Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Final Day
Today was the final day of project. While I am sad to leave the wildlife center, I'm ready to move on to the next step, graduation! I learned a lot about animals and about the care of animals during my time at Penitentiary Glen. I have always found animals fascinating and it is something that I am passionate about. I'm really glad that I was able to do this as my project. Even though I am passionate about animals, I can't see myself making a career out of it. It is always something I will love doing and these past three weeks have made me appreciate this passion even more.
Farmpark Day 17--Whoa, it's over already!?
Today started off a bit bittersweet. I cleaned up the pens and watered the animals, knowing that I won't be doing this again for a while (until I find time to volunteer over the summer). I even became BFFs with the demon jacob sheep and she even greeted me this morning, wagging her tail and bahhing.
After the morning routine, another volunteer named Samantha and I set to work on getting stuff together for Working Dog Weekend. This meant we got to steal the equine gator (think golf cart crossed with a tractor crossed with a dump truck) and go to the storage barn. This was the really tough part of the day. We had to get all the heavy jumps, obstacles, and whatnot from the hayloft, down some steps, and into the gator. We also had to try not to flip the gator over or hit other objects while blindly backing up. Luckily, no property damage, injuries, or terrible deaths occurred.
Once we got all of the objects back to the tents, we got to set up the agility course. This took up the rest of the day with the exception of occasional breaks to play with Tot and Maddie.
The whole idea of the stations like the agility course is "Kid vs. K-9" so that the kids can try doing them too. This gives the kids the opportunity to learn what the dog sporting events are all about.
After the morning routine, another volunteer named Samantha and I set to work on getting stuff together for Working Dog Weekend. This meant we got to steal the equine gator (think golf cart crossed with a tractor crossed with a dump truck) and go to the storage barn. This was the really tough part of the day. We had to get all the heavy jumps, obstacles, and whatnot from the hayloft, down some steps, and into the gator. We also had to try not to flip the gator over or hit other objects while blindly backing up. Luckily, no property damage, injuries, or terrible deaths occurred.
Once we got all of the objects back to the tents, we got to set up the agility course. This took up the rest of the day with the exception of occasional breaks to play with Tot and Maddie.
The whole idea of the stations like the agility course is "Kid vs. K-9" so that the kids can try doing them too. This gives the kids the opportunity to learn what the dog sporting events are all about.
The Course
1) Begin at the tunnel going toward the jump
2) Go over the jump toward the dog walk
3) Go over the dog walk, making sure to touch the yellow "contact zones"
4) Go through the weave poles with the first pole on your left side, loop to the A-frame (step)
5) Go over the A-frame (steps), touching both the yellow "contact zones"
6) Go through the tunnel and over the finishing jump
7) Celebrate
Bonus Tot Photo yay!
Well, senior project 2014 is over :(
Wednesday:
It was weird to wake up today and think that this is the last time i will be at the track working. I have woken up nearly everyday for the past three weeks, and driven to the velodrome, and now it's all over. Looking back, i could not ask for a better senior project. I have enjoyed the track, and the experience of working for a non-profit that is not only focused on improving cycling in the greater Cleveland area, but also is focused on improving the Slavic Village neighborhood in which it is located. I can only hope that i can have the chance to go back to the Velodrome and continue to wok with Fast Track Cycling over the summer. Locking up for the last time was very weird, and pretty sad. I was saying goodbye to the velodrome.
There is also a race on Friday night is anyone who is interested wants to come out. You can watch for free, or pay $5 for infield seats (which comes with food and drinks!). it should be a fun experience, and for anyone who has not seen a track race, it really is a whole different ball game!
It was weird to wake up today and think that this is the last time i will be at the track working. I have woken up nearly everyday for the past three weeks, and driven to the velodrome, and now it's all over. Looking back, i could not ask for a better senior project. I have enjoyed the track, and the experience of working for a non-profit that is not only focused on improving cycling in the greater Cleveland area, but also is focused on improving the Slavic Village neighborhood in which it is located. I can only hope that i can have the chance to go back to the Velodrome and continue to wok with Fast Track Cycling over the summer. Locking up for the last time was very weird, and pretty sad. I was saying goodbye to the velodrome.
There is also a race on Friday night is anyone who is interested wants to come out. You can watch for free, or pay $5 for infield seats (which comes with food and drinks!). it should be a fun experience, and for anyone who has not seen a track race, it really is a whole different ball game!
Finishing up with a bang!
Tuesday:
Today Dave and I set our sights on finally finishing the grand stands! Every time we thought we were close to finishing, we would always find three or four more things we wanted to change (generally none of the changes were to big, just shortening one 2x4 here, adding another set of supports, and other small tasks, but these small tasks end up taking a lot of time when there are 3 or more of them to do). So, Dave and I arrived early, and set out on finishing the stands. Luckily we had all of our materials that were needed, had a reasonable list of things that needed to be finished, and we were ready to go! Everything went according to plan and we finished the stands without complications...except for the nail gun! Dave had forgotten his nice nail gun which had a backing piece that lowered the volume of the nail gun, so we had to use his "less nice" nail gun, which does not have the silencer attached, and is louder than anything i had ever heard before! After about the 50th nail in the span of 20 minutes neither Dave, nor I could hear anything, and even now as I'm sitting here typing this my ears are still ringing. Hopefully this will eventually go away...
Today Dave and I set our sights on finally finishing the grand stands! Every time we thought we were close to finishing, we would always find three or four more things we wanted to change (generally none of the changes were to big, just shortening one 2x4 here, adding another set of supports, and other small tasks, but these small tasks end up taking a lot of time when there are 3 or more of them to do). So, Dave and I arrived early, and set out on finishing the stands. Luckily we had all of our materials that were needed, had a reasonable list of things that needed to be finished, and we were ready to go! Everything went according to plan and we finished the stands without complications...except for the nail gun! Dave had forgotten his nice nail gun which had a backing piece that lowered the volume of the nail gun, so we had to use his "less nice" nail gun, which does not have the silencer attached, and is louder than anything i had ever heard before! After about the 50th nail in the span of 20 minutes neither Dave, nor I could hear anything, and even now as I'm sitting here typing this my ears are still ringing. Hopefully this will eventually go away...
A Change of Scenery (Monday)
For the first time in over two weeks I wouldn't be headed down to my usual downtown office, but instead driving out to Independence, Ohio.
The Republican Party has a campaign office, or a Victory Center, in the city of Independence. The location is familiar to me because, during the 2012 campaign, when I volunteered I worked primarily out of the Independence office. The old office was a sort of old, one room building that looked sort of like the back of a warehouse. The new office, however, directly across the street, is a beautiful collection of walled off private spaces perfect for holding meetings or making campaign calls.
It was genuinely exciting to take a break from the more technical side of the campaign to see what things are like at ground zero. People filling the phone banks, meeting with local candidates, arranging door to doors. The number of people constantly calling into the office to sign up for times to work the phone bank was incredible. After years of working phone banks I know it can get tiring, especially when 90% of the people you call have absolutely zero interest in speaking with you. The fact that there were so many people, young and old, excited to come in and volunteer to advance the party's chances in the upcoming election was inspiring.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
I've lifted before.
Today was finishing the trimming and carrying the 250lb pillars from the truck to the garage. We had seven of them and two people to carry each one along with a bunch of decals for the columns. It was hot, soooo hot today. It took us literally two hours to get these things in the garage then we proceeded to take a break. After that the roofers showed up and we got to leave early. Tomorrow is my last day but more hard work and more lifting...
One more day!
At the wildlife center today, I had a lot of work to do. I was in charge of an entire room of animals! Needless to say, it took me awhile to get everyone taken care of. There was an incident with the chipmunks, however. The cage was marked as only having one chipmunk. However, when i emptied the towel from the cage out in the trashcan, two more chipmunks fell out!!!! I was very surprised and they were hard to catch! It was an unpleasant surprise.
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