I just recently got this picture from one of the visitors on the ferry system. Enjoy!
31.10.09
Me as a ranger on the SE ferries
I just recently got this picture from one of the visitors on the ferry system. Enjoy!
11.7.09
The continued story
Although I was sure I had the job, it turns out that they weren't going to give me work. They wanted someone who would stay with them over the winter... I couldn't believe that anyone would stay with them for $10 an hour however. It was a bit upsetting though, because I really felt like I needed a job. I didn't know what to do. They felt that with my qualifications I could get a better job/position and I would just leave them soon anyways. I should have never mentioned my masters. Go figure.
Thankfully at the glacier I had finally worked out to do some volunteer work with the conservation educationalist, so I didn't feel as bad about the whole job thing. I was asked to work a program called "backyard glacier" as the skull identification teacher. She also gave me plenty of freedom for different teaching styles than she was used to. That was really nice.
Later that week I found a truck, for a reasonable price. I was sold, or I should say, the truck was sold. I was excited to have something other than Brad's mini cooper to drive. Even though I had re-learned how to drive stick with the mini, I was happy to have a vehicle that was more forgiving. As a matter of fact I was at the State Farm getting insurance when I got a very important phone call.
This important phone call was from the director at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor's Center. He was asking me to apply for a paid position. He said I was a shoe in for the position!
Sure enough, after going through the hiring process I was hired to work at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor's Center! I was very excited!
We did a few weeks of training after doing the "backyard glacier" program. We learned about everything from bears to salmon, to glaciers and mountain goats. It was a great training.
On the first day of uniformed training I was prep-ed for the cruise ship crowds. My brain fill of information and my uniform ironed. Upon reaching my first station of the day, I was called on the radio to come to the office. I was scared I had made a mistake within the first day of the season. I couldn't believe it.
Sure enough as I arrived at the office it was my boss and my boss's boss waiting for me. ...
Thankfully I hadn't done anything wrong, they just wanted to know if I wanted to be a naturalist on the ferry.
Of course I said, "SURE!" It sounded like a blast.
To be continued at a later date... (don't worry.. not too late. I have my computer back now... and it's fixed!! YAY!)
P.S. Here's a photo for you to enjoy. :-)
Near the end of the road in Juneau right before spring.
Thankfully at the glacier I had finally worked out to do some volunteer work with the conservation educationalist, so I didn't feel as bad about the whole job thing. I was asked to work a program called "backyard glacier" as the skull identification teacher. She also gave me plenty of freedom for different teaching styles than she was used to. That was really nice.
Later that week I found a truck, for a reasonable price. I was sold, or I should say, the truck was sold. I was excited to have something other than Brad's mini cooper to drive. Even though I had re-learned how to drive stick with the mini, I was happy to have a vehicle that was more forgiving. As a matter of fact I was at the State Farm getting insurance when I got a very important phone call.
This important phone call was from the director at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor's Center. He was asking me to apply for a paid position. He said I was a shoe in for the position!
Sure enough, after going through the hiring process I was hired to work at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor's Center! I was very excited!
We did a few weeks of training after doing the "backyard glacier" program. We learned about everything from bears to salmon, to glaciers and mountain goats. It was a great training.
On the first day of uniformed training I was prep-ed for the cruise ship crowds. My brain fill of information and my uniform ironed. Upon reaching my first station of the day, I was called on the radio to come to the office. I was scared I had made a mistake within the first day of the season. I couldn't believe it.
Sure enough as I arrived at the office it was my boss and my boss's boss waiting for me. ...
Thankfully I hadn't done anything wrong, they just wanted to know if I wanted to be a naturalist on the ferry.
Of course I said, "SURE!" It sounded like a blast.
To be continued at a later date... (don't worry.. not too late. I have my computer back now... and it's fixed!! YAY!)
P.S. Here's a photo for you to enjoy. :-)
Near the end of the road in Juneau right before spring.
20.5.09
9.5.09
05_08_09 Juneau part I
Juneau!
Upon arrival in Juneau just a few months ago, I had no job, no vehicle of my own, and worst of all I had no internet at the place I was staying. Okay, so I was staying there for free, but still, not having to go to the library to search for jobs would have been helpful. (The library has stupid times… especially on Sunday.)
Brad helped me review the rules of driving a manual vehicle before he left me with his mini cooper to drive around while he was gone the first week I was there. It was terrifying driving his mini on the icy roads! When I finally left the neighborhood to drive about three miles to Fred Meyer, I was pretty proud of myself for surviving both the trip there and the trip back!
The next day I was feeling a bit bolder and it was a sunny day so I drove myself to the Mendenhall Glacier. Not only was I quite happy with myself for making it, but I was quite ecstatic that I had decided to go to the glacier. It was beautiful!! The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind that I could walk to the face of the glacier over the frozen lake! The realization was very exciting!! The face of the glacier was so marvelous! I swear some days I live in a National Geographic film!
After visiting the face of the glacier that day I headed to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor’s Center to ask if there was any volunteer work or paid work I could do at the glacier. They were extremely helpful! They handed me names and numbers to call left and right! It took me a little while to work out a meeting time with the Conservation Education director and when I talked to the director of the visitor’s center it sounded like he didn’t have anymore positions to fill, but at least it looked like I’d have something other than just applying to jobs to keep me busy.
For volunteer work I was going to be teaching 4th graders about animal skull identification. Since I still had quite a bit of time before I started though, I continued to look for a job and a vehicle. Within a few days it seems I had hit the jack-pot! I had found a little white ’85 Chevy S10 just my size and for a good price. And since I had just relearned stick, it was just fine that it was a four speed. I was pretty happy; I also had a job interview with a bookstore nearby the place I was staying. I was nervous, but I was sure I had the job. No question about it …
to be continued at a later date…
Upon arrival in Juneau just a few months ago, I had no job, no vehicle of my own, and worst of all I had no internet at the place I was staying. Okay, so I was staying there for free, but still, not having to go to the library to search for jobs would have been helpful. (The library has stupid times… especially on Sunday.)
Brad helped me review the rules of driving a manual vehicle before he left me with his mini cooper to drive around while he was gone the first week I was there. It was terrifying driving his mini on the icy roads! When I finally left the neighborhood to drive about three miles to Fred Meyer, I was pretty proud of myself for surviving both the trip there and the trip back!
The next day I was feeling a bit bolder and it was a sunny day so I drove myself to the Mendenhall Glacier. Not only was I quite happy with myself for making it, but I was quite ecstatic that I had decided to go to the glacier. It was beautiful!! The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind that I could walk to the face of the glacier over the frozen lake! The realization was very exciting!! The face of the glacier was so marvelous! I swear some days I live in a National Geographic film!
After visiting the face of the glacier that day I headed to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor’s Center to ask if there was any volunteer work or paid work I could do at the glacier. They were extremely helpful! They handed me names and numbers to call left and right! It took me a little while to work out a meeting time with the Conservation Education director and when I talked to the director of the visitor’s center it sounded like he didn’t have anymore positions to fill, but at least it looked like I’d have something other than just applying to jobs to keep me busy.
For volunteer work I was going to be teaching 4th graders about animal skull identification. Since I still had quite a bit of time before I started though, I continued to look for a job and a vehicle. Within a few days it seems I had hit the jack-pot! I had found a little white ’85 Chevy S10 just my size and for a good price. And since I had just relearned stick, it was just fine that it was a four speed. I was pretty happy; I also had a job interview with a bookstore nearby the place I was staying. I was nervous, but I was sure I had the job. No question about it …
to be continued at a later date…
6.5.09
Last Reminiscing about Germany Entry
Berlin!
After taking a less than $30 flight to Berlin, we were ecstatic to be there! The hotel/bed and breakfast we booked happened to be awesome! The room was very nice and the staff was very friendly and helpful. We were eager to get out on the town though; Zeb and Amanda were really looking forward to some good German beer.
Upon wondering the streets our first night, I was relieved of map duty. My failed attempt to get us first to the hotel, and now to the pub our gracious host at the hotel suggested confirmed my lack of directional skills, at least in Europe. Eventually however we found where we were going by following Amanda’s directions. It was a very traditional German pub with lots to offer, even music for Zeb and I to sing a long too. I believe that Amanda was amused. We were fed well and had some good laughs. By the end of the evening, although we had not really done too much, it was time for a little shut eye. We felt that a little sleep may prepare us for the “free” (tips accepted) walking tour the next day.
Early the next morning we headed off to the meeting point for our tour. I had been on a similar tour in London and was prepared for all the walking we would be doing and all the information that would be thrown at us. Sure enough, I was correct in my assumption. We found ourselves walking from one side of Berlin to the other and most of the way back. We stopped at the arc, we followed part of the Berlin wall, we stopped at an amazing Jewish memorial, we stopped atop Hitler’s bunker, we stopped at Checkpoint Charley and saw many other various historical points all a long the way. The walking tour was so long that we even took a break for lunch. It was a good and interesting workout for the mind and body. I couldn’t even begin to tell you what my favorite part was. Each point was significant in its own way. When the tour was over there were plenty of places the three of us wanted to revisit and explore on our own. Two days in Berlin was clearly not going to be enough time. Even the time after the tour wasn’t going to be enough to see even a few of the sights… we had to get back to the hotel and prepare for our evening. We had booked dinner at a blind restaurant.
What is a blind restaurant you ask? Well, it deals with eating in the dark. The wait staff is blind and has experience showing people to their tables. It was the blind leading the blind. The menu (which you read in the light before you got to the table) was made up of riddles that only alluded to what you might be eating. The fun part was guessing when you tasted the food when you couldn’t see it. I thought the blind restaurant in London was better, but maybe it was only because my first time was in London only a few months earlier.
Following dinner it was time to hit the town. We had seen an advertisement for a pub crawl done by the same group that did our walking tour that we were interested in, but we thought for sure that we had missed it and we were going to be exploring on our own after dinner. Amanda helped us find what we had identified on the map as the street with the most clubs and pubs. Once we were there we spotted a huge group of about 50 people or more. We had hit the jack pot! This was our group headed to the next bar. We were pretty happy that luck was on our side. Upon paying our 10 Euro for the night we received wrist bands and a little plastic shot glass. The drink deals were pretty good for our group and we stopped for shots in tunnels on the way from one club to the next. We were all feeling pretty happy by the end of the night. The group was made up of people from everywhere! There were people from Italy, Mexico, Israel, and about a million other places it seemed. There were even people that grew-up in Berlin that just liked hanging out with travelers. Overall it was a good night. My biggest disappointment was one of the guys I met from Israel that had it in his mind to call me Sarah (Palin) all night because I had said I was from Alaska. I think Amanda’s biggest disappointment was going back to the hotel. Although none of us were truly ready to leave that night we knew we had a long day ahead of us trying to squeeze in seeing a concentration camp and get on a plane to go back to Frankfurt.
The following day we tried to squeeze in too much! After getting stuck talking to some old guy about the Holocaust and who knows what else, seeing just a small part of the concentration camp (which you have to see to believe), and then almost missing our flight because of a train accident that we were not involved with, but had trains delayed because of... we had a lot go on that day. By the end of the day we were pretty happy to relax on the plane and prepare for our last few days in Germany back in Frankfurt.
Overall it was a great trip to Germany! I can't wait to go back and spend more time there one day!
After taking a less than $30 flight to Berlin, we were ecstatic to be there! The hotel/bed and breakfast we booked happened to be awesome! The room was very nice and the staff was very friendly and helpful. We were eager to get out on the town though; Zeb and Amanda were really looking forward to some good German beer.
Upon wondering the streets our first night, I was relieved of map duty. My failed attempt to get us first to the hotel, and now to the pub our gracious host at the hotel suggested confirmed my lack of directional skills, at least in Europe. Eventually however we found where we were going by following Amanda’s directions. It was a very traditional German pub with lots to offer, even music for Zeb and I to sing a long too. I believe that Amanda was amused. We were fed well and had some good laughs. By the end of the evening, although we had not really done too much, it was time for a little shut eye. We felt that a little sleep may prepare us for the “free” (tips accepted) walking tour the next day.
Early the next morning we headed off to the meeting point for our tour. I had been on a similar tour in London and was prepared for all the walking we would be doing and all the information that would be thrown at us. Sure enough, I was correct in my assumption. We found ourselves walking from one side of Berlin to the other and most of the way back. We stopped at the arc, we followed part of the Berlin wall, we stopped at an amazing Jewish memorial, we stopped atop Hitler’s bunker, we stopped at Checkpoint Charley and saw many other various historical points all a long the way. The walking tour was so long that we even took a break for lunch. It was a good and interesting workout for the mind and body. I couldn’t even begin to tell you what my favorite part was. Each point was significant in its own way. When the tour was over there were plenty of places the three of us wanted to revisit and explore on our own. Two days in Berlin was clearly not going to be enough time. Even the time after the tour wasn’t going to be enough to see even a few of the sights… we had to get back to the hotel and prepare for our evening. We had booked dinner at a blind restaurant.
What is a blind restaurant you ask? Well, it deals with eating in the dark. The wait staff is blind and has experience showing people to their tables. It was the blind leading the blind. The menu (which you read in the light before you got to the table) was made up of riddles that only alluded to what you might be eating. The fun part was guessing when you tasted the food when you couldn’t see it. I thought the blind restaurant in London was better, but maybe it was only because my first time was in London only a few months earlier.
Following dinner it was time to hit the town. We had seen an advertisement for a pub crawl done by the same group that did our walking tour that we were interested in, but we thought for sure that we had missed it and we were going to be exploring on our own after dinner. Amanda helped us find what we had identified on the map as the street with the most clubs and pubs. Once we were there we spotted a huge group of about 50 people or more. We had hit the jack pot! This was our group headed to the next bar. We were pretty happy that luck was on our side. Upon paying our 10 Euro for the night we received wrist bands and a little plastic shot glass. The drink deals were pretty good for our group and we stopped for shots in tunnels on the way from one club to the next. We were all feeling pretty happy by the end of the night. The group was made up of people from everywhere! There were people from Italy, Mexico, Israel, and about a million other places it seemed. There were even people that grew-up in Berlin that just liked hanging out with travelers. Overall it was a good night. My biggest disappointment was one of the guys I met from Israel that had it in his mind to call me Sarah (Palin) all night because I had said I was from Alaska. I think Amanda’s biggest disappointment was going back to the hotel. Although none of us were truly ready to leave that night we knew we had a long day ahead of us trying to squeeze in seeing a concentration camp and get on a plane to go back to Frankfurt.
The following day we tried to squeeze in too much! After getting stuck talking to some old guy about the Holocaust and who knows what else, seeing just a small part of the concentration camp (which you have to see to believe), and then almost missing our flight because of a train accident that we were not involved with, but had trains delayed because of... we had a lot go on that day. By the end of the day we were pretty happy to relax on the plane and prepare for our last few days in Germany back in Frankfurt.
Overall it was a great trip to Germany! I can't wait to go back and spend more time there one day!
7.4.09
Reminising about Germany Part II
The Rhine Valley
Before departing to the Rhine Valley the three of us debated about how we wanted to get there and what we wanted to do when we got there. We decided not to take the train and to have Zeb drive, and I had thought that I had possibly found a cruise down the river to see the multitude of castles there. It all sounded like a great plan.
Turns out that in the winter the Rhine Valley is devoid of practically all tourist activity and the valley closes down for the season. The cruise that I had found only went by reservation more than a week in advance and castles were only open on either Saturdays or Sundays.
We made due with what we had though and found a little café by the river to have soup and tea in. The café was a great place to talk about what we wanted to do next. In the end we asked our waitress how to get to the castle in the small village of St. Goar in hopes that it might be open. “Turn left at the coo-coo clock.” Sure enough down the road there was a good size coo-coo clock. We took a left there and headed on a good hike up to the castle only to find that the castle was not open. It wasn’t a complete loss though… there was a penny smasher! I was very excited to get euro pressed for my mom who has a smashed penny “passport” (collection).
We also stopped in a church in the valley… like you do. The highlight of our trip was lunch though. We had decided to pick up some bread, meat and cheese from a local bakery and deli and then hike up to another castle. The village was quaint and a traditional “wall” village that is so tight you almost feel like you’re inside a maze. When we finally arrived at a bench near the castle it was well worth the hike. Our little lunch bench overlooked the river and a few more of its castles. For being a partly-cloudy day, it was beautiful!
Overall we had quite a nice day.
That evening we tried to find a bar to go to, but only found really smoky pubs and stumbled upon what looked like a community meeting. Oops. I swear it looked like they were playing pool when I looked though the windows!
We ended up back at Zeb’s parent’s place drinking and planning our trip to Berlin. We were ok with that. We were quite excited about Berlin!
Before departing to the Rhine Valley the three of us debated about how we wanted to get there and what we wanted to do when we got there. We decided not to take the train and to have Zeb drive, and I had thought that I had possibly found a cruise down the river to see the multitude of castles there. It all sounded like a great plan.
Turns out that in the winter the Rhine Valley is devoid of practically all tourist activity and the valley closes down for the season. The cruise that I had found only went by reservation more than a week in advance and castles were only open on either Saturdays or Sundays.
We made due with what we had though and found a little café by the river to have soup and tea in. The café was a great place to talk about what we wanted to do next. In the end we asked our waitress how to get to the castle in the small village of St. Goar in hopes that it might be open. “Turn left at the coo-coo clock.” Sure enough down the road there was a good size coo-coo clock. We took a left there and headed on a good hike up to the castle only to find that the castle was not open. It wasn’t a complete loss though… there was a penny smasher! I was very excited to get euro pressed for my mom who has a smashed penny “passport” (collection).
We also stopped in a church in the valley… like you do. The highlight of our trip was lunch though. We had decided to pick up some bread, meat and cheese from a local bakery and deli and then hike up to another castle. The village was quaint and a traditional “wall” village that is so tight you almost feel like you’re inside a maze. When we finally arrived at a bench near the castle it was well worth the hike. Our little lunch bench overlooked the river and a few more of its castles. For being a partly-cloudy day, it was beautiful!
Overall we had quite a nice day.
That evening we tried to find a bar to go to, but only found really smoky pubs and stumbled upon what looked like a community meeting. Oops. I swear it looked like they were playing pool when I looked though the windows!
We ended up back at Zeb’s parent’s place drinking and planning our trip to Berlin. We were ok with that. We were quite excited about Berlin!
26.3.09
Reminising about Germany Part I
A number of weeks ago, after Rowan’s visit to California, I headed to Germany to spend a total of about 8 days with my good friends Amanda and Zeb. A lot of people thought that I had spent more time there, and I wish I had.
I had a direct flight from LAX to Frankfurt, on which there was an empty middle seat. For those of you that travel long distance you know how much of a God send that is! It was overall a good flight and I had slept for a lot of it. I was quite proud of myself. I was thankful for the sleep on the plane, because when I arrived I still had a train ride to the small village of Landstuhl, the closest train stop to where Zeb’s parents were living. Amanda, Zeb and I were pretty happy to have free accommodation. Thanks Zeb’s parents!! While we were there, we made a few day trips to surrounding areas.
Trier
Our first day trip included a trip to the quaint small town of Trier.
Upon arrival in Trier it was cold, rainy and windy, and we were ready for a nice hot soup. After spending some time wandering and trying to figure out where we wanted to eat we came upon a restaurant in old town. The food was BEAUTIFUL! It was nice to have a good onion soup and schnitzel. Amanda and Zeb seemed to think the beer was pretty good as well.
In Trier we visited the Trier Cathedral and another church that is said to be the old throne room for some Roman way back when. I was never good at remembering historical things that that. Needless to say the Trier Cathedral met all the expectations of an old Catholic church, dark, somewhat gloomy with beautiful and detailed architecture and art. The Christian church however was kind of a disappointment. It has a very interesting and detailed history posted on one of the walls, but after the war they reconstructed the building and left the walls blank in memorial. Structurally it was a building that looked like a huge tissue box made of bricks. It was not aesthetically pleasing in any way, shape, or form. I was actually a slight bit happy when we realized that we arrived only five minutes before closing … at 4pm. Germany has the most interesting closing times in the winter.
Our adventure wasn’t over after we braved the February rain and wind of Germany in Trier however. Whoever said that German trains are all ways on time was full of it! We happened to have some of the worst luck with trains while we were in Germany, and it started with this incident. As our return train headed towards Landstuhl we began to notice that the lights and heat in the train kept going on and off. It was very weird, until the train came to a complete stop all together. There was an announcement, but even the two German speakers of the group, Zeb and me, couldn’t understand at first what had happened. (Think of loud speaker announcements in English and then put them in a language that is sometimes difficult to understand when it’s spoken to you directly... and that’s what it was like.) It was entertaining at first and we took a few pictures of us sitting on a dark German train, but when Zeb and I finally realized that the train wasn’t able to restart and it looked like we weren’t going anywhere for a few hours the three of us started thinking alternatives… mainly Zeb’s parents. The conversation with Zeb’s parents proved fruitless… we were on our own to wait for the next train or figure out the bus system. We were only less than an hour by car away from our destination… but there seemed no way to get there and the conductor said he would let the train know as he had more information on alternative routes. It seemed like we were going to be on the train all night and we had already been on the train for over 45 minutes. To our surprise however it wasn’t half an hour after the last announcement that we were asked to switch platforms and catch the next train. I think it must have been an express train that had been asked to make a local stop. I have no idea though.
By the time we got back to the house we were starving. Luckily dinner was ready… and with full stomachs we decided that all together we had a pretty good day. :)
Day trip number two… the Rhine Valley… to be continued…
(Zeb and Amanda… you know how my memory is about details… so if I’ve completely messed up some details, please let me know! :)
I had a direct flight from LAX to Frankfurt, on which there was an empty middle seat. For those of you that travel long distance you know how much of a God send that is! It was overall a good flight and I had slept for a lot of it. I was quite proud of myself. I was thankful for the sleep on the plane, because when I arrived I still had a train ride to the small village of Landstuhl, the closest train stop to where Zeb’s parents were living. Amanda, Zeb and I were pretty happy to have free accommodation. Thanks Zeb’s parents!! While we were there, we made a few day trips to surrounding areas.
Trier
Our first day trip included a trip to the quaint small town of Trier.
Upon arrival in Trier it was cold, rainy and windy, and we were ready for a nice hot soup. After spending some time wandering and trying to figure out where we wanted to eat we came upon a restaurant in old town. The food was BEAUTIFUL! It was nice to have a good onion soup and schnitzel. Amanda and Zeb seemed to think the beer was pretty good as well.
In Trier we visited the Trier Cathedral and another church that is said to be the old throne room for some Roman way back when. I was never good at remembering historical things that that. Needless to say the Trier Cathedral met all the expectations of an old Catholic church, dark, somewhat gloomy with beautiful and detailed architecture and art. The Christian church however was kind of a disappointment. It has a very interesting and detailed history posted on one of the walls, but after the war they reconstructed the building and left the walls blank in memorial. Structurally it was a building that looked like a huge tissue box made of bricks. It was not aesthetically pleasing in any way, shape, or form. I was actually a slight bit happy when we realized that we arrived only five minutes before closing … at 4pm. Germany has the most interesting closing times in the winter.
Our adventure wasn’t over after we braved the February rain and wind of Germany in Trier however. Whoever said that German trains are all ways on time was full of it! We happened to have some of the worst luck with trains while we were in Germany, and it started with this incident. As our return train headed towards Landstuhl we began to notice that the lights and heat in the train kept going on and off. It was very weird, until the train came to a complete stop all together. There was an announcement, but even the two German speakers of the group, Zeb and me, couldn’t understand at first what had happened. (Think of loud speaker announcements in English and then put them in a language that is sometimes difficult to understand when it’s spoken to you directly... and that’s what it was like.) It was entertaining at first and we took a few pictures of us sitting on a dark German train, but when Zeb and I finally realized that the train wasn’t able to restart and it looked like we weren’t going anywhere for a few hours the three of us started thinking alternatives… mainly Zeb’s parents. The conversation with Zeb’s parents proved fruitless… we were on our own to wait for the next train or figure out the bus system. We were only less than an hour by car away from our destination… but there seemed no way to get there and the conductor said he would let the train know as he had more information on alternative routes. It seemed like we were going to be on the train all night and we had already been on the train for over 45 minutes. To our surprise however it wasn’t half an hour after the last announcement that we were asked to switch platforms and catch the next train. I think it must have been an express train that had been asked to make a local stop. I have no idea though.
By the time we got back to the house we were starving. Luckily dinner was ready… and with full stomachs we decided that all together we had a pretty good day. :)
Day trip number two… the Rhine Valley… to be continued…
(Zeb and Amanda… you know how my memory is about details… so if I’ve completely messed up some details, please let me know! :)
15.3.09
My little truck and me
I love it!... Although not so keen on the driveway! Hopefully more snow will melt soon!
8.3.09
Alaska’s State Capital
For the last 7 or 8 days now, I have been in Juneau, Alaska. The sun has been out and the temperature reached almost 50 degrees one day! The only really snowy day happened this past Friday. I would say it was near blizzard conditions, but it only lasted a day so it really wasn’t too bad. It was quite nerve-racking driving around in the storm though… especially with my new truck.
The truck
Yes, I have a new little truck. It’s new to me at least. It’s a little white ’85 Chevy S-10 with no frills. I mean, it doesn’t even have a cigarette lighter! Not like I’m really worried about that though. It’s perfect for me. Plus for $1200, it couldn’t be beat. I truly look like I belong with my rubber boots and truck with a cracked windshield!
It has been interesting learning/re-learning how to drive manual though. I haven’t really driven stick since I was 15 years old, and that was with a stick-shift Aerostar Mini-van, on my first trip to Alaska. The truck is very forgiving and only has 4 speeds, so that makes it a bit easier. The most trouble I’ve been having is getting out of the icy driveway at the place I’m staying! Even shoveling as much snow as I could didn’t help! The next step for me is praying that it warms up and applying more Ice-melt-away (a.k.a salt) to the driveway.
The place
I haven’t quite figured out whether the place I’m staying was supposed to be a house or an office originally. Brad and I refer to it as the hostel! It is a tri-level building with six rooms inside, and one room attached but only accessible from the outside. It has one and a half bathrooms, but only a few minutes of hot water comes out of the shower at a time. I’ve resorted to the get wet, turn off the water, lather up with soup and turn the water back on method. It does make for short showers, so at least I’m saving water, right?
When I first stepped into the house it reminded me of somewhere the Girl Scouts would have a sleep over. A church type office structure, maybe? If that serves as any type of description; I have no idea. Funny thought though, because the structure is actually owned by the Boy Scouts. They are trying to sell it, but with economic times being hard and “the hostel” being somewhere between a house and an office, they’re having a hard time finding a buyer. It’s a good thing Brad and I are available to be “caretakers” of sorts! Yay for having a free place to stay! Juneau is quite an expensive place to live! So expensive that I really need to get a job!
The job hunt
Without a job living in an expensive place like Juneau and buying a truck, has been really rough on the numbers in my bank account, even if I’m living in a free place. It’s very sad to see the money in my account disappearing! I need to get at least a part time job for the moment.
Most recently I’ve applied to a small bookstore near “the hostel”. It would pay $10 an hour; just enough to get by. I don’t know how anyone could live on that though! I’ll also be looking into the Juneau Museum on Monday. It might be a fun and interesting place to work. (Thanks Amanda’s mom for the suggestion!)
As far as permanent jobs go, they’re few and far between unless you’re a nurse. The economic recession that has hit the lower 48 states in finally being felt up here in Alaska… and it hurts! I’ve never really found much in my field (environmental education) anyhow, but now it seems even worse. I’m really hoping that my lucky break will come soon! My only glimpse of hope at the moment is with the US Forest Service at the Mendenhall Glacier here in Juneau.
Everyone here in Juneau has been really helpful! When I mentioned that I was looking for something to do at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor’s Center the rangers gave me a lot of contacts and suggested that I call them a.s.a.p. Upon making a few phone calls it looked like I was out of luck for any paid positions. Although I knew that might be the case and I’m ok with just doing volunteer work, it was still disappointing.
It wasn’t until Wednesday or Thursday when I was at State Farm getting car insurance that the head ranger of the Mendenhall Glacier Visitors Center gave me a call to tell me that he might be looking for one more employee and would love to be able to consider me. I applied that day, and with any luck when he goes to pull another list from the internet I’ll be on it for him to consider. He seems like a really great guy… and I would love to have a job, even if it’s seasonal! Working at the glacier would be pretty cool too! My fingers are crossed!
I’ll continue to look and apply to jobs, but otherwise in the meanwhile I have a lot of free time.
Free time
During the first few days here, I had practically nothing to do so I spent my time cleaning and organizing at “the hostel”. I also hung-out with some of my friends from UAF that now live here. It’s weird to see two of them with a kid and in a very adult routine. They aren’t very happy in Juneau either and hadn’t planned to be here as long as they have been. I know their little boy brings them happiness, but I think they need to escape the hold Juneau has on them to be really happy. I digress though…
Although I should have been out playing the sunshine and driving around, I was a little too nervous about driving Brad’s six speed Mini Cooper. After driving very slowly around the neighborhood a number of times mostly practicing stopping and going, I finally got courageous and went to the library to check my email, and Fred Meyers for food. I was pretty proud of myself. I even went to the Post Office and got a P.O. Box the next day! It’s amazing how much traffic is always at the Post Office.
Now that I’ve had some practice around traffic and I have my own truck, I’ve really been getting around. As a matter of fact, I drove to Home Depot with Brad and we picked up some wood for making a table. I’m pretty happy that we have a table now. I only put in a few nails before the process was taking too long and Brad took over. In a little over half an hour we had a 4’x4’ by 12’’ high lap table. It’s great!
Later today the projects are putting up clothes line and changing the oil in my truck. I still can’t believe the there aren’t even hook-ups for a washing and drier. This place really is half way between an office and a place to live! It’ll be exciting on Monday when I go to the laundromat and bring back wet clothes to hang up in one of the 7 random rooms of this place.
I hope I get a job soon!!
Here are some pictures for you to enjoy! And a video! (I sound goofy!)
The truck
Yes, I have a new little truck. It’s new to me at least. It’s a little white ’85 Chevy S-10 with no frills. I mean, it doesn’t even have a cigarette lighter! Not like I’m really worried about that though. It’s perfect for me. Plus for $1200, it couldn’t be beat. I truly look like I belong with my rubber boots and truck with a cracked windshield!
It has been interesting learning/re-learning how to drive manual though. I haven’t really driven stick since I was 15 years old, and that was with a stick-shift Aerostar Mini-van, on my first trip to Alaska. The truck is very forgiving and only has 4 speeds, so that makes it a bit easier. The most trouble I’ve been having is getting out of the icy driveway at the place I’m staying! Even shoveling as much snow as I could didn’t help! The next step for me is praying that it warms up and applying more Ice-melt-away (a.k.a salt) to the driveway.
The place
I haven’t quite figured out whether the place I’m staying was supposed to be a house or an office originally. Brad and I refer to it as the hostel! It is a tri-level building with six rooms inside, and one room attached but only accessible from the outside. It has one and a half bathrooms, but only a few minutes of hot water comes out of the shower at a time. I’ve resorted to the get wet, turn off the water, lather up with soup and turn the water back on method. It does make for short showers, so at least I’m saving water, right?
When I first stepped into the house it reminded me of somewhere the Girl Scouts would have a sleep over. A church type office structure, maybe? If that serves as any type of description; I have no idea. Funny thought though, because the structure is actually owned by the Boy Scouts. They are trying to sell it, but with economic times being hard and “the hostel” being somewhere between a house and an office, they’re having a hard time finding a buyer. It’s a good thing Brad and I are available to be “caretakers” of sorts! Yay for having a free place to stay! Juneau is quite an expensive place to live! So expensive that I really need to get a job!
The job hunt
Without a job living in an expensive place like Juneau and buying a truck, has been really rough on the numbers in my bank account, even if I’m living in a free place. It’s very sad to see the money in my account disappearing! I need to get at least a part time job for the moment.
Most recently I’ve applied to a small bookstore near “the hostel”. It would pay $10 an hour; just enough to get by. I don’t know how anyone could live on that though! I’ll also be looking into the Juneau Museum on Monday. It might be a fun and interesting place to work. (Thanks Amanda’s mom for the suggestion!)
As far as permanent jobs go, they’re few and far between unless you’re a nurse. The economic recession that has hit the lower 48 states in finally being felt up here in Alaska… and it hurts! I’ve never really found much in my field (environmental education) anyhow, but now it seems even worse. I’m really hoping that my lucky break will come soon! My only glimpse of hope at the moment is with the US Forest Service at the Mendenhall Glacier here in Juneau.
Everyone here in Juneau has been really helpful! When I mentioned that I was looking for something to do at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor’s Center the rangers gave me a lot of contacts and suggested that I call them a.s.a.p. Upon making a few phone calls it looked like I was out of luck for any paid positions. Although I knew that might be the case and I’m ok with just doing volunteer work, it was still disappointing.
It wasn’t until Wednesday or Thursday when I was at State Farm getting car insurance that the head ranger of the Mendenhall Glacier Visitors Center gave me a call to tell me that he might be looking for one more employee and would love to be able to consider me. I applied that day, and with any luck when he goes to pull another list from the internet I’ll be on it for him to consider. He seems like a really great guy… and I would love to have a job, even if it’s seasonal! Working at the glacier would be pretty cool too! My fingers are crossed!
I’ll continue to look and apply to jobs, but otherwise in the meanwhile I have a lot of free time.
Free time
During the first few days here, I had practically nothing to do so I spent my time cleaning and organizing at “the hostel”. I also hung-out with some of my friends from UAF that now live here. It’s weird to see two of them with a kid and in a very adult routine. They aren’t very happy in Juneau either and hadn’t planned to be here as long as they have been. I know their little boy brings them happiness, but I think they need to escape the hold Juneau has on them to be really happy. I digress though…
Although I should have been out playing the sunshine and driving around, I was a little too nervous about driving Brad’s six speed Mini Cooper. After driving very slowly around the neighborhood a number of times mostly practicing stopping and going, I finally got courageous and went to the library to check my email, and Fred Meyers for food. I was pretty proud of myself. I even went to the Post Office and got a P.O. Box the next day! It’s amazing how much traffic is always at the Post Office.
Now that I’ve had some practice around traffic and I have my own truck, I’ve really been getting around. As a matter of fact, I drove to Home Depot with Brad and we picked up some wood for making a table. I’m pretty happy that we have a table now. I only put in a few nails before the process was taking too long and Brad took over. In a little over half an hour we had a 4’x4’ by 12’’ high lap table. It’s great!
Later today the projects are putting up clothes line and changing the oil in my truck. I still can’t believe the there aren’t even hook-ups for a washing and drier. This place really is half way between an office and a place to live! It’ll be exciting on Monday when I go to the laundromat and bring back wet clothes to hang up in one of the 7 random rooms of this place.
I hope I get a job soon!!
Here are some pictures for you to enjoy! And a video! (I sound goofy!)
| From 03_01_09 Mendenhall Glacier |
20.2.09
More Photos From Rowan's Visit
On the last couple of days that Rowan and I were together, we went to visit his friends from the Contiki tour down in Oceanside and then a few days following that, we went to Universal Studios, Hollywood. Both a good time!
At the Oceanside Pier with Rowan and Jenna. It was a beautiful sunny So. Cal. day!
After the walk in Oceanside that day, we had dinner in Old San Diego and went on an Obama pub crawl. I really enjoyed hanging out with Rowan's friends. We all had fun that night.
Rowan really lucked out with the beautiful weather in the California winter. Universal Studios was a blast. I believe that the Jurassic Park was our favorite ride. The other rides were good too, but I did have a little bit of motion-sickness on the Simpsons ride.
Overall Rowan's visit was a good one. As he headed to Las Vegas, Seattle, and San Fran one last time, I was headed to Germany myself to meet Amanda and Zeb. What an adventure!!
At the Oceanside Pier with Rowan and Jenna. It was a beautiful sunny So. Cal. day!
After the walk in Oceanside that day, we had dinner in Old San Diego and went on an Obama pub crawl. I really enjoyed hanging out with Rowan's friends. We all had fun that night.
Rowan really lucked out with the beautiful weather in the California winter. Universal Studios was a blast. I believe that the Jurassic Park was our favorite ride. The other rides were good too, but I did have a little bit of motion-sickness on the Simpsons ride.Overall Rowan's visit was a good one. As he headed to Las Vegas, Seattle, and San Fran one last time, I was headed to Germany myself to meet Amanda and Zeb. What an adventure!!
31.1.09
Leavin' on a Jet Plane....
Just as I had finally felt somewhat settled in Amanda's apartment, it was time to leave again.
As usual I wasn't ready leave however. I was supposed to head to California to set-up for Rowan on the 12th of the month, however I panicked and extended my stay in Anchorage by a few days to finish getting things in some sort of order.
On the 15th I arrived in Orange County, California only minutes before Rowan did. It was time to show an Aussie around. The first stop on the second day of his stay here was Disneyland.
Rowan's Visit
Disneyland
Vegas
Hoover Dam
Grand Canyon
San Diego
Oceanside
Griffith Observatory
Mini-golf
Irvine Improv show
These were just a stops so far. He's currently in San Fransisco, but when he comes back down, we still have L.A. and Hollywood to do. I was thinking of taking him to Universal Studios.
Here are some pictures from the trip so far:
As usual I wasn't ready leave however. I was supposed to head to California to set-up for Rowan on the 12th of the month, however I panicked and extended my stay in Anchorage by a few days to finish getting things in some sort of order.
On the 15th I arrived in Orange County, California only minutes before Rowan did. It was time to show an Aussie around. The first stop on the second day of his stay here was Disneyland.
Rowan's Visit
Disneyland
Vegas
Hoover Dam
Grand Canyon
San Diego
Oceanside
Griffith Observatory
Mini-golf
Irvine Improv show
These were just a stops so far. He's currently in San Fransisco, but when he comes back down, we still have L.A. and Hollywood to do. I was thinking of taking him to Universal Studios.
Here are some pictures from the trip so far:
January?
Surely not another month has already passed. Funny how when you get older the days seem to go quicker.
I have a feeling that this may be a long blog, therefore I am going to try to break it up into two entries... or more.
Kari Visits
The first day of the year was spent with my good friend Kari. It was wonderful to see her! And although we didn't do anything uber-exciting, we did get in lots of chat time and a trip to Title Wave Bookstore. The best book store in town!
Later during her visit we met up one more time to have drinks. It was a very short visit for the both of us, and we had a lot to catch-up on, but like I said, it was wonderful to see her!
Alaska's 50th Anniversary
On January 3rd, 2009 Alaska celebrated statehood with fireworks and drinking. Although Brad and I did not go to see the fireworks, we did end-up drinking with our friends Marco and Becky at a little pub called McGinleys. It was perfect! They even had the Carhartt Brothers playing country/folk music! It was a bit difficult to find seating at first, but standing around waiting for people to leave paid off. Marco says I need to work on my "shyness" problem. Ha!
Weird Weather
Just as we thought it couldn't get any weirder Anchorage's weather went from around -20'F or less to about 40'F above in a matter of possibly a week. I thought it was noteworthy, because the weather seems to be getting stranger and more odd every year. It's unheard of that Alaska would have such dramatic weather changes in January. I blame the economy because it seems like it's what everyone is blaming these days.
Speaking of Jobs
The time had come to leave Grassroots and once again become jobless. I had been hoping for a number of weeks I would hear from the Bureau of Land Management about an Environmental Education Coordinator position, but still to this day I haven't heard a word... even though I gave them a heads up about what's going on in my life. Ugh... the job hunt can be so lame.
I have heard from Glacier Bay National Park about a seasonal position though. This is a good sign. At least I may have a job this summer. I will continue to job hunt when I get back to Alaska on the 18th of Febuary however. Anyone know of a job I'd like to do in Alaska that has a position open?
I have a feeling that this may be a long blog, therefore I am going to try to break it up into two entries... or more.
Kari Visits
The first day of the year was spent with my good friend Kari. It was wonderful to see her! And although we didn't do anything uber-exciting, we did get in lots of chat time and a trip to Title Wave Bookstore. The best book store in town!
Later during her visit we met up one more time to have drinks. It was a very short visit for the both of us, and we had a lot to catch-up on, but like I said, it was wonderful to see her!
Alaska's 50th Anniversary
On January 3rd, 2009 Alaska celebrated statehood with fireworks and drinking. Although Brad and I did not go to see the fireworks, we did end-up drinking with our friends Marco and Becky at a little pub called McGinleys. It was perfect! They even had the Carhartt Brothers playing country/folk music! It was a bit difficult to find seating at first, but standing around waiting for people to leave paid off. Marco says I need to work on my "shyness" problem. Ha!
Weird Weather
Just as we thought it couldn't get any weirder Anchorage's weather went from around -20'F or less to about 40'F above in a matter of possibly a week. I thought it was noteworthy, because the weather seems to be getting stranger and more odd every year. It's unheard of that Alaska would have such dramatic weather changes in January. I blame the economy because it seems like it's what everyone is blaming these days.
Speaking of Jobs
The time had come to leave Grassroots and once again become jobless. I had been hoping for a number of weeks I would hear from the Bureau of Land Management about an Environmental Education Coordinator position, but still to this day I haven't heard a word... even though I gave them a heads up about what's going on in my life. Ugh... the job hunt can be so lame.
I have heard from Glacier Bay National Park about a seasonal position though. This is a good sign. At least I may have a job this summer. I will continue to job hunt when I get back to Alaska on the 18th of Febuary however. Anyone know of a job I'd like to do in Alaska that has a position open?
4.1.09
December... to Day One of 2009
The month of December is always exciting!
Christmas Season
Before Christmas, work at Grassroots really picked-up. Apparently people in this area of Anchorage are really into the concept of Fair Trade. On the week leading up to Christmas the store was making anywhere between a thousand to two thousand dollars a day. We were incredibly busy. At some points we even had three people working at the store, when we normally just have one.
And just as I thought I was going to be spending the days around Christmas working, my mom called to ask if I wanted to come home for Christmas. I couldn't pass up the chance. Free tickets to California, who would pass that up?! The only reason that someone might pass that up is if they weren't a seasoned traveler, and didn't want to fly on Christmas Eve and have a 7 hour layover on the way back a few days later. That didn't scare me though!
After receiving a few CDs from my wonderful friend Brad, a Christmas bonus from work, and diamond earrings from a random customer it was off to Cali for a sunny Christmas... or at least sunny is what I was dreaming of. Que the music.. "I'm dreaming of a warm, sunny Christmas... with no snow." Hehe...
Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and the day after
At 5am on Christmas Eve Brad drove me to the airport to catch my flight. With only a carry on and my laptop I was prepared for a pretty easy trip to Orange County. I made it through security fairly quickly and although the flight was packed the plane made it out on time. All was going as planned. When I arrived in SeaTac the airport was very busy and there was TONS of snow on the ground!
There had been so much snow dumped on Seattle the previous days that they had almost hit a record snow fall. I personally had never seen that much snow in Seattle. According to the things I was hearing around the airport, Seattle had no idea how to cope with the amount of snow. They had shut down roads that traveled steep hills and had run out of de-icing fluid for the planes for a short while. Thankfully by the time I had arrived they had enough de-icing fluid for all of the planes. The only problem with the de-icing of the planes had happened earlier in the day. One of the windows of a plane's cocpit had been open when the de-icing process had started and the whole plane was "de-iced out".
Thankfully there were no problems on my last flight from Seattle to Orange County, so I arrived just after dinner on Christmas Eve. Upon arriving at the house we (my mom, my step-dad, my sister, my brother, my brother's girlfriend, my grandmother, and I) proceeded to open presents. We don't wait to get gifts on Christmas anymore... way too much waiting. ;-)
The most heartfelt gift was from my mom to my brother's girlfriend, Brittany. Brittany had received a semester of community college all expenses paid. Being the first of her family to go to school it was a great to see her receive her first ever scholarship. She'll be going to school to study mammography.
Christmas day was spent with my dad's size of the family. Needless to say, it was pretty uneventful, per usual. We don't really have any members of the Navarro family that are good at planning family functions. Christmas evening was spent talking to my gram while my parent's ongoing holiday party hosted a variety of guests coming and going.
Boxing day was probably the most exciting day. The whole family went to the mall and took Christmas photos and then went go-carting. Although my mom had me get my make-up done, I thought I was the goofiest looking one in the photo because of it. After everyone reassured me that I was not, I was more than happy to mess-up the make-up by going go-carting.
Although I suck at go-carting, we all had a wonderful time. My mom even got my gram to go... she did 9 laps. I was pretty proud!
The next day I got back on a plane to Anchorage. I would see my family again in about 14 days when I met up with Rowan to show him around.
New Years Eve
Spent watching "Pinky and the Brain" and "The Twilight Zone" New Year's Eve and New Year's Day passed quietly. All seemed well in the moment.
Christmas Season
Before Christmas, work at Grassroots really picked-up. Apparently people in this area of Anchorage are really into the concept of Fair Trade. On the week leading up to Christmas the store was making anywhere between a thousand to two thousand dollars a day. We were incredibly busy. At some points we even had three people working at the store, when we normally just have one.
And just as I thought I was going to be spending the days around Christmas working, my mom called to ask if I wanted to come home for Christmas. I couldn't pass up the chance. Free tickets to California, who would pass that up?! The only reason that someone might pass that up is if they weren't a seasoned traveler, and didn't want to fly on Christmas Eve and have a 7 hour layover on the way back a few days later. That didn't scare me though!
After receiving a few CDs from my wonderful friend Brad, a Christmas bonus from work, and diamond earrings from a random customer it was off to Cali for a sunny Christmas... or at least sunny is what I was dreaming of. Que the music.. "I'm dreaming of a warm, sunny Christmas... with no snow." Hehe...
Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and the day after
At 5am on Christmas Eve Brad drove me to the airport to catch my flight. With only a carry on and my laptop I was prepared for a pretty easy trip to Orange County. I made it through security fairly quickly and although the flight was packed the plane made it out on time. All was going as planned. When I arrived in SeaTac the airport was very busy and there was TONS of snow on the ground!
There had been so much snow dumped on Seattle the previous days that they had almost hit a record snow fall. I personally had never seen that much snow in Seattle. According to the things I was hearing around the airport, Seattle had no idea how to cope with the amount of snow. They had shut down roads that traveled steep hills and had run out of de-icing fluid for the planes for a short while. Thankfully by the time I had arrived they had enough de-icing fluid for all of the planes. The only problem with the de-icing of the planes had happened earlier in the day. One of the windows of a plane's cocpit had been open when the de-icing process had started and the whole plane was "de-iced out".
Thankfully there were no problems on my last flight from Seattle to Orange County, so I arrived just after dinner on Christmas Eve. Upon arriving at the house we (my mom, my step-dad, my sister, my brother, my brother's girlfriend, my grandmother, and I) proceeded to open presents. We don't wait to get gifts on Christmas anymore... way too much waiting. ;-)
The most heartfelt gift was from my mom to my brother's girlfriend, Brittany. Brittany had received a semester of community college all expenses paid. Being the first of her family to go to school it was a great to see her receive her first ever scholarship. She'll be going to school to study mammography.
Christmas day was spent with my dad's size of the family. Needless to say, it was pretty uneventful, per usual. We don't really have any members of the Navarro family that are good at planning family functions. Christmas evening was spent talking to my gram while my parent's ongoing holiday party hosted a variety of guests coming and going.
Boxing day was probably the most exciting day. The whole family went to the mall and took Christmas photos and then went go-carting. Although my mom had me get my make-up done, I thought I was the goofiest looking one in the photo because of it. After everyone reassured me that I was not, I was more than happy to mess-up the make-up by going go-carting.
Although I suck at go-carting, we all had a wonderful time. My mom even got my gram to go... she did 9 laps. I was pretty proud!The next day I got back on a plane to Anchorage. I would see my family again in about 14 days when I met up with Rowan to show him around.
New Years Eve
Spent watching "Pinky and the Brain" and "The Twilight Zone" New Year's Eve and New Year's Day passed quietly. All seemed well in the moment.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)