The Weekend and the Cleaning

Please don't be confused I did not clean this weekend- I straightened up, but did not clean extensively. I had a good weekend though.

Friday I got home and found a little note by my door about renter-things. I was very glad to head out to Reza's Pitch with a few other interns from work thereafter. I tried their cheese curds- not bad for North Dakota.

On Saturday I headed out to Lake Sakakawea with another intern. We didn't have things planned out very well and after heading out to the grocery store to pick up supplies we had to return home and then stop at a gas station before getting on the road. It rained most of the way up there and I don't think either of us had checked the weather, still the weather was clear when we arrived. We drove across the Garrison dam to the park- definitely one of the largest dams I have ever seen. I think it was built in the 50's and displaced a boat load of people. We ended up walking along the shoreline although to the dam and on the way back I chickened out and instead of jumping across a puddle I jumped right through it. When we got done with our 2 1/2 hour walk, my feet were the most prune-y they have ever been.

For dinner we grilled out. Just after we got our coals lit, a storm past through. Luckily our dining facilities were near a shelter and there was a fire space there so we made another fire. After the storm passed our coals outside were still warm so we put our vegetables out there for a veritable feast.

We drove home the long way. Thinking we would see a city called Twin Buttes (hoping there would be two buttes) we took a long detour. There weren't two buttes that we could see, but it was fun to see more of North Dakota. Along the way we stopped at a display about pit mining- I think it was the freedom mine or something like that. We got in late which was fine by me.

So now for the cleaning part- yesterday there was a grand gallery cleaning. The objects in the exhibit gallery need to get cleaned every now and then and the museum people recruit people from all over the museum. I got to vacuum the buffalo family which was very exciting. With my vacuum back pack I felt very much like a ghost buster. It was fun to take my shoes off and slide under the reading rail to get up and close with the buffalo. Being careful not to hit anything with my pack, I scouted around, getting into middle of the buffalo family. Vacuuming through a screen (so as not to damage the buffalo) I got closer to buffalo than I will ever get to a live buffalo. Afterwards, they provided us with pizza and ice cream. Not a bad way to end the evening.

Work has been going pretty well. This week I've been getting into some paper documents, reading through people's diaries and the like. It's an odd sort of relationship I have with these people whose stuff I'm going through.

Well, I guess that's it for now.

it's raining, it's pouring

Right now it is raining, so I will stay at work a little bit later before heading out to dinner with some of the other interns. What was I going to do at home anyway?

So I guess I should start with the big excitement- on Wednesday we had a huge intern fieldtrip. All of us, pretty much, headed out in a big red fan on the epic trip. We started off at Double Ditch historic site- you can see depressions where people used to live in earth lodges. We even found (not me by the way)little pieces of ceramic (which we of course left at the site) which I took a picture with. Very exciting. Then we drove up to the Lewis and Clark center- we got to go into their collections. The next stop was Fort Mandan- smaller than I'd expected I guess, but pretty nifty. We stopped inside to play with the kids things and take photos- there was a canoe, a tent, table and dress up clothes. I went with a red hat to compliment my outfit of course. Then we headed to Fort Clark- passing a book and reading passages along the way- this after all was an educational trip. Our supervisor, who is the meanest person I have yet to meet, made us read all of the signs too. She threatened leaving interns behind and dragging people through prickly pear cactus! She likes to work on her reputation ;) At Fort Clark another intern found a clay pipe- someone had a scale on them so we took a picture- very nerdy and very fun. Our next stop was Knife River Indian villages where there used to be a thriving community of Hidatsa before the small pox epidemic which took out 90% of the 1,000 person population. You could see where all of the earthlodges had been because of the depressions- I'm getting much better at identifying those things! Our final stop was secret and we were sworn to reveal the location to no future intern. And then we were back again.

Yesterday I went down to the museum collections- I'm thinking about maybe doing a series about interesting objects and stories that go with them. It was exciting to be among so many objects again.

And today I finally went up to the archives. So far I've mostly been looking through old newspapers on microfilm so it was very nifty to swipe my card to get into the giant storeroom of concrete walls, shelving and lots and lots of paper. I got a little distracted looking at interesting things- searching for ideas. I can't say I've been horribly productive this week. I thought I'd try looking up ideas and then dates while I had a wide variety of dates open, but I think I will have to return to my primary methodology for better results. Oh and today we watched part of silent film at lunch- it was hilarious. The best part was when a couple were walking around and the girl (of course) slipped and fell. Luckily our brave hero caught her before she fell into the ankle-deep water. They were just about to hold hands when we ended the film for the day- oh drats! And the other exciting bit- this afternoon on our walk we saw the museum people. They were throwing atlatls and invited us over- I was the only one to go (afterall I could make up a few minutes lost at the end of the day). Luckily Beloit prepared me for atlatl throwing- I did pretty well. I love atlatl throwing. An atlatl is a spear thrower- predates the bow and arrow- way cool.

And since I have a bit more time I will now convey a story from another intern which was conveyed to me and which I find hilarious. So the other intern is living in the basement of a local guy. Lately the guy has been asking him to come out to a softball game, so he one day he finally goes. On the way back though the renter guy takes out a tube of cherry lip balm and smears it over his hands (while he's driving), clips his nails, pulls out a toothbrush and toothpaste, brushes his teeth, opens the door (while the car is moving) and spits. How ridiculous is that?

Time to go enjoy the weekend.

Holy Crap it's Tuesday

My how time flies. Loads of exciting stuff going on around here. Since we're waiting for people to come fix the ceiling my computer was moved over to another desk. I'm in between two people which does increase sociability, but alas my desk looks lonely with the postcards on the wall and no computer. I miss my little footrest too!

Today I briefly talked with my boss about my stories. He doesn't have too much to say about them. My comment about the state planning director saying it was a poor touch player who couldn't make a pass without spilling his beer might be a little low brow, but he liked it (for a July 4th article). And the unfortunate news. The guy who records the scripts was out and we didn't notify for the dates in time - anyway my first stories, you won't get to hear them until next year. Unfortunate, but no use getting my knickers in a knot over.

Last night I went on a bike ride- I put on the spedometer thingy, but it refuses to work! Much hillier here anyway, and next time I will not follow the bike path along the sidewalk down the hill- it was bumpy and tree-lined and a waste of a good hill.

Tomorrow we head out on an intern fieldtrip. Must not be late!

The Weekend

So I finished up a slow week on Friday- I'm on schedule, but I would prefer to be ahead of schedule. Hopefully after the weekend, I will be a busy bee again.

On Saturday I opened a bank account with Wells Fargo all by myself- I feel very grown up now and unfortunately aware of my financial situation. To be young. And rootless for the time being.

And then two other people from the archives headed out to Fort Lincoln. One of the other girls used to be a tour guide there so we got in for free and got the inside scoop and had all of our questions answered. It was frontier days so we got to try doing laundry the old fashioned way and played a game called cat and mouse where two people stand on wobbly pieces of wood across from one another, each holding the end of a piece of rope and trying to pull the other person off their piece of wood- good fun. And I got to try playing a dulcimer, so I would like one now! We took a tour of Custer's house and a Mandan village and looked at the Missouri river from the blockade tours. For dinner we were invited home. All in all, a very good day.

Today I didn't do much, but I made some turtles and pb cups and jelly cups (but no pb and j cups) and that's about all.

The flood

Okay, so there wasn't really a flood- although maybe flash flood warnings last night- I don't know. But today the ceiling did leak right next to my desk- not over it mind. Soon one little bucket wasn't enough and we dragged over a huge pink bucket to collect the dripping water. Turns out the heating/cooling system was having some problems and a bunch of ice built up on the unit which started melting. Some guy came to chip the ice off and it splattered across the floor. As the day wore on, they pulled up another big pink bucket and when I left I covered my chair and computer in some plastic bags that someone got out for me- better safe than sorry. But still it was quite funny.

Oh and someone very nice covered my bike seat with a plastic bag during some stormy weather- I think it must have been one of the security guys.

June 15th

So, today I had a battle with a pen...and lost. But now my hands are relatively ink free. And I can say that I am doing much better with doors- so far that seems to be the hardest part of any job. At Morton it was figuring out the locks, at the Logan it was knowing which ones would lock behind you and here it's remembering that the door that looks like you should pull it is actually a push. Probably not the best answer when my next interviewer asks what challenges I've faced in the work place.

And really not too much happened at work today. It was slow. My computer was slow (that's what you get for coming in last, but really I don't do as much work on my computer as other people) so I got some coffee so I wouldn't be as slow.

In the afternoon I realized that one of my co-workers likes Dollhouse so I had someone to talk to about it because I just finished the last season and now I am so sad. Oh damn you Fox network for canceling it!

Oh and I offered to help the guy who was fiddling with his microfilm for ages- really it was getting distracting. But he wouldn't take any help...from me anyway. He asked for help from some other person. Honestly! I'm getting to know my way around a microfilm machine, thank you very much. And I've read enough newspapers now to know that I prefer Ann Landers to Dear Abby.

The First Full Week Completed

So my first full week went pretty well. Before the internship started I worried if looking over microfilm all day would kill me, but so far it's been fine and even if I'm having a harder time finding good stories for the datebook, there are still a bunch of fun things to read- like Ann Landers! I also have my microfilm reading companion who comes in to copy things from a newspaper- says he learning more about his dad from the paper then he ever knew- his dad was apparently a quiet man.

For a while I was getting discouraged on finding good topics- all the really popular things have been taken- all the historic sites, governors, Lewis and Clark and Custer stuff is pretty much covered. But not Dakota Maid Flour! I was so excited about that one- it's a state owned mill. So by the end of the week things were looking up. And I finally summoned up the nerve to show my boss what I'd been working on- heading in the right direction at least. I should probably talk with him more often.

On Friday there was a surprise party for someone in the office who'd just gotten married. I brought potato salad which went over pretty well and then there were many good deserts!

Oh and on Thursday I put up some postcards above my desk and brought a mug in. The postcards started up some conversation. And on Friday I brought in headphones so I could listen to music. Very exciting.

And I finally got my oil changed. Now I need new tires. Ahh.

This weekend I went to the zoo with two other interns. We walked, crouching through low ceilinged tunnels to get to the middle of the tiger's cage and for the prairie dog thing too- I'd never seen baby prairie dogs before-so cute! Then we walked around downtown- not a whole lot going on, but we stopped in a historic church and weather station. For dinner we went to Space Aliens bar and grill- quite the atmosphere.

And tomorrow it will be back to work.

Here are some highlights from the archives:

chin stretching helps devlop good contour

bicycles "better than walking"

velvet lined bathtubs

anti-freckle helmets

children's letters to god- one of your clouds made a face that scared me- please don't do it again

british politician asked health service to provide tights instead of stockings to women to hide the vericose veins of mini skirt wearers

there was also an article about visiting soviets who disapproved of how short miniskirts were and how older people were wearing them and that there was too much coupling

one teacher put fake bomb around bad students neck

"Dangerous when aroused..a woman's curiosity"

"... the way you look may be the way you'll stay in someone's memory-Dorothy Perkins Fine Cosmetics"

"Love on a greyhound bus"

a little boy in NY ran away to coney island because his mom loved the dog better

Highlights from the Archives

So today I biked to work in a turtle neck. It gets very cold in the archives, so I thought it would help and sure enough I was very warm for the first part of the day.

Today I finally got my security badge- up till now I'd been using a visitor one so now I am very official. And we all got new chairs. I came back from looking at microfilm and my orange chair was replaced by a huge blue velvety type chair that swivels. The backs are a little stiff, but that should just encourage good posture methinks. Apparently they were going to be thrown out, but now they have home.

Oh here's a random thing, there's a framed copy with the whole "We of the United States, assembled here..." on the wall and because in the olden days eses looked like efs it looks like "affembled" and I can't help but imagine them all stuttering over the word in their white wigs.

In the afternoon I went on a walk with some of my other co-workers- every day at 3- they go so I am joining in. Everyone around the capital goes out for walks along the capital grounds- there are multitudes of little groups of twos and fours taking the air.

Mostly what I've been doing lately is looking through microfilm reels. I pick a random drawer and see what I find and pop the reels in. Yesterday I think I took an older man's favorite microfilm machine- some of them have different light levels I guess. I saw him again today and I suspect I will again tomorrow.

Anyway on my quest for interesting stories pertaining to ND that would make a spectacularly amazing radio script I have found many a great or rather amusing ad or headline. Enjoy!

"He a Caveman, she a flapper"- a story about a man who attempted to carry a woman off and was put in jail

"The only place that makes money without advertising is the U.S. Mint. If your business isn't worth advertising, advertise it for sale."

"Vulcanizing tire repair"

"Men match up to your wife's Gorham Sterling (silverware)..there's nothing that will get you the slippers and pipe treatment faster than a gift of Gorham Sterling."

"If the festive mosquito thinks that he will make friends by the unique familiarity that he takes with every body just now he is greatly mistaken."

There was a great article on frozen siberian milk where the common saying was, "Be careful not to break the milk."

And a lovely advice column about an 11-year old boy who had good conservations with a girl his age on the phone, but she always seemed to "turn off" him in person. The columnist advised him that she was either shy, wanted to keep it a secret or was talking to other boys.

Cigarette ad with a man leaning in, holding a woman's hand saying, "Do you inhale?"

From a cartoon: Signing the declaration means never having to say you're Tory

Another cigarette ad with a man and woman smoking together "When you need an excuse to stay a little longer, I'm your best friend- I am your lucky strike. How about just one more Lucky, Angel? Then I'll go"

Gopher Poison: Thy're hungry now. Go after them.. Kill 'em Quick (that's no spelling mistake)

Etiquette tips:
Can a woman cross a hotel lobby to speak to a man? No- ask the bell boy or waiter to have him come over

Ad- says one boy to another: "I'll bet I weigh more than you do. I drink MN Diary Milk"

"The Little Wool Dress"

Ad for a mattress: "The application of the "Rolling-Pin" is an old American custom...and a well-proven method for inducing sudden sleep."

Did you know there were padded hip suits to make your waist look thinner? There were.

And that's all folks.

The First Blog

Hello everybody,
I have now been in Bismarck for five whole days. I arrived last Wednesday- later in the evening after a relatively uneventful, but very long drive with a brief stop in Saint Paul to see Krista and gas scare on my way to Bismarck. I started looking for places not too long after I hit a quarter of tank, but there was nothing. After my gaslight went on and some frantic calls to Mom, I pulled off the road at the next stop, but there was no gas place, just a dog yapping at my car as I drove along the gravel road. After getting back on the road, the gas light went off and I succeeded in making it to Tappen as my light went back on again. Crisis averted. The guy in the store even let me pay first because I must've had some more important place to get to, or so he said.

Anyway I arrived in Bismarck and decided to look around a bit and my sense of direction got horribly muttled up. Still I managed to find my place of work (although I doubled back because I wasn't sure- though I expected a tall capital building, the supposedly art deco style skyscraper still caught me off guard) and eventually the house I'm living at. After driving past their place, David came out and waved his hands. I pulled into the driveway, saying that I'd hoped to arrive a bit earlier (afterall my grandma sometimes goes to bed around 9:30, so 9:45 wasn't the earliest), but they go to bed later anyway. They helped me unload the necessary things for the evening and I settled in their daughter's old room.

The next day I got ready for work, scrambling to make some eggs (although not scrambled eggs) since that's mostly what I had for breakfast food after unloading my cooler. I found my way to the reading room without a hitch and my boss came out to greet me from behind the glass doors that seperate the workers from the researchers. I expected a more rounded fellow in a tweed suit with receeding light orange hair, but my boss had a full head of salt and pepper hair and a thin frame, wearing a navy suit with a sedate Mickey Mouse tie. After pulling some materials for a grad student who had walked in on rather late notice, he showed me around, introducing me to everyone and taking me down to security to get a badge- right now I still have the volunteer one though. He showed me my desk and the 70's orange chair reminded me of the old wall dividers of the same color in my mom's office- it really felt like an official job then.

At 10, the other interns in my department and I headed off on a large tour of everyone and everything. We walked through the musuem's collections looking at old guns and the Medora horse before heading to Paleontology where we saw the 8,000 pound block of mummified dinasour fossil that still has patches of skin before walking along the shelves and shelves of archives. Then there was a potluck lunch and we finally had a chance to talk with some of the other interns- many of who are actually working at my building and some that are working at the Historical Site's outposts.

On Friday I mostly looked at old newpapers, searching for interesting stories that could make a good radio script for certain dates. Still, for the Fourth of July it seems there were mostly "many celebrations (not a direct quote, but a direct sentiment)". There was also a video about the cold war missil launch facility in Cooperstown- pretty nifty.

Anyway, this weekend I haven't done much. I no longer want to adventure, but rather prefer to hide away. Still I've started reading for pleasure again (a sign that I am re-entering civilian life) and I did manage a bike ride today- I swear there are more hills here. I went grocery shopping and made lasagne because I thought they were going to be out for a bit, but they got back early just as I was layering everything so the kitchen truly was a mess- I felt so horrible, like I was 11 again and I was in trouble- although they probably weren't as distraught about the whole thing as I was. And that's about it for now. Tomorrow I head back to work.