Why yes Nature, I did order this- thank you.

Friday, May 5th I went hiking on Cougar Mountain and it was just the introduction I needed.  It was only about 25 minutes from the bunkhouse (which is in N. Seattle), and I had to go all the way SE through Seattle to Issaquah- so it was super nice and secluded for being so close.

Signage was an issue though, as I had NO idea where I was on the mountain and ended up hiking for about 4 hours until I ran into someone who kindly gave me a heads up on which trails go where.  On that note, Minnesota has NOTHING on "Seattle Nice."  I've never encountered so many friendly people in all areas of life- and so many people with their dogs in the streets either, for that matter.

As for the NOAA Groundfish Observing Training?  This place is a federal facility, so security is an issue, and it's HUGE.  I had no idea, frankly, how huge this entire industry was, in regards to its regulation.  Once on a boat, I'm legally prohibited from sharing photos online of the boats or my activities- even if they're from personal cameras on personal time.

They told us that this three week training would be "intense," but that's not the word.  No word exists to describe it.  Imagine taking a full load of organic chemistries and having class from 8-5, with labs (and ID-ing fishes that are so similar, no dichotomous keys exist for them) and 4-5 hours of homework each night.  Oh, and it's not like normal training where everyone just gets to the end and starts working, oh no.  There's a mid-term on Tuesday, and if we don't pass, we're out.  At the end there are two finals: one for the written part and another for the fish identification part.  If we fail either, we're out.  What's failing?  60%? 70%?  Nope- you have to get 80% to pass each exam.

This is my trainer- I won't post her name, as I told her I'd not post this online.  What a sport, aye?

As you come out of the bathroom, there's this big display with a bunch of seabirds in it.  One of them, this gull, has an eye that is directed backwards, looking right at the bathroom door.  So, when you come out, he's staring at you.  Then, because of the nature of the glass eye, as you continue to lock eyes with it, the eyes follow you as you pass.  Bananaman was not a fan.

This guy didn't "feel comfortable" taking a picture with Bananaman.

Other than two other guys who have been doing this for years (if you don't do it for 18 months, you have to go through the training again), I'm easily the oldest person in the room.  Our texts of regulations and sample procedures are so complex and time consuming, this was the first time I cracked the friendly looking "Pacific Coast Fishes" book.  No, we don't use resources like that in real life...

Never have I felt so defeated in a course in which I understood the fundamentals so well.  There is just such a huge amount of information to be absorbed to the nth degree in such a short amount of time.  There are easily 10x more exceptions to each and every duty than there are rules, so it's very difficult to even get the basics straight in your head.  25% of the class failed last time they ran a training session and in the house is a guy who has failed 2x already (different components each time).  This path is not a sure thing.