The Mighty Wilson!

Hello everyone! Yes, here is a random post from the dude in the family (who can actually type and has opposable thumbs). This weekend a co-worker and I decided to meet up and go fishing on Saturday.

I have two co-workers that fish, one is named Steve. Steve fishes the Nestucca River. He was the first one to take me out and show me the intricacies of river fishing, and showed me all his favorite holes on that river.

I fish the Nehalem River. It was the closest river to where Leah used to work (Henny Penny), and I would always drop her off and go fishing when she had long days. I know that river the best of all the Coastal rivers.

Greg knows the Wilson River. I have never fished it, and didn't even really know where it was. It is nice and close. So we took Saturday to run up and down the river fishing his favorite holes.

When I say "holes" I am talking about areas in the river that get really deep. The Salmon and Steelhead tend to rest there and eat bugs that collect, and rest up if they need to push up the river to where they were born.

Most of the day, we didn't see any fish, and the only thing that was caught was 2 baby salmon that nibbled on Greg's hook. We also ran into a pretty snarky gentleman who didn't want to share the river with us, and was a bit on the passive aggressive side. We decided to try and find one more hole on our way back. It is by far the coolest little area on the river. There is an arch rock formation that many people set up a tent under and camp the night (for free, cause you can do that around here). We started fishing that hole, and it was pretty small, so Greg and I had to split up. I was fishing the deeper end for awhile, and I thought I would switch with Greg (to be nice). Bad idea, about 10 minutes later he hooked a really nice sized Steelhead!!

The problem with this hole was there was not a good area to grab the fish from. The rock we were fishing from was about 8 feet above the river, and the shallowest part was through the rapids, so there was no way the fish would let you bring it up there. After about 10 minutes, Greg (and I) both realized that it may not be possible to land this pretty little fish. So we came up with a plan...........

He gave me his pole, and I gave him my needle nose pliers (to remove the hook). He scampered down the face of the rock, to a very narrow ledge on the edge of the river. Greg can scamper, he was a "tree dog" (Arborist) and quite a bit smaller than me. If there is one thing I can't do is "scamper" or "shimmy". "Plodding" and "deliberate" I can do! So after about 10 minutes of me trying to direct a fish to a place it does not want to go, Greg finally was able to grab its tail and bring him in. It was truly a team effort, and here is the happy Fisherman.........
So that is a Steelhead. About 15 pounds, and close to 24" long. Really nice fish. Even though I helped, it was his fish. I once again........for 5 years....got "skunked".

So, the next day I had to drop Leah off at work at 5:00 P.M., and she had to work until 10:00 P.M. I needed to go into work to catch up on all of my paperwork and proposals, but I had an itch that needed to be scratched. I WANT TO CATCH A STEELHEAD!!!!!

I went back out to the river, but many of the good holes had people fishing in them. I wanted to be alone. I found a hidden turn off, and found a couple of promising holes. You are looking for areas that have some rushing water going into the deep holes. The Steelhead are usually at the tail end of the whitewater. The Salmon are usually in the deep slow water. I fished one hole....nothing......second hole....nothing.....thought about leaving, but I heard some other rushing water down river and decided to check it out. It was a long long walk, but it was worth it, because I caught this...............

He fought me for about 15 minutes, and I was able to tire him out and land him. It is hard landing fish like these alone, because they tend to flop around a lot and could easily take your pole down river. I got him unhooked, and took this picture. I went to release him, but he kept flipping around and hitting his head on the rocks. He made it into the water, but went on his side and started floating on the surface down stream. I was thinking to myself. "CRAP!!! I killed this poor innocent fish!!" Since I don't eat meat, and don't need him for food, I released him. So did Greg. But I didn't want him to DIE!! I watched his side go down river, and he disappeared behind a large rock. I walked down there to see if he regained consciousness. Nope. He was on his side, in a small pool near the bank. I put him on his side, and petted his head. Yup....PETTED a huge wild fish in a river in the middle of nowhere. Talk about a spiritual relationship! He kept looking at me, opening his mouth a little. I massaged his sides and moved him back and forth. He then moved his muscles a bit in my hands........I let go..........and he slowly turned around and swam away. What a day!!!!!!!

Here is where I was, fishing, along, drinking Coors out of a can, and at peace...........on the mighty Wilson.

The New Job

If you remember correctly, I took a job with the company-whose-name-will-not-be-named back in late February. I worked full-time the week before the store opened, and after that I was only given 4 hours a week. I ended up voluntarily quitting because of the minimal hours, as well as the stressful nature of the job. I had never worked for large corporation with sales goals, upt goals, credit card goals, and conversion goals. It was a lot of goals and I felt like the management was breathing down my neck about it. I also disliked the fact that I had shifts where I was the only associate in the store, expected to greet every customer in the front of the store while setting up dressing rooms in the back of the store, as well as completing register transactions.

To make matters worse, I was instructed to assist every customer with their shopping and after setting up their dressing room add items they did not pick out. It was all to aggressive for me and unmanageable. I might have gave it a longer fair shot, but I felt patronized and unsupported by the manager and assistant managers. I was also expected to dress in the style of the store, which meant I had to by a bunch of new clothes. Especially because they had rules about the outfits. For example, one must wear accessories, dress shoes, nice slacks or jeans, a sweater, or a top with a "third piece." This meant an addition piece with the top such as a blazer or cardigan. I made the mistake of wearing jeans and a sweater (jeans require a top with a third piece) but I was lucky that the assistant manager said it was a first offense and she didn't force me to go home. It wasn't a difficult decision for me to quit.

After that, I got a job at another store-whose-name-will-not-be-named. This position turned out to be the exact same situation with the only difference being I was selling home goods instead of clothing. I just have no interest in upselling customers and following them around, trying to reach my goals just so the store reaches its goals so that the corporation can please its investors. How depressing and meaningless. I was also given only 8 hours a week and was on call for 5 days a week. Seriously? After one day of paperwork and watching safety videos and being quizzed on them, I quit again.

You can imagine how thrilled my husband is with my unsuccesful attempts to bring home a paycheck. It didn't help that I made my exclusive and subjective decisions by myself, or that I was unable to continue getting unemployment benefits.

Sigh.

The day after I had that first day at the 2nd job, I interviewed with Cost Plus World Market and nailed a sales associate job against 9 other interviewees. I participated in a group interview only, and I was wary because one of my fellow applicants had already worked at the store in San Diego. My first day was May 28th and I couldn't be happier. There are some similarities to the previous jobs however the environment is supportive and my fellow coworkers are really great. All of the customers I've had are great, probably because most of them are buying wine. The greatest aspect of the job? You get to wear t-shirts, jeans, and sneakers. I WAS IN LOVE.

If you aren't familiar with the store, it is a national chain offering home decor, bedding and bath, furniture, dining accessories and kitchenware, as well as dry goods, beer, and wine. Everything is imported from over 50 different countries so there are strong ethnic themes in all departments, especially food. I work 18 hours a week at the register, on the floor helping customers, and stocking. For retail, it's great and perfect for me in the sense that there is no pressure or stress.

If you are interested, you can check out the web site here.