Online Communications

  On the Fear of the New to the Old The year is 1984 and I am in my                            white                          linen dress                      sitting on                       a couch   on stage while all the parents in the audience watch the play about the satanic cabal that is promoting TVs that have secret cameras and microphones to record the activities of the occupants of the house.  I dramatically shake my shoulders             with evil glee to think that Satan will                   soon rule                 the world because the stupid earth inhabitants               have foolishly allowed Satan into their homes through their TV watching habits.  Their privacy has been  compromised.  Satan knows all; he sees all; you are his. Quake in fear, foolish mortal, at the inevitable rise of Satan. The picture above does exist somewhere in an old high school yearbook under the heading of Drama Club.   In 1985 when I graduated, my high school had just upgraded from comput

Interpersonal Relationships in the workplace What is cuter than a baby turtle?  Umm... nothing. There are dozens of people in Washington State alone, working toward saving the northwestern pond turtle (A ctinemys marmorata marmorata ) from extinction, an outcome that could not happen alone, requiring collaborations across agencies and the private sector. Click here for an overview of WDFW's   efforts with the pond turtle, or here to see a visitor interpretive page at the Washington Park Zoo . I'll focus today on the maintenance of one of these interpersonal relationships.    Stefani Bergh (right) and I before the 2020 Columbia Gorge Invasive Species and Exotic Pests conference where we presented a talk about controlling invasive bullfrogs. Stefani Bergh with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and I met when she was looking for someone to begin American bullfrog ( Lithobates catesbeianus ) control activities on behalf of one northwestern pond turtle population

  the Good, the Ok, and the Ugly...  Don't I (on the right) look happy and skinny here with my half-sister? The Good:  As an older person, I didn't grow up with social media.  I started participating in social media in my late 30's. At the time I was on a weight loss journey and had discovered Sparkpeople.com which I was using to track my calories and exercise.  Their philosophy was that you should have tools, but also social support through various forums catering to your interests, location, work, gender, preferred exercise, diet, or whatever was important to you.  The site was free at the time and had a few advertisements here and there. Their supportive environment worked, and I was able to lose 85 lbs., of which I've successfully managed to keep off about 60 lbs. give or take ever since, so hurray for Sparkpeople.com and the power of collective will!  After three years of tracking, I noticed that it was harder and harder to navigate through the ads, and I was ready

 Welcome Friends Hello classmates and new friends,  I go by my first and middle name so you can call me Lee Lynn.  I've lived on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge about 60 miles East of Portland, OR for most of the last 26 years.  My introduction photo is with my dog Roscoe, and I'm in front of the arch at Catherine Creek, one of my favorite places to hang out in the Gorge.  It is especially stunning in late February/early March when the rest of the world is snowy (or muddy) and barren, but these slopes are covered in early spring wildflowers my favorite of which is the blue-eyed grasses aka grass widows. Check out the gorgeguide.com's overview of the hiking area with great pics of the flowers.  I'm a Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences student through Oregon State University's eCampus, and I love all things wetland related especially aquatic insects, herpetology, and the factors that make each pond in a wetland system unique.  I own a company that remov