Laying low

So I've secretly (or maybe not) been back in Austin since last Wednesday afternoon. I've been pretty much a home/workbody since then, with a couple of exceptions. I went to a "last day of work" Happy Hour for my friend Carolyn, and a housewarming party for my friends Shelly and Kirsten (all of the above are fellow archaeologists and/or archaeology students). I also went to lunch with Carolyn at Roaring Fork (good, but pricy) to help her rate the food for a restaurant review. Other than that (and I guess it sounds like a lot), I've only been out to do errands.
I'm not really used to being in the afternoon heat. I know it sounds funny with my job and all, but we were working really early so that we could be done by 3 at the latest (with a couple of exceptions), and the time in East Texas was marked by even earlier departures most days. By the time the full heat of the day was in effect, I was in a hotel room, showered, drinking beer and working on paperwork or watching TV. I guess it makes sense that even though I'm here now, that's all I pretty much want to do after work as well. The a/c in my car also needs a tuneup, so it's almost unbearably hot being in there unless I'm on the highway. I guess I should take it in.
I can't say that I've gotten much accomplished besides some cleaning, some laundry, and getting through most of a tremendous backlog of magazines. I listened to some of the albums I bought when I was here last. I've given my cat a lot of attention, although I still don't know that it's enough for her or that it makes up for all the time I've been gone.
Tonight, though, I got to a point where the ennui was getting stifling and I realized I need to get my shit together because time is getting tight for the thesis. One good thing about the housewarming was talking with people who worked on the project and have worked there since. Not only did I get a chance to share some ideas, but I also learned that my understanding of the location of some of the later excavations was not correct. Now I have a chance to fix that before I submit the draft, and it doesn't really affect my argument at all. (EDIT: I just looked and I actually had it right already!)
Wednesday I get to go survey in the Hill Country for a couple of days. Wednesday night we stay in Comfort (Texas, that is), and Thursday is Bandera, which is a pretty cool little town. Even if it's hot (and restricted to the side of the highway right-of-way), I'll always enjoy getting paid to hike around the Hill Country.
So where in the hell am I? Austin, by god, Texas, sitting at my desk with my kitty curled up in the spot she sits while I'm writing on the computer, listening to classical music and eating ginger snaps.

Time is flying

So I've been back from Oklahoma for about a week now. Worked 4 days in the office dealing with site forms and logistics for the Texas portion we're about to do. I was under the impression all week that I would be staying in Austin to do my stints at TxDOT. That was until around noon yesterday, when my boss managed to convince them to change my times there. So now I'm heading out to Beaumont on Monday to survey for 10 days. It's good money, but I've been in Beaumont in July before and it's pretty brutal. And that's WITHOUT steel toed boots and the brain broiler helmets.
I have enjoyed my time back. I've gotten to relax a lot, spend quality time with the kitty, hang out with friends, eat good food and drink a lot of Lone Star. We went and saw Wall-E on Wednesday, and it was a very good movie with a super cute main character. Then again, I'm a sucker for robots. Pixar has made some great, sly liberal agit-prop movies. Wall-E was a kinder, gentler Idiocracy.
Today I get to enjoy one of my favorite holidays, because it's time for Dan's BBQ! I think this is the 7th consecutive year. Meat will be grilled and much beer will be imbibed!
Tomorrow, if you're not already planning on it or involved in it, go to the Friendly Friends Fantasically Farraginous Fest at End of an Ear. I think I'm going swimming at someone's subdivision pool first.
Oh yeah, I saw a copperhead in Oklahoma! I imagine I'll need more than two hands to count all the water moccasins in East Texas, but that's for a future post.

Caucusing

I just got back from the sign-in for the precinct caucus. I knew it would take a while and there'd be a lot of people there, since this is Austin and it's the first time we've mattered in a while on a national level. Still, I've never seen that many people standing around in one place that didn't involve live music or free beer. It was like a practice run for next week (SXSW). I'd say there were 400-500 people there for the Democratic caucus. I didn't even know there were that many Democrats in my neighborhood. Up until the last 3-4 days, all you saw was R-- P--- signs (then again, I was also out of town for most of early voting).
People were, for the most part, pretty patient. I guess we've waited 7 years, we can wait another 90 minutes. I imagine the actual caucusing will start around 9pm. I'd say Obama is getting at least 2/3 of the delegates from my precinct. It was a real mix of young and old, all ethnicities, aging hippies, punks and cool kids, mainstream mommies. Hillary definitely was winning the hottie vote.
All in all, I was glad to be a part of it, since I doubt it will ever happen again. I'm still a little surprised that I actually got involved in one of the major party's political process. Wonder what it feels like to actually vote for a winner?

I almost hit a deer

Well within the Austin city limits (well, I think Sunset Valley might technically be it's own municipality), but still. We were on Ernest Robles Way, behind the Kohls and heading towards Brodie Lane. There's still a little bit of open land there, and then the riparian zone along Williamson Creek, but it's mostly department stores and a huge subdivision. Certainly not a place where one would expect to have a deer dash out in front of you. Glad I was the only car on the road.
This is actually the second time I've almost hit a deer within the Austin metropolitan area. The first time was on Bee Caves Rd. in Westlake (on the way to Breed and Co) late on a Sunday morning. It was right after a blind curve and all of sudden 5-6 deer run down from a hill and cross a busy road. Amazingly, none of them got hit, and no cars collided.
In other news, TxDOT budgetary cutbacks are going to hurt archaeology companies in the state for the next couple of years. Our company Xmas party is tomorrow. Tini and I are leaving for Ohio on the 20th.