Oregon Trail: Ames Edition

08.24.25

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I’m trying kids. I swear.

I blame having a commute. I haven’t had a commute in almost ten years and now I have a 20-25 minute commute. Couple that with hanging out at work until 5:30 or 6:00pm each night — it’s makes for a very special kind of exhaustion when I get home.

I’ve also been sabotaging my dopamine as it so happens; something I wasn’t aware that I was doing. But, that at least is now in hand. Or getting there.

So let’s see … when last I left you there was a wildfire to the north and everyone was acting like it was nbd, there were some Hobbit rewatches, and Del Taco reviews.

Since July there have been two wildfires in my “realm” as it were. And by realm I mean the areas I’m responsible and/or live and work in. One of them got kinda big but thankfully was under control pretty quickly. It also wasn’t in my backyard and the smoke was negligible.

The other one though … WOOF. That one I could see from my work and I can’t even begin to describe what that’s like.

Obviously I’m going to try though.

I was in the breakroom, halfway paying attention to the WatchDuty app and trying to figure out which way this fire was going as it had started mere miles from my workplace. My mood was already less than stellar thanks to construction outside my building, blocking my parking lot, and a wounded hand thanks to a cranky Potato. I KNOW! POTATO BIT ME, the little spud booger.

So I wasn’t ready to have a wildfire piled on top of that.

The sun suddenly got weird. The breakroom turned a funny color, I said aloud “hey, the sun just got weird” and then I went outside and …

Talk about FREAKY.

Right after that the power went out. Which, for me, means a ticking clock because AT&T is unreliable where I work. I had a half hour to get the word out to my higher ups about the sitch before I lost the wifi. Of course my boss and other higher ups were all in a meeting so I had to make some solo calls. In the WatchDuty app the evacuation zones started popping up one after another and inching ever closer to my workplace. Looking outside I could see traffic building up as everyone was making a mad dash to get out of town, and this was just as the freeway was being closed to the west.

I blame all the disaster movies I watched as a kid/teen. I grew up in the golden age of asteroids and volcanoes and earthquakes terrorizing the planet, so needless to say as the cars were piling up and horns were honking I felt the fear of the 90s grip me.

I was only all too thankful that I was headed in the opposite direction as everyone else, but still. That was SCARY. Not just that but the sky looking like an apocalypse? Yeah, no. I’d prefer never to have that happen again.

HOWEVER … I somehow still went in to work the next day like it was no big deal? Yeah. I know. Sounds crazy but my work was just on the edge of a Level 1 Evac and not in one so, like, we were fine … ish. The smoke wasn’t as bad as I was expecting at work, and we had power so honestly there was no reason not to be open. I made sure my staff were safe to come in and obviously was fine with those who weren’t, and we just kinda did the thing. Crazy, and yet, I don’t know. Here we were.

It’s still so strange to coexist with these environmental hellfires. I’m all too grateful that by the end of the weekend the fire was at least partially contained, albeit it still took a few more days to get it truly under control.

Two different fires popped up again today but thankfully those were under control pretty quickly. Both of them within mere miles of my work.

Just. Crazy.

And alongside that I’m of course dealing with this dumb cat bite. It was rough going there for a few. In Potato’s defense, we were trying to trap her for spay surgery. She eluded capture but we at least got Ember trapped, so that will be one less cat in the colony who can reproduce. Mooch and Raspurrrtin are still at large. And now we have some German Shepherds who moved in next door. We’re a regular menagerie out here.

I’ve also been keeping up with my psychiatrist appointments, took my car in for an oil change and brake flush at what’s turned out to be a really awesome small shop, and I have two more doctor’s appointments this week. The joys of adulthood, am I right?

Lastly I’ve been gearing up for DragonCon. Those of you who know me know I LIVE for this every year. I’m excited to have even more responsibility this year and I spent several hours tonight sending out emails as part of that increased responsibility. It’s at lot but I’m really looking forward to being even more involved. Not to mention — I’m cosplaying this year!!! I think for the first time ever outside of Halloween.

I’ll give you a hint …

As far as food – I’ve explored an Indian spot, and two really cool spots in Ashland nearby. All three were fantastic and I even got to check out Lithia Park for a few minutes which was really, really pretty.

Bonus pictures of the local wildlife there for you.

Anyway, still #noregrets as far as moving out here. It’s been weird, a little chaotic, a lot scary at times, but ultimately beautiful and fun and a breath of fresh air (when it’s not really smoky). I’m having such a crazy adventure and it’s going to be weird to head back east for DragonCon. Back into the thunderstorms and humidity and overwhelming cityscape. But I love my DragonCon fam and, bonus points, I’ll get to see my east coast and midwest besties.

My hope is that once the weather cools off a bit and I get on the other side of DragonCon I can really get out and explore. Hike a bit. Hang out on the coast (although I might treat myself to a coast trip for my birthday coming up). Spend the day at a lake. Who knows?

I have a whole freaking west coast to explore!

Powered by iced coffee and pure denial,

Ames