Last Week

It wasn't really an uneventful week, despite the lack of posts. In fact, quite a lot happened.

Monday, I went down to Kartchner Caverns with a meetup friend. I don't have any photos to share, because they do not allow cameras inside the caves themselves. You'll just have to go to google images or something and do a search. There is also a really good article about it here. Trust me when I tell you, there are some amazing things going on inside these caverns.

To keep them safe and preserved, they actually hose down the pathways inside the caves every night. The paths are all built with "walls" about a foot and a half high or so, with grates in the flooring every so often. Because we haul so much crap in on our shoes and our bodies, they wash it all down the grates, which lead to a sump, which then washes and recycles the water into non-potable water for the rest of the site--watering plants on the site, going into the washrooms, etc. In addition to that, they actually run visitors through a heavily misted tunnel before even going into the caves--to keep the dust and fibers and hairs and dryskin and *whatever* from coming off us in the first place.

The caverns are "alive" and "wet", which means that they are still growing and changing, unlike many other caves that have been opened to the public. They have maintained this by creating a series of airlocks into the caves that keep the dry Arizona air out, and the incredibly (98-99% humidity--no exaggeration) wet cave air in. They have humidifiers inside the caves to maintain it, and they check it several times a week to make sure it's a stable environment. The most amazing part to me was a path through the mud that the original discoverers used when they first entered the caves. They were so concerned with preserving the caverns' integrity that they used the *exact* path on future trips into the caves. Even when workers started coming in, they used the same path, so the surrounding mud is absolutely untouched. In fact, I believe they said that only about 15% of the cave had been disturbed in any physical way. Pretty cool.

There are two distinct areas of the caverns, the Rotunda/Throne room, and what they call The Big Room. We decided to do both tours, as it's a three hour drive and it's not likely that we'll get down there any time soon. It was a really nice road trip, an amazing look inside--literally--the mountains of southern Arizona.

So I was in a good mood when I got home, and R told me I had a letter from the unemployment office. Yes, I had recently applied for unemployement, at the behest of my father. I kinda figured it was a lost cause, since I had actually quit my job of my own volition, but he insisted that I give it a shot. I was actually getting hopeful after getting a call from one of my old coworkers telling me that the store had missed the deadline for protesting the claim. Maybe this letter was acknowledgement and a statement of benefits. No. It was a letter saying I'd been denied. I quit my job and, despite my trying to explain that it was primarily a function of saving myself a whole lot of physical pain (I know I've talked about physical therapy, my herniated discs, and the ginormous amount of pain I was in pretty much 100% of the time I worked there), that's all that concerns them. So, physical hardship or no, I should have stayed at that job--risking further injury. At least according to the State.

Can you tell I'm a bit peeved about the whole thing? I'm not sure why, but it *really* set me back, reading another rejection letter. Getting rejected for a job is one thing. Getting rejected for unemployment? I felt like a complete and utter failure. I had a pretty harsh meltdown, in which I cried a lot and moped around for a day or so.

During my moping phase, I got yet another email from the airlines, touting their great getaway flights. Out of curiosity, I plugged in KCMO as my destination and found that I could fly in for 99$ one way (out slightly more), and within the next few weeks. R had mentioned to me some months ago that I should use my time off to go visit family/friends, but I felt odd taking a vacation from my "vacation" of unemployment. Add to that the fact that my mom and dad *always* tell me I should come visit them (my dad has another List that he needs help with!). So I mentioned to R the great fares and he again encouraged me to go for it. He thinks maybe what I need is a bit of time away from the stress of thinking about and looking for jobs--that I'll come back refreshed and ready to take on the world! I hope he's right, cos I'm going to Kansas City/Stockton for the last week of April/first of May. :D