Reflections in the Waves Spark My Memory...

It's been a week. I am still alive...I promise. It's been a busy week here and I finally was able to collect my thoughts and get them on typed up. :-)


Adventures in Work
The last week has been pretty chill yet very short-term goal driven at work. I'm almost halfway done with my internship -- which I find amazing and quite shocking actually. Arcata now feels like home. I have established myself here to a point of comfort with my surroundings. It will be weird leaving in a little over 30 days.

A couple of things have changed about this project -- I'm finally on a real SERVER. I haven't migrated my project over yet, but will be soon, and I'm pretty darn excited. It only took HSU's IT 5 weeks to get their lives together to get my accounts setup. Happiness ensued.

However, we have encountered our first relatively large obstacle in this process. Humboldt's IR Submission forms are done through this system called SMIRF. -- Simple Mailing Incident Report Form. I think that is what it stands for, but I always reach straight for the popular cartoon characters. Anyways, this system has been in place for many years and frankly, it is way out of date. Now, Humboldt is switching their ResLife Computer Systems over in the coming year and the new one will have IR support.

(For those of you who don't speak ResLife, IR = Incident Report. An IR is filed to formally document any happenings in the hall regarding conduct. You find alcohol, you write an IR. You smell drugs...you call Public Safety, THEN you write an IR. The IR becomes THE main way through which student judicial cases happen. Needless to say, it is VITAL to any residence life system to have an IR process in place.)

Okay, SMIRF needs to move because it is old, clunky, and won't be able to run on the new server. Craptastic. Big problems....what do we do in the mean time? Oh, I love creative problem solving. Do you write a new SMIRF, only to have to train all of your staff in a system you will use for a semester or a year? Do you try to keep the current SMIRF alive? Interesting questions, we'll see where that goes.

(And yes, I know this is a SMURF and not a SMIRF, but sounds the same -- is the same.)


Adventures in Oysters
Saturday was Oyster Fest. Oyster Fest is a big deal around here. It's right up there with organic food, general liberalism, and environmental sustainability. Every year, right around this time of year, there is an amazing abundance of oyster in this area. And like most seafood, oysters have .... well...umm. ZERO shelflife. So a quick and effective way is to obviously celebrate the abundance by getting completely trashed in the town square while eating them. (It's oddly tribal...minus the whole drinking thing.)

So I decided that I would a) have to go to the festival and b) have to do it up right and try an oyster or two. I mean afterall, they come prepared in every way imaginable at the festival. All of the local eateries come out and cook oysters in the style of their restaurant. Japanese, Italian, French, Barbecued, "American", Mexican, Chinese...you name it, they've got it.


a) was easy. The festival was on the plaza - which was blocked off and made into a giant beer garden. Yes, my friends, the local version of Summerfest. Live bands, beer tents and drunk 40 somethings. GLORIOUS. I loved it. My camera would not do this event justice, so there are no pictures. But I can assure you it was a sight to see.

On the other hand, b) was a much more interesting task. I'm not going to go into the details of my oyster experience because it's a much better story to hear in person. (Ask me about it sometime.) But I did survive three relatively large oysters and two barbecued fish tacos. (Yes, you read that correctly.)

After that, I decided to call it quits for the day. I had more than my fill. Truly a memorable experience...and I won't be having oyster again anytime soon.


Adventures in Crabs
Sunday, Damien and I decided to check out the Crabs game. It was his first time, my second. After catching some serious sun .... again. the crabs called it a winning day, and Damien and I both looked like the team's mascot. As usual the "Crab Grass Band" was up to their usual antics. 3 Blind Mice, The Grinch, Crazy Train (complete with audience participation of the Ay! Ay! Ay! part), Crazy, and even some appearances by The Killers. I thoroughly enjoyed that.

What amazes me about Crabs games is how community oriented the atmosphere is. I thought the team I grew up on -- The Beloit Snappers -- was very much like that, but the Crabs have them beat by a long shot. It's quite the place to watch a ballgame, and I always leave a little more burnt than I came, but having had a great afternoon cheering on the team with the world's oddest mascot.



I'll try to update again before next Monday!! Hopefully, I will have done something amazing and noteworthy by then.... :-)

Peace,
M