weather conditions that never materialized, but the  rest of everything was great fun!

Special shout-out to the deliciousness

of the Pied Cow, the nickle-stealing amusements of Avalon, the delightful yet sometimes depressing atmosphere of the Glass House Tavern, our hotel with its free "movies," and the cute "Switch Bot" on the wall of the Waffle House. ^_^

Switch Bot

All the quarters!

My phone was great to have,
as GPS and to look up ideas on places
to grab grub. Yay useful technology!


Overall, I think it was
a pretty awesome trip.  

Happy Jeff is happy.

Costumes and Alarms

(Picture pending)
Why have I been so excited to come to work recently?
Yes, that is right: costumes!
I finally got around to going down into the prop room and picking out two dresses that aren't terrible. (I really think I need to make some of my own! >.<;) The first one I semi-permanently borrowed for the store's use is long-sleeved and just barely fits me. Although, it does show off my waistline and keeps me mindful of my posture. ^_^ The second one is a bit more relaxed...I'm wearing it for the first time today. It fits me....but I'm unsure about the style. It is "gathered" in the front and back, so the sides poof out a bit more....it definitely does not look modern. Of course, my short blue/purple hair is not exactly period, so I've also been purloining bonnets! The ones we sell in the store are really made for bright sun and basically act as blinders. Not so good for a person running a store! I found it looks best hanging down my back. However, I've found a stiffer one in the prop room that actually allows me to see--and it's grey! Yay!

The reaction to my taking to costume-wearing has been mixed. The staff mostly just think I'm funny and are enjoying my enthusiasm and the ridiculousness of me dressing up. There are a few who are a bit incredulous and supportive in that "yeah, you go ahead and look like a freak and I'll stand back here and laugh" sort of way. However, the Director seems pleased so nyah. The visitors to the museum (though we've had very few) seem amused so far.

I had one "Oops" this past week. Apparently I didn't make sure one of the doors was fully closed when I was locking up and received this email from the Director the next day:

A door alarm triggered at 1:40 am Saturday morning. I made great time with the lights and the officer beat me there. We found the western front door slightly ajar and the officer called for for backup.  It was really exciting stuff when the officers pushed the door open fast and yelled “Police, come out with your hands up!” There was no sign of anyone and with the door being locked but not closed, my guess was the wind blew it open and the auto closer pulled it shut again. Perhaps we should count three additional visitors for this weekend. 

I do really appreciate having a boss man with a sense of humor. I don't know if I'd be so happy to be pulled out of my bed at 2am on a day I didn't have to come into work....

Note to self: make sure doors are closed! 

Not-So Green

(picture pending)

So I learned a funny thing the other day.
The Entry Building, where my store is located, was built to be Green Certified. This isn't the funny thing. Part of this certification is that we installed low-flow toilets. The funny thing is that they're too low-flow for the pipes! Apparently when I check the bathrooms as part of my opening and closing routine, I should be flushing every toilet to make sure there's enough water flowing around.

I'm torn between not flushing the toilets (yay water conservation and eww touching every toilet 2ce a day) and flushing them (pure ridiculosity factor and following job orders).

The Old Trapper

So, I keep making posts in my head and not on the computer! Running a store is busy work. (That is, not busywork. Who decided that those two needed to be such similar words??) BUT! My new goal is to post once a week. Lets see if I can manage it.

Yesterday, an old vet came in. He had originally come in with a VA tour. In the store, he had became enamored with our Rendezvous posters and said that he'd be back (yeah, yeah. I haven't heard that before). And he didn't come back when he said he would. BUT he came back yesterday. I didn't recognize him at first; just some grizzled guy in a feathered cap walking out to the exhibits without paying admission. I chased after him and he turned to me "Sweetie, I just came back like I said to get another look at the posters." Rough voice, feathered cap, posters. Riiiight. Sometimes I wish I remembered faces better. >.<;

So we wandered about the store together while he tried to choose a poster (we have 9 or so different Rendezvous ones). I believe that if I'd known the deal to sell them all together, he may have gone for it. Though he really wanted the shrink wrapped ones so they'd be safe during his walk back to the VA, so perhaps not. Either way, he talked some. Not a lot, though. His voice was rough and he spoke like he thought about each word as it came out. This is how I learned that he's a trapper (and hence the interest in the posters).

For those of you who don't know, "rendezvous" refers to a yearly large fur-trade related meeting. A rendezvous might include several fur trading companies, and array of fur traders, mountain men, and Indians. A lot of deal-making and trading occurred. They often developed into temporary "towns"  which offered the fur trade workers and participants ways to spend their money on supplies and revelry. Historical reenactments, such as the one this museum held for over 10 years, had some elements of fiction (living history actors) and some elements of reality (as real trappers came to sell and trade their goods). 

I learned that he once had a mule spook on him and it took him two weeks (or so) to track the thing down. That was my first real clue. And then he went on to tell me about how there used to be rendezvous all over the place, including the one here, but now not so much. Apparently there was a small trade in Pendleton just recently, but that's what it has been reduced to. He seemed a bit sad about that. Then he took his two posters in hand, tipped his hat to me, and walked out. After paying, of course!

These pictures are of two of the prints from the rendezvous posters I stole them from here.

Taking Time Out

So I haven't been taking a lunch break. Go industrious me? No! I was (finally) filling in my time card today and realized I'll be heading into overtime if I don't start taking breaks. (This would be bad.) Therefore! I'm taking advantage of my volunteer today and hiding in the back office. If I only pull a 7 hour work day today, I should be alright for the week. This is why planning ahead is important. *nodnod*

I had a big oops yesterday....I was trying to be efficient and close up and print maps off at the same time. I set down my keys to mess with the printer and didn't notice until the locked door had shut behind me! And my cell phone broke, so I didn't have anyone's numbers. >.< Luckily, I'd had stolen my mother's old cell phone and there was a phone book available at the greeter's desk. I called my boyfriend to look on the internet and find out a coworker's last name so that I could look her up. She gave me someone else's number and he came out and rescued me. :) I will not speak negatively of him ever again!

One Week In

Sometimes it amazes me how I ended up here ("here" being any of several places each at their own point in time). I would have never thought that I would be where I am. But I remember thinking this before.....so, I have created this blog. I have been at my job almost a full week. I need to somehow document my achievements and the craziness that sometimes happens here. (Yes, crazy things do happen. Even in a museum gift shop. ^_^)

I figured that today would be a slow day, so I brought in the pack of construction paper I bought for the making of bats! I taped up leaves in the windows, but.....come on! It's nearing Halloween and I want bats. I vaguely followed these instructions and hung my bats from various points on their bodies to the cords of the ceiling fans.
(I just so happened to have black thread in my bag...>.>)

Achievement! Today, I called in my first order! The woman came in yesterday and had shown me her merchandise. I had her write down the things that I thought might work well in the store....then got the OK from our bookkeeper. So that happened today: something new and I used the phone to do it! *is proud of self*

Funny museum goers:

Exchange of the day:
          "They have those Sears Roebuck catalogs."
          "Have one I don't look at, don't need two."

There was this one woman who came in and spent over $70 in the store. She didn't want admission into the museum, but she bought 1 of each of our postcards to write people on and then walked around the Main Hall. She had another couple take a picture of her in front of our sign as if she was actually going to the museum and then took pictures of the few cases that are there. I would be amused to hear the story she tells about her trip here! But hey, she spent money so I'm not complaining.

Spokane-Scottish Festival!

My team won the tug-of-war, I am determined to make some mead now, and shit!, in Gaelic (spelled differently, of course) means "yonder." xD

Visiting with Step was great. Sometimes a little heavy, but overall a trip I wish I'd made sooner and hope to make several times again!

Portland "Vacation"

The trip was useless, and we never ended up going camping or kayaking. However, it was still a chaotic mess that was firmly in the fun zone.  

There was mini golfing in a black-lit pirate world, shopping for 8 types of rootbeer in the new soda pop and candy shop downtown, visiting one of the largest collections of mummies,

Watching Hubble at the OMNIMAX, food-nomming at the Montage, food carts, & Roxy, waterfall hiking, a handicap hotel room, morning chai in a rose garden, asian market and alternative store shopping, and lots of driving on back roads. :)

We finally visited the Vista House! Known throughout our dating years as "The UFO House." Jeff had
to admit that the view, at least, was pretty awesome.



















Due to complications and our own inability to ever have a good camping trip, we headed home a day early. But, we drove along the first part of Highway 30 and hiked to my favorite waterfall! It was great fun. ^_^ We even stopped by the Vista House again to check out the inside. I never realized that your could go up on top of it!














 

Gettin his edjamacation on

Coming home, we entered some kind of huge smoke/ dust cloud! When we stopped at the rest stop, you could feel heat radiating from that direction ...very the world ended while we were distracted-y. Put an interesting tone on the middle part of our journey. Turns out there were some pretty big fires up around Goldstone (Gladstone?).

Mario Bento

So I had the urge to make bento today. My day off and all my spare time. xD Liza said I could make her lunch, and that's how I decided it was to be Mario themed. I think it was delicious! :)

The mushrooms are cut up radishes.
The blocks are omelettes marked with cheese.
The fire-flowers are strawberry slices and cucumber.
Mario is white and mexican rice with cheese and seaweed detailing.
All on a bed of spinach.

Biking to Portland

 Day 1: 58 mi

Dad wasn't around to see us off, so we had to have some random guy take our picture before we set out.
The sentence to start off the day:

"I hope we make it to Hermiston" ~Mom

"We're slowly stripping!" ~ Kt

We found THE ONE grassy spot to sit and have a pre-lunch. ( The only one not trespassing, anyway. A little ways back, there was a house with a picnic table in their yard! Only, the sprinklers were going.)

I took a picture of my bike because I couldn't of me.
And we're off again!

The Walla Walla Valley

Somewhere after Touchet and slightly before 9 Mile on the
back roads.

I saw this cool underpass by 9 Mile and wanted to go
explore it. We decided that it seemed like a nice enough
 place for lunch. 

 It was pretty windy, but the shade was nice. We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on this funny kind of flat bread!

My mommy biking....and the Columbia River! After 9 Mile, we got off the back roads and traveled on the highway.  

We made it to Hermiston and went down Diagonal Rd, trying to reach the Walmart so that I could get sunglasses. We made it as far as the Circle K before calling my uncle. After stopping at Walmart, we went to his house and chatted, showered, and ate dinner. I was fine until after dinner, when all of a sudden the insides of my knees just felt overly fatigued. I couldn't stand very well or walk long. It was hard to find a comfortable position to sleep in. The next day, however, they were fine. :) Yay being young and fast recovery!

In the Book:

Musing of the day --Are there land gulls?
Quote -- "Oh! There's a road here!" ~Mom

"I like traveling with Kt 'cause she finds interesting side trips." ~Mom
"Ow my knees hurt all of a sudden.....can't walk..." ~Kt

 Day 2: 37.6 mi

We started off the day SO EARLY. I don't sleep well when I can't check on the time. We had the yummiest bacon at breakfast that my cousin had raised. Then they dropped us off at church and we left from there after Mass.
The sentence to start off the day (done about mid-day):

"My knee hurts :(" ~Kt

"No pain but fatigue - slow day" ~ Mom

We made it to Umatilla  unharmed! And I found 2 pennies. We crossed the bridge....on the other side was a young bald eagle! My attempts to take a picture failed because (I later realized) my camera was on it's macro settings. Directly off the bridge, we went through this fun tunnel.

Somewhere along the way, my knee twinged and suddenly
pushing with it hurt. So, a lot of this day was spent peddling
one-legged. It was hot, but there was a small nice cross-wind.

We stopped under this winery sign for shade. There was
some grass under it that felt nice to lay on. Tired, with
 no idea how far we had yet to go,

But we did finally make it! It was beautifully green.
And, since we biked in, the camp guy didn't charge
us! Mom made sure that the first thing she did was
blow up her air mattress. xD 

Our food was mostly of the reconstituted kind.

Our bikes made it

In the Book:


Musings of the day -- What do flies eat in the wild? Poop
                                    Did Lewis or Clark commit suicide?

"Our neighbor was a pilot who was building a plane & he rode a honda shadow. We saw a mink today! but it was dead on the side of the road. And a bald eagle and a hoot-hoot! <--That weren't dead" ~Mom
"Camping camaraderie  I like meeting random people-we weren't charged for our camp spot, got a bag of ice, and met our neighbors. :)" ~Kt

 Day 3: 51 mi

I decided that sunglasses weren't quite enough, so I made a visor out of duct tape and a stick. I colored the underside black with a sharpie.
The sentence to start off the day:

"Starts with accomplishment!
Kt gains item "duct tape roll"
Kt receives title "Visor Maker"
Kt gains item "visor" " ~Kt
"(Nice neighbors) on to Maryhill today!" ~Mom

So we started off! The farthest Mom had ever ridden
before was 100 miles, so we stopped and did a
happy dance. 

Forever were we stopping to put on sunscreen!

I took this pic because there was a special forklift
taking the cars off the train and putting them on
trucks!

We stopped in Roosevelt to eat lunch and I
discovered something delicious: a spam slice
on top of half a bagel!  

Mamma biker is strong!

It was a really hot day. At least mid 80s we agreed (Later we found out it was 94 in the Dalles!). There wasn't really any shade anywhere and mom was getting nauseous. We were also starting to get low on water. So, when we found this shade, we rested and waited for the sun to get lower and less hot.

Mom had to laugh. Here she was dirty, sweaty, and laying on
the side of the highway in bike gear....but she has
designer toes. ^_^ 

The sun was beginning to set and no ideas where to
camp; we were both too tired to make a decision. We
stopped at a farm house....but only a boy was home,
so we asked for water and moved on. 

 We hit the BIG hill next to the John Day Dam and knew we couldn't go farther. after going around in circles trying to find the best out of no good places to camp, a passing car with a boat told us of a boat launch next to the dam with a porta potty next to it. Sold. It was pretty, but we were too worn out to care. Barely ate dinner and fell into bed.

In the Book:

We survived.
Barely

 Day 4: 25 mi

The night was windy and we awoke unrested.
The sentence to start off the day:

The hill. 16 miles. HorseThief camp.
GO!

Halfway up.... 

We made it! 

See that tiny sliver of separated water NW of the
center? That's the boat launch we camped at. 

We can see a small Mt Hood.....getting closer! 

There were some very pretty pastoral scenes. 

This was the first day of a strong headwind and it sapped our energy--we had to pedal our bikes to go DOWNHILL. Also the farther along we got, the less shoulder we had. The semis and other traffic were a big stressor.  

BUT, we made it to Maryhill and had a chance to get out of the wind. We filled our water and enjoyed the museum. They had a cafe and we were delighted to eat fresh food. I had a delicious smoked salmon salad.

Mom with Sam Hill. They're buds. 

The traveling exhibit they had on the third floor was a fashion show put on just after WWII. The fashion industry wanted to help stimulate the economy, but fabrics to use were still hard to get. So, they had designers create mock-ups and staged these elaborate scenes to show off the fashion. Along the edge of the stage are little cards identifying the designer and detailing each outfit.

 

We'd remembered, from Crow Butte, that state parks have quarter showers! We got some change when we left Maryhill. After a VERY long time fighting against headwind and hill and no shoulder, we made it to HorseThief Lake. We'd ended up walking a lot.












After a quick shower together, we did laundry. The wind was blowing hard enough, we trusted it would all be dry by sundown. We also made sure to stake down our tent very well, and it still tried to blow away! In the shower/handicapped bathroom, there was one working plug in. So, we each took turns charging things in there to get out of the wind and cowering in the tent. Peeping out every so often to make sure our undies didn't blow away.

That night, I considered the maps by flashlight while mom fell asleep. I was trying to plot our next move and discovered that we couldn't cross at Hood River, as we'd originally planned. But the Dalles was about a 6 mile ride away. I could probably get Mom to do that. However, I still wanted to try and reach Portland, or at least Cascade Locks. About 12 miles beyond the Dalles, there was Memaloose park. I wondered if I could bully her into continuing to there. After the Dalles, campgrounds were more plentiful and perhaps I could bully her from one to the next to get enough miles each day. I fell asleep plotting miles versus days.

In the Book:

We made it to HorseThiefLake! 
So much wind.
The salmon salad @ Maryhill was wonderful
We can't cross @ Hood River!

 Day 5: 31.5 mi

I'd hoped that with the winds strengthening in the evening, they would disperse or at least calm a little in the morning. Nope. However, the day got off to a positive start. As we were walking our bikes up the hill out of the park, I noticed a guy taking pictures of us. Then he drove his car ahead, stopped, and took pictures from the front! Well, he was a photographer for the Seattle Times. They're doing articles about the state parks for the 100th year anniversary and he just happened to be there. Apparently people on the road make it look more interesting. So, we're supposed to look up the paper in a week or two to see if we made it in.
The sentence to start off the day:

With this wind, how far can we get? Dalles, 6 mi?

Horsethief Lake 

Gate to the Hood

 We finally made it to the bridge to the Dalles! It was a fairly narrow path, so we walked our bikes. I tried to get my camera out to take a picture of my mom on the bridge, but my bike tipped over. As far as we can tell, I caught it with my ankle on the spikey gears that hold the chain on. Two gashes were starting to bleed. Mom got out some gauze and I duct taped the whole thing up. We got across the bridge and had breakfast at McDonald's as we planned our next move.

Mom was pretty set on getting a car. The wind was just too strong and the riding wasn't much fun any more. But I had my goal of at least Memaloose and wanted to go on. So, she said she'd ride sag for me. We went back and forth on whether to see a doctor about my gash or not. In the end, it was too much trouble and we were wasting time. So, she rented a van and took off to do the paperwork. I took off by myself.

However,  just after the on ramp I got a flat. I texted Mom and she picked me up. My back tire was rusted on, so we had to take it to a bike shop. We were lucky that it happened to be open.

Then I was off again. She went to Safeway to get a book, gauze, and something not-water to drink. I met her down the road and everything was fine....then my chain came off. With that fixed, the law of three was satisfied and I hoped nothing else would go wrong. >.< 

The ride was beautiful, but that was hard to enjoy with how hard the wind was blowing. I was having to use my bad leg a lot, so my knee was hurting more and more as the day progressed. My goal was to reach Viento State Park. Then, the next day I could go the 15 miles to Cascade Locks or try the 40 to Troutdale. I never made it. I did, however, make it through Mosier (with the Curve of Death), east Hood River (capital of wind surfing), and up the hill to the Columbia Gorge Hotel exit. Just barely. Towards the end, the wind was blowing in gusts so strong, they'd knock me off my bike.

I gave up and allowed Mom to drive me the last 6 miles to Viento. I could have done it, but my knee was already aching and I was afraid that I'd hurt it more permanently. I'd also psyched myself out about the gashes on my ankle and how bad it could be might be. It worried me that it didn't hurt that badly and that the deeper gash wasn't bleeding. I waffled back and forth on going on to Portland or camping and seeing what tomorrow brought. Finally, we just drove to Ken and Fran's.

Once there, we took nice hot showers and relaxed. I had two fingers of bourbon and Fran was wonderful and made us dinner. Turned out the gashes, though deep, weren't too bad, but we were grateful for the lack of wind inside and fell into exhausted sleep. 

 Day 6: 10.3 mi

We spent a lazy morning. I missed saying Happy Birthday to my aunt, but we hung out with Tallyn before school and then Ken. Mom figured out how to drive most of the way home so that we wouldn't have to wait for a pick up. After having lunch out with Ken, we left. 

We drove past a car on fire!

After dropping off the van in Hermiston, we decided to bike towards Walla instead of waiting around for my dad to get off work. I was hoping to at least get the 15 miles I lacked so I could say I at least made it distance-wise to Cascade Locks. However, my dad got off work early and so met us at Sand Station.  It was nice to make it home so quickly. :)

213.4 total miles completed!