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I didn't realize I had blocked most people from commenting. Sorry about that; I changed the setting.

Merry Kissmoose

Okay, so she's not a moose, but Percy is one of the bestest Christmas presents ever. Smokey and I each had a few gifts to unwrap each, but the box from Mom is yet to arrive. Come to think of it, I haven't checked the mail in a few days......






Smokey got this handmade mastadon ivory sheefish hook from me, one of many gifts I picked up this summer in remote northern villages. His work gave him a nice fat bonus check and a raise, along with homemade fudge and a dinner at a fancy restaurant. Mine gave me a suitcase. Hmmmm...

Smokey gave me a new paddle jacket. We then went and made like Jesus and walked on water. We had a little help in that the lake was frozen and we had snowshoes on. The paddle jacket worked well for snowshoeing. Someday soon my boat will be fixed and I can idle my time away figuring out how to paddle in such cold weather. Or I could go snowboarding.

Percy and I took turns wearing the antlers. Tatonka could not behave long enough with them on to have his picture taken. I let Percy wear them while I was baking cookies. She shares well. What did you all do to celebrate?

PS: Today is my mom's birthday. Let's all call her and sing happy birthday. It's been a long year for her. I'm working the closing shift at the restaurant and I'm at least an hour behind you all, so I'll still be celebrating long after you all go to bed.

Fun with Avalanches

Looking back at this weekend I can't believe I thought this was cold. Well, maybe I can, but only because I spent most of Saturday watching demonstrations and shivering myself warm. Nothing like spending the day outside in 10 below to make you appreciate how quickly things can go bad here. Sunday was a day for scenarios and snowshoeing (unless you had skis). My team was dispatched to be a probe line crew.

Luckily there was a need for a sled to be transported from the parking lot to a team near the team we were asigned to probe with. Looking at this some of you may be wondering at my word choice (luckily). Let me attempt to explain. Probe lines are not so time sensitive. It takes a while to get to this stage and they are most effective when done very methodically (so I've been told). Therefore, they move slowly. Recall the temperature? Ten below is cold for doing things slowly. Hauling your butt back down the hill and up again with a sled is a more desirable way to spend your time in that it keeps you warm. Luckily the other woman on my team knew this and volunteered us immediately when the need arose. Bless her equally warm soul! I pulled the sled up the hill and she pulled it down. After a team of 8 or so widened the trail. That's okay, I had more calories to burn anyway.

Thanksgiving Fun

Ah, Thanksgiving, home on the range. I snapped shots of these same critters when I was here in September and sent them to Smokey. They were gracious enough to show themselves mid-day on Thansgiving as we made the epic journey from the Far Frozen North to the Range. We hadn't really slept in 30 or so hours at this point.

We did more than wildlife viewing on this trip, we also built gingerbread houses. This is my 'niece', Meshayla, and this is our second year building a gingerbread house together at Grandma's house. She's very good at being patient while the 'glue' dries enough so we can decorate. And she loves telling me where to put the 'glue' for the candy.

'Glue' directing includes placement and shapes. Sometimes shapes are squares, triangles, and circles. Other times they are baby bunny rabbits.

We consumed copious amounts of good food, napped, read books, and relaxed. Mom and I quilted. She made this for my sister and I made the same pattern for her with different fabric. Smokey and I went over the hill and visited Dad and his wife's branch of my family. I do not have the pictures from this trip. I'll post them if I can find them.

We next visited Smokey's brother in central OR and then I went to P-town and picked up some more stuff for shipping. Our trip ended in Seattle where I introduced Smokey to Kerry Park. This is actually sunset, taken with the flash.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

Guess who is home? The wonder truck did not make it home for Chirstmas, but she did make it home before New Year's. I know the parking job is horrible, but I tried to hide that with my photo angle. I finally gave up on calling and visiting the tow office and just started hanging out at the yard. I finally caught a driver there on Friday, but he couldn't get it done before I had to be at work. Saturday his uncle got her out just before I had to be at work, so I was late, but everyone was very understanding. We towed her down the street to a mega toy store parking lot which was empty since it was after Christmas. I came back for her after my shift (at midnight) and she wouldn't start. We eventually went and procured gas and starter fluid. There were flames involved, but they were reasonable and no one got hurt. Did I mention that it was four below? And the accelerator was frozen in the wide open position, so it had to be manually manipulated so the engine didn't blow up. Yup, that's my girl, she's pissed off. We pushed her into her parking spot sometime after 2 am. I had to work again at 8. I haven't started her again since it was 17 below this morning and we were very thankful that Smokey's truck started. Today's objective: obtain external heaters for both rigs.

More postings with pictures later today and all week.

Update

I would love to show you some pictures from my trip, but I'm still waiting for them to be sent to me. I think I'll dedicate my tips from my remaining shifts to the acquisition of a new camera.

While my friends and family in Seattle and Portland have been raving/complaining about their ice encrusted winter wonderland, we have seen no new snow in town, that I recall, for weeks. Why are you stealing our snow? Also, it has been in the teens (if we are lucky) for our daily high for weeks. Do you want some of that to go with your snow? I didn't think so.

On the up side, I have a new installment in the continuing saga of Tucumcari the Wonder Truck (as in 'I wonder if she will be home for Christmas') ready for you. The short version goes like this: In the past 10 days the tow yard has managed to have a key made to replace the one I gave them that they lost. They then lost this new key. Then they had a new one made. She starts. She is stuck in reverse. They continue to make empty promises. I'm now waiting for them to move three vehicles that are blocking my exit from the larger yard they share with another tow company. I locked the doors since they are having an auction this week. I check to make sure she's still there everyday. One of the vehicles they need to move is one of their own tow trucks they wrecked last week. Be still my overwhelming confidence. Fill in the gaps with more of the same level of competence, like 'Bill has the key and he's at the yard, we think, but his cell phone is dead. We'll call you as soon as we know anything'. You can imagine I didn't hold my breath for that call, but rather chose to laugh my ass off upon hanging up from that statement. Let me know if anyone wants the long version.

Christmas parties have been attened this past week. The highlights include a nice dinner at a very fancy place with Smokey's co-workers and their wives. I successfully resisted all temptations to respond to political/environmental statements with my views since I was overwhelmingly outnumbered and didn't want to have to pay for my dinner. Smokey got a raise and a bonus. I maintain they are trying to bribe him to stay since they finally fired the other repair guy. My work party was also at an upscale locale with good food. I brought a bike pump for the gift exchange (Joe Blow brand) and delighted in it being the first gift unwrapped due to it's unusual shape. I reckon I took home the best gift there, a handmade (by a co-worker) stained glass comet in a wood frame. Picture later, if lucky. I also managed to snag the grand prize, $300 gift card to Alyeska, our local ski resort. Directly after that, during the big bosses talk, I had to depart to go to bar maid job. Yes, I am a big fat rat. And someday the Seattle airport will open again and my snowboard will get on a happy cargo plane and make it's way here.

Modified View of Cold

I spent the weekend at an inter-agency avalanche training. I've been planning this for weeks at least. I put in my time off request over a month ago from the job I will only be at for two more weekends because I am a softie. I gathered warm clothes when I was south for Thanksgiving.

I forgot to bring those clothes with me and chose instead to ship them north. I believe they are getting on a plane today. Also, when I asked for the weekend off I forgot to specify that the Friday before the Saturday off I would like to not have a closing shift. Never mind that this is now my regular shift. It was the busiest Friday I have ever seen there. I got a short nap before my 1+ hour drive.

The weekend was good overall and I should have some pictures to share later. Like as soon as I can find that lady's card with her contact details on it.....

Wearing my warmest clothes with heat packs in my mittens and boots, I was cold standing around all day. Never have I wished more for the opportunity to dig a hold in the snow. In fact, I am very grateful to the lady who took some pictures as she kept us from freezing more on Sunday by volunteering us to go get a sled from the parking lot for a scenario. We kept warm all right and it sure beat working the probe line we had been sent there to do. I pulled the sled behind me while I snowshoed up a path not quite wide enough for the sled so we had to keep stoping so she could empty the snow out. She got to pull it downhill with the subject in it. But by then we had a group of 8 snowshoers to widen the path. It was still fun, but I'm really inspired to certify my dog and reduce my chances of pulling sleds.

I learned that my thermos rocks. It was exposed constantly yesterday to temps as high as +10 from 9am to 6pm and I had a cup of hot tea on the drive home.

Speaking of temperatures, have you ever gotten back to your rig after playing in the cold/snow and stayed cold until the rig gets warmed up at which point you start peeling off clothes and turning down the fan/temp for the rest of the drive? I experienced a new phenomenom this weekend. It involved the fan staying on high, the temp staying on high and all the warm clothes staying on, including the balaclava and mittens. The drive was over an hour and I never got hot. That might have had something to do with the -10 temp outside. Or maybe I'm just weak from having a desk job.

It Keeps Going

It turns out that the company that towed Tucumcari to jail is about as reliable as the guy who was working on her.

We arrive the next morning at the appointed time after Smokey gets permission to arrive late to work, only to find out they aren't really open. But the *highly intelligent mechanic* behind the desk takes down my phone number and will try to get a hold of the owner.

Smokey goes to work. I go home and sit by phone. At noon it rings. They are on their way to the yard and will have her out in an hour or so. JOY!! I believe them. I retrieve Smokey from work and arrive at the yard at the appointed time. No cars have been moved. There is one guy there. We wander around yard and joyously find her under a foot of snow near the back. We shovel snow off before canopy collapses. I crawl underneath and confirm breaks were done. I look under hood and am joyous at new battery. Maybe guy wasn't lying, just was criminal. She wants to start. The clutch peddal goes straight to the floor and takes my heart with it. I look under hood again. Slave cylindar is missing. Young tow guy (owner's son) says he has to move 8 vehicles to get her out. He says it would be easier if he had the key. I ignore the little voice and give him my only key. He says he won't lose it and that he will have her out today (Saturday). I believe him. He will work on it between calls. I take Smokey back to work. A few hours later I stop by the yard on my way to bar maid job. No one is there. It is locked up. Nothing has moved.

We drive by the yard on Sunday. Nothing has moved. I call the office on Monday. Dispatcher tells me they are working on it right now and will call me as soon as they are done. I do not believe her. Tuesday I hear nothing and do nothing. I call again on Wednesday near the end of the day and am asked to hold for a moment. Dispatcher tells me truck is out and when can I get there. I tell her 20 minutes and she says she will ask the driver to wait there. We reconfirm the price ($245) and that I will give it to the driver in cash. I rush over and get Smokey to leave work early and then we rush over to the yard.

The yard is open. The vehicles have been moved! There is no driver there. And where did they put Tucum? We call the dispatcher and are told the driver will be right back. We see Tucum at the front of the yard and go talk to her. Driver arrives and is paid. He does not have the key. he calls the office. They call the kid. He will look for it. We go to the office. No key. Kid arrives. No key. We go back to truck and look inside. No key. This takes 3 hours. We have eaten all the candy in their basket. They will find key or have one made. We have ice cream for dinner.

That was Wednesday. I'm hoping Tucumcari will be home for Christmas now. Perhaps I will have found parts by then. Probably studded tires for bike will arrive day before parts.

I'm thinking I will not ever let anyone touch her again. Not even for an oil change.

I'll tell you about my trip south as soon as this drama ends.

Tucumcari Gets Her Stripes

For those of you who don't know, this is Tucumcari, my beloved vintage truck. Several (read 7) weeks ago while Smokey the Bear was down hunting goats I took her to a guy the lady at Schuck's recommended to have him install some brake parts I purchased. The thought process was that he would be done before Smokey returned and there would be no interuption in transportation needs. Ahem. I have rarely been so wrong in my life. Normally I do a lot of the necessary work on Tucum myself, but I don't have many tools here and no shelter from the cold and snowy weather.

I checked in with the guy every day or so at first. They sold me the wrong parts. They needed to order the parts. They ordered the wrong parts. The battery died. There was a puddle of fluid under the truck. The brakes are done. The puddle is clutch fluid from the slave cylinder. There's a new battery now. I'm trying to find a part. I know a guy who's suppossed to get back to me today about a part. I can't find a part so I'm rebuilding the slave cylinder. As you can imagine, this became a weekly check in after Smokey returned.

And then I dissapeared for 9 days for WFR. 'I wondered what happened to you' he said, 'I've just got one little thing left I'm working on with the slave cylinder'. Followed up by 'my wife is really after me to get a job'. To which I reply 'that's okay, I'm riding my bike and it's been above 20 this week'. I hang up thinking to myself 'didn't he tell me he was going back to work at Schuck's? Hmph, I guess he changed his mind. Or maybe they were fully staffed and he had to abandon that idea.'

You know that little voice? I wish I had a dollar for every time it was right. Because then I could retire in luxury. When is an autoparts store fully staffed? Never.

And then I went south for Thanksgiving. Upon my return I called said guy, and was met with 'I've been trying to call you'. To which I reply, 'Oh, my phone got unplugged while I was gone (by the dogs) and I know it just rings and doesn't go to voicemail when that happens. But I'm back now. How's the truck doing?' Quiet pause. 'What do you mean, didn't you come and get it?' Quiet panic sets in. 'Uh, no.' Is met with 'Oh f#$@!!! Oh no, I'll call you right back.' I sit and stare at my computer screen. This. Is. Not. Happening. Receptionist notifies me I have a call on line 4. 'Okay, I found your truck. It's at Alyeska towing, but they won't tell me anything because I'm not the registered owner. Here's their number, call them and then call me right back.'

The tow company needs the liscense plate because it's how they file their invoices. Who amoung you has your plate memorized? Luckily I found I had the above picture saved to my work computer from before my camera was stolen and I could call her back and tell her the plate number. Wait, wait, waiting. Call tow company again. Looking for the invoice. Find address on web and leave work early. Still can't find invoice, but now I know why. To say their filing system is 'special' is putting it mildly. I eat several pieces of holiday candy from basket and wait. Dispatcher talks to the driver who did the tow. From Schuck's. About two weeks ago. Their records say an employee was fired when he was arrested and they need his truck towed. This. Is. Not. Happening. Their yard is closed and you can't see through the fence, so I can't confirm it's my truck. And they can't find the invoice. One owner arrives and hears my story. They agreee to give me my truck for the price of the tow, in cash. I ask what time they open the next day and agree to arrive with second driver, tow strap, and cash.

I calmly inform Smokey I will be along shortly to pick him up from work; as soon as I'm done at the tow yard. No, I didn't get your truck towed. Tucumcari is in jail.

Back in Black .......and Purple

Greetings from the snowy state. I'm back in the office. I've been up since 3:30am Seattle time and I've been reduced to eating jelly donuts and diet Dr. Pepper (company provided, of course) in an attempt to complete some work for the boss while he is in town for one day. I have earned the purple bags under my eyes but I wonder why I didn't see the buffalo who must have run me over and left me black and blue. Not really; I'm just tired. Classic symptoms of a good vacation.

I'll post about the trip south and back later. After copious amounts of sleep are accumulated. Which won't be for a day or so as I'm pretty sure I have to close at the bar tonight. Sorry, I just can't bring myself to not show up for shifts I'm already scheduled for. Perhaps I can buy a coffee with my few sheckles. Or maybe I'll just continue to collect fodder for a book. And there's always the off chance that I would take home enough money to buy a new camera. Hey, I can dream.

BTW, I thought you all might be amused to know that my boss spells my name wrong. Outlook has failed in it's attempt to prevent the bad spellers of the world from untieing.

Unsustainable J.O.B.

Last night I was reminded of why waitressing is just not a sustainable job for me. Can you guess where this revelation came from? Why yes, it was Monday night football. I love football. Maybe it's the grown men in tights. Maybe it's the adrenaline inspired touchdown dances. Or perhaps it's the petty fights, infinitely detailed rules and regulations, tiny ball, tons of padding, and billions of dollars. And then there's the fans. Their diversity, and commitment ought to be commended. Or is that committed? I always get those two confused. It just touches my soul to see all the fans crowd in and cheer for a common goal. Or is that gole? I guess it's really touchdown in this case.

So the whole unsustainable aspect comes into play in more than one realm. There is, of course, my attitude towards the waste of resources, etc. And then there's the tips. Yup, show me the money, that's what it always comes down to, isn't it? Last night I worked for three and half hours and I took home ....(wait for it)......a whopping total of four dollars. Of course Smokey the Bear had dinner too, but I usually don't even notice that being taken out of my tips. Last night, it was more than half ($6.12 to be exact). Perhaps it's time to just let go of this non-lucrative second job and just stay home and pet my cats. I guess I could pet the dogs too. And there's always that mysterious smell in the fridge I could investigate. Yes, the to do list is ever growing and never shrinking. If only we could harness that energy somehow....then I could quit both my jobs and spend all my time playing outside. What, a girl can dream, can't she? This one can!

Limit Set

Today I decided that zero degrees (F) is cold enough to forego the bike and give in to the vehicle. I'll start that tomorrow, you know, when my toes thaw. I think what finally got me was realizing the hazard / challenge of trying to pedal uphill while wiggling my toes. Try it some time and see what I mean. Also, I do not recommend biking below ten degrees without adding another layer to the bottom half of your clothing system. Don't wait until trying to get dressed to realize that ALL your thermal bottoms are dirty (from nine day WFR training) and decide that it isn't really that cold. You will be wrong and your hiney will go on strike.

Course Quote

I found it a bit strange to suddenly disasemble the group I had been with for 9 days on Sunday. We had acted out tragedies together, splinted arms and legs, contracted and recovered from a multitude of symptoms, even packaged up and carried each other on litters. And then suddenly it was over. No more late night cram sessions and playing fetch with a herd of dogs at the bottom of the steep driveway. No more 2 hour drives and quizes. No more frantic collection of vital signs.

And yet my life will never really be the same. I watched a couple episodes of the Dukes of Hazzard Sunday night while folding laundry. And all I could think about following the fantastic jumps over gullies was that they sure had experienced a mechanism of injury (MOI) to their spines and really shouldn't be driving. Smokey the Bear came out one night and helped with a scenario and then sat and watched the video of the exercise with the class. I think it has affected him too. This morning as we were sliding sideways along the highway on-ramp (my driving) he commented that it would suck if we got in an accident. He quickly followed that up with an explanation: it wouldn't suck for his spine because the MOI would be obvious, it would suck because no one would think to perform the Heimlich on him because they wouldn't realize he had been eating at the time of the crash. "How do you do the Heimlich on an MOI spine patient anyway?" I had a sudden moment of panic when I realized I didn't know the answer to that question. And then we both laughed.

Yes, life may never be the same again. The instructor was so good I've recommended her to everyone I know. And I'm thinking of having a shirt made for her with my favorite quote of the course. It happened when a fellow student was working with me on a patient whose symptoms indicated he had a bloody nose. We were trying to decide what to recommend for treatment and I said he shouldn't tip his head back. He followed that up with "Well, all bleeding stops eventually'. Our instructor was 5 feet away and heard that clear as a bell. That one was good for several repeats in the following days. Watch out world, I'm not the only WFR out there.

Manic Monday

We've all had those days. You know, the kind where your sleep is interupted by various pets knocking over/attempting to eat various other pets in the wee hours of the morning so that your sleep is totally fractured and ineffective. And then the dog who is locked in the kennel for attempting to eat the cat starts to puke. And you mistakenly congratulate yourself for getting her outside before she pukes.....because when you bring her back inside she eats your breakfast while you are conferring with your other household member about plans for the day. Jam side down on the carpet when you finally catch her. So that then you are late for work AND have no breakfast.

Yup, I'm home. And WFR certified. Watch out world, here I come!

Perfectly Normal

You will all be thrilled to know that I am perfectly normal. My instructor informed us after last night's car crash scenario that it is 'perfectly normal' for students to be freaking out about being able to pass the exam at the end of the course at this halfway point. Great, makes me feel so much better. It's not the money or time investment that worries me, just the thought that I will fail and then I'll be somewhere in-between a helpful person in a backcountry emergency and totally helpless/possibly making it worse. Anybody up for some backcountry skiiing?

Not AWOL, just WFR

I'm a little obsorbed right now in Wilderness First Responder training. I'll be done late Sunday. Stay tuned.

Unexpected Visiting

So Wednesday I rode my bike to the office because I didn't have any work or training or other activity to attend to in the evening. It was a pleasant day for a ride and upon arriving at home I took the dogs out. And then I went for a run with one of my friends. Smokey the Bear (aka Alex) drove by us as we were running. I waved, but didn't think he saw us. We returned home to.......a locked apartment. Hmmm...so that's interesting. I wonder if the windows are unlocked? Or maybe the back door? Nope. Hmmm.....how did he miss my keys sitting on the counter, and my bike in the living room, and the dogs out of their kennels? 'Friend, where are your keys?' 'Uh, inside.' 'I see. Well, let's see if the neighbor is home and we can use her phone.' Luckily she was and I played with her puppy while my friend called her boyfriend and got him to bundle up the baby and hop in the truck and bring her the spare key. He brought the key fob. Anyone sense a theme here? She had to ride home and get the spare and be brought back out to pick up her car.

Let's pause here so I can address the questions I'm sure are brewing. Smokey's cell plan was up for renewal a couple weeks ago. He was tired of not having reception inside the apartment. He decided not to renew it. He does not have a cell phone now. Also, he has a college buddy in town from Nome (go look that up on the map, I visited there this summer on a layover) and they are going out to dinner. I thought I was joining them, but obviously I was wrong. Being that Smokey is not prone to late night drinking binges, I was confident he would be home soon. Until I thought about what it was like to live in a small town and finally come to the city (big town in this case). Who knows what kind of errands this friend needs to run!

While my neighbor tried to break into my apartment for me, I decided to leave Smokey a note and head home with my friend. She fed me and let me play with the baby and cats and gave me wine. What more could I want? I love being an unexpected visitor.

Costume revealed

I refuse to reduce myself to talking about politics; there's plenty of that at the office and at home. So instead, let's talk about my Halloween costume. A kind soul sent me a picture so I could share with you.

TA DAH!! Look, it's a forest fairy. How cute! Nice wings.....

I never dressed up as a princess or a fairy or anything froofy as a child. This seemed like the perfect time to rectify that. What you can't appreciate in this picture is that I'm wearing four inch heels. Now don't be too hasty to judge, this is a height of heels I can manage well and these shoes are normally very comfortable. I've just never worn them for eight hours straight. While walking the equivalent of several miles. On a hard floor. While carying large beers. Sideways between chairs. It took me two days to be able to walk like a human again.

Anticipation of camera shopping

No pictures for you today. Nope, none. No Halloween costume pizaz to show off, nothing. Want to know why? Because I wanted to make sure to have some for you all and I took my camera to the bar. Yep, that was dumb. It didn't come home with me because one of my co-workers (and I will find out who) decided to go through my pockets and relieve me of it. I feel sorry for them, really, I do. I can't imagine being at a point in my life where I would feel like I wanted or needed to go through my co-worker's pockets. Really though, I wish they would have just taken my cell phone and wallet. In the aftermath, I discovered that this was not their first strike. One other waitress had her purse stolen and a cook had his shoes stolen. Yes, I said shoes. A new pair of Nikes, apparently. He didn't want to get them all yucky while he was working in the kitchen, so he changed for his shift. And at the end of his shift, all gone. Pawn shops here I come......

In the meantime, I'm trying to see this as an opportunity to go shopping. It turns out I've gotten attached to having a camera and taking pictures. Now I just need to extend that to downloading them from the camera daily. Any camera recommendations?

Second costume hint

Feast your eyes upon my armbands and shudder in terror! Or at least keep your giggling to a minimum. Any of you slackers want to guess? KAES you are not allowed to guess since I told you what my costume is earlier.

Bazel, Not-Bazel, and A Thing that goes HISS in the Night

This is Bazel. I always think of him as Stuart Little in a cat body. He is sweet as sugar and white as snow.

This is Not Bazel. We call him Frog, as in Bullfrog, as in the horrible sound he makes that I think is supposed to be a meow. This guy kept getting brought to us when we put up posters for Bazel. Alex finally kept him inside when he got 60 phone calls and this same cat brought to our door twice in one hour. And he had a hard time convincing people that he wasn't trying to not give out the reward. He doesn't really know what to think of the dogs, but he has warmed up to Bear (though she still gives him a LOOK when he lays down too close). No one is looking for him.

This is Bazel. We miss him very much and are still looking for him at the shelter. We had hoped he was the kitty eating food off the porch for the last couple weeks. It started when I saw kitty paw prints in the snow on the porch one morning. We slept with the door open the next night and woke to kitty kibble eating, but made too much noise rolling over on the airbed to get a glimpse. The next night Alex put the food in a cup with a loop of duct tape inside to see if kitty had white fur. There was some white looking fur on the tape in the morning. I've locked the kids all up in the bedroom with me every night for nigh on two weeks in an attempt to lure the kitty further inside. I had kitty eating food almost two feet inside the door.

The scientist in me had deduced from nightime ramblings that if kitty was eating food at the same time every night, it was before 3am and after 1am (between 1:16 and 3:18 to be precise). At 1:21 this morning we awoke from a stuper to some horrendous noises in the living room. Alex vaulted out of bed and asked where the light switch was in the hallway. I told him, he ignored me, and he proceeded to run into a myriad of obstacles. By which point I too had exited the bedroom and deduced that it must be Frog singing because Bear was on the bed and the dogs weren't yelping in claw inflicted pain. Sure enough, Frog was singing to the porch kitty. Talk about an attack cat; he sure fits in with the dogs. Alas, kitty is a fluffy siamese looking thing, not my Beloved Bazel.

It's Friday, do you know where your coconut is?

It's Friday, kick back, relax, and put your feet up. '"Is that a coconut on your desk?" Well, as usual, that's a bit of a story. No one around here even really bats an eye at it. Most people sit in my extra chair next to the coconut and play with it. At one point we even took to calling it Wilson. Yes, we know the volleyball was named Wilson, but it somehow fit. You see, we have an office in Hawaii and everyone here just assumes I went there and brought it back with me. When this assumption is voiced I ususally respond with "Now what would our CAD operator be doing in Hawaii that she can't do from here?" usually followed up with "Never mind, let's send her and find out." So far this hasn't resulted in a Hawaii assignment.

One day a couple weeks ago I was in the office break room and I swear I smelled coconut. I should warn you here that I love coconut. Also, we have an espresso machine and a decent variety of bottled flavorings sitting on the counter. I've not yet bothered to make myself a drink as we don't have any coconut flavoring (or almond, but that's another story). Anywho, I was sniffing around and checking the bottles to see where that delicious smell was coming from when I was interupted by a co-worker (who I don't know well) coming into the room for some coffee. Upon being given a strange look I explained I was trying to find the source of the coconut smell. 'You do smell coconut in here, don't you?' He assured me he did, got his coffee and left.

The next morning I sat down at my desk and immediately smelled coconut. Oh no, it's finally happened, I'm losing my mind! Then I noticed one of my drawers was ajar. Huh, the room must not be quite level, that drawer's slid open a bit. It wouldn't close. So I opened it and found a coconut. THE coconut, aka Wilson. Since my officemate was not in yet, I went to said co-worker's office who met me in the break room the previous day and quieting sang 'I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts' as I slowly walked by his room. He burst out laughing. And replied with the next verse of the song later in the day as he passed my office. Which really confused my officemate.

Oh how I love office games. Enjoy your Friday. I have to work at my other job tonight, where costumes are mandatory. A preview of part of my costume:

Any guesses what my costume is? Stay tuned for more hints as I am bored at work.

Results of biking to work

I decided to ride my bike to work this morning, no easy feat considering the state of my apartment after the arrival of my shipment of stuff from Portland. In my efforts to extricate the bike from it's position against the kayaks, I unearthed this:


...my birthday present from a friend. I had been meaning to hang it on the wall, but that led to discovering where the heater vents existed and the realization that the kayaks were in the way of turning on the heat,......and somewhere in there the hanging of the painting got lost. But now it is found and I love it. That is exactly how I feel in the morning when I leave the warmth of the apartment and that first blast of cold air hits me and I can no longer think. It's beyond 'what was I thinking?' it's so numbing I can't think anything. Luckily I have new lenses for my sunglasses, so the cold air no longer takes away vision function. I love Alaska.

Schnazzy new top and someday skirt

My adventures and mis-adventures are not limited to outdoor pursuits. Sometimes they appear in my crafting attempts.




Here we have a recently completed (Yay!!) sleeveless top I knit for myself. It looks very angular here, but pretty flattering when worn. The mis-adventure part comes in at the color change approximately 1/3 down from the top. I ran out of yarn about two years ago and stubbornly refused to pull this apart and use the yarn for a different project. I first tried to fix this by unknitting part way and changing the pattern. When that didn't work I set it aside for a while. When I came back to it I brainstormed potential yarn/pattern solutions, and the hunt began.




Eventually I found not only a yarn combination that I liked, but also some fabric that I thought would make a lovely co-ordinating skirt. I am absolutely in love with the beaded trim on the bottom of the top and may have to buy some more for the skirt. I'll update you as the skirt progresses, but I'll warn you, it could be a long wait since I'm much more motivated to sew wool pants right now.

These shoes were made for running

These are my faithful Ryka running shoes. I ran my first marathon in them on the island last summer (2007) and they are all done. I also wore them for the first few months of waitressing at the sport's bar. Now they are going to hop in the box and be mailed down to Nike for recycling.

This is Frog (aka Not It, aka Christopher Robin), not Bazel, checking 0ut my shoes. he says they are stinky and he is glad to see them go. Doesn't he look a stupid amount like Bazel?

Talkeetna Dreamin'

Not long after landing in Anchorage I came across an opportunity that I couldn't decline. Some times this seems like it was a brilliant idea and other times it seems like a moment in which I took leave of my senses. Unencumbered by the thought process or not, I bought some land. Or, rather, I'm making payments on some land.




As you can see, the road is in and the puppies approve. The electricity is also in. I'm sure this isn't how it looks now, but it is how it looked this spring. There's probably snow there now and it's likely colder than our daytime high of 12 today.

Of course I remembered to only bring my camera on a cloudy day. Trust me, we walked the whole development and picked out the only lot with a view. This is the view across the gravel road; the Talkeetna mountains are behind those clouds across the wetland. Trust me.......I'll get more pictures next visit. Not that I have any idea when that will be since I work 7 days a week. Rest assured it will happen.

This is the north end of the lot. There's only a couple lots between here and the end of the road. All the other lots have many trees, but not mine. The slough bends to the east just beyond my lot.

And this is the middle of the lot. You know, where the cabin goes. This view is on my screensaver. As a reminder of why I go to work everyday. And don't leave at lunch.

Working proof AKA my father's daughter

Proof that sometimes we never grow up. I think I spent more time playing in the mud and climbing trees than anything else as a child.



Here I'm tying to chip a soil sample out of the frozen ground. First you have to scrape the surface. Then you use a rock hammer to chip a chunk of frozen soil out of the ground. Then you put it in a baggie and wait for it to melt so you can test it.

Seriously? What is this shinning orb in the sky? I don't remember how to walk without my raingear on!

I'm a scientist, see me dutifully taking notes and drawing a sketch of the site? No, really, that's what I'm doing.

This summer I went to camp......and played in mud and learned to drive a mini excavator, and got a sunglasses tan on the two sunny days I saw.

See, I told you it was mini.

Wow, that's a muddy hole.

"Please Herb, don't bash my head in. I promise I'll let you label the bags next time."

See how much I like mud? I like it so much I've grown a shovel handle out of the back of my head.

Super secret scientific stuff.....

I am so small compared to the not-so-mini excavator.

Under the boardwalk......

Herb and I are contemplating the universe on the boardwalk in front of the village store. There are no roads in this village, just boardwalks for ATVs to roar around on.

Who doesn't like to crawl around under proped up buildings and stick pin flags in the ground?

Latest fashion in summer garb; hardhat and plastic bag extra.

To Adak and back

Adventures come in all shapes and sizes. One day late this summer as I was working a low tip producing section of the restaurant, a group of friendly folks trickled in to my large table. This turned out to be a good thing; we hit it off from the start and I discovered one of the couples included a pilot for a major airline. It turns out his route for the next month included the weekly flight to Adak Island and back. And he had an open seat for next Thursday and by the way, what was I doing next Thursday? And would I like to come along? Oh boy, would I!!



This is a view of Mt. Illiamna from the plane. Go look up Adak Island on the map. Then trace the route from Anchorage to Adak. We had a sunny flight for only the first part of the trip and lost sight of the islands far before we reached Dutch Harbor.

Adak is the farthest island along the Aleutian chain you can reach via commercial airlines. It was cold, windy, and rainy during my short visit. I understand this to be the normal weather here. We had a couple guys from my other job working on a project here and they had some weather stories to tell. It is also lush and green and gorgeous. The islands appear to shoot straight up out of the ocean; most of them are very rocky with velvety green caps of vegetation. And no, I didn't see the caribou, they were on the other side of the island.

Why is there even an airport of commercial airline size in this place, you might ask. Well, because the entire 'town' used to be a military base. Complete with McDonald's. Most of this has since been mothballed. I took some other cool pictures to ask Alex's dad if he recognized anything from his days here. I'm looking forward to another trip someday after this glimpse. But probably not by sailboat.

Hiking on the Kenai

One weekend we decided we'd had enough struggling with boats and put ins and take outs and we decided to resort to good old fashioned hiking. Armed with a new trail book and topo maps of the Kenai, we picked out a trail, loaded up the dogs and took off for a day hike.

And this is what we found. This is not the trail we picked out. In fact, this is a couple hours drive beyond the trail we picked out. We were so lost we didn't even know we were lost. What looked like an obvious turn on the map was far less obvious to us on the ground. After stopping at a local pottery shop, we ventured back the way we came and ended up on this lovely trail. The other one is still on my list, but Alex hiked it with the dogs while I was away this summer.

Spring came so late here that we were able to pick spruce tips and we made spruce tip syrup the following week. We also picked fiddleheads, but no berries. By this time on the island the salmonberries would have come and gone.

We stopped for a while at our turn around spot (the place in the trail where the snow was still too deep for us to wade through) and looked at the peaks across the creek. Alex was doubtful we would see anything and was a little surprised when I told him I saw a goat. He then supplemented my find with a pair of black bears. And then I added in a trio of bald eagles. We decided to stop looking at that point.

Moose-adventures

Not long after we moved to Anchorage and were enjoying the glorious spring sunshine, it snowed. And then it snowed again. And then Alex went south to visit family and it snowed more than 10 inches. I had to buy a broom so I could get all the snow off the windshield. I didn't even think about driving my truck. The first red stoplight I approached all the snow from the roof slid onto the windshield and I had to wave people around me while I cleaned it off with my bare hands.

And what did Tatonka think about all this? He thought it was glorious! He loves snow; he loves jumping off the porch onto the snow. He loves.......what is it Tatonka? What are you staring at so intently?

Oh, that. That is a moose. Please don't bark at it.

Apparently the moose is hungry and this is easy food to find. We eventually stopped keeping track of our daily average moose sightings, but it took a while. Our apartment complex is near some protected wetlands, so there is a high population of moose in the area. Oh, and you can't shoot them in town, so they aren't so afraid of humans.