"Five": Alaska, the 5th Year
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Sunday, October 16, 2011
A little eye candy.
As
promised, here are the first of many pics I will post of dad and mines'
trip into the bush back in August. The next few posts will take you
to places that are only accessible by float plane, and are some of the
most secluded and beautiful scenery I have ever seen. Some of these, at
least the obvious aerials, were taken from the plane window, so the
quality is a little obscured, but gives detail to some spectacular
glacier and alluvial flow as well as untouched beauty as far as the lens
would let me see. Enjoy!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Going Down The Road
It was a great night....a highlight of this trip, and a trip indeed! Since Jerry Garcia died back in 1995, and the Grateful Dead disbanded, several incarnations of the band have come and gone, and we have been there to experience most of it all. There was Phil Lesh & Friends, the Grateful Deads' bassist and his band of very talented and well rehearsed musicians. There was Bob Weir the Deads' rhythm guitarist and his band RatDog. Planet Drum was an interesting post Garcia effort by one of the Deads' drummer's, Mickey Hart. Surviving former Grateful Dead members would later unite for the first time since Jerry's passing to form The Other Ones, and then a year or so later 'The Dead'. Each band was unique and they expanded on beliefs, the music and the vibes that the Grateful Dead taught us all. Although we have been to several of these shows, and have seen at least one show of each band....with the exception of the latter mentioned, The Dead, due to our life in a far away land, and the utter lack of ability to attend.
But this night would be different. This night would prove to be a night of memories both old and new ones made, awesome music, smiles and all of the incredible vibes and spirit that could only be found at a Grateful Dead concert. There was always a very profound energy shared by band and audience. The band would drive the audience, and the audience would return the energized vibes back to the band which would propel the evolving circle into an experience unlike any you could ever experience anywhere else.
Yes, this night in Monterey, California would be special to us and showcased our vacation. And, on the same stage as the historic Monterey Pop Festival in 1967! In fact this would be the first time since any member of the Grateful Dead would perform on the same stage since their less than memorable performance 44 years ago. The scorch mark still sits on the stage floor from where Jimi Hendrix lit his guitar on fire with lighter fluid in front of an audience of up to 90,000 people. A small venue by standards, the Fairgrounds sits where now exists an airport runway. This simple presence only amplified the crowds excitement each time a plane would come in just yards above the audience for a landing, about every half hour, which would be accompanied by the crowd clapping and simultaneously roaring it's landing with approval.
The latest post Garcia incarnation is a band called Further. With the Grateful Deads' rhythm guitarist Bob Weir and bassist Phil Lesh, the line-up of old familiar Dead tunes and some selections brought out of the vault proved to be a show worth seeing. The bands lead guitarist, John Kadlecik of the Darkstar Orchestra at times can have a very echoed replication of Jerry Garcia's voice and in some songs such as "Morning Dew", just sent chills up our spines....you could close your eyes and flash back to 20 years ago. An incredible feeling.
I would be lying if I said we planned our trip around this show, however, I would be lying if I said we didn't! In the past, we always tend to kick ourselves in the ass because we find out we just missed a good band or concert, so this time we scanned the web and there it was....Further! So, we made our plans for the trip around the show! Well worth it all! For those who we missed seeing this time around....there is always the next. Sometimes it isn't easy being on vacation!
But this night would be different. This night would prove to be a night of memories both old and new ones made, awesome music, smiles and all of the incredible vibes and spirit that could only be found at a Grateful Dead concert. There was always a very profound energy shared by band and audience. The band would drive the audience, and the audience would return the energized vibes back to the band which would propel the evolving circle into an experience unlike any you could ever experience anywhere else.
Yes, this night in Monterey, California would be special to us and showcased our vacation. And, on the same stage as the historic Monterey Pop Festival in 1967! In fact this would be the first time since any member of the Grateful Dead would perform on the same stage since their less than memorable performance 44 years ago. The scorch mark still sits on the stage floor from where Jimi Hendrix lit his guitar on fire with lighter fluid in front of an audience of up to 90,000 people. A small venue by standards, the Fairgrounds sits where now exists an airport runway. This simple presence only amplified the crowds excitement each time a plane would come in just yards above the audience for a landing, about every half hour, which would be accompanied by the crowd clapping and simultaneously roaring it's landing with approval.
The latest post Garcia incarnation is a band called Further. With the Grateful Deads' rhythm guitarist Bob Weir and bassist Phil Lesh, the line-up of old familiar Dead tunes and some selections brought out of the vault proved to be a show worth seeing. The bands lead guitarist, John Kadlecik of the Darkstar Orchestra at times can have a very echoed replication of Jerry Garcia's voice and in some songs such as "Morning Dew", just sent chills up our spines....you could close your eyes and flash back to 20 years ago. An incredible feeling.
I would be lying if I said we planned our trip around this show, however, I would be lying if I said we didn't! In the past, we always tend to kick ourselves in the ass because we find out we just missed a good band or concert, so this time we scanned the web and there it was....Further! So, we made our plans for the trip around the show! Well worth it all! For those who we missed seeing this time around....there is always the next. Sometimes it isn't easy being on vacation!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Wher did the time go?
Somewhere over Canada, it occurs to me….it has been months since my last post! I believe that only a blogger could truly appreciate the reasoning behind such a phenomenon! It has nothing to do with writers block, but rather….who knows! Just really busy I suppose. I think that burn out creates a level of unmotivation, or ….burn out! What worried me is how many people are running around thinking I perished from botulism from the canning experience I wrote about back at the beginning of summer. About the time our seasonal house guest, Tyler, showed up. Holy crap…Tyler. Now there is a story in itself that has completely fallen through the cracks. Sometimes you just need a break from the things you do, and this summer has been a break from blogging. Even pottery has kind of taken a bit of a back seat. Yes, our summer consisted of a lot of hard and diligent work, fishing, a couple of really good trips into the gulf and out into the bush, and some good accomplishment of summer maintenance and winter prep around the compound.
Status report:
We hauled and bucked around 12 cords of wood for the winter, mostly storm and dead fall on the lower property. It is 97% stacked and covered, ready to go and we began burning fires in the woodstove a little more consistently about two weeks ago. The temps are falling at night, about down to 21F, and somewhere in the 40’s by day, a lot of clouds, wind and afternoon rains. The days are getting shorter, which typically after a summer of so much daylight starts to feel pretty weird about now, and somewhat depressing to see it all go.
A summer visit from my family brought some really good memories as pops and I went on an ultimate expedition into the bush! The day brought some spectacular sights, great fishing experiences for species such as lake trout, arctic char, and grayling. Dad’s dream came true as the float plane landed at Dick Prenike’s cabin over in Lake Clark. Flying along the contours of alluvial flow, and spectacular glaciers abound was a definite highlight for us both! I have craploads of pictures and will post them in a couple of posts to come.
As well as plenty of salmon fishing locally on the Kenai river and stocking our deep freezer, myself, Jennifer, Tyler and the lodge attendant Jason took a halibut fishing trip out into the Gulf Of Alaska and although they were small ‘chickens’, we did all get our limit and added to our personal stocks. It was a fun day with ‘the kids’ for me! And sometimes, ‘the kids’ are a hell of a lot more fun than adult’s!!! I have to say,, this would be the first time since I watched the documentary, “Food Inc” almost 2 years ago, that I ate at Mc Donald’s after the trip was up. Tyler, our official junk food junkie needed a Mc Donald’s fix. Let me just say, the meal was hollow, unfilling and tasted about close to crap as far as “real” food could go. Yukko!
We got to do some canning through the summer. As well as salmon we canned some “real” peaches thanks to the contraband smuggling efforts of the folks! Now, unless you have had the mis-opportunity of eating fruit and vegetables here in Alaska, you could never appreciate what fresh ripe peaches from the Central Valley of California can do to you. When the box hit the counter in the kitchen and was opened, you have never seen so many hands molest a box full of fruit in your life! You would have honestly have thought we had never had fruit before. The same scene occurred when my best friend Brad, Tylers’ uncle, sent some plums and pluotts up! Produce is generally shipped from the lower 48, unripe and just losses the romance of the phrase ‘fresh fruit’, somewhere along the way. Just sucks really! But it is the price you pay, and a worthy trade off for what we do have here in this ‘great land’. What really sucked, is that after seeing the bruhaha that ensued over who was getting how many peaches between John/Jennifer vs. Maryann and I, dad thought it from his heart to ship up a lug via the good old United States Postal Service. Yes, another wonderful story about the complete ineptness of the Postal Service to ‘deliver’. In short, the first box arrived 3 days late, which turned the peaches into a state of complete despair. We spared enough to make a peach pie, and discarded all of the rest of the fermenting mess. The second box never did arrive. In fact, after the first 9 days, they disappeared off of the Postal Service tracking system, what was received was a letter from the Postal Service that the second box had expired en route and would go where expired fruit boxes go. Swine’s!
Tyler. Now here is a story. The boy was supposed to live with us for the summer. What happened was, he lived with us for the first couple of weeks, while the lodge was coming together for the season. Then, someone came up with the bright idea of Tyler having the option to stay at the lodge for a couple of days to be ‘on-site’ or the ‘on-call person’. This worked out great as the first customers and guests arrived. What was to be a couple of days turned into a permanent deal for him. The benefits: He pulled the excess heat off of Maryann after hours. The woman deals with enough almost 14 hours a day and this was a welcomed relief. This fact alone increased his hours immensely, plus he raked in tips galore!
His first weeks went great. He was dependable, hard working and staff and guests alike loved his personable ways and unique sense of humor. He apparently impressed the president of the lodge enough that he began to go on all of the fly-outs as like the on board assistant and fishing bitch for the pilots. Now, this in itself was incredible. He was going out into the bush. He was seeing things that most people only dream of or watch on Discovery Channel. This all happened in the course of a few weeks! What followed was unprecedented for the lodge. He became a certified and licensed fishing guide! He began to make the flight plans according to his picked fishing locations, and would guide the guests on their fishing expeditions. Made bank, in addition to hourly wages working on the grounds when he wasn’t flying or guiding, tips, and the on-call person. Where he was supposed to go back to the lower 48 in August, he actually ended up staying on until the end of September and came back down with us. The unofficial story is that he will definitely be back up in March to take his ‘river guide’ certification for the Kenai River guides and will be moving to Alaska permanently.
There is so much more to catch up on. Pictures…. Stay tuned as I will try to be a little more aggressive in my posting. Sometimes you just need a change of pace. That is the best I can say! Take care all.
Status report:
We hauled and bucked around 12 cords of wood for the winter, mostly storm and dead fall on the lower property. It is 97% stacked and covered, ready to go and we began burning fires in the woodstove a little more consistently about two weeks ago. The temps are falling at night, about down to 21F, and somewhere in the 40’s by day, a lot of clouds, wind and afternoon rains. The days are getting shorter, which typically after a summer of so much daylight starts to feel pretty weird about now, and somewhat depressing to see it all go.
A summer visit from my family brought some really good memories as pops and I went on an ultimate expedition into the bush! The day brought some spectacular sights, great fishing experiences for species such as lake trout, arctic char, and grayling. Dad’s dream came true as the float plane landed at Dick Prenike’s cabin over in Lake Clark. Flying along the contours of alluvial flow, and spectacular glaciers abound was a definite highlight for us both! I have craploads of pictures and will post them in a couple of posts to come.
As well as plenty of salmon fishing locally on the Kenai river and stocking our deep freezer, myself, Jennifer, Tyler and the lodge attendant Jason took a halibut fishing trip out into the Gulf Of Alaska and although they were small ‘chickens’, we did all get our limit and added to our personal stocks. It was a fun day with ‘the kids’ for me! And sometimes, ‘the kids’ are a hell of a lot more fun than adult’s!!! I have to say,, this would be the first time since I watched the documentary, “Food Inc” almost 2 years ago, that I ate at Mc Donald’s after the trip was up. Tyler, our official junk food junkie needed a Mc Donald’s fix. Let me just say, the meal was hollow, unfilling and tasted about close to crap as far as “real” food could go. Yukko!
We got to do some canning through the summer. As well as salmon we canned some “real” peaches thanks to the contraband smuggling efforts of the folks! Now, unless you have had the mis-opportunity of eating fruit and vegetables here in Alaska, you could never appreciate what fresh ripe peaches from the Central Valley of California can do to you. When the box hit the counter in the kitchen and was opened, you have never seen so many hands molest a box full of fruit in your life! You would have honestly have thought we had never had fruit before. The same scene occurred when my best friend Brad, Tylers’ uncle, sent some plums and pluotts up! Produce is generally shipped from the lower 48, unripe and just losses the romance of the phrase ‘fresh fruit’, somewhere along the way. Just sucks really! But it is the price you pay, and a worthy trade off for what we do have here in this ‘great land’. What really sucked, is that after seeing the bruhaha that ensued over who was getting how many peaches between John/Jennifer vs. Maryann and I, dad thought it from his heart to ship up a lug via the good old United States Postal Service. Yes, another wonderful story about the complete ineptness of the Postal Service to ‘deliver’. In short, the first box arrived 3 days late, which turned the peaches into a state of complete despair. We spared enough to make a peach pie, and discarded all of the rest of the fermenting mess. The second box never did arrive. In fact, after the first 9 days, they disappeared off of the Postal Service tracking system, what was received was a letter from the Postal Service that the second box had expired en route and would go where expired fruit boxes go. Swine’s!
Tyler. Now here is a story. The boy was supposed to live with us for the summer. What happened was, he lived with us for the first couple of weeks, while the lodge was coming together for the season. Then, someone came up with the bright idea of Tyler having the option to stay at the lodge for a couple of days to be ‘on-site’ or the ‘on-call person’. This worked out great as the first customers and guests arrived. What was to be a couple of days turned into a permanent deal for him. The benefits: He pulled the excess heat off of Maryann after hours. The woman deals with enough almost 14 hours a day and this was a welcomed relief. This fact alone increased his hours immensely, plus he raked in tips galore!
His first weeks went great. He was dependable, hard working and staff and guests alike loved his personable ways and unique sense of humor. He apparently impressed the president of the lodge enough that he began to go on all of the fly-outs as like the on board assistant and fishing bitch for the pilots. Now, this in itself was incredible. He was going out into the bush. He was seeing things that most people only dream of or watch on Discovery Channel. This all happened in the course of a few weeks! What followed was unprecedented for the lodge. He became a certified and licensed fishing guide! He began to make the flight plans according to his picked fishing locations, and would guide the guests on their fishing expeditions. Made bank, in addition to hourly wages working on the grounds when he wasn’t flying or guiding, tips, and the on-call person. Where he was supposed to go back to the lower 48 in August, he actually ended up staying on until the end of September and came back down with us. The unofficial story is that he will definitely be back up in March to take his ‘river guide’ certification for the Kenai River guides and will be moving to Alaska permanently.
There is so much more to catch up on. Pictures…. Stay tuned as I will try to be a little more aggressive in my posting. Sometimes you just need a change of pace. That is the best I can say! Take care all.
Friday, July 22, 2011
What a grand day!
Some people wake up to Ed McMahon knocking about their door, or a winning lottery ticket while loving up their morning coffee, or experience the sensation of rain on their tongue while the sun shines down upon their head. In general, I don't really have much to complain about; Ed McMahon passed many years ago, I don't play the lottery, and seldom in Alaska does the sun shine whilst it rains.
When I woke the other day it was to Maryann waking my extremely burned out butt at 9:15AM....a rarity...to announce she made a special breakfast for me that would beat even breakfast at the Uptown Motel....not real hard to do...but it sounded great! So great that I jumped out of bed, technically still asleep, and limped my tired half slept ass to the table. Yup. It was definitely worth it and tasted divine! And it is a good thing that I started the first 10 minutes of my day with a good, wholesome and rounded breakfast, because even a bowl of Wheaties could never prepare me for what was about to come next.
The Sockeye salmon run hit last week and has been a boom! I have managed to get my daily limit within a couple hours of wading into the river a couple of different days now and am hoping to make a go of it again this weekend before they all come in and move up the river. Fish & Game raised the limit to 6 per person per day since the run is so heavy. This is always gratifying because it helps to ensure our freezer will be stocked for the winter. With Silvers set to begin their run next month, there is still plenty of time to get some fishing in on the river this summer.
I have an unspoken rule that I never open mail after 5:00 PM AKST/1:00PM EST or on weekends, simply because I will have no way to make a rebuking phone call to whomever any given sender is that I may have issue with. Coming home after 10:30PM the other night, Maryann, upon her own accord, opened a weeks worth of mail and one of the letters she opened turned out to be a bill from the IRS. If that wasn't enough, the curious lot that she is or gluten for punishment from my current perspective, she opened the second letter from the IRS which was but a second bill! Since there was nobody available to hear my rebuke, I immediately emailed our tax accountant to inquire how to deal with this obvious huge mistake on the part of the govt.
The following morning during my awesome breakfast, the return email confirmed what we had filed, and that since we did file jointly, we could ignore one of the bills. This was reassuring considering the whole thing was an obvious huge mistake on their part anyways. The last thing the tax man offered in his email was, "did you pay your 2010 taxes?" of course I did! We always pay our taxes. Not always happy about it but nonetheless we do! I have been on time with my quarterlies for 2011....this is obviously some kind of plot to screw Americans, seeded by Osama....ehr, ahhh....yeah...that guy in the oblong orfice....office. HIM. Nothing could help to buffer the utter shock that came next as I suddenly realized that, "oh shit!! I never sent the damned check!!!" Apparently, our spring vacation was more relaxing than I thought it could be, as upon our return, I never mailed the tax check by April 15th. Let me clarify that....I mailed the first 2011 quarterly, not the 2010 tax check. To compound this, we failed to meet the July 14th deadline to avoid further interest and penalties, that would be on top of the already compounded interest and penalties. This due in part that we didn't pick up the mail in a week. But, keep in mind, even if we had picked up the mail a week ago, we still would have failed to meet the July 14th deadline, because it didn't get put in our box until after the 14th! Another inept move from the Postal Service, or the IRS....which to me along with DMV are all one in the same. You figure out the conclusion!
Minutes later after this astonishing realization came the phone call from the auto repair shop. It seems he was able to put my truck on the scanner and found the problem I was having the day before.
For the past week my truck has been acting up with weirdness. On this particular day which I am about to describe to you, I would finally give in and call the repair shop, describing my symptoms and setting up an appointment for sometime next week when he had time to put it on the scanner. Apparently, much like the dog or kid who doesn't like going to the doctor, my truck overheard this conversation and began to seriously object. After the call as I drove down the highway into town, it began to emit some black smoke and each time would seem like it was intermittently accelerating. I became a little concerned. Enough so that I figured I should probably pull over when I get into town and pop the hood just in case something had become loose. As I drove through Soldotna, it became a little worse, and I focused on pulling into the hardware stores parking lot. As I sat in the left turn lane, I looked in my rearview mirror to see an onslaught of CES emergency vehicles rapidly approaching me, lights flashing, sirens blaring and horns a screaming! With no warning, my truck began to come to life as the engine would rev and instantaneously lunge at each rev, dumping black smoke. Next thing I know the guy in front of me is frustratedly throwing his hands in the air because he can't go anywhere, thinking that I am trying to push him out of the way for the CES vehicles coming at us with sheer determination, while my foot is burying the brake pedal through the floor board as my demonically possessed truck continues it's self appointed tirade! After the emergency vehicles had passed on the curb of the island and in the oncoming lanes, and the guy in front of me got the hell out of my way with an obvious pissy attitude to what I, in his mind, I had been doing to him, I immediately pulled into the parking lot, opened the door...dove out and rolled! Short of running for cover, I was completely dumbfounded, a sentiment that the guy at the repair shop echoed as he listened to my story on the phone. "Whewy....hell of a ride!"
The next day, his prognosis would reveal that the fuel module is apparently bad. Bad news is this is typically a $2000 part. Good news is that it has happened before and the previous owner of the truck put in an aftermarket part that was modified to help prevent complete failure of the module. Hmmmm. Do you think it worked? The bottom line is $1000 out the door, coupled with a four digit tax bill.....we are screwed right now!
So, one to always believe that there is a silver lining to every black cloud, I open an envelope later on, still in the same day as the rest of the friggin circus, from Allstate and find a check for $275.00! Joy!!! It appears that our luck is beginning to turn. But then it hits me....we have our insurance premium taken out in escrow every month. Why is Allstate mailing us a check?? So, I call Allstate to find out the answer. The answer I was given made no sense at all and further confused me. However, an interesting point was discovered during this conversation. You see, the $275 came from a reduction in our premium a couple of months back, after I was advised by our insurance agent....'After I was advised by our insurance agent'. I'm sorry, did I mention that we were advised by 'our insurance agent' that if we were to lower the coverage on personal property in the policy that we could save substantially to offset the unprovoked and unexplainable premium increase we received in June. So, we took his advice and re-assessed all of our personal possessions, all the way down to underwear. Thus the savings refunded in the amount of $275. Herein lies the problem, the agent I spoke with yesterday, after confusing me even more with her explanation of why Allstate sent a check for money they don't technically collect in the first place, she proceeds to tell me that in reducing our coverage for personal property to a new tier, we actually lost the 20% additional dwelling coverage that came with the over excessive cost of the personal property as well as losing a good portion of living expense coverage if we were ever put out of our home for any extent of time. WTF!!??!! And our "Insurance Agent' advised us to lower our personal property coverage in order to save money from being jacked in the first place?! Did I say, WTF!!??!! Oh, coincidentally, he no longer works for Allstate.....go figure! So, I enveloped the SOB check and sent it back. And, we are no longer $275 richer in leau of being thousands of dollars in the hole currently.
"Like sands in an hourglass, so are the days of our lives"! When life gives me lemons, I am seriously in no mood to make lemonade. At least we will be having salmon for dinner instead of 'Beanie Wennies' for a while!
When I woke the other day it was to Maryann waking my extremely burned out butt at 9:15AM....a rarity...to announce she made a special breakfast for me that would beat even breakfast at the Uptown Motel....not real hard to do...but it sounded great! So great that I jumped out of bed, technically still asleep, and limped my tired half slept ass to the table. Yup. It was definitely worth it and tasted divine! And it is a good thing that I started the first 10 minutes of my day with a good, wholesome and rounded breakfast, because even a bowl of Wheaties could never prepare me for what was about to come next.
The Sockeye salmon run hit last week and has been a boom! I have managed to get my daily limit within a couple hours of wading into the river a couple of different days now and am hoping to make a go of it again this weekend before they all come in and move up the river. Fish & Game raised the limit to 6 per person per day since the run is so heavy. This is always gratifying because it helps to ensure our freezer will be stocked for the winter. With Silvers set to begin their run next month, there is still plenty of time to get some fishing in on the river this summer.
I have an unspoken rule that I never open mail after 5:00 PM AKST/1:00PM EST or on weekends, simply because I will have no way to make a rebuking phone call to whomever any given sender is that I may have issue with. Coming home after 10:30PM the other night, Maryann, upon her own accord, opened a weeks worth of mail and one of the letters she opened turned out to be a bill from the IRS. If that wasn't enough, the curious lot that she is or gluten for punishment from my current perspective, she opened the second letter from the IRS which was but a second bill! Since there was nobody available to hear my rebuke, I immediately emailed our tax accountant to inquire how to deal with this obvious huge mistake on the part of the govt.
The following morning during my awesome breakfast, the return email confirmed what we had filed, and that since we did file jointly, we could ignore one of the bills. This was reassuring considering the whole thing was an obvious huge mistake on their part anyways. The last thing the tax man offered in his email was, "did you pay your 2010 taxes?" of course I did! We always pay our taxes. Not always happy about it but nonetheless we do! I have been on time with my quarterlies for 2011....this is obviously some kind of plot to screw Americans, seeded by Osama....ehr, ahhh....yeah...that guy in the oblong orfice....office. HIM. Nothing could help to buffer the utter shock that came next as I suddenly realized that, "oh shit!! I never sent the damned check!!!" Apparently, our spring vacation was more relaxing than I thought it could be, as upon our return, I never mailed the tax check by April 15th. Let me clarify that....I mailed the first 2011 quarterly, not the 2010 tax check. To compound this, we failed to meet the July 14th deadline to avoid further interest and penalties, that would be on top of the already compounded interest and penalties. This due in part that we didn't pick up the mail in a week. But, keep in mind, even if we had picked up the mail a week ago, we still would have failed to meet the July 14th deadline, because it didn't get put in our box until after the 14th! Another inept move from the Postal Service, or the IRS....which to me along with DMV are all one in the same. You figure out the conclusion!
Minutes later after this astonishing realization came the phone call from the auto repair shop. It seems he was able to put my truck on the scanner and found the problem I was having the day before.
For the past week my truck has been acting up with weirdness. On this particular day which I am about to describe to you, I would finally give in and call the repair shop, describing my symptoms and setting up an appointment for sometime next week when he had time to put it on the scanner. Apparently, much like the dog or kid who doesn't like going to the doctor, my truck overheard this conversation and began to seriously object. After the call as I drove down the highway into town, it began to emit some black smoke and each time would seem like it was intermittently accelerating. I became a little concerned. Enough so that I figured I should probably pull over when I get into town and pop the hood just in case something had become loose. As I drove through Soldotna, it became a little worse, and I focused on pulling into the hardware stores parking lot. As I sat in the left turn lane, I looked in my rearview mirror to see an onslaught of CES emergency vehicles rapidly approaching me, lights flashing, sirens blaring and horns a screaming! With no warning, my truck began to come to life as the engine would rev and instantaneously lunge at each rev, dumping black smoke. Next thing I know the guy in front of me is frustratedly throwing his hands in the air because he can't go anywhere, thinking that I am trying to push him out of the way for the CES vehicles coming at us with sheer determination, while my foot is burying the brake pedal through the floor board as my demonically possessed truck continues it's self appointed tirade! After the emergency vehicles had passed on the curb of the island and in the oncoming lanes, and the guy in front of me got the hell out of my way with an obvious pissy attitude to what I, in his mind, I had been doing to him, I immediately pulled into the parking lot, opened the door...dove out and rolled! Short of running for cover, I was completely dumbfounded, a sentiment that the guy at the repair shop echoed as he listened to my story on the phone. "Whewy....hell of a ride!"
The next day, his prognosis would reveal that the fuel module is apparently bad. Bad news is this is typically a $2000 part. Good news is that it has happened before and the previous owner of the truck put in an aftermarket part that was modified to help prevent complete failure of the module. Hmmmm. Do you think it worked? The bottom line is $1000 out the door, coupled with a four digit tax bill.....we are screwed right now!
So, one to always believe that there is a silver lining to every black cloud, I open an envelope later on, still in the same day as the rest of the friggin circus, from Allstate and find a check for $275.00! Joy!!! It appears that our luck is beginning to turn. But then it hits me....we have our insurance premium taken out in escrow every month. Why is Allstate mailing us a check?? So, I call Allstate to find out the answer. The answer I was given made no sense at all and further confused me. However, an interesting point was discovered during this conversation. You see, the $275 came from a reduction in our premium a couple of months back, after I was advised by our insurance agent....'After I was advised by our insurance agent'. I'm sorry, did I mention that we were advised by 'our insurance agent' that if we were to lower the coverage on personal property in the policy that we could save substantially to offset the unprovoked and unexplainable premium increase we received in June. So, we took his advice and re-assessed all of our personal possessions, all the way down to underwear. Thus the savings refunded in the amount of $275. Herein lies the problem, the agent I spoke with yesterday, after confusing me even more with her explanation of why Allstate sent a check for money they don't technically collect in the first place, she proceeds to tell me that in reducing our coverage for personal property to a new tier, we actually lost the 20% additional dwelling coverage that came with the over excessive cost of the personal property as well as losing a good portion of living expense coverage if we were ever put out of our home for any extent of time. WTF!!??!! And our "Insurance Agent' advised us to lower our personal property coverage in order to save money from being jacked in the first place?! Did I say, WTF!!??!! Oh, coincidentally, he no longer works for Allstate.....go figure! So, I enveloped the SOB check and sent it back. And, we are no longer $275 richer in leau of being thousands of dollars in the hole currently.
"Like sands in an hourglass, so are the days of our lives"! When life gives me lemons, I am seriously in no mood to make lemonade. At least we will be having salmon for dinner instead of 'Beanie Wennies' for a while!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Fallen But Not Forgotten
William "TJ" River Emmanual IV
Army, Specialist
Based: Schweinfurt, Germany
1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: July 8, 2004
Samarra, Iraq
Single
Gender: Male
Hometown: Stockton
Emanuel was killed when insurgents attacked a military headquarters with mortar rounds in the town of Samarra, north of Baghdad. The five soldiers killed were members of the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, based in Schweinfurt, Germany.
Based: Schweinfurt, Germany
1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: July 8, 2004
Samarra, Iraq
Single
Gender: Male
Hometown: Stockton
Emanuel was killed when insurgents attacked a military headquarters with mortar rounds in the town of Samarra, north of Baghdad. The five soldiers killed were members of the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, based in Schweinfurt, Germany.
"Words will never express the loss. Time will never replace the pain."
We love you and are proud of all you did in such a short life. Saturday, June 11, 2011
No Margin For Error
It took 5 years of talking about "wanting" to do it, 2 years of procrastination and researching the products to "try" to do it, 1 year of "almost" did it, and finally, this morning, it begins. I sit here and I contemplate the procedure. I have seen and experienced the results of successful operations, and have heard the stories of less success or narrowly averted tragedy. Yet, I sit back and watch as Maryann follows to the "T" the proper procedures and safeguards for such, with utter confidence that she won't kill me before my birthday.
Although she has been trained by experienced folk and actual homesteaders, canning is a seriously questionable procedure to me, and, there seems from what I have learned to be no margin for error. To be able to reap the pleasures of your own canned salmon, vegetables fresh from the greenhouse sauces, jams and other delights for use through the summer or winter is a comforting thought. It seems to be the way to go if you are trying to be more self reliant and self sustaining. Thus, the reason we have always wanted to do it! Hell, if it didn't cost more than our home to invest in, we would have gone 'off the grid' years ago and done solar or wind power! I....we, absolutely cannot stand to be manipulated and honed by the electrical companies, grocers and the like. So, it seems perfectly normal that this whole canning gig is taking place here. We have always wanted to buy less at the store, and eat more of what we sow....or catch for that matter.
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| Very attentive during the jarring process.... |
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| The way they lie in wait for some fish to fall on the floor, almost makes you feel like carrion! |
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| A ticking time bomb! |
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| Captivated by the sight of steam and noise....at a distance.... |
Besides the aesthetic hazards of canning, such as a gauge that may be off calibration on the pressure cooker that could create an explosion in your kitchen, there are more subtle cautions that need be observed. Such as: making sure there is enough propane in the tank so as not to lose flame before the cooking process has completed so the entire batch is not wasted. The lack of consistent heat for the duration can cause a bad batch. There's the continual sterilization throughout the process of preparation. We wont even get into the worst case, that being botulism! Yes, in rare cases, if safety and caution in following the proper guidelines is not observed, death or injury can occur! The whole thing has always freaked me out! So, if you don't hear from me here on the site, ever again.....
Stay tuned.
On happier notes, we are week one into housing our summer guest, Tyler. Being his first time is Alaska, he was weary of what to expect. This is what he has learned so far: There are actually real homes in parts of Alaska....not everyone lives in Igloos. There are not Wolverines hiding at every corner, waiting to attack you. As cuddly as grizzlies may look....they really aren't! 'Big Bald Eagles' do carry off 'small' dogs. He now knows what a 'coffee hut' is as witnessed first hand and that we Alaskans really enjoy these....especially in the winter. Judging by the way he blurted out, "holy shit that thing is huge!" upon seeing his first moose.... I am thinking he realizes the sheer immensity of such a stoic beast! Work has been inundating my time this past week so there hasn't been much time for fun, but we are going to make the necessary adjustments for that here shortly! He's spent the first week working at the lodge, and familiarizing himself with fueling and preparing the float planes for fly outs, getting the grounds in order, and has found time for making subtle moves on Maryann's assistant.
Mind you this isn't our lake but gives you an idea of what we are experiencing. They seem to be doing the whole mating thing, here on the lake and it appears that there is nesting going on over on the shore within view of the house. The whole thing is kind of exciting, in a non stimulating way, of course! That and all of the other activities on the lake are all just way too cool. This is the time of year we savor and everything in nature has come back to life!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Things they don't teach you in school!
I recived a series of emails today, sent to me by John on his I Phone. This is what I received, with his text below each Picture:
Oh John, spare time is grand, isn't it?! I am so glad our tax dollars are going to a good education through state funding for you! By the way....nice view, man! And a damned fine job on that chair!! Remember the stump chair I carved with a chain saw when you where younger.....yours puts mine to shame!
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| "The 'P' tool and the start of a chair." |
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| "Five trees and a 'P' tool later." |
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| "The finished product!" |
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