The Cattle Drive forum is where the drivers get together to complain, uh rather, discuss their assignments and encourage each other. Thanks to the enthusiastic initiative of Johannes de Jong, you can keep track of your progress on the drive with the Assignment Log. If you're tough enough to get through the nitpicking, you'll start collecting moose heads at the Cattle Drive Hall of Fame.

Howdy, y'all. Glad to see that everyone made it through the holidays! Now it's time to take a look around and see where we are at the end of the beginning of the new year! (Kind of a state-of-the-drive address.)

The winter snows have diminished somewhat, but in places the drifts are still so high you could hide a full-grown giraffe, and elsewhere the rains have left mud so deep them poor doggies are practically swimming.

Despite the climatic unpleasantness, activity has picked up a little bit on the drive. We now have 14 drivers currently active, and everyone seems to be making headway.

Another moose on the wall for...
The most notable milestone this past month was reached by Greg Neef, who bagged his third moose for passing Servlets in stealth mode. Nearly went unnoticed! If it weren't for the sharp eyes of Michael Matola, we still might not know. Pauline McNamara came back from regions unknown, and is closing in on the end of JDBC. Good to see you, Pauline.

Jeremy Thornton and Kate Head are struggling up that sharp incline at the end of the Oop section of the trail. If they keep at it and the weather cooperates, they should be breaking through the pass and out into the broad plains of Servlet country pretty darn soon. Most of our drivers are scattered along this part of the trail. The terrain here is pretty spread out, and this part of the drive seems to swallow folks up for a while. Just keep an eye open, you're sure to see a few drivers along this stretch. Give 'em a nod and wish them luck!

And the intrepid souls who have just started out on the first leg of the drive are all making steady progress. A few folks have dropped out of sight, but once the rain stops and the periods of sunlight grow longer, I'm sure they'll be popping back into view. I know I'm longing for longer days and more time to roam on the ranch.

Michael has resumed the duty of updating the log, (thanks Michael!) after his holiday break, and I try to drop in as often as possible. Still waiting for the XML trail to open up so's I can get back to moving cattle.

Nitpicking is hard work too...
We know they're workin' reeeeeally hard, after all, we've seen what those assignments look like once the nitpickers have combed through 'em. Hats off to Marilyn deQueiroz, Pauline McNamara, and Jason Adam for their dedication and patience with the pesky vermin that always manage to make their way into those assignments.

Joinin' the Drive
You think ya got what it takes? You ready for some work and some good learnin'? Then pull up a stool and read up on Joinin' the Drive. Good luck!

Lookin' forward to seeing you out on the range! Keep your eyes on the trail, but don't forget to look up every now and again to enjoy the scenery!

Cattle Drive update by Carol Murphy