Fade to black

My computer screen has decided to stop working, the computer itself seems to be making the normal churning noises. So tomorrow I will take it somewhere to see what can be done, hopefully it's not the end for the poor old Dell.

-M

If you're viewing, thanks for sticking with my lack of blogging.

Some posts have all their captions/descriptions there are more to be added to graduation week and the x-country trip, but I must go to bed, I have a early herd check in the a.m. and must leave the house by 6 am.

-M

Only in California

Alicia, my classmate from vet school is practicing in Merced only 1 1/2 hours north of Visalia. During the first few weeks in California before our practice and on-call schedules heated up, we got together on the weekends to debrief about our weeks, co-workers, clientele, etc... In the past few weeks we've only been chatting on the phone, but this weekend Alicia & Verna will travel south to visit Visalia and go to Sequoia National Park =-)

For one of the early get togethers, we meet halfway between Merced & Visalia, in Fresno. Alicia chose the location, which was cultural, to say the least. We had some extremely authentic Mexican food - I must start working on my Spanish, I'm so inept in California without it.

After dinner, on the way back to the cars, this sign caught our eyes.

Alicia & Greg getting maximum exposure to the harmful substances contained within this parking garage in Fresno.

The Work Truck

To those of you who received my new address postcard, this picture should look quite familiar. A few of my postcards were returned to sender, so I got to see what they looked like, and I was quite pleased with the way they turned out.

This is my work truck, a 2002 Ford F-250 extended cab, with a Bowie vet box, parked in front of my apartment. Since setting my sights on becoming a large animal veterinarian, I've look forward to the day when I would get the keys to my very own practice vehicle. I've been enjoying my truck thus far, it doesn't have a name yet, but it does have good radio reception and a CD player. The brakes are a little dicey, but that could be because I'm used to the cat-like reflexes of my new Honda. The truck is trustworthy thus far, getting me to and from calls and back home at night. The clinic owns the truck, pays the insurance and I fill it up with gas at the clinic - perks of the job.

Sometimes people passing me or being passed by me, look surprised to see a girl behind the wheel and when I'm singing loudly, dancing in my seat to the radio, I think they are further perplexed.

A place to call my own

The apartment search from across the country was mildly difficult, but it the end, it worked out great! The wife, of the large animal associate who Greg & I had replaced at Lone Oak, helped me find housing in Visalia. She came across a management company that manages a bunch of apartments in a housing development and she looked at a few of the apartments and thought that 2603 was the best, so I took it, after only seeing a few pictures in an email that she sent me. She also went to the extent to visit other complexes in town and gave me the pros and cons of each.

In the end, my apartment is only 10 minutes from work when I drive the speed limit. I have my own garage and a parking spot next to my garage for my work truck. I have a little back lawn and a back patio. The former tenant was kind enough to grow full-sized and cherry tomatoes that were coming ripe just as I moved in. She also planted a variety of herbs, that have recently gone to flower, they were sort of lost on me, given the fact that I have yet to give into something called cooking(?)
The back patio. I envision a table with 2 chairs coming soon, I just haven't found a set I like yet.
The driveway with neighbors (Pam & Anna's) garage, then my garage next. The open space parallel to my garage is where I pull my truck in at night - it abuts my back lawn.
My own garage, it keeps the dust and dirt of the valley off my car.

Backyard views

The herb garden that the previous tenant planted. This has become quite overgrown in the past 2 months and I'm thinking of pulling them out. I wanted to replace them with some hardy, but pretty plants - any suggestions before I brave the nurseries?
Tomato plants
The manicured back lawn - the front lawn looks about the same. When I was signing the lease, I was under the impression that I would be responsible for maintaining the lawn and landscaping, but fortunately the sprinklers are on automatic timers and the management company, has a crew that comes in weekly and takes care of the lawns - phew!

I'd imagine that have to maintain this lawn year-round, I'll take a picture again in February, and we'll have to see if it's changed at all. The Central San Joaquin Valley of California is unique in it's sustained consistency in weather, since June 16th, I've woken up each morning to blue skies with sun. It's like the movie Groundhog Day, but luckily I go to different herd checks each day, so I know that time is moving forward. I asked my bosses when it was going to rain and they laughed. I'm thinking about using my vacation days to visit Seattle =-)

Cherry tomatoes from the backyard, very sweet, very tasty - thank-you former tenant for your forethought, I appreciate it. And for those vet girls, you'll recognize Tina's salad spinner, thanks Tina!

Westward Ho!

Pinckney Road Goodbyes

Houghton Gal Farewell

One Last Dr. Guard BBQ

The Dairy Bitches

Schoellkopf Stadium Graduation Ceremony