Friends

So it seems that I have the uncanny ability to inspire strangers to pick on me. These last few days I was at a conference in Kearney, NE focusing on noxious weeds invading riverbeds. I know no one else will think this is stimulating, but actually it was really interesting. Anyway we took a little field trip to the Platte River to look at some of the weeds down there. I bent over to roll up my jeans so that I wouldn't get them caught on anything and fall down, and some lady that I had just met reached over and poured REALLY cold water down the back of my pants. I thought "great, now it looks like I peed my pants, just what I wanted in a crowd of 200 strangers." I turned to say that exact thought to the one person I actually knew at the conference, when another guy I have never met before, didn't even know his name, picked me up and dropped me in the river. Fully clothed in the middle of an informational tour, I managed to get thrown in the river. Needless to say every one else thought it was hilarious, and I even managed a chuckle. But I was completely uncomfortable for the rest of the tour. Just goes to prove that you can't ever let your guard down, even when you think your safe, someone may just sneak up on you and throw you in a river.

Meet the bands!

Alright so I know that most of the people that read this blog are not going to care. Mostly because almost none of them have any inclination to listen to country music. However, I was really excited so I'm going to tell you about it anyway.
Being the loving caring person that I am I volunteered to help usher during the Box Butte County fair. There were a few immediate pluses to this. 1) I got in to all of the events free (motorcross, demolition derby, and CONCERT); 2) I got to yell at people for being stupid in the stands, and even kicked a few people out...it was a good time. The major perk was that all of the ushers got to visit the bands in their trailors and hang out with them. The 2 bands of the evening were Ricochet and Confederate Railroad. They were both AWESOME! and autographed everything we put in front of them. They were also good enough to take pictures with us! Anyway I know it wont impress anyone but me, but I was super excited and just thought I would share.

Vacation

Hooray for vacation!! Its really sad when its over though. I spent a couple of days in South Dakota with my sister and some good friends riding motorcycles. I think I'm going to have to break down and by myself my own (evil laugh) cause they are really really fun, and you can't beat the gas mileage. It rained a lot, but even that wasn't too shabby. We also went to Sturgis, and even though the rally doesn't officially start until tomorrow it sure was a good time! Heehee.

Fire

This is a video of the Spotted Tail fire as it raced over the hill toward Chadron State College, shot by Jim Manternach with the Emergency Management Response Agency. For those of you that don't know I work in Chadron, and Chadron state college sits at the south edge of the town. They evactuated about half of the town. Fortunately they were able to backfire into the oncoming flames and keep the wildfire from entering town. As of today they are estimating that around 30,000 acres were damaged by this ONE wildfire. Current estimates for total damage from all 6 wildfires is not yet known. So far only 4 houses have been destroyed, thankfully. I'll try to get some more pictures of the Shanook helicopters, slurry bombers, and firefighters on here later. My boss is up in a Forest Service helicopter right now assessing, and viewing the damage, so I should have some good pictures from that as well.
Just a big shout out to all the firefighters (400 of them) that worked so hard to save Chadron, Thank you guys so much, we wouldn't have made it without you.