Recreating San Francisco: Real Life Aside, October 1, 2009

[ecoba]

Lora, your water plopping endevours are much more tedious, and rewardig, than any of mine have been.

Stafford Lake looks like it might be a nice place to visit. I wonder what the purpose of the lake is? Because, from your satelite photos, it does not appear to be a recreational lake. The way the dam is set up is also mystifying me at the moment. Is there another dam at the bottom of the lake, because dams are usually at the front of the lake, and then the lake backs up behind it. Is it a modified natural lake? I don't know why I'm asking all these questions, I could google it and answer it myself.

With all the rain we've had here in the southeast US of A, some of our lakes on the Savannah River are overflowing. Lake Yonah, where my Aunt's family has some lake houses, had water pouring three feet over the top of the dam. And, Lake Lanier is full for the first time in 6 years. In Atlanta, they have gotten enough rain to equal 16.5 feet of snow! And, we are expected to get more rain today.

Okay, back to topic, sorry, but Stafford Lake is turning out wonderfully Lora. And I can't wait to see the golf course next to it, as well as the completed dam facilities.

Ethan

Welcome to Page 12 of this wonderful MD, Lora!  You got 2 elephants.

[Tomas Neto]

Woow, Lora! It's getting a highly reproduction realistic! I think the composition of the water will be great! 

[TheTeaCat]

Amazing the amount of planning you put into this Lora.
The lake is starting to really take shape now, cant wait
to see what you do when it comes to the detailing of it all

Hope you enjoyed your 1^sttime in OSITM and
I'm sure there'll be many more to come too

regards
Derry

[ldvger]

Ok, I have to admit I am at a bit of an impasse now.  Getting to this point with MD has been a major, MAJOR focus for me almost from it's inception.  Now that Stafford Lake has been plopped, I find I have many directions I can go from here and I feel I need some feedback as to where folks want to see the next areas of development.  I am not committed in mt own head to anything (in terms of development) beyond this point.  So I find myself a bit adrift with many crossroads before me.  I'll help you help me by summarizing where we are with the Stafford Lake city tile.

There is a lot of back country and dirt roads.  We could go there.  If we do, there are isolated ranches along the way, but they are few and far between and mostly around the lake (for obvious reasons:water).

We could continue to develope the lake and dam, ignoring other areas of the city tile for the time being.  This would include detailing the lake's shorelines and the dam, and perhaps also the water filtration plant below the dam, as well as laying down the watercourses that all eventually join up to become Novato Creek and which flow across the next two city tiles east into San Pablo Bay. 

We could go into the hills to the southeast of the lake and begin developing the suburbs that exist there in RL. 

We could go east into the city of Novato and across into the next city tile, which is extensively developed. 

I am open to any/all possibilities.  All present challenges, especially in regard to transportation networks. 

Help me decide?  I want to start working on the next update, but am uncertain of what direction I should take with it.  What do YOU want to see? 

Rather obviously, feedback is invited.

Lora/LD

[ecoba]

Well, Lora. I think that we should continue developing the Stafford Lake city tile.

As you said, you would probably be making the lots yourself for the ranches.
I think we should continue laying the roads in the tile, then start with low development, and eventually going to the golf course and suburbs.

Ethan

[just_a_guy]

I also think you should start of small: roads> ranches> low development> suburbs> etc. This is how it's done in RL and it's worked for me in the past with my cities as well.

[ldvger]

Good advice from both ecoba/Ethan and just_a_guy, thank you both very much.  I have to admit my own leanings were in this direction, but things have slowed down so much in terms of replies and comments, I have been thinking maybe folks are getting bored with how slowly this city tile is developing and may be wishing I would move on to something a little more exciting.  There is a part of me that finds this recreation work very tedious, as well, especially when I visit other MD's that are so gorgeous and do not have the constraints ( self-imposed, I admit), of adhering to a RL region. 

My nature is to complete a project before I begin another.  I do this with my knitting.  I know myself well enough to know that if I allow myself to become distracted with a new project, it's very likely I will never finish the project I abandoned for the new one.  I stopped kinitting for many years because I had, no lie, at least 7 projects going and trying to keep up and complete any of them overwhelmed me.  So I just stopped knitting completely and the projects sat in a cardboard box in my closet for over 7 years.  I moved several times during that 7 year period and never even opened the box, just carried it with me from home to home (along with many other boxes I had not opened for many years).  I know most folks do the same thing...brings to mind George Carlin's skit about "stuff".  Anyway, when I moved into my last apartment in 2003, which was large and airy and bright and had great views but almost no closets or storage, I decided it was finally time to open all the boxes and decide what to keep and what to toss.  I tossed almost all of what I found, including most of my knitting projects.  But I learned a valuable lesson about myself...only one project at a time.  Finsh the first one before you start a second.

So I would like to complete the Stafford Lake city tile before I go raring off into a new city tile.  This is the far NW corner of the entire region and one of the least populated and least developed.  I good place to test my chops and work out the techniques and things I am going to need for more complicated city tiles yet to come.  I have 130 tiles to develope.  This is tile #1.  I am 4 months into this entire project and 90% of that time has been spent on this city tile.  I am anxious to move on and tackle new challenges, but I still have many challenges left to resolve in this city tile.  Best to finish it, I think, before moving on.  I don't want this region to become a collection of half-finished city tiles and I have real fears that if I don't complete each city tile before moving to the next one, that is exactly what will happen.

So I am going to take the advice of ecoba and just_a_guy and complete the Stafford Lake city tile.  I guess I just needed some affirmation that this would be the best way to go, and thank you both so very much for helping me make up my mind on this issue.  That the first two folks to comment and voice an opinion confirmed my own internal leanings speaks volumes to me. 

Not sure what I will tackle next...lost of places to go...but at least now I know the lak will be "home" for a little while longer.

Lora/LD

[joelyboy911]

Don't worry about interest in your MD tailing off. Though it may be true that you spend a lot of time on one thing, I know I am very interested in how it turns out in the end. I say, finish the lake, then do whatever you please. Your MD is still of an excellent quality.

I am enjoying your attention to detail, and I look forward to seeing exactly how the Stafford lake tile is at the end.

Congratulations on a glorious month in OSITM. I concur with Derry: You will be back!

[mayorfabz]

I second these motions. Stafford it is. I am of the same school: finishing what I've started before beginning sthg else. Otherwise my region will look like an eternal building site (pretty much like current Montreal I must admit...  )

Kudos on finishing plopping the lake. I couldn't have been that patient and I guess I would have chosen the ploppable 9x12. And pretended it has been a rainy month if the water level was too high 

Have a nice day, ya'all

Fabien

[rushman5]

This is incredible work, you have made my geography professors very happy and inspired. Ever consider using ArcGIS for this?

[u.mueller]

You checked what ArcGIS costs, right?

[Attila464]

I have been lurking here for a while and i can assure you any true simcity fan is not "bored" in the least bit, it may be that people cannot find words to describe your attention to detail and thoroughness in creating the most accurate landscapes ever to grace the pages of a major diary.

[LucaPdor]

I have been lurking here for a while and i can assure you any true simcity fan is not "bored" in the least bit, it may be that people cannot find words to describe your attention to detail and thoroughness in creating the most accurate landscapes ever to grace the pages of a major diary.

  I wouldn't find better words!

... and I kindly ask you: Please Lora, don't stop this MD! 
I would really like to see how the dam will look like.

Luca

[ldvger]

Update 27

Replies

ecoba/Ethan:  As always, thanks for stopping by and commenting.  I did semi-extensive research on Stafford Lake and the Novato Creek Dam several months ago, so I can answer most of your questions.  The original purpose of the dam was to provide drinking water to the City of Novato, which is in the next city tile east of the Stafford Lake city tile.  The lake IS used for recreation, mostly fishing, as it is stocked with fish (not sure which species, but I think it's bass).  The lake is not available for swimming in (unless by accident, of course) and I am imagining no gasoline powered engines are allowed on any of the boats, being as it's a source of drinking water.  So, row boats and electric motors only is my guess.  It's a fairly small lake, so neither should be much of a problem.  There is a dam, at the downflow side of the lake, which I went to rather extreme measures to recreate.  The downhill side is to the east/left of most of the pics I am showing of the lake.  It's small dam, an earthen dam (rather than concrete) and the lake is human made, not in any way natural.  The lake in fact sits over the top of what was once the Stafford Ranch, hence it's name.  The Stafford family were among the original settlers of this area.  The dam is hard to see in my game pics because it is very small.  It's only about 600' wide and 70' tall.  I have terraformed it into place and if you page back you can see the individual street tiles plopped on top of it.  The slope of the dam is very gentle, again making it hard to see.  But it's there!

TomasNeto:  Thanks for the compliments and I'm glad you like!

The Tea Cat/Derry:  Welcome back my friend, haven't seen you in a while!  Thanks for stopping by and thank you also for your kind comments.  What comes along next is a bit up in the air, but detailing the shores of the lake and island are definitely on the list.  I hope you stop by often to watch the progress!

ecoba/Ethan and just_a_guy:  I replied to your posts in a seperate post, so won't do so again here.

joelyboy911:  Thank you for your support of my decision to finish this city tile before venturing off to the next one, I appreciate it.  As for future OSITM awards, well we'll see.  One is way more than I expected as it is!  Still, I appreciate both your's and Derry's vote of confidence. 

mayorfabx/Fabien:  Good to see you again my friend and thank you for the comments!  I gave thought to using the 9x12 TPW, but was afraid it would mess up my shorelines and/or would not mix/match with the smaller TPW plops I was using.  I also don't know if it accepts underlying opaque PW's...something to experiment with next time around.  Please stay tuned to this channle, I promise more interesting explorations will be coming along shortly.

rushman5:  You don't happen to live in Phoenix, do you?  I used to have an online buddy years ago who went by ruushman who was a big fan of the band Rush and he lived in Phoenix.  Regardless, as a new poster to this MD, I welcome you!  Always good to see new faces and hear new voices.  As for why I don't use ArcGIS for my project, I don't have the software, can't afford to buy it, and don't know how to use it.  I use what I have and know how to use...but I am certain the same is true of everyone.  When I am able to find work again, perhaps then I will look into enhancing my gaming tools...after I have settled my considerable debts.  Thanks for stopping by and thanks for your comments, they are always appreciated!

u. mueller: And yet another new face!  Welcome to my MD and I hope you are enjoying what you see.  I assume your comment was directed at rushman5 and not at me.  As a RL architect, I know professional grade graphics software is not inexpensive, so I don't even bother checking out the various other platforms folks suggest to me.  Rushman5 may not have read this MD from the beginning and so may not realize that I am currently out of work and have been for the past 15 months, and am currently living 100% on the charity of friends, family, and the government.  Let's cut him a little slack, OK?  He's new here, as are you, and we should all be friends.  I took no offense at his suggestion.  Given the wide array of software and graphics skills I evidence in the MD, it may be natural to him to assume I had access to the program he suggested.  Regardless, I am glad to see you here and hope you stop by and post often!

Attila464: And yet another new face and voice, how wonderful!  All these folks coming out from the lurking shadows...I am overwhelmed!  Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting, I really appeciate your support of my efforts.  It means more to me than I can express, truly.  Please stay tuned and fell free to comment to your heart's content...I want and need all the feedback I can get. 

LucaPdor:  And yet another new face and voice.  This is truly overwhelming, all these new folks...it really warms my heart and encourages me in ways you cannot imagine.  And please don't worry, Luca, that I will stop this MD...I won't.  When I find work again, it may slow down, but I am committed to seeing this through, no matter how long it takes.  At my current rate, it will be YEARS!  I have been working for 3 months on the FIRST city tile of 130 tiles and am still a long ways from completing it.  And, this is a rural tile, really not much to recreate.  A small and lake, a couple of roads, some scattered ranches here and there.  Can you imagine how things may go once I reach a suburban or even urban area?  I may end up going building to building and batting each one individually.  I'm OCD enough to do something like that.  As for finishing the dam, that may take a little time yet.  I need to create the spillway and that's complicated by the fact that it runs across a diagonal.  It's also complicated by the fact that it is so small.  It's only one diagonal cell in width, which means that it's also (2) diagonal half cells in width.  I don't know as there are currently any CC plops out there that I can use for the spillway, which means I'll probably have to make my own.  The dam may remain unfinished until such time as I learn how to mod/lot/bat the tiles I need to make it work. 

Overall, this has been a great couple of days for replies and I have been very much energized by the tremendous outpouring of support, both from new commentors and regular commentors.  Thank you all very much, you have really revived my flagging spirits!  Lets get going with the next update!



Update 27: The Burdell School, Part 1

Ok, I've talked about this set of buildings a little bit in the past, naming them (incorrectly) the Burrdick School.  This school is directly across the street from the entrance to the county park on Stafford Lake and is important enough to actually be included on the USGS topo maps, which is how I know it's name:

27.1


I'm quite curious about this school.  It actually falls outside of the boundaries of my city tile, as does the entrance to the county park, but I definitely want to include at least the eastern portion of the park and would like to include the school, so I'm going to cheat a little bit and skooch both east just a tad, so they will fit just inside the western boundary of the city tile.  But first I need to learn a little more about the school, especially if I can find out what it looks like in RL.  I'm going to start with Google Earth.

27.2


Well, there appears to be two residences, both to the left side of the pic.  This actually looks like a cattle ranch or maybe a dairy.  I can see rolls of white plastic-wrapped hay (straw?) to the left of the pic.  There also seems to be a lot of what I am thinking are cows, which we can see to the elft side of the main group of white roofed buildings (barns?), as well as another group above the barns, and yet another smaller group just to the lower right side of the barns.  There are a couple of small bodies of water.  The largest one above the barns could be drinking water, maybe for the cows, and appears to be a mini version of the earthen Novato Creek Dam, i.e. human made.  There is also a group of three ponds at the lower right, which may be waste ponds for cow waste.  Lastly, there's an interesting little building of some sort in the upper left hand corner of the pic.  I wonder what that is?  A well and pumphouse?  A covered feeding trough?  The ground around it seems to be a bit churned up, like maybe lots of cows have been hanging out around it.  Well, lets see if a street view gives us any more information about this school.

27.3


Hmmm.  Sure looks like Ag buildings to me.  Notice we can see that mysterious little white building on the hillside up and behind the school.  While I'm here, lets take a couple other pics to the other side of the road, where the park is. 

27.4


Seems the park has a couple of visitors this pleasant, sunny day.  Lets wander a little further up the road and see what else we can discover.

27.5


I had to take this picture, even though it has nothing to do with anything.  Perfect and beautiful example of a California Live Oak.

27.6


Look, a little culvert running under the dirt road!  Way too small to render in game, unfortunately, but a nice detail nonetheless.  We are looking now towards what I had thought may be waste ponds, but now I doubt that, as the culvert appears to be draining the furthest west pond and that would never happen unless it was rainwater runoff. 

27.7


Looks like a little orchard of fruit trees of some sort.  Gives me some rough idea of what time of year these street shots were taken if the trees are bare.  Also noticing the white wildflowers growing on the side of the road in the shallow drainage ditch running there, too. 

27.8


Looking to the other side of the road, there's the little park ranger entrance station I posted a pic of about 3 months ago.  I wondered where it was...now I know!

27.9


I count 9 mail boxes and 2 newspaper receptacles.  This is the entrance to the school, BTW. 

27.10


The orchard again.  I don't know much about orcharding...I wonder what the white paint around the boles of the trees is all about?  Is it some kind of insecticide laden treatment, you think, to keep ground bugs from climbing the trees and damaging the fruit?  I see no nets over the trees to keep birds from eating the fruit, but that could be because the trees are not bearing at the time of the picture.  Or, it could be because the trees don't bear fruit the birds would eat.  I know there are a lot of almond farms in this general area of northern California, so maybe these are nut trees rather than fruit trees (although technically nuts are fruits, too).

27.11


Nice detail of the entrance to the park.  Anyone want to volunteer to LE this for me?  It could probably be done on a single cell, as it doesn't appear to be much more than 50'x50'.  Don't forget the stop sign!

27.12


While this view was rezzing, I thought the sign to the left was a bus stop sign, but now I think it's a No Parking sign.  And, um, attention ranch hands...fence repair needed on aisle 7.  This is one reason why farmers don't use wooden fences much, especially PAINTED wooden fences. 

27.13


Looking back east a little bit to the entrance of the school.  I had been thinking this may be a low-security form of juvenile detention facility, but the lack of a gate at the entrance now makes me doubt that.  Then again, if it's low security, it could run on an honor system.  But it seems fairly obvious from what we've seen so far that the school teaches animal husbandry of some sort along with maybe some other farming skills. 

27.14


Ok, we will obey the flagger and stop.  I think we've learned all we can from Google Earth, so now it's time to see if the school has a web site.

Well, an inquiry for "The Burdell School in Novato, CA" returned no results.  This may require some deeper digging.  I'll try the Novato Chamber of Commerce next.  Another dead end.  Well, now I'll try the City of Novato.  Well, that's another dead end.  Next comes Marin County.  No results there, either.  So, not a city or county facility, nor does it seem a private facility.  State?  Worth a try.  Ok, I may have found a clue on the state site.  There is a reference to a Burdell Ranch working with a local high school.  So now I'll search for the Burdell Ranch.  Getting closer.  Burdell was one of the families that settled the area and many local features are named after them.  The Burdell Ranch is a local wetlands mitigation preserve.  There is a Burdell mansion and park with Victorian Gardens the wife created (or had created for her...I'm not reading these articles, just scanning them). 

There is a Mt. Burdell to the north of the city of Novato, named for this family.  Lots of clues, but still no info on the school itself.  I will try writing a quick note to someone at the City of Novato and see if that brings forth any new clues.

Until I hear back from them, this is the end of my research into the Burdell School and, subsequently, this update.  I guess the rest of the Burdell School development will have to wait until I find out more about it.  Not to worry, lots of other things to do in the meantime. 

Lora/LD

[u.mueller]

Hi, Lora,
yes I do like what I see and deeply admire your striving for perfection and love for detail. Being someone who never ever published an MD, I couldn't bring myself to work on such a large region yet.

I use ArcGIS at work quite a bit, so I know that it is quite an expensive piece of software, but for what we do, it is quite the right software (planning of wind farms). My comment was indeed directed at rushman, but intended as a tongue-in-cheek comment! I really didn't mean to jump onto him, as I hope the smiley icon showed.

At any rate, I shall follow this MD quite closely. I am very much looking forward to seeing the first buildings popping up here and there.

Warm regards from Germany,
U.

[rushman5]

idvger: No, I'm a true from Bodymore, Murdaland.  Funny resemblence though, Rush is a mad good band.

ArcGIS is really expensive, I know that. But seeing you had so much knowlegde of CAD'06, I thought that maybe you were a professional using professional tools from work or something.  But you are basically doing GIS, but in CAD.

I feel like this will probably be the hardest part of your recreation: rural areas.  So far, your detail and investigative work is bar none for any player I have ever seen.

u.mueller: really, you do that type of work? I am super interested. I am currently getting my degree in Land-use planning and am super interesting in renewable energy and sustainable development! Oh, and you didnt even need the emoticon for sarcasm; it was well put!

[ecoba]

Well, Lora, that was a great update.

That is a very interesting ranch. I've never been to a ranch, so I don't know what one would neccesarily look like. I find it interesting especially, how there are 9 mailboxes, but only 2 (apparent) residences.

Weird.

Ethan

[ldvger]

Real Life Aside #1

I am introducing a new component to my MD...real life situations I encounter along the way while creating my MD.  This is the first.

All know I am unemployed and have been for quite some time now, despite my honest and continuing efforts to find work.  Most know I am an architect by trade, but I have not limited my job search to architecture or even engineering, in which I have a decent background in (especially civil engineering).  Besides architecture, I have a LONG history of working in the hospitality services, especially food and beverage.  So, I have been applying for jobs in the food and beverage industry almost non-stop for the past 15 months.  Sometimes I even get an interview.  The big problem is, my last F/B job was as a delivery driver and pizza cook for Domino's Pizza and that was 15 years ago.  Potential employers are naturally curious about how I have been making my living since then and, as I never lie to anyone at any time for any reason, I tell them the truth.  Well, an unemployed architect looking foe work as a bartender or server only means one thing to the potential employer: this gal is going to cut and run as soon as she can find herself a "real" job.  So...I am seen as a "flight risk".  I know this and address it head on in the interview, letting the interviewer know that, should an architecture job be offered to me, I would still be wanting to work nights and weekends at a second job for at least a year, due to the severe damage this period of unemployment has done to my finances. 

Well, I still don't have a job, so I guess no one so far wants to take that risk with me.  Tomorrow morning at 10 am, I have another interview, but this one is very different.  For one thing, the job is in Ranchester, Wyoming and I volunteered, if hired (rather obviously) to relocate if offered the position.  It's a brand new steak house, hiring staff from the ground up.  They advertised on craigslist and it was late at night, I'd had a couple of glasses of wine and I thought, what the hell.  I had just that same day created an actual F/B resume, so I wrote a quick cover letter, attached the new resume, and fired it off.  Surprise, surprise, when I got up this morning I had a voice mail from the owner, who is here in Seattle this week, asking me to meet with her tomorrow morning.  What could I say except "absolutely!".  Then I thought to myself, I'd better find out as much as I can about Ranchester, Wyoming as fast as possible.  So...I am going to share with you all here my explorations and research concerning my possible new job and new home. 

My first stop was MapQuest.  The ad on craiglist said the town was located near the eastern entrance to Yellowstone National Park, so in my cover letter I pointed out my experience in working in a National Park (Sequoia National Park back in the summer of 1974) and my other experience in high-volume tourist areas (Lake Tahoe, Santa Barbara, Gig Harbor).  Now, part of me envisioned Ranchester as maybe looking like Jackson Hole, but most of me figured it was eastern slopes of the Rockies.  This is what I found on Map Quest:

RL1


If you look at the scale at the upper left corner on the map, you can see the town of Ranchester is about 150 miles east of Yellowstone.  However, the town IS at the junction of I-90 and US 14 and it's US 14 that continues west to Yellowstone, so I have no doubt there is considerable tourist traffic running through the town. 

Next I went to Google Earth and typed in Ranchester, Wyoming.  This is the first image I got:

Rl2


This image is courtesy the USDA Farm Service Agency.  You can see I-90 at the top of the pic and the off-ramps for Ranchester.  Please notice the scale at the bottom left corner of the pic.  This little town is about 4000' long by about 2000' wide. 

Rl3


This is zoomed out quite a bit.  I wanted to get an idea of the general topography of the area.  Some obvious crop circles, so irrigated crops being farmed nearby.  The town sits in what seems to be about the middle of a large green swath of land which I learned is the Tongue Valley.  Ranchester seems to be the "big city" of Tongue Valley.  Let's zoom back in and get some street views.  I'll start with the offramp from I-90.

Rl4


Looking north, back to the highway overpass and the last link with civilization as we know it.

Rl5


Last chance.

Rl6


But I'm going thisaway.

Rl7


Hmmm.  Nice range of mountains in the background, and an interesting escarpment, or so it seems, making up the sides of the valley.  Makes me wonder if the area is seismic and if the valley is maybe a fault zone rather than purely a water formed feature of the landscape.  I wonder what the rock around here is?  I know the entire midwest was once an inland sea, but Yellowstone was a huge volcano (actually, still is), so geology of this area could be very interesting, a mixture of sedimentary and volcanic rock.  Lets continue down the road and explore the town.

Rl8


Signage!  Yellowstone and Teton National Parks, this way...straight ahead and through Ranchester.  A positive omen for prospective employees who may be dependent on tourist dollars for their livelihood. 

Rl9


I see life ahead!

Rl10


According to western US standards, those aren't really "mountains" in the background but more like foothills.  Still, I am seeing snow markers on the side of the road (look closely, you will see them, too.), so I am thinking that while those hills in the distance look soft and low, they may be actually quite high in terms of elevation above sea level.  It seems rather obvious to me that this area is what is known as "high plains" and when I did my research earlier this afternoon I discovered the elevation of Ranchester (in a valley, mind you), is close to 3800'.  I know the weather in the high plains can be quite severe, especially in winter, as the (wet) weather from the west collides with the (cold) weather from the east and all havoc breaks loose as a result.  Read: lotsa snow.  Like 53" a year.  That's not as bad as some places I have lived, and it doesn't all fall at once and stay all winter...the snow markers on the side of the road would be much taller if that were the case.  Here in the high plains, I'm betting a lot of the snow is blown around.  This valley, the low end facing east, is probably windy most of the time.  The snow is likely very dry powder that drifts a lot.  Lotsa fun. 

I also learned that it only rains 17" a year and the area experiences 280 days a year, on average, of sunshine.  July highs are in the mid 80's and January lows are in single digits.  Brrrrr.  Well, Tahoe was worse for both highs and lows, not to mention snowfall. 

I have to say, one of the things I am liking is the sky.  It's a big sky and after 15 years living in an urban environment with small slices of sky available to view, I miss being able to see wide stretches of sky.  I also miss being able to see the stars at night and I know the night sky here would be unbelievably spangled with stars.  To lie on the ground in an open field and see 360 degrees of pitch black night sky above you is just such a special thing. 

Rl11


Horses on a road trip! 

Rl12


First major intersection of downtown Ranchester, population 752 as of 2008. 

Rl13


Cruising the main drag.  Lots of dust on the street, further evidence of a fairly constant wind.

Rl14


West of town now (did you blink?  Ah, you missed the town!), we see cows, outstanding in their field.  I am wondering where a steakhouse would be built.  I would go close to the highway, myself, but I saw no obvious sites there, either. 

Time to leave Google earth and this Aside, while I run off to the town hall and see if I can find a building permit or food service permit for this new establishment...as well as an address.

Not only that but, it's getting late and I have an early interview.  Wouldn't do to show up bleary-eyed and smelling of last night's wine.

Lora/LD

Continuation, next evening.

Well, I had the interview this morning and I think it went well.  No positive offer was made...she had other folks to chat with besides me later in the day.  They are advertising in Billings, Montana as well as Boulder, Colorado.  Some of the things I learned in the interview:

The restaurant opened in May of this year.  She is from the Seattle/Puget Sound area.  He is from the Sheridan/Ranchester area.  He is the chef, with over 30 years experience in high end dining.  She is in sales with a degree in biochemistry.  He's an ex-rodeo rider, but I didn't learn (or ask) what events he competed in.  They are married and I noticed she has quite the rock (diamond) in her ring.  They have put their life savings into this venture and so far have been doing pretty well.  They offer catering to the local ranches and catered 5 events this past summer.  She says they are getting very strong support from the local ranchers.  There was road construction going on on US 14 this summer and she says that slowed their business down somewhat but she's glad of it, as they had bugs to work out in their operations of the restaurant.  She says they get raves about the food and complaints about the service...no one they've hired so far seems to have to work ethic necessary to service high end customers.  Their current cadre of employees show up late, don't show up at all, or show up drunk/stoned.  The employees also don't know how to move quickly when busy or keep themselves working and busy when things are slow.  The restaurant is located right in "downtown" Ranchester (next to the Cenex depot, which is a farm supply, mostly feed and seed, for those who don't know) and right on US 14.  Business is slowing down now with the coming of winter (she told me it snowed there last night), so they are uncertain of what their staffing needs are going to be in the coming months.  I get the feeling that they are really looking to have a new staff by spring, when the parks re-open and will probably cut back to skeleton crew over the winter.  There are winter sports in the area, skiing, cross country skiing, snowmobiling.  This is the Great Outdoors...lots of hiking, fishing, hunting, camping, backpacking, climbing, birding, horseback riding, but those activities pretty much cease during the long and severe winters.  Owning a car would be essential, preferably a 4WD.  The road network off the highways is pretty sketchy, not usually plowed in winter, and many folks travel via horseback. 

I also learned her husband is a bit of a taskmaster with a temper.  He does not hesitant to raise his voice to his employees.  He has very strict and demanding standards and expects his employees to do exactly as he tells them to.  This was the first really big red flag for me and I think it could have a lot to do with their current staffing problems.  I didn't say that, of course...it's her husband and she thinks he only yells at employees because they are lazy idiots.  However, a demoralized crew is not going to perform well and being constantly shouted at is very demoralizing.  They have hired locally so far and none of the folks they have hired are what they consider to be "professional" wait staff.  Given the size of the local population pool, that's not surprising.  But, this all points to a couple of other underlying issues that also raised red flags for me.  If he was raised in the area, he must have had some idea of the quality of wait staff that would be available among the local population, so why did they not recruit professional staff from outside of the area right from the get-go?  It indicates to me either a lack of planning and/or lack of money, either of which can be death to a new business (did I ever share here that my only actual degree is in Business Management and Marketing?).  It also indicates to me that perhaps this man has a bit of an anger management problem and that his wife, in not recognizing it, is abetting it.  If the house gets a reputation for having a chef no one can work with or please, it will doom them, no matter how good the food is.  So, one major red flag and two minor red flags.

After I stopped writing last night, I did a casual search through area public records for the health department permits and such required for the opening of an F/B establishment and found nothing.  That's not really a big deal...things are done differently everywhere and I may not have been looking in the right places.  So, instead, I looked for the restaurant's web site and this is when I ran up against my second major red flag.

They don't have a web site. 

I did mention this during the interview and she waved me off like this was a trivial matter of complete unimportance.  That's when I mentioned to her my degree and advised her they really did need a web presence.  We were ending our conversation at that point, both of us getting ready to leave the other, and she really didn't respond. 

So.  Two major and two not-as-major red flags.  Some of my other thoughts I'd like to share.

Accepting a position, if one is offered, would present me with a level of risk I was really not expecting to be presented with.  Relocating to the middle of nowhere Wyoming is not the issue for me...I've lived for decades in smaller towns than Ranchester and was perfectly content.  The risk is in the couple's ability to keep this restaurant afloat through the winter and into the spring and beyond.  It's also in their being able to acquire staff that will tolerate an abusive and demanding head chef.  I have pretty think skin when it comes to being yelled at by my bosses, although I personally consider such behavior unprofessional to the extreme. 

It's also in the fact that if I move there and things don't work out, I will be well and truly screwed.  My family might (and that's a very big MIGHT) help me finance the move, but if I found myself out of work and on the streets of Ranchester, Wyoming, I would be well and truly in super deep doo-doo. 

Now, you may think I'm crazy, but I am still considering this position, despite the risk and the red flags.  There's something about it that appeals to me and I really can't quite put my finger on it.  Well, I take that back.  It would be an adventure and it's been a while since I've thrust myself out into the world to go adventuring.  I am running out of good stories to tell, everyone has heard all my stories because I have not lived any new stories in a long time.  But the adventure is just one part of the equation.  I miss rural living.  As much as I love urban living, I miss rural living and even more so, the people of rural areas.  As a Taurus, an Earth sign, I miss terribly the way one's life synchs with the seasons when one lives among folks who make their living by the turn of the seasons.  There is a deep connection between the land, the Earth, when one lives in a farm community.  One feels the wheel of time turning one spoke at a time across the years.  I don't feel that living in downtown Seattle...and I miss it.  The smell of damp and freshly turned earth in the spring, the greening of the fields as they sprout and grow, the farm machinery with big red triangles on their backsides plodding slowly along the roads, driving home at night and pulling over to watch the harvesters working with headlights and sodium lights at 3 am, the scents of freshly cut plants mingling with the smell of diesel fuel and August dust, the stubble of bare fields like a man unshaven for week, and then the snow, a white blanket under which the earth sleeps and renews itself.  There is a heartbeat to both urban and rural areas.  The urban heartbeat is one that is light and fast and sometimes hard to feel when your press your fingers to the wrist of the city.  The rural is a deep slow thudding you can almost hear and feel emanating out of the ground beneath your feet, coming up through your legs and settling in your chest where your own heartbeat slows and matches it.  I have known both...and love both.  But I have been 15 years in the urban heartbeat.  And I think it may be time for me to find that slower, stronger heartbeat again.  Maybe this is my opportunity. 

Then again, maybe it is my doom. 

I'm going to go out on a limb and post this, right now.  As always, feedback is invited. 

Lora/LD

[Battlecat]

Tough decision you've got there!  I don't have a lot of advice to offer unfortunately except this.  The one really big risk of moving out to a small town like that one comes with the uncertainty of the job.  If for whatever reason, the job does fall through, there's a much smaller pool of employers in a town of that size.  So chances are that if this doesn't work out, you'd have to go far afield again to find another job. 

Anyhow, that's about all I have to offer on this one!  Good luck with this decision!

[mayorfabz]

Hey Lora,

I may not have mentioned that before, but I actually work as an employment counselor here in Montreal. My job is to help immigrant workers understand the characteristics and peculiarities of the Quebec job market. Being born and raised in France and now a Canadian citizen after almost 5 years in Montreal, I am still curious about many aspects of the North American culture towards employment and job searching. I must admit that reading your post this morning was an excellent case study for me!

Therefore I would like to give you my thoughts about your experience with respect to this job opportunity. There are several aspects in your story:
-   The type of job
-   As in real estate: location, location, location!
-   And of course the red flags
You indicate you have former experience in F/B (although it dates back 15 years ago) and are ready to accept a position in this field, even though you have extensive experience in architecture and civil engineering. There is actually the usual trend in job searching that someone who doesn't find a job after several weeks almost always starts to broaden the scope of their search, including more and more sectors because – let's admit it – reality bites. When one needs cash to fill the fridge, it is absolutely normal to turn more and more stones! Nevertheless (I love that word...) I think I must remind you that a large part of the economic stimulus package being currently implemented in the U.S. involves infrastructure, meaning job prospects in construction and architecture are – if not ecstatic – less than grim. So maybe you should keep some hope in that sector before envisioning plan B. Although reality sometimes quickly turns plans B into Plans A... If customer service is indeed part of the plan, I guess there are LOTS of opportunities in the F/B business in the Seattle-Tacoma region, right ? Maybe there is no need for a great trek into the wilderness to find that type of job.

Which takes me to point 2: I have absolutely nothing against Central Wyoming and I myself would love to live in the country instead of a large city sometimes, but the risk seems sort of big. For all you know the place could be a rat hole and if you just have the point of view of the prospective employer to make up your mind, well I don't think it is enough. Especially if you cannot cross-check the facts on a website since the restaurant doesn't have one. What if things turn sour ? Are you gonna hitchhike your way back to Seattle with all your things in a couple suitcases? I am sorry to appear a killjoy, but there is a lot at stake IMHO.

And finally the red flags: I am afraid you're right. And I don't think it's worth it.

I certainly don't want to appear like telling you how to live your life, but you asked our opinion and I give you mine. If I wasn't myself in the business I probably wouldn't have dared expressing it.

I sincerely hope things are gonna turn your way, and I sure keep my fingers crossed for you.

Fabien