The road is long and life is short.........

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T15:05:00.001-10:00

And what better way to celebrate than doing a 5K run and a dip in the Atlantic Ocean! Definitely not in Hawaii this year!

The weather was, well, polar! Freezing rain, 29F and a lot of ice. In fact if i'd taken my skates, i'm sure I would have halved my 5K time....

Post dip......a little brrrrr.....

And now the run up to Woods Hole. I leave Monday morning and start work that afternoon. It's going to be a hectic six weeks.....

Christmas comes early....

2011-12-24T13:03:00.000-10:00

Someone just wandered down the stairs with her Christmas present in her mouth. It's been a while since I gave her a new ball, so opened it up and let her have it early. Merry Christmas miss Barkley.

She doesn't "play ball", just likes to chew them until they're destroyed. I pulled all three out for her and she chewed on each before deciding which one to play with first. I couldn't find non-squeaky ones, so the last half hour has been a little loud....!

More friday

2011-12-24T03:45:00.002-10:00

How she breathes when she does this I don't know......

Our 7yr old neighbor checking out the snow with Barkley

Sledding!

Neighbor came over and helped me make cupcakes for Amy & Peter's Christmas party (below). He had a great time making his creations, and my kitchen....well, it's still covered in food dye....but a lot of fun was had, and I needed the downtime.

Friday!

2011-12-23T03:04:00.000-10:00

Nothing quite like a dry basement (phew!) and a few inches of snow when only flurries were predicted to brighten the day. Snow tastes pretty good too apparently.

Days like these...

2011-12-21T18:06:00.003-10:00

I'm having a tough time right now. So many emotions running through, many I can't talk about, but it's all connected i'm sure. Trying to write proposals, papers and keep samples running through the lab; bummed out by cool projects not being funded & excited by cool projects being funded; buying a house (it's moving forward, I move in in Feb and as soon as the Green Card comes through it's mine); overwhelmed by finances right now; excited by teaching soon (less than 2 weeks) & scared to death about teaching soon; missing friends and family; nagging insomnia that's been going on for over a month now. Those are just a few. Then on top my washing machine decided to burst a pipe and flood all over my carpet tonight, just as i'd managed to start to wind down from a stressful day. Cleaned that up as much as possible tonight (with the help of my 6yr old neighbor!) and hope to hell it doesn't all turn moldy. Last thing I need is to pay for a new carpet here.

So to try and get back into the spirit, out came the fondant icing. They're not done yet, but they're getting ready for an appearance at a Christmas part on friday. Definitely helped me wind down, long day tomorrow, lots to do....including find a wet vac for the carpet!

Winter!

2011-12-18T06:16:00.001-10:00

It might be 12F out there, but darn is it just beautiful! In work today trying to catch up with some things, but couldn't resist swinging by the lighthouse for a walk with Barkley first. Just gorgeous!

Christmas Crafting

2011-12-17T16:54:00.002-10:00

Christmas crafting has unfortunately been at a minimum this year (sorry folks!), but I did just finish this blanket up for some good friends here. Barkley decided the blanket needed a model in there, for scale.

How much to destroy our Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems?

2011-12-15T17:51:00.001-10:00

Had to go up to Orono today for "sexual harassement" training. No, I haven't been harassing people, it's required by the state within the first year of employment, and I hadn't yet gone through the torture. On the way back we did take the time to drop by a store a postdoc had put me on to. He mentioned there were corals in there, so I wanted to take a look. Indeed there were.

The above are precious Red Corals, these particular pieces are from Italy. Sadly there is no regulation on trade of Red Corals, there was a move a few years ago to put them on the list (CITES), but it was turned down, primarily from Japan and Italy fighting the move. There are large fisheries for these corals there. Precious red corals are deep-sea corals, so grow very slowly. These pieces here are about an inch each, and constitute probably ~20 years of growth. Being sold for $8.40. That's less than 10 cents a year. Pretty sad. Very sad in fact. You can guarantee these corals were collected live, there were others in there that looked like they were washed pieces collected from a beach, but these were almost certainly a large tree that was cut into pieces, probably as the bulk was carved.

More interestingly there were several large black corals in there. The manager said they came from Haiti. Black corals are CITES listed, so to be able to trade them you have to have a permit. I took photos of the corals and will check up to see if this particular store has a permit. Black corals are potentially the oldest living organisms on the planet - a single black coral collected off Hawaii was recently dated to more than 4000 years old. So it will take 4000 years for another one to grow.

There is no such thing as a sustainable fishery for corals - either tropical or cold-water. These creatures are indeed beautiful, but lets reflect in their beauty by photos, drawings and sculptures, and even pieces collected washed on the beach.

The weekend!

2011-12-11T14:38:00.003-10:00

It's been an interesting "up and down" kind of few weeks - between work, house, work and more work i've been a little burnt out to say the least. The scoop on the house is that the seller of the original house I lost out on came back with another offer week before last. After some more negotiation, my final offer was accepted last saturday. Yesterday I had the house and septic inspection and all looks pretty darn good, just a smattering of the usual issues you'd expect in any house. Just waiting on the final report and I guess move forward from there. It's still all hypothetical based on me getting my green card, but i'm hopeful in 2012 i'll become not only a "resident alien", but also a homeowner.

So it was well needed and great to have a blow-out with friends last night. I invited a few of my favorite Mainers over for a pre-Christmas Christmas dinner, to sample some British goodies before everyone disperses for the holidays. It made me a little sad when I realised that of course around this time last year I cooked up a British feast in Hawaii for Jenny, Doug, Hannah and Laura, as I miss those guys so much; but it was also fun to think, and hope, that this is the beginning of a long Maine tradition. Dinner was good, company was excellent, and I may have had one too many and went to bed a little merry, but hey, it is Christmas....:0)

Today was a beautiful but crisp day out, so with the McN tribe we went for a walk in Alna, then swung by "the house" so they could get a look at the outside. Seal of approval. All I need now is some luck in the green card department, and a lot of luck that mortgage rates stay low until it does come through!

Miss Barkley, sporting her "Festive Attire" as required at this event. Some say tortured, I say she's beautiful! One actually stayed on for most of the night too!

A table full 'o friends!

Lighting the pudding! Peter was a little fast of the mark lighting said pudding and set the mug alight as well, but luckily we did not need Chris' firefighting skills.....

Festive attire!

The tree! Everyone bought a homemade ornament for my first Maine tree! It was great to bring this tradition back too. Best tree ever!

Four dogs, three adults and two kiddos on our little walk this afternoon!

Amy tried forever to get us composed for a good shot!

Miss Barkley!

2011-12-08T13:58:00.001-10:00

To make a difference in the world you have to love what you do.

Not sure where I read that, but it speaks to me today. Hope everyone is having a great run up to Christmas, i'll update the blog this weekend with some photos!

More...

2011-11-23T04:52:00.001-10:00

Jenny and Doug must miss Barkley enormously, but I really do feel so thankful she's here keeping me company. She lights up my days. Second time out in the snow and she was prancing around, pretty darn cute. Still ready to come in (standing by the door waiting for me to finish digging out the car), but I have no doubt she's enjoying the fluffy white stuff.

Barkley's First Snow....

2011-11-23T03:05:00.001-10:00

Yeah, i'm going to count this as Barkley's first snow. This is the real stuff, the fluffy and light, the snowshoeable snow that I remember from earlier this year. She seems to like it!

Yup, I should probably buy a snow shovel sometime soon.....

2011-11-22T16:22:00.001-10:00

My biggest surprise in Maine. It may be cold and there may be snow on the ground, but I am constantly amazed at how much the sun shines and how blue the sky is year-round. So beautiful. Here Barkley checks out last weeks snow. Hopefully she's ready for our snowstorm predicted for tomorrow!

It's been a few weeks since I last posted, and so much has happened. Nothing overly exciting in the end, but here's the catch-up -

1. Put an offer on a house in Jefferson, 35 mins away from work. Ten years old, 3 bedroom, no-work-needed right now house.

2. Had offer rejected, countered with more than I can afford. Game over, keep on looking.

3. Went to Woods Hole, caught up with fabulous friends, started to panic about working at SEA in January......lots of lectures to write, pronto!

4. On the way back caught up with Tara, Paul and the kids who moved from Hawaii to Portsmouth in the summer. Was awesome to see them!

5. Work wise it's been proposals, proposals and proposals, and i'm a little burnt out to say the least. But there are more to write before the year finishes, so just got to keep plugging away. On the exciting side i've submitted a few to do some deep decompression diving that i'm excited about. Hope they come through.

6. The usual internal university politics has reared its head in Maine. I keep reminding myself how bad Hawaii is and that makes it better. In short, it's been a highly frustrating few weeks trying to get a summer course on the books the way I want it to be. More on that in a later post once things are firmed up, but it hasn't gone the way I want and that's left me a little deflated.

And that's about that. Health wise it's been a bit sucky, stomach has been playing up (acidy) and had an endoscopy last week (inflammation, but the doctor said it was better than he expected) and I seem to be getting a migraine a week right now. Wonder if it's the changing air (we're definitely getting dry up here!).

I'm ready to start a new year. I keep reminding myself this year has been good because I am here, in Maine, and I love it here. On a day to day basis it's sucked more than a little recently, and throughout the year really (bad cruises, green card bollocks, politics etc.), so i'm ready to kick 2011 goodbye and say hello to 2012. Not too long to wait I guess.....

Last week

2011-11-07T01:49:00.000-10:00

Dad and Sanchia have been here this last few days, and it's been really fun going to all the places I haven't managed to go to yet. Thursday we went down to Popham Beach and Fort, Friday we hung around town and went to Edgecombe Fort, Saturday was Pemaquid and a party at the Rigaud's, yesterday we went out to Fort Knox and Camden and today it's Portland. Wednesday they fly out so it's been a whirlwind visit.

Barkley at Popham Beach - she had fun and is sporting her blaze orange, as the deer hunting season started up this week too.

Popham Beach

Popham Fort

We had lunch at a fabulous farmhouse out at Popham. It was such a nice day we sat outside in the sunshine and a few friends came by - the Maine Coon cat....

And several flocks of chickens. It was a fabulous place - North Creek Farm

Edgecomb Fort

Barkley breaking the rules......

I knew Dad and Barkley would get on well, they both love to nap on the couch.....

2011-10-31T14:03:00.000-10:00

We went trick or treating with friends tonight. Barkley was a trouper and kept her 'costume' on for the whole walk around the circle. The best bit though was a small tot backing away into daddy's legs saying 'that's a scary cat!"....:0)

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T10:35:00.000-10:00

What better to do on a snowy sunday than build zombie cupcakes! Watch out, they eat brains.....

Snowtober....

2011-10-30T02:50:00.004-10:00

If this is a sign of the winter to come, I say "Bring it On!"......hard to believe just a few weeks ago I was wearing shorts and t-shirts! I love the snow. Maybe i'll get over it after a few years, but for now, lots of snow this winter will mean I actually might have time to enjoy it this year (unlike last) and go snowshoeing, skiing and maybe even look up some dog mushing. Today is not the nice white fluffy snow though, it's wet and heavy and will turn into a mud pile in a few days i'm sure....but still, for now i'm enjoying seeing the white stuff coming down.

Barkley, is not so sure. My little Hawaii girl was having more fun with the sticks blown from the trees than the white stuff, but again, it's really not the fun fluffy stuff just yet, so i'm hopeful. She did the same with rain to begin with here too, and now goes running out in it, so a little acclimation might be all that's needed.

Snow coming down in the night.

It doesn't look like it, but it is actually still snowing, and it's supposed to keep going until a little after mid day here.

Miss Barkley, really not so sure....

Fall has fallen...

2011-10-27T15:21:00.005-10:00

Did I mention we have snow predicted for tonight??

More Pumpkin Festival & AAUS Week

2011-10-27T15:21:00.001-10:00

Finally getting around to catching up! A whirlwind few weeks to catch up on - the last few days of the pumpkin festival (the weather was fantastic!), the diving meeting (AAUS - the meeting and my talk went well), saying goodbye to Laura (:0(, accepting a 6 week teaching position in Woods Hole for SEA in January, papers, proposals and even looking at houses to buy (gulp). Whirlwind is very true. Next week Dad and Sanchia arrive too, so i'm scrambling to get a bunch done and dusted before they get here. Some photos from the last few weeks.....

The pumpkin catapult, flinging pumpkins into the river....:0)

The pumpkin canon....

....blasting the truck!

As part of the diving meeting Laura and I went out to Monhegan, and I got to play with my camera a little more.

Laura and a starfish!

I still can't get enough of the number of lobsters you see around here!

Sam, you're adorable....

2011-10-11T14:21:00.002-10:00

It was so nice to finally meet you!

Hanging out with Hawaii Peeps

2011-10-08T16:45:00.002-10:00

It's been so wonderful to see Jenny, Doug and Hannah, and to meet little Sam. They left this morning for Portsmouth and then back to Hawaii. I miss them already! Luckily Laura is here for another week (yay!) and of course Miss Barkley, who was well behaved and is happily snoozing away on her bed after a few days of excitement.

Hannah and I hanging out on the stairs. She's such a star, and so much more vocal than last time I saw her in April.

Hannah and Mamma trying out Hannah's bed.

Dadda and Sam, catching up with Outside magazine....:0)

Checking out the giant pumpkins at the Pumpkin Festival in town....

.....and the not so large pumpkins.....:0)

A sacked out Sam. He is totally adorable.

We went down to the DMC and checked out the beach for a few hours. Hannah was in heaven with all the rocks, week and snails......and Barkley was in heaven with all the dead things to eat.....

Mamma, Dadda and Hannah

Looking at a crab cage.

Hanging out in the canoe with Laura.

Giant pumpkin carving!

Giant Pumpkin carving!

Laura watching the parade, after the family had headed on out.

The parade

This one caught my eye......

Monhegan Diving

2011-10-04T15:06:00.000-10:00

The week has flown by again! Saturday I went out on the boat to Monhegan and got in three awesome dives. The weather above was no so great, but the visibility below was great. I had my new underwater camera with me (the one that was for Alaska, but because of the lack of any visibility, never got wet!). The photos came out great, i'm really pleased.

This week i've been under the weather for the last couple of days, not sure if i've picked something up or am just a little run down. Either way i'm taking it easy, because I have some fun times to come this week. Jenny, Doug, Hannah and Sam are coming to visit for a couple of days on Thursday, then Laura arrives from Hawaii on Friday for ten days! I'm so so excited and a little emotional about it, i've really missed them all. I really don't miss Hawaii. I miss my friends.

Next week is a SCUBA diving conference here in Maine (which is why Laura is here), so it's going to be a busy few weeks. I'd better get my talk together sometime soon too.....

Alcyonium corals on an overhang at 20ft

Feeling crabby? There's a lobster in there too!

So much color, I love cold water diving! Loads and loads of tiny starfish too!

Lobster hiding away!

Two of the students above us on a wall.

Lots of bright red and green algae.

Look at the eyeballs on this guy.....

Fields of bright green algae

A not so lucky lobster!

"Lobstah" - it's a Maine one, so the accent is apparently important....

Loads of old abandoned traps down deep (~80ft), all broken open but they still seem to attract fish and critters.

Another trap.

Doesn't seem like it in this photo, but this guy was a big'un!

A relaxing weekend....

2011-09-27T12:49:00.000-10:00

Barkley, relaxing in one of her favorite spots, the back of our friend Chris' truck at work, watching the world go by.

A much needed relaxing weekend was had. Saturday saw catching up with errands, cleaning my office and going to a SEA party in Rockport. It was nice to see old friends again, and nice to get out! Sunday was even more laid back, grocery, a walk at our favorite trail, then Chris and Gabby over for dinner. I needed a slow weekend and definitely feel refreshed for it.

The next few weeks are going to be hectic, in a good way though. Sometime next week Jenny, Doug and the kids are coming to visit! They're on the east coast visiting family and will drop by to stay for a few days. I'm totally thrilled to see them again, then on friday Laura G. comes to stay for ten days - and that's pretty much 99% of what I miss about Hawaii over here in Maine, so i'm going to be in bliss! The week after next is the AAUS diving meeting here at the Darling Marine Center and in Portland (both Laura and I are presenting), and then it's the beginning of November and Dad and Sanchia are coming to visit. So it's all go, in a good way...:0) It does mean i'm running around a little this week trying to get things squared away so I can spend some good time with friends.

As for Barkley, she's doing great and still seems to be loving Maine. Our 6yr old neighbor has decided she's the best thing since sliced bread. For her part, she's putting up with it, was very proud of her today that she didn't snap at him when he ran at her full speed. She's doing really well.....:0)

2011-09-24T06:12:00.000-10:00

Barkley shows her Welsh pride.....okay, maybe her Mamma's Welsh pride.....:0)

Miss Barkley

2011-09-18T14:35:00.000-10:00

It's been so nice to be back from Alaska, and so nice to see miss Barkley again. She's really a hoot, I love having her around, makes me laugh on a daily basis. This week has been a bit crappy at work, so having someone to make me smile has been awesome. :0)

I woke up Saturday morning to this, someone had tucked herself all the way under the bed. I wonder if she was a little chilly (we have had a bit of a cold snap!).

Sunday meant paddling. Someone was very keen to get going. Kept glaring at me being slow loading the canoe!

Though a little fidgety today (I forgot the campmat she usually sits on), she did seem to enjoy herself. I love this shot, just seems to scream Maine.

Finally caught a photo of it (almost). Someone likes to sit on the gunwales. Which of course is cute, except it makes the whole canoe lean.....

Heading back to Maine

2011-09-12T11:01:00.000-10:00

A whirlwind 8 days in Alaska, and i find myself sitting in the Seattle airport again, waiting for my flight back to Boston (via Chicago). The trip as a whole was fun, it was great to see Bob and Michelle and Jennifer again, and I did get to see my first Alaskan Bear, as well as got to enjoy a little of Juneau yesterday afternoon.

The cruise though was pretty much a bust - we managed to sample half our colonies, but that in itself was a miracle. Our first dive all three of us went in the water. We were expecting poor visibility because of the time of year (glacial melt tends to be murky), so had already planned to go in making sure we held onto each other until we got to a coral, then break off do what we needed to do, then rechain to head to the next one. Despite pretty good visibility to 15ft, a wall of silty blackness appeared at 32ft, making it impossible to see even past my elbow, and the reflectivity of the silt meant you couldn't read your gauges, no matter how close you had them pressed to your mask. Jen and I managed to stick together, but we lost Bob within 5 minutes and headed back to the surface.

The visibility improved a little over the few days, making it possible to at least read your gauges, but if you lost contact with the fjord wall or your buddy you were done. So we'd sample by heading to an exact depth, then moving hand over hand across the wall, hoping to bump into a coral colony, and hoping it was one of our tagged ones. Frustrating to say the least, and since both Bob and Jen said it was the worst they had ever experienced, and they have a lot of experience, i'm glad to say I hope never to have to dive like that again! To say it again, we were incredibly lucky to get the samples we did.

Some photos from the trip below. Barkley has apparently been having a ball with Amy, Peter, Stuart, Jackson & Farley all week, and i'm sure is not going to want to come home tomorrow. I can't wait to see her though, i've missed my fuzzy friend!

Heading out of Juneau super early on Wednesday morning.

The Gastineaux Channel

We were lucky enough to see the humpbacks again - hundreds of them - in almost the same place as last year!

My "lab" on the Steller - not quite as luxurious as previous boats, but none the less functional.

The back deck of the Steller - we bring a lot of stuff!

Entering Tracy Arm

Tracy Arm.

The Steller, parked up by our sampling spot.

One of the more important tasks of our Tracy Arm cruises - collecting the glacier ice for the evening gin and tonics....:0)

Getting ready to dive

Going in by the "Bullseye" - which is underwater, but we know where it is from that white mark on the wall.

Lots of ice and icebergs this year - probably because of all the rain Juneau has had this summer.

Iceberg. I love the variety of shapes and sizes of iceberg. Of course up here I have to remind myself to not look for penguins!

Heading back out past the Tacu Inlet on our way back into Juneau. The weather was glorious for most of the trip - just one day of rain.

The Herbert Glacier just north of Auke Bay. We unpacked (and repacked) like crazy on Sunday so we could have a little of the day to enjoy the sunny weather. Bob and I mountain biked out 8 miles on a great trail to this glacier and then sat and ate donuts (we were hoping for another bear sighting, but alas no). I haven't been on a mountain bike in a really really long time - but it was a lot of fun, and I managed to mostly keep up!

Sunday ended with a few beers on the beach overlooking the channel. The mountains in view there are the eastern side of Glacier Bay National Park. If you could cross over those mountains you'd be smack bang in the eastern arm of the park. Stunning!

A beautiful day today meant some great views from the plane. Down below on the other side of the channel there is Juneau.

And that is Tracy Arm fjord, where we were just two days ago. Just as beautiful as on the water, and at some times of the year, in the water!

In Alaska

2011-09-06T18:10:00.004-10:00

Back in Alaska - arrived here on Sunday night - ready for the last in our series of diving cruises. Weather is not quite what it was last September, a little wetter to say the least, but still, Alaska holds a place in my heart. The last two days have been hectic, getting supplies, chemicals and dive gear ready to go, and tomorrow early we head out down the Gastineaux Channel towards Tracy Arm fjord to collect Red Tree Corals. No cruise blog this time, i've just been too pushed for time, and we have no internet or phone coverage while we're out there anyway, so it's never quite the same. So wish us luck, and we'll be back in "range" on Sunday!

Despite a hectic packing and organizing schedule, we have managed to go by the famous Mendenhall Glacier trail in search of the mysterious Alaskan Bear (which I have never seen in any of my three visits to Alaska!). Some pictures of the last 2 days....

The Mendenhall Glacier trail at 7am this morning, in hope of seeing bears before I headed to the lab to continue packing. This was the 4th visit to the trail in hopes of seeing bears.

"Bears Woz 'Ere" - see the dead fish in the foreground. Lots and lots of evidence of bears, but alas, no bears.

The glacier is however as spectacular as ever.

Despite the signs, no bears this morning. Maybe it'll wait until after the cruise.

The view of Auke Bay from the NOAA lab this morning. Crows flying all around calling out into the cool morning air. It's been a little warmer than expected (60F), mostly raining, but spates of sunshine and dry.

Auke Bay - the view from the lab pier.

Auke Bay Marine Lab - or at least part of it.

A bald eagle overlooked our packing operations this morning. So beautiful, I can never get enough of bald eagles.

The Steller - our research vessel for this trip. Somewhat different from our luxurious tourist boat of past cruises, but none the less functional. The one shower/toilet is going to be interesting with 3 divers onboard. After 40 minutes in 40F water, it's always good to get a warm shower in.

We finished packing the boat at 4pm and headed back to the lab. En-route Bob decided a fifth visit to the trail was in order....and as luck would have it, my first Alaskan Black Bear!

A beautiful 16yr old female, no cubs this year as the rangers told us. We'd just been eating donuts in the parking lot. We figured it helped. There's certainly a positive correlation there....:0)

Home time.

2011-08-28T10:22:00.002-10:00

Nothing like a Hurricane to enforce some inside-time and make you catch up with things. The winds just started blowing hard, so i'm sure we're not in for power for too much longer. But so far we started the morning by cooking dog cookies, skyped with my favorite Hawaiian family the Engels-Holdt's and made my first batch of Maine soap - yay!

Nicola - the soap mold is AWESOME! Sorry it's taken me soooo long to try it out!

Some cookies for Barkley to share with her boyfriends when she goes to stay with them in a week while i'm off to Alaska!

The first of the Maine Soap - Citrus Castille - I hope it turns out!

Irene

2011-08-27T14:36:00.000-10:00

What an end to a week. An end i'd rather not repeat anytime soon. You know that visa issue I mentioned earlier - well it turns out it was actually a huge deal. I got a phone call from the lawyer at 5pm on thursday telling me they were going to have to send me back to the UK, as I was out of status (aka illegally working). I did some searching around and found there was a chance they could issue me a new entry document if we could prove it was their error and that there was an office in Portland. So yesterday was a day spent at the lawyers office, then waiting around to see if they would entertain changing my documents.

Luckily Gabby came with me, looked after Barkley and kept me sane during the whole experience. Luckily they didn't take me away and stick me on a plane. And that's the closest I ever want to get to that happening. They changed the documents and all is now okay. This whole process has been a pain in the ass, but most of it I can laugh it. This wasn't though, I swear I lost ten years of my life in the last 24hrs. Last night involved some adult beverages, and today has been slightly fragile....

And now just waiting on Hurricane Irene, though by the time she reaches here she'll be a tropical storm, so all we'll see is some high winds, lots of rain and probably some power-outs. I don't think it's going to be huge, but we'll probably spend the day inside catching up with things.

Some photos from a lab lobster outing, and from the last round of Monhegan Diving (a few weeks ago)

Trish teaches us the right techniques for opening and eating lobster!

Little lab group!

Collecting Gersemia corals off Monhegan.

Collecting corals.

It was a beautiful day!

My cute little conehead....

2011-08-23T13:53:00.002-10:00

The hotspot looked great this morning, but by the afternoon she'd scratched it raw again. Sigh, so it was time for the cone. I want it to be nice and healed before I head out of town again....

This one kind of sums up her feelings about the cone....

She's not a happy bunny....

Time flies by.

2011-08-22T15:15:00.001-10:00

I don't know why i've been finding it hard to update the blog since I moved, it just isn't coming together as it has in the past. Think i'm just in a rut, i've not been taking a whole lot of photos recently either, so that doesn't help, as I prefer to show with photos rather than say with words. Need to remember to take the camera into work more often. Need to update the lab blog too....that has been a LONG while.

So here's the short and long -

1. The end of the DC trip went well - spectacularly busy, 7am - 8pm first day (along with edits at 10pm) and 7am - 7pm on the second day, just making my 9pm flight and back home by 1am on Weds - interestingly to a skunk taking refuge under my stairs who really did not want to move. It took some convincing, but i'm glad to say he's not returned or i'm sure i'd be having my first experience with de-skunking a dog.....

2. Weds I picked up Barkley from the kennel, she was exceedingly happy to see me (I have never seen her jump around like that before, it was totally cute). She made it until sunday then ate her bed overnight, bored we think. And unfortunately she'd developed a really nasty looking hotspot on her cheek. So that was a bath, followed by a trip to the vet - it was pretty nasty, so she's now on antibiotics and i'm trying desperately to stop her scratching it, which is almost impossible. If it's still nasty by weds she's getting the cone, so lets hope it's gone.

3. Thursday we moved in with Barkleys friends Jackson and Farley, alongside two cats and five chickens! We looked after those guys through Sunday and we all had a blast I think. Chris, Gabby and Mike came over for a BBQ on friday which was awesome.

So what's in store this week? On Weds i'm taking my lab group out for lobsters before my intern heads out back to school, my tech moves on to a full time job and a visitor from the Smithsonian heads back. It's going to be all quiet in the Waller lab in two weeks, really really quiet in fact. Especially since i'm back to Alaska the first week of September (which I thought was 3 weeks away, but I figured out today is actually less than 2.....ouch!). It's the last cruise of our project in the fjords and my collaborators up there found some travel money for me, so i'm headed up, mostly to process, but i'm hoping to get a dive or two in there.

In other news my green card just seems to get more and more complex. I just passed the first of 3 steps and they were supposed to hand in my paperwork for the next step last week. In usual fashion they did not and I found out this afternoon that there is actually an error in my last entry documents when I came back from the Antarctic. What does this mean? I'm not sure, but my paperwork at the moment apparently says I should have left the country July 1st. Oops. And of course the lawyer went home at 5.30pm when he announced there was this issue, so i've had no closure tonight as to what this means.

There is some serious partying in order when I finally get this thing.....and still no word on when I can travel out of the country. Maybe in 3 months....that's without this latest setback.

Wow this turned into a long blog. I hope all have a great week, i'll be sure to blog if I get deported, i'll have plenty of time!

The D's

2011-08-14T13:16:00.003-10:00

Spent a wonderful and all too short two days with the D's here in DC, and am now held up in a hotel next to NSF ready for a panel meeting tomorrow. Lots to read tonight. Way too much to read tonight. Add to that a great allergic reaction to the vaccines I had to get last week (red spots everywhere!) for the green card process and all is just peachy....:0) Yes, I have a case of rubella from the MMR vaccine. Luckily not contagious - this form in reaction to the vaccine apparently isn't - and I oh so hope that's true.....if i've given the D's spots before they head to Alaska on vacation i'm not going to be a happy bunny...!

Some photos from the last few days.

Okay...this one is from New Jersey where I was last Mon - Weds. The Jersey Shore. That program scared me about coming here, but it was really quite pleasant and beautiful.

The Washington Monument.

Quick hot-dog stop before heading into the Natural History Museum

Deep Sea Coral exhibit in the museum - yeah! One of the photos on there (top right) I actually took in Alvin....:0)

Dahlia hugs a neaderthal in the Evolution exhibition.

Some large property here, but i'm not sure i'd want to live in the crowds.

Davin shows off his cooking skills.

And his lobster t-shirt!

Smile!

2011-08-13T18:07:00.003-10:00

NJ here I come....

2011-08-07T15:29:00.001-10:00

Off to a week of hectico.....tomorrow New Jersey until Weds night.....then to DC friday afternoon until late Tuesday. The first is a NOAA Deep Coral meeting, which should be interesting, the second is a proposal panel meeting, which should also be interesting. The cherry on top is a proposal to finish writing by next Monday. Think maybe I should pack some Red Bull.....

Barkley is headed to the kennel for a week.....her longest time there yet. I'm nervous. She knows something is up as has been in a sulk since we got home today. But she loves the kennel lady (if I could remember her name i'd post it, but i've totally forgotten it.....think I have way too much on the brain, that's been happening a lot lately), and worst case some friends here have offered to pick her up and take her home for me. I think it'll be fine, just me being neurotic on this one rather than Barkley.

I'll try and post some pics from Jersey....first time in that state and it looks like Sandy Hook might be a stunning area! And as for DC, I can't tell you how excited I am to see the Ds!

...oh....and the pom pom on the end of the tail is GONE. Phew.....

Mamma, what they hell did they do to my tail....

2011-08-05T10:58:00.003-10:00

I don't know Barkley....but the scissors are coming out tonight.....!

Three things Thursday

2011-08-04T17:04:00.003-10:00

I'm not very good at getting this up for thursday am I.....oh well, it is still thursday, even if only for another hour! Three things on my mind....

1. Proposals per-schmo-sals. And that's all I have to say on that matter

2. Next week is hectic-co. Tuesday/Weds i'm in New Jersey for a deep coral meeting, friday i'm off to DC for a meeting at NSF on Mon/Tues. The good side on this is that I get to see the multiple D's on the weekend - yeah!

3. I'm feeling rather chlorinated after a few hours in the pool this evening. A group of high schoolers have been at the center since yesterday, checking out the place and thinking whether the University of Maine is the place to come to. Last night I did a talk on some deep sea critters, tonight it was try out SCUBA. The even better thing in all this? Barkley stayed home alone for a whole 4 hours and was totally fine, found her curled up on the couch. Yeah!

2011-08-02T14:16:00.004-10:00

This year of change has brought up a lot of things, how much I miss my little sister is one of those. I have no desire to mark this date, it's just been in my face a lot this year, though i've been busy so that's stops the dwelling which is good. I'm not going to be able to run for SADS this year either which makes me sad, i've just been too busy to marathon train and the one here is in October rather than December, so the window to start was during the cruise, and that just wasn't happening. I'll pick it up again next year and try and get back into it with some shorter races through the winter. My expanding waistline will like me for it.

It's hard to believe it's been eight years. I'm not sure when the photo above was taken, I'm pretty sure I was still in high school, so it's way back there. It was taken in Lynmouth by my grandmother, sitting on the seawall. I'm pretty sure some ice-cream was soon involved too. That's my little brother Adam, my older brother Grant I think was at college.

Miss you squirt, every single day.

R
xx

Barkley's new toy

2011-07-31T14:56:00.001-10:00

Took it out this weekend twice - was awesome! I'm so happy we can get out on the water together - she was a little nervous on day #1 (but still sat through 1hr 45 of paddling without complaining!), but today she was awesome, even laid down to go to sleep on the paddle back - yeah! I see some fun times ahead this summer!

Monhegan Diving!

2011-07-29T13:23:00.005-10:00

I finally got around to downloading the photos from a diving trip to Monhegan Island I took with the UMaine dive group almost a month ago! It was a great trip, such a beautiful place to dive. And the best bit....i'm going there again on Monday! This time to learn Nitrox diving and to do some deep dives to see what we see - yeah! Maybe i'll get around to downloading the photos from Monday a little sooner! All photos taken by Chris or Mike!

Myself (right) and my dive buddy Jen face off before we head out on our dive!

It looks a little green, but the visibility on these dives was AWESOME!

The UMaine dive group, except Mike who was taking the picture......shame you can't do the timer underwater!

Lobster! Jen and I saw some HUGE ones!

Underwater moose?

My first fish sighting in Maine!

Three things Thursday

2011-07-28T15:50:00.001-10:00

In an effort to blog more, it's back with three things Thursday! It might be 9.30pm on Thursday.....but it's still Thursday!

1. Went up to Orono yesterday, had to pick up some more boxes of books and teaching material of John Dearborn's, a retired faculty member here who died this winter. He was one of the greats in Antarctic Research, particularly in reproduction and development, so i'm very sad we never overlapped at all here in Maine. He'd been retired for a few years, but still remained active and kept quite literally everything. His daughter has given me much of his Antarctic collection of books, reprints and teaching materials, which will be so invaluable.

2. While up in Orono I bought Barkley a present. You'll see what it is by the end of the weekend, but i'm hoping she'll like it.

3. Whatever will be will be, so there's no point in worrying about it and there's no point in letting 'stuff' bring down the day.

A weekend in the Whites

2011-07-24T13:27:00.001-10:00

A weekend trip to the White Mountains is never enough, it always fly by way too fast. This was the briefest of visits too, I probably should have pushed it and went on friday night instead of driving up on Saturday, but oh well, a short visit was probably enough for a first camping trip with miss Barkley anyway. We had a great time, and Barkley was a trouper, both on the trails and in the tent, I think she enjoyed herself, and at the moment is asleep exhausted on her bed in front of the TV.

Ready to go!

First stop was Mt Washington! I've hiked up the largest peak in the east three times now, but decided to drive up for the first time - quite the windy road! We then did a short 2 mile hike most of the way to Lake of the Clouds, one of my favorite spots in the Presidentials.

It was pretty windy up at 6288ft!

The view down the western end of the Presidential Range - Monroe, Franklin and Eisenhower are down the trail.

Our turn around point, time for a cookie or two and some photos. For an old girl she did great amongst the boulders.

Lake of the Clouds Hut. Would have been nice to go all the way and revisit one of the weirdest hiking experiences i've ever had (bagpipes and weddings....ask me about it if you haven't heard the story!), but it was late in the day and I didn't want to overdo it for Barkley. I really want her to enjoy camping and hiking, so didn't push anything too hard this weekend.

Back to our campsite at Cocker Pond, just east of Evan's notch. Barkley was a great tent companion, other than snoring quite loudly!

The view from our campsite....pretty sweet!

Today, after a quick (very quick as the bugs were out!) 2 mile hike from the campsite to Round Pond we drove home via Evan's Notch, checking out other campsites for next time on the way. There is an overlook on the road through, so we stopped and found this marker - I love markers and have a photo collection of them from all over the US.

There was also a historical site in the Notch - Brickett Place, an old farmhouse currently being restored. We got talking to one of the rangers and he convinced us into a short hike from there up to a small waterfall. Someone was lagging a little as we entered the wilderness (it was all uphill till there), but soon perked up on the flat and took off to the water as soon as she heard it.

Trying to get a good self portrait on the self timer is hard. Trying to do it was a fidgety dog is even harder!

The hike was a great end to a great day and we've scoped out some great camping spots for next time too! Evan's Notch is just stunning, and being in Maine it's only 2 hours away, so i'm hoping we get back at least once this summer.

Heading for the hills...

2011-07-22T15:06:00.001-10:00

It's been a bit since i've blogged sorry, to be honest, the last few weeks have been a bit of a bust, so I haven't had much good to say. To start with the good - Barkley is awesome, I am adoring having a pup around and I think we were made for each other; I love Maine, I am really enjoying being here for a good period of time; and I still love the Darling Marine Center, I am so enjoying being around in the summer, so many people, so many students, so much good science going on.

And the bad, funding just sucks right now, so i'm not sure where my life is headed. Makes it hard to blog. I've had my three big proposals submitted this year rejected and i'm not sure where to head next. One wasn't unexpected, but i've had good vibes from the foundation I submitted it to to resubmit next year, which is something. I didn't get a second year of the Alaska project funded, which is painful. We've found such great things there that need the extra year of observation so it's frustrating to say the least.

But it's not just the frustration of rejections, you need a thick skin to get through those and I mostly have the ability to dust off and try again. If science funding was what it was a few years ago i'd not be too worried about 3 big rejections, as i'd know something would come along. But it's not. This many rejections though begins to erode at the confidence and i'm really begin to question my ability to do good science. I think my general malaise comes from the fact that I do really like it here and want to stay, and i'm now just uncertain how to make that happen. I'm usually happy to keep on plugging away at proposals, but with major funding cuts to science it's all becoming pretty depressing.

The next immediate step for me is a paycut, so that will start next month - i've moved, I have furniture and it's still much cheaper here to live than Hawaii, so I can swallow that now. It's not what I want as I want to build up enough money for a house deposit and that will have to stop, but at the moment it's just survival. I can pick up some teaching next year and have been talking around getting suggestions for smaller pots of money - all in all, it's been mentally exhausting. With some creative rebudgeting, teaching and hopefully a bit of luck for a little more, i'm good through the end of next year - which sounds good, but my creative rebudgeting is not going to help my science get done (other than keeping me in a job I suppose).

I know whatever will work out will work out, it always does and so far i've been lucky. I think i'm just ready to settle and have this instability stop. I'm applying for jobs, but it's lackluster, as I really like it here and don't want to leave. It'll be the hardest decision ever if that happens.

So that's the scoop, i've not been into taking photos to post and I don't like just posting the bad, so it's been few posts instead. I'm about to head to the hills with Barkley tomorrow to do a camping and hiking trip, see how she likes sleeping in the great outdoors. I need some outdoors time, and at the moment we're socked in with oppressive heat and humidity, so some elevation will hopefully provide some much needed relief. I'm looking forward to getting in my tent for the first time this year - yeah!

Emily Jayne!

2011-07-11T15:58:00.002-10:00

Welcome to the world little Emily Jayne - can't wait to meet you, I hope it'll be soon!

A quiet and relaxing weekend all around here. Saturday saw Rod and Kathy drive up for the day with a washing machine in tow - I can now do laundry - yeah! I still can't believe they came up for a day, I really do know some simply awesome people, I owe them big time for that one. Sunday saw a nice walk with Barkley followed by a day of sitting by the pool with friends and a few games of Bocce in probably my favorite Maine pub to date. Can't get a much better weekend than that now can you!

This week is a busy one. I've just hired some help around the lab for a day a week, a guy who's done some histology before and is super experienced, but between jobs right now. I'm really hoping that works out, though I know it probably won't be a long term solution, I could really use the hands right now to keep up with the mountains of general lab things that need doing. I'm still waiting to hear about a big grant, and it's totally stressing me out, rejections started coming out last week and i'm at the point of just wanting to know. I need to get my head around new proposals, and I need to keep my nose to the ground for opportunities. Basically, I just need to knuckle down more on the long term, and i've been finding that hard since I got back from sea. Thursday I get to go out diving all day which i'm excited about, and Barkley gets to go to doggy daycare, which i'm sure she is probably excited about too!

This week

2011-07-02T17:58:00.000-10:00

This week Diane has been here, which has been awesome! It's been nearly a year since I visited DC, so it's been super fun to catch up, and we even got out and seen some sights I haven't seen yet. The weekly routine with Barkley is going relatively well - we managed 2 mile run/fast walks on 4 mornings (friday was just a little too much!), she had a day with my friend Chris when I went to Orono on weds and by all accounts was a star and little by little she's settling in.

The rest of the week in photos.....

I picked up Diane on Monday and, as it was such a beautiful day and still light, we headed to Pemaquid Lighthouse for a little wander around.

Barkley was quite the climber, enjoying the ocean and the walk.

The lighthouse.

We followed the walk with some good Maine 'Lobstah' at a place I went to with Chris and Gabby on the weekend before - they're fresh off the boat and cooked right there in a big water vat and it's great deck seating with views over the harbor.....can't get too much better than that can you!

Then I put Diane to work......a bunch of furniture arrived this week, so we made a couch, desk and a set of shelves....woo hoo!

Friday saw a "hot dog festival" for charity at some friends of friends, so we went along and took part in some paint-ball sausage shooting, puppy shoe throwing and hot dog eating and beer drinking....but we left the pie and hot dog competition eating to the professionals.....

...like these little guys and gals.....

....and especially this little fella.....the winner of the pie eating contest.....

Then on to the mens division hot dog eating.....the record this year....11.5 hot dogs in ten minutes.....barf...!

Today, after Diane finished up working we went over to Camden hills. We drove to the top then did a "short" hike around. We weren't overly prepared for this hike, with flip flops and jeans, and although it worked out to be a little more strenuous than planned, the views were more than worth the effort!

Best of all, Barkley loved it all and was a trouper. I've definitely found my hiking companion!

A little break at the top....

....and the hike back down....

Routine

2011-06-26T13:05:00.001-10:00

Well, Nicola might have been right, I haven't been blogging too much sorry. It's all been a little hectic, and to be honest, other than the humdrum I haven't had too much to say. I've been back a week and a half and things are, as usual, somewhat hectic at work catching up. Barkley has been here a week now, so we're still working out what our routine might be. Routines are hard things for me to get into, I seem to function in a sense of constant motion, with a million things going on until i'm totally fried, fall over, then pick myself back up and start all over again. I seem to work best that way and get a lot done, and that's okay in a way, but now with Barkley here I need to get back into a daily routine, maybe it's more for her than me, but i'm pretty sure i'll see the benefits too.

Barkley is a special girl who needs a little extra care and attention, she belonged to Jenny and Doug, who with #2 just arrived (welcome Sam!!) already have quite the brood on their hands! She's 11 for a start, so an old girl, and is prone to anxiety in stressful situations. She'd become quite the Houdini in Hawaii, and the same tendencies have started to come out here, so it's time for a routine to hit. The thought behind her move to Maine is that I can bring her to work each day, which so far, she is adoring. As soon as the car pulls into the DMC driveway she pops her head up. As we go down the corridor to my office she veers off and visits her human friends (of which there are many, she already has a good reputation at the center, such animal people here, I love it!) and then we enter my office, she tucks under whichever cubby she's decided is hers for the day with the bone or toy of the day. And there she slumbers until midday, when we walk up the hill to check the mail and say hi to the ladies in the office, then walk back down for another afternoon of slumber.

Just getting outside at midday is already a great thing for me, there have literally been too many days when I haven't been outside all day, let alone got any exercise. Though we have drugs to help Barkley get over the worst of her anxieties, exercise, i'm hoping, will help her a lot. Not to mention help me a lot - I have an Independence Day 10K in a week and literally haven't run since March! So tonight we mapped out a 2 mile route, and tomorrow the "Routine" begins. We'll start each morning with a brisk 2 mile walk or run (tonight she happily jogged with me!) before work, followed by some quiet time in the crate while I shower and get ready for work, breakfast and then head out the door. I'm hoping not only that this will help tire her out, but it'll get her used to her crate again, so those few days when I can't take her (like when I have to go to Orono), she'll be okay and not too anxious at home.

It'll take time, and i'm sure some modifications, but hopefully we'll get there together. A 2 mile a day run is not going to hurt me, that's for sure!

In other news - on the 30th of June my work visa runs out, so i'm stuck here in the US until my green card comes through (who knows) or I break down and trek to Canada to renew my visa. The later i'm not excited about. And I had a big proposal rejected on friday. Which means poo poo to house buying this year and time to start applying for jobs again. I'm really not excited about that. I'm still writing proposals like crazy though, I definitely want to stay, just need a lot more luck than i've been having lately to make that happen. So luck fairy, if you want to show your head, now is the time.....

Better photo....

2011-06-22T14:34:00.002-10:00

I unpacked the camera for this one. While I was on the phone she gathered her possessions on her bed and is right now snoring away. She's such a sweet girl, and i'm so happy to have her in my life!

She's here!

2011-06-22T11:40:00.000-10:00

Here is Miss Barkley (sorry for the poor quality photos - they're from my phone, need to unpack my camera!). She arrived on Saturday and has just about settled in, i'm loving having her around already.

I'm back!

2011-06-18T02:33:00.001-10:00

I'm back! I got back on wednesday and it's been a bit of a blur since I got back. I hope you all were following the work blog, we had some fantastic contributions by our science party, and then I wrote some too....:0) I'll do a good catch up soon I promise, but today is an exciting day. I'm going to pick up Barkley from her flight to Boston, so i've got to scoot. She's been in Oregon for a week and all went well on the flight from Hawaii, so in just a few hours, she'll be an east coaster! I'm excited, best birthday present ever!

Until then the above photo sums up things nicely from the cruise - incredibly hectic, twinged with a fun group and some good humour. Having fun catching up with all your blogs!

R
xx

In Chile

2011-05-04T00:02:00.000-10:00

I love flying over southern Chile when the sun is shining! Got in late last night, no major issues (slight delay in Miami) and all the bags made it. The sun came out for some of the flight so we did get to see some of the spectacular Andes, with the long snaking glaciers, high mountains and deep fjords. It's probably my favorite flight on this planet when you can see out.

Today Laura and myself are headed down to the ship to get our Extreme Cold Weather gear and start to think about this cruise!

Getting ready for sea....

2011-04-20T14:06:00.001-10:00

Getting ready to get back to sea - in less than 2 weeks i'll be flying south for the summer.....yes, I know that's not quite the right direction! Spring has most definitely sprung here too, so it's going to be quite hard to leave it behind and head back into the depths of winter. It'll be good to finally get down there and throw off the bow lines, be away from land, and the hassles that go with land, for a while. I love going to sea, it's an enormous sense of satisfaction to see a project go from an idea in your brain to proposal, to funded and finally to reality. See the samples we only dreamt we'd get and the secrets of the sea they hold. Of course it doesn't always go the way you first planned, but there's not been a single cruise i've been on where I haven't learnt something new, and that's exciting in itself.

This last week has been hectic, lots of things going on (from proposals, reports and green card paperwork) and it's not going to stop until I get on that bus to Boston on the 2nd. I had hoped to get out in my tent for a night before I left, but it rained last weekend, and this weekend looks the same, so it's a no go, it'll just have to wait until I get back!

Check out the cruise blog if you have the time and let me know what you think!

Beavers!

2011-04-10T13:38:00.000-10:00

So the government did not go into shutdown, and a big sigh of relief was heard from over here. Of course we can't speak too soon, as although no shutdown is good, they have agreed to some massive budget cuts, and at the moment, no-one knows where those cuts are coming from. We'll find out soon I guess.....

This weekend has been amazingly productive and lazy at the same time. Despite being highly jet lagged all week and having a tough time pulling myself out of bed, this weekend i've woken up at 5.30am on both days....argh! But I have managed to reorganize my "living room", as much as I can right now without shelves, couch etc., which are just going to have to wait until I get back from the Antarctic and have a few more paychecks under my belt.

I tidied the spare bedroom, as with the potential for Kathy to come visit, and hopefully Diane visiting shortly after I get back in June, I bit the bullet and ordered a bed for that room - the mattress has arrived, the bed should get here sometime next week. I did also manage to make a decision and order myself a dresser, which is much needed to get the piles of clothes that cannot be hung off my floor. I always seem to move from house with lots of shelves to a house with lots of hanging, and that is true here, there is very little storage compared to my little place in Hawaii, which is amazing really. But I finally feel like i'm almost organized enough I can find most things and won't drive myself crazy when I come back from the Antarctic staring at boxes.

I also did a little drive around houses for sale this weekend too, there's a bunch on the market right now, and although i'm not quite ready yet (esp as i'm headed out for 2 months really soon!), it is fun to look, and it's good to drive around. The snow has mostly melted (though i'm told more is on the cards) so everything looks different, it feels like i'm discovering for the first time again. It's been a gloriously sunny few days as well, the kind of days that made me fall in love with New England way back when. Ahh. Why am I headed back to winter in Chile?

And, I had a first today too. I went to check on Chris and Gabby's house (they're on vacation) which is just up the road and drove past a pond and saw this little fella. So cute!

Hope you all have a great week!

Watching and waiting

2011-04-08T14:51:00.000-10:00

A little pre-flight lunch with the girls - Jenny and little Hannah pictured, and Laura and Sue too!

I've been back for 4 days now. Even though my life is far from organized, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I had the relaxed and calm feeling of being "at home" pretty much as soon as I walked through the door. Which considering I had such a fantastic visit to Hawaii was nice. I didn't make many "good friends" out there (the kind you hang onto forever), but this trip really reminded me of how much I miss those people. Despite that, Maine is home, and it feels good to be home. Even if only for a few short weeks before I head south on my Antarctic cruise (and man what a bear the organization of that is turning out to be.....but i'm going to spare you there....).

The big news here of course is that the government could go into shut-down mode tonight if they don't come to a budget consensus soon. I'm not a federally funded employee, so i'm not worried about not being paid, but the majority of my research grants are federal, not to mention the several I have in review right now, that will be in stasis until this gets figured out. Our cruise to the Antarctic is federally funded, and though we think we're all okay, impacts are not quite certain right now. The biggest impact is with my collaborators - Kathy from Woods Hole, who works for USGS and Bob in Alaska, who works for NOAA could well be in limbo next week, without pay. If the government goes into shut down, they're not just told not to work, they are physically locked out of their buildings, out of their email, out of their phones - they are literally not allowed to work.

So i'm in two minds. Kathy and I have dreamed up a scheme that if this really happens she's going to truck up to Maine next week and come and hang out up here. We'll work on some "non-USGS" things together, and it'd be great to see her. I even went out and bought a bed and bedding tonight for my spare room just in case (so that pretty much guarantees it's not going to happen....). On the other hand though, Bob being locked out of his office means our live corals have no-one to look after them, all that hard work put into collecting them could go to waste. They're doing well so far too, but the big plankton bloom has just begun up there, meaning the water gets thick and sludgy, clogging up the corals - in the past this is the time of year the live corals suffer and often die if not looked after carefully. So we're concerned.

All this talk of government cut-backs included a large cut to science spending in the US, but it seems right now as if the government has conceded on most things except funding for Planned Parenthood - an organization here in the US that provides reproductive health care for low income families. This is the most stupid debate to me, coming from the UK, where both healthcare and contraceptives are free, as they should be. You should never have to decide between contraceptives and food in my opinion (~$10-$20 a month for the cheaper ones, with insurance), but many do, which is why Planned Parenthood, who charge less, is so important. Why is this even an arguing point? The Tea Party stresses it doesn't want federal funding to go to abortions and that is why it is not conceding, yet abortions provided by Planned Parenthood are not subsidized by federal money, those are charged at cost, so it's not even a true statement. What's more, if funding were increased for Planned Parenthood, to a level where contraceptives could be made free to those on low incomes, we would save a considerable amount of federal money not supporting single unemployed mothers and their children, likely more savings than shutting down the service. But we don't want to encourage people to have sex do we. That wouldn't be very republican. I love being in this country, but some things drive me nuts, this week has been full of them. Let's hope Obama doesn't back down on this one.

So in the end what's happening with science spending? I guess we'll find out soon. I hope I haven't just found my lot in life to have to give it up because science funding has tanked.....

Last day

2011-04-02T18:31:00.000-10:00

Last day in Hawaii, boy 5 days really goes fast. I tied up all my loose work ends and Jackie successfully defended her Ph.D. on friday. So that left today to be a day off, and a grand one it was. It started with little Hannah's birthday party on the beach and continued with friend Laura going around a few bars sampling the Mai Tai's, sitting on the beach and going for a swim. Was much needed. Tomorrow we have plans for a nice breakfast, a little shopping and a nice lunch before I get on the long plane ride back to Maine.

It's still unclear if I have to shoot up to Canada to get a new work visa in the next 3 weeks before I head to the Antarctic, i'm sincerely hoping not, but nothing like the International Office to mess up plans to do some decent lab work before heading out.

Congratulations Dr. Jackie!

The first on the midday bar crawl - the Pink Palace (Royal Hawaiian), the oldest hotel in Waikiki and serves the best Mai Tai's right on the beach.

The halls of the Palace, and for $600 a night you too can stay here.....!

The last stop, the Hula Grill and a nice Lava Flow.

In Hawaii!

2011-03-30T21:26:00.000-10:00

Got into Hawaii yesterday evening, and am staying with Jenny, Doug and Hannah until friday, then i'm staying with Laura to catch up with her until I fly out on sunday. Whirlwind visit, lots to do! Today has been fun though, went out to breakfast with Jenny and her sister Mary at the Kahala hotel (where they have the best buffet breakfasts!), then headed into work for a few hours and caught up with folks there.

Little Hannah turned 2 today too, it's been so much fun catching up. She can now say Auntie Rhian, but has elected to still call me Mimi on occasion, which I still find just as darn cute as ever! Caught up with Miss Barkley too, I miss my furry companion, but we'll be trying to get her out to Maine when I get back from the Antarctic, so let's all hope for June!

Some photos of the Aloha day!

At the Kahala with Jenny, due for #2 on my birthday in June!

View from the Kahala - a little difference in temperature from Maine! It's been super windy today though, making it quite pleasant rather than stinking hot. A beach day is already planned with Laura for Saturday - little Hannah's birthday party is in the morning, so we have plans to stick around Waikiki for the rest of the afternoon and work on our Mai Tai drinking and tans.

One of the beautiful orchids in the wall of orchids at the Kahala.

Miss Barkley. You're supposed to be in Maine right now little girl!

And little H, loving her dat-dats.

Earth Hour 2011

2011-03-27T00:40:00.000-10:00

I hope you all turned off last night for an hour between 8.30-9.30pm! I enjoyed a little candlelit dinner on my new table, though will admit I left the radio on for company, as I was on my own. I then did a little candlelit organizing - fun!

Furniture!

2011-03-26T15:29:00.000-10:00

This week has been a week of furniture, and i'm so excited about. Excited and nervous. This is the first place i've ever rented unfurnished, and though i've always bought small items, the big things have remained out of my reach until now.

This week a bed arrived, unfortunately frame first and then the mattress, but either way, it's here now and i'm sooooooo happy not to be sleeping on the floor anymore. It's a (cheapo - not the one you're thinking) memory foam mattress, and is so so so so comfortable. After 2 months on a futon in Hawaii and then the floor here, my back is so much happier with me now.

And today it was kitchen table time! I ordered it last week from a local place and today Chris helped me pick it up. It's nothing fancy, but I am completely over the moon to have somewhere to sit and eat. To put this in perspective I haven't had a table I could eat at in over 5 years. In Hawaii my place was 300 sqft and back in MA the last place I lived in was too small for a table. Sitting in front of the TV eating dinner is okay on occasion, but every day and night really sucks. It's just nice to be somewhere else other than the couch (not that I have a couch here yet) to eat, to type, to work.

I loved my little Grodnick in Hawaii. I loved being confined to 300 sqft, it kept me honest, it kept me from expanding. But long term, it's just not me, I LOVE having a table to be able to eat, type, craft, pay bills, etc. etc. on. It sounds ridiculous to be so over the moon at a table, but I am. I feel like an adult. :0)

And just as I get comfortable again, I'm off again. On Monday i'm down to Boston overnight to catch an early flight out to Hawaii. I'm back on the islands for 5 days for one of my graduate students defenses. It's going to be nice to see everyone again, i've been missing my friends. I've made a couple of friends here, but with the madness this few months has been, haven't really met many people yet, especially not my age and "hang aroundable" with. It'll come, I just need to be here, both in body and brain, and that might be closer to fall/winter before that happens.

Here are some photos. Don't forget Earth Hour tonight!

If all else fails i've found i'm a prepacked furniture wizard......

My BED! Oh so nice to be up off of the inflatable mattress on the floor! I even bought some new bedding today, decided it was worth the splurge to replace my 8 year old el-cheapo threadbare sheets. I particularly like my bedside table, don't you?

The much more assembled kitchen. Still not totally unpacked and in place, but much more useable, and I think i've found most kitchen boxes now.

The light of my life right now (sad isn't it). My table.

Spoke a little too soon.....

2011-03-22T01:26:00.002-10:00

And we're back to winter! Photos from this weekend through today.....

Exhausterpated....

2011-03-20T15:27:00.000-10:00

That's my new word of the day. I don't know if i'm coming down with something (possible, but I really hope not) or the exhaustion of the last few weeks/months caught up with me today. Either way, horizontal has been my position for a lot of the day, I didn't really get out of bed properly until 1.30pm, quite possibly a record for me.

I can honestly say I've never put this many proposals in in such a short period of time (4 in 3 months), and they all take so much mental energy (they've all been "new" proposals this time, rather than recycled unfunded ones) out of me I just feel so drained. Add that with moving, unpacking office, lab & home (twice), dealing with the Antarctic cruise prep (which has been a real bear this time) and then the Alaska trip, and I can honestly say i'm beat up. I'm hoping it's that rather than a cold, I have a proposal due on the 28th I need to put a lot into next week.

I'm still loving Maine, making some fast friends and starting to get into the swing of things, but I also feel like i'm not putting my energy into being here right now. And that's probably just how it's got to be for a bit. I REALLY like it here, and REALLY want to stay, so REALLY need to keep throwing in proposals so I have a job past next Feb. It's so much at the forefront of my brain i'm finding it hard to relax at all. Not really how I wanted to start up here, but I guess it is what it is, work my ass off, suck it up for a while and hope it all works out.

I did finally get out for a run yesterday, which was just glorious (thanks Mum for sending me my running jacket - and thanks for the mini eggs!). My first 2 miles in Maine, and it was a gloriously sunny day (i'll download some photos from this weekend and post them, it's been gorgeously sunny, still cold, but just beautiful). I'm thinking about races in the fall, about a big hiking trip in September, keeping the eye on the prize and trying to convince myself all this work at the start of the year will pay dividends. It'll all be worth it, I have a good feeling about this place, I really do feel like i've come home.

Hope all is well out there, i'll try and get back into updating, apologies for the hiatus! As usual i've come back from this trip pining to go back. The photo was taken by our first mate, loaded on the zodiac and getting ready to head out to dive (it's about 80lbs of gear you wear!). It really was so spectacular, I hope I get to go again next year, let's all put in good thoughts for that proposal to get funded!

Some video from the trip!

2011-03-17T04:17:00.000-10:00

Got back to Maine early monday morning and have been in a fog ever since. Unfortunately no magic fairy came and unpacked either my house or my office while I was away, nor furnish my house, so it's all been a bit ass to come back to. But i'm getting through it, boxes are being unpacked slowly, dishes being washed and piles being made. Today my bed is supposed to arrive, unfortunately the mattress doesn't arrive until next week, but hey, at least it's a start. Other furniture is going to have to wait for some travel reimbursements to happen, but I did set up the TV on boxes last night so I have a little background going while unpacking. It'll get there, it would just be nice to get at least one of my spaces unpacked and not looking like a garbage heap.

Here is some of the dive video from the cruise I just went on. Most is still embargoed by National Geographic and they have to release it back to me (which i'm sure they will), so I can't post photos until they've gone through them. Hopefully it'll be soon, we got some great photos! This video will give you a good flavor of why this cruise was probably the most special underwater experiences i've had in my career. Submersible diving is fun, but I have to say, this beats almost every sub dive i've ever done, hands down.

Photos from Juneau

2011-03-06T10:34:00.000-10:00

We're on weather watch here, it's been high winds in the channels so we've been delayed, hopefully by not more than a few hours (we're hoping to leave monday midday), but we're still all on tenterhooks. My technician Christian arrived out this morning, and this afternoon we're going to take all the gear down to the docks, so that as soon as the boat arrives (it's been stuck 150 miles south of us) we'll be ready to go.

In the meantime, aside from lots of packing, organizing and catching up on work, I have had some fun in Juneau, I really like it here, such a beautiful place. Yesterday we did my check out dive (required to work with the folks here) which was awesome - so much to see, I really should have taken my camera!), then Bob and Michelle took me cross country skiing on the Mendenhall Glacier Lake. It was hard work (no trail and icy), but to get that close to a glacier an icebergs was pretty amazing!

Here are some photos!

View from the office i've been using here at the Auke Bay Laboratory.

Bob took me on a tour of downtown - got to be careful of snow falling from bridges around here!

The Governors house - where Sarah Palin used to live. Looked hard, but really couldn't see russia from here....

Avalanche on Mt Juneau! These happen everyday in the winter, pretty spectacular!

Some of the awesome icebergs frozen into the Mendenhall Lake.

More icebergs - this one with a hole through the middle.

Which of course I decided to slide through!

Bob and Michelle!

The Mendenhall Glacier. Pretty different from when I was here in September!

I couldn't get enough of the frozen icebergs!

The frozen waterfall. This is where we hiked to in September, looked pretty different back then!

The new pad!

2011-03-01T05:48:00.000-10:00

Here are some photos of the new pad! Now i'm off to Boston, then Juneau early in the AM tomorrow. I'll be updating my work blog - http://alaskacorals.blogspot.com/ - if you want to keep in touch while i'm in Alaska! Otherwise, i'm back in 2 weeks!

My dining room, complete with elegant furniture!

Kitchen

Bedroom #1

Bedroom #2

Basement/living area

Other side of the basement

House moving weekend!

2011-02-27T15:53:00.000-10:00

Moved into my duplex this weekend, with the fabulous help of Kathy, Rod and Niko! It went faster than expected, and was way more overwhelming than expected too. To the point that i'm actually staying in the farmhouse at the DMC tonight, I needed the bed, internet and space without boxes. I leave tuesday for Boston to catch the early flight out to Juneau on wednesday, so there is really no hope of unpacking anyway (least of all because I have no furniture!). I didn't take many photos of the new place, here are some of cutie Niko though...:0)

Niko versus the lobster! I bought this for Barkley just before she was supposed to arrive. At the moment the plan is to try again for June for Barkley to become a Maine pup.

Niko loves the snow!

Romping at Pemequid point - it was super chilly today!

Niko at the new pad!

Moving Up!

2011-02-26T01:48:00.000-10:00

This is becoming somewhat of a theme, but it's been super busy again this week. And today, i'm moving house! Moving out of the Darling Marine Center and into a house in town - it's going to be so nice to have somewhere "off campus" to roost. Even if it's only for 3 days, as on Tuesday I drive down to Boston to catch an flight super early Wednesday morning to Alaska! Kathy and Rod have driven up to help me today, they stayed in Freeport overnight and will wander up here around midday to help the schlep. I'm so excited about seeing them, and having some help to move all these boxes!

And....it snowed again yesterday! I am truly loving the snow, though I admit yesterday was a bit much, as I really wanted to start moving boxes over. But the snow was the wet slippery kind and when I ran out to Damariscotta to do an errand at lunch, I was sliding all over the place, so decided it wasn't such a hot idea to move boxes around yesterday, so I packed up the farmhouse instead!

Here are some photos from the snow, i'll update on the move before I head to Alaska!

Happy Weekend!

2011-02-18T15:50:00.000-10:00

Particularly if you're on vicodin....:0) The tooth pulling went well, very well as far as I can tell! Yesterday went super smoothly (thanks mostly to Chris and Gabby being awesome, putting me up for the night and shuttling me around!) and I really caught up on sleep in the afternoon! Minimal soreness and minimal painkillers today, even went into work and unpacked some boxes, started thinking of the next proposal (due tuesday) and went out with the Darling Marine Center ladies for lunch. All in all a fun friday! I can feel stitches in there which is a little weird, and am definitely on soft food for a while, but my hope is for it to be healed enough to get a dive or two in next week - it's just a week and a half until I head to Alaska, man that crept up fast!

Hope you all have a good weekend!

All a whirlwind....

2011-02-16T02:30:00.000-10:00

Wow, the last few days have been such a whirlwind. National Science Foundation proposals were due yesterday, and i've been writing one to go back to Alaska once the project finishes up there in September. I've been writing it with a collaborator, who luckily I like, because otherwise, this whole giving me text for the first time at 2am the "morning" the proposal is due is really not the way I like to do things.

But the good news is it's done. It's in. And I wish it had a chance, but with funding rates these days i'm totally dubious. Last night I had a nice beer, and took part in a local pub quiz which was a lot of fun. Then I actually slept for longer than 4 hours, the first in well over a week. On to other things, like another proposal next week, student papers I should have been reading, and the ever dreaded completing the Antarctic medical and dental.

So I found out last week that I need a tooth pulled, and am having that out tomorrow. It's actually not a huge surprise, i've known that tooth has been dead for a long while. It's not been causing any problems (it's one way at the back), but good 'ole Antarctic program says it has to come out, so come out it shall. My friends Chris and Gabby are kindly taking me in tonight and Chris is taking me to my appointment tomorrow (they're sticking me under, so no driving for me).

Fun fun fun. To look on the bright side at least I get to catch up with more sleep tomorrow.....:0)

Still diving!

2011-02-10T17:17:00.000-10:00

Pics from the snow storm

2011-02-07T01:45:00.000-10:00

It was certainly a big one, though maybe not "Colossal" like was predicted, but we did get a lot of snow! The weekend just flew by, but the good news - i've found somewhere to live! Yay! I'm going to sign the contract this afternoon, so by the end of the month, right before I head to Alaska, I can move in. It's not a long term solution (duplex in town), but I have to keep thinking that buying a place in a year or two is on the radar, so it doesn't have to be a long term solution - and until then, it's totally doable. It'll be so nice to be somewhere I can unpack - i've been living out of a suitcase since late October now, so i'm ready!

Here are some pics from the storm.

Some icicles hanging outside my apartment window.

The snow coming down - we had a good 1.5-2ft of snow on Weds.

A break in the snow so I walked down the hill to my office to do some work and grab a coffee.

Some equipment in the snow.

Snow Belle wrapped in a blanket. It took 2 days to get her out of there!

The Flowing Seawater laboratory in the snow.

Looking down to the water. On Thursday we went diving again - #12 done - yay!

I thought a little measuring was in order. 16 inches in the middle, over 1 meter in some of the snow banks. We've unfortunately had rain since, so there's now just a lot of slush around.

Big storm is coming.....

2011-02-01T10:27:00.000-10:00

Must be time to jump in the water again....:0)

Seriously though, we're supposed to be hit with the biggest one yet tomorrow, so we're all battening down here. Did manage to get dive #11 in this morning though, and aside from some initial weight issues and a frozen regulator at the end, went pretty well. Just one more before I can get signed off. One more and a big ass exam and a first aid day on friday that is. Today was bloody cold in the water though, so i'm ready to be done with training dives!

Excuse the hiatus....

2011-01-30T14:29:00.000-10:00

Some serious proposal writing to do. Things have been way hectic, but good, if you know what I mean. I made a "To-do" list today that is 3 pages long (that's letter size pages), so I need to knuckle down and get through that before I can come up to breath.

I need to find somewhere to live, cabin fever hit yesterday and I was so glad I had to go to Portland to get my drysuit (new seals) and had the excuse to leave the campus. So apologies for being sporadic, but it's going to continue for a wee bit. And no, I haven't been running here yet, the cold is okay, I think I can handle that, but it's literally been snowing on everyday I would even have considered it. Running in the cold is one thing. Running while it's actually snowing is a whole other ballgame and I need to build up to that!

It was so cold in the lab today that at the end of what I could stand I went out to watch the sunset at Pemaquid Point. Little car may be in shock at the weather change, but boy does she have a good heater! Hope all is well in everyones world!

Little Lucy is 2!

2011-01-27T02:16:00.000-10:00

Wowsers, how did you get to be 2 already! My little Niece Lucy is 2 today, I haven't seen you since you were this big, I hope to rectify that this year. Skype is a wonderful thing, even from all the way in the UK, i've got to talk to little Lucy occasionally (so much easier now i'm on the East Coast) and watch her bounce around the house with babies and bears in tow (and the odd shark and ray!), and love that she can say Aunty Rhian.

I miss you Miss Lucy - Happy Birthday!

Little car got her Lobsters

2011-01-25T07:19:00.000-10:00

Plates finally changed, from Rainbows to Lobsters, she's now officially a Maine car (so maybe a Snow Belle). This is the first "life" thing i've accomplished since moving here so i'm feeling a little better about life in general. Wok so far is going well, lab is almost finished, though it'll be a little bit before the shelves are up on the walls as they have to get those made. It's getting there. Next step, should probably find somewhere to live around here soon....

Weekend on the Cape!

2011-01-23T14:56:00.000-10:00

Spent this weekend on Cape Cod - a flying visit to drop off boxes to be loaded into the container headed to the Antarctic. Got to catch up with a few people I didn't catch over Christmas, so that was awesome. I'm pooped, so here are a few photos from Friday onwards.

Friday saw more than a little snow at the Darling Marine Center. Perfect time to get in dive #10! I have to get to 12 dives before Chris (the Diving Safety Officer - DSO) can sign me off to dive in Alaska, so getting to #10 this week really made me feel good.

It's a good thing Chris is about as crazy as I am, or i'd never be able to dive in Alaska!

Packing, unpacking and repacking boxes - here's part of the stack that's going to be loaded into a container to head to Southern Chile in just a few weeks. Kathy and Marshall came and helped me, which was awesome!

Got to catch up with my little friend DSV Alvin too, who is in for a long while to get refitted with a new, deeper diving sphere.

Kathy and I got to try out the mock up for the new Alvin sphere, quite spatious compared to the present sphere - you get a whole extra 4 inches on the inside!

Three Things Thursday!

2011-01-19T15:37:00.001-10:00

Practicing pre-sledding using our trawl sorting tubs....

I've had a rough few days with just way too much on my plate right now. I really needed a pick-me-up, and I got one, in the form of a very nice dive this morning and my teaching evaluations from my undergraduate course in Hawaii!

I look forward to these evaluations, mostly because some of them are usually pretty funny, but also because I do WANT to be a better teacher, so it's important for me to see what the students think. I'm not teaching here in Maine for the short term, but probably in a few years, so it's good to get feedback and have some time to evaluate.

It was definitely a more interested group this year than last, which made it nicer to teach, but I have to say, I wasn't prepared for just how NICE the evaluations I got were. Literally, other than the usual smattering of "go slower", "material too hard", "material too easy", "turn up the lights" comments, there was nothing major.

So for my 3 Things Thursday, I thought i'd give out a selection of my favorite comments.......more than three, but i'm going to group them....:0) Bare in mind, all spelling, capitalization etc. is true to the students comments (which we get typed up and anonymously).

1. The Good - "Biology of the deep-ocean was pretty sick", "have Waller make the slides for Measures and DeCarlo, haha", "it was awesome. No improvement necessary", "SHES VERY NICE ☺", "AWESOMENESS! Love your teaching!", "★★★★★", "A++, so interested in her subject and loves what she does", "thank you for reminding me why I want to be a marine biologist...:0)"

2. The Bad - "Exam hard as FOOOK", "STArT AT A HigHer LeveL of Bio, To RudimenTary iN Beginning", "Sweet Lady, put effort into presentations" (that one made me laugh out loud...:0),

3. The Slightly Bizarre - "Thank God it wasn't all Whales and Dolphins!", "★+✿=♥",

And one of my personal favorites for an Oceanography course - Which aspects of the course did you like the best? "The underwater portion"

That one's obviously going to grad school....:0)

In case I needed confirmation....

2011-01-16T15:07:00.000-10:00

It's been a stressful and hard week, lots to do, lots to learn on this diving course, and lots more to do still in life and work (reregister car in Maine, find a house, write 3 proposals in the next month among many). I was treated to moose tracks in the snow, right outside my apartment this morning.

Just in case any doubt had crept into my mind

I am indeed home

Snow Storm Wednesday

2011-01-14T02:12:00.000-10:00

Some pictures of the aftermath of Wednesday. It's still pretty white here, the temps are such it's going to stick around for a while!

Looking out the front door of my office building. This is how the clear snow in Maine!

The Darling Marine Center

Still some orange leaves around. Maine is the place to come leaf peeping in the fall!

The Darling Marine Center

Little Hawaiian Car!

The building i'm living in right now.

The protected front porch!

Down at the docks, looking to the left.

Looking to the right.

Looking up to the labs.

Lets go diving!

Christian and Chris play snowballs.

The Polar Bear dive team!

Three things Thursday!

2011-01-13T09:05:00.007-10:00

1. I'm loving the Maine pace. The boxes are starting to drive me barmy, but I know that's only temporary. I've managed to get a ton done since I got here work wise, compared to what I could have got done in Hawaii that is.

2. My major concern is still salary. I'm really worried. But I have found other things to apply for, so that's a good thing. I just need a whole ton of luck and maybe something will pan out...

3. Okay, so I haven't been running since I got here. Last week was mental and this week diving has been #1 priority. I need to sign up for a race, that usually motivates me enough to go....

Still a snow day!

2011-01-12T12:54:00.000-10:00

This was the day's accumulation - and it's still snowing! Yeah!

Snow day!

2011-01-12T03:19:00.002-10:00

Nope, the snow has not got old yet!

Taking the plunge

2011-01-11T18:18:00.000-10:00

The diving course is going really well this week, so far 5 dives down! Today was a balmy 41F (5C) in the water, only 20F (-6C) in the air though, but a beautiful sunset was had!

Weekend goings on

2011-01-09T13:24:00.000-10:00

Saturday morning the empty POD was picked up - yay! That's closure on that end. Now if only I had somewhere to put all the boxes!

Saturday Christian and I went over to Boothbay Harbor to take a look and have a late lunch. Was really pretty!

Sunday morning saw snow!!

...and palm trees!

And all is well.

2011-01-08T05:15:00.000-10:00

Can't say too much than that. I've been here just over 8 days now, and i'm loving it. It's been busy, but in a different way from Hawaii, busy in that I have a lot to do, but not overbearing. Things are much more laid back here, it's the quiet season, the perfect season to move into the lab in, as many are not around. There are no undergrad courses in this semester and many of the faculty teach up in Orono this time of year, there have literally been just a handful of people in the lab this week. I'm still surrounded by boxes, and have no idea where any thing is at any point in time, but i'm told my main lab will be ready next week, so i'm hoping that will change soon.

My technician Christian arrived on Thursday for ten days of helping to unpack and doing this dive training with me. We had our first dive day yesterday, the pool day and went through the fitness test and some basic skills (both in a wetsuit and drysuit). Fitness test went fine, 400m swim in under ten minutes (9 mins), 800m snorkel in under 17 (14 mins), 25yrd underwater swim (okay, so I had to do this twice to get it!) and a 15 min treadwater. It was good to get that out the way. I'm not feeling terribly pool fit right now, so was a little worried about it, and I won't lie, it wasn't easy!

So today we're having a down day, i'm catching up with some things, maybe a little unpacking, some laundry. Christian is catching up on sleep after so much travel, maybe we'll take a wander and go and look at Boothbay Harbor later, haven't been there yet. It's just started to snow too - fun! Tomorrow it'll be starting to unpack so we can repack boxes for the Antarctic cruise, but nothing too hectic. Then Monday we start diving in the ocean - brrrrrrr! Hoping to get 2 dives a day all week in, so it's going to be a busy one, but I need to do 12 total and a whole bunch of skills before I can go to Alaska in March, so it'll be worth it - eye on the prize!

Some other sad news is that Barkley is not arriving next week. And it might be on hold indefinitely. There are concerns as to her ability to fly, trying out some different drugs, and just her general wellbeing. I'm not sure what's going to happen, but hopefully soon we'll be reunited!

Goals for 2011

2011-01-02T03:40:00.000-10:00

Health and Fitness

Keep that 10lbs off! - Maybe even lose that 5lbs more I really could use losing!
Run 2-3 times a week - I seem to need the motivation of being entered into things to train, there are several fun sounding half marathons around so maybe i'll sign up for those. Another marathon? Maybe, this year is a busy travel one, so I don't want to tie myself down just yet, but Cape Cod is calling, as is SF (if SF wasn't in July i'd say that was a certain, but being less than a month from when I get back from Antarctica, that's pushing it a little for training).
Eat more local/homegrown, cook more - I'm hoping the move will help me with this one, already i'm reaping the benefits of cheaper food in this state (a full basket of groceries, mostly organic, $60 as opposed to the $100 it would have cost me in HI), so I want to turn that around and buy better, local, food. I have yet to find a place to live, but I really want a large freezer (or even a normal size one!) so I can cook more and freeze homemade meals to help me eat better. 300sq ft living was good for me, but i'm ready for a real kitchen too!
Try a Triathlon - Yup, it's in here again, lets see if I can do this this year. Interestingly there are lots here in the Northeast, so i'm hoping after my crazy spring and summer, I can knuckle down and find a fun sprint triathlon to do in the fall.

Life & Recreation

Take a hike! I didn't manage to save for a vacation or big trip this year, so i'm going to go closer to home and do a 5-10 day hiking trip somewhere local (and there are LOTS of places here to do that) or somewhere I end up on work travel. The 100 mile wilderness (here in Maine) is calling, but lets see what the year holds for location. Anyone want to join me?
Make all my soap - Can't wait to get my house set up so I can get going on this one again!
Keep cutting the clutter - My mantra - if you don't need it, don't get it! Just because a larger house is in store for me, doesn't mean I need to fill it. I now live in an area with NO big box stores, so i'm hoping without temptation right there, it's going to be harder to gain "stuff".

Finance

Keep moving forward - It's going to be a tough year financially, I already know that so don't want to set impossible goals that I just feel crap about when I don't succeed. But I need to keep moving forward, paying down debt, watching my finances closer to avoid fees (particularly on my UK accounts that are all too easy to forget about) and work on spending less and saving more. I want to buy a house here in a few years, to even make this remotely possible I need a financial overhaul, I already know i'm not earning full salary this year (grants not getting funded) so it's going to be quite a squeeze even surviving.
Make over 50% of the items I gift this year - 100% for me is just impossible, sometimes I just see stuff that cries out for someone in my life, so I think 50% is a reasonable goal and I haven't been too far off in recent years. This year i'm going to make a list of everything I gift along with price, so I can reign in a little. Gifting is one of my biggest expenses, and I enjoy it, but I need to control more, and making things can be fun!

Work

I thought about a category for work this year, as it's an important part of my life. I love what I do, it has some pretty big ups to counter those really low downs that have unfortunately prevailed recently. This year is a tough work year for me, so maybe goals are not good. I've moved, have to meet everyone, get set up again, figure out a new (to me) system, find those local grant places again - it's a lot of set up. And I have a pretty busy year already - March - Alaska (5 day scuba cruise); April - Hawaii (student thesis defense); May - June - Antarctica (5 week cruise). I need to keep writing papers (and have a ton I could write if I just had the time!), I need to keep writing proposals (and get them funded....sigh) and the balance between the two is a hard one for me - papers get me recognition and advancement, proposals keep me alive with salary. Let's just say I need to do my best this year and work my butt off, I need to set a good impression at my new location and show i'm worth keeping around. This is a reason I haven't put too much in the recreation category this year, work needs to be my focus.

So those are my goals for 2011, nothing too groundbreaking this year, in many respects I want to play it by ear and just keep it moving forward. Hope you all have a good 2011!

2010 in Review

2011-01-01T04:59:00.000-10:00

This time last year I set out my goals for 2010 - how did I do? Not stellar, but not too bad. Here's the round up, and tomorrow i'll post my 2011 goals.

Health

Lose and keep off 10lbs - this one I did actually manage to do! Though I haven't weighed myself since xmas......it may have mostly come back by now with all the festivities!
Cut the junk food - yes and no, there were good times, and then there were moving times....

Fitness

Get back to the gym weekly - didn't happen, i got in occasionally, but in my defense my closest gym (the University gym) sucked big time.
Run another 1/2 marathon - well, this one I went above and beyond! I ran a half and a full marathon this year, as well as an indoor 10K in Canada.
Try a sprint triathlon - didn't happen
Cycle more - yes and no, mostly no, but I did just borrow a bike trainer from Kathy and Rod, so maybe i'll get fit enough inside to take it outside more in the summer
Improve my distance swimming - didn't really happen, in fact I think I swam less than last year!

Finances

Pay down my debt
Save for a hiking trip
Less fees in 2010

I can honestly say I didn't succeed fully on any of these and it makes me so mad. I didn't pay down my debt at all, I didn't save for a hiking trip but I did get significantly less fees in 2010. We had a pay cut and then I had to drop to 60% salary for my last 4 months in Hawaii, I was barely scraping by there on 75%, 60% just meant the debt kept rising, then moving on top of that, and Christmas, my banks are a mess. Sigh.

Crafts, Recreation and Home

More hiking routes in Hawaii - this is I did manage to do, but not as much as I really wanted to.
Back into pottery - I didn't get into the studio at all this year, sigh.
Make all my own soap and shampoo - this I did succeed at, I bought my first bottle of shampoo and soap in November when I moved in with Jenny and Doug (i'd run down my homemade in prep for the move).
Clear the clutter - yes and no, I did manage to not accumulate too much more which was great, though i'm noticing junk in my container as I unpack it....

So work-wise -

- I got a job in Maine, moved my lab, moved my house, moved my car, and finally moved myself (just missing the dog, and she'll be here in a few weeks).
- I wrote 11 proposals, had 4 funded (only one of which had any salary on for me), 5 not funded, 1 the whole call was pulled out and one we're still waiting to hear.
- Had 6 papers published (or to be published shortly in 2011)
- Went on science expeditions/work trips to Canada (ancient DNA) and Alaska (Glacier Bay National Park and Juneau fjords) and went to the Deep Sea Biology conference in Iceland.

It's been a busy year, but I need to step it up. Time to think about goals for 2011...

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T13:02:00.000-10:00

I hope everyone has a great evening tonight and a very happy New Year! I'm off to a party at the Directors house, a wonderful way to start a new position. As for what 2011 holds....i'm not sure....but at the moment i'm in pure bliss as the realization sets in that I actually get to live here.....

The grounds of the Darling Marine Center

The POD, partially unpacked, but a ways to go!

My new office, complete with ocean view! My lab is not ready yet, so everything will be stacked in here for a couple of weeks until it is.

The pier at the center.

Looking back on the buildings - i'm in the upper level of the one on the right

The grounds of the Darling Marine Center

I screeched my car to a halt when I saw this - an Ice Fishing hut!!! People in Canada told me they do this, you tow a little hut out on the ice, cut a hole and fish (and drink beer) all day on it! This is in town, Damariscotta!

Good Morning Maine!

2010-12-30T02:16:00.000-10:00

Off to Maine!

2010-12-29T02:34:00.000-10:00

Doing the big drive today, and luckily it's decided not to snow today - yay! I think i'm ready, collected some boxes from WHOI, did some shopping yesterday for some essentials and have a packed lunch, all should be well. I'm back down here in a few weeks to load for the Antarctic cruise, and potentially to pick my dog, so it won't be long before I see everyone again (and catch those I missed).

Yes, I did say dog. It didn't take long, in fact I adopted one before I even left Hawaii. One of Jenny and Doug's pups (Barkley) is coming to Maine! With a second kiddo on the way, a house needing repair and a yard in a state, 2 dogs is getting too much, so rather than be pound bound, Barkley is coming over to check out the snow. She's a sweet 10yr old just looking for the quiet life, so Maine will hopefully suit her well, and i'm really looking forward to the company. Probably one of my best Christmas presents yet! So I have a few weeks to get settled, potentially find somewhere to live (though i'm thinking that might be a stretch) and then Doug is delivering Barkley whilst on his way to a conference. The details aren't yet squared away, but I can't wait!

Okay, need to get up and get going, Maine is calling!

Christmas on the Cape

2010-12-26T13:48:00.000-10:00

Well, i'm on Cape Cod - I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I arrived on Wednesday afternoon to this....

Snow! And lots of it! And of course, my little car, safe and sound (and with new, beefier, Maine resistant battery......apparently Hawaiian batteries just don't cut it for 20F....).

It's been a wonderful few days. As soon as I arrived at Kathy and Rods we had a few visitors to say hello and goodbye, in particular my friend Laura left for the UK the day after I arrived. Sad i've missed her, but we get to be stuck on a boat in the middle of the Drake Passage in May for 40 days, so we'll get to catch up!

Thursday and friday I did some wandering around, finishing up Christmas shopping and catching up with folks, was super nice. I love Cape Cod, I had a great time here and miss so many people. I'm so happy to be closer to my Cape family.

Falmouth Beach, with just a little snow left on friday.

Then of course there was Christmas at the Catanachs. Was wonderful, such awesome friends.

The tree! It was a few feet taller when it started, but Rod made it fit! First Christmas tree in a few years, was super nice!

Christmas morning breakfast - french toast, buns, juice, coffee - yum! This was after i'd skyped with the whole family back in the UK.

Tammy giving the presents a poke.....just to check they weren't alive.....

Kathy and I compare our presents from Rod....socks! After all the opening of presents we headed off cape to Kathy's brother's house, where I was treated to a Scanlon family Christmas - a wonderful affair that didn't end until close to midnight.

And today we have a snowstorm coming through! I headed into WHOI for a while to pack boxes for the Antarctic cruise (the cruise isn't until May, but we have to send boxes by the end of January, and much of my "stuff" arrived here at WHOI ready to ship.

The view from Kathy and Rod's back deck - snow!

Their dog Nikko enjoys the snow!

Okay, I haven't seen much snow recently okay, and I LOVE snow! So far we've had about 4 inches, it's still snowing, and much of the cape now has a power out, so we're waiting, and i'm typing fast!

The pond behind the house with their pontoon. There was a lot of ice on the pond too, apparently for the first time this year. It's definitely cold! The worst of the storm is supposed to hit tonight, and relative to other parts of the Northeast, we're getting off lightly, or so we hope!

Pre Christmas Christmas Dinner!

2010-12-22T02:32:00.001-10:00

I'm sat in Chicago and still have another hour before boarding so thought i'd update. On the weekend I had a lovely pre-christmas christmas dinner with the family i've been living with this past 7 weeks, and my British friend Laura. We treated the Americans to some British traditions - mince pies, a good roast complete with Yorkshire puddings, Christmas Crackers and even some Christmas pudding to finish. It was glorious!

The meal - roast chicken for us, roast Tofurkey for Laura!

Dinner complete with Christmas crackers!

The lighting of the pudding - Hannah was captivated!

For all of those interested too, I feel completely recovered from the marathon, my legs and feet are great this year! My only niggle is my shoulder from packing the container over a month ago, I really must have pulled something! Thanks again to all who sponsored me, I made it over my target amount which was awesome!

Leaving Hawaii was a little sad this morning, i'll miss my friends here, particularly the family i've been staying with. Little Hannah is so adorable, as I don't get to see my own niece too often (who is the same age and lives in the UK) i've adopted Hannah as my substitute niece. She has adopted me as her Mimi, and was quite happily pointing out all my possessions as I packed them this morning, as well as unloading a few in the process (i'm a little scared as to what she might have added to my bags too......I found a jar from the fridge in my duffel just before closing it...). I go back in April so it's not too long before I visit, but kids change so fast. I showed them all skype before I left, so i'm hoping we can get that set up.

Well, I'm off to add another layer, and hopefully get on a plane in an hour. Just a few hours away from Cape Cod, they got ten inches of snow yesterday, so i'm hoping it's held off so the roads are clear!

2010-12-21T11:01:00.001-10:00

To hell with all my worries
They are negligible at best
I leave for Maine tomorrow
Where my soul can take a rest

George H. Lewis
In The Maine Woods

It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas....

2010-12-18T22:54:00.000-10:00

Friday night saw a little Risotto and champagne with the ladies, yum!

Saturday night saw a little gathering to watch the boat parade!

Some christmas lights in Hawaii Kai as the scene is set for some boat lighting madness!

Photos in the dark of lighted objects moving on water never come out well, but this gives you a little taste of what went on (30 boats in competition to win the best light display, some of them apparently spend thousands!).

No, this is not a stuffed animal. I would say only in Hawaii, but i'm betting there are probably more out there......

Some of the boats heading home after the festival.

How do you feel after running a marathon?

2010-12-16T16:04:00.000-10:00

A combo of this......

...and this.....!

Three Things Thursday!

2010-12-15T22:28:00.000-10:00

1. In many ways I cannot wait to get to the University of Maine. I don't have the space on the blog nor the energy tonight to explain just how crap the University of Hawaii is, but needless to say, I don't think anyone should come here unknowing. I've enjoyed Hawaii, I have not enjoyed the University of Hawaii. In short I found out today I am being diddled out of having my vacation payout when I leave (we accrue vacation, if unused when you leave, you get cash), which is to the tune of a few thousand dollars. I'm not going to go into it, but I am livid, and it's a complete f-up on their end, but it looks unresolvable. Fun.

2. An early xmas present of a large grant not being funded. Once again being told i'm too ambitious in my proposal. Despite talking through scaled down options and being told they wouldn't be ambitious enough. Can't win. Because of this I only have a job until next August, any proposal I write now will only be heard about in August. It's not going to be a fun year.

3. I thought 32 was supposed to be my year? As far as I can tell it sucks. It's looking like I made a really bad decision to move to Maine, as at least here in the (crap) UH system I would still have teaching to pay some of my salary each year, in Maine I have nothing, am completely on my own, and now only have salary through August. Moving always costs a fortune (even if the company pays, there are always personal costs on both sides), so I am broke beyond belief, with the reality of not coming even close to getting out of that next year, let alone buy a house and do the other things I want to to move on with my life and feel like I am moving forward rather than stationary.

It's been a crappy few days, but seriously, anyone else want to kick me while i'm down? This last week was supposed to be fun - dinners out, dinners in, fun xmas stuff, but instead i'm just done in, and though a few fun things are happening, it's tainted.

5hr 23mins 55secs

2010-12-12T15:49:00.001-10:00

A full 30 minutes faster than last years, my personal marathon record!

The EARLY start - 4am! I decided to tape (and yes, I now have a very funky tan line!)

The medal, the shell lei and the two beautiful flower leis Laura, Daniela and Cordelia greeted me with at the end of the run!

The afternoon, whiled away napping and reading. More later when I get some mid-run photos!

See how I run!

2010-12-11T11:41:00.005-10:00

Hannah helps me with marathon prep! I love these Injinji toe socks! They're great for preventing blisters (I have literally had none since I started wearing these for running), and though I was worried about their longevity as running socks (all those extra seams), these are the same pair I ran my first marathon in last year!

Number on okay - check!

Shoes ready - check!

Okay, here are the details -

Go to - http://www.honolulumarathon.org/ - click on "live results tracking"

Enter either my last name (Waller) or my number (6861) and it should let you know where I am when! If you're on Facebook with me my status should be updating automatically as I cross each of the timing mats too.

Last year it took 15 minutes to cross the line at the start, and i'm thinking of starting in around the same spot, should be accounted for in the timing somewhere (it's all chips) I think there were five mats - 10K, 1/2 marathon, 30K and 40K, 26.2 miles! So you'll be able to see how i'm doing!

We start at 5am (7am West Coast; 10am East Coast; 3pm UK time)!

My goals for this year, very similar to last year - finish, finish in 6hrs, run the last mile and most of all HAVE FUN!

There's still time to sponsor me too! Thanks to some AMAZING people (yes that's you!) I am now over the total I wanted to raise by $60 - woo hoo! How much further over can we go??

And - good luck to Kim running the Holiday Half Marathon in Oregon tomorrow too!

Picked up the Packet!

2010-12-09T22:35:00.000-10:00

Went and picked up my race number and packet this afternoon - the expo wasn't too crowded which was super nice! I actually took Hannah with me too, good for Jenny as she got a couple of hours "off", good for me as I had a cutie pie everyone doted over as we went around the stalls! Hannah loved it too, she helped me pick out a t-shirt and hat.

The Honolulu expo, as far as I can tell as I haven't actually run a marathon anywhere else, is somewhat small, unassuming, and primarily in Japanese. I remember being pretty disappointed last year, at least this year I knew what to expect! I did get my shins taped by the nice people at KT tape though - well, I got one shin taped (the right one) and then went on my 3 mile run. I've been having problems with shin splints this year (erm....lack of training perhaps?), and I have to say, I think i'm a believer. The right shin was great on the run, the left had it's usual pain. So I got home and taped my other shin to see if it would help with the pain overnight (they last ~3 days they said), I hope so! It gives me practice before M-Day regardless as i'll need to redo it before then anyway, and this way I can decide if I really want to run with multi-coloured tape all over my legs.....could make for an interesting tan!

I also got to try on a skirt from Running Skirts - the lady there was super nice! They only had wild colours at the store, so I think i'm going to order one online sometime, they gave me a voucher for 20% off, not to be sniffed at and these skirts have the perfect length shorts underneath for my chunky thighs!

Am I ready? I don't think so.....but then I seem to remember not thinking so last year either! I have my number and I just double checked my time for last year 5hrs 53 minutes. If I can come close to that again i'll be happy. It'll be interesting to see - less training and fitness vs experience on the course - which will win out!

Three Things Thursday!

2010-12-09T08:21:00.000-10:00

1. My colleagues from Alaska are at this very moment diving back in Tracy Arm, on the second sampling "season" for our year long project. They'll be diving between the two red arrows right now, only it probably doesn't look quite like that right now, it's probably somewhat whiter, and colder! I had some good news this week - I managed to get funding from National Geographic to go back to Alaska on the March sampling season! I'm so excited about this, so i'm scrabbling to get diving things organized - tomorrow I do my diving medical (thought i'd better do that before the marathon!) which, being an asthmatic, i'm totally terrified about. It's $700 down the tube if I fail....and I don't get to dive in March either.....

2. Yowsers, is it really 3 days until 26.2 miles??? I got my number card in the post yesterday (my post is all screwy because of moving) and today i'll go and pick up my packet from the expo. I'm 6861 - i'll post details on how to follow me online etc. on Saturday. I say it again, Yowsers! This week it's been 4,3 and today 2 miles. Totally taper. It's probably not too good a sign that I found the 4 hard on tuesday....

3. Another Yowsers! I fly out of here in less than 2 weeks! I still have a bunch of crap to send, my frozen samples are somewhere in the ether right now (arrive in Maine today....they better!), and i'm starting to feel sad about things. I haven't been in the best mood this week, combo of just a TON of work, leaving, medicals...oh, and a really long day on Sunday!

Weekend!

2010-12-06T17:06:00.000-10:00

Well the weekend started with a bang - saturday morning a group of my favorite girls headed to the Kahala hotel for their awesome breakfast buffet - yum! Let the pre-marathon carbo-loading begin in style! And guess who we saw there???

Yup....you guessed it. Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) from the series Heroes! He was having breakfast right behind us (well spotted Tara!). I don't watch much in the way of TV, but i've been into this series lately and have been watching it here and there on Netflix. Always awesome to have a famous person sighting!

Next up I had little Hannah for the weekend while Jenny and Doug had a night at the Kahala hotel, their first night away from little Hannah since she was born! They had a relaxing time and Hannah and I had an awesome time, she was such a star, no fuss at all.

We checked out the marathon preparations......gulp! Have I mentioned it's this sunday! Yikes! I'm definitely in need of that cheer group I had last year, this year could be super painful! Going to pick up my packet probably wednesday, so i'll let everyone know my number so you can follow my progress online!

And the best way to keep a 20 month old entertained? Dress up. Everytime!

Hope you all had a good weekend. Just one more lecture to give - Wednesday sees the end of teaching, just the exam to go - woo hoo! Time most certainly flies....still need to finish up a bunch of xmas presents - yikes!

One week till M Day!

2010-12-04T07:32:00.000-10:00

Just one week until Marathon Day! Amazing how time has flown, that means it's just 2.5 weeks until I leave the Island - gulp! Three weekends to go!

This weekend is going to be fun, I have little Hannah for the weekend, while Jenny and Doug go and stay in a fancy hotel for the night right down on the beach and get some much needed downtime. We're going to have so much fun (in other news someone went potty for the first time yesterday, we were all so proud, i'd literally just ordered her a potty for xmas (don't I give the best xmas presents..:0) and it arrived the day before, so she got the hang of it pretty quickly!).

Next weekend is Marathon Day on sunday. I'm scared and excited. The 20 miles last weekend went well, totally wasn't in the mood to begin with, but warmed up to it. Didn't press myself and with my time it would get me in right on track with last years timing (5hrs 55minutes), so at least I haven't got slower! I am worried about that, my late stage training has been somewhat erratic, and I don't have the fitness base I had last year from running the June half marathon and all the little 5K and 10Ks I did. I'm not sure why i'm worried, it is what it is, I'm still pretty confident i'll finish! Don't forget to sponsor me here and pass around to all your friends - i'm just $60 away from my target - woo hoo!

The weekend after I think is going to HAVE to involve the beach. I need a tan, and I need one now, before I hit the snow of Maine! And we're going to have a pre-christmas christmas dinner with Laura, which is going to be fun. Don't tell anyone but i've even managed to get hold of pudding and crackers for the event - woo hoo!

So for now, it's off to the Kahala for a carbo loaded feast!

North Shore Sunday

2010-11-29T19:58:00.000-10:00

I took a visitor up to the North Shore on sunday, my last visit up that direction (just 3 weeks to go!). Some photos from the day....

Maybe I should get one of these for those Alaskan Sleeper Sharks....

Haleiwa Honu, they never get old....:0)

Sharks Cove

Kouloa Ranch in the mist...

Pacific Cardinal, hoping for some handouts...