viva olympics

i have already watched a little of the early rugby/soccer matches. last night i watched the simone biles program. 

these are from the boat trip still. i have work tonight. 

the simone biles thing was interesting and i oddly related to some of it. last olympics she got the twisties...basically losing your bearings/confidence.  she had to walk away rather than risk injury.  as she is very well known in/out of gymnastics, this must have been so painful. add to that it was during covid and she didn't have her family with her so she had to endure the embarrassment and pain of it all alone essentially.  she also had to endure the usual nasty comments from people who know nothing but think they know everything. it's easy to assume you know famous people, when all we really know is the person that is presented to us.  i think we all can have judgemental moments with the rich and famous.  often we are right but just as often we are probably wrong as well. 

they aren't trained in how to cope with a deluge of judgement from all sides. none of us are.  it can't be easy.  that isn't the part i related to, of course. i'm not famous or fabulous to the level of many of these folks.  i'm a bedside nurse who worked through a pandemic.  i got my own version of the twisties though i think.  i lost confidence, got anxious, had little to no support from many who i assumed would be supportive and were, in the end, a negative force. like simone, i have been working towards regaining confidence lost.  thankfully, i don't have to fly through the air. i do have to keep folks alive. 

hopefully, this olympics goes well for her.  she has worked hard, like so many, and it would be great if she could go out on a better olympic run. on her own terms. she's 27. so funny how in gymnastics that is ancient.  it's really young.  in the program they spoke about how the olympic program was when she was younger in it. very driven. less fun and there was also the team doctor who was SA'ing these young girls. simone had a lot to deal with.  her birth mother was an addict and she and her sister ended up in foster for a time until her grandparents were able to get things arranged to adopt them. 

things are getting better for me.  stepping back a bit helped and i suspect not leaving is going to help me at this time.  i need to regain my confidence and leave on my terms. 

i went to Homer this week and enjoyed some low tides. i just love meandering around the low tide zone and seeing what i can see. 

day one was cut short a bit because there were some horses that showed up. thankfully, i saw them before Sunny did. at one point one of the horses took off running with it's human.  both dogs got amp'd up over that. no horses the next day.  a little rain fell and is currently falling. 

these are humpbacks

made stops coming and going as usual.  the conservation center has some super adorable baby musk ox.  so cute.  

speaking of babies...the SeaLife Center currently has a rescued baby walrus.  she is weeks old they think and found abandoned up north. many of these very young walrus that are found do not survive.  we shall see how this little one does.  i'd love to do some cuddle time and did send a note to the sealife center.  hasn't happened yet. 

thanks to SH and JH our new WARIS web page is up and running.  i was able to add in our bank so people can make donations and we can work on getting merch again.  actually prep to help the island a bit. 

so i accomplish a few things and don't accomplish much at all on my days off it seems...or as usual.  

i am feeling the urge to travel again. i know i've just been off a bit the last few years as i heal.  i can see improvements with each week that passes.

every week i seem to have a goal that gets accomplished.  this week was the WARIS web page. next stretch needs to be watching olympics and also working on the front deck/siding situation

the political scene is in constant flux. 

the shooting of rump is in the rear view. i still suspect if his ear was clipped at all it was very minor and from glass shards.  someone pointed out, which i think is a valid and interesting point, that he was more interested in getting a photo op than seeing if anyone else was injured. as he did those photo ops, people lay injured and dying behind him. he showed zero interest in any of them.  i'm not surprised i guess, but a normal person would put lives before photo ops. 

they had the RNC right after this and he wore a big bandage on his ear. he's weirdo followers wore fake bandages in support. in the end the entire rnc was a freak show.  that is how it appears. screaming, ranting, raging. they look like lunatics, which honestly, just makes him look more nuts. he's a cult leader and they are following whatever he asks of them. that is never a good scenario. 

it's funny that these folks want the 10 commandments posted in every school and yet, they are all breaking one of those commandments with how they idolize and worship this false god

he foolishly selected JD vance as his vp pick.  not sure what that is about.  the guy is an idiot.  he was a never trumper who now worships him. he's said that childless cat ladies are taking over or some such crap...so now this is coming back to bite him

above is a fin whale and then on to sea lions. 

right after the convention, Biden decided to step out of election and hand it over to Kamala Harris.  

this has totally taken the wind out of the sails of rumps campaign. in turth, they keep saying how old biden is and that he should be replaced...and here we are.  lol. too funny really. 

Biden has, honestly, done a surprisingly good job considering what he came in with.  now he can, perhaps, focus on getting a few more things accomplished before he leaves while he doesn't have to focus on running. 

the GOP is on the run, threatening to impeach her and go to the supreme court over this. 

next week, everything could change again.  i'm hoping they really hit hard right before the election about rumps connections to serial pedophile Epstein and his connections to rump. there are court papers available at this time.  i still think rump could rape a 10 year old on an alter to a crowd full of evangelicals and they would make excuses and still support him. they have lost their collective minds. 

the olympic opening ceremonies have been on in the background. i'll head down and watch a bit.  it's still raining out there and like i said, i've got work tonight.  should get the dogs walked though. 

i did sell the electric  bear fence. need to see what else i can get sold off. maybe prep some free stuff to put out for the next sunny stretch of weather. 

i got over 16,000 steps/day while in Homer.  was beat when i got home. 

Covid Cat was not home when i got back and i was a bit worried.  went out several times calling him.  in the morning he did come cruising in like nothing.  these critters. i'd gotten annoyed the other day as a loose dog was out there pooping on peoples lawns.  i've been having to pick up more dog poops on my front lawn that i know are not my dogs.  it's annoying.  then i did realize that i have a cat that is loose out there...so i'm flawed myself. 

these animals get in to your heart and the last thing you want is for anything bad to happen to them. 

i'll go see if there is anymore of the opening ceremonies to enjoy and have a bite to eat.  then perhaps, walk these dogs, nap and back to work. 

loved this guy below. looked so relaxed 

well, that is the excitement.  traffic coming and going was good for me on my trip to Homer. there were bad accidents the day before i left and coming back there was an RV that had come off the road and up and embankment towards the train tracks. not sure how it didn't flip over but it looked like just officers and no injuries. a woman was holding a dog.  i always remember i have precious cargo in my car as i drive and try to be super careful. i let anyone pass who wants to. 

stay safe out there...

grateful for: A.  the olympics and all the good spirit of the events. B. safe travels C. fun discoveries in the tidepools
 

orca's, humpbacks, fin whales and more...

 

thought i'd toss in a few from the trip out of Seward. it turned out to be a great day on the water. for the second year i guessed a perfect day for boating and whale watching.  yippee!

the black spots on the ice are seals. plenty of those out there.  also an active calving happening. 

our captain was keen on showing us as much as possible on this beautiful day. i went by myself. luckily, i am pretty comfy doing stuff alone most of the time. it's, of course, more fun with others generally. i am pretty good at chatting with total strangers. met a Dr from California on holiday so we chatted a bit. 

those tourists had no idea how lucky they had it out there that day. 

the wild flowers are going nuts so i have also made some treks to Arctic Valley and around Powerline to enjoy those. 

a few walks out at University Lake and Campbell Airstrip. met with friends for walks a few times. life is pretty well rounded. my new bracelet arrived. it says "ocean mountain nature joy" i figured it would be a good reminder to get out of bed and head outside. 

my friend CR is going to make another fall trek up here so i need to start making some plans.  have wanted to do the drive out to Chicken and see the fall colors that way. so perhaps that could work. we shall see. 

i'm currently watching the live cam for the walrus. they have been plentiful on the island this week. lots of fun noises.  love those walrus. was super bummed as i heard from a Dr friend that was slated to go to Round Island that the flaky boat captain had emailed him pretty last minute to cancel. i feel so badly. now i'm thinking perhaps we go together next summer and see if i can get a group to join us. he'd love to go again and i'm not opposed to one more fun trek out to that beautiful place. if you want to join, ponder it. i'm thinking around July 13-19, 2025. 

these blorfers are sure fun. 

many thanks to SH and JH for helping get our new web page created.  we are nearly there.  need a few tweaks then we can go live with it.  i let the old one lapse.  just too difficult to set up the donations/sales portion. hopefully this one will be more user friendly for me and for others. walrusadvocates.org will be the page. shorter anyway. 

otter portion of the photo's. 

feel like i haven't gotten much accomplished of late.  did put the electric fence on the facebook marketplace.  i bought it after the bear woke me up getting into my car in a campground. never have used it though. working less hours makes me re-evaluate various things that i own but never use. sell and have extra cash around. that should keep me solvent for some time....i have way too much stuff. i'm eyeing a few more items to sell now too. 

i worked CSU and ICU last week. this week, i got on call both nights. the first night i got called in at nearly 2 am to help open the CDU, which is observation. easy night. the next night i got overstaffed by 10 pm.  they keep hiring more folks but many are getting on calls consistent.  not sure what the deal with that is. 

these otters are so adorable. 

Sunday i head back to Homer for another low tide. the dogs will be thrilled. 

the water was so perfect.  the sun came out. 

and this big pod of orca's!!  a whole family.  so cool.  

they were all over around the boat. 

everywhere you looked another orca or more. 

they are really cool.  well any whale sighting is cool.  i'm always happy when we see whales out there.  who would get bored of that?

saw a black bear this week and a family of moose. all from the car coming back from hikes.  never bore of any of these sightings. those were in town. 

i'm still looking at photo's from the big camera from this trek. i will need to get that done before i head to Homer. always good to have the big camera around in case i see more stuff. the phone just doesn't get as good of photo's of stuff zoom wise. 

i had applied for a desk type job but it was not to be. wasn't really sure i wanted the job anyway, but nobody loves rejection. oh well. it was good that i showed the incentive to start looking and applying and it was good practice interviewing since it's been a long time since i've done that. i'm a real tough kid, i can handle my shit....as Taylor would say. 

politics is still a continuous nightmare. the orange fool got shot at a rally last week. it was a strange thing and he got clipped in the ear, many think it was really the glass shards from the teleprompter that hit him and not a bullet.  another guy behind him died pretty instantly and two others were injured. the shooter was killed. a lot of strange things with this.  honestly i thought it all looked fake to start. the crowd didn't react the way you expect really.  the secret service seemed to delay getting him off stage and allowed him to do photo ops? why did they allow him on stage when there was reports of a gunman on a roof near by.  all so odd.  he's, of course, milking it for everything. his followers are acting like he's on a vent instead of just having a scratch on his ear. they are also whining that people are being mean about the fool...when they have been mean for years and continue to be nasty to and about everyone and everything.  they are clueless in general though. 

so polls swing back to him winning.  Biden has covid now and looks near dead half the time you see him.  i wouldn't be surprised if he died before President Carter, who's been on hospice for over a year now i think. the rumors today are that he's getting more push to not run again and to allow Kamala to run instead.  they better decide soon.  i think even Obama was encouraging him to think again about running.  if we didn't have a near corpse running the Dems would stand a better chance according to recent polls. not to disrespect Biden.  he's honestly surpassed expectations. the right would never admit that but he has gotten things done that haven't gotten done. it's all still a disaster and the supreme court is a complete corrupt mess at this time. i can't get a $25 gift card from a patient/their family or i could be seen as being corrupt but a supreme court justice can take millions as gifts and it's totally fine!

back to the whales. and the walrus.  i've been hearing some chiming.  JK is on board for next summer. i think RC will be on board as well. 

been raining this week. sun is supposed to return next week.  i got my boat mostly blown up...ready to go, but waiting on weather.  it's just nice for little local lake fun. like to see the birds out there on the water. 

these whales are so cool. 

their markings are so distinctive. 

not much else to say. i need to get on the computer and pay a few bills. also see if i have any pto to put in for this over staff shift. 

then i will need to make a plan for my future. 

happy to be at this end of this career and not just getting started.  that goes for work and life.  not sure how much of this nations issues will get worked out.  either way the election goes it's gonna be rough.  his cult followers will not go down with out another Jan 6 episode no doubt. will they attack dressed as fools in trump clothing again?  freak show.  so embarrassing. the guy that was killed at the rally was a full rumper. he was a retired fireman but i guess his social media was full of the orange fool. it's so crazy. the shooter...he was registered GOP but no real explanation why he did this.  he was killed after not too many shots were fired.  don't like to see anyone get killed. i agree that the Dems should immediately get a gun bill with rumps name on it and make them all have to vote against yet another ar-15 ban bill but this one with rumps name or the name of the guy killed or both. 

when it happened i immediately thought of the line from a movie, "the interpreter" an almost assassination can be just as good as an assassination. garners support and sympathy. the sympathy for rump did not last long though.  i did watch that move the next night. the conspiracy theories are flying on both sides.  

i better get a few more things done on this computer and then get the dogs fed. 

should paint more rocks too.  always relaxing. 

can you see the stars below

bear glacier below

grateful for a. a great day on the water with sun, calm seas and lots of wildlife. b. lots of walrus on the walrus cam to enjoy this week. c. flowers and mushrooms to enjoy on the trails.