Road Trip, Seattle to Salt Lake City

After packing up all our belongings (or selling them, namely our cars) in Seattle, cleaning our rooms and stuffing it all in a 16 foot budget truck (actually we really didn't even have to stack anything, the truck was WAY too big.)

We headed off down the road for Utah on a somewhat meandering path. With me at the wheel (Leah was too young to drive the rental) we headed for our first stop - Eugene, Oregon where we stayed the night with Billie (my little sister) and Cole (her boyfriend.) It had been a little while and was great to catch up with them.


The next day after sorting out some logistics and an awesome brunch that Billie cooked up we headed off to meet up with Carol, my cousin, in Bend Oregon (we forgot to get some pictures, darnit).

We stayed the night with Carol after catching up and headed off the next morning for our longest haul of the journey. Our next stop was Given's Hotsprings in Given's Hotsprings Idaho.
On our way to Given's, in the middle of nowhere (that pretty much describes the whole drive, we opted for the off-interstate route, very glad we did, much prettier, not to mention our savings in gas milage) we came across a tree the likes of which we had never seen before! As approached it from a distance I looked at it and said, "What kind of tree do you suppose that is, Leah?" Well, it turns out it was a shoe tree! After Leah made her contribution and I tried on a pair of cowboy boots (didn't fit, damn!) we continued on to Given's where we had a refreshing soak in a 20 year old concrete tub before we headed off to yet another family member's house for our final night on the road.

This time we were headed to my Dad's cousin on his mom's side,
Brent. Brent lives in Oakley, Idaho. I have some fond memories of Brent and river rafting in Idaho. So, after we arrived and met his wife, Shanice, and step daughter, Tia ( married less than a year) we did the usual, yep you guessed it, we caught up and told stories and spent the night (forgot to take pictures again). In the morning we headed off for Kamas, Utah where we met up with my Dad and emptied out the truck.
-David

David's unemployment experience

I've been unemployed for one week now. Friday, Nov 2 was my last day at KPFF Special Projects Division. Working there has been a great experience. I started there in March 2006 as an intern.

I have learned a lot working there, not just about engineering but about:

• working
• workplace dynamics
• interacting with coworkers
• deadlines
• slow days
• water cooler conversations
• commuting (by bike)
• managers (good ones only, luckily)
• the 2:30 pm droopy eyes
  
• teamwork
• working for government agencies (I know you have this all designed already, but lets try this...)
• Happy hour after work
  
• Rubber band attacks
• Reply-all emails (fortunately nothing disastrous)
• Sneaking up and scaring coworkers
  

I can honestly say that I have really enjoyed all of my coworkers, which feels great to say. I have also enjoyed engineering. It is challenging, interesting, and sometimes (don't tell anyone else) fun. I'm really glad that I chose civil engineering for my degree. I don't know if it is something that I will always do, but i feel like could be a great springboard into anything else I would like to do in the future.

But for now, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to enjoy my time while unemployed!!!