The One month Report....

"Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't, and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said that it'd be easy, they just promised it would be worth it." Bob Marley


I came across this quote while searching the web for a pithy summation of the first month of my "Alaskan Adventure". These words, like many of those by reggae's most iconic figure, really ring true for me.

Zen philosophy keeps me rooted in the moment. "Be here now" has been my credo for a long time now. Nevertheless, "the unexamined life is not worth living" also strikes a chord within me. So periodically I pause to take stock of whatever path I'm on and where it might lead me. This is such a moment.

 The past thirty days have rocketed by! My work has been both interesting and afforded some degree of challenge. As the season gets into full swing this will continue and intensify I'm sure.

 Observing what goes on in this place, originally called Alaxsxaq by the native people, has been an experience unto itself. Hesitating to reaching any sweeping appraisal based on a small glimpse of this vast and mysterious land mass, some haunting impressions stand out.

 I've come in contact with what seems like an inordinate amount of "lost souls". Those fellow beings with blank stares and far away gazes. A good amount of them have been native in appearance but others have encompassed all backgrounds and heritages. The young Caucasian pounding feverishly on the shop door, insisting on entering, his head rolling around in uncontrolled gyrations comes to mind. The numerous  wanderers marching up and down the sidewalks shouting obscenities equally to everyone and no one. The groups of young people squaring off for violent confrontations in the empty parking lots. When discussing these matters with more "normal' folks they immediately cite the many dubious records held by the forty ninth state. The most alcoholics per capita, most domestic violence per capita, most rapes per capita and on and on. There appears to be a consensus of self-loathing going on. Everybody acknowledges the fact that litter is everywhere but just shrug in acceptance. All surrounded by incredible natural beauty! Needless to say, somewhat troubling to any compassionate human. I will keep looking for the positives. That is my nature.

I have met some very nice people as well. Most of them twenty-something in age, but seemingly more mature and jaded than what you might expect for that generation. I sense a helpless acceptance of their lot in life. Having not recently been in such youthful company it caught me by surprise. This quiet desperation.

More observations to come but now for an update of the daily grind. The work-week progressed nicely. Clear and the high twenties in the morning was the pattern until Friday when everything was coated with fresh white snow! About an inch and it stopped. No record yet.

Monday evening I tried desperately to watch the final game of the NCAA basketball tournament on the CBS Sports Website. We have a terrible internet provider on this end of town and the feed was frustratingly sporadic. Every fifteen seconds the screen would freeze as the buffering tried to catch up. From what I did see, I figured not much was missed. Kentucky won, just as expected by just about everyone.

Spoke to many friends and family members this week which is always welcome.


If it's Thursday...it must be Gwennie's! Enjoying tall Black IPA when the number and variety of individuals approaching the bar caught my attention. They were purchasing some sort of raffle ticket, filling in the lines and depositing them in a five gallon red can. When curiosity finally got the best of me I queried Carol the bartender. Handing me a brochure she explained that the brochure would answer all my questions.

Turns out for the last ninety-six years folks around these parts have had an ever increasing annual money pool now named the "Nenana Ice Classic".
The bounty goes to the fortunate party/parties that selected the very moment a tripod positioned out on the frozen water at the confluence of the Nenana and Tanana Rivers up near Fairbanks sinks into the water. It seems to be a big deal!
The rush was on because it was the last day to buy the tickets and everyone in town was sold out except for Gwennie's.Last year three lucky souls split over $300,000!
Now, not being adverse to a game of chance myself, I picked up a couple of tickets, briefly studied the statistics printed in the brochure and selected a couple of times. Into the red bucket they went. Wish me luck! You can follow the action on the website. http://www.nenanaakiceclassic.com/

Had another Patty Melt with the Alaskan Black IPAs and enjoyed the company in the bar. Interesting stories and banter from the regular patrons, most of whom are pilots of one sort or another.
Back at the shop the internet connection was good so I caught up on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. A couple of funny guys that induce one to exercise the grey matter.

As I already mentioned, I awoke Friday morning to thirty three degrees and snowing. Even though there was a great deal of snow everywhere when I first arrived, I had yet to see it snow in Alaska. The fresh white coat cleaned things up a bit visually as well.
Forgetting loads of people get Good Friday off as a Holiday, I made the mistake of going to Costco to pick up shop supplies and such. Big mistake, but once you're in...you're in. Appeared to be half of Anchorage milling around in the joint. On the upside there was someone on every isle giving out free samples of just about anything and everything. So that was lunch.

The town needed two more inches of snow to break the all-time record. Saturday, April 7th they would get it, one hundred, thirty four and one half inches! I just happened to be in town to be part of that experience. So...I got that going for me. The snow lasted all day. Big cloud-like flakes wafting to the ground.

I bagged plans to go downtown to the Motorcycle Show and went to Coles Laudromat again as my clean clothes were far out numbered by the ones in need of a wash.
That task behind me I wound up at The Peanut Farm. Watched a replay of the Master golf tournament on a couple of the big screens, had a mediocre pizza washed down by a locally brewed ale. I was sitting at the bar and the gentleman to my right struck up a conversation. He was up here for a week or two, from Ft. Worth, TX installing cell towers to be used by the government only. In the name of "public safety". After we had talked for awhile something was said that revealed that I too was new to Alaska. To which he replied. "Really, I thought you were a local".  What do you think? Here I am standing by the, only recently able to be opened, back door.

I received a nice package from the Wilsons today! It contained the swag I would have received had I been back home to participate in the FFMC Spring Opener Ride. Thank-you Wilsons & Freeman!


Slept in a little and took a shower for  the second day in a row. A first time occurrence since I've been here. Reason being, Brenden invited me to an Easter Brunch at his and Nora's apartment. Nora being his lovely, young girlfriend originally from New Jersey. They did a great job feeding and entertaining a good number of people in a small area. I was impressed. Beginning the festivities as the guests arrived, we were charged with "hunting" for small, colorfully wrapped bottles of Champagne. Once found a Mimosa was the reward! The potato latkas were the hit of the food offerings. Particularly when David (a friend of Brenden and Nora's, not me) whipped up a really good hollandaise sauce to go on top. I enjoyed meeting all eight of their friends and was grateful to be included. A fine time was had by all! Happy Easter!


Later that evening I watched a free download of the classic film "Lawrence Of Arabia". Still holds up after all these years!

As the one month point of this saga approaching is when I found myself stepping back to take a look, so to speak. It has been quite a whirlwind since, as Phil says, "I took a leap of faith".

Treading water in the deep end of the pool waiting for whatever comes next. That analogy occurs to me as I sit staring at a large map of the world on the wall while eating meals. Pondering how nice traveling before passports were needed must have been. When the adventurous were driven by curiosity. In a world not being strangled by greed and fear.

They cleaned the gravel off the parking lot today. Very cool.

Some more snow shots.....

Ending a post once again with a shot of ol' "BEAR METAL" looking none too happy to be blinded by the snow!

Peace out.

chief

Break-Up Coming on Fast!

Boy, the local folks have been telling me, winter turns to summer real fast when it happens! I think it's happening At the start of my third week in the forty-ninth state morning temperatures jumped to the upper twenties. Each day seeing the mercury rising to the high thirties, low forties.

I'm getting settled in to the routine of being back on the job. Kind of weird living where you work/working where you live. On the other hand I'm bunking with a bunch of motorcycles! Which I will be riding any day now! And it sure saves on gas. Regular is going for around $4.25 a gallon now. I'm told that will change drastically in a months time. And not for the better!

Phil and Brenden were back to work on Tuesday after taking Monday off to recover from their northern expedition. Not one to let moss grow under his feet though, Phil flew out early on Wednesday for two weeks to lead the "Japan Three Island Tour". http://www.motoquesttours.com/guided-motorcycle-tour.php?japan-three-island-tour-20 .
I volunteered to shuttle him to the airport at six in the morning. It turned out to be a "good thing", as on the way we encountered an enormous bull moose! He was just crossing the road down the street between a couple of the hotels. Even Phil commented on his size. No photo though. Had to get to the airport and did not have a camera on me. So at least I've got that going for me now! No doubt the first of many by the time this sojourn is completed.

My project this week has been to construct a rack to hold the tires in an orderly fashion. Attempts made to procure one ended with no luck. So I traipsed off to Home Depot to forage the materials needed. "Snoopdawg", the moniker given by me to the HD associate, was quite helpful in spite of his extremely long fingernails. He even cut an eight foot 4x4 down into six pieces at no charge for me. Here's what I ended up with back at the shop.

Then some painting was in order.

Here's the finished rack. That oughta hold some tires! And maybe withstand an earthquake!

Thursday was my fathers 82nd birthday! So of course, in absentia, when I went over to Gwennie's for my weekly visit I raised my glass in admiration! Happy Birthday Dad!

On Friday I went out to lunch with Brenden and Jason. They chose Ray's Place. Unassuming from the exterior, the Thai, Vietnamese cuisine was very good. My choice was the Ginger Halibut and I was not disappointed. Funny card for an Asian joint. Some fat white guy fishing on a dock somewhere. Maybe that's Ray. Next time I go there I'll try to get the scoop. There will be a next time for sure!

The week passed quickly, as time seems to do up here, and Saturday found me hanging around the shop. As noted in the previous post, this site did some sort of upgrade and I lost all my work. So most of the day was spent re-posting while watching the final four games on the work computer. Greg texted a photo of Davids youngest son Kyle with Senor on his knee. Nice to see he's made himself  "right at home". The bird, that is.

Sunday morning, after a quick shower, I made my way over to the "Peanut Farm", a popular sports bar out on Old Seward Hwy. While enjoying a huge plate of corned beef hash I watched the two World Superbike races from Imola, Italy on one of their many large screen televisions.

This place can hold a crowd!

Afterwards, it was off to Walmart where I picked up a new pair of Wranglers for $10.58. Due to packing restrictions I only brought one pair of jeans with me and needed another pair for work. Also bought a hair clipper in anticipation  of the day when all this wool becomes a hindrance. I'll be sure to post before/after shots of that occurrence.

To close this post here is another photo of "BEAR METAL" to show how much snow has melted this week. He'll be on bare ground soon. Pun intended.

Well that's all for this entry. The roads are clearing up rapidly. I'll be able to get out and about on the bikes soon. Then maybe there will be something interesting to post. Until then. Enjoy your "break-up" where ever you might be.

Peace out.

chief

Weekend Update...An Alaska State of Mind.

Thought I'd open this post with a photo I named "BEAR METAL".

He stands sentinel out in front of the Harley shop. You will be seeing him periodically as sort of a "bench mark" to show the changing weather conditions.

A side note regarding this post. I had this entry almost complete and ready to post when last night the host site saw fit to "upgrade" the program. Unfortunately, one minute I'm proofreading and the next I'm staring at a blank screen wondering what the hell just happened! This is an attempt to re-construct the original post. So bear with me.

Work week number two would hold more of the same. Cleaning, organizing and preparing for the rapidly approaching riding season. Temperatures remain in the single digits as the days begin, approaching high twenties to low thirties in the afternoons. Myself and Jason, the office guy, holding down the fort while Phil, Brenden and Jim spend the week up north.

Cleaned up the oil barrels. One holds fresh oil, the other used oil for recycling. It seems the used receptacle overflowed sometime last season and nobody bothered to clean up the mess! What a chore! Moved them closer to the door setting them on a swell pallet I found behind Walmart. Thanks Walmart!

Next came the parts washer. I considered the oil drums a dirty job but resurrecting the horribly neglected washer was beyond the pale! Probably one of the grossest tasks I've ever tackled. Filled with five gallons of some sort of smelly, filthy brown liquid with two inches of sludge covering the bottom. It was barely usable. 

After taking way too much time cleaning, disassembling/reassembling the pump, a new sludge pad and a can of red paint the unit was like new! Check it out. 

I'll add the ten gallons of fresh solvent later. 

So it is Tuesday the twentieth at 11:47 pm. I'm shutting down the computer and getting ready to hit the cot for the night. Suddenly the floor feels like it moves four to six inches! A feeling not unlike being on an elevator that comes to a stop then drops a bit. 

My initial response, having recently heard of many roofs collapsing from snow loads, was to look up at the ceiling and the bowing between the massive girders. You cannot see the bowing very well but you can see the girders. Ruling out a cave-in I deduce we've had an earth tremor. So, with the adrenalin pulsing through my veins causing my heart to beat rapidly, I pace around wondering if this is the beginning of the "BIG ONE". This is the result of the last major quake from 1964. 

The "crack" meanders the entire length of the building. It's not the only one. Just the main vein. I estimate the elevation difference from the northwest corner to the southeast corner to be at least twelve inches! Upon relating the experience to my co-workers I was scoffed at and told to "get used to it". Turns out it was a 3.5 on the scale and was centered nearby.

I don't believe I've delved into this subject yet. The Anchorage drivers are very aggressive! Granted, I have not been piloting a four wheeled vehicle much as of late and may be slightly tentative. Nevertheless you have to be ready for anything. Especially with the current road conditions.

Time seemingly goes fast up here. Already my eleventh day in Alaska and it's Thursday. In the attempt to hold on to one habit I walked over to Gwennie's for a cold one. Shanahan's it isn't but the Alaska Black IPA tastes mighty good after a hard days work! Had a damn tasty patty melt too.

The forecasters are calling for a warming trend and maybe snow in the next few days. They desperately want to break the all-time record  in Anchorage. We'll see.

On another subject. The only signs of Moose I've yet to see are these. 

Then my friend Keith sends me this text photo taken by a guy he knows who lives in Anchorage.  My chance will come. Just a matter of time and being at the right place at the right time. This is in downtown Anchorage!

Next thing I know...It's the weekend! Awoke Saturday to twenty three degrees and sunshine! making the most of my little "kitchenette" it's bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast. 

Caught up on some of my favorite television shows on the net whilst enjoying my first Alaskan latte from the Black Bear Coffee stand across the street. Cute little native college girl served up a fine cuppa with an even finer smile!

Then it was off to find Coles Laundromat. After two weeks it was time to freshen up the wardrobe. Passed the time making phone calls, doing the crossword puzzle from a left behind newspaper and taking notice of the coming and goings of the busy coin-op wash house. The owner is a friendly Asian fellow who works as an airplane technician during the week.

Cruised back to the shop for a late lunch some meditation and more WWF on the computer.
Have to admit of feeling a wee bit homesick for the first time today. A photo of my grandnephew Marquise, the young son of my sisters oldest, posted by his Mom initiated the stirrings. I realized how much he, along with all the other youngins in the family, will change/develop in my absence. I'm grateful for all the technology that keeps us virtually connected !

What a beautiful Sunday morning! Help, I'm a rock....

Following a nice warm shower and a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios I grabbed the video and still cameras, jumped into Old Blue and ventured out into the world! West towards the Cook Inlet was the direction chosen for my first exploration of the area. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

That's Anchorage across the Cooks Inlet.

A closer look.

Anchorage airport with the Chugach Mountain range in the distance.

A snow fence?

On the way back into town a stop at  REI was in order where I picked up an awesome deal (50% off plus another 20% off) on a lighter pair of North Face boots via one of their seasonal sales. They had to order them in and I'll post a pic when they arrive for all you gear-freaks out there.

Then I treated myself to lunch at a well recommended brew pub. The Bear Tooth Grill was a scant block away so I left Old Blue in the REI lot and trudged on over. The place lived up to the hype! A very good pulled pork sandwich was washed down with their own ESB. The service was exemplary. The atmosphere refined but relaxed. Adjoining the grill is their theater showing relatively recent movie releases while the patrons enjoy a meal and libations. I will return.

Well that about sums it up. Phil and company got back that evening and were plum tuckered out from their snow machine outing. Two weeks have transpired. So far, so good!

Thanks to all who are following these ramblings. In particular to those who leave comments. Keep 'em comin'.  

Peace out. 

chief