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This is a page for news in my personal life. Enjoy!
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10/14/08
Well the 2008 Bob pics are up. My next project is to get the last TWO journals typed up. Right now, I am in
Missoula hanging out. My fall plan includes tanning hides, cleaning skulls, building on some other projects and trying
to make a little side money with what I end up making. Also, I plan to start pushing my music a little more. Probably
I'll just be playing some open mic nights and what not. It should be a good one.
Just to let everyone know...soon there will be a hunting/taxidermy page up and running, it will also include an entire
page dedicated to one of my favorite pasttimes. Shed Hunting!
I hope everyone's summer went well. Good luck hunting to all of those hunters out there. Have a good one!
9/5/07
I hope everyone had a great summer! I broke in my new camera by taking over 750 pictures in the Bob. But don't
worry! You won't have to sit down and look through all of them. I whittled the pile down to about 140 keepers. I am
just starting the process of getting them online. The software I got with the new camera allows me to get the pics up
quicker. So it shouldn't take too long. There is no short cut for the journal, however, I'll try to get it typed up as quick
as I can. It probably won't be up until late fall. Have a good one!
3/9/07
I know this time of year is a definite lull for this site. But I wanted to let everybody know that I'm heading back to the
Bob for my spring break. I'll be volunteering to help with a snow survey, measuring snow depth and such.
I fixed some grammatical errors in my new journal from this last summer. On day 26, I did not make out with my
boss! Haha, I can't believe I messed up on that.
Instead of "we made out way through part of Outfitter’s Roost," we actually "made our way through part of
Outfitter’s Roost." So, just to clear that up.
OH, I HAVE SOME BIG NEWS.
I just bought a brand new camera. It is the Canon Rebel XTi. Compared to my Powershot A75 (The camera that
took all the pics on this site), the Xti is about 3x better. It should be incredible, so be prepared for some cool
photography. I'm hoping to be able to get more wildlife shots with the telephoto lens that I got.
But I'm not about to abandon my Powershot camera. It is great because it is small and I can have it ready at any
time. It usually hangs from my hip in a waterproof case when I'm in the wilderness.
Anyway, just thought I'd let you all know!
Have a good one!
2/14/07
Through my studies in recreation management and other trainings that I have attended, I've come to understand the
concept of wilderness. Some people may not agree with taking a digital camera into the wilderness and bringing
those images out into the "outside world."
My digital camera is the only "high tech" tool I use regularly back there. I have a GPS with me, but I learned how to
get around the Bob with a map and compass my first two years. The GPS is just for fun, NOT for actually navigating.
From my frontcountry experience: NEVER TRUST A GPS.
Nothing beats a map and compass.
I want to be clear that my intention behind bringing these pictures of wilderness to you is to stir up a sense of
appreciation for these wonderful places. If people appreciate an area, they begin to care about it. If they care about
it, they help to protect it. This is why I bring my experiences out of the wilderness and share them with you.
On a different note, I can't wait until my spring break! It turns out I'll be heading into the Bob to help out with one of
the annual snow surveys. Once again, I hope to get some pictures and a bit of journaling in while I'm back there. It'll
be my first time in the Bob in the off-season. It should be a blast.
1/13/06
Well, I finally got the journal from last summer completed. I know. That one took forever. It has some exciting days
in there as long as some interesting occurrences. I hope you all like it!
1/2/07
Happy New Year everyone! I am back in Missoula attending a wintersession class. I will finish the class with a
certification as a Interpretive Guide. You know, the guides that are in parks and stuff. I'll learn how to better describe
it tomorrow.
I collected about 20 hides of various species this season, mostly deer and antelope. I've already started on them, but
the freezing weather has been slowing me down. I am teaching my roommate how to tan.
My beetles can't clean skulls very efficiently when the temperature is low, so I built an insulated box for them. A
much bigger box.
12/3/06
Hey, just letting everybody now that in November I had over 600 visitors to my site. That number is based on unique
IP addresses, or individual computers. So, there is a low chance of a counting a repeat person to the site. Those are
all different people! Sweet! It is an Ayrek.com record!
11/14/06
Well I finally got fed up with all the spam I was getting over my Ayrek.com email address. They were using the
Contact Me page form to write me. So I got rid of that page and went back to the very basic email platform. I little
more inconvenient (unless you use Outlook express). If you don't, then just copy the address from the form that pops
up and paste it into your address bar in your mail system. Sorry about the inconvenience
11/13/06
I'm not exactly sure what is happening with the last few pictures on each pic page. They seem to overlap each other.
Maybe the last update for my site building program was messed up. I updated it so lets see if it still does it. If it does,
hitting refresh will fix it. I don't know why this happens I've tried everything.
11/7/06
The Bob Pictures are finally up!
So anyway, it is hunting season and I still haven't gotten anything. I spent last weekend down at my cousins place in
Stevensville and hunted with him. I saw some critters, but nothing shootable. I decided to get a doe tag this year.
Usually Whitetail does are as thick as flies, but they sure disappeared in a hell of a hurry. So, I'm heading to the farm
this weekend to try to fill my buck tag. Should be a good time...it always is.
Have a good one!
10/18/06
Alright, I put up the pictures that I had ready. Between school, work and other family things I have finally gotten
through about half of my pictures. So there are more to come!!! But you may have to wait awhile until some of my
school projects finally get wrapped up.
Have a good one everybody.
10/11/06
Finally I have gotten started sorting through my pictures from this last summer in the Bob. I'll be in Libby this coming
weekend so expect those pictures within a week or two. The journal will come much later. It takes a lot of time to sit
down and type up 100 days worth of journal entries.
I quit my janitor job at the library because of the late hours (9:00-12:30 at night). So now I am looking to tan some
hides for some money tog et me through the winter. So if anyone has hides that they need to get rid of....
Here are some guidlines to skinning in a way that makes for a nice hide.
1. Most importantly, DO NOT KNIFE THE HIDE OFF. Pull it off. and use a knife very minimally. Knife marks in
the body of the hide tear open into holes about 90% of the time.
2. Two holes or less is excellent. I'll still take hides with more holes for sure. Small holes preferably, but I won't be
picky at all.
3. If ya really wanna impress a tanner, skin the critter on the white lines. This means cut along the line where the
brown and white hair meet on the front and hind legs. This gets ride of narrow spots in the hide and makes it more
square. And also puts the thinner parts of the skin in more ideal spots. Check this link out to see what I mean:
http://www.braintan.com/articles/Billyskins/billyskins5.htm
To preserve hides until I can get them...Either throw them in the freezer in a double garbage bag. Or wet salt them by
dumping a bunch of salt on them then rolling them up. More details if ya need em. Please don't dry them!
Thank you anyone that can supply me. Email me and we will figure out how to get the hides from there to here. I
know I sound picky, but its the only way to make good buckskin. LATER.
4/4/06
Yeah, yeah I know. Its been forever since I've updated. I had to reformat my computer to fix a networking problem.
So that has had me very unorganized lately. But I finally got a few more pics up. And due to request, there is now a
spot to see what has been updated. Its on the front page in red. Since I last updated: I went back over to Melvin's to
tackle an elk hide. I also hung out with my relatives over in Helena. Then, Spring break came. I hung out in Libby the
whole time. Scott and his fiancée came up from Boise. I hadn't seen Scott in one and half years.
It was a good time. Relaxing too.
I'll be working in the Bob again this coming summer. I'll be doing noxious weed control, but I don't know where yet.
I'll keep ya updated.
Now, I just need to finish the school year.
2/24/06
Its my birthday and I am heading to Bozeman for the weekend. I put another page on the Bob section about my
parents trip in to see me last summer. Also there is an additional pictures in the Missoula Section and the From
Home/Highschool section. Later.
2/9/06
I finally have the details of my surgery up. You can access it from the main page.
1/30/06
IN my online searching I came across the journals of the two volunteers (Roy and Milo) from the
Telecommunications History Group, Inc. They came into the Bob last summer to repair the 75-100 year old cable
phone system. Just thought I would add the link to their story. So if you're interested, you can find it on the Bob page
under "Bob Links."
1/28/06
Alright, I'm having some issues with my contact pages, so bear with me. Yahoo has some loops in its webhosting
program. So that means that the emails that have been sent to me lately have been put into my Bulk folder and
deleted without me even knowing about them. So I'm sorry if I never got your email.
You can always contact me at eric@ayrek.com.
I also made a page for you to report errors on my site. Please take the time to do it if you find an error. I can't ever
seem to find all of them. But right now, of course, my contact pages are having problems including the report error
page. So once I get it all figured out, it should be good to go. Thanks.
1/27/06
I had to archive the guestbook because it had reached its limit on entries. So I put them on a page that can be
reached from right under the Veiw Guestbook link on the main page.
1/21/06
Well, here I am on the other side of Jaw surgery. I went in on the 18th and 2 hours later I was out and had a tube
stuck down my nose into my stomach. Let me tell ya, thats not a fun thing to wake up to, especially when it triggers,
your gag reflex after your jaw has been broken. So I have 4 screws in my bottom jaw and 15 screws and 4 plates in
my upper jaw. As of right now, I am still pretty numb and swollen. I look pretty good though for having surgery only
3 days ago. That is the beauty of having major surgery when you're still young. So recovery has been going really
well. I haven't felt too big of a lack of energy. Of course having a liquid meal every two hours helps that. But the pain
really isn't that bad, and if I think it is, I have plenty of codiene to make it go away.Because of the swelling, I still
don't look like myself, but I think when it is all over, I won't look that much different. I will still have a somewhat flat
profile but I will be able to eat better and talk clearer. So besides the that, I got two more deer hides from Joey's
family before surgery. I tried to get them to a decent stage to store them before I went under the knife, but didn't
quite make it. So I will just have to freeze them. If anyone wants to stay updated on my recovery, just email me.
HERE
1/3/06
Wow. Its been a while since I've written. So I've been hanging out at home since the 17th of December and really
haven't been doing much. I'm making a feeble attempt at gaining some last minute weight before I head into surgery.
But, I'm pretty sure my metabolism is still cranking away like it always does. I salvaged an elk hide from the city
dump and have been working on it off and on. It has gone really well so far. It has been hardly any trouble at all
except it weighing a hundred pounds when I pull it out of water when soaking.
It looks like I might be heading all the way down to Bozeman during those few days around the 10th to go try to sell
back some books, but that is a maybe. I might also be heading out with some friends to try and get some coyote
pelts. A guy in town is offering some cash for them. And if ya know me I can't kill something without tasting it. So I'll
let ya know how coyote tastes if our luck serves us well.
12/14/05
So Finals week is almost over and I'm getting ready to head home on Friday. My jaw surgery is scheduled for
January 18th in Missoula, so I'll be back down here on the 17th. Then Spring semester starts up on the 23rd. So I'll
probably still be in rough shape when classes start but oh well, I've handled worse things. Merry Christmas to
everyone, if I don't write again between now and then.
12/2/05
Well I got a page up about Missoula. I also split the From Home Page and added pics to both sections. And for
your convenience I made a site map so if you're trying to find something and ya don't remember how to get to it, you
can use the map. That was a good day project. I have finals week coming up, not next week but the week after. Not
looking forward to it, but I'll be glad to get done with it. I am regretting not picking up any deer hides this fall. I may
have to do some bartering to get something to tan. Anyway, have a good weekend, all.
11/28/05
I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Mine was pretty calm, just me and my parents. Kate was down with her
fiance Duane in Anaconda. I hung out with some friends and did some hunting. Saw a few deer, nothing I could
shoot (except the yearling that walked right by us.) So my tags remain unfilled for this season. No hard feelings, I
could have gotten my buck a few weeks ago. Anyway, if any of you were hunting I hope you had good luck. so now
I have a few more weeks, then Christmas Break! But there is one thing that stands between me and my month off...
FINALS WEEK!
11/22/05
Well, I didn't get anything hunting over at the farm. Although, I did see some very shootable bucks. So the hunting
portion of the site will have to wait. But I am planning to put up a page on what I've been doing around Missoula
(which hasn't been much, but anyway...) I have some good pics from earlier this fall from my trip to Glacier NP with
the SRA Group. And a few more from Libby. I think I will divide the From Home page into a section for pics from
Highschool and a section for more recent pics. Be patient with me getting this stuff up, lately I've been taken over by
a 3D animation program. (what? Mr. Outdoors is stuck on a computer?) Yeah. Once Christmas break comes
around I will get this site all updated. So there ya go. That's what has been happening.
11/9/05
I'm heading over to our farm to go hunting this weekend with my family. If I get enough pictures I might start to work
on a small page with hunting pics (this year's and last year's).
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