I had promised myself to make the sometimes painfull decision to leave the workplace this summer if it wasn't working out instead of trying to stick it out as I always have before. It was the right thing to do :0).... I was forced to choose between my initial employer and my second one last night.

I often wonder why an employer thinks that a seasonal employee will be as "trapped" as a 9-5er in a position when they are not being fair or honest. I am now in a much smaller and less fancy…

So one of the things I really like about taking temp jobs in the parks and other assorted places is how many cool people (from all over the world) you get to meet. I worked in Jackson Hole this winter and one of my co-workers was from Brazil and through her I learned some interesting things about Brazillian culture. The summer I spent at the Grand Canyon I had two room mates from Finland and worked with people from the Navajo reservation - and of course saw folks from more…

I'm really just posting to test this out. I'm used to online blogging as I have another one that I use but this is a new forum. It somewhat reminds me of MySpace but (thankfully) doesn't have nearly as much clutter. I've never found MySpace to be user friendly.



I like the idea of this community because it's good to know that I am not alone in the travel/work thing. I spent last summer in Yellowstone and it was an amazing experience. I've also worked in Alaska, the Grand Canyon,…

Be careful out there....

A guy was mauled in Hayden Valley yesterday. He was able to walk a few miles out to the road to get help, then taken by ambulance to West Yellowstone and helicopter to Idaho Falls.

The word is that he has severe facial injuries.

We're not the top of the food chain around here. Be alert. Bear spray is good.

Be careful out there.…

David filled us in on some great trips to be done in Grand Staircase / Escalante and we settled on a Wolverine/Horse Canyon loop. Having just took a stroll through Death Hollow we took a long jealous look at Little Death Hollow but decided not to tackle the climbing and pools of water with the pooches.…

The…

This picture of me with the zucchini is in the Growth Chamber, and was taken on Saturday April 14th I take pictures of the produce every week and include them in my weekly Sit- Rep report's that go to the Winter Site Manager, Facilities Specialist in Denver, the Head Chef in Denver for the South Pole, to a professor and the graduate student who was the technician of the green house last winter who are with…

I saw on Yahoo today that Fox has pulled one of my new favorite shows, "Drive" from its Monday time slot. This led me to have several thoughts. First, if it weren't for 24 and its summer replacement Hell's Kitchen, I would really hate Fox. No other network produces as many original, well acted, and intriguing shows, and then cancels them a month later. As evidence I give you The Lone Gunmen, Keen Eddie, The Adventures of Briscoe County Jr., and the utterly fantastic Firefly. (If you have not…

We recently added a Job Map that we're pretty proud of. Take a spin, zoom in and out, pick a state, pick a category and scope where these employers are.

I also put together a map of where folks are who are signed into My CoolWorks so far. I didn't get everyone because I wasn't sure. And I just put first names and general locations so as not to get too inappropriately personal. Using a tool called Tagzania you can manage your own location…

First of all, no, I am not an overly negative person. I chose this blog title simply because it is my first ever, and my creativity was lacking so I stole a title from Lemony Snicket. Being my first blog, it is a beginning, and since I am a novice, it might be bad. But I hope not.

Our first seasonal employees of the 2007 season arrived this weekend at the Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge. Their arrival was met with the same stomach dropping feeling that the first 2006 employees brought me.…