My first, and likely only, Halloween in Athens

Following my last post (when I left work on Friday afternoon around 5), I drove around the "West Side," and realized I wasn't missing out on too many Athens-only spots. The west end of town is more commercial: Schlotsky's, Jason's Deli, Stein Mart, Kohls (which I do actually want to visit while I'm here), etc. I did see a Dunkin Donuts, however, and I really want to try their coffee since everyone up north says its good. As far as local coffee though, Palmer says that Jittery Joe's is unbeatable. There are a few Jittery Joe's around town, even one just down the street from my apartment, so I plan to visit one soon and try it out too.

For a late supper, I went downtown. For one, I wanted to try The Taco Stand, but I really wanted to have an excuse to see the Halloween costumes downtown. It was certainly worth the 20 minutes of trying to find a decent place to park. I saw Sarah Palin, 2 Burger King mascots, and countless people dressed as transvestites- though they may have actually been transvestites dressed as themselves, you can't tell in this town.

(Don't worry, I didn't get in someone's face to take a picture- this is from the internet, but since the mascot involves a mask, it looks just the same, but is even more disturbing in person.)

The Taco Stand was really good- they have homemade guacamole and really really good black beans- I'd recommend it if you're ever here!

Happy Halloween!

We started out today with another deer necropsy...this one ended up having an abscess on her spine that caused it to fracture- no wonder a hunter found her unable to get up...so, 2 deer cases from the past 2 days have been seemingly random non-infectious events (gunshot to the jaw and broken back)...who knew!

At lunch time, Gary (the semi-retired man that invited me for dinner Sunday) took me to eat lunch and showed me around town a bit. We at at The Grill downtown, and I had a great patty melt with huge crinkle cut fries. The Grill seems to be an Athens staple, and is open 24/7: www.thegrillathensga.com/


Mr. Gary Doster is a history buff, so he showed me the old Athens foundry, that is now the Melting Point (where my friend from Jackson, Patrick's, band will be playing next week). We also drove through the old cemetery where a member of the B-52s and an REM member are both buried, and where you can now buy a plot next to your favorite UGA athelete/celebrity: www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2008/09/26/gacemetery.html . That's a new one for me!

I'm not sure what my plans are tonight. I'll likely drive through the Five Points area after I leave school and maybe explore the "West Side" this evening. Though I've learned my way around downtown and much of the "East Side," I have yet to venture very far west. I may eat at the Taco Stand tonight...one of my teachers at MSU lived in Athens for a long time and said she loved it. I would like to do a tiny bit of people watching, since downtown Athens goes all-out for Halloween, and the Taco Stand would be a good spot for that since it is on Broad St. (the main drag separating campus and downtown).

Tomorrow, I plan to attend the Athens Farmers' Market first thing...I may even wake up semi-early for it! I've been on their newsletter e-mail list, and I've been looking forward to checking it out. I also want to go to Sandy Creek Park, which is on the north end of town. They have trails, a nature center, etc. The State Botanical Garden of Georgia is also supposed to be really nice, so I may go by there this weekend. I'll probably study somewhere in all of that too!

That is all for now!

Just another day in the necropsy room

Today was a pretty routine day at SCWDS. First thing this morning, we took a deer's front legs down to the vet school's radiology department and took some radiographs! She had very large sores on her wrists, and it looked like she had been walking on her wrists so we wanted to see if she had some foot problem that was causing her to do that. We also necropsied a deer head that had some abscesses, and a whole deer that we thought had Chronic Wasting Disease because her tongue had been hanging out and she was found by water, but it turns out that she had been shot through the lower jaw....that'll make you feel pretty bad too I guess!

After the necropsies, I walked around campus for my late lunch, eating as I walked. My goal was to find a road that I drove down the other day...a road that is right behind one of the football stadium end zones. I walked towards the stadium, but wasn't quite sure I was headed in the right direction, and was definately too stubborn to ask anyone where something as obvious as the stadium was....I finally found it! I hope the following pictures the scene justice:

Yes, this road that I'm walking down runs behind the jumbotron. I wonder if you can stand on the bridge during games? The stadium looked HUGE from this viewpoint.

"Sanford Stadium"
I guess this is where Joel would work if he were at UGA instead of MSU!

A typical campus view: the vet school area is on the left hand side of the road, and the basketball coliseum is in the background with the white roof.

The small animal hospital of the vet school.

I am assuming this is the first vet school building they built here. I think it mainly houses classes and labs- I haven't had a reason to go inside, but it is pretty on the outside. It sits between the teaching hospital (above) and the wildlife health building (below).

THIS is where it all goes down! This is the wildlife health building, home of SCWDS. The rest of the vet school is behind this building in this picture. The area where I set up camp is the left side of the building...an extra desk in the conference room!

I'm doing my first laundry in my Athens apartment tonight...if I'd known how TINY the washer and dryer are, I would have started earlier! But it is certainly nice to have them in the apartment instead of having to find a laundromat.

I know we have one deer to necropsy tomorrow, then I'm not sure what the plan is...it is Halloween, which I've heard is CRAZY in Athens. People dress up and go downtown and it is supposedly a sight to see!

Elephant Necropsy and Social Plans

Here is a quick rundown on Dottie the elephant: UGA did perform her necropsy yesterday afternoon and evening! She was brought in from Atlanta and wouldn't fit into the normal necropsy room. Tarps were put up to keep away onlookers, including Hispanic roofers that couldn't peel their eyes away. I'll spare you the gory details, but her unborn baby was removed and a separate necropsy was performed on the baby. I left around 7:30 p.m. and I don't think they finished everything until close to midnight...that is 9 hours of elephant necropsying (sp?). I haven't heard any word on a diagnosis, and it will likely be awhile before they know anything.

Today at work/school, things were slightly less exciting, but we did have some deer pieces sent in for Chronic Wasting Disease and Hemorrhagic Disease testing, and we necropsied 3 Puerto Rican Parrots, a very very endangered species. I got to perform one of them by myself! Tomorrow, we're supposed to necropsy 1 1/2 deer and we'll see from there!

After work/school today, I went for a quick run down the Heritage Trail of the Oconee River Greenway. I hope to explore more of the Greenway this weekend, as well as the State Botanical Gardens. I am eating chickpea and fire-roasted tomato soup right now, and I'm picking up my one friend in town in a few minutes to head to UGA's RUF

I think I have my first planned social outing! I got to talking to "Gary" this morning. He is the semi-retired employee here at SCWDS that works on the quarterly newsletters...we share an "office" (the conference room). He invited me to eat "chicken bog" with he and his wife and 2 other couples this Sunday evening. They're getting together to eat this local meal of chicken, rice, and sausage, and then watch the movie "Song of the South" that he keeps locked in his vault. It should make for a very interesting evening, especially considering his wife and the other 2 couples are Jehovah's witnesses. Keep in mind I'm excited about a social event with a couple that takes advantage of the "Free Soft Drinks for Seniors" discount at Taco Bell- their favorite restaurant...so, we'll see what transpires from this!

I didn't get a chance to take any new pictures today, so I will post a picture of something I hope to visit while I'm here: The Tree That Owns Itself

The Tree that Owns Itself is a large white oak (Quercus alba) at the corner of Dearing and Finley Streets. It is actually one grown from an acorn of the original Tree That Owns Itself, so-called because of a deed executed many years ago by Colonel W.H. Jackson: "For and in consideration of the great love I bear this tree and the great desire I have for its protection for all time, I convey entire possession of itself and the land within eight feet of it on all sides."

The Elephant

Pregnant Elephant Dies Suddenly At Zoo Atlanta

POSTED: 12:13 pm EDT October 28, 2008
UPDATED: 12:27 pm EDT October 28, 2008

ATLANTA, Ga. -- A 26-year old African elephant named Dottie has died at Zoo Atlanta. She was in the third trimester of her first pregnancy.
The elephant died Monday night.
“We are saddened by the sudden loss of Dottie. I know our veterinary and animal management team worked diligently to ensure she received the best care and treatment possible. This is especially sad for us because Dottie was pregnant with her first calf,” said Dennis Kelly, President and CEO. “We will miss her here at Zoo Atlanta.”
LINK: Zoo Atlanta

Zoo Atlanta officials noticed cloudy urine and decreased protein levels in Dottie's blood on Oct. 10. Eleven days later, she had lost nearly 800 pounds, which equaled about a tenth of her body weight. On Oct. 22, the veterinary team at the Zoo began giving antibiotics to fight off the unknown problem. Five days later, Dottie died.
Zoo Atlanta's veterinary team will perform a necropsy in conjunction with the the Department of Pathology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia to determine the cause of death.
Dottie was part of the first trio of African elephants that were brought to Zoo Atlanta in November 1986.

Possible Excitement to Come...

So, I may be watching an elephant necropsy in a little while...they supposedly take a really long time, so in case I'm MIA, I may be stuck inside an elephant. I'll update everyone on this when I can!

SCWDS and Starbucks

Today was my first day at work/school! I had a hard time waking up because it seems much darker at 6:30 am here than in Starkville- not sure if it is just me or the time zone thing.

So, I woke up, ate breakfast, had coffee, and headed out the door! Unfortunately what I thought was one school across the street is actually 2 schools across the street- and school starts at 7:45. After finally weaving through school buses, I made it a quarter of a mile down the street and realized I left my lunch. Weaved through school buses twice more and was finally on my way...after missing the turn onto Research Blvd!

The veterinary fraternity here (there are actually 2) has a house and they are letting me park next to the house- which I didn't realize is such a treat until I saw traffic this morning. The student parking on campus extends into the surrounding neighborhoods and you have to have permits to park on the street in front of private residences! So, I had a nice little walk from the car to the Wildlife Health Building which houses SCWDS. SCWDS is the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (www.scwds.org).

My first day was pretty uneventful- I got a tour of the labs and building, met some folks, got a key, and read articles about how to do a necropsy on an egg. I will mostly be helping with necropsies (animal autopsies) on wildlife, and Mondays are slow days for that since most animals are shipped in and won't get here on a Monday. It was still a good day though- I got to do some reading on the diseases that they study most (Avian Flu, Chronic Wasting Disease, Hemorrhagic Disease, etc.).

After "work," I parked the car on campus closer to the downtown area and walked the main part of campus and up and down the 3 main downtown streets, trying to figure out where everything is. Below are some of the pictures I took:

This is a view looking west on Broad St.- the main drag of downtown. Campus is on the south (left) and the rest of downtown is on the north (right).

I'm not sure how to turn this picture right side up, but this is "The Arch." I've always heard of Georgia's Arch, but I didn't realize it would be so small and unimpressive. But the campus is pretty!



I was standing on the edge of campus taking a picture and smelled the most wonderful smell- I realized I was standing under a tea olive!


Some views on campus: notice the mountains.hills (?) in the back of the first picture!
Lots of mopeds around here- and lots of moped parking!

When I left this house this morning, I didn't realize a cold front came through overnight and the wind was FRIGID walking around this afternoon! Needless to say, I was thrilled when I saw this:...So I got this: ...while sitting here...

Day 2 in Athens (Day 1 in the Apartment)

I finally decided that a blog would be the easiest way for everyone to keep updated on my month in Athens, rather than me send e-mails with huge picture files!

The posts may become a bit more sparse as I get settled in and Athens is less new to me, but for now you will more than likely get more info than you'd like.

Quick rundown: After a 6 hour drive (with only 1 pitstop and it wasn't at a Cracker Barrel) on Saturday, Oct. 25, I arrived in Athens. I drove up to 104 and looked for they key above the door of Apt. 3...after hearing a TV inside, I quickly realized that I was supposed to be at 103 #4! So I shamefully got back in the car and drove across the street. I probably should have just stayed at the first apartment, because the key left for me wouldn't even try to go in the lock.


The neighbor from NY helped me find the back door, and the key wouldn't work there either. Over 5 hours later with over 50 missed calls on the landlord's cell phone, I end up spending a restful night in the handicapped room at Hampton Inn, Athens. While eating my hot continental breakfast the next morning, my landlord called to inform me that the apartment was unlocked and ready.

Long story short...I moved everything in, made my 2nd run to the store and explored Athens in daylight. I made it back to the apartment in time to shower (without a shower curtain- now I know why they're a necessity) and attend the night service at Redeemer Presbyterian Church downtown (www.redeemathens.org). The church is in a old warehouse-type building with exposed beams and brick walls and they play great RUF hymns. It was nice to be in the midst of people again, and I met the RUF intern and a couple of other folks.

After church, I made ANOTHER trip to the store, and this time I remembered to get a shower curtain!

That was about it for my first weekend in Athens!

Apartment Photos: