Lookout airways. . .

I get to fly, I get to fly, I get to fly. . . .

That's me being extremely excited and jumping up and down inside. I was talking about flying with one of the guests that just arrived and I told him I had considered getting my pilot's license in the past but wasn't able to do it. He asked if I had ever been in a small plane and when I said no he said he'd be glad to take me up! woooohoooooooOO!!! He's part of the 6 man party that flew up in two small planes from California, so he's got a little plane here at the Soldotna airport.

Oh man, you have no idea how excited I am. I actually get to fly the plane while up there, too. Now we just need a nice day within the next week and I'll be all set.

Minnesota Mantown

I finally figured out what the deal was with the Nestles booking. I was confused because it was booked for 4, but I kept seeing different people at different times. I was really wondering if I was starting to lose my mind or something. Turns out Nestles sent some guys on a fishing trip as a pat on the back and they had a big pow-wow here one night. After the pow-wow, the Nestles guys couldn't stay for the remainder of the trip because something came up. The boss, however, could stay, and he did. He also called his Father, Stepfather and Uncle and told them to come on up to do some fishing for a few days in Alaska because the cabin was paid for anyways, so why not? They were all from Oregon.

The uncle made me laugh because he was sort of incoherent. I was sitting at their table figuring out their bill and he was the only other one in there at the moment, sitting in a chair across the room. He said something I didn't hear, so I replied, "what was that?" and he looked confused that I was asking him what he said. We had one of those awkward exchanges where we What-ed eachother back and forth until I finally said, "I thought you were talking to me, but I didn't hear what you said, so I was just asking you to repeat. . ." His reply was, "I was talking just now?" He was genuinely surprised that he had just been talking. oooooookay then. He was a little odd, but all in all he meant well.

Right now the party animals from Minnesota are sitting by the fire. It's a family trip for the men of the family. The Grandfather, his three sons and two of their kids (The kids aren't little kids, though, they're probably 20 at the youngest). The Grandfather definitely has a favorite Grandkid, though! I see them rolling together often. The other day they knocked on my door just to chat, which was colorful. They're a bit crude, but I kinda like it. They actually remind me of a sector of my own family which I thoroughly enjoy. The grandfather definitely qualifies as a dirty old man, but nothing I can't handle. The other day one of his sons was over asking me about the grill and the grandfather saw from across the way that he was talking to me so he said, "hey! That's my girlfriend!" Yesterday he said, "I like the way those pants are fitting. . ." I gave him a dirty look and shot back, "You're a dirty old man." What a way to talk to a guest, right? His sons got a kick out of that one. They told me I'm absolutely correct and also gave me permission to smack him if I'm so inclined the next time he says something. He's all talk.
Don't worry, all you high anxiety parties out there that are worried about my safety - If he isn't all talk, I'll douse him with pepper spray in a heartbeat!

Bubba Gump. . . Salmon?

You know that scene in Forrest Gump where Bubba is telling Forrest all the ways you can prepare shrimp? That's how I feel about Salmon here. These days I constantly feel like I'm in a movie of some sort. In the past week I've come into contact with (haven't eaten all of it, thank you very much) Salmon spread(eww), Salmon Dip(eww), Smoked salmon, salmon with butter and dill, salmon with spinach feta and sundried tomatoes, salmon with coconut batter crust, blackened salmon, salmon pasta salad (eww), and one other type I can't remember the preparation for. I mean, really, people?! I realize this is the salmon fishing capital of the world, but can we calm down a bit? With all the salmon I've seen I'm actually somewhat surprised there isn't a large group here that doesn't like salmon because they're just plain sick of it.

I do have to say, though, that the salmon with feta, sundried tomato and spinach was delicious. I was told it was blue cheese when it was given to me, but that was a lie. I was happy it was feta. Very delicious, which I was a little surprised by because I've been quite limited in my salmon experimentation in the past.

That said, I'm thinking of making some salmon using some ginger I have tonight. Deeeeeelicious. The super fresh salmon here is really just so good. Not a trace of fishy taste at all, it's more meaty. It's possible to get fresh salmon elsewhere, but it's usually frozen, etc. I think the key difference goes beyond freshness, actually. One of the fishermen here was talking about one particularly nice salmon he caught that he'll cook and then some others whose coloring wasn't as great so he would end up smoking those. The guys here catch so many fish that they just pick and choose which they want to keep based on quality, which makes for some damned good eatin'!

Kayak.com to the rescue!

This is a little update in regards to my previous post about Cheaptickets.com

The airfare I found on Cheaptickets.com that turned out to be crap, I initially found on and was referred by Kayak.com. They have a little blurb on their website that says if you find a possible bait and switch situation, they'd like you to report it to them because they're working on making their site as accurate as possible and they can only be as accurate as the other sites they search. (For the unfamiliar, Kayak.com doesn't sell airfare, they just search most of the other travel sites at once then when you click on the fare you want it'll take you to the site that's selling it. They also have better search features than other travel sites). Pretty much you tell them and they get on the jerky sites' asses!

I clicked the button to report the problem to Kayak and then afterwards proceeded to contact Cheaptickets because I thought what they were doing was scummy and they should know it. I got a reply from Kayak today and it was actually from a real person who was genuinely interested in getting to the bottom of it. Her name was Karen. She also gave me the email address and phone number for Cheaptickets customer service in case I wanted to go that route. I replied that I had actually already contacted them and even sent all of my correspondence to her. I figured it couldn't hurt because in there they tell me they're looking into the issue, so that way when Kayak contacts them they can't act like it's news to them that there's been a problem. She said in her email to me that the Kayak engineers frequently get on the phone with airlines and travel sites to get to the bottom of these issues and that she'd pass the info I gave her on to them. She actually also asked a few more questions about the issue, and I could tell she had read my entire email by the things she was asking (wasn't fully expecting her to, I've gone back and forth with Cheaptickets more than a few times, which makes for a lot of reading).

It's refreshing to have human contact when dealing with a substantial company. I mean, they actually care. I've not recieved one scripted line or brush off from them, which is something else! I was really just informing them of something they had asked to be informed of and wasn't expecting to hear much more about it. I'm getting from Kayak what I was hoping to get from Cheaptickets.

Thank you, Karen from Kayak.com
(And, hello, BillO. I'm the nerdy girl from Massachusetts)

avoid Cheaptickets.com

Cheaptickets.com is exceptionally stupid. I thought I finally found a reasonable flight to Austria so I clicked on it with the intention of buying. Once I clicked a screen came up telling me it was "confirming my fare and flight details." When it was done the flight had magically jumped hundreds of dollars! That's just not okay. It came along with a message telling me:

We're sorry. Due to changes in airline availability, the fare for your selected trip is no longer available. We have adjusted the fares for all affected flights. The fare for your selected trip is now $ 877 total. See below. (Message 1048)

I checked in their FAQs and it says this:

During the time between your flight search and purchase, the airline may have changed the fare or the fare may have sold out. Airfares change throughout the day, based on demand for the flight and the airlines' right to modify them at any time.

CheapTickets monitors these changes closely and makes every effort to keep our fare displays as current as possible. Sometimes the fare difference is the result of a technical issue. In that case, clicking "Select" will display the most up-to-date fare.

That's nice. Just the fact that it's in the FAQs means it probably happens more than it should! I don't know, I just find this ridiculous. The first excuse is null and void because I searched for the airfare several times, so it wasn't like it sold out or changed in the time it took me to press the Buy button after searching. If it happens more than once, it's an issue. The second excuse is dumb, too, because if they were monitoring closely, their system probably should have picked up on the fact that the price for this flight had changed and it should have corrected the information. This same flight has been doing the same thing for days now! C'mon, you can't be making every effort to keep the fares as current as possible if something is happening for this long.

It seems odd to me that the only time they can show me the up-to-date fare is when I click on the button to buy the ticket. So if I want any accurate prices I'm expected to click on all the fares? What a waste of time. This just makes me think they're doing a bait and switch! Think about a person researching airfares who is checking out all the sites they can before settling on a fare. They'll undoubtedly find that Cheaptickets.com has the cheapest fare (because the fares they show don't even exist!) so they'll come back to that ticket in the end and just assume they waited too long and now the price went up, when in reality Cheaptickets never had the cheapest price! Chances are they'll buy it there anyways because it's probably the same as all the other prices and they're there and all set to buy anyways. So wrong.

I emailed them to tell them about their little problem and how I feel about it. It's actually turned out to be quite a correspondence I've got going with them. In their last reply they told me that I should call the hotline instead of emailing because of the "intricate nature" of my question. I don't know, I think it's a pretty simple question. Why aren't the prices on your site correct, and why have the same exact ones been wrong for several days now? That's fair, right? I'm assuming they want me to call the hotline so that I'm not wasting their time replying to their emails about the same topic over and over. I hate having my time wasted with the same problem over and over, too, Cheaptickets.com! If they only knew who they're dealing with. They basically just invited me to email them all day every day and waste their time in return for wasting mine. I haven't sunk that low, yet, though. It really isn't that big of a deal, but it just seems sleazy to me what they're doing and getting away with.

I'm also a bit more mad than I would have been because the very first reply to my issue gave the usual scripted apology, which I expected, but then they tried to SELL ME their services in the next breath. That's horrible customer serivce, that is. Why would I want to register for one of your crappy services if you can't get the very essence of an airline search right? The price, dumbass! The reply I got spent just as much time explaining this newfangled service as it did addressing my issue. Wow, what nerve.

I made out like a bandit

I let the Nestles guys leave their stuff here later than checkout time because they had a fly out fishing trip and there wasn't anyone checking in to that cabin yesterday or today. When they got back they were really funny. Those boys enjoy partying. It actually turns out that only one of them works for Nestles, so maybe it wasn't really a company trip. I still don't get it. It was the Nestles guy, his dad and two other older guys who I think were friends of the dad.

They left a TON of groceries and told me I could have them. It's mostly junk food, but I'm actually very excited because when I was moving their stuff I had my eye on these mini cakey donuts that had powdered sugar frosting on them. I really wanted one, but I wasn't about to eat their food. That's just wrong. Now I get my donuts!! I'm sure they may have considered bringing the food with them if they didn't have so much salmon to bring home. One of the guys actually left some of his clothes behind because salmon is apparently more important than them. haha!

Before they left I asked if he had any more coffeemate coupons because I got the shaft. He said ". . . aaaaactually. . . " and waved me over to the car where he gave me a GIANT stack of them. He's the boss so he gets all the coupons, apparently. I'm pretty much set for a few years with coffeemate. He also gave me some Nestles Quik coupons. I'm told, as well, that Jamba juice will be available in our grocery stores by next year. Alrighty then.

I'm still laughing that getting the salmon home is more important than clothes. I poked fun at him about it and he said he actually does it all the time on fishing trips. So funny. He actually left waders in there, too, which can be expensive, so that's kinda cool. Now I have my very own pair of waders down here. Frenchy isn't a fan about lending them out because if you get one hole in them they're toast, and they're also a bit expensive. Understandable.

So, I walked away with some salmon, waders, lots of coupons, delicious donuts I've had my eye on all week and some other junk food. Not bad.

Bathroom reading material

Oh, wait, one more thing. My favorite part of moving their stuff from one cabin to the next was their bathroom reading material. Penthouse! Later on one of them apologized for the magazine and I told him not to worry about it at all, I actually read about how guys are supposed to try to meet me and pick me up. He laughed. . . then asked if the article had any good pointers. haha! I really only read the first paragraph, because I was busy, but I thought it might be a funny read. I only got through step 1, which said to go to a coffee house and immediately ask a girl if she's single. I disagree with that theory. If a guy asks me if I'm single before even saying hello, I'm immediately on my guard. That tells me he knows absolutely nothing about me except that he likes my ass (insert any body part. . . legs, chest, etc.) and would really like the chance to get to know it better. I mean, really, a few seconds of dialog could prevent the guard from going up instantly. Even just pleasant small talk reveals some personality and character almost instantly.

Bathroom reading material in general cracks me up. I don't read in the bathroom, so I don't fully get it. I mean, penthouse in the bathroom is a whole different ballgame, and we're not gonna go there. Reading in the loo while you're sitting on the commode is just funny to me. Maybe it's because I have ADD, but I can't fathom doing both at once. Eh, probably just me.

Nestle makes the very best. . . coupons

I've been a big mess this weekend. The day after my wisdom tooth trouble began I had to changeover 2 cabins and get them ready for arrivals, which means a very full day. That was NOT fun at all. I was all woozey from the pain pills and the antibiotics were making me nauseous. The unfortunate part was that I had to move a whole bunch of stuff, too. There was a group of guys in Bear cabin that had to move to King Salmon cabin for their last night here because they wanted a bigger cabin, but there was a conflict on the last day of their stay so they agreed to move to the smaller cabin for that last night when they initially made the reservation. Frenchy told me to have them move an extra twin bed over there so they had enough beds. Uhhhh, I don't think so. I'm not going to make guests move a bed so that they have a place to sleep. These people are on VACATION, and should be treated as such!

The other issue was that there were people in King Salmon that would be checking out the day that the guys had to move in. Checkout is at 11am and the guys are usually off fishing really early in the morning and get back late. There were also guests arriving to the cabin they were vacating, and checkin time is at 3pm. There wasn't anything I could do but move all of their stuff over to the new cabin for them because they'd be gone in that window of opportunity between 11am and 3pm. To be honest, I probably would have done it even if there wasn't such a time crunch and they weren't off fishing through it. They're GUESTS. It sucks that they had to move to a new cabin partway through their stay, so I'd like to make it easier on them if at all possible! They had a LOT of stuff. Ed helped move the heavy stuff, which was a huge help. They had a lot of food and fishing gear with them, so it was just a lot of little stuff after that. Ed and Jeff (kid helping guys out with cabin) moved a rollaway bed into the cabin for me, too. It's nice to have helpful guys around. I'm glad this cabin is being built now! It would have taken me an awfully long time to move all of that luggage and that rollaway into the cabin on my own.

That group of guys was from Nestle and one was from Pierce Cartwright, Co. - I'm not 100% sure what the connection was. One is the agent or something. . . either way, it was a company trip. One of them saw coffeemate in one of the cabins and mentioned that they sell it. Of course Kevin asked if that means he has lots of free coffeemate to give us! He actually said he'd bring over a bunch of manufacturers coupons, too. I found out the next day that he did, in fact, bring over the coupons but Frenchy took all but two of them, which Kevin had to work to get from her. SHE DOESN'T EVEN DRINK COFFEE!! What the HELL!?!? I'm the one working my butt off, here, (Ed, too) moving all of their stuff and trying to make their stay pleasant and, meanwhile, I'm all doped up on narcotics that make me woozey and antibiotics that make me nauseous. JEESH! I am not feeling the love, here.

It may sound silly, but in the future if I'm looking to buy creamer I'll probably be getting coffeemate over international delight. These guys have been great here and when I come across good people and then find out they sell something, I'll be a lot more likely to buy it in the future. I pick up a flavored creamer on occasion and I've never had any preference between the big two brands - it was always about which flavor sounded the most interesting to me at the time.

Alright, I have to call it quits, I've complained enough. Also, if I sit for too long I start to doze off. I'm assuming it's the pills, but it's still ridiculous because I slept from 3am-noon last night (right through my 9am dose of pills, which means the pain is back). The antibiotics are finally taking care of the swelling, but it was looking pretty bad there for a few days. The doc said that the antibiotics might make it swell more before it gets better and that was certainly the case. My cheek was so swollen it gave me a black eye! It's just the beginning stages of the black eye, so I still have hope that it won't be too pronounced. Oye.

Okay, now I'm done complaining.

Chainsaw carving place

I forgot to post this picture, I think. I just thought this table was so neat. As usual, much better if you click on the picture so you can see a larger size with detail. It was at the chainsaw carving place down the street. They had a chainsaw carving competition down there last week and the stuff the people came up with is amazing. I'll have to go down there and take some pictures.
Diamond willow and burl logs are really popular here. I'll also have to take pictures of that stuff.

Wisdom teeth?!?! Try HELL teeth!

One of my wisdom teeth has decided to rear its ugly head.  I had a bad headache yesterday and this morning at 3am I woke up to some serious pain.  I took advil, but it didn't do a thing.  I called an area dentist and they can't take me until monday morning.  ahhh!  The fun part is that my face is swelling because of it, so I look like a one-sided chipmunk.  I was surprised that they wouldn't take me in my current condition.  Isn't it usually dangeous if your face is swelling??  I mean, with the close proximity to so many important structures and everything, it just seems like a bad situation.  I asked them if it's safe to wait until monday and they said to just take advil and I'd be fine.  I don't believe them.  The swelling got worse and worse as the day went on so I went to the doctor to get some antibiotics to get started before I go to the dentist because I'm told they won't treat you if you're too swollen - they'll prescribe antibiotics for a week and then treat you.  I'm not willing to wait that long.  Plus, once again, I don't trust that it would have been okay to wait until monday to start any sort of treatment.  I don't always like my face and my eyes and my brain, but I think I'd like to keep them, thank you.

I just went to a place around the corner and the NP there was extremely helpful.  I called ahead to see if she could prescribe me something and she told me yes and to head over.  When I walked in the door she looked at my face and said, "you're the one that called. . ."   When she went to take my vitals she was surprised to find that my blood pressure was 80/40.  I was dizzy as hell, too, so I laid down for a while.  It was staying at a constant for a while so she wasn't going to let me go without sending me to the hospital; a plan I wasn't a fan of.  I didn't have a fever (probably care of advil) and my heart rate was okay so I wasn't going into shock or anything.  We figured I was having trouble because I hadn't really eaten anything the whole day (I spent a good part of the day drugged, making up sleep missed during the night).  She gave me hot cider and a peanut butter sandwich, which seemingly did the trick because my BP went back up to the usual 100/60, which is low to start with, really.  Phew.  She also gave me a shot in my butt.  I don't remember the name, but it was pretty much liquid advil.  I don't think I've ever had a shot in my butt before.  What fun I've been missing.  It feels like someone kicked me in the backside.

So, I'm pretty much a mess.  I love dental bills!  They're so awesomely expensive!  All around good times here!  I can't wait until tomorrow when I get to talk to guests with my giant chipmunk cheek.  My favorite comment so far was when Kevin said to take a good look in the mirror, because the left side of my face is what I'll look like pregnant.  This was before the swelling got really bad, but it was still pronounced.  Who knew an impacted wisdom tooth had such great birth control potential?

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

It's been raining for days here, and very steadily.  Our dirt roads are a MESS because of it.  You know how if you hum or talk while going over something bumpy it makes your voice do funny things?  Like if someone pats your back while you're going 'ahhhhhhhhhh' (the 'open wide' ahhh, not the screaming ahhh).  That's about the only perk of our road right now.  I was in the truck with the kid that's working with the guys to help build the cabins and he now thinks I'm nuts because I showed him how fun the horrible roads are with my voice trick.  Eh, at least I have fun. 

One other horrible thing about this rain is that it's been screwing with our internet connection.  Everyone has to reload a page 5-6 times to get it to load properly.  I've reset the internet a bunch of times, which seems to help for a few minutes, but I can't keep doing that.  The modem is actually in one of the guest cabins, which I'm not happy about.  The reason it's stupid is because the main phone line goes to that cabin, which means there are three things I don't have access to:
1. The base phone.  This is trouble, as one guest demonstrated when she unplugged the phone and plugged it into her computer thinking it would give her internet.  Innocent enough mistake, but none of the other phones worked on the grounds because they're all portables that feed back to that one base phone and I couldn't fix it because it was an awkward time to be bothering a guest.
2. The internet.  If it goes out, I run the risk of not being able to fix it so as not to bother a guest.  There is also, once again, too much room for a guest to uplug something etc.  This actually happened once, too.  The power strip was unplugged to allow for something of theirs that needed to be plugged in, which meant both the phone and internet were out.  This was great because I had ZERO contact with Frenchy that way.  the landline and internet are our lifelines because I get no cell reception here. 
3. The credit card machine.  It has to be plugged into the phone jack. . . which is in a guest cabin.  Stupid!  I shouldn't have to bother a guest to use their cabin while I run other people's credit cards.  That's just plain old ridiculous.  The other day it kicked me in the butt a little bit, too, which I wasn't happy about.

I've asked that the line be run into my cabin so I have a jack, too.  This wouldn't take much, either.  I'm about 6 feet from the main cabin and where I'm closest to the cabin is actually where the phone line is in there!  Outdoor wire seems to me to be the extent of the fix.  We've also got an electrician here regularly for the wiring of the new cabin.  So far I've been told No, it's not happening, because it's only an issue for a little over a month.  I haven't presented my reasoning, as above, so hopefully I'll make some headway when I do.  I'm a little frustrated by the executive decision-maker because I rarely get through when I do make my case.  Okay, so now I'm just complaining, but I got really mad yesterday.  She was down here and within 2 minutes I was already pissed because right away two things happened.  1. I was told not to refer to my shack as 'spider cabin' in front of guests.  I wasn't told, but I was given the sly don't-do-that-again look when I said it with a guest present.  Puhleeze, they can see it's practically a shed.  Since when do sheds not have spiders?  Since when does any dwelling not have a few spiders?!  How do people know I'm not calling it Spider cabin because I have a spider fetish and keep them as pets and decided to name my own little cabin after them?  The other cabins are Moose, Bear, and King Salmon.  I'm following the theme of the woods, here!  It's not like I'm saying the other cabins are full of spiders!  Plus, We're in the woods.  If you don't expect to see spiders in the woods, you've got issues.  I mean, it's not okay to name my shack Spider cabin, but it's okay for me to expect guests to move to a new, smaller cabin for the last 2 nights of their stay and while I'm at it make THEM move an entire twin bed over there for themselves because there aren't enough beds over there for them, and all because of Scheduling issues (more on that later)?!?!?!  Let's get our priorities straight, here!  That Spider cabin thing was a minorly maddening event, because I can partially see why she might be paranoid of giving people the wrong idea, but that was just the start.  The #2 reason I'm mad is because scheduling has been a big mess, which has caused several issues, but I'll just give one example here.  Check-in time is 3pm, checkout is 11am.  I don't think the guests are being told this when they make reservations, which makes my life hell, in addition to making even having check-in and checkout times utterly pointless.  yesterday some guests arrived at 10am!  That's TOO EARLY!  It's not fun to have to tell someone they can't check in, and it's not good business, either!  I told her how early they came and her response was that I "should always be ready for guests, no matter what."  HOW CAN I POSSIBLY BE READY FOR THEM IF THE PREVIOUS GUESTS HAVEN'T CHECKED OUT?!?!?!?!  Not gonna pin the blame on me for this one!  Okay, I'm done ranting.  I apologize, I'm witchy right now.  I fell asleep at 12:30am and woke up at 3:30am with a horrible headache and that's all the sleep I got and I still have the headache (4 hours, 2 advil and 2 excedrine later. . .)

One final note.  Because the internet is so stupid, navigating several pages to do a blog entry has become too much so I'm piloting emailed blog entries.  It's possible to set it up to basically write an email to your blog and it'll automatically be published.  This will be the first time and I probably won't be able to see if it publishes correctly because getting my email to function is work enough, nevermind getting to a blog page!  If there are any problems, Sorry, and I'll fix it later!

Small town Trapper

The small town aspects of this place are starting to show. . .
A son of a Spenard Builder's Supply (SBS) employee was hired to help out with the new cabin. He's been helping hang drywall and do other things around. He and I went to the dump (He can't drive yet) and on the way back we were talking about the music in the area. Turns out he has similar taste in music so we were talking about the selection of stations here. I told him I've only found ONE station that's tolerable. I told him which one and it turns out that someone he knows of is the morning DJ - someone by the name of Trapper. When I commented, he said that Trapper isn't actually the kid's name and when he said that it pinged something in me. Turns out it's the same Guy that works at The Crossing that Frenchy and I saw just standing out front, practically in the parking lot, with a podium.

I don't think I went into much detail about it. On the way into the restaurant we asked him what he was doing and he told us he was security, but in a joking tone. We never did find out exactly what his real purpose was. On the way out of the restaurant Frenchy went to get the car while I went to the bathroom. When I came out she was just getting to the car, which was all of 15 feet away. I asked her what she was up to and she told me she was talking to the 'security guard,' and was excited to tell me his name was Trapper and that he didn't know his real name because everyone has called him Trapper for so long. I asked her what his last name is because the last name can make or break the first name sometimes (Bruce Bustamante, Ray Chumley. . . both great names). She didn't know so she pulled up to him on the way out and made me ask. Normally I would just go about my merry way and not ask such a question, but not when Frenchy's involved! He told us his last name and it didn't really fit with Trapper as well as I was hoping it would, so I asked him his real name. He told me the same thing he told her so I just repeated, "so, what's your real name?" He leaned in and lowered his voice like he was revealing a state secret and said, "Leon J Important IV," or something like that. As you can see, I don't remember the full name, just that his first name was Leon and he had a roman numeral and it sounded like a very regal and distinguished name. He just goes by Trapper, though. So Alaska. Gotta love it.

Coming from a small town myself, it's interesting to start to see here that everyone does know everyone else just like at home. There are always people whose reputation preceeds them in small towns, and it seems like this Trapper character is one of those. Maybe, maybe not.

We're gonna need a bigger freezer. . .

I got a call at the cabins last night at 11 from a private number. I figured it was a lost guest or wrong number, so I picked up. It was a guy on the other end saying, "Tara, are you awake?" I was confused for a second, not knowing who it was. Turned out it was a guest that was down here the other night - the one that just came up to Alaska on a whim. He checked out that morning and had been fishing since then. That's a loooong day of fishing! He had to drop off some fishing gear he borrowed and also offered his catches to me because he didn't really have a way to get them home or to cook them. He said he was going to give it away regardless, so of course I accepted it. He caught several throughout the day, but only kept two. I gave Frenchy one and kept one. We'll have to cook it up on the grill tonight.

I have a feeling the fish are going to be rolling in. Everyone here talks about how many they caught. The plumber, Lee, caught over 70 the other day! Residents can go dip-netting, which obviously ups the number caught by quite a bit. Every time someone's talking about the massive quantity they caught I always ask them why they didn't bring me any. I'm joking, really, but I definitely wouldn't turn it down. When I asked Lee if he was bringing me some fish the next time he comes he told me only if I'm nice. I just said, "so much for that."

The Bustamante group showed up last night after fishing with an entire cooler full of fish. It was all just filets, too, not entire fish, so they must have caught a LOT. I now understand why people are so obsessed with having freezer space up here.

And one more thing, I finally have hot water again in Spider Cabin! I didn't really mention it on here, but there were issues with the propane. Ron the plumber checked it out early in the season and lit the pilots etc and said I was all set. It always smelled like gas in the cabin so I knew something wasn't right, even though the plumber checked it out and gave the OK. I was always checking the pilots because of it. I kept thinking that if there isn't a gas leak then there must be a pilot out someplace. The pilots were always lit, which made me feel better and worse at the same time. Better because if the pilot is lit and it smells like gas, chances are there isn't enough gas for me to explode. ha. Worse because that made me think there had to be a leak someplace. One day I came into the cabin and checked the pilot on the hot water heater and it was out! I went outside and stupidly shut the gas off before checking the other pilots. I should have checked the others first because then I'd know if the hot water heater pilot went out for some reason or if I was just out of gas.

So, long story short, I filled the propane tank and Lee came over to check everything out. There was, in fact, a leak! So I'm not crazy afterall. The fun thing was that he found that the exhaust from the hot water heater was also pouring into my cabin because the vent wasn't correctly hooked up. How nice, huh? I was getting exhaust and gas fumes and people were trying to tell me the cabin was all set. Ha! I wasn't really sleeping in the cabin much when it was smelly in here and every time I did sleep in here I kept the windows open becuase the smell freaked me out. Good thing, huh? So that was a little surprising to us all.

In the words of Lee, "what's a little carbon monoxide among friends!" He's a hysterical guy. He could say anything and it'll be funny because he's so animated. The stories he tells are also funny because you're never sure if he's exaggerating or not. His wife also sounds like a character - we all want to meet her after all we've heard.

Tourism and cake

I've become less of a tourist and more of a resident. I realized this when I scoffed at the car in front of me because the driver slammed on his brakes and swerved to the side of the road to look at a moose. You know you're a resident when the tourists are in your way. I thought there was an accident or something because of the to-do. There were 2 RVs and 5 cars stopped. I should have known right away what they were there for. A moose of course!

Speaking of being a tourist, I spent hours this morning looking for a box of chocolates from Alaska Wild Berry Products. I checked every gift shop I could find. I wanted to get Frenchy a box of those chocolates for her Birthday because of the box of chocolates that I ate a while back. I know I mentioned it in one of my posts before, but I'll reiterate. She won a gift basket that went along with a 'date night' gift certificate. The gift basket had wine in it and since she doesn't drink, she gave it to me. She left it in my car for me before she headed back up to Anchorage one day. When I went to get it, I was delighted to find that there were chocolates in there, too. A while later she asked me if I had the chocolates because she had left them in there by mistake. I told her she must not know me that well, they were looooong gone. Now we joke about it. She asks me where the chocolates are and I tell her they were gone minutes after she pulled away to head back to Anchorage. Because of this I thought it would be funny (and nice) to get her a box of their chocolates. And not a stinky 9 piece box like the one that was in the gift basket! I ended up just getting her some other kind of chocolate, but it'll do.

I got a red velvet cake because I figured it's something different. It was either that or carrot. I really wanted cheesecake, but I figured that isn't neutral enough. I love how when I get a cake for someone I pick out what I want. I don't really know what kind of cake she likes, so that's the way it's gonna be! I considered making a cake but I really just don't have time today. Guests arriving and leaving today so I've got to rush to get things done in the interim. Penuche frosting would have been delicious, though. I could eat that stuff by the spoonful. Oh, wait. . . I do.

In other news, I burned my foot with a piece of rice. I was toasting rice in a pan and when I flipped it one of the times a single grain went flying out and landed on my foot. It burned so I kicked my foot to get it off. A second later I was wondering why it still hurt so much and I realized it was because it landed underneath the strap of my sandal so it was pressed against my foot burning me. I always get trivial cuts and injuries in the weirdest ways. I'm a walking disaster.

The reds are in! And so are the guests.

This place is crazy right now! The salmon come through here in runs, which is when they spawn, so it'll be dead on the river and suddenly there are thousands of fish coming through. The other day there were 2000 coming through every hour! Wow. There are 4 different types of salmon in the river, so there's fishing pretty much throughout the summer because each type has a few runs. The reds are the big ones, so people go crazy around here for them.

News travels fast about their arrival. The other day it was all I heard about. "the reds are in, the reds are in!" Every time I hear someone say that I always think, "the redcoats are coming, the redcoats are coming!" I'm definitely from Boston. Since then, the population has seriously swelled around here. There is nonstop traffic. Not real traffic, it's just that there are a lot more cars around - the main road is always buzzing. There's river access right on our road, so there have been a lot of trucks parked around here to go fishing. Soldotna ('town' to me) is crazy busy. I went to the grocery store today and boy was that a mistake. Wall to wall people. It's just amazing how this place suddenly gets a pulse when the fish are in.

I considered going fishing tonight, but decided against it because I'm extremely tired. Kevin and Ed moved out of their cabin because we had a group coming in that was slated to stay there, which means I spent half the day getting it ready for the group's arrival. Boys are messy. It was the 'Bruce Bustamante group' that was arriving. What a name! Bruce was in charge of the chamber of commerce, or something like that. He's now the director of Princess Cruises Tours. . . or something like that. Wow, I'm so detail oriented! I just can't remember the specifics, but Frenchy told me, "If you're gonna suck up to anyone, he's the one," because of the possible Princess Cruises perks. Yeah. . . no thanks. I'm going to treat him like I would any guest! He seems like a nice enough guy, but I didn't really get to talk with them much, so we'll see.

We also have another guest, Matt, that just arrived tonight. I like how he ended up here. He had a flight issue with a connection and he didn't want to wait so he told them to just give him a connection through Anchorage for a few days. . . because he had never been to Alaska. He came yesterday and stayed at the B&B for a night and when he mentioned he was thinking of going fishing, Frenchy told him to come on down here, so here he is. Frenchy kept telling me that he's cute and that she told him to tip me. . . then she said, "who knows, maybe he'll tip you by taking you out to dinner!" Ever the matchmaker she is. I need to break her of that habit. She knows I'm not looking, but she's the type that figures a date is good for dinner if nothing else. I'm just not that type. If I'm not interested, I'm not going to pretend that I am! Even if I were looking, this guy just isn't my type. Not in the least. He's good looking, but that alone just doesn't cut it for me. He's attractive, but I'm not attracted to him. Follow me? I just don't understand people that can go on looks alone. There has to be substance!

Frenchy will be down tomorrow. It's her birthday and she's ordered me to create a to-do. I told her I'd give her a s'more. She told me she needed a cake and presents and cards and, and, and. I told her that I don't really do birthdays. She repeated her requests. I told her she's not supposed to ask for a birthday celebration. She told me that she knew I'd take care of it without her asking, but she didn't want to be disappointed so she figured she'd doublecheck with me. So tomorrow I have to go buy a cake. . . and I'm thinking of making the guys wear cheesy party hats while they work. I hate pretending to act excited for people's birthdays. They just don't excite me for some reason. Some birthdays excite me I guess, but most don't. My own birthday doesn't even excite me. I woudn't be surprised if I forget my own birthday someday. Seriously. I just hate when people expect to be treated like royalty and given freebies on their birthday. "But, it's my birthday," is one of the worst lines ever uttered. I'm not a complete birthday grinch, I mean, I like a good birthday celebration and all because I like that it's an excuse for people to get together. I just don't like when it's an excuse to grovel at the feet of a person because it's the anniversary of their birth. Who says I want to celebrate that fateful day you were spawned?! Okay, maybe I am a grinch. Whatever.

Cleaning up shop 1

going through looking at pictures and videos from the trip up, trying to delete some that are needless. Here's the only bear I've seen since my journey began. It was in Canada, too. If only I had known how many moose I'd end up seeing. . .



I think this is one of my favorite pictures from the trip up. I just set it as my desktop background. This was from when I first arrived in Alaska - I think I was someplace near the Tok Junction. I was still driving in the few hours it was dark that night and I decided to take a break and sleep for a few hours until it got light out. I was back out on the road really early in the morning and this was the scene greeting me first thing. Talk about a big 'ol Alaska-sized welcome! Make sure you click on it to see the larger size. Much more impressive that way.

New iPod?

My iPod is kicking the bucket. It freezes every once in a while and I can't turn it off. The super thing about that is that if it runs down to no power then it acts extra special. I have to plug it into my computer and let it hang out there for a good long while before it realizes it's alive. For a while I thought it was corrupted for good because when I plugged it in it would flash warning signs and turn itself off. Then it was flashing the 'do not disconnect' symbol, but it was in black and white while it's usually in color. I just left it hooked to the computer for a while when I was off doing something else and it was magically fixed when I came back.
It's still acting stupid, but at least I know how to fix it at this point. The reset function has been used a LOT recently, which is never a good thing. I'm debating getting a new one, but they have so many stinkin' options now. I considered the nano, but it doesn't hold enough. I'd probably just stick with the classic one. The classic iPod has a ton of memory, even at the base model. We shall see.

Life is a whole different ballgame these days

I've got grand plans in the works for the fall. I've been trying to figure out a trip to Austria sometime around October. I know a few people who have European destinations they'd like to visit, so I was trying to combine this solo trip with one of their destinations where I'd travel with them to their destination for a week or so and then head to Austria when they head home. I'm thinking it's not going to work out with another person, but either way I'm headed over there.
I'm actually going there to visit Christian, a former guest from here at the cabins. Today I was in one of the cabins and I happened to spot something out of the oridnary out the corner of my eye. We have a basket full of travel guides and pamphlets for local attractions and I noticed one sticking up that said Innsbruck (where he lives) across the top. It took me a second to realize it was out of place because I've been researching travel there for a bit now so Innsbruck is in the back of my mind constantly. It's been there since the Austrians left and I just now noticed it. Subliminal message? It's a publication for some sort of alpine association. I haven't read it because, well, it's in German. But. . .

Since I know I'm going to Austria, I figured I'd learn a little German. I already understand some German because: 1. the heavy anglo-saxon influences on English and 2. Dervid used to speak random bits of German to us when I was growing up. The funny thing here is that I actually started to sort of look into teaching myself German earlier in the year. I ended up losing track of it because I was busy here. Well, going to a German-Speaking country is some damned good motivation, so I've been teaching myself again. All I've been teaching myself is the grammar. I think if I can understand the grammar the rest will come easily. I already understand the syntax of simpler statements, which is awfully strange. Word order is more flexible at times than it is in English because you're less reliant on word order to denote meaning. German uses verb conjugation and noun gender instead of relying solely on word order. There are other times, though that word order is important, so I guess it's a trade off.
It's kind of interesting to apply old text to learning a new language. The way English has changed is interesting. English used to have masculine, feminine and neuter nouns way back when, but we've since left that behind. Verb use also used to be a bit different. German managed to hang onto these things over time. Knowing the little bit that I do about German now actually instantly makes old english make a lot more sense to me. Shakespeare would have made more sense to me back in the day if I knew this. They should teach grammar based on Shakespeare so that you actually understand the application and progression, as opposed to memorizing the outcome. I hated that about school - it was all memorization, there was no attempt to internalize and truly understand. If I don't know why something is done my brain dismisses it as unimportant. The best evidence I have of this is with calculus. I never understood it because it was just a set of rules I had to follow, which made no sense to me. There was no purpose. Finally, I randomly read something that talked about how Newton came up with calculus and what void he was filling with it and I instantly understood it. I just need to know why! I don't ever want to know the steps to get something done, I want to know why I'm doing it and what I'm hoping to accomplish. Similarly, I didn't ever remember the conversion from Celsius to Fahrenheit. Finally, one day on a test I needed to make that conversion without having it in front of me. I knew the boiling and freezing points in both systems so I just used that knowledge to form my own equation (which, obviously, is exactly the same as the one they teach you) and I haven't forgotten it since because I understand how it's derived.

Okay, so back to the language learning bit. After seeing it from the grammatical perspective, I've become more interested in language. I've been half considering getting TEFL certified for some time. It just seems like a great way to travel and be immersed in a culture while doing it. My newfound interest in language has made me want to do it even more because I'd get to learn more about it and teach it, too. I've requested information about a school in Florence where you take a 4-6 week course to get certified and along the way they help you make a resumé and secure a job. The whole thing is a year-long commitment. You can start almost any time, but I think the best time to start would be the Fall. If I'm going to Austria anyways I'd be close to Florence and would be able to go straight down and do that. I just don't think I'm ready to jump right into it, though. I've already been a bit anxious to get home to meet and get to know my niece now that she's at a more interactive age (she'll be about 1 when I get back). Maybe this will be something I do in the Spring after working over the Winter and saving some money.

My life has changed quite a bit in the last year. I'm so thankful I finally got the push I needed to make some drastic changes. Even if I'm going noplace in whatever life situation I find myself in, I'm entirely capable of doing the same thing for a long period of time because I tend to get stuck in a rut. It was a series of unfortunate events and misunderstandings that made me make some big changes. In the midst I wasn't thrilled, but sometimes bad things happen for the best, I suppose. Life is funny.

Too fat for the roof

Moose on the side of the road are common here, you know this by now. They're usually foraging along the road or hanging out in the swampy areas. Today I was driving down the road and I came across a. . . white horse?!!? I'm not sure why being white made it weirder, but it did. It was just grazing along the side of the road in an area where I usually see moose. There's a place that does horseback riding, but that's a few miles away, so I doubt a connection. It was a very white horse, against the very dark green background around here. I don't know, it was just odd.

Wow, I went off on a tangent right off the bat. Should have made that a separate post, but I'm too lazy right now. Nevermind the fact that it would be the worst post ever. Onward to the real title topic:

The guys have been joking with me trying to get me to go on the roof of the new cabin. First it was that something needed to be nailed on the corner of the roof over the eave, so I had to do it because I'm the lightest. I told them how much I weigh and they thought I was lying to get out of going on the roof. I told them, no, I actually weigh that much and, no, I'm not going on the roof. They were half joking. Ed, the guy that was doing it if I wasn't, probably would have been thrilled if I went up. Kevin, on the other hand, probably had some reservations. It's his company that's technically building the cabin, which means insurance, which means if I fell off the roof it could spell trouble for all involved. Since then the tasks have gotten more and more ridiculous. The latest one was that I'd have to go on the roof to move the roof panels into place (which are big and heavy and metal) because I'm not an old feeble man like Ed and Kevin. Riiiiiight. So, needless to say, I haven't been on the roof at all. I did, however, buy a cheapo scale today, which serves two purposes. 1. to prove my weight and 2. so we can monitor how fat we get from the amazingly good milkshakes here.
Don't worry, Lindsey, I'm not really going to get fat from milkshakes and ruin your wedding pictures. Bridesmaid dress bridesmaid dress bridesmaid dress. . . (that should be some sort of dieting mantra. I bet there's already some stupid wedding diet out there doing it. If not, mark my words, it'll happen. There's a diet for everything)

Alaska License?

I was looking up Alaska licensing requirements because Kevin is considering getting one so that he can buy another gun here because they're apparently very cheap. In my search I just found out that if I'm driving in AK for more than 90 days I need to get a license here. whoops. I'm willing to take the written test to get one, but I don't know what effect that will have on my car insurance and other things. I mean, am I an Alaska resident if I have an Alaska license? Do I need to change my insurance and change all sorts of other things to reflect that? Anybody know anything about this stuff? Am I going to have to bother Peter Beatrice again with one of my stupid questions? That poor guy has his hands full with my strange questions. AFTER I had already left for trip and was in Chicago I found out that I needed some proof of insurance card to drive through Canada with, so of course I had to be annoying and ask him about that then finish by saying, "oh, and I'm crossing the border tomorrow. . . and I'm not in Massachusetts right now, I'm in Chicago. . ." What a pain in the rear I am!

Another thing that stinks is that I have to surrender my MA license to get an AK license. Nevermind the fact that when I cross into the Canadian border again and tell them I'm going home and I have an Alaska license they might look at me funny again. Another 3 hour border search isn't something I'm in the market for. If I don't want to surrender my license I have to take the road test. HAHA! That might actually be funny to do. I parallel park like a champ from driving in Boston.

I looked up info about the written test online. It's all stuff I know, I'd just have to study the section about fines and insurance coverage. In one of the sections there's a note at the bottom letting you know that if you kill big game animals with your car that it's the property of the state and you need to immediately call them to let them know. Chances are if you're in an accident with a big game animal, you're not going to be in any shape to hop on the phone and make a call. Guess I can't go hunting with my car. Damn.

One other interesting thing of note is that all Alaska residents get checks every year - their portion of the oil money. They're good-sized checks, too, considering the fact that they don't have to do a thing to get them - at least a few thousand. The requirement is that you're a resident for at least 2 years and that you reside here for at least 6 months in a calendar year. Then the checks roll in. Don't worry, not getting any ideas, here.

The Spaniards, and more guests to come

A family came in tonight and they're already great. They live in Maryland, but are originally from Spain. It's a couple with their son and daughter. The kids are incredibly friendly and outgoing. Normally school-aged kids are a little shy around new people, but not these ones. They introduced themselves and shook my hand and when I was headed out the little girl ran out to the front porch and yelled to me, "If you see a moose say hi for me!" The mother asked if she could "borrow me the clothes dryer," which I liked.

They had just come straight from a glacier cruise which they raved about. The mother was telling me I HAVE to go. I told her I have tickets for one, but I just haven't gone yet. She repeated a few more times that I NEED TO GO on the glacier cruise. I'm sure they're amazing, so I'm looking forward to it even more, now.

Don't know much more about them at this point, but I just love the people I get to meet here. It's just so cool that all of these new interesting people all come to me. We're starting to get busy now, so I'll be meeting lots more. We just got a confirmation from a group that's coming up at the end of July. It's a group of 6 that's headed up in two small planes from San Francisco. The email he sent to confirm was hysterical. He laid out a sort of cast of characters for us. This is part of it:

In the Bonanza V35:
                      Richard (me)

                      Geoff (is coming all the way from England
                      for this)

                      Pat (has a computer & camera for every day
                      in the week, but promises to bring just
                      one of each)

In the Cessna T210:

                      Vince (dad, happy for the father/son bonding,
                      just wishes they'd pay)

                      Wes (son, very appreciative dad's footing
                      the bill)

                      Ted (son, very appreciative dad's footing
                      the bill)

I replied to his email and told him how much I liked it, but that I'm disappointed we didn't get a witty description of him, too. Cruise director, I suppose.

The chocolate and me: Voll-Nuss

I've been a huge raging bitch the last few days and my diet has consisted of mainly chocolate. hmmmmmm, wonder why. I felt like junk today, but the good part is that I was able to take a nap. Yes, that's right, I took a nap. Me! I woke up at 4:30 this morning, too, so I really needed one. Trust me when I say that everyone benefited from my nap. I also had part of one of those chocolate bars from Austria. Dunkle Voll-Nuss. Otherwise known as Dark chocolate with whole nuts. Hazelnuts, to be exact. That got me un-angry at the world earlier in the day, which was needed. It was yummy.

Frenchy was down early this morning and she left us some salmon that a guest caught - it was reeeeally good. Freshest salmon I've ever had. We used some of the herbs that Lorrahn sent up and made it on the grill. I also made some mushroom risotto, which was also good. I've introduced the guys into the world of risotto. Man, I love risotto. I made them lemon risotto last week. Before giving it to them I asked if they had ever had risotto before - they both just looked at me funny because they hadn't. Only reason I asked is that if someone hasn't had it before they may look at it as weird rice or something. Because it's creamy and slightly al dente it may seem like I messed up cooking the rice. . . when, in actuality, I worked hard for that rice! Rice doesn't stir itself! Before bringing it over I gave them a quick description. I told them: "It's italian. a medium grain rice which you stir constantly to bring out the starch so it's rich and creamy. Then you finish with butter and parmesean for extra goo. . . "
I'm sure they really care. . . most people in the world just want to know if the food is good, they don't give a damn what it's called or how you cook it. I don't blame those people at all, either. I just happen to be on the complete opposite end of the scale, though. I LOVE good food and I want to know everything about it.

This evening I went out and got cake batter ice cream with walnuts mixed in from Coldstone. Delicious. For a day that started out horribly, it ended well. Good food, good ice cream. I'll take that. Good chocolate, too. I'll always take that.

the local anniversary couple

We had a couple here for a few days from a few towns over, which means about an hour away in Alaska terms. It was their anniversary and they just wanted a few nights away from the kids and such. From the time they checked in to the time they left I think I saw them once. They did not emerge from that cabin. When they first arrived they asked if they could smoke in the cabin. They were disappointed when I told them they couldn't. I don't know what they were disappointed for. . . when I went in the cabin after they had left it smelled like they'd been smoking like chimneys in there with the windows shut. Jeesh! I'm amazed at how bad the cigarette smell was. Ever have to stay in a smoking room at a hotel? It was like that, and all in a matter of a few days. Stale ground in cigarette smell. You'd think they'd at least smoke with the windows open if they know they're breaking the rules. I febrezed like crazy in there today, so hopefully that will take care of it.
They also did something weird with towels. First off, they used a million of them. Secondly, they didn't use the guest towels. There is a closet right next to the bathroom that has a bunch of nice towels and facecloths in it, which is for guests. The washer and dryer are in that cabin in a closet off of the kitchen and there are some old seedy towels in a cabinet in there that I use for rags and things. Those are the towels they used. Weird. It's not like they couldn't find the other towels, either. They had obviously been through every closet in the house, as they found a fan to attempt to air out the ground in cigarette smell, they found a blanket I had tucked away somplace and they found the extra pillows which were in the same closet as the towels. People are strange.

Frenchy wanted to do something nice for them so we got them some chocolate and champagne. cheap stuff, but who cares, it's free and this is a cabin in the woods, not the ritz. A while back when Frenchy and I went to that auction in Anchorage she won some sort of date night package which was a gift certificate for something in addition to a basket that had wine, chocolates and two glasses. Frenchy doesn't drink so she gave me the wine. We were driving someplace, so she said she left it in my car for me. I was psyched to find that she left me the chocolates, too. Later on she asked me if I still had the chocolates because she didn't realize she'd left them with me. I told her she must not know me very well - they were got a half hour after she left. Since then she's been joking with me, asking for her chocolates. She also asked for the basket, which I was more than happy to give her because I think it's ugly. She kept forgetting to take it when she was here so I've just had it lying around. When I knew I had to make this gift for this couple I figured I'd just put it in the basket so it'd look nice. Luckily, the glasses that came in the basket originally were champagne flutes (the dufus that put the basket together originally put a bottle of red wine with champagne flutes) so I just stuck those in, too. Well, of course Frenchy came down that night and finally remembered to ask for the basket. . .
I assumed they wouldn't take the basket, so I thought it'd be okay. Boy was I wrong. They took the basket and glasses and stole a mug while they were at it. Maybe it's a good thing they didn't find the good towels, they might have stolen them, too!
I don't know why I assumed they wouldn't take the basket. The whole thing was a gift, but I wasn't thinking the basket was a gift, I was just thinking the gift would look nice in the basket. In my mind it was just a vessel. If I had put it on the table would they have stolen the tablecloth? I should have known. I probably would have taken it, too. Then again, no. I don't really like baskets.

Racism Lives

I'm amazed by the amount of racism I've witnessed here. I've come across more than a few that hate black people, and for no good reason. One of them actually tried to justify it to me by using the example that when he was growing up, they stayed on their side of town and he stayed on his side and it just worked that way. What?!?! I've never met someone who honestly believed in segregation. I want to yell and scream and tell them how illogical they sound, but there's no sense even arguing with them. They're set in their ways, and the very fact that their feelings are illogical is what makes it a lost cause. How can you reason with illogical beliefs?
They seem to feel that all black people take advantage of gov't programs and take handouts. That's just ridiculous to generalize an entire race. If they opened their eyes they'd see that people of all races continually take hand outs from the gov't, and THOSE are the people we need to be mad at, regardless of the color of their skin.
I just can't understand it. It's been bred into them to hate. It makes me cringe to think that they're raising children of their own, probably with the same ideals.

I realize I'll probably take a lot of heat for this next train of thought, because for the same reason you shouldn't shun people based on skin color, you also shouldn't favor them. Anyways, it's people like this in the world that will (in part) make me vote for Barack Obama. I don't agree with everything he stands for, but I'd be hard pressed to find a single politician who I did agree with on all counts. Usually when I feel I'm being forced to choose the lesser of two evils, I don't and I just do a write in vote. Bush vs. Gore. . . I voted for Bill Simmons, The Sports Guy. I actually like Obama and don't feel I'm picking the lesser of two evils. If Hillary had won, I would be doing a write in vote this year again. People say this election shouldn't be about race, etc, but that aspect can't be denied. There's so much tension in this country from idiots like the ones I've met here that raise their kids to be intolerant and blind to the way the world works. I, for one, would LOVE to see a black president elected, even more so than a female one. That would be one wonderfully perfect giant FU to all of the racist idiots out there.

6 inches short of sensibility

Just thought I'd let everyone know that the water line they dug up was 3.5 feet deep (remember, was supposed to be 4ft according to one and 8ft according to another and Frenchy thought it was actually 2 feet deep, which is why they dug it up. who knows?!?!), so they're not happy and called Ray Chumley (the septic guy that put it in). I still think it's misguided action. The main water line goes into the center cabin and then branches off from there to feed the cabins on either side. It's one of these 'branches,' which supplies the cabin with water that they dug up. Essentially it's just a water line between two of the cabins, which are probably about 10 ft apart. maybe more, maybe less. I'm never good at guessing those things. Either way, it's a hose, not a pipe, which enters the respective cabins under the cabins just on the inside of the foundation. If you're still following, kudos. I'm trying, here. So, because it's a hose connecting two structures that are 10 ft apart, and it starts on either side right AT the structure, not further underneath the house, naturally it's not going to be extremely deep right next to the houses, because that's where the slope starts, so, it'll only reach extreme depth in the space between the two houses. If they wanted the hose to be full depth (a number which is still debatable) the entire length they'd have to dig to the desired depth right next to the houses where the hose starts and ends, then in the center they'd have to dig EXTREMELY deep. Still following? The reason the center needs to be deeper is because last I checked it's not a good idea to run a hose at a 90degree angle! Draw a picture or something. You'll get what I mean. If it was an actual pipe it wouldn't be a problem because you can dig as deep as you want the line to be and put an elbow joint in so that it runs straight across to the other house at the desired depth. A hose needs to have a graduated slope to it. No harsh turns allowed! Hello, we've all played with garden hoses as kids, right?!

So, either they need to leave it alone because it's done correctly under the circumstances OR the poor septic guy has to dig the whole thing up and either dig really deep in between the two cabins, which may not even be possible if they demand an 8 ft depth the whole way, or he needs to dig underneath the house and extend the length that it runs so that they don't have to deal with such a harsh curve. Great, lets dig underneath the foundation repeatedly or dig a giant gaping hole between the foundations. This is all craziness to me. The best part is that the frost here goes into the ground 8-10ft in a harsh winter season, which makes this adjustment stupid. Things freeze here, especially if they aren't being used. get over it. One other fun fact is that when they did the project it was advised copper pipes be put in because in the event of a freeze they can use electricity to thaw it out. The hoses were put in nonetheless, I'm assuming because of the cost differential. Can't put electricity to one of those hoses, that's for sure!

Can you tell I had a bad day? Very stressed today because there was a whole lot of goings on where people thought they knew best when it came to a subject they have no knowledge of and when you try to explain it to them they won't hear it, either! Trust the experts, especially if they ALL say the same thing! I also didn't get much sleep last night, so I was grumpy by the end of the day, too.

I should really go back and clarify that whole hose between the houses deal, but I'm not going to because that's far too much effort for me right now. It's bed time! The people who care to get it will sort it out I'm sure. I'm assuming nobody really cares about the logistics, really.

After that whole mess I was supposed to go to Home Depot to pick up some things for the electrician and the guys and to try to return something that had a clearence sticker on it from 3 years ago and another thing that didn't have any Home Depot markings on it that's from 3 years ago also. Hmmm, what do you think the chances are that they'll take them back?! NADA. If it's on clearance, they're psyched to get it out of their hair, so they sure as hell aren't taking it back! Nevermind if it's 3 years old with no receipt. The sku (if there's even one on the box) probably doesn't even exist in their system anymore! So, when I angrily got in the truck to go. . . it didn't start. ahhhhhh!!!! The electrician went out to get a new battery for the truck and meanwhile I stewed until it was obvious I was cooked for the day and wasn't going to home depot to do foolish things.

Instead, I decided I wanted pizza for dinner and that would be my last task of the night. I asked the various people where to go and they told me of a place right around the corner. I also had to hit the post office anyways. When I got to the place to order the pizza. . . it was a bar. He asked me if I wanted a drink while I waited, and I said no, I had to go to the post office. When I got back the pizza still had 6-8 minutes to cook. . . BEER TIME. They actually had a beer from a local brewery that I didn't know existed - Kenai River Brewing comany - so I was happy I got to try it. It was actually really good. Plus I got to order a 'small' beer because of the time constraints. haha.

I'm an old lady

My neck has been bothering me so I figured I was sleeping weird or something. I tried different sleeping positions, but that only goes so far, because when sleep comes who knows what happens. I'm sure I revert to my bad sleeping positions. The evidence of this came when I tried to sleep without a pillow and woke up sleeping on one. so much for that!

I couldn't lean my head all the way forward without pain, which is usually taken as a sign of meningitis. I'm assuming my brain isn't swelling and killing me because that's a fast onset emergency situation with severe headache, high fever, etc., none of which I have, plus this has been going for over a week. I'd be dead by now if meningitis was the culprit. Kevin felt the back of my neck while I had my head dropped forward and says that more than a few of my vertebra are out of place. My neck always bothered me in school on test days when I had to lean over a test for long periods of time, so this has probably been a long time coming. I was pushing on the out of place vertebra while moving my neck around and I felt a pop twice and now this morning my neck doesn't hurt as much and one of the obviously displaced vertebra doesn't feel as displaced anymore. Self-chiropractic?! Probably not, but whatever it was made me feel better, so I'm happy.

Today drywall arrives, which will be no fun. It's all hands on deck so we can get it moved into the respective rooms. Some high school football kids were supposed to help us, but we couldn't get in contact with the school secretary this week. I'll be sure to eat my Wheaties this morning. Frenchy came down late last night, too, with Reuben, her significant other. They came for a stupid reason, too. He thinks one of the pipes for the septic system is only 2 feet deep, while Ray Chumley, the septic guy, tells us nothing is less than 4 feet deep. So Reuben is here to dig up the pipe to prove that it isn't deep enough so he can call Ray to come over and take a look. Ray is a good guy, so I tend to believe him. I guess something froze this winter, which is what is causing this conflict. From what the plumber tells us, this past winter was a bad one for frost in the ground. He also told us about thawing out a septic system, which I'd rather not talk about. I will LAUGH if Reuben has to dig 4 feet to get to anything. Or, even better, I'll laugh if he damages something! Either way, have fun digging in that rocky soil for no reason! I dug a little hole in the soil recently to try to make a piece of wood that's covering something lay flush with the ground, and man, oh man, was it a pain in the butt with all the rocks in the ground! My hole was only a few inches deep, too! Well, on the bright side, while they're here they can help with drywall. haha!

Mail call/ Being away from Boston sports Fevah!

WOOHOOOOOO!!!! I got my packages!!
I got one from Amazon.com, which had the stuff I ordered with the gift card Bank of America gave me for being suck jerks.
I got another from Erica, which had my phone charger, lots of sunflower seed butter, a baby Red Sox outfit (to put on one of the stuffed animals on smiley rock rd), and some Tyler Art. He traced his hand and did a lovely painting. Sometimes I think kids are more artistic than adults because they paint with reckless abandon. Adults spend too much time planning and trying to make things look 'right.' My favorite painting of my own is one that I didn't really think about when I did it. I just played around with shading and techniques and told myself not to worry about it because if it looked ugly I could always paint over it. When I was doing it I wasn't thinking that I was making a painting that would ever be a finished product. That's when I realized I should train myself not to overthink things. I'm sure that sort of 'training' would carry over well into other parts of my life, too. Another of my paintings, the tree, was sort of the same. I just kept adding to it bit by bit, thinking I'd make it a finished product another day when I had some time to sit down with it. I actually planned on adding to that one a little more, but that's not gonna happen now, seeing as it's in Sweden! Maybe the key to art is NOT finishing. It's like how they say you should get completely dressed before you go out then look in the mirror and take one accessory off, and only THEN are you ready. With painting and drawing you can't take things away, so I guess it's best to never finish to avoid overdoing it.

Enough about that. The final package I got was from Mother dearest. What she sent was perishable, so I've been wondering what it is all week. HERBS!!! woohooooo! I was excited to see them. I've been complaining on here about the price and quality of them here, so that was a nice surprise. I've been a horrible cook while here for some reason, and I just decided to use lack of quality ingredients as my scapegoat. I'm so full of crap! She also sent a Celtics championship shirt, which was good. It's weird to be away from the obsessive world of Boston sports when there are big things going on. Nobody here riots over sports. What's the deal with that?
And here's the best part of her package:
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!! Lorrahn!!

Alaskan tenderizer?

Tonight I used a hammer as a meat tenderizer. Oh, and I typed this after handling raw meat. whoops.

FYAH!

I built a big 'ol bonfire to get rid of some of the scrap wood from construction. I've been burning stuff for the past 2 days. I haven't been making big fires because I don't want to have to watch it, but tonight I built a huge one because it's supposed to rain. It's been looking like rain for a while, but we still haven't gotten any. . . hopefully soon! I don't want to burn the neighborhood down!
On the main road the fire department helicopter is parked on the lawn and nearby is the forest fire danger level. It's been elevated the entire time I've been here. It's like the terror alert threat, where they always have it up high, but every once in a while they lower it so that when they higher it again people will take notice. If something is always at high threat, people ignore it eventually. They should really start playing mind games with us like that with the forest fire alert so that people pay attention. Although, that doesn't help out with it comes to tourists, because they won't be here long enough to see the up/down. Oh well.

Gotta go tend my fire.

Kayak.com

I've been searching airfares like a crazy person. I'm weighing my options for the way home, which requires a lot of research. I'm also considering a trip in the Fall to Germany and Austria (which, coincidentally, would take me to Munich during Oktoberfest. . .). Because the airport I fly into isn't cemented, there are so many flight options it's ridiculous. It's especially bad because I don't know which dates I want to go, so I've been searching many many many many combinations.

In my searches I ended up looking around at areas on the Kayak site that I've never looked at before. You know, company info and such. The Chief Tech Architect (or something like that) had a little blurb and at the end he put a little PS in there saying if people want to send him hate mail or the opposite, that if they're clever enough they could probably figure out his email address. Of course I emailed him. I got his address on the first try, too. Really, you didn't need to be clever for this one. He says about 10 people have emailed him the entire 3 years that blurb has been on the site. So there are 9 other nerds like me out there. The funny part is that he lives in MA in the metro west area. In my email I told him I was glad to hear MA gets a neat company - usually companies go to NYC or Cali to feel cool. He informed me that they just bought something in California, so they're a little cool, but as long as he's around they're staying in Mass. Good to hear. I also asked him to smack the airlines around a little for me because the prices are ridiculous.

I thought about replying to his reply, but decided against it beacause his email signature said he's vacationing in Maine. Ehhhhhh, I'll leave the poor guy alone.

Speaking of random email addresses, I'm planning on writing allover the inside of the walls of the cabin that's going up before the insulation goes in. I was thinking I'd put my email address. Years from now if I'm still using that email (or email at all, for that matter) and someone happens to find it, it'd be funny to recieve a random email. Actually, maybe I'll put the address to this blog on there. Who knows if it'll still be floating out in space on the internet when the times comes that anyone would happen to see it, but there's potential. Either that or I'll just write Kilroy was here. Or I'll just write it all. . .

Bees, the 4th, milkshakes.

I know you don't want to hear me talk about bees anymore, but too bad. I've been staying in the loft area in the main cabin here, which has a big window that is above the roof of the kitchen. When I'm up in the loft there are bees outside of the window almost constantly. Either there's one checking things out by flying around the window for a while (until I spray him with bug killer, that is) or they'll just fly right into the window and thwap against it. A bee will hit the window about every 5 minutes, no exaggeration. What the heck is wrong with them!?! I feel like it's similar to Jurassic Park where the raptors were testing the fence for weakness. Yes, people, this is how I think.

Other than that, Happy 4th everyone! I was going to go to the rodeo today with Kevin, but he decided last minute not to go because it was drizzling out. He actually used to participate in rodeos when he was young and he said they won't do anything in the rain because mud hinders things and makes it more possible for the animals to get hurt. He says they won't risk hurting the animals because they're big money. I looked up the forecast to see if it's going to clear up - no such luck. Then I looked for a phone number for the Ninilchik fairgrounds, where it was supposed to be, so I could ask them if it's still on. In the process I found that the rodeo is actually tomorrow and the next day, not today! Good thing we didn't go! Maybe I'll head over there tomorrow if it clears up. It's supposed to be drizzly all weekend, though.

Instead, I went out for a ride with Kevin because we both had cabin fever. We stopped at a few places. A fair we happened to see, which was geared toward kids. There was a band playing and I'm certain it was the sleepiest band I've ever seen/heard. Lots of people had their dogs there. Alaskans have cool dogs. After that we headed to the Kenai cultural and visitors center, which has a museum, a small art gallery and some wildlife displays. Then we just went driving to the shore because the view from there is stunning. It wasn't as great today because it's overcast, but it was still good. On the way home we happened to see a farmer's market, which I was happy to see. I'm bought pretty much one of everything. I was going for mostly vegetables, then the woman working there was giving out pieces of nectarine and when I tried it I was instantly sold. The price of produce at the grocery store is outrageous, which is another reason I was so happy to see the market. The other day I wanted peppers so I could make some roasted veggies, but when I went to the grocery store I quickly changed my mind and menu. Regular old green bell peppers were 2/$5.00. Whaaaaaaat??? no thank you. At the farmer's market they were $2.00 each and they were all wrinkley. I didn't buy those either. Even if they looked like a masterpiece of a pepper, I'm still not paying $2.00 each. No way, no how.

I brought the guys milkshakes the other day on my way back from the post office because they make great ones at a gas station there. I know, it sounds funny to get a great milkshake from a gas station. It's a small time operation, family owned. They have coffee drinks, baked goods and ice cream on one side, and on the other side of the store there's a food place. It's setup like a sub shop, but I think they just sell lots of fried stuff. When I brought them to the cabins they climbed down from their respective perches and took a break. I took a picture of them drinking milkshakes because it looked funny. Once again, I'll get it on here later because I can't find my camera wire. grrrr. After one they're both hooked on them. Kevin and I stopped there on the way home and picked one up for Ed while we were at it. When we got home we found that Ed had ridden his bike there to get one while we were out! That's a 7 mile ride round trip!! They must be good.

okay, okay, I finally remembered to put the picture up:

Dichotomy

I found another bees nest on the back side of the main cabin, which I stay in if there are no guests. I sprayed that sucker. I have this wasp killer that shoots foam 20ft, but I'm always ready to run nonetheless. I think there's another nest, too. Inside from the loft area I can see bees frequenting an area under one of the eaves, but I can't see a nest. Jerks. They've been flying around the window up there a lot. I think they're looking for a place to put another nest since I killed the other one. I happened to have bug killer in my hand when one was hovering around the window, so I sprayed him through the screen. HAHA! I'm brave when I have a screen. I saw a few ants so I've been spraying the perimeter of the house, which is why I was holding bug killer. Ed makes fun of me and tells me that there's not going to be anything alive by the time I leave here because of the amount of bug killing I've done.
Really, bugs usually don't bother me all that much. Bees I think should all die, but other than that I'm okay. I'm not a fan of spiders, but I can live with them. I know I can co-exist when them, I just don't want to see them all the time. Other than that, it's just a problem when ants are IN a cabin that's supposed to be a vacation rental. Don't think guests would appreciate that too much. There are these little bugs that hang out on the wood trim near the windows and I couldn't figure out what they were. I came up with something that seemed to fit the description, except it said the coloring is light brown, and these were dark. Other than the color, they looked like springtails. I found one crawling so I trapped it with my hands so it would have to crawl on my thumb. it avoided it like crazy, then finally had no choice and crawled on my thumbnail. Once there it stopped and sort of turned its body side to side, as if looking around. I was glad it wasn't running around so I could get a good look at it to identify it, then suddenly it boinged away and disappeared. One of the descriptions of springtails was that they jump away and seem to disappear because it happens so fast and they're really small, so I guess I have my identification.

It's amazing how much I've used a dichotomous key while up here. I used it the other day to identify one of the trees we have here. It's got light bark like a birch, but the bark texture just didn't seem right. When the Austrians were here, they were looking at the leaves with binoculars to try to figure out what they were - The leaves are really high up. They surmised that they weren't birch. They thought they may have an idea of what they were, but didn't know the English translation. Later on they went out for a hike and meanwhile I saw a branch had fallen onto the roof outside of the upstairs window. I popped the screen out and grabbed it for identification. Meanwhile, when they got back from their hike they came bearing a branch from a Birch so they could show me what the leaves were like, so I was able to whip out my branch and compare. Great minds think alike. For anybody that's wondering, Birch leaves are toothed, while our previously unidentified trees are not. We're pretty sure we've got some strain of Aspen here. Just in case you care. . .

Swampscott Fireworks

Fireworks tonight at home in the Swamp. First time I've ever been away for them! For those unfamiliar, it's a huge deal in Swampscott. They shut down the road that runs along the beach and the entire town shows up for the fireworks, more often than not with drinks in hand. It's just a big 'ol party. I've been looking around to see if they have any festivities around here, but I can't find any fireworks. I mentioned it to Kevin and he brought it to my attention that I was forgetting that it's light out all the time here. . . duhhhh. Fireworks wouldn't be so great during the day. They're legal here, so maybe I'll buy myself some sparklers like the cool kid I am. Everything is legal in Alaska. I think there is stuff going on tomorrow in town, so I might go check that out.

The roof may be on the new cabin by tomorrow, so maybe we'll be able to have a topping off party for the 4th. I'll probably still go into town to see what's going on. I'm assuming it'll be party time. The way I understand it is that the people who live here work hard for 9 months so they can party for 3 in the summer. Sounds good to me!

Everyone take some fun pictures for me tonight and enjoy! Don't miss me tooooo much.

I forgot to mention this before - when I helped out with the Solstice Festival a few weeks ago this car pulled in that had an Obama sticker and someone commented, "ooooh, we have an Obama supporter." I was a bit confused at first, but upon questioning I found that politically Alaska is the complete opposite of Massachusetts. Democrats can't get no lovin' in Alaska. Her reaction to the Obama sticker was the exact reaction that someone from home would have to a George W sticker. A few days after that conversation I saw this sign on a tobacco shop and had to take a picture:
In case you can't read it: "Obama smokes reds we have an ally"

New Plans for the journey home?

I'm slacking today. I've spent forever online looking at airfare. I believe I've come to the conclusion I should just drive home before Lindsey's wedding. I'll have to leave here a few days earlier than I planned, but if that's what has to happen, then that's what's happening! It would save LOTS of money for me to do it that way. I'm thinking putting off the road trip for now is a good idea, especially with gas prices the way they are right now. ick. It's up to $4.80 here now! That's just crazy talk. It was 2 whole dollars cheaper when I left home. It's a bit above $4 at home now, I think. That's quite an increase over a matter of a few months. oye.

I still haven't gotten my pictures off of my camera. Can't find the wire. I'll put them up tomorrow hopefully. I do have one picture of me, though. It's very much me. It's good becaue you can see a bit of the 'grounds' in the background. The red building is the cabin I'm in love with - the one that was existing when Frenchy bought the place. The green building to the left is the garage and the other green building to the right is my shack. I'll take some more pictures. Those buildings are sort of what I expected to find in Alaska. The new cabins are not what I expected to find in Alaska. They're just. . . new. . . and square. Pictures tomorrow.

The Crossing

First off, the dinner I had last night. We (Frenchy and I) went to a place that's right on the river and has a beautiful view. It's the most upscale restaurant in the area, and the building is really nice, with big high exposed beams. Even though it's the upscale restaurant, there's still no dress code. That's so Alaska. Their dress code motto is, "From waders to tuxedos, come as you are!"

There was this guy standing outside of the place with a podium, but he didn't seem to be doing anything. We asked him what he was and he joked that he's security, to which I replied, "in that case, I'll be seeing you later." We stood and talked to him for a minute, and I still have no idea what he was doing out there. I'm just amazed at how friendly people are here. Everyone! Kevin and Ed have been pondering whether or not everyone is stoned, because they're deliriously happy. Even the flag holders at construction sites who've been standing there for 10 hours wave with big delirious grins on their faces like they're especially happy to see you. Their shifts are 16 hours with a half hour break because they have to rush to get the roads done before winter. I'm not sure I'd be grinning from ear to ear after standing in the sun or rain for that many hours.

The menu was really good, obviously highlighting local seafood. I got a warm spinach salad to start, and boy was it good. It was baby spinach leaves, feta (which was really good quality), and small pieces of bacon with a sweet warm dressing on the side, which I think was made with dates. Very good. Next time I go I might just get that salad as a meal. Then I had the salmon, of course. It was wasabi ginger salmon with a side of jasmine rice topped with toasted coconut. All very good. They also had Malbec by the glass, which I don't see often. I ended up getting Pinot Noir, though. I didn't want white wine with my fish, so I asked if the waitress had tried any of the wines they serve by the glass. She said, "yes, actually, I'm a Wino!" So I asked her which had the lightest/mildest flavor that the fish would have a fighting chance against and she recommended a specific Pinot, which was pretty good. I don't remember what it was. I asked about dessert, but none of them sounded great. I was also incredibly full, but I have been known to get a dessert to take home for later.

During dinner an older guy at the table next to us almost choked to death. Seriously. They tried the Heimlich maneuver for a while, but it didn't seem to be working. In my opinion, they started using it too early, because he was still coughing when they began. That's a no-no if I remember CPR training correctly. You're supposed to start if they can't cough. When it got serious people got up to help from one table, another woman was waving her arms screaming, "MEDIC!!" (what does she think she's on a battle field or something?). The Heimlich came through soon after. What a commotion! I hate situations like that because people in the restaurant have no tact, they just stare at the guy like he's a spectacle. Jeesh, leave him alone and let him recover. He probably feels awkward enough as it is, give him some space. It was pretty scary, though. Freaked me out a little.

Other than that whole thing, the dinner was a good one.

More delaying here. I went to a place that does chainsaw carving today and it was NEAT. I'll write about it and post pictures tomorrow.

One more little note: More stuff has been added to Smiley Rock Rd. Now in one of the clearings there's a flock of lawn flamingos. Ha!