Unemployed again!

March 13, 2010

OK. I guess that’s a little overstating it.  I’m not really unemployed. The job is over and the contract is up; I can’t sign up for unemployment because I’m making too much money – from my pension.

students at a nuclear power plant simulator - photo rendered as a painting.

Students at a nuclear power plant simulator – photo rendered as a painting. 

This was my second contract since I retired a little over three years ago.  Both have been for about 6 months and both have been doing part of the job that I used to do before I retired – teaching license operator candidates in the classroom and in the simulator.

The class did well in the simulator operational exams administered by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week.  The last day of the operational exams was Thursday, which was also my last day on the job.  I had my box packed and was out the door by a little after 6 PM.

I suppose it will take a little time to get back into the swing of not working. 

I think I’ll be up to speed by sometime Monday morning. ;)

I’ve got quite a lot of work to do around our place this spring, summer, and fall.  Of course, we’ll get a little bit of traveling in, too.

Then, sometime in January, it looks like I’ll probably be back at work.  That’s about the time the next class should be at the point where I’ll be needed – if they allocate the funds, which I think is quite likely.

I’ve worked a total of about 13 1/2 months out of the last 36 – and when I do work, it’s doing something I know well and get satisfaction from.

{ 1 comment }

Fern Falls

March 12, 2010

Fern Falls, Rocky Mountain National Park, September 6, 2009

Rocky Mountain National Park, September 6, 2009

(click on image for larger version)


Gallery: Fern Lake Trail – September 6, 2009

See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.


{ 2 comments }

eyes_of_the_great_depression_1

[click to continue…]

{ 1 comment }

Canary Spring

March 10, 2010

Canary Spring, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, September 13, 2007

Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, September 13, 2007

(click on image for larger version)


Information: Yellowstone National Park information

Gallery: Around the Upper Loop, September 13, 2007

See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.


{ 1 comment }

Count the elk

March 8, 2010

Elk, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, September 13, 2007

(click on image for larger version)

Information: Yellowstone National Park information
Gallery: Around the Upper Loop, September 13, 2007
See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.

2 comments Read the full article →

Bear!

March 6, 2010

Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, May 5, 2009

(click on image for larger version)

Gallery: Great Smoky Mountains National Park
See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.

3 comments Read the full article →

Stout’s Point

March 4, 2010

Overlooking Arkansas River from Stout’s Point on Petit Jean Mountain,
Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas, October 4, 2006
(click on image for larger version)

Information: Petit Jean State Park and Petit Jean Mountain Information
Gallery: Petit Jean State Park and Petit Jean Mountain Gallery
See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.

2 comments Read the full article →

Looking back the way we came

March 2, 2010

Fall River Valley from Fall River Road, Rocky Mountain National Park, September 5, 2009
(click on image for larger version)

Gallery: Estes Park and then up to Trail Ridge – September 5, 2009
See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.

1 comment Read the full article →

Leaves of Autumn

February 28, 2010

Seven Hollows Trail, Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas, November 17, 2007
(click on image for larger version)

Information: Petit Jean State Park and Petit Jean Mountain
Gallery: Petit Jean State Park and Petit Jean Mountain
See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.

3 comments Read the full article →

On Lake Devil.

February 26, 2010

Devil’s Den State Park, Arkansas, June 21, 2008

Information: Devil’s Den State Park
Gallery: Devil’s Den State Park
See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.

3 comments Read the full article →

More state parks in danger of closing.

February 25, 2010

Financial woes of another state budget could result in more park closures.  An Associated Press  report in Business Week says funding proposed in Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s budget recommendations could prevent a new state park from opening as scheduled and force the closing of other parks.

"We’re going to have to make some tough [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

A capitol market

February 24, 2010

Dane County Farmers’ Market on the Square,
Madison at Wisconsin State Capitol, 9-20-08
Gallery: Dane County Farmers’ Market on the Square – Madison, Wisconsin, September 13 and 20, 2008, on the streets around the state capitol building
See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.

0 comments Read the full article →

State park closings – is Nevada next?

February 23, 2010

In today’s hard economic times, closing state parks seems to be a remedy that many states have used or are considering.  A Las Vegas Sun article says Nevada legislators are considering closing all of the state parks in Nevada.

The Nevada Legislature is thinking of closing state parks as it considers how to patch an [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

Woolly family cabin

February 22, 2010

Woolly State Park, Arkansas, November 4, 2007
William Riley Woolly and his family migrated from Waynesboro, Tennessee in 1851, settling on land that came to be known as Woolly Hollow in Faulkner County, Arkansas.  In 1882, a son, Martin Alfred Woolly, built a one room log home on land that he had homesteaded in 1859.  Constructed [...]

4 comments Read the full article →

Climate science woes in Newsweek

February 21, 2010

A report in Newsweek, Iceberg Ahead, looks at the current state of climate science and politics… and how things got to this point.

What went wrong? Part of the blame lies, of course, with those who obstructed the efforts of the IPCC and the individual scientists, including bloggers who tried to sandbag scientists with spurious [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Confederate Flag flown on the CSS Alabama

February 20, 2010

The Mariner’s Museum, Newport News, Virginia, May 10, 2009
Unable to build or buy enough warships to contest Northern control of the seas, the South purchased several fast cruisers in Britain and sent them out with orders to raid Union shipping. The most famous of these vessels was the Alabama, commanded by Raphael Semmes. Prowling the [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Planned closings of New York state parks

February 19, 2010

Press release from Governor Patterson and Commissioner Ash:
The Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) today put forward a recommended list of closures and service reductions in order to achieve its 2010-11 agency savings target and help address the State’s historic fiscal difficulties.
Governor David A. Paterson issued the following statement: [...]

7 comments Read the full article →

Moraine Park Twilight

February 18, 2010

The smoke, which enhanced the twilight in this photo of the mountains above Moraine Park and the people viewing elk, is actually from fires that were burning in California.
September 1, 2009
Rocky Mountain National Park

Gallery: Eastern slopes – September 1, 2009
See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.

4 comments Read the full article →

New York State Parks in Peril of Closing?

February 17, 2010

A proposed $20 million New York state budget cut will likely result in closure of New York state parks.  A Saratoga Springs Saratogian report says that state parks, already hit hard by previous cuts, are in peril from further cuts.

“Every region will be impacted. It’s not just small, fringe sites. Some of the largest parks [...]

7 comments Read the full article →

A Farm Museum

February 16, 2010

Mountain Farm Museum
May 6, 2009
near Cherokee, North Carolina
The Mountain Farm Museum is a unique collection of farm buildings assembled from locations throughout the park. Visitors can explore a log farmhouse, barn, apple house, springhouse, and a working blacksmith shop to get a sense of how families may have lived 100 years ago. [...]

1 comment Read the full article →