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…