utah drivers

I'll have a post up soon about H's and my recent stint as SLC tour guides, but first a word about Utah drivers.  Now, I'm not going to go and make any huge sweeping generalizations here, but:  this past Saturday was the first major snowstorm of the year and by the end of that day alone, the Utah Highway Patrol reported

• 150 car accidents in Salt Lake and Utah Counties
• 90 car accidents in Davis County
• 60+ car accidents in Weber County
• and 15 car accidents in Box Elder County

We had another storm yesterday, just in time for the morning commute and it's my understanding that greater Salt Lake City racked up yet another 100+ accidents.  That's incredible to me.  Is it just because the population density is so high here that statistically so many people are going to smash up?  Here's the thing: it's not like this snow thing is new to Utah.  They get it every year, a lot of it.  I am amazed as to how people can completely forget their winter driving skills from one year to the next.  Just because you have four-wheel drive doesn't mean you'll stop any better on ice.

Since I take the surface roads, my commute on Tuesday morning was messy and extremely slow but not terrifying or life-threatening.  I plan to stick to my route, and stick to my slow and steady/easy on the brake routine.  It worked for me in Maine and I see no reason that it can't work for me here too.

happy

According to a recent poll taken by researchers at the University of Cambridge in England, Utah ranks #1 as the happiest state in the nation.  The researchers "analyz[ed] data collected from more than 350,000 individuals who were interviewed between Jan. 2 and Dec. 30, 2008 as part of the Gallup Organization's Well-Being Index. The index includes six types of well-being: overall evaluation of their lives, emotional health, physical health, healthy behaviors (such as whether a person smokes or exercises), and job satisfaction."  Out of a possible 100 points, Utah scored 69.2.  My old state, Maine, scored 65.5 (ranked 29 out of 50).

I knew H and I had been smiling more than usual, but now it's been scientifically proven!

it's a dog's life

Since H and I are thinking that where we'd like to live permanently is here along the east bench (where we live currently), I was poking around on various city web sites, just checking stuff out.  I went to animal ordinances pages specifically to find out about licensing B once we get a permanent address and was interested to see that most cities had specific "animals in vehicles" rules.  Here's a sampling:

SLC:  It is unlawful for any person to carry or confine any animal in or upon a vehicle in a cruel or inhumane manner including, but not limited to, carrying or confining such animal without adequate ventilation or for an unusual length of time.

Okay, that's all reasonable and understandable.

Cottonwood Heights:  [Exactly the same as SLC, plus] Persons transporting an animal in the open bed of a vehicle must physically restrain the animal in such a manner as to prevent the animal from jumping or falling out of the vehicle.  It is unlawful for any person to allow a vehicle to be used as a shelter or housing for pets.

Again, pretty reasonable although B would happily live in the car if we let her.  Last winter she spent pretty much every workday out in H's truck: she's got such a thick coat that the cold wasn't an issue, plus it meant she got to go somewhere instead of staying home.

Sandy:  NO, you may never leave an animal in your vehicle.  Even if the windows are rolled down a few inches, the interior temperature will continue to climb.  Dogs and cats do not sweat and quickly become distressed in a hot environment.  Every summer there are animals that were left unattended in vehicles that expire from the conditions during their owner's absence.  Our Animal Service Officers have been instructed to take a zero tolerance stance on this issue.  If you leave an animal unattended in a vehicle you will receive a citation.  In cases where our Officers are unable to locate the owner of the vehicle in a timely manner, they will force entry into the vehicle and impound the animal, placing it in protective custody.  You would not leave an infant in a vehicle unattended and you should use the same common sense with your pets.  Your dog will forgive you if you leave [her] at home while you run your errands.  [Emphasis mine.]

Wow.  "Zero tolerance" makes me read that as "not even in the winter time" which, as a former Maine resident with a former Maine dog who went everywhere with her in the car, strikes me as a little overzealous.  I get it - if that's the rule, then no one can argue with it - but B will totally NOT forgive me for leaving her at home while I run errands.  Guess I have to find a non-Sandy grocery store to patronize from here on out.

different room, different view

I was totally wrong.  Not only did H not complain about the previous post, his feelings were a little hurt that I didn't include the photos of his office as sort of a compare-and-contrast.  My bad, H, my total bad.

So here is H's office (note that it has even less colorful decor than mine):

And here is his view:

Which is markedly better than the view from his old Maine office:

a room and a view

H will complain that this is another throwaway post but in an attempt at full disclosure, I thought I'd share photos of my new workspace.

So here is my little office (I'm working on getting the computer moved to the right so my back isn't to the door):

And here is the view out across the hall:

lemurs and tigers and fossa - oh my!

Sunday was another gorgeous day, clear, bright and blue from the get-go.  We had a brief morning meeting with our realtor and then, once that business was out of the way, decided to do something outside and new: we'd go to the Hogle Zoo.  After a stop in at Ruth's Diner - which is just up the road from the Zoo, so how could we not - for huevos rancheros (H) and corned beef hash (A - and it was excellent, not at all greasy, with potatoes both crispy and tender, and tons of corned beef),  we parked in the nearly empty zoo lot, paid our $9 each, and were off to see the animals.

I don't go to zoos very often but when I do, I like to go in the winter when there aren't so many people.  Many of the Hogle's animals are cold climate critters so they can be observed in their outdoor habitats year-round, particularly the Asian big cats (Amur tigers, snow leopards, Siberian lynxes and Pallas' cats) and the locals (wolves, bighorn sheep, cougars, black bear).  There are lots of babies there now - elephant, colobus monkey, giraffe, tiger cubs, Siamese crocodile, black-footed cat, snow leopard - which is fun; and they have an extensive smaller mammal house which includes funky porcupines, cacomistles, kinkajous, cavies (cavys?), hyraxes, agoutis and Channel Island foxes.

My favorite, baby elephant notwithstanding, was the fossa, in large part because I've never seen one before, not even in a photograph.  Native to Madagascar (and currently endangered), this young guy was gorgeous, looking like a cross between a cat and a weasel, but taking all the best characteristics from each.  Fossa are actually more closely related to mongooses and are strong, agile predators whose favorite food is a tasty lemur.  They weigh about 26 pounds and average six feet in length from whiskery nose to tail tip.  The Hogle's fossa is two year old male who demonstrated quite a bit of charisma for us, circling his enclosure and gracefully scaling the tree branches, and flirting with the zookeeper when she came in, having learned that a keeper's arrival means he's about to be fed.  Unfortunately, this fossa is a visitor to SLC, however, and will soon on his way to the Denver zoo.

We ended up wandering around for an enjoyable 2.5 hours, making our way to every exhibit, including the interactive prairie dog one.  I think I'll go back in the springtime when there may be even more babies and when the animals are shaking off their long winter.

another hike with mike, the canyons-adjacent

The local weather forecasters totally got it wrong this weekend - calling for snowstorms both days and instead ending up with clear, dry blue skies and the exit of the inversion - so we were pleased when Captain Mike found time to take us hiking on Saturday.  We met him on the road below the Olympic Park in Park City and followed him up through a swanky housing development in the foothills to the east of The Canyons ski resort. 

We hopped onto the well-traveled Mid Mountain Trail system, climbing up a steady but gentle grade on great single track trails (Captain Mike confirmed that there was fantastic mountain biking to be had along here).  We took a short side trip to look over the base lodges at The Canyons, then continued in and out of the aspens around another ridge which looked over and up to Murdock Bowl.  This trail is along part of the Wasatch Front 100 Mile Endurance Run course during which crazy people run from Layton to Midway in early September.

Our hike (not one hundred miles) ended up being a three-hour out-and-back, with lunch looking out over the valley (Kimball Junction, Jeremy Ranch, Park City, etc.), and we ended up bushwhacking down a snow-covered gully back to the car- a shortcut that dropped us in the backyard of one of those mult-million dollar homes.  No wildlife sightings this time, but it was just glorious to be out in the sunshine and fresh air once again.