“I, Alaska Mike, being of sound mind and frostbit legs, do hereby leaveth… Ha. I don’t think so. You’ll have to pry my cold, dead fingers from the steering wheel…”
But I digress…
Happy Winter Solstice! We will soon be gaining daylight, and as long as the firewood holds out…
Holland America had a Vampire Cruise to Alaska this past summer! They docked in Skagway in late June. There was a Vampire Ball, a Vampire Film Fest, as well as a “Vamp’s Got Talent” contest, which I hear made the 2012 All-Cruise Highlight Reel. Dacre Stoker, the great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker was aboard to give the whole event an air of legitimacy.
Sadly, Holland America officials admitted sheepishly & off camera, that many of the passengers refused to come out of their coffins upon landing in Alaska due to the extended daylight hours in late June. “It seemed like such a great idea in Seattle last January.” said Holland America Promotion Specialist Marv Haglebarger. “Of all the luck; we couldn’t even get a cloudy day for them to see the bears.”
The annual bonfire on UAF’s campus took place last night. The tradition started in 1923 and students have been scrounging for used pallets & lumber ever since.
Nanook Hockey had their first ever “Fan Fest” with both the Women’s & Men’s team taking part. It seemed appropriate with the snow in the air. The Blue-Gold game was our first chance to see this year’s team on the ice, and it was all followed by a free BBQ and the “Skate with the Nooks.” Those boys really can shoot. Very impressive. Maybe they will hit the back of the net this year.
As usual, the bonfires were elaborate, although university officials seem to get more tentative every year with the distance between fires & firebugs.
The iTypewriter?
One can now hear the classic, tapping sound of a manual typewriter when shooting off emails to friends on your iPad.
I have to admit that I find the idea intriguing, but I’ll stick with my Underwood. Afterall, the whole point of an old typewriter is to feel the impact on your fingertip when you pound the key hard enough to send the period through the paper. Without that, one might as well be driving an automatic.
What I’m really waiting for is the iTurntable. When that spins out into the market, I’ll be all over that.
I ran into a couple of turistas today. They were in a large RV, taking up a dozen parking spaces at a store I had to make a quick stop at. I’d like to say that I don’t enjoy making jokes of the Recreational Vampires, but it’s great fun, so it would be a lie if I did actually say such a thing.
They chatted me up a bit because I was driving the Beetle today. As luck would have it, they, of course, used to own one.
Me: “How long are you in Fairbanks?”
Turistas: “We’re going up to Prudhoe Bay; that’s where Alaska’s oil comes from.”
Me: “Yes, I’m familiar with Prudhoe Bay.”
Turistas: “But we’ll be back in time for the fireworks.”
Me: “Excuse me?”
Turistas: “The Fourth of July! We’ll be back in Fairbanks for that.”
Me: “Fairbanks doesn’t do fireworks for the Fourth.”
Turistas: “Of course they do! Who ever heard of a town not having Fourth of July Fireworks?!”
Me: “Every town north of Anchorage.”
Turistas: “That makes no sense. Surely you have fireworks. When would you do them if not July Fourth?”
Me: “New Years.”
Then I promptly walked away as quickly as I could without actually running.
It was an easy day and I wrapped things up before noon. I did call another client to see if I could swing by to do an easy two hour job, but he didn’t return my call until I had already moved on by. He was put on tomorrow’s schedule.
Another beautiful, sun-filled afternoon here in the Interior. I unloaded and put away all my tools from the siding job, then drove into town to buy some wiper blades for the truck, since I have worn this pair out. The NAPA lot was packed, but I parked & went inside anyway. Too many people, too few employees, and no cross reference book by the wiper blade display. I was out of there in less than a minute.
I simply don’t do lines well. It is not part of my DNA. Luckily, I can usually avoid the damn time stealers here in The AK. Although, it does get more difficult during the tourist season.
I then hit the post office to check my box. Inside was a yellow form for a package retrieval. It showed a 32 cent postage due amount. Who mails a package with postage due? I went out to the truck thinking that I’d stop by again on another day to pick up the package. After all, there was a long line to get to the counter and only two postal employees. At the truck, I checked for change, but I had cleaned the truck out over the weekend. No change there or in my pockets. I knew I had several packages out there ranging from auto parts to tools to books & music. The smallest bill in my wallet was a ten. Shit.
Back inside, in line, I consoled myself. I had already put off the wiper blades, so I might as well get this over with. But I was in a good mood, the job was done, the salmon are running down at Chitina, the Solstice party is Thursday, life was good. The guy in front of me was doing the impatient dance: Shuffling his feet, looking at his watch, sighing when the people at the counter kept chatting needlessly to the clerks. He only had to collect a package too. Normally, the customer service representatives will take a package slip, then ask if anyone else was picking up only a package and combine the orders, but I could see that wasn’t going to help me out. Of the two employees in front of us, I knew only one did that and she was tied up with a couple of Canadians, and everyone knows that Canadians do nothing quickly, so she wasn’t going to be free anytime soon. The other one was actually my favorite worker at this branch, but consolidating package orders is not her thing. She may have done it once when I had Rover parts come in, and that put an end to it for good. I don’t recall specific details.
The Impatient Guy was on his way quickly, and soon enough I was exchanging the yellow form for a package. Or so I thought.
When my USPS Customer Service Representative returned, she was outright laughing. “Someone sent you a post card with no postage.”
I looked at it on the counter and said, “That’s just mean spirited.”
Then several people waiting behind me laughed.
The really sad part about all of this, is that I don’t even like the person who sent it enough to send him an email chewing him out for making me stand in line to break a ten dollar bill to spend 32 cents for a post card that cost him a damn dime.
Back with The Rover in San Antonio. I knew months ago, way back in California when I last had the 4WD engaged, that the front propeller shaft was in need of a set of new u-joints. Mac had also mentioned that the front seal had developed an oil leak. Both were on the agenda to get repaired before driving north in the round-about direction of Alaska.
With The Rover still taking up space in the Expedition’s Sponsor’s shop, tools & Rover expertise were bound to be exploited. The drive shaft was the first to come off, followed by the removal of the water pump & front cover. The guys at the shop simply shook their heads and questioned my sanity at the quick explosion of Rover parts. I don’t even want to get into the reason for the welder…
As seen in the picture of the lower pulley, the groove in the shaft caused the leak in the front seal. The first wave of parts arrived late Wednesday, so today saw the refit of the new front seal, front cover and a new water pump. Yesterday saw the refit of a new fuel pump & the disassembly of the front propeller shaft. The shaft was more of a challenge than either Mac or I had suspected. No doubt due to the fact that everything previous had gone smoothly. Rovers First Law.
The propeller shaft was also reassembled today, with only a minor hitch to contend with. A press is a damn nice thing to have around.
Parts Wave #2 is due Friday-Monday, and Wave #3 is due Monday-Tuesday. The final wave, in theory, should allow The Rover to have high beams once again. I think I lost them somewhere in Kansas long ago.
As crazy as it sounds, this has been a very relaxing stress-free vacation so far. San Antonio is wonderful when it is not 100 degs.
Oh yeah: I wanted to take the dog from the propane place home with me this afternoon, and then tonight I wanted to feed another dog to the coyotes.
Yin. Yang.
The Rover Company introduced its 4WD Land Rover in April of 1948. They’ve been leaving little trails of motor oil & gear lube around the globe ever since.
It’s still dropping below zero at night here in Alaska’s mid-section.
In the “Why Can’t People Make up Their Minds?” Department:
I found out late last night that my entire plans for work this summer (not to mention future travel plans) have been thrown out the window, blown about by the wind, reshuffled, stomped on, and come out WTF? Somehow, I have to figure out how to compact more work than I normally get in a year into 5-6 months. I have no idea how I am going to pull this off. The plus side, is that I now see a path to a clear schedule once I get to autumn and with enough money to run away. Of course, it would be nice to be in physical condition to actually enjoy that clear schedule once I stumble & limp my way to it.
The honest definition of entropy: “The more time one spends on planning out life’s schedule, the less time it takes for someone else to throw it into complete dissaray.” —MTP
