So first injury of the summer! No loss of limbs here people...just carpal tunnel. My left hand has been feeling weird the past couple of weeks..like sporatic pins and needles throughout the day and then last week i noticed i had less feeling in my finger tips than normal, so i mentioned something to my leader and he suggested we go get it checked out. Thursday, we went to the Yampa Valley Medical Center to see the doc- just to make sure it wasn't anything serious or permanent. He asked me a few questions and knew right away what it was. Apparently the vibrations from holding the chainsaw for hours a day have caused the Median nerve in my wrist to get pinched...which is what causes Carpal Tunnel. He says i'm young so after i stop working with the chainsaws, it should go away. If not... surgery :/ but I don't think it'll get to that point.
Last week we finished up work at the same place we were working- Buffalo Pass. I'm glad to be out of there. The work was pretty monotonus-- cutting up trees and making slash piles. I made mushroom risotto for dinner last week, which was a big hit! We are thinking of making it in the cookoff against the other crews at "Rendezvous" which is like the end of July..where all the crews get together and hang out and do "FUNTIVITIES!!" (shotty team Gryffindor).
This week we are working on a forest thinning project in Wyoming. What that means is with new young forests, the trees are fighting for resources. So, we go in and cut down the trees in a cluster that aren't doing so hot, so that the dominant specimen gets access to more resources and therefore flourishes, making a healthier, more resilient forest. Those trees are able to produce more sap, which is more effective in defending against pine beetle infestation. So yay go us!
Finally got paid this week! Woot woot rolling in the dough! not really.. but it's a start. This past weekend we did our weekend rec in Vedauwoo (Vay-dah-voo), WY. It's this cool place with awesome rock formations. Not gonna lie... i vegged out yesterday. It was much needed though. Now, I will be well rested for the week ahead.
I'm in Laramie, WY right now. A friend that I met during my stint out in Utah (Outward Bound circa 2007..?) goes to school out here. So, I'm meeting up with him in a few minutes. It's been a while, so it'll be a nice blast from the past. Still going strong out here. The mosquitoes are starting to bug me (yea...that pun just happened..btw I met a guy from WI that can totally go head to head with me in terms of lame puns. It's been a nice challenge. Gotta step up my game a little bit)
tata for now! xo Joanna
Joanna, I desperately miss your puns. Shannon called me a week ago in desperate need of a good mermaid-taxi pun for her cabbie business and I totally choked. I longed for your cheesiness.
ReplyDeleteSo, I'm you're having fun and saving the world and all! Is Laramie, WY the same Laramie from that stinky documentary we had to watch in health class, the Laramie Project? Is it in poor taste to ask that? Is that racist?
But I digress. I hope your carpel tunnel clears up, that would be the "injury" that you sustain.
I miss ya, pal. I anxiously await your sweet return home.
Great to hear that you are branching out and finding new interests. Your friends sound very interesting; they have quite the opposite of a wooden personality. It is also great to hear that you are working so hard, but I hope all the arduous work isn't cutting into your personal time. At the very least, I hope no one is bugging you.
ReplyDeleteLame pun competition? Please Joanna, you have no chance.
P.S. I hope the mosquito's don't suck
just caught myself up on 5 weeks of blog postings...gotta say the work and living conditions sound tough, they giving you full health coverage over there?
ReplyDeleteAnd this is harry btw, haha i had to change my blog name just in case employers happened to come across the leftist blog i wrote last summer
Hi Joannie
ReplyDeleteSounds amazing. BTW-Could I be the near 60 year old with carpal tunnel that you were were so snidely referencing? I'm only 54...and it's a TRIGGER FINGER just for the record (well...and...I'm not a receptionist!) Sorry we had bad reception last night. Tonight Grandma is here at River House and we are sitting by the fire with assorted aunties and cousins. Maybe you are, too (sitting by a fire - not the assorted aunties and cousins part). Wish you were here.
Miss you and love you. Take care of your vibrating wrist!
Auntie Cyn and all