Just Rick (no ubis)  
These pages are designed with Netscape. If you are knuckling under to Microsoft rule, they won't look best.
This page first appeared  8/05/2000   last updated 09/26/2024  
If you've visited this page before, please reload.  It  may have changed since your last visit.
Click on the pictures on this page to see a larger image.
Shameless self promotion:
The picture below on the left  was taken 01/01/2000 at 1:19 am give or take a few minutes. Happy New Year!  
I had to work that night.  So, there I am at work, enjoying a wild new year's eve. Or not.  At any rate,  this is how I looked at the  turn of the century.  And, WHERE I worked is in the picture below on the right.
8/11/2021--I had been working at the place described above until the end of 2020. Now, I am retired. I'm leaving this bit here just for...historical value.
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Note 4/6/2018: A lot has changed in 18 years. The internet has become a major part of peoples' lives.  Ownership of digital rights has become a major issue. I've removed
most of the stuff that I'd had on my pages originally that I did not create. Also-over the 18 years-I've created a lot of my own material.  Plenty to look at here now.
Note 8/11/2021--and so here I am, dumping a lot of the text and links on this page. Some may be on my other pages. What I've been up to. Newer stuff on top.
08/11/2021--- I've been volunteering at Brazos Bend State Park for about 20 years. Most of the content on my other pages share many of my observations in Natural History. But I rarely have any
images of myself while making those observations.  So, here are a few pictures of me over the years at Brazos Bend State Park (for now--I might add more of me at other places later.)
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         Beginning volunteer!  October 2001                          Inside Nature Center  2001                                        My Alligator Program 2002                          Leading a hike on Elm Lake 2004 (photo by C. Duplant)

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           Inside Nature Center  2017                           Showing spider to visitors #1 2018(photo by J.Woodley)    Showing spider to visitors #2 2018(photo by J.Woodley)                         My Alligator Program   2018
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Trail Interpretation 40 Acre lake 2019 (photo M. Dillenbeck)
 
02/28/2007---In October of 2006 I took the NAI (National Association for Interpretation) course to become a Certified Interpretive Guide. I passed, but haven't kept up with it since (didn't do the
"continuing education", although I have always done Nature Interpretation in some form since childhood.) For our final grade, we had to give a 10-minute program, which was recorded on video.
I recieved a copy of my filmed program a few days ago. This is it, after a few edits to add the pictures that I show during the program. The clip has mediocre sound quality, but I'm still audible.
The file is about 167mb. It's about snapping turtles. So, if you'd like to see the program, click here(mp4). (I've since remastered the video a few times, with the last time being today 2/4/2023)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------------                                    --------RICK'S PROGRAM

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December 15, 2005--I've spent a few minutes here, and a few minutes there, trying to fly one of those Spinblade toy helicopters. If you want to see something kind of cool, click on the image below
 to see the page.
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October 10, 2004 The image below (MASHING!) shows me trying to use the ARGO to flatten more rice in 40 Acre Lake. Previous visitors to this page may recall that I've mentioned the 
ARGO before (see the entry for May 18, 2003 above) . Since then I've used the ARGO to flatten vegetation in various places throughout the park with success most of the time.  In fact, this
year I recieved an award (see AW, SHUCKS, below) from the park for my efforts (THANKS, FOLKS!).  Note(9/24/2024): The "rice" that I referred to so often in the past is actually
Giant Cutgrass, Zizaniopsis miliacea. It is not an actual "wild rice", but is commonly referred to as "rice".
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                                                                                                                                              MASHING!                                                                                                                                              AW, SHUCKS
On October 10th, I was able to get on the newly-repaired ARGO (good job, Ronnie!)(and *I* didn't break it) and make some more progress. This time, by pure chance, a friend of mine from
long ago (over 20 years ago) happened to be in the park, and was nice enough to take some pictures and a few video clips with her camera while I was working. (Thanks, Darla!).  So, with
the pictures, I can show how I use this tool. It isn't easy. The picture below are single frames from each of the clips. The ARGO seems to be popular among visitors at the park, so I don't feel
too guilty about using it during the weekend. They'll usually ask questions about the ARGO, and about what I'm doing. As those who know me can attest--don't get me started talking about 
our park. The ARGO floats well, but doesn't propel itself well once it loses traction. If I go too far out, I may not be able to get back in. If I lose traction, I may have to throw a grappling hook or 
an anchor, catch something, and then pull myself back until I get traction. If I can, I will tie off to a stationary object, and then drive into the rice. When I get stuck, I have to pull myself out. The 
ARGO weighs about 1000 lbs. (according to the user's manual I downloaded, the ARGO Conquest (CB) has a dry weight of 465kg (1025 lbs)) but fortunately it's floating.  Still, it can be tiring
doing this time after time-especially in 98-plus degree temperatures. (See PULLING MYSELF OUT, and PULLING BACKWARDS, below.)  Also, note that I'm wearing safety glasses, and
gloves. The rice is a sawgrass, and can slice the hell out of you (and me). I don't suppose a strand of that stuff raking across my eyes 
would feel very good. UPDATE 4/6/2018 14 years later, I've added more (larger) pictures and resized the video clips. I've merged the short clips shown below into 2 bigger clips.
UPDATE 9/25/2024 20 years later, I've resized the video clips. I've merged the short clips shown below into 2 bigger clips.
Those clips are:  ARGO CLIPS 2004 part 1 mp4  ARGO CLIPS 2004 part 2 mp4
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                         PULLING MYSELF OUT                                                                          PULLING BACKWARDS                                                                        MASHING THE RICE                                                                    MAKING ANOTHER PASS
                                 VIDEO CLIP 1 (984KB flv)                                                                            VIDEO CLIP 2 (903KB flv)                                                                       VIDEO CLIP 3 (721KB flv)                                                                      VIDEO CLIP 4 (404KB flv)        

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                                   AND ANOTHER ONE
                                VIDEO CLIP  5 (307KB flv)

     

The ARGO does have a winch on the front, but it is difficult to use because it doesn't take up the slack as fast as I need it to. Also, I'd have to back into the water, and I'd lose the crushing weight
that the engine adds.  The RICKUBISCAM image shows me backing into the rice, with the winch tied off to  a tree. I've reached the edge of traction, and I'm spinning the treads, but the ARGO
isn't moving any further. I've still got slack in the winch line.
I discovered that the ARGO has bad deepwater handling the hard way, in Elm Lake, when I sat in the middle for about 30 minutes. I slowly spun one way, then the other, until I was able to slowly
move close enough to the bank to jump into the water, wade in, and tie the winch line climb back onto the ARGO and pull myself in. Remember, I work for the park, and I've also studied alligator
behavior, so I know what I'm doing. DO NOT EVER GO INTO THE WATER AT BRAZOS BEND STATE PARK!
During the time in Elm Lake before I got out, a number of park visitors watched me.
"Are you stuck?", they'd ask. I felt dumb enough for being in that situation. I certainly wasn't going to admit it. So, I said I was...um...testing it. Yeah! That's the ticket. I was "testing the handling 
characteristics in deep water". Yeah, that's it....  I got stuck a few more times that day, and finally allowed some park visitors to help (with very careful warnings and with utmost safety in mind, 
of course). Boy, did they get a kick out of THAT! I found out later that a number of the visitors couldn't wait to burst into the VC/NC and talk about how they had to pull a ranger and his 
"funny-looking truck" out of the lake.  Oh, yeah. I heard a LOT about that. At least they didn't say "funny looking ranger in a funny-looking truck".
Anyway, after I discover how far I can go before I lose traction, I move parallel to the bank, and flatten what I can without getting stuck. This requires multiple passes, and I use the treads to tear
the rice stalks (see the other images above and below). Look at how tall that rice is, especially in A LONGER PASS, and RUNNING OUT OF TRACTION, below.
I try to do this when water levels are low. Then, when the water returns, hopefully it is deep enough to prevent the rice from growing back.  When I catch this just right, the rice stays clear (and 
we can see the water) for many weeks. One of the things I like best about this method is that I'm not using any herbicide.
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                                A LONGER PASS                                                            RUNNING OUT OF TRACTION                                     
                        VIDEO CLIP 6 (1023KB flv)                                                                VIDEO CLIP 7 (678KB flv)

June 1, 2003 (posted this 9/26/2024) It was 3 weeks after I'd been allowed to use the ARGO. I know I used it 5/26/03 (I've got images), and I used it on this day. Today, I was working
 on the North side of Elm Lake. For a change, I left the time and date stamp working on the video, so I know when it happened. I filmed about 15 minutes' of work. It shows one method
I used with the ARGO. From what I can remember, this was shot with video tape. Back then, if I wanted to digitize video, I had to use a video capture card, or something similar, and the
 best resolution I could afford to make was 352 x 240 at about 2048 kbps. This video has been reformatted larger, and with the best resolution I can afford to make it. Sorry.  The images
below are frames from the video. Compare 1 and 2 to see the clearance.  Note(9/26/2024): I was working close to where the Elm Lake Observation Platform is now (it was built in 2011).
    

May 13, 2003 (posted this 9/25/2024) I was checked out on using the ARGO on May 12, so I experimented with using it to control the "rice". This is part of an email I sent:
" First, I'd like to say 'thank you very much' to D., for the information and help he extended. We took a ride around the lakes and examined the rice growth.
He also showed me how to use the argo."  "Anyway, I took the argo out to Elm Lake and did some experimenting. I found two ways to use it ( a good way
and a bad way--see attached images). The good way works quite well for me, and I safely cleared one of the spots that J. and I had done on Elm Lake before.
I did my first attack right in front of the bathrooms. First the 'bad' way, and then the 'good' way. Through a combination of luck and skill, I was able to fix it so
none of y'all found me still floating out there in the middle--in the ARGO--today. Yep, I got wet. Laugh away--I did afterwards. I'm glad no one came by with a
camera or camcorder, though."   Note(9/26/2024): The "rice" that I referred to so often in the past is actually Giant Cutgrass, Zizaniopsis miliacea. It is not
 an actual "wild rice", but is commonly referred to as "rice".
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October 04, 2003  About 50 miles south of Houston is the town of Lake Jackson.  Among the many streets in this town is one named "THIS WAY" and another named "THAT WAY".  That just 
about says it all, doesn't it (see WHICH WAY?, above).
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                                                                     WHICH WAY SHOULD I GO?
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May 18, 2003  Later, near 2 o'clock,  I got some herbicide and an interesting tracked vehicle which we call the "ARGO".  The picture below (ARGONAUT!) me sitting in it. 
Click here to see a short clip (flv video 378kb) of me driving it.  The Argo makes an excellent moving platform for cutting down wild rice.

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                       TAKING A BREAK                                                                   IT'S ME!                                                                   ARGONAUT!

May 29, 2003  I just thought I'd surprise some of y'all.  The picture above (IT'S ME) was from part of a  3D model I made. These links should take you to a couple flv video
 clips that I made from my talking head. (rikspike1.flv 687kb; rikspike2.flv 579kb). 


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                                                                                                         MY BRAIN
The image, MY BRAIN, above, taken 05/26/2002, shows me preparing to do an alligator video interpretive program at the park.

Click here to see pictures of some shirts I've designed.

Click here to get back to the welcome page.

All animated gifs on these pages were created by:Richard Dashnau. If you like them, email me and let me know.
If you didn't like them, I don't really care.