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I accepted a job today! Starting in August, I will be assembling tsunami data for the National Geophysical Data Center. They have some great outreach programs that I can help with, too. Best of all, the folks at NGDC are very friendly. I’m excited!

Besides job stuff, I’ve been working around the house a lot. I built some hooks for the mudroom:

and a screen for the bedroom to replace the one that Amani (Jason and Gucki’s dog) tried to escape through. I installed and re-installed two mirrors and weeded around the house — which, I discovered, is a pain in the butt. Tomorrow I’m headed BACK down to Broomfield to buy weed killer. And deck sealer. (Another fun project — “Pick a window of two days with no rain,” Lowe’s directions suggest. When am I going to find that around here? It rains nearly every day!) And Lamps Plus to find some lights for our bedroom.

We all decided to tube Boulder Creek this afternoon. There’s a kayaker selling inner tubes at the base of the canyon, so it was really easy — pull up, pay your $11, and hop in. “I feel obligated to tell you,” he warned casually, “that the river is a little high and you’ll probably fall off at least once. You might also get scraped by a rock.” We’d read the online reviews of the tubing and were not phased by his mild warning; we hopped right in.

Geez louise! It was like white-water rafting in a top-heavy, single person lifeboat! Gucki and I cautiously navigated the first two “steps” (aka “moderate waterfalls”). I was tossed off my tube both times; Gucki managed to stay on the thing over waterfall #1, but nearly drowned on the second. We opted to walk along the edge and watch our menfolk in the water instead. And I lost my favorite hat.

At the outset, we decided we’d rather have a leisurely float through town instead of doing the rapids over and over, so we parked at 30th street. (The put-in is at the equivalent of about negative 3rd street.) By the time we made it to sixth street, Gucki had sworn off her tube and Jason’s skin was turning pink with the cold; we decided to just walk back to the start.

Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun. We’re looking forward to trying it again circa August when the water level is a little lower.

Ben and Jason went back to the Professional Kayaker Selling Inner Tubes to get them deflated so they’d fit in the trunk. When they asked him about the conditions, he said, “I call this ‘Extreme Tubing.’ There’s no way I’d go in there! But the college kids seem to like it …” This from a guy who’s kayaked the entire length of the raging river from Boulder Falls to town. (That’s pretty hardcore.)

For a directions, a schematic map, and a description of this hike, please see the Nederland Chamber of Commerce’s day hikes page. However, note that the hike is only five miles long, not seven as their description claims. (Thank you, GPS!)

Jason, Gucki, and their dog Amani joined us on a day hike to Diamond Lake yesterday. It was a beautiful hike interrupted only by brief moments of footsie frostbite, doggie-danger, and camera-dropping.

I recommend that you do not hike this trail in sandals in June. The last mile to the lake is covered in snow. Ben and I, in our Chacos, got very cold feet.

When Ben and I reached the base of “the snowfield”, we paused to decide whether or not to plow on. (Ben wisely chose not to; I suffered through the last quarter mile to the lake.) It was then that we noticed Chaco was missing. He wouldn’t come when we called him, but we heard faint whining and barking so we launched a small search. We finally found him at the bottom of a crack in a rock; he fell five feet through the crusty snow covering the crack and couldn’t get out. I chimneyed down the crack and lifted him out by the scruff of his neck. Fortunately, he seemed no worse for the wear; he likes enclosed spaces. At least he had the sense to bark a little.

Puppy in tow, we headed back to the base of the snowfield. I put my pack on but sensed that it wasn’t zipped fully, so I swung it around to correct the problem. That’s when my 1dMkII fell out of my pack, landed on a rock, and rolled into a mud puddle. AAaaahhhh!!! The good news is that is still takes pictures; the bad news is that the LCD won’t turn on. :( It’s headed off to Canon Factory Service today.

Overall, it’s a fantastic, not-too-strenuous, beautiful hike. I highly recommend it. But wear boots.

A letter from my dad arrived yesterday — part birthday thank-you, part plasma physics update, and part “new-homeowner-sympathy”. He described his and Mom’s “hundred dollar days” back in Tennessee, when they’d just bought their new house (the one I lived in until I was two and they decided to return north of the Mason-Dixon line). Every week, he says, you must go out and spend $100 (in 1981 currency) on household items. If you do not have a list of $100 worth of stuff, you should probably go to Home Depot and spend $100 anyway, just to appease the Gods of Broken Plumbing and Termite Infestations.

And so it is, albeit adjusted for inflation! Our furniture from the Great American Furniture Warehouse arrived this morning. Except, that is, for the “Bunkie Board”, a $40 piece of hardware that our GAFW sales representative neglected to remind us was not included with the trundle bed we bought. It goes on top of the slats that hold the mattress up so that you do not fall through if you happen to plop your bum in the wrong spot. Now, we must drive 25 miles back to Broomfield and tie the missing full-bed-board to the roof of our car instead of having it delivered with the rest of our order. Grr.

I bought mattress covers etc for the new bed (and queen bed I’m picking up from a craigslist lady as soon as I can rent a pickup from UHaul) at Bed Bath and Beyond and then spent several HOURS picking out sheets and stuff online tonight. Do you have any idea how boring it is to pick out sheets??? My apologies, future houseguests — after all that shopping, I ordered from Target.com. I didn’t see any big differences between the cheap ones and the pricey ones, so you’ll be resting your heads on the best sheets $20 can buy.

I had a job interview today, too. It looks like an interesting job; now I just have to wait and see!

This is why I moved here — so that at 4:30 one overcast afternoon, I could load the pup up in the car and go for a hike on the spur of the moment! The rain held off and the hike was great.

Follow the Nederland Chamber of Commerce’s day hikes guide to reach Lost Lake. However, take note that you can’t actually park at the Hessie trailhead as the guide suggests. That’s because the road to the trailhead looks like this:

So park at the obvious parking spot where the road forks — left goes to the Hessie trailhead and right goes to the 4th of July trailhead. It’s only a half-mile walk to Hessie from there, and there’s a trail so you don’t have to get your feet wet. In fact, it’s a rather beautiful, board-walked trail.

I met a friendly guy who said, “Just stay left at every fork and you’ll reach Lost Lake.” Don’t do that; you will end up in the middle of nowhere! It’s at least an interesting middle of nowhere; if you take the first major fork left after the Hessie trailhead, you’ll hit these abandoned cabins in a matter of several hundred meters. I instantly thought of Dad B when I saw them. This picture’s for you, Dad!

The hike is fairly short, though not exactly “easy” since it does entail an 800′ climb. The reward at the end is a stunning alpine lake. The shores host about ten campsites, which look like lots of fun if you want to hike a mere two miles and camp out. (Not me; I’d rather just hike the two miles home and sleep in my warm bed!)

It goes without saying, but Chaco had a good time.

We are in a routine now — we wake up, work on the house (or call/email OTHER people to come work on the house). This should take about 45 minutes, but it takes ALL DAY. By bedtime we are exhausted, but the house is not any neater. Aaaahhhh!!! I just want it to be clean!!! Also, the pollen storms have grown stronger and everything is covered in a haze of yellow dust.

Last night, Ben clogged up the toilet and couldn’t unclog it with a plunger. Our house has water saving toilets and he ranted and ranted about how they’re not plungerable … finally, in a last attempt, he plungered REALLY HARD and splashed the entire contents of the toilet bowl onto the bathroom walls and floor. At one thirty in the morning. Then he wanted me to go out to the garage with him and empty the shop vac basket so that he could vacuum up the water.

Today was better ’cause we got TV! It’s feast or famine up here — either you get no reception or you get satellite TV. We went for the latter and we now have about a gazillion channels, including Discovery HD which looks awesome. We watched a show about the Great Barrier reef this afternoon — very cool. Also, Ben took me on another date to Backcountry Pizza. We even had some time to walk Chaco down to the river, which he enjoyed immensely. Only problem was he preferred to chew on grass than run around. (He puked up another stomachful of grass this morning; we’re getting tired of his routine!)

I spent most of today at Home Depot, then trying to fix the mess I made of my purchases. Ahh! At least I didn’t screw up the plumbing (we needed longer washing maching hoses). I get to go back tomorrow to return the stuff that didn’t work out. Fortunately, I eventually got most of it working. Tomorrow should bring more progress, and maybe some furniture if we have enough energy to go back to the Great American Furniture Warehouse after church.