Author Archives: Marci

Labor Day (Under the Tucson Sun)

Posted in Animals, Non-cats, Travel, Vacations by

Wow – you’re probably thinking to yourself, incredible! Two new blogs from Marci??? Amazing! Well, don’t get too used to it. Like I said earlier, I’m busy! Now bug off and continue reading about my fabulous weekend trip to Tucson.

I planned a four-day weekend so that Mark (the new boy in my life, in case you were wondering) and I could drive back to Tucson – I wanted to see his house, meet his mom, and experience the insanity of Tucson drivers for myself. It’s only a 6.5 hour trip if you average about 85 mph – it was a long trip going out Thursday after work, but nice that I could spend Friday just relaxing instead of driving. Most of Friday and Saturday Mark and I just hung out at his house – a very nice house indeed – watching movies and not doing too much. On Sunday, his mom drove out from Pierce and we went to the Sonora Desert Museum, which is kind of like a little Wild Animal Park full of all sorts of desert animals. Did you know that Javalinas are little pigs that run around the desert and snort and rub each others’ butts to mark their territories? And actually, they’re not pigs at all, but collared peccaries. The museum was really amazing – I had fun tracking down all these stamp stations that you got to stamp in a little book about animal tracks. Woo hoo! After that we drove back into town for dinner at P.F. Chang’s (I’d never been there before), and then a private viewing of Ronin back at Mark’s house. Today we drove back to San Diego, and well, there you have it. It was a good weekend!

Ah Portland – the Sister City I Never Had…

Posted in Friends and Family, Me Me Me!, Travel, Updates, Vacations by

I know it has been a very long time since I’ve posted anything on my blog. Well, I’ve been busy, ok??? I mean, I’ve got a real job now, an apartment, two cats and a dog to feed, you know – actual responsibilities. So, blogging, sadly, has gotten moved down on my priority list. But don’t worry – I haven’t completely forgotten that all you folks out there need a little Marci fix every once in a while. So, here’s the latest.

Mom and I flew up to Portland, Oregon, during the weekend of my brother Paul’s birthday – he turned 31 (shoot – I thought he was turning 15) on August 19. Anne is a power-house crafting dynamo, sewing and baking and being fit and all that crazy stuff that I can only dream of. Their cats are insane, but cute. And their house…ok, I must say I am a bit jealous. Well, sniff, I used to own a house, sniff, and maybe, sniff, if I work real hard, sniff sniff, some day I’ll, sniff, own one again. We went into Portland a couple of times for shopping dinner, and good times, good times. My Uncle Tom and Aunt Tje also stopped in – Paul and Anne’s one bathroom was working overtime, but managed the job well considering the circumstances. I had a great time – Portland is a cool little town, and it had been too long since seeing the bro. I’d like to get up there again soon (hee hee – look out, Bosco, watch your back!).

It’s Like Christmas in June!!!

Posted in Home Life, Me Me Me! by

Ok, so I’m still trying to catch up on my blogging. Some of you may know that I’ve recently moved – I’m finally out of my mom’s place (leaving 50% of the animals behind, thank goodness), and into my own little apartment. Unfortunately, I had to move the day before I had to travel to Denver, which I will write about in the next blog. Not having very much time, I hired movers to get my stuff out of my storage unit and into my new place – it was a little pricey, but they sure didn’t just sit on their asses, complain about how heavy all my boxes of books were, and demand pizza and beer. They were actually very quick, and got all my stuff up to my 2nd floor apartment in under four hours! And so far, I don’t think anything is broken or missing. So it was a good deal for me. I still had a bunch of stuff left at Mom’s house to take over, but I dealt with that when I got back from my trip the following weekend.

Here are some pictures – the first one is the outside of my apartment – 2nd floor, big balcony. It’s a small apartment, and I’m appalled that for the same money, I could rent TWO apartments of this size in Colorado. But I’m paying a lot less living in Escondido compared to Carlsbad (where I work), which is really outrageous. Even though it’s just a regular place, it’s all my own, and my things are out of storage! Woo hoo!!! And, there are some nice features – vaulted ceilings, a huge walk-in closet, a good sized storage closet on my balcony, a pool/hot tub, and I even get a free gym membership (anyone want to take bets on whether or not I’ll actually ever use that membership?). It’s a nice neighborhood too – lots of greenery, with a creek running through the back, and it doesn’t feel too ghetto. So I guess I made a good find. The second picture features just a small fraction of the boxes that were waiting for me when I returned from Denver. I think Santa left them there for me!


There’s no fish in the desert…

Posted in Animals, Career, Day Trips, Me Me Me!, Non-cats by

It’s true. There are no fish in the desert, especially here in Southern California. I know this because I’ve looked. Well, there are desert pupfish, but not in the area that I was in.

I have a lot to catch up on! I’ve been very busy, with training in Sacramento and Denver and moving and field work, but back to the desert. In late May, I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend three days out in the desert near Palm Springs searching for the endangered Coachella Fringe-Toed Lizard. I didn’t see any of those, but I did see a ton of zebra-tailed lizards, desert iguana, desert horned lizards, and even a long-nosed leopard lizard (which was absolutely gorgeous, by the way). We were surveying in a few areas, including the valley that has hundreds of windmills. There’s a reason why they chose that area for windmills, too. You know why? Because it’s frickin’ windy! I think I saw a few lizards fly by, but I mostly just found abandoned shoes and rubber hoses in those plots. And it was global safety day – I was busted by some workers for not having a hard-hat and safety goggles, who warned me that propellers fall off the windmills all the time (my response: “gee – if one of those huge blades fall off and hit me on the head, do you really think a hard-hat will help me out?”).

I sure do miss the desert – it wasn’t as beautiful as Utah or Arizona, but it was still good being out there in the dry air and hot hot temperatures. Good times! Here are a few pictures I took – there’s the horned lizard and desert iguana, in case you were wondering (alas, the leopard lizard ran away before I could get my camera out – boo hoo!).

Nothing to report, really.

Posted in Me Me Me!, Updates by

Yeah, yeah – I know I haven’t written anything in a while. Well, that’s just because I don’t have anything particularly exciting to write about. I’m still here though – still working, trying to catch up on sleep, trying to survive the mayhem of all the animals in one tiny, tiny space…

Actually, work is going a little better – I’m starting to get a better feel for how things work, and can at least “act” competent around everyone except for my supervisor. Isn’t that the luck? And, more good news – I move into my own place in the beginning of June (the 10th). It’s no place special, still in Escondido, and rather small. But it’s cute, and it will save me several hundred dollars a month as opposed to renting in Carlsbad near work. So hopefully, I’ll be able to pay off some debt in the next year or two, then maybe I’ll move to a better place. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not bad, not in the ghetto or anything, it’s just your typical apartment in your typical apartment complex. But there’s a pool, hot tub, vaulted ceilings, and a huge walk-in closet. And best of all, it will be my own space, with only three (officially two, so don’t tell anyone) pets.

But that’s all for now. I just didn’t want you all to worry. I’m still alive and twitching.

Job update: it’s all about…Acting!

Posted in Career, Me Me Me! by

Remember Jon Lovitz on Saturday Night Live? He did a sketch about Acting, and it was so true. The first couple of weeks of my new job were pretty crazy because I was (and still am) intimidated by all these smart biologist types. And even though I’m supposed to be one of them, I’m still scared of making a complete ass of myself. So, I’ve told myself it’s all about Acting. Oddly enough, I’ve been having some success with this little mind trick: pretend you’re a smart biologist – how would a smart biologist react in this situation? What would a smart biologist do in this situation? And it’s great because I can become another person, one with a little more confidence and moxie. So far so good.

The job has been getting a little better. I realize that the learning curve there is pretty darn steep, and I’ve absorbed a lot in the past 2 1/2 weeks. Stuff I’d never thought I’d know before. I can see where this job would be very cool once you kind of figure things out, but for now, I’m still baffled and apparently I will be for a while (at least that’s what everyone says). However, I still believe that it is an important job, a necessary job, and one that I can learn to do. Don’t know how long I’ll want to do it, but for now, I’m happy with…Acting!

What did we see when we went whale watching???

Posted in Day Trips, Friends and Family, Me Me Me!, Travel by

We saw lots of things…but no whales! Matt and Alyssa, for the second week in a row, failed to see any whales. So that settles it – clearly they are bad luck, and next time I go I will not be going with them! But I had a good time anyway – we saw a sea lion, a couple of dolphin, lots of kelp, and actually – we did see the spray from a whale but it was kind of far away and by the time we got there the whale had disappeared. No worries though – it’s the end of the season, but the whales will be migrating back in December and I have a pass for two to go again. So here are some photos of our adventure, even though there were no whales, it was a good time!

Here’s a seagull that was following us for quite a way.

Here’s the view of San Diego from ten miles out to sea.

Oh, the excitement of it all…

Random Acts of Kindness…or…Internet Stalking?

Posted in Entertainment, Friends and Family, Me Me Me!, Music and Dance by

So something kind of odd happened to me last weekend. I came home to find an Amazon.com package sitting on my doorstep, which I thought was strange considering that I hadn’t ordered anything in a while, yet the package was addressed to me. And when I opened it, there were six CD’s in it that I had on my Amazon music wishlist. Apparently, the CD’s were a gift order from someone in Florida who appreciated a review I wrote for Amazon, and the CD’s were a “thanks for participating” gesture. In fact, the note on the packing list read “Hi Marci. You don’t know me, but I appreciate your reviews on amazon.com. This is just a “thank you” gift for your participation – Jim”. Kind of weird, huh? I mean, I only wrote one review, for a product that cost about $40. And the CD’s he sent totaled about $65, not including shipping. But, he picked out some good CD’s from my wishlist – a couple of Prince’s earlier albums that I didn’t have, the latest Black Eyed Peas, K.T. Tunstall, and the soundtracks to 50 First Dates and Napoleon Dynamite. Sweet! I’ve popped a little thank-you note in the mail for the CD’s, but am still a little perplexed.

So what gives? Is this a genuinely nice person who randomly does cool things to brighten complete strangers’ days? If so, that’s awesome. I aspire to be similar in nature. Or is this an Internet stalker who was attracted to my exquisite taste in movies and music, as defined by my Amazon wishlists? I’m not difficult to locate, on the Internet or otherwise. He could be reading this RIGHT NOW. Anyone have some insight? Anyone? Anyone???

P.S. – If you’d like to see for yourself how exquisite my taste in movies and music actually is, there’s a link to my Amazon wishlists to the right. And speaking of easy to find on the Internet, I just opened a MySpace account, also linked at right (yes, I finally caved under peer-pressure!).

Wow – I even have my own cave…er, I mean, office!

Posted in Career, Me Me Me! by

Yesterday I started my job as a Fish and Wildlife Biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Woo hoo! At this point, I’m a little overwhelmed by everything – there will be a lot to learn, and I’m not just talking about the names of the 53,000 people I met yesterday. The lingo, the acronyms, the inside jokes, the important serious regulatory stuff…

But, everyone seems very nice, and I even have my own office. Ok, so it doesn’t have any windows, which makes it more like a cave, but it is my own space. Yesterday I spent some time moving furniture around in an effort to not have my office configured “totally evil” according to Feng Shui standards. I’m slowly but surely bringing in odd little fun objects (e.g., my leopard-spotted devil ducky from my CLC job), but am trying to go about this process in a way that won’t scare my co-workers. And I’m scouring the internet for free wildlife posters to put up on my white white white walls (with some success – the EPA is a great source!). When I get a check from my consulting job I’ll be going to Target to pick out some spiffy office supply things and maybe a plant or something three-dimensional to break up the cube-like feeling of my cave (I mean office).

Today they had me accompany another biologist on a trip to a local site that currently contains an endangered plant species. The site had been mowed and disced which had damaged a lot of the plants, so everyone is trying to figure out what to do in terms of righting the situation (I can’t really say anything more about this). Anyway, it feels really great knowing that I’ll be contributing to preserving endangered species – I have a feeling that this will be a really rewarding, fulfilling job! It will also be challenging – I have A LOT to learn, and I’ll admit I’m kind of intimidated by all the smart biologists working in the department. Perhaps eventually I’ll be one of them though! Something to shoot for, I guess…