Archaeology Job

The archaeology job lasted for a total of 8 days before we (myself and 2 other new hires) were informed that work has slowed down enough that we won't be needed again until about two weeks from now. This was honestly welcome news, I had developed an upper respiratory infection just a few days before the dig began and have been miserably sick and on antibiotics for most of the time. My body needs to recover both from the dig and from the illness.

We traveled to three different sites over the 8 days, 6 of those days were spent in Lake Oswego OR, 1 day in Vancouver WA and 1 day in Camas WA. All 3 sites were prehistoric in nature and all of them in urban, well developed areas. On the final day our supervisor took us around the block for lunch, wanting to show us the reason for all the slag we were finding in Lake Oswego. For those interested, here is information on the area and its history.

Willamette River

Spring is finally here and gosh is it beautiful!

George Rogers Park and the Iron Furnace

Hepcat Model

My goal has been to get the Hepcat finished by my birthday. That didn't happen since the dig took a couple of weeks off my modeling schedule (more on that later). I realized, however, that I still have several weeks worth of photos to catch you all up on. The Hepcat is ALMOST finished (I swear)!

We ended up adding a piece of wood to the front to support a windshield 

and also to support the dowel that will hold the wing in place.

The putty type substance is called Microballoons, we use it 

to mold the wing to the fuselage so that there is a tight fit.

See the dowel sticking out the front?

Once some upgrades and repairs had been done to the top, I covered it.

Than I started glueing the tail section together...

and I painted the now puttied area blue to match the rest of the plane.

See how nicely the wing sits on the fuselage now!

Than I glued the tail section on permanently...

and I also glued on the tail skid permanently.

And finally I installed the landing gear.

The body is almost officially done, just have windows and windshield to install and of course,

 the inner workings: fuel tank, battery pack, engine and connect all the wiring!!!

Now I have to sign up to be an AMA member so I can legally take her out for a spin... 

Silly Schnauzers

 Trudy spends an inordinate amount of time on blankets and pillows :-)

Sleeping with Dad

Trudy in baby socks!

The sweetest schnauzer face ever!

Archaeology Job

Back in November I interviewed with an archaeology firm up in the Portland area. It is a firm that Hubby's company uses from time to time and my connection to him and his job garnered me the opportunity to interview with them. The human resources director at first seemed skeptical, seeing as I had only broken my hand a few months prior. We both agreed to wait until the new year and allow my hand to make a good and complete recovery. He called the other day to line me up for a dig in about a week. I sense he is still wary of hiring me, now he claims that I might be "too tiny". I told him I felt confident I could do the work. We ladies sometimes have to fight to do jobs that have been male dominated for so long!

I know I would regret not grabbing this opportunity. In the end the worst that happens is that they aren't happy with my quality of work and don't call me back for another dig. The best thing that could happen is that I have a job from time to time that eventually might lead me into a permanent position in the field of study I went to college to do. Either way, I am going to learn some very valuable lessons in the coming month!

I won't be able to update the blog the way I did last summer because there is a confidentiality clause that prevents me from discussing the dig, who the client is who hired us and the location. No pictures or discussion is allowed until after the dig is complete. Sadly, if word got out via by mouth or over the internet about where and what we were discovering, there would be "pot-hunters" out there at night digging up the area before we had a chance. Hopefully I will be be able to regale you with some cool stories in April!