Internet, Glorious Internet!

A quick update while I have the time: I'm currently sitting in my office waiting for my supervisor and coworkers to get out of their meeting so I can run some aspects of my project by her before I start collecting data.

I feel like mostly all I do is sit and wait so far, but now that I have a direction I just need to get some approval and then I'm good to go.

Having the internet at my desk is such a rare occurrence, I have to treasure it when it comes about. I feel like I'm living such a pure life out here. When I go home at night, I cook myself dinner (no delivery here!), wash my dishes, and either watch part of a movie or read until I'm tired. Without cable or internet, and with a limited supply of DVDs, activities are somewhat limited. To get internet I have to either leave the office and go around back to the library or sit in the back of the office by the wall.

To aid in this pure life, I bought myself a brand new, shiny bicycle to get around here. The way to work is mostly downhill, which means by 4:30-5:00 when I'm exhausted, it's mostly uphill home. One of these days, I'm going to move somewhere flat!


Yesterday, without other options to occupy my time I took my bike on over to the post office (how small town is that?), came home and read my book, then was asleep by 9PM.

I was worried for a while that because I was going to sleep at 9PM (sometimes earlier), I had aged way beyond my years. Turns out the elevation does that to you. It basically turns you into an old person overnight--you sleep earlier, get less hungry, wake up at the crack of dawn, get winded after five minutes of walking... but I'm not complaining.

I've definitely felt changes since I've been here. The first is living in a national park just makes you feel healthier. Imagine air so clear you don't choke on pollution, can see the full spectrum during sunrise and sunset, and the stars are so bright you don't need a flashlight. Not to mention, you can pretty much always see the moon during the day here.

There is one thing here that pollutes the air, though:


At first, walking around was a chore. And ok, it still is. But when I wake up--on my own, no alarm clock!--at 6:30 in the morning, I feel fitter. I'm hoping biking and hiking at 7,000 feet actually makes me fitter instead of just doing a mind-warp on me to make me feel fit.