My Crazy Alaskan Adventure

2008-08-16T08:31:00.002-08:00

8:32am Kenai, AK
Happy last day of work to me. Happy last day of work to me. Happy last day of work to me-e it's been a long road but i've learned a lot and grown a lot and seen a lot of gross thiiiings. Happy last day of work to me!

2008-08-15T09:25:00.004-08:00

9:25am Kenai, AK
Well i must apologize. There are a myriad of reasons why i have not written for so long - really slow internet, illness, end of season organization and just plain laziness but i know that these are things that i want to write about. i have been having some really great fun nights and so much has happened since i last wrote. so i am going to try and fill it all in. working backwards. i am going to put my thing down flip it and reverse it.
I got to go to the store yesterday. I picked up Coline (formerly known as the crazy cat lady) we divided and conquered our shopping lists then road home singing along to carol king, simon and garfunkle, and men at work...you can't beat that sort of jamming. It was great. Then last night i took my crew to dinner to thank them for all of their hard work. We went to Don Jose's a surprisingly good Mexican restaurant. I had the chicken chimichanga - not as good as el coyotes (RIP) but pretty good. We laughed and enjoyed margaritas and not working it was great. I am really going to miss them.
Wednesday morning Sarah and Kelly left camp :( but i mailed out 3 packages of stuff i have acquired in preparation to go home :) then it was a day filled with laundry and the usual followed by an evening in with Field of Dreams (you told me your finger was a gun.) Not too shabby. Tuesday i was sick as a dog - sympathy sinus infection - i think a result of the second hand smoke...hmmm surgeon general you may be on to something. When i wasn't absolutely needed i clocked out and went to bed - probably the fewest hours i have worked all summer. Then Jackie and Kathy left which really made me sad because Jackie and I have gotten a lot closer these past few weeks and we've had a lot of fun. I am not worried that i won't see her again it was just tough to see her go. I ended my evening falling asleep during Nanny McPhee - hopped up on Bulgarian inhaler meds. (don't worry mom the girl that gave me the inhaler is a nurse)
Monday i was getting sick - which was awesome.
Sunday was a regular day. Clean the big ol office, do the laundry that the people who can't read leave on the stoop, snack shack it up...then in the evening Andy (the head of processing) took me, Jackie and Kathy to dinner at Nikko Garden - a Japanese restaurant. He ordered a table full of sushi and took home whatever wasn't eaten. I tried fried eel...it tasted like chicken and i also tried crab meat with egg...it tasted mostly like eggs. And for the record i don't care what anyone says - things that come out of the sea taste like the sea. You can't fool me by saying it doesn't taste like fish or crustacean or whatever...i know...and yes it does taste like fish! People who like something should never say that it doesn't taste like what it is or else why would they like it. I am through listening to people lie about fish.
Okay lets be honest most of my days are the same so i am now just going to talk about my nights because they were the interesting part anyway...and that is what my sieve of a mind remembers.
Saturday night I didn't feel like cooking so i rounded up Sarah and Kelly and we walked to the Sailors Galley - a small restaurant up the road from the Vagabond. Heavily decorated. Where each item on the menu had a special name ie: fries are called seaweed...you know the type of place i mean. Well i ordered the Rigging - we call that spaghetti and meatballs on the street. And you know, it was really good. It's a damn shame that i didn't walk there sooner...but it's probably for the best. (maybe i will go to breakfast there on sunday when i am free...) So after dinner we walked across the street to the Vagabond to get some package goods. Sarah had made a bet with Eddie that she could drink him under the table. Now, Eddie is in college and Sarah is a kindergarten teacher. I am not doubting a school teacher could house a college kid in drinking contest but in this case the college kid is tall and bulky and the teacher is lite and bitty. She never stood a chance but i admire her gumption. I picked up an 18pk of miller lite and Sarah picked up her 2 bottles of jager. That's right boys and girls they were going punch for punch with jager. Kelly got some tequila and that was that. It just so happened that Jackie, Kathy and Michelle were in the bar section of the Vagabond so we went and said hey then jumped in on the cab they had called.
The game was midget beer pong called so because instead of a regulation table they had a bed and in the place of ping pong balls they had pennies. Every time Sarah or Eddie had to drink so did the other one and if either one took a side swig the other one had to as well. I think i actually saw the moment that Sarah blacked out. It was subtle but i knew that it was only downhill for her from there on. And as Chris says, "does anyone really win in a game of 'lets see who can drink more?'" After two rounds of midget pong my bladder was quite full and it was getting hard to see the pennies in the dark. So i called it a night. The next morning there was a bag of laundry with a note on my stoop...a product of the drinking contest.
Friday was a low key night. A casual stroll to the Vagabond for a few drinks followed by a trip to the beach to see what they J-1s were up to. Very chill and just fun.
Thursday was my Bear Grills night on the beach. I had decided earlier in the week that i was going to make a fire on the beach and relax. I thought that other people would come along but after i tell you about wednesday you will understand why i was alone. So I got a ride out to the beach earlier in the day with a truck bed full of pallets and i stashed them in some brush. Then i went back to work readied some dinner and got dressed to go. I stopped by Jackies room but she was not up to the task. She gave me some marshmallows and wished me well. Next i went to Sarah and Kelly's tent - they were having happy hour and said they would be along later. So armed with some cous cous, water and a book in my backpack, a bowl of marinating chicken in one hand and a banana box lid in the other i walked to the beach. I found a place to set up my fire and put all of my accoutrement there. It was time for my pallets. Wearing only flip flops i started breaking them apart to turn them into firewood. Tetanus - i laugh in your face. Next i ripped up my banana box lid. I made a small pile of kindling and lit that thing up. banana box lid...not so quick to light. thankfully really old dry pallets and sticks are. I had a nice sized fire in no time. Now for my chicken. Since i value the small hairs on my arm and the flesh on my body, holding the chicken on a fork over the flames was not an option. So i laid my chicken on a hot flat piece of pallet...heck yeah...special sauce. As I'm sure you can imagine, the outside cooked rather quickly but while i will cook chicken on old pallets i will not under cook chicken on old pallets. So i flipped it, let it cook some more, then took it out and cut it so that the insides could cook. It was totally wilderness-rific. And aside from the really crispy bit the chicken wasn't so bad. I enjoyed my meal, read some of my book and then started in on burning whole pallets. It was windy so my wood was burning fast. I didn't want to be there all night and Lord knows i wasn't about to drag those pallets back to camp. So i created one hell of a blaze instead. A few arm hairs later I let my fire die out, had a wade in the glacial waters and headed back to camp. As I came down the drive Sarah and Kelly were headed my way. I was all campfired out so i called it a night. but it was good. make a fire on the beach: check.
And now here we are. back to where i left you oh so many days ago. Wednesday. So after i clocked out i went and put on my sweatshorts, grabbed a beer and went and basked in the sun with Jackie. Both Jennifer and Ilian had invited me to the beach later that night for this kids birthday and i started thinking...why the heck not. (Jennifer said that 'when you get to the beach it is on the left. upstairs.') "Jackie, lets go to the beach later." "Okay." Awesome. We figured it was a good will mission. We wanted them to know that we weren't above hanging out. Now Jackie was a few beers into her celebration by the time we decided to go to the beach. But we wanted to go - 'we'll be fine.' We put on some pants grabbed some TP for the walk back, a few beers and Jesse's Jager and red bull for the beach and hit the road. It just so happened that Michelle and Kathy were going out to Don Jose's that night so we caught a ride in their cab and had them drop us off at the beach. We got there super early and 'upstairs' made no sense in the context of the beach so we found a nice log, had a sit down and cracked a cold one. After a few shots Jackie says, "I'm drunk. I had four beers before you guys were even out of work" Sweet action. Let the games begin. We sat there for a little while longer wondering where everyone was when i saw one of the J-1s climb up a small hill. 'oh upstairs...i get it.' So we gathered our beers and headed 'upstairs.' When we got there i was amazed. I hear them talk about going to the beach all the time. They eat, they drink, they sing, they have a blast. But until i got there i had no idea. There was a celebratory condom balloon tied to a small tree near the "path" up and a fire going with hot dogs cooking on sticks. But the coolest part was the group of 8 or so people all sitting around this feast that they had created using broken down beer boxes as a blanket underneath a dozen paper plates full of food. There were lemon wedges to go with the vodka and tomatoes with mayonnaise and cheese. It was beautiful. I realized that even though the fishing sucks and the hours suck and most times the boredom sucks, all of these people went to the beach and genuinely enjoyed themselves. They didn't need much (i guess because they didn't have much) and every other night they would come and they sit around their "blanket" eating and drinking while someone played guitar or an ipod played in the background and they would sing along and enjoy their time. I was touched to be there and to witness this. They were so welcoming just glad that Jackie and I had come. We had some vodka and some lemons followed by some 'sausages' and a salad of some sort. It was wonderful. But as she leaned over and told me - Jackie was drunk. We took some pictures and after a bit decided that it was time to go. We were both wearing flip flops and had never been 'upstairs' before but decided that the best way home was straight through the woods. Not back down the small hill to the beach below where we knew the way...no no...that was too simple. So there we were, me in the lead and drunk Jackie wearing the backpack following. It was a hoot - we were laughing so hard the whole time. We didn't even get ten feet when Jackie leaned on a tree, "Gravity pull!" The alcohol was taking over her balance. She righted herself and we kept walking. "Gravity pull." Luckily the route we had chosen was very densely wooded - so much so that the trees were helping to keep Jackie upright. Pretty soon we were out of the woods and into the less solid really tall grass. "Gravity pull." But before i could do anything Jackie was on the ground laughing. "I am so drunk. Meredith I haven't been this drunk in ten years." "Hey it's cool. I'm having a blast." I helped her up. "Maybe i should take the backpack." "Ya think?" Both upright we were back on our way. She must have fallen 3 or 4 more times before she decided to stay down. "Since we're here why don't we pause and have a beer." I busted out two of our unopened beers. Jackie had a few sips and then gently laid her can down and let it go to sleep. The beer drained out - better in the ground than in her. I smiled. "Meredith I am so drunk." "I know Jackie. We're almost there." More laughter. I don't know when it was but i eventually saw the top of a building at the end of our driveway so i steered us towards that. We were getting close. Somehow we made it through the grass and the nature and found our way to a road. And wouldn't you know as we were coming out of the brush there were Kelly and Sarah headed to the beach to see everyone. We told them our tale and they laughed. They helped pick some bits of tree out of Jackie's hair and then headed to the beach while we headed back to camp. As we got to the intersection by the driveway we ran into Jennifer and Ilian. I told them that i might be back but that i wanted to get Jackie home safe first. Arm in arm we walked down the drive way. And by some bizarre twist of fate Kathy and Michelle happened by in their cab. They picked us up and brought us back to Jackie's room where we got Jackie it bed. Water by the bed and cell phone in her hand we said good night. It was spectacular. What a perfect evening. I decided to call it a night as well and get my own water and cell phone. I don't know if i have laughed that hard all summer. And of course the next day Jackie was a total champ. Smiling and happy not looking the slightest bit hungover even though she was. It was just a really great night.
And there it is. you are all caught up. And i am tired. I think i am going to go pack and sleep. More tomorrow. (even though it says that is was published at whatever odd time in the morning i have been writing this throughout the day - between candy sales and laundry loads so that is why i am tired.) Good night.

2008-08-09T11:07:00.003-08:00

11:07 Kenai, AK
We're going to get in our way back machine and go to June 3. On the plane to Alaska from Michigan i wrote about my weekend and I said that I would put it up here later. Well I had some free time yesterday to revisit it for the first time since i wrote it and i figured i would post it today. It's long...just so you know.
Tuesday June 3, 2008 in some time zone probably over Canada
Saturday was not a good day. They shut down the “highway” into Kenai which meant to be on time for my 6:40am flight we had to leave the plant at 5am and go the long way to town. We arrived at the airport by 5:50am. I said good bye and went inside to sit. With my new closest companion – my ipod – I sat in the small airport waiting. It was getting time to board when the gate clerk/baggage checker - one of the two man team that was working the airline that day (the other being the pilot/stewardess) - came over and told us that there were some maintenance issues and that our flight would be delayed. “I have to get to Anchorage – its bereavement.” “Okay. I’m so sorry. We will see what we can do.” My grandmother was still alive but I didn’t know for how much longer and I wanted to get there. I called my mom – like you do when things aren’t going the way that they should - and she and my uncle got on the case making sure that I would be able to get there…somehow. Not too much later – but late enough that I was getting worried – it was time to board. The pilot walked us out to our little 8 seater, thanked us for our patience, told us there were info cards in the seat in front of us and took off without any further delay. I kept in touch via text, letting my parents know that I had taken off and then 25min. later that I had landed. Northwest was in the same terminal so I found out where to check in quickly made my way there. I checked my bag and headed to security. Not being a frequent first class flyer I didn’t realize that you get to do everything separately including go through security. I climbed under the rope eager to get to my gate and was told that I had been selected for a random security check. I had to get patted down and my bags needed to be swabbed – the effects of a last minute flight. There was a large pile of belongings slowly being checked by security. I couldn’t help but keep checking my watch – this was ridiculous. I wanted to get on my plane and get to my grandmother already…they were taking too long. I got the okay, scooped up my belongings and headed for the gate. I called my parents in my grandmother’s room to let them know that I was almost at my gate – I was getting closer.
The voice that answered said that the family had left the room. She was dead. I hung up and called my dad. My mom answered. They had left the room to let the aides take care of her. Crying and confused I asked my mom what happened. She told me that she was out in the hall when it happened – on the phone with Continental trying to make sure I was squared away. She had been there for days by my grandmother’s side and she missed it because I had some stupid plane troubles. But her voice was calm and soothing and not the slightest bit upset. My sister was holding my grandmother’s hand when she died. An EMT, she noticed her breathing slowing down and her pulse fading. She looked up at my father and said that she didn’t think my grandmother had a carotid pulse and that they should get a nurse. My mother told me it was such a gift that my sister was there for her last breath. She couldn’t be there and what an honor that her daughter could. My grandmother told my mom a few days before that she didn’t want to be alone when she died – and she wasn’t - my mom made sure of that.
I hung up and walked to the gate tears streaming down my face. I paused on the walkway to call Chris and let him know that my grandmother was gone and that I was getting on the plane. I took my seat in first class glad to be able to sit. The stewardess came over to ask if she could get me anything to drink. “Do you have any beer?” Moments later I was drinking my breakfast. My mom called me to make sure I got on the plane okay. I told her I was okay, that I was having a drink - it wasn’t champagne but it would do – her only request was that I not pour it on my cheerios. I cried for a while and kept the beers coming…one of the beauties of first class next to the added butt and leg room. I finally decided to put on a movie to think about something else. A few hours later we landed in Minnesota, prettier and greener than I had imagined. I sent texts out that I had landed and that I was going to find my gate. I talked to my dad and he told me that my sister and I were all set with a room for that night – complete with the flowers that I sent my grandmother. I called Chris because I was really just upset and he told me that he was coming out. He had booked a flight for the next morning. I started crying again. I had to sit down. I couldn’t believe it. I wanted him to come but didn’t want to ask – I was so relieved.
I made it to my gate, sat down and looked out the window…of course – the sky was black. Apparently we were under severe thunderstorm warning. Great. All I wanted was to get to Michigan and see my family. I just wanted to be there. I boarded my third plane of the day, looked out the window and watched the rain start to fall…followed shortly by the hail. “Oh, hell.” This delayed all of the planes on the runway…there was traffic on the tarmac. An hour or so later we took off. We hit some turbulence on the way a result of the storm. Why is it that flying through something as fluffy as clouds causes such a disturbance? As we neared Michigan I saw something that I hadn’t seen in almost two weeks…night. It was so bizarre. I had gotten used to it always being at least a little light out and to see a city twinkling below seemed foreign. I landed, got my bag, and went outside to wait for my sister. She and my uncle Peter came to pick me up. Finally…family. My parents were sleeping thankfully. I know they needed it. We got to the extended stay hotel and knocked on their door; they had told us to stop by – always parents they wanted to know that both of their girls were safe. No answer. We went to our room where not too long after we got a call that they were up and they wanted us to come on down. It was so nice to see them - they are my trifecta. We sat around and laughed for a bit – something we Scheibner’s are very good at – then they decided that they were tired and wanted to go back to bed.
My parents woke up early on Sunday to go to church – my grandmothers church - and then we all met for breakfast. After breakfast we went shopping. I didn’t want to attend my grandmother’s funeral in cargo pants and hiking boots. Not that she would have minded, I’m sure, but she deserved more than that. There would be a private informal family viewing at the funeral home on Sunday at 2pm and the funeral was set for 7pm Monday night at Holy Cross Episcopal Church – the church my grandmother had been a member of for 29 years. We took two cars to the viewing so that afterwards my sister and I could go get Chris at the airport.
We waited upstairs for the rest of the Clark family – my mother’s two brothers and their families. My grandmother was waiting for us downstairs – peacefully laid out with a slight smile on her face. They did a really nice job - she still looked like Grammie. We all stood there quietly for a bit crying and taking in the last sight of our grandmother and mother. She looked like she was sleeping. Every now and then I thought I could see her breathing. Part of me really wished she was. When we were ready we all left the room and went into the hall to catch up and talk then my sister and I went to the airport while everyone else formulated a plan for dinner.
It was like exhaling to see Chris. I was so glad he was there.
Later the whole family met for dinner at a little Italian sports bar called Vitale’s not too far away. It was so nice to be all together. I like having everyone around, even if we’re all talking about different things it’s just nice to be surrounded by the people that mean the most to you. My Aunt Rose’s brother Frank even made the drive up from Kentucky that morning to be with us which was such a treat. I don’t know why but I had a feeling he would come. My grandmother’s older sister Elisabeth joined our table too. My heart hurts for her losing her sister. They were quite a pair. I kept looking up during dinner – they were so much alike. Even the way that they held their bread – they had the same hands. I wish my grandmother could have been there, she liked being surrounded by her family too. After dinner my cousins and I split up the alcohol order and picked a room to meet up at…how often do we have all of the cousins together?
The next morning my sister and father went over to my grandmother’s room to help pack up her belongings while my mother prepared her ‘loving reflection.’ Chris and I went shoe shopping, picked up the bulletins for church and then went to Starbucks for a little pick-me-up for my mom. After that we went over to my grandmother’s room to be of more help. It was distracting going through her things. There was so much history in that room. After a bit of packing I went back to the hotel to get my mom – she wanted to do a trial run of her reflection for us and her brothers. It was beautiful. She spoke of my grandmother’s life like a quilt – all of the pieces and love that went into it and made up her life. She couldn’t help but cry which of course made us cry too. But you have to cry sometimes so that way you can be stronger later. And she was.
Holy Cross Church was packed at 7pm to remember the life of Mary Zimmermann Clark. There was a small table up front with two roses and a favorite picture of my grandparents silhouetted at sunset looking at each other – in between were the remains of my grandmother. Not too much fanfare…simple the way she would have wanted it. Leaning against one of the table legs was Psalm 23 embroidered and framed – it was my grandmother’s favorite psalm it had hung over her bed. It wasn’t until after the congregation gave their first response that I realized how full the church was. I was touched. All of these people came to pay their respects to my grandmother – they were all part of her life. Relatives of relatives came in support, long time friends and a bunch of the aides that cared for and loved my grandmother were all there. After the service Frank told my mom that he was sure her dad was smiling down – so proud of the way that she and her brothers had honored their mom. I’m sure he was right – we were all very proud. There was a small reception in the church with lots of catching up and good memories. We decided to go to dinner afterward. A call was made for a reservation of 30. It was time to leave. My dad, my sister and I went into the church with my mom to help her gather everything. My mom gently picked up her mom with a calm smile. We looked around to make sure we had everything and left the sanctuary. Flanking our mother as she held her own mother we walked out of the church – Grammie had left the building.
Grammie was placed in the car and I gave my mom a hug. “I’m really okay,” she said and I knew she was I just wanted to check…I can’t imagine it’s easy. We all caravanned to the restaurant and had a great meal. A room full of family – the way it should be. After we were all stuffed we said our goodbyes and all went our separate ways. It was pretty late and lots of us would be flying out the next day. We went back to the hotel and packed and relaxed. The next morning Chris and I went to the airport to await our separate planes. Not long after Chris took off my sister came (with cookies) to await her plane too. I got to see her for a few minutes before i took off which was comforting - that whole seeing someone you know in a foreign place. And as hard of a weekend as it was i really loved seeing my family and just being with them. I can’t even imagine losing my mom. But in a way I think the void of losing my grandmother has brought my mom and me closer and I think that somewhere my grandmother is smiling about that.

2008-08-06T17:19:00.002-08:00

5:19pm Kenai, AK
It is absolutely gorgeous out. I took a very late lunch at 4pm and walked over to Kenai Landing to see about buying some gifts and the walk was just wonderful - big fluffy clouds in the sky, good temperature, not too much wind. The store i wanted wasn't open so i took the short cut back through the marsh. When i got back to camp i found Jackie - she was sitting in the sun enjoying a beer. Bobbie had let her borrow the car because it was just so beautiful out and all she wanted was to have a beer and soak up the sun. So i sat with her for a few minutes then came back here to help with dinner. But i am about to go clock out and join her. It isn't about the hours anymore...not that it ever really was...but it is just dumb to sit inside not doing anything when i can be outside with Jackie enjoying my time here.

2008-08-06T07:27:00.002-08:00

7:27am Kenai, AK
I got the call! At 6:34am while i was in the shower - of course - Anup called me about fashion week. I was beginning to wonder. I got dressed headed to the break room made the coffee and juice, filled the hot water urn, put out more sugar and creamer then i sat down with my computer. Naturally i had to look up when McCarter started. Sadly i won't even be home when they load in the first show...and I'm kind of upset about it. I haven't seen anybody all summer and now I'm missing load in and the BBQ. :( I know i will see everyone eventually but I missed load in last year too. Damn you Kool Aid man...:shake fist in air: So then i called 'Nup back. "Tell me your available." "I'm available. I just wasn't when you called. I was in the shower. It was 6:30am in Alaska." "What?! You're in Alaska? What the hell are you doing there?" Usual response and explanation. He then proceeded to tell me that they want me August 29-Sept 4 and for strike on the 13. But his real hope and dream and IMCD's too - they are the lighting company that is hiring me - is to have me work everyday during fashion week as well. He just has to figure out labor budgets and all of that but I'm pretty pumped. I guess i am doing something right. So there it is from fish to fashion in under a week.

2008-08-05T11:54:00.002-08:00

11:55am Kenai, AK
I've started a side business. I now hold the market on cigarettes in camp. $5 a pack. I'm selling filters and lighters too. It's more like fundraising...i don't stand to make that much maybe $5 profit after taxes...somebody has to do it. But i am taking care of my people and building their loyalty. I just hope that i can sell them all before i go.

2008-08-04T09:12:00.003-08:00

9:12am Kenai, AK
Not much to say really. I've started preparing for the end. I am weeding out the things that i don't need to bring back with me and giving them away. I am starting to look at what i have acquired and what i can/should mail home. My days are getting shorter - there just isn't as much to do. Yesterday they chartered a bus so that all of the kids could go to fred meyers for 2hrs. which was great because they needed it. They filled one whole bus so we supplemented it with a 12 passenger van and then i drove a mini van. It was nice to get off camp for a little bit but i really didn't have anything to get at fred meyers. After we came back I shaved my legs for the 4th time this summer. (i was starting to creep myself out) I decided to shave in the sink. No one was really around so i thought i was safe. I was on my second leg when this girl walks in. I look at her and say, "I have a hard time shaving in the shower." She says 'okay' and proceeds to wash her hands. I catch her looking at my leg, how could she not - it's in her face, and she looks amazed. In an effort to distract her from the chia pet that i am shearing off my leg i ask her if she had fun at the store. She says 'no.' I am confused. "You didn't have fun at the store." "I do not understand." It was then that it hit home that she had no clue about anything that i had said to her. I was just some hairy weirdo hanging out in the bathroom. I stopped trying to make conversation. It will be so nice when i can shave regularly - not in the sink.

2008-08-02T08:44:00.002-08:00

8:44am Kenai, AK
Two weeks left - we're winding down. There are only a handful of boats left in the water and supposedly we aren't going to get any fish from them anyway. Vince (the owner) is bringing in fish from Prince William Sound and the Yukon. The fishermen have packed their bags and are heading out which means...free food. I've been promised some hamburgers and some bacon which, after a summer with no really good Sunday morning breakfast, sounds awesome. (I can't wait to get home so i can sleep in and make breakfast...and then go get a pedicure cause Lord knows momma needs one.) It's sad to see some of the fishermen go because i discovered that they aren't all bad and even the bad ones have softened and are being more courteous. Who knew?
Last night I went to the Vagabond with Jackie and Kathy and Greg - one of the fisherman. Greg and I got to talking about the oil spill. Even though it happened 19yrs. ago and lots of people have pushed it out of their minds, the effects are still being felt. The year it happened, they payed the drift fisherman not to fish - they were given an average of what they might have made - Greg received $37,000. (He said one year he made $100,000 in the 7-11 days he was out fishing - which isn't common...but still. That is the crazy thing - they only go out fishing a few days out of all of the time they are here. So this summer they aren't getting to go out as much and when they do the fish aren't there like they usually are.) They did however let the set netters fish so of course they got all of the fish. Why they let one fish and not the other i do not know. Greg was saying that he was supposed to get 1.3 million dollars from the settlement, which astounds me. To be honest i never really thought of who would be effected by the oil spill aside from the obvious, but it really hit the fisherman hard. Cook Inlet fishermen were included in the settlement - and that is one of the places our boats fish. They have been battling in court since it happened and i think they are going to keep fighting but apparently the settlement is down 80% while gas prices are up 200%. So people around here are a little bitter. And of course it's upsetting that gas prices are so high but again i never thought of that in relation to this settlement (naturally because i don't stand to gain anything from it) but the whole thing is interesting and eye opening. One of the places i am going (in two weeks when i no longer have to work! :)) is to the Alaska Sealife Center. It is a wildlife rescue center that came about after the oil spill to help save the animals and understand through research what was going on and how to 'maintain the integrity of the marine ecosystem of Alaska.' This ain't your mommas aquarium. It is a large beautiful research center with a huge emphasis on educating the public and I hear it is really interesting. You can go and watch the animals in their natural setting or in a research setting - both are equally cool. I'm pretty pumped about it.
So much learning on so many levels going on inside and outside of the fish plant...

2008-07-31T12:46:00.010-08:00

Molly, Ernest and Petya

Molly, Me, and Ernest

The view from the deck.

Basking in the sun.

It's really hard to see but there is a cabin across the way.

There you have it. I can't make this stuff up.

"Hey there big spender..."

I'm not offended by nudity either but this hat creeps me out a little.

In alaska the roadside stand is the shape of what is sold inside.

They look like they are ready for a good time. Work it out Molly.

2008-07-31T07:48:00.003-08:00

7:48am Kenai, AK

Well i have finally realized my dream of dancing at a strip club. I can really see why some of these girls love it. Not really dad - I'm just kidding. :)

Ernest got to work early so we would have time to go pick Molly up, go to the strip club, have some fun and still get Ernest and Petya back for the night shift. (Good Time Charlies is in Soldotna up the hill passed Fred Meyers and St. Elias Brewery.) Like most strip clubs it is a really classy joint - where your main concern is if you have any open cuts or are prone to illness. So we crest the hill and there it is - in all of its shanty glory - the long awaited and much discussed Good Time Charlies. "The red light isn't flashing." (According to Ernest that is how you know they are open for business...But of course.) Hmmm. Two cars in the parking lot - one: an old school limo for sale the other a truck being off loaded of its beer...hmmm. No Good Time Charlies? How is it that the only strip club on the peninsula isn't open at 7:20pm on a Monday night? Ernest tries the door - nothing. And of course they don't have their hours posted in the front window so we sit in the car and figure out our plan. We could either head to St. Elias or Ernest mentions a bar right up the road in Stirling. We decide to keep the adventure going and choose the bar that none of us have been to. The ride is beautiful - we pass the two million acre nature preserve and Ernest's Funny River Road (true story: that is actually the name of the road he lives on...John calls it happy bunny trail i call it funny bunny lane.) The bar is called Moosequitos and it overlooks the Moose River. We go inside - there are four locals and us - Ernest and his three pretty ladies. Molly and I order the Moose Drool, a darker beer, and we all go sit out on the deck. The weather is just right - the sun is out, it's warm and still, eagles keep flying over as we sit there laughing and basking in the sun - it's perfect.

Inside for another round of drinks, Molly and I notice this charming hat hung on the antlers over the bar - 'Born Horny' it says and there is a small wang crafted onto the bill - only to be completed by the pin that says 'I am not offended by nudity.' The hat is not for sale but it is available for pictures. We have a big 'ol laugh and then of course we get it down and Molly takes a picture in said hat. After we leave the bar - it's occupants still smiling from our photo shoot, we decide to try our luck with Good Time Charlies before heading back to camp. As we come down the hill we see no blinking light but a parking lot full of cars. I guess the light is a decoy - 'maybe if we don't turn it on the Jehovah's witness will leave us be.' Hooray! Strip club! So we are all expecting 70 somethings walking around in g-strings with their boobs down to their knees after what everyone has told us. We are expecting big beautiful Inuit women shaking what their mommas gave them - basically we are looking for a laugh. We walk in and we are greeted by a yippy dog and a fully clothed old lady. Nothing says 'welcome to my strip club' like the elderly. We sit down in plastic lawn chairs at what looks like a prime table and await the show. We find the big beautiful Inuit woman we are looking for - she too is fully clothed - she brings us our beers and there is no shaking involved. All around us there are women that look like they are dressed for a night of clubbing in the city talking to people...they are the strippers...and they don't look half bad, but then again we were expecting septuagenarians in stilettos. Batter up. The first lady takes the stage. She shakes a little, walks around, loses her outfit, talks to the guy in front of her and is done. And this, my friends, is what Good Time Charlies is known for. Shaking like they are being bitten by a mosquito and stripping like they are running to a shower. The next three dancers are similar except for the one who is more obviously baked than the others. Her dance is the most humorous - she winds up wiggling on the floor. After we have had a few laughs we look at the clock and it's time to go. "Leaving so soon? the door guy asks, "yea, we have to go back to work." And we did. We bid Molly farewell and headed back to our simple lives at the cannery.

2008-07-28T12:30:00.002-08:00

12:30pm Kenai, AK
Today is a very weird day. It feels like the last day or like everyone is getting ready for the end...and i guess that is because they are. The boats are coming out of the water, the J-1s are starting to get the hint and hear the news that fishing is most likely done, there isn't much to do around camp - it's just weird. The J-1s are pissed because when Dale and Bobbie recruited them there was talk that they would make $10,000 if they came and some of them haven't even made $2,000 in the few months they have been here. Michelle is waiting for the revolt and subsequent mass exodus - she figures she will be out by the gate giving them money as they leave. Kids are coming to the snack shack and spending what is left on their food cards while others are on the internet trying to make other plans for work. It's a shame. Everyone wants out.
Molly is getting on a plane tomorrow heading to Texas to relax at her sisters for a few days before heading back to start work. So we are going to Good Time Charlies tonight to celebrate.

2008-07-26T12:58:00.002-08:00

12:58pm Kenai, AK
So the Buddha in the muffler is a shrine the fisherman built after said muffler blew up. Mystery solved.
There is no work for processing today. They are going to open up for fisherman tomorrow but there is talk of closing down commercial fishing for the season in the next few days. (sport fishing will remain open - apparently that is where the money is for the city of Kenai and it doesn't hurt that a few members of the fish and game board are avid sports fisherman.) They were expecting 750,000 salmon to run across a certain point by a certain time and so far only 300,000 salmon have run. It's looking pretty grim. The owner will try to buy some fish from around the area for us to process but I don't think there are many people wanting to get rid of fish. The pinks have started running but at $0.10/lb the fisherman have to catch at least 7,000-8,000 just to break even after filling their gas tanks. The scientists didn't think it was going to be a good season and i hate to be debbie downer but it looks like they were right. No amount of fiery weeds or rainy days are going to make the fish run before they are ready. Apparently last time this happened and they closed the season early they had to dynamite the salmon later because there were too many of them.

2008-07-25T15:28:00.001-08:00

I don't understand the deal with the huge gaps in between the pictures. I tried to fix it but it put them in anyway. Oh well.

2008-07-25T13:20:00.024-08:00

'23-6 with buddha in a muffler' um...yea i don't know.

Why some people should use condoms. OR - what happens when one uses a light as a coat hook.

Sunrise on the river.

Not a bad sight to wake up to.

Greedy little seagulls.

The Albatross. It's a tender.

trying to hold onto the fish and stand up.

She shoots, she scores!

Charlie operating the crane.

Brailer bag headed to the hopper.

Look, a fish!

Loading the stapler - covered in blood

Mid word. Labeling totes.

2008-07-25T11:38:00.002-08:00

11:39am Kenai, AK
Ta Da! Here i am Momma.
I am a woman on a mission. Out with the old and in with the new. Operation 'leave it better than you found it' is in place. As they break or we run out of the stuff to fill them, i am replacing all of the dispensers in the plant. My goal is to have as few keys as possible and to only need to order one type of soap, toilet paper or paper towel. I am also in the process of documenting my job; that way people have an idea of what to do and where to go for things.
It is finally sunny out and i plan on enjoying it.

2008-07-21T14:15:00.002-08:00

2:16pm Kenai, AK
Last week was crazy busy. We had fish everyday; the processors worked 9am-12am daily. By friday i was really getting worn down. I started getting headaches from stress, lack of sleep and lack of good food. Then Sunday rolled around and it was my perfect storm. The fish slowed down on Saturday and all of the crews were planning on starting late on Sunday. I went to bed early watched a movie and then got to sleep in until 6:50am! They didn't have a lot of fish so i decided that it was the day - the day to do something for myself. My perfect storm - the planets had aligned - I slept in, had a light easy day, nothing to do to prep for dinner, I got all of my work done early...it was perfect. I worked with this in mind so that nothing would keep me from relaxing. I clocked out and called a cab...i was going to get some retail therapy at freddies. As we pulled in to the dot the cabbie told me about this new brewery that had recently opened up by freddies - St. Elias - he said the beer was good and the food was pretty awesome too. Hmmm...beer, restaurant, close by - sold! I poked around freddies for a few and then decided that it would still be there in a bit so i walked up the hill to said brewery. It was perfect; decorated to look like an old brick oven pizzeria with lots of windows and character. Three years in the making apparently. I sat at the bar and enjoyed a vanilla bean porter while i waited for my pepperoni pizza to get fired in the oven. Some folks from Anchorage came and sat down next to me. They were in Kenai for the dip netting - residents are allowed to go out on the river and catch up to 25 fish with these large nets (like a net for a fish tank only bigger) they are allowed more depending on the size of their household. This week the river has been full of dip netters and the open field by our plant turned into what looked like a "hobo camp" overnight - filled with campers, tents and drunk people. The people sitting next to me didn't catch anything but they had a good time doing so. Dip netting will continue for a while so we can look forward to their crazy river antics for the next few weeks.
Next i tried a puddle jumper pale ale. Not bad but i preferred the porter. So i got a growler of the porter to go, threw it in my purse and headed back to Freddies. I meandered around for a bit, got a few shirts and some more beer and then called a cab. To make the evening truly a treat we stopped at Dairy Queen on the way back. Perfect - the whole night was just perfect.
My high school principal used to say "Don't count the days; make the days count." I have less than a month of work left. I am passed the half way point and i am tired - but i don't want to wish away my time here. I want to enjoy what i have left and try to find things everyday that will make each day awesome. So i am taking suggestions - silly, small, big, i don't care - ideas or missions that i can do to enhance my journey.
I'm off to the laundry but something tells me you aren't surprised.

2008-07-18T08:39:00.002-08:00

8:39am Kenai, AK
Life is what happens on the way to the bathroom. Last night the processors got done with work at midnight and came back to their rooms. I know this because they woke me up. Upon waking up i realized that i had yet again fallen asleep in my clothes and that i had to pee. Being fully dressed i just got up and walked to the bathroom. It was night again - like it is lately - and the moon was incredible. It was full and yellow and sitting happily over Kenai Landing. I stood there and watched it for a bit; it was so beautiful. I debated going to get my camera but i think it makes a better mental picture.

2008-07-15T15:39:00.002-08:00

3:39pm Kenai, AK
I look like the walking dead. A whopping 3 1/2 hrs of sleep. But it was awesome last night.
I went up to the office for some reason and Bobbie was saying that they were going to get slammed out on the dock last night because they had 17 boats coming in. AND they were also going to get slammed on the beach pad and were short handed. Drift fishing closed at 7pm and set net fishing closed at 11pm. She told me that if i wanted to pitch fish - last night was the night. 'heck yeah. I came 4000 miles for this.' So i finished all of the stuff i needed to get done, suited up and headed out to the dock. As i was getting ready my hands were shaking, I was nervous. I've been waiting so long to pitch fish and now that it was finally here i didn't want to mess up. "How can i help?" Dale had me start by helping him sort fish. I learned how to tell the difference between reds, silvers, chums and pinks. It's really how to tell which ones aren't reds - they are the money makers. Silvers have lots of silver on their tales and smaller pupils. Chums have some silver on their tales, larger pupils, and some "spots" or darker lines on their scales. Pinks have small scales and dark spots on their tales - they tend to be smaller. Chums and Silvers are very close "when in doubt - look at their pupils," according to Dale.
Even though fishing ended at 7pm we had boats starting to line up before then. At 7pm Charlie sent me down to pitch The Eagle. I climbed down the yellow ladder and boarded their boat. There is a 5 cent/lb brailer bag bonus for the fishermen to come with their fish already in the brailer bag. If the fish are not in the bag that is when we go down and pitch them. There is also a 5 cent/lb icing bonus (it's nicer to pitch them when they are iced. they are a little firmer and easier to grip :) ) The fish sit in the hull of the boat, so we board the boat and climb down into the hole where the fish are - the deck of the boat is about up to your waist or chest - you just hop right in with the fish...they slip out of the way. The boats weren't full up to the deck maybe 1' - 2' deep in most cases - roughly 3-4 thousand pounds on the lighter end of the spectrum. The access holes are roughly 6'X6' square and depending on the boat the crane lowers the empty brailer bag down into the hull so that we can pitch the fish into it (we had to pitch one boat where the bag sat on the boat deck and that was just obnoxious. the reach to get the fish into the bag is rough enough when you are kneeling but to have to bend, pick up fish, stand, pitch and repeat... it gets old) The bag is about 3' tall and has a 3' diameter. It is attached to a round frame that helps it keep its shape. So you have the bag and one or two sometimes even three crew in the boat trying to get the fish from the bottom of the boat into the bag. And there is fish slime and blood everywhere...all over you, flying through the air, just craziness. I looked down at my hands at one point and i looked like i had webbed fingers they were so slime laden. Charlie and Dale could get one fish in each hand. For me i was quicker doing one fish two hands. Later on in the night i got the two fish two hands thing down. The easiest way to pick the fish up in one hand is to cup your hand on over their head and squeeze them in their gills. If you try to squeeze them from under their head they slip out. And sometimes when you squeeze them by the gills, as opposed to picking them up one hand around the tail one around the head, blood squirts out. The proper way to carry a fish is through the gill and into the mouth but this would take too long when pitching. And i found out the hard way that fish have sharp little teeth. I have loads of shallow little cuts all over my hands - it doesn't matter if you have gloves on - and it's the shallow cuts that hurt the worst...like lots of little paper cuts. After the first boat i had blood and scales all over my arms. And when the scales dry on you it hurts to peel them off...imagine being covered in band-aids with lots of adhesive. When we were done i headed back up the ladder to sort the fish i had just pitched. (Dale says we gently "pitch" fish, we don't throw them or sling them for that matter.)
Next the crane lifts the full brailer bags, pauses so that the crane operator can read the scale attached to the hook, then brings the bag so that it is over the hopper. Then someone goes up and releases the ropes holding the bottom of the bag closed and all of the fish slip down and await further release. When we are ready we pull a handle on the hopper and fish spew out onto the conveyor where we proceed to sort them into pre-iced totes. The reds go into the totes at the end of the conveyor because those are the ones that we have the most of. The pinks and silvers get pitched into totes that sit on big scales - the chums go in different tote which, on our dock, was not on a scale (we had two docks running and the beach pad was seeing lots of action too.) After each different boat we count the silvers, pinks and chums weigh them and then zero the scales for the next boat. I pitched two boats and then we had a long string of boats with the fish already in the brailer bags. For those we just lower the crane hook and the fishermen attach the ropes to their bags and they get raised up and we do it all over again.
I wound up pitching 4 or 5 boats last night. We received about a half a million pounds of fish last night - this put us over the 1million pound mark so far for the season. I got on the dock at 6:45pm and didn't leave until i was forced to at 2am- i probably touched a quarter of those fish between pitching and sorting. I was getting really tired by 11pm (not sleepy but tired) since i had been on the clock since 6:45am but i was determined to finish the boats. I was pitching the last pitch boat - the shady lady :) - and i had about 10 fish left when i was told i had to go to bed. They let me finish and then i went back up on the dock. John had started calling me Lizzie Borden earlier in the night because i had dried blood and fish slime all over me - in my ears, in my hair, all over my face and arms even on my underwear - apparently i looked like i had just gone on a killing spree. There was only one boat left as i was leaving so i felt pretty good about the amount i did plus I was getting sore. It was fun to be a guest pitcher - there to give relief to the crew that do it on a regular basis. If i thought i wouldn't have regretted it in the morning and probably for the rest of the summer i would have just gone straight to bed. But in a better act of judgement i went to my room peeled off my layers of slime laden clothes and went and took a shower. It took five solid minutes to get all of the blood and scales off before i could actually start to wash myself. After my shower i decided to take my clothes straight to the laundry...i can do this because i have the key. I would have cried if my room reeked of fish for the rest of the summer. Then i got to sleep for 3 1/2hrs just to wake up and start my day all over again. I have been tired all day but it was great and i would totally do it again. And i am probably the only person to ever pitch fish in diamonds and Tiffany jewelry.

2008-07-14T17:35:00.001-08:00

5:35pm Kenai, AK
Put me in coach! I'm playing on the dock tonight!

2008-07-14T07:51:00.002-08:00

7:51am Kenai, AK
Happy Birthday Grandma! I hope you are having a wonderful day and that you get all that you wish for.
So i woke up at 1:30am...I'd had a lot of water before i went to bed :) ...and when i opened my door it was dark out! Night? What is this? Now that the summer solstice has passed we are gaining night a few minutes at a time. It was just so weird and foreign.
And apparently not too long after i went to the loo the cops were called into camp. Native Terry was dipping in the sauce. He had left the plant earlier that day because he needed to tend to his son who was in trouble in Anchorage. He said his good byes but apparently didn't get very far because he came back to camp that night wielding a bottle of Monarch as a weapon. Now he has to sit in jail for 60days...that's what happens when you get arrested twice in as many days. If you get arrested once and then again before your court date its automatic jail time. Look ma, I'm learning new things... The worst part is that now he can't go take care of his son.

2008-07-13T08:30:00.002-08:00

8:30am Kenai, AK
Lets start the day with some shout outs...shall we:
This one goes to to Miss Lindsay Rae Barnes in Massachusetts for the weekend with her sister. Lindsay called me after she passed exit 150 on the parkway and thought of me. Thank you Lindsay for making me smile and being a welcomed friendly voice.
To Liz for chauffeuring around 2D and giving her a social life and then sharing it all with me and making me feel not quite a continent away.
To Alex and Julia because you're super cool and i'm sad that i'm not there to play this summer. Swing rides for everyone when i get home! Have a wonderful weekend.
To Chris for being 100% awesome.
To my Whee because I love her. She sent me a Disney princess tackle box complete with pink silk robe from the land of China.
To my parents because they give me peace when i have none and wise loving words when i need them the most. Thank you for all that you are.
And to everyone else for keeping me company and enjoying the crap that i spew out here on a fairly regular basis.
Okay that's enough of that...So i was starting to rethink the whole Sweeney Todd thing...it was looking very appealing. Fisherman were getting on my nerves, the outdoor kitchen was a total mess beyond comprehension and my boss was just shrugging all of this off like jay-z with dirt on his shoulder. I was pissed. And i hated it. I hated being in a bad mood. I hated that people were treating me bad but somehow i was always the bitch because they had no introspection. I hated that i was overtired and sensitive. 'screw this.' I clocked out and started walking. I didn't care where i went i wanted off camp property. I pulled out my phone and called my dad. "Dad i'm done. These people suck. I'm just done." I knew i wasn't going to quit and I knew that i just needed to blow off some steam and talk to my parents but it felt good to say because at that moment i was done. I needed a break and i was taking it. I walked clear out the gate, down the driveway and found myself walking towards the beach. I talked to my parents for a while. They told me what i already knew but it was still good to hear - that not everyone has a work ethic or morals for that matter. That i should do my job the best way that i could and that would be enough. That i needed a break - to actually take time out for myself...not just a nap but time away doing something for me. (my mom suggested finding a salon to get a pedicure or manicure. "they don't have those here." i think there is one barbershop and one "salon" in town but in reality i think these people cut their own hair and don't get pedicures all that often.)
Later that night I went out with the girls. We got two cabs to come pick all seven of us up and we went to The Backdoor. Three generations of women laughing and hollering and dominating the bar. It was perfect. They didn't want the fun to end but since i had work the next morning at 6:30am I got in the cab that was heading back to camp early with Molly and Kathy. The other girls decided to head to Good Time Charlies - the local not so sexy strip club. After they got their fair share of the big and beautiful women there they headed to Hooligans where they were the cause of a bar fight. It sounded like it shaped up to be quite a night.
Five and a half hours after my head hit the pillow i was back up ready for action. I actually felt refreshed. I was tired and felt like i had been drinking but having a night out with the girls really rejuvenated me. I made my coffee and juice got ready for the day. Then i headed to the laundry room because it was Saturday - fisherman's laundry day. As i was standing there folding clothes this wonderful feeling came over me...it actually felt like a Saturday. Yes the work was the same as most days around here but it felt like a weekend. Jackie walked by so i asked her how the rest of her night went, "I'm still drunk." She came in and told me about the strip club and the bar fight and then Michelle happened by and filled in the rest of the story. They had a blast. And as we stood there I was having a blast. This is how it is supposed to be. Everyone shouldn't be all stressed out and counting the days until they leave. We should be laughing and working towards a common goal enjoying the time we have and the money we are making. Isn't that a novel idea...
After the laundry, I handed out gear made sure all of the workers everywhere were squared away then i grabbed my purse, my shades and my list and went to the store. This is how Saturdays should be. It was so great to get out for a drive. I went to Three Bears, as usual, got everything on my list and then got on line with my favorite cashier, Gloria. She had gotten her hair cut since the last time i was in so i asked her where...maybe they did nails too. She goes to the barbershop but apparently there is a "salon" not far way. We see eye to eye Gloria and me. We respect each others efficiency and she is always so positive. I just feel better after i have spent those few moments with her. I said good-bye until next time and got on my way.
I got back to camp and unloaded the van just in time for case-up to go on break. After lunch i went and finished up the fisherman's laundry. The rest of the day was spent going between the laundry and the snack shack. I clocked out at 5:30pm! I took a short nap and then spent the rest of the evening watching Paris When it Sizzles. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday i figure.

2008-07-11T10:23:00.002-08:00

10:23am Kenai, AK
There are some days when i don't stop moving and everywhere i go people need something. But then case-up comes in for break on a day like today fighting over the remote and giving unsolicited advice to the room at large and i couldn't be happier to have the job (and the crew) that i have. I would probably be rotting in some Alaskan jail by now if i had to work with some of these people all day. (Or I'd go Sweeney Todd on their behinds and turn them into seagull food...not really...I'm not that hateful) I only have to be around and talk to most of these people in small doses and that is just fine by me. Give me a toilet bowl, some latex gloves and a language barrier any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

2008-07-10T13:22:00.002-08:00

1:22pm Kenai, AK
So i accidentally got the prize for the most overtime for the last two weeks. My bad. Now i am going out of my way to avoid the burn out that Bobbie is afraid i am approaching. I may already be there. These people are jamaican me crazy. So i've been taking long lunches when the days allow and now i am going to watch a movie and take a nap. There are no fish today so i don't feel any pressure to stay on the clock right now.
Last night I went to the bar after work with my book. People always want to talk to you when you are reading...and that is exactly what you don't want. It's not like Kenai Landing is this crazy scene so reading at the bar isn't out of the realm of possibility. So this drunk man sits down and orders some wine. 'Awesome. I'll sit here and read you stay there and fall deeper into the bag.' Reading, reading, reading, happily not talking to anyone. "Excuse me, i don't mean to interrupt..." 'yes you do. otherwise you wouldn't talk to me.' I look up from my book. "but I love to read and i was just wondering what you are reading." I tell him and go back to my book. A few pages later: "I really don't mean to be bothersome..." 'yeah right.' "but can you tell me about your book." Then he goes on to tell me that i look like a tourist but it's so great that people are coming to Alaska and that he is a fourth generation Alaskan he was born in Washington but his family has been here since '98...1898 (ha ha ha...he was so amused with himself) and now he lives here and has two kids and asks me what i do and then proceeds to tell me that he is a civil engineer and does land surveying. I sneak in a few words...being polite and all. "I don't want to be rude..." 'well now we both know you are going to be so hit me.' "but why would anyone do what you do? I mean i know people like to go to concerts but that's it." "Actually the arts are really wonderful. They help people express themselves and they are great for kids development and growth. There are so many reasons i do what i do." I discovered a while ago that trying to be logical with illogical people is fruitless. "Who goes to see these things?" I size him up taking in his numerous wrinkles and head of grey hair and say, "Actually, lots of old people are patrons of the arts. It gives them something to do with all of that time." He pauses and then continues to babble, "well i'm a surveyor...blah, blah, blah..." Then he turns in his chair and says, "You're a woman. I'm going to explain business to you." 'Oh that's it old man. I'll break your hip. I just wanted to have a few beers and read and now you're pissing me off.' "Blah, blah, blah...i make so much money I'm so awesome. You can't understand." He winds up buying me a beer for my troubles, insulting me some more and then finally finishing his wine and leaving. Peace at last. I soon finish my beer and leave as well, I'm pretty beat. After i get back to camp (2 successful passes through the marsh) Molly comes and knocks on my door. She has a twenty in her hand and a smile on her face. "Jesse gave me twenty bucks and told me to take you to the bar for a shot of Jager on him. He said you were having a rough day." I look at her. I look at my bed. 'Sorry old friend. I will miss you long time." I put my coat back on and head out the door. We are joined by the two New Hampshire girls - Sarah and Kelly. We take the long way to the bar because it's a nice walk on a nice night. By the time we get there they are closing up. It's 9:40...that means last call at Kenai Landing. The bartender, Jonas, looks at me...i was just there...and he waves us over. Molly and i get our shots and a beer each while the other two get their beers and the basket of Andies mints to munch on. We sit there and laugh for a bit but decide to leave after one beer - we are after all the only ones in there and the staff wants to go home. On the way out they spot a group of young guys playing beer pong in one of the housing units at Kenai Landing. They want to make friends. I do too...with my pillow not some dumb boys who probably don't even have chest hair yet. So we walk inside. There are some holes in the plan. Two minutes later we are walking out and laughing. They were a baseball team from California in town playing in an under 19 tournament. The only thing in those cups was pink lemonade. Right. Mmmhmm..."I told you they were young!" Pink lemonade...get real. We headed back to camp taking the scenic route again. Then Molly and I walked to the dock to thank Jesse and then I called it a night. It's hard out there for a pimp.

2008-07-09T10:19:00.003-08:00

10:20am Kenai, AK
Today is Wednesday - laundry day. I posted a sign a while back saying that i would take laundry Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8:30am-10:00am. And then fisherman could drop their laundry off on Saturdays from 8-12. Well I've come to learn that people have selective reading. Because don't you know that everyday there is a forest of laundry growing on my stoop. For a while i would just keep the laundry and give it back on the actual laundry day but now i just take it and do it when i can...they are wearing me down. (In all honesty it doesn't bother me to do laundry everyday it bothers me that people are morons and don't read and then complain when their clothes aren't ready.) But on laundry days i am in there from 8:30-10:00 washing, drying and folding consistently - it's pretty peaceful...it's my quiet place. It works out well because i can change the loads as needed and this winds up being my most productive laundry time. If i try to get to the loads later it's harder and then people have to wait longer for their clothes. And now that the boats keep coming into dock to drop off their fish i am getting random fisherman laundry and they need it washed before they have to leave again.
Today i am making steak for lunch...when i find time to take lunch. I'm going to use the grill and do it up right. Bobbie is worried about me working too long and burning out so i am trying to take longer lunches and clock out earlier. I think i will make a potato and some vegetables too. It's hard to find the time to make well balanced meals when you work crazy hours and then are too tired to cook. If anyone has any easy recipes or suggestions that they enjoy...i welcome them.

2008-07-08T09:02:00.002-08:00

9:04am Kenai, AK
I woke up and looked at my watch...6:38am...'coffee's gonna be late.' I slapped on some pants and flip flops and rushed to the break room. I made a small pot in the hopes that it would percolate quicker while i washed the other pot and brewed a big 'ol pot of coffee. It's going to be a long good day. Last night they unloaded 10 boats. They were pitching and sorting fish until 4:30am. They had to call in extra people because the dock crew is mostly new and they haven't done that kind of volume yet. I almost got to go out last night but i think they didn't need one more person who didn't really know what was going on. They would have stuck me in the boat to pitch the fish which is what i want to do but they had plenty of people that could do that. What they needed were people who could sort the fish quickly and efficiently. We have roughly 160 totes of fish in the processing room and more are coming. The Georgia Straits is coming into dock this morning to get 10,000lbs. offloaded and then i'm sure there will be more fish later. Yippee!

2008-07-06T07:58:00.002-08:00

7:58am Kenai, AK
I have a male housekeeper. He cleans the male bathrooms. He is our token guy.
His name is Ilian and he is from Bulgaria. Ilian doesn't speak such great english so we have a hard time joking around even though i am sure we would both find the other one quite funny. I make lots of noises and gestures to get my point across - it is helpful but rather odd looking. (And to make everything a little more confusing - in Bulgaria nodding your head means 'no' and shaking your head means 'yes.')So this morning i am getting ready for the day and Petya - the gear goddess - and Ilians friend, says that last sunday when we were cleaning the upper office - or football field as i like to think of it - Ilian told her i looked like Freddie Mercury. Not so much in looks but more the way i was dancing and vacuuming with my ipod. I guess i was just being silly to pass the time and make the giant room seem smaller. But today i think i will sing along. maybe dance with the vacuum.

2008-07-04T18:57:00.003-08:00

6:47pm Kenai, AK
I just got a personal tour of the plant while it was in action. I took in so much information i don't know if i can remember it all. Bobbie started with me at the hopper and i got to watch them cut the heads off the fishes. Then they put the open neck over a rotating blade which frees up the guts and allows them to be pulled out easier. Next the fish gets its insides pulled out. In this are the organs and intestines and a sleeve containing the roe. The guts and sleeve go down to a different conveyor belt where a group of girls sort the sleeves from the guts. The guts or gurry go down a chute and get ground up, then they travel down the 'gurry line' out to the water where the seagulls eat them. The fish are then scraped, rinsed, and graded by weight. 1, 2, or 3 i don't remember which is the biggest. Then depending on their size they get packaged or frozen or cut up for fillets. Bigger fish get shipped fresh to the lower 48 then medium and smaller fish can either get frozen and sent out later or cut up for fillets - they do this at the Kasilof plant.
Then Bobbie took me to the roe room. The roe stay in their sleeves and get agitated in a brine solution. Actually i am not even going to try and explain this. Roe are so specific and they are handled and packaged so specially that i can't remember all of the details. I know that they are graded by size and color - and they are so neat looking in their sleeves. There are 2 ways of processing roe and of course they are japanese words and i just can't remember them now but one way keeps them in their sleeve and the other way separates out the eggs and they get used for sushi.
Next we went to case up. They take the fish that have just come off the slime line and put them in a different hopper and sort them even further. They pack them fresh into plastic lined boxes slap a label on them that says what river they are from, if they are deheaded and gutted, what grade they are and what kind of salmon they are. Then they get shipped to the lower 48 to get sold and eaten. Some of the more undesirable salmon get saved and then cut up and scraped off the bone for salmon patties.
Then we walked out onto the dock where the crew was off loading a tender. There is this giant hose vacuum that gets lowered by a crane (it supports the weight of the hose so that it doesn't get sucked to the bottom) into the hull where it sucks the fish out and deposits them in the hopper to get sorted by type. Then they go into totes and get fork lifted into processing. They don't like to process different types of salmon at the same time because the roe get processed differently. When the level of fish gets low enough they pull the hose out and pitch the rest of the fish out manually. (or sling them as i like to think)
It was awesome. There is so much to know and do. It really is incredible. And it was impressive to see the whole thing in action. I have such a better idea and can visualize it all now. I am going to try and go back another time and take pictures. Just so that you can see too.

2008-07-04T12:58:00.003-08:00

12:58pm Kenai, AK
Happy Fourth of July!!
We have fish...lots and lots of fish! today is an over 100,000lb day. The fish just keep coming in. 50-60,000 coming in on boats, fish in totes from other plants...people are working it's great. They are going to take a break at 5pm and we are going to barbecue. (The last time we grilled they put up signs and one of the foreign kids asked what a bar-beck-way was. Chapin told him it was like a bidet only way worse..."you'll be okay." After the look of terror spread across his face Chapin just started laughing and told him what it really was. I laughed so hard when he told me i almost peed.)
I love when they have lots of fish...it keeps them busy and out of my hair. I am going to get ready for break and harness my inner chi and try not to push a certain "cat lady" in front of a moving vehicle.

2008-07-03T08:32:00.002-08:00

8:32am Kenai, AK
It's overcast this morning but the mountains are glowing in the distance. Remnants of sunrise sitting on the horizon.
I am super sleepy. I finally took the time to clean my room last night...there are these little pebbles that stick to the bottoms of my shoes and get tracked into my room...it makes me crazy. As i was sweeping i saw a cop car speed into camp. Sometimes they do their routine checks but this didn't look like that. Not my business and i had pebbles to sweep so i kept doing what i was doing. After my room was up to snuff i walked over to the transportation trailer where all of the bedding and stuff is to get a chair for my room...to give Molly a place to sit when she comes to visit. That's where i ran into Bobbie watching one of the kids get loaded into the cop car in handcuffs. He is Dales best friends son. Apparently he and some of the other workers were calling 911 and hanging up. Over the past two weeks they have done this 12 times. They are calling it terroristic threats and it is a misdemeanor. They were saying that they take this stuff more seriously up here because there are so few cops and state troopers compared to the areas they cover so it's worse when they get pulled away from a real emergency.
This is the point where Bobbie, sippy cup in hand, looks at me and invites me in for a drink. I was a pint low so i followed her inside. My goal had been to get to bed early and i realized the chances of that happening were slim - they had cold beer and a couch. After a few beers and a few hours i finally made it back to my room with my new chair...and feather bed :)...i found it while i was cleaning a few weeks back and since no one had taken it...i decided to give it a home. It was a selfless gesture really. Molly came and sat in her courtesy chair for a bit before going to bed. I got 5hrs of sleep. I think i am going to nap for lunch.

2008-07-02T07:22:00.002-08:00

7:22am Kenai, AK
My left hand is red. Damn you Kool Aid!

2008-07-01T16:47:00.002-08:00

4:47pm Kenai, AK
Well wouldn't you know it...it's starting to look like a salmon processing plant around here. I just got done watching them drop their 3rd or 4th boat of the day. And this time my camera didn't die.
There are crews working in processing, case up and roe and then out on the dock there is one guy unloading fish from one of our boats while another drives out to pick up some of the workers on the Georgia Straits (she is a large boat that goes around to smaller boats and picks up their fish so that they don't have to keep coming in every time) they needed a shower. Then there are two others bringing the boats in the boat lift to get dropped. We have supervisors driving the totes into processing and fisherman up in the office. It's hopping and it's awesome.
Okay, it's time to get ready to serve dinner to the crew. They are having chilli dogs.

Is this a test?

2008-07-01T09:41:00.002-08:00

9:41am Kenai, AK
So my new neighbor has sleep apnea. I'm not sure if this is some kind of sick joke or not yet. Michelle's husband has been hired to come and help with the J-1's. Since Michelle lived with Kathy, who has quite a snoring problem as well, Kathy had to move out to make room for Will - Michelle's husband. Thankfully i fell asleep before he got here last night because when i woke up this morning i was amazed. He snores worse than Kathy - who sounds like she is cutting down redwoods all night. I am afraid. They don't make earplugs that can cover this noise. It's like Chinese water torture. It's not consistent snoring. There is peace - where he is technically dead - and then the noise starts back up when he is breathing again. Damn you paper thin walls and your lack of sound proofing!
I really feel bad for Jeff...he has Will on one wall, Kathy on another, and the truly obnoxious fisherman Mark (who talks sass on me behind my back...saying that 'he really told me' about having juice ready...we've talked once) who never shuts the hell up, on the other. I think they are trying to make Jeff cry. It will probably work.

2008-06-30T14:24:00.009-08:00

So there is no partition and one is higher than the other. I have no idea what this is all about. It is one of the women's rooms at the Vagabond. Notice the ashtray...they like to multitask here. I just thought the whole thing seemed weird.
And then...there is a poker playing, bird feeding, crazy lady in the corner.

Meet Dan-o. Our grizzly chauffeur. Molly with her Bud Lite. And me in my 'don't talk to me while i'm drinking chic.'

Look at Dan-o grinning. That's Jackie peeking over Molly in the back.

Meredith 1, Kool Aid man 0. Courtesy of Terry Schuler :) - Chris' mom. Isn't it perfect? Die Kool Aid Man, Die!

here is the video i didn't know i was making.

2008-06-30T14:11:00.003-08:00

2:11pm Kenai, AK
Last night i fell asleep with the light on and then was woken up by loud people by my wall a few hours later. I got up at 12:41am to turn off my light and have a pee. When my alarm went off at 5:20am i was not excited. I reluctantly rose and got ready to go take a shower. When i walked out my door there was a huge rainbow over the mountains in the distance framed by the two buildings outside of my door. When i came back from my shower it was gone. It was like it was there just for me to see. It was so beautiful. And somehow it made me not so sleepy.

2008-06-29T08:31:00.002-08:00

8:31am Kenai, AK
Guess who got to sleep in this morning? I slept in til 5:50am and lounged in bed til 6:07am! Usually I'm at work by 6...it was awesome. We are a 24hr plant so people are always working. Everyone who needs a coffee pot for their night shift has one so i figured 'why not' I'm gonna sleep in. I've had 14hr days for the past 2 days. The first day i didn't take a lunch...yesterday i had to...so that i wouldn't punch anyone in the throat. After i clocked out yesterday and subsequently had to clock back in because the beach pad was hopping with fish, I had to check myself because when i have greatly reduced my student loans all of the extra time will be worth it.
They started processing at 6pm yesterday. They only had a few totes of fish to process but more were on the way. Fisherman kept pulling up with totes in their trucks. The dock crew would sort 'em, put them on fresh ice and drive them around with the fork lift to the growing stack of totes in processing. From there a different fork lift driver takes the totes, dumps them in the hopper, which then sends them down the conveyor belts so that they can get slit open, the guts pulled out, scrapped free of any residual guts or blood (i had the pleasure of seeing this step yesterday when i went to find out when they were going on break so that i could be ready) and then rinsed, weighed, sorted further and put on more ice. We go through a lot of ice. I actually got to go up and see the ice room. I am going to try and get a picture...it's awesome. It is a large metal room filled with ice chips. The ice gets made and sent through a fan of sorts which chips it and rains it down into the ice room. After processing, roe gets their hands on the fish and they take the eggs out. (random fact: not sure if i told you the other day...apparently halibut cheeks are quite a delicacy. who knew? they are about the size of a scallop but super tasty...if you like that sort of thing...and super expensive. if we happen to get in any halibut we make sure to take out the cheeks before the unwanted parts go in the grinder for the seagulls.) Once roe does their voodoo the fish get refrigerated for a while then glazed and cased up.
I may have explained some of this before but i keep learning and seeing more and want to make sure that i am giving you all of the information that i have because it is so interesting.
All right. I have a date with 30 fitted sheets. It's at that point where i have things i want to get done and it takes me a few days sometimes to get to them because so many other things keep coming up.

2008-06-27T18:12:00.002-08:00

6:14pm Friday June 27, Kenai, AK

My grandmother would have been proud. I just went to Fred Meyers and bought: 10 pillows, 30 fitted sheets, 1 coffee pot, 5 packs of pillow cases, 5 mattress protectors, 12 packages of chow mein, 1 rotisserie chicken, 1 gallon of milk, 1 loaf of bred, a bunch of bananas, 4 granny smith apples, some honey, and a box of cereal and I fit it all in one shopping cart. :) It's those Zimmerman packing genes. I had to go leave my cart with customer service while i filled a second cart with 3 soccer balls, 1 football, a 4 pack of ping pong paddles, 8 packages of ping pong balls, and 1 broom dust pan combination. It was an exciting day at Fred Meyers.

On an up note: Project literacy is alive and well in Alaska...not. When i asked the manager to hold my first cart for me she said she would put a sign on it so that people wouldn't touch it. I didn't believe that people would leave my cart alone...on the east coast people would be curious why a cart full of items was abandoned by the customer service desk and start picking through it thinking the items were on sale. She came over with a hand written note that said 'No tochie,' "See it says 'No touchy.'" I wanted to say 'according to who?' but it's not my job to teach her the fundamentals of the english language. And i know you are probably thinking...she just forgot a letter...but i don't think that is the case here.

A few weeks ago i looked up how to fold a fitted sheet on the internet. My mom can fold them so effortlessly and so quickly and for the longest time i couldn't figure it out. I knew that one side tucked into the other and then more folding and tucking but i never understood how to make all of the corners square. But now i have the hang of it and after washing and folding 30 of them i am going to be the queen.

2008-06-27T07:18:00.002-08:00

7:16am Kenai, AK
I was having problems with adding text near the pictures and i thought i mentioned the ashtray in the bathroom...but i realize i didn't. Michelle: Please don't be fooled...we do not have pretty tile bathrooms (but a girls gotta dream.) That was a bathroom at a bar. Our bathrooms are made with plywood and are painted ridiculously bright colors in food grade paint...interesting fact: food grade paint is damn near toxic if not totally so until it is dry and then it protects the food from toxicity...isn't that interesting. Fascinating stuff - working with food. So yeah...this ain't your momma's fish plant.
Shout out #2: So i get this email from my dad this morning. 'Book Title.' If you have never met my dad he is full of puns and wit in general. "Meredith: If you ever get the urge to turn the summer experience into a book I thought of a title: NH Yankee in King Salmon's Court. Have a good day, Dad" And there you have it. That is my dad. And i miss it. I actually think it is a great title. Ernest said that King Salmon is an actual place - not too far up the road.

Okay. If you have never doubted my intelligence as a result of this blog...stop reading right now and go do something else.

Mmm hmm. That's what i thought. So two nights ago it had just been one of those days...the kind where you just want to go to the bar with the girls and relax. I was in the laundry room and the girls (Kathy, Michelle and Jackie - Molly was still working) came by and asked when i was clocking out. They were going to the Landing so they told me to meet them there when i was done "and bring Molly too." I finished up my laundry, found Molly, sat and chatted for a bit and then told her to get ready. We decided to take the shortcut across the marshy field. Cool. Not a big deal.
So we start walking. I go first. The rule of thumb is to stay on the grass and you should be okay. Everything is going fine and then Molly starts feeling moisture in her baby blue Crocs. I, in my Merrells, don't feel this. She says, "my feet are getting wet." So me being the camper since my youth and stubborn person that i am, i tell her to stop..."i'll figure this out." I keep going. It had been raining for a few days but naturally i wasn't thinking about this as i walked further away from the "dry" ground. Pretty soon my feet are going lower and lower so of course i decide to try and run. If you go fast enough your feet won't sink. Right... And then...i lost my shoe. My pretty, new-ish shoe. So there i am standing like a crane, one foot on the ground the other bent to avoid the crap i was just sinking into, laughing and screaming. Molly of course is like, "why did you keep going? you told me to stop." I lean down and pull my shoe out of the mud with a slurping sound that makes me want to cry...the La Brea Tar Pits are on my shoe. At this point both of my shoes, (one on and one in my hand) my one sock, and the bottoms of my freshly laundered jeans are covered in some of the funkiest black mud Alaska has to offer. Awesome. Well now who really cares where i walk, it's not like i can get more muddy. So i walk back up the small hill to the gravel. Molly goes around to avoid my fate. "Do we have a pressure washer?" I ask. "Of course. Over by the dock office." I go to my room and get some other shoes and a change of pants. Then we walk over to the dock office, me, shoe-less McGee and Molly - all smiles at my one shoe on, one shoe off walk. We are laughing the whole way. We find the pressure washer in fisherman's storage. (I wanted to make sure that i got all of the mud off my shoes before i put them in the washing machine.) We wheel it out and Molly hooks it up. We are quite the pair: Molly - purse in one hand pressure washer parts in the other and me all sad and down one shoe. I pick up the handle and pull the trigger. Nothing. "Wait, it's not on." I have never used a pressure washer...i am oblivious to all of it's wile ways. She puts her purse down and tries to pull start it. Apparently it's finicky. I give it a go. Nothing. She goes and gets her welding gloves. I put one on. Still holding my muddy shoe, I start yanking on this thing willing it to start. Success. I put my shoe down on the pavement and stand a few feet away. I pull the trigger to test it. It's powerful. I take aim and squeeze the trigger. Molly and I watch as my shoe skips across the pavement. 'come back,' i am thinking. I take aim, squeeze the trigger, and watch as my shoe skips farther away. We are both hysterical at the sight. I am now chasing my shoe with the pressure washer. After we have a good laugh i decide to give up on that shoe and do the other one. This will be easier because it is still on my foot and won't skip away. I proceed to pressure wash my shoe. Man the mud is just flying off! Naturally...because the water is so powerful. I aim the nozzle at my pants leg, I might as well hit those while i am down there. 'Oh look, my other naked foot has mud on it...let me pressure wash that too.' Have you ever pressure washed naked flesh? No? All the kids are doing it. I knew it wasn't smart but part of me just wanted to clean off the mud and be done with it. I got the mud off...but MAN did it sting. Molly has not stopped laughing at this point. She says incredulous, "Meredith! We take rust and paint off buildings with that thing!" "I know. I just wanted to clean off the dirt." She takes pity on me. She goes and gets my wandering shoe and brings it back. She positions it so that it is up against a tire on one of the fork lifts. "There. Now try." So much easier. 'Try and get away now, shoe!' I take off the soaking wet shoe that i am still wearing and put it against the tire to finish the job. That really was a good idea...that whole up against the tire thing.
After we finish up and put away the pressure washer, i throw on my sandals and go put my dripping shoes in the washing machine. I feel like a mother leaving her child for the first time. 'I hope they will be okay in there.'
We roll up our pants Tom Sawyer style and decide to tackle the marsh a second time - realizing that this may be dumb but we're willing to take that chance. Success. We make it across alive and no dirtier than when we entered. Trying to preserve her dignity, Molly unrolls her pants. I left mine in the mud so I leave mine rolled. We walk into the bar glad to see that the girls are still there so we sit down and regale them with our evenings tale. After a few beers they leave and so do we not too long after. Everyone makes it back home safe and clean...well...almost everyone, and goes to bed.
When i go to check on my shoes in the morning...they look like new! Hooray...it really will be okay. And that is the story of how i learned what not to do.
So what have we learned:
Don't go hiking across muddy fields after the rain. Weather matters.
If the mud is black - go back.
Power washers are not for bathing...and certainly not at close range.
And Merrells clean up real good. They take a licking and keep on ticking.
*Funny fact. Chapin bought the same shoes as me and the day after he bought them he too got them covered in mud doing the same thing i did. Coincidence? Next time, I'm going to wear my xtratuffs because then it doesn't matter how deep the mud is.

2008-06-25T14:47:00.002-08:00

2:47pm Kenai, AK
I went out to the water shed to get some...well...water and i saw hundreds of seagulls circling our dock. The parts of the fish that we don't use or want get ground up in the processing room and wash out to the river through a chute under the plant. Thus drawing all of the seagulls to come and make a big ruckus.
We just had a plant wide meeting with Vince, the owner, about what's going on with the fish. The King Salmon are running slow from the Yukon. They are expecting 30 million fish from the Yukon and just over 1% have run so far. It was a rough winter and a cold spring and all of the fish are waiting for the water to warm up. I don't blame them...i never liked a cold pool. But we usually don't have a lot of fish from the Yukon now anyway. We are waiting on the set netters. (until i saw this in print i was so confused. they do what their name says. they go to the beach and set their nets in the water and wait. There are also drifters. They drop their nets of their boats and drift with the current and get fish that way.) The set netters are our beach fisherman and they are the ones that are going to keep us busy until the Yukon produces for us. And then we will be really busy because we will have fish from the Yukon, fish from the Kenai River, fish from Cook Inlet and who knows where else.
I just feel so bad for all of the people that aren't getting any hours. Yesterday we had fish and they processed for less than 1hr. I would be so upset if i came all the way here and didn't have work for so long. It makes the toilets look pretty good.

2008-06-25T10:16:00.003-08:00

i love this sign.
Where else is this normal? "I like to keep baskets full of knives in my sink while i bake my peanut butter cookies for the neighborhood children..."
And this is how you work out fish gear.
There has been this weird overcasting lately. Some of the foreign kids had never seen fog and they wondered if it was okay if they went outside. "What is this outside? This ::blowing and hand motions back and forth::"

Molly picking the moose's nose.

2008-06-25T07:21:00.005-08:00

Where I sit in my snack shack and write to you.
My desk. Molly made it :)

This is the end of the room. Freezer, fridge, water heater, sink...the usual.

This is the other end of the room and my stronghold of condiments.

These are the shelves i added. What can i say i know how to market.

There is an ashtray in the toilet. You know what...why not? i find mountain dew cans and food wrappers in the stall trash cans. why not make the bathroom stall a functional place for everyday activities?

2008-06-24T07:42:00.002-08:00

7:43am Kenai, AK
We haven't had fish for 5days which means that a lot of people here haven't worked for 5days. The fish are running slow because the water has been so cold. The fish story says that they will be processing today but the volume is TBD. At first everyone was making me crazy because when they don't work my job gets harder...they come and sit in the break room drinking lots of coffee and hot chocolate and making a mess. Then Saturday night a bunch of them went to the beach and got good and liquored up so most of them stayed in their rooms for a good portion of the next day hungover...out of my hair :) One of the dock guys came to me the next morning looking for solice in the form of a BBQ rib sandwich and said that he had drank his weight in Jagermeister. It was pretty rough.
I went out with the girls Saturday night. I was pretty tired but i was informed that i really didn't have much of a choice in the matter. We got a cab and went to this sports bar in Kenai called The Backdoor. (It's at the back of a motel) It was a pretty cool bar - good atmosphere. We (Molly, Jackie and I) had a grand 'ol time. We were sitting at the bar laughing and carrying on when this younger toothless man (not totally toothless just a few crucial ones in the front) came up and said that he and his friends wanted to talk to us. They worked at a nearby processing plant. So we talked to them for a bit and then Molly got a free drink from some guy across the room. We later found out that the drink buyers were from Canada and that they worked on the slope - that means that they work in oil. We talked with them for a bit, had some nachos, and then decided to call the cab to go home. On the way home we stopped at the Vagabond - the girls wanted to pick something up for later. We pulled into the driveway and there was a moose eating in the trees right by the entrance. So i get out of the cab and walk over to it. It was dusk so i was having a hard time getting a good picture...i left my tripod in my other purse. The girls come over because want to see and they fear for my life. I was so close...probably within 10' - i could see the bristles in its coat. It was just so beautiful. Eventually it went further into the woods and i decided to go back to the building where Jackie and Molly were making friends (they could only take so much moose watching.) They bought their booze and then Molly decided that she didn't want to walk back - she wanted to call a cab. But Jackie had another plan. She met this guy Dan-o in the bar, apparently he works over at the Kasilof plant and has a quad. Jackie asks Dan-o, who she just met, if he can take us back to the plant on his quad. We walk out back where his quad is parked. Now for those of you who don't know, they are called quads because they have 4 wheels...not because they have 4 seats. This is clear to me. I stand there with the THREE other people and look at this thing with its ONE seat. Okay. Now what? "Meredith, you can sit on the front and Molly and I will sit on the back." Oh goody...like a mermaid on a ship. Not really. Dan-o is not a small man...actually none of us are small...we are all life sized adults. This reeks of bad idea so naturally i figure 'Why the hell not?' So Dan-o clears off my "seat" and i sit down and hold on. Jesus take my wheel. I doubt that many of you have ridden on the front of a quad, it being such a good idea and all, but i was having visions of slipping and getting run over. Logical solution: ride the entire way (it actually wasn't that far) back to camp with my feet straight out in front of me. Come on abs of steel. "Dan-o you better drive slow or i-mo cry." Dan-o of course is tickled pink. There are three women to his one man...life is good. So he's laughing and joking around and the three of us are yelling and laughing at the situation we are in. We got onto the trail and he took it slow...it actually wasn't that bad. At one point i took out my camera and was taking pictures...like i do. I couldn't not capture my mermaid moment. As we get closer to camp we tell him to slow down even more and drop us at the gate. It's midnight and we don't want to disrupt Dale and Bobbie or bring him onto camp property. We pull up to the gate and out walks Dale. He looks tired but not angry. He says hi to Dan-o who then says goodbye and turns around and leaves. Apparently while we were out all of the J-1s who were at the beach stumbled home...Dale was having a bit of a night. He just wanted to make sure that it wasn't more trouble getting ready to ride into camp. We offer to help him any way we can but the situation is under control. "Too bad we don't have lots of fish tomorrow," he says, "that would teach 'em." We bid him good night and then go find out what happened. Aside from people dying or being blown up...Inlet Fish is the Melrose Place of Alaska. It was a very long night for us. But for the most part we had fun.

Why I love my Whee.

2008-06-21T11:47:00.004-08:00

11:48am Kenai, AK

My sister can make me laugh harder than almost anyone. So many times in life she has made me almost pee myself (I actually did once when we were younger living in North Carolina...it was pretty intense.) So we have this building that is half male, half female (separate entrances) but of course they want to chill in eachothers rooms and what not. They say that they like to eat together but here we eat at a table...not in bed. I volunteered to make signs for the doors - with graphics of course. I wanted something funny, as usual, but also something that would get the point across. Don't you just know...it is not that easy to find a simple 'no boys (or girls) allowed' graphic. When i first searched Google images for 'no girls allowed' i found porn. Right... I finally found the standard man behind red crossbar (funny wasn't even an option...so i went for obvious) But no matter how much i searched i could not find a "no girls allowed" graphic. So my sister sent me this. She says it is from a Croatian airport...apparantly this is a problem there. Sadly though, as much as i wanted to, I couldn't bring myself to putting this on my sign. But it gave the office women a good hoot. She then sent me the standard woman behind red crossbar...she made it herself. I just thought you all would enjoy it. I can't imagine why they wouldn't want paranoid women walking around in high heels, underwear, and handcuffs...come on Croatia get on board.

2008-06-20T12:23:00.002-08:00

12:23pm Kenai, AK
Today is the summer solstice. This is the first time since 1896 that it has been on June 20. At least that is what the Processing room door told me and i thought it was interesting. (i just had a typo that lead me to think about typing a whole entry in broken english...hmmm...maybe you think it is funny) Annnyway I also thought you might want to know that it finally stinks like fish. I think it will get worse which is fine because i can ease myself into it...but it's funky. And the Japanese trailer is finally done and Hiro is here walking around making sure everything is up to snuff. I am going to town later - snack shack stock up and chemical purchasing. I'm getting a new mop bucket too :) Things are going much better now that i am fully dressed.

2008-06-20T11:18:00.002-08:00

11:18am Kenai, AK
Laura ~ you and Michelle will have to support eachother through this time. I did not mean to lessen your pain. there is going to be sadness...for how does one replace a Pij or a MattCam? You cannot. I'm sure 2D or 2dizzle, as she prefers to be called on the streets, will have a blast. should she bring anything?

Look Ma, no pants!

2008-06-20T06:58:00.003-08:00

6:59am Kenai, AK
It's been an exciting morning here at Inlet Fish. I woke up at 5:20am, like i do, reluctantly got out of bed, threw on my robe, grabbed my two towels (today was a hair washing day - it's bad to wash your hair everyday) and my shower stuff and headed on down to the bathroom. Five steps later, "shit." I had just locked myself out of my room - but thankfully i had on my new robe xs/s as it may be. Well Michelle wasn't going to be awake with her keys for a little bit so i figured "hell, i might as well shower so if i have to go find someone at least i will be clean." And that is how that went, a relatively carefree shower, with intermittent thoughts of "gee i hope i can get in my room...i need my keys so that i can make coffee." So i finish my shower, super thankful that i have a robe, brush my teeth and keep an eye out for Michelle (she wakes up early to use a different shower across camp and i see her while i am running around in the morning. she has office keys...where they keep the room keys.) No Michelle. I leave my shower stuff in the bathroom because at this point i really don't need accessories to make the outfit - it stands alone - and i start walking across camp clad in terry cloth. I see Chapin go into the processing house so i go there. No Chapin. Maybe he's in the bathroom. I'll wait. No Chapin. I start to walk towards refrigeration to see if Ernest is around. I see wet footprints on the ground so i follow them...they lead me to a puddle of water not a person so i head back to the door. As I'm walking i think to myself that this is probably not very sanitary and i am glad there are no fish. Then i heard a horn squeak (like a bicycle honker horn) and i figure "awesome someone is here, my search is over." I follow the noise, "Hello? Hello?" and who comes around the corner but Chapin. "What is wrong with you?" he says with mild disgust. "I locked myself out of my room." i happen to sniff so of course he asks, "Are you crying?" "No, I just feel stupid." "Well, you look stupid." Now that we had gotten all of our usual bickering out of the way he told me that he would meet me over there he just had to get some tools. "you're never going to hear the end of this." He gets out his camera phone to take a picture and then reconsiders. "I'm not going to be mean to you." Oh good, because i am well aware that i am never going to hear the end of this the last thing i need is pictures to make the story better. So we get to my room and he starts poking the knob with his knife. I tell him he's got to try and coax the "latch" out by sliding the knife from behind. No use. He says in all seriousness in a very Chapin way, "Well we could just break the door really quick." umm...no. Then he looks at the pin hinges and goes for more tools. He gives me his room key so that i can go sit in there if i want to or get some clothes. But of course i am stubborn so i stand there in my robe and try to open the door. I am actually making headway with the file and his keys - getting part of the latch to slide..."just a little bit more...ugh come on." I keep at this until someone walks by. Trying to be all tough he busts out is laminated food card and tries to break in. Hi - i was just using a file...off of a metal multi-tool...that flimsy two pieces of paper sandwiched between plastic isn't going to do the trick. But he thinks he is cool so i let him try. He bends his card. I of course am shocked...as i'm sure you can tell. "Thank you for trying," i say and keep going at it with my file. Chapin comes back looking all proud of himself with a hammer and mini pry bar. This reeks of bad idea to me. It's not even 6am. He gives it a few whacks. Not even a budge. "Chapin, it's probably rusted in there." A few more whacks. "Hey it's cool. We should stop." Cue Michelle - she has that it's not even 6am what are you doing with a hammer outside of my room look on her face. Chapin is smiling. "I got locked out. Do you have your key?" She disappears. She comes back out with her keys. "We're sorry we woke you." "Oh, you didn't wake me." d'oh! "Oh. Okay. Is Kathy mad?" "She doesn't have the right to be she keeps up half the camp at night with her snoring." She makes a mean point. "Hang on, I'll come with you." She grabs her shower stuff and comes back out. I tell her the story of how Chapin rounded the corner and found me and she laughs. We go to the office and get my key - i am overjoyed at the aspect of pants. I am walking back to my room and here comes Serigy, this little fashion plate Ukrainian boy with one of those European accents that makes him sound like he is always hitting on people. He gives me a nod like, "Hey, how you do? Nice." (only with an accent.) Great. So i put on clothes...finally and head off to work.
I walk into the breakroom and there are Chapin and Ernest talking about cutting things. There is a brief pause to talk about my little saga this morning and then they continue on. I start making my coffee. Chapin is saying something about his jigsaw being messed up and I ask what's up. He needs to make a cut on a material and for the life of them they can't remember the order of the letters "you know that thick plastic that they make cutting boards out of?" "Yeah. UMDH." (wait that doesn't sound right.) "UMHD" (still not right.) "What's it stand for?" He was checking my credibility. 'i know this. Nelson told me what it stands for.' But what i knew wasn't matching what i thought the letters were. "Ultra High Density...I don't know." "Well i need to make a precision cut and i don't know what tool to use." "Oh. Hang on. I can call someone." "Really?" "Yeah. hang on." "How do you know this stuff?" "We used it on a show last year. Hang on." Heck yeah. See i'm not as dumb as you think. I bust out my phone and dial my "phone a friend" - Steve Howe. I also get into my facebook to see if Nelson is online...a treasure trove of resources all within reach. Thank you McCarter. Steve answers his phone all excited. (d'oh. I feel as though i have let him down slightly because i am calling to pick his brain - of course while i had him on the line i wanted to know how everything was going but i felt bad that i wasn't calling just to chat) "UMDH," I say. (it still doesn't sound right) "UHMW?" "Yes! I knew it didn't sound right" My brief moment of intelligence from moments before...ppft...extinguished. I guess i was thinking University of Medicine and Dentistry...who knows. Ultra High Molecular Weight...it's all coming back now. So he drops his knowledge on proper cutting methods and which saws work best...it was just nice to know that i could call him. (And I'm not just saying this because i know he is an avid reader. Steve I am always glad that you are on my team. You are one of the main reasons i drive the 50miles to work that i do.) Then he tells me that Pij is leaving McC too! Oh Michelle...I'm so sad for you. But Congratulations Jeff...you'll be awesome. And that is when we hung up and i started to write this all down for you. My circus of a morning. But alas i should go...work and all.

2008-06-19T11:52:00.002-08:00

11:52am Kenai, AK
I have dueling coffee pots! I have been hearing about this rush that will all of the sudden just happen and i have been preparing for it. I have a stronghold of mustard, mayo, sugar, creamer and more grandma's cookies than you can shake a stick at...not to mention my large arsenal of chemicals and paper products. So yesterday i cleaned out another coffee urn...it's time to pull out the big guns. I have one coffee pot that doesn't percolate so that one i use for hot water (tea and hot chocolate...you know how it is) and today i had the extra pot i prepared...just waiting for its moment to shine. Well when we were nearing break and there wasn't enough coffee i just started brewing a second pot. genius, i know. I got all of the extra sugar and creamer out and i opened a hot chocolate to keep in the hole for when they finished the first one. When break hit i was all ready - 2 coffee pots, water, lots of cups, hot chocolate and tea and lots of happy workers. It was awesome and i was super proud of myself. My party is the best party in town :)

2008-06-19T09:38:00.002-08:00

9:38am Kenai, AK
Well the east coast is coming out to-day! It is season opener and there is so much going on. People are talking too slow and not saying much of anything when they finally spit it out. And roe and processing started at 8am so all of the gear had to be ready and the bathrooms had to be done. i would have cleaned them yesterday morning but i spent the hour that i would have spent on the bathrooms cleaning up the remains of dinner from the night before. Why the cook chooses to make the crustiest bread she can is beyond me and why twenty somethings can't get most of the food into their mouths is also beyond me. If you are walking along and you spill your soup...clean it up...don't just leave it there for people to slip on or be grossed out by it.
So I woke up made the vat of coffee ran to the bathrooms cleaned them came back had to get stuff ready for Jennifer (my helper) then open the snack shack so that people could start talking slow to me. And Hiro - the roe man - got in last night and he already went over to the trailer which is not fully cleaned to look it over. He didn't say it exactly but what he basically said was "Girl you must be outside your mind if you think i am going to put people in there. Figure it out and get on it." Well hello - we aren't done...go away while we work our magic. alright. im going to go run around somemore. maybe if i don't slow down they'll have to talk quicker...

2008-06-18T14:02:00.002-08:00

2:03pm Kenai, AK

The only thing more finicky than the internet here is the fisherman.

Well guess who was in bed by 9pm last night? Me - that's who! I even made myself a nice dinner and cleaned my room. Then i put in my earplugs and slept like a champ...it was awesome.

We are processing fish everyday now. Today i was in the gear room and i looked out the window and there were little fish organs all over the floor...little hearts and livers - which according to some taste good and are quite nutritious (i'll stick with my centrum thanks.) It doesn't smell...yet...but every now and then a bloody glove liner comes into the laundry room and it's just nasty - if you let them sit too long that is when the funk comes. It must be tough being on "the slime line" (that's where they process the fish - charming don't you think) because they only get hours when there are fish. Sometimes they only get 5-7hrs/day. That will increase when there are more fish but it is so unpredictable.
So we got our first fish the other day. They were from the beach - they are fish and game fish. People with licenses can go out and fish and bring them to us - the numbers are much lower on those fish - because the boats are smaller for one. It was this woman and her little boy dropping off the fish. They have a hopper that dumps the contents of the fish tote down a chute which puts in on a conveyor belt and then gets sorted and weighed. Well there is a different conveyor for the beach fish because it doesn't start on the dock like the fish that come off the boats - people bring the totes in their trucks to us. So there is this little boy, he couldn't have been more than 5yrs old, he had on his mini xtratuff boots (which are really they only boots to wear as an alaskan fisherman - they are pretty awesome...even i have a pair) and he is helping pick up the fish that fall on the ground. The proper way to pick up a fish is through the gill and out the mouth with your finger. Well not so much for shortie over there. He kept trying to wrap his hands around the fish, pick it up and put it back on the belt but since he was so short he had to climb up a step first. Fish slime is slippery enough, forget trying to hold onto the fish for prolonged amounts of time. but he was persistent. He would get up on the step and just as he was about to throw it over it would slip and fall back to the ground. Mom finally helped him but it was really cute to watch him keep trying.
Everyday Dale posts what he calls 'the fish story' on the door to the processing room. That tells them when to check in or when they are going to be called to work. For the past few days we have also had Roe and case up working. I was told the first day we got fish that the real reason that we do any of this is for the roe (fish eggs.) They are worth so much. The rest of the salmon is a byproduct. Now i am sure that this is not entirely true but it does have some merit. And case up is where they glaze the fish in a brine solution and package them to be shipped out.
okay have to go do stuff now.

2008-06-17T06:17:00.002-08:00

6:18am Kenai, AK
Okay kids - start pooling your lunch money, cause momma might be going to jail.

I guess some of the new people misread their plane ticket - this isn't Pennsylvania Dutch country and there is no need to be raising a barn...at 1am. I tried to go to bed at a normal hour last night - i really did - but it doesn't matter when the walls are so thin. There were drunk people talking all loud at 1am and then there were the new kids next to my wall with what sounded like timber and hammers...i'm going to hurt someone. There is a door nearby that doesn't latch right so logically the new owner should just keep slamming it until it doesn't close. Brilliant. Maybe i should start saving all of my egg cartons and making my own insulation. I'll tell you what though...these people are going to learn to be quiet. I think next time i go to the store i am going to get one of those green face masks, some curlers and a baseball bat. I can leave my room with that "i'm crazed - but still trying to minimize my pores and get my hair did" look - think Andy Capp's Mom.
Other than that it is really nice to see camp filling out. We got 16 new people last night - one of whom was my night shift gear person. Hooray. she seems awesome. alright i'm out. have a good day.

2008-06-16T06:17:00.002-08:00

6:18am Kenai, AK
Well that is just such a great captured image. "Now i'll never be a teen model." Anyway today is going to be super busy. We got our first fish yesterday - hooray! I'll have to tell you more about it later...that seems to be the new trend. I just finished making coffee now i have to go clean the bathrooms, then get a cleaning bucket ready for Jennifer, then wash all of the gear they used last night, make up new gear for them to use today, and all of my regular duties too. I took a long lunch yesterday and went to the dot and one of the items i purchased was a pedometer. I walked just under 5mi between roughly 3pm and 8pm...and i never left the plant. Okay i have to go now. I'm still trying to get that nap in...i guess i'll have to get to that later too.

G~ I made you something!!

2008-06-15T21:31:00.002-08:00

Happy Fathers Day. Enjoy!

2008-06-15T15:19:00.002-08:00

3:20pm Kenai, AK
yea...sorry about that. i was trying some new things and then we lost the internet for a few days so i couldn't see the crazy picture and how odd it looked. i have things to put on but i am super busy right now. i saw the internet was working so i figured i would say hey really quick. anywho i'll be back in a bit. i have a draft in the works and i think that they add them to the blog for the day you started the draft so i am going to put up something i typed today but keep your eyes peeled for entries that may come "after" what i am posting now.

7:07am Sunday June 15, 2008 Kenai, AK
Every day I get into a fight with the Kool Aid man…and every day I lose…and I’m starting to get mad. Michelle gave me one of her tips for keeping employees happy – freeze the juice from the day before and put it in the juice the next day so that it stays cold all day. Great idea, wouldn’t you say? Brilliant – who doesn’t love cold juice? Well it is becoming a thorn in my side. We have a 10 gallon Coleman cooler with a spout and I bought a gallon pitcher to freeze the juice in. So when I come in, in the morning, I run the warm water on the pitcher to loosen it up…preparing for battle. Then I try to gingerly tip the pitcher and slowly let my juice cube slide into the freshly made juice below. I have even tried to use a spoon to lower it down because I’m not quite certain I should use my hands. Well this is when all hell breaks loose. The cube just races to freedom not taking the time to enjoy the ride and then SPLASH! – juice everywhere. And it keeps getting worse. The other day it splashed up under one of my shelves, today it got all over the freezer, floor and who knows where else. I keep finding juice droplets that I didn’t know were there and I hate to say it but part of me is impressed with the distance I get. But I always get juice all over me – it’s not so bad with the two lemonades but Kool Aid stains! (not just clothes…flesh too!) Up until now this has been a private battle but I have decided that I can no longer walk this road alone…I am being consumed by my hatred for the Kool Aid man. Help.
I almost don’t want to tell you about my first juice freezing experience but I know you will all get a kick out of it. So I’m one or two days into my juice making journey and people are coming up to me and saying ‘Michelle used to make the juice cold somehow.’ Basically – your warm juice isn’t cutting it…figure it out. And that is when Michelle told me the secret of the frozen juice. Later that night I am in my snack shack with my 10 gallon Coleman juice cooler…just looking at it. I open up the freezer (it opens from the top, it’s a floor freezer) and there are all of these dividers inside. There is one long one running down the middle and two short ones – making six compartments total. So I’m sizing up the dividers and I try to put the cooler in one of the compartments. Well wouldn’t you know it was too big. So I start taking out the short dividers but the long divider is still in the way. ‘How did she do this?’ I’m thinking to myself. ‘She must have done it somehow – she had cold juice.’ That is when I decided to lay the cooler on its back – ‘maybe that’s how it fit.’ Well then the juice just started coming out the top – and when you spill juice in the freezer…it freezes. ‘Great.’ I’m trying to quickly mop up my juice before it freezes and figure out how in the hell she got the juice to freeze. I don’t know when it happened exactly but at some point I had the realization ‘Meredith, this is a cooler not an ice cube tray – you can’t try to use it as such’ and that the likelihood of my juice freezing inside the cooler was significantly less than likely, hell, the likelihood of it even effecting the temperature existing in the cooler was less than likely. So I figured, ‘Screw it! They can have warm juice another day until I can talk to Michelle.’ And that is when I learned the second secret of the frozen juice – put it in a separate non-cooler container and freeze it – that way it will fit in the freezer and actually freeze. Doh!
3:25pm
While I was on lunch I looked down and there are Kool Aid stains on my arms. I look like a damn fool. Oh how I hate you Mr. Kool Aid man.

Nice tattoo...can i buy you a drink?

2008-06-13T16:44:00.002-08:00

4:44pm Kenai, AK

My buddy Ernest started working the night shift last night and since there will probably be no other time for us to hang out we decided to go to the bar Wednesday night (Molly came too.) Ernest is a local and he has a car and a license...and you'd think that would be a given but...it's not. I wish i could tell you how many people have lost their licenses or have been in jail or have no front teeth...that last one was just because i am not used to so many toothless people! anyway we wanted to go someplace with food so Ernest said we should go to 'The Dot' (that's Soldotna a nearby town in case i haven't said that...i will be referring to it as such from now on.) So we drove to the Dot and pulled into Hooligans which is a bar/lodge or motel for you 'southerners.' I will have to go back so that i can take some pictures - the bar has lots of wood rafters and they have really neat beer taps too :) oh and the bathrooms are pretty sweet as well. The men's room is diamond plate steel and the women's room is pink princess theme complete with big 'ol gold leaf mirrors and cushioned dividers with crushed velvet curtains...intense.
Anyway its been so long since i was going to put this in that the details aren't as vibrant or important. Readers digest: Some guy at the bar bought me a beer, I made friends with three local/regulars, one of whom was a roller derby queen named Patty Roe who challenged me to lift one end of a pool table (to see if i was worthy/bad ass) - and i did so i was cool in her book and she bought me a shot. Then i bought some shots for a birthday girl, enjoyed some cake and went home. It was a good night. Im sad that Ernest works nights now.

2008-06-13T13:25:00.002-08:00

1:26pm Kenai, AK
I feel like someone peed in my Kool Aid. The washing machine stopped working again...after 2 loads! Bobbie said they were going to look for a used one because it will probably do this all season now.
But i guess it's just been one of those days. I wound up working 15hrs yesterday (the extra 3hrs were helping the new foreign kids fill out their paperwork and find their rooms) I took lunch at 6pm. Then today at 6:30am i learned that some people don't know when a toilet is broken...if you know what i mean, at 7am i got fruit punch all over the place, at 7:30am i called my mom...cause sometimes you just need your mom...and i spilled my cheerios all over the floor. I want a nap and a cookie.
I feel like Jessie from Saved by the Bell "No time. There's never any time!...i'm so excited, i'm so excited...i'm so...scared."
But i really shouldn't complain because people are jealous of the amount of hours i get. In reality they want the hours but not the work. And i have so much i want to tell you. i still haven't told you about my trip to michigan or the other night at the bar. ...i'll get to it at some point.

(*happy birthday liz and bill! I am in love with 2D...i'm so glad she gets to go to all of the cool parties. thank you all for keeping me close. )

Victory

2008-06-11T17:58:00.002-08:00

5:59pm Kenai, AK
The washer is fixed. The guy said that it was hard to find but an easy fix. Some wire was touching the start button that shouldn't have been and something else. So tomorrow I will start washing gear and getting the fish smell out. I also found the tag attached to the mystery bag so that is out of my hair too. Tomorrow we are getting 8 new people into camp. Until now they have been trickling in but in this next week we will probably double in size. Everything is really coming together. They are washing all of the equipment and assembling it in processing and maintenance is sorting out all of the problems around the plant and making sure that everything works for when we get fish. The dock crew is keeping busy as well (today they had to go jack up and get a building ready to come over here...more dorms i guess - it's crazy to think that they can just move buildings here or there. apparently they were pumping the jack for 2hrs.) and the welders have thier hands full making miracles out of all of the metal sitting around. It's pretty neat to see it all get done...finally. well i am going to head to the bar...because i am done at a normal hour :) too bad they don't have happy hour in Alaska...

Woo Hoo!

2008-06-11T11:46:00.002-08:00

11:52am Kenai, AK
Well Amen! The washer man is coming later today. At least that is the word on the streets. He went to our other plant in Kasilof and i guess they didn't seem confused as to why he was there so he figured that was it. We aren't out of the woods yet though so keep doing what you're doing. (Lindsay this means you.)
On a completely different note since it's raining out a bunch of people are in their rain gear and i am SO jealous. But John said that I can borrow his whenever i want to...i may go in there at night and just wear it around.

2008-06-11T07:33:00.002-08:00

7:33am Kenai, AK
Good Morning! It's raining here in Alaska but I am determined to have a good day. I've decided that it is time to start clocking in at 6am - i need to be up then anyway to make the coffee i might as well clean the busiest toilets in the plant while everyone is sleeping. (i made the mistake one day of making a bigger pot of coffee and not allowing much extra time for it to percolate...that is a mistake you only make once.) But don't you know i was cleaning a toilet and someone came in...and then he had the nerve to look at me like I shouldn't have been there. So i finished up the men's room, quickly did the women's room and came back here to open up the snack shack and enjoy my bowl of cheerios, banana and OJ. (Someone tell Grandma that i am taking my vitamins too) I figure I am a morning person anyway i might as well get a jump start on my day and then I can end earlier and have more time to relax and make dinner before having to get right into bed for the next day.
There is a mystery trash bag of laundry in the laundry room - which is not where people are supposed to drop off their dirty laundry. They are supposed to put it in the supplied bag with the large safety pin on it identifying the owner in the appropriate bin. So now i get to play Nancy Drew and figure it out OR hold it hostage and wait for the poor fool to run out of the rest of their clothes and come find me...I think i choose option B.
Alright off to play in the rain. Oh and the Japanese Techs oversee the roe room. They know the proper ways to handle it apparently there are lots of regulations when it comes to roe...so now you know. (mom - i think the added pressure of the roe room might in fact warrant a rubber duckie shower curtain to make you feel better about life)

2008-06-10T16:44:00.002-08:00

4:44pm Kenai, AK
Calling all Voodoo priestesses...I need an intervention. A few days after i arrived the commercial washer that we (meaning me) use to wash all of our fish gear and mopheads etc. mysteriously stopped working. Michelle (the woman who did my job last year) came down and was able to make it work once but that was it. Now it has been a few weeks. Apparently they call every day sometimes twice a day but they are not getting any answers. They say that is how it works up here especially when there is only one person who can fix the darn thing and he doesn't feel like picking up the phone - he has that luxury. He is out of Anchorage and when his services are needed he hops in his RV and hot foots it on out to wherever and if need be he stays over. He was supposed to come out one weekend but then that fell through and we haven't heard from him since. Well times are getting desperate - the fish are coming - and it just won't do to not have a commercial washer to handle all of the gear. Dale even tried calling a number he saw on the side of a truck while he was driving around but they don't do commercial washers. So short of finding a Shaman or Dion Warwick to come and shake a stick over the thing i don't know what to do.
John just came in and i told him my plight and he said that i should have Terry, one of the natives, take a look at. He makes harpoons in his bedroom. "If he can't fix it at least he could turn it into a seal killing machine or something." I just know that time is ticking and we need a solution. So drop some holy water in the mail or do a dance in your living rooms because i need a solution.

2008-06-10T10:06:00.002-08:00

10:06am Kenai, AK
So it's back to toilets for me. I lost my help to the Roe room...that's where they work with the fish eggs...spew. But it's okay because now instead of running around making sure they have everything they need and that they are doing their job i can just do it myself. It is also making the time move quicker. Later today i am hopefully going to start cleaning out the Japanese Tech Trailer - they have their own private trailer. Apparently they are quite skilled at whatever it is they do so we like to keep them happy. And they have a rubber duckie shower curtain. okay. back to work.

Picture time!

2008-06-08T10:04:00.030-08:00

Part of the boat yard.

Three ladies all in a row.

A barge loaded up and ready to go out.

The wall of fish totes. And there's even more.

More boat yard...

Tee hee...it's called the shady lady

Three eagles are sitting on a log...i feel there's a joke there

One heard me coming.

They kept moving because my efforts to be sneaky failed.

Aaand it finally decided to leave. (don't worry that wasn't the joke)

The boat lift...empty and sad

Carefree Aviator Snoopy in Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport

Anchorage airport. Before getting ready to catch the plane back to Kenai.

On the tarmac getting ready to board my teeny plane.

The Sea Venture - It's boat dropping day!

Getting the straps connected under the boat.

Lifting the boat to pull the blocks. Those are Molly and Charlie's butts crouched under the front of the boat.

It doesn't quite corner well.

Walking the boat to the dock

The dock pre Sea Venture. It was a beautiful morning.

The Sea Venture on its way to the end of the dock about to go in...right before my camera died.

2008-06-08T08:20:00.003-08:00

8:20am Kenai, AK
I can only imagine the treasure trove of presents i am going to find later when i make my rounds. As i was putting up my signs i saw someone going into one of the bathrooms and i told him not to flush. He looked at me pleading and nervous doing a variation on the 'pee-pee dance' so i said, "you can use the toilet just don't flush it." Then he ran into the bathroom.
Aaaaanyway...so I thanked the Ukrainians for the meal and went back to my room to change. Molly and Charlie were already on their way so i threw on some clothes that didn't smell like cleaning products and walked over to 'the landing.' (the truck is here! Hooray!) We were sitting at the bar enjoying some Kodiak Brown when Bobbie called Charlie. She wanted him to casually leave the bar, bringing Molly and me with him and get into her car which would be waiting outside. Apparently you have to be very sneaky otherwise people think Dale and Bobbie are playing favorites (even though Charlie is their nephew.) So we each paid our tabs and left. I was the last one to pile into the car but as soon as I was in we were off. The sunroof was open and the music was up - we were just 5 people looking for some fun on a Saturday night. We went up the road a spell to this other bar called the Albatross. It's a real old smokey bar, very classic looking. They have pool tables and outside they have a grill and some horseshoe pits. Just a cool place to be. Molly and I had the Moosehead lager while the other three went for something a little stronger. A round of drinks for 5 cost $20. You can't beat that with a stick. So there we are just sitting around telling stories and laughing taking turns buying our cheap rounds.
One of the other choice amenities at the Albatross is the used DVDs for sale. Now i don't usually buy used DVDs but i do have a movie buying problem and i needed a fix. (Chris said this is the perfect bar for me - beer and movies for sale. What's not to love?) So i did it - 3 for $20 - August Rush, No Reservations and Nancy Drew...make fun of me all you want because i know you are - i don't care. My night just kept getting better and better.
After 4 or so rounds we decided to leave. We were on our way home when Dale took us on a scenic detour. He wanted to show us the road to the beach. It really isn't far from the plant and people can go there and make fires. It was beautiful - very peaceful at dusk. There was a group already there with a fire going, all bundled up in their blankets - not a bad idea. We hopped back in the car and decided to go cruising for moose. So we got back on the road, drove passed the Albatross and kept going with our eyes peeled. Molly saw one but we were already gone before we could stop. After a while with no moose Bobbie thought we should take the next right we found so that we could sit and look out over the bay. We came to this opening that looked like a good spot - so we parked the car and got out. There was a guy sitting there having a beer next to his fire so we went over and started talking to him. He worked at a cannery up the road and was doing some off-site drinking. The fire was nice and warm and smelled so good. We stood around it for a bit chatting and then the beer kicked in. Molly and I tried to discretely walk towards the tree line but everyone knew. "Watch out for bear." yea...right...I was more worried about crouching over poison ivy. Molly is more of a city girl so everyone was laughing at her trying to pee in the woods. She had to find some thick trees to hide behind for privacy while me, I just found a nice tree to lean on. At some point they must have looked over because we heard them laughing - Molly in her bright white ski coat and me with my bright white butt - we must have been quite a sight...like beacons in the night. We got back over to the fire and before too long Dale had to go too. He was gone for a while and had disappeared from sight. I was trying to keep an eye on him because they had warned us about the ground giving way and dropping us down to the beach below if we got too close to the edge. A few minutes later here comes Dale with his arms full of brush. This is when i learned that when you go pee it is customary to bring back wood for the fire especially when you are crashing someones fire like we were. Good to know. We hung out for a little bit longer and then said our goodbyes. It's pretty cool that you can just walk up to a stranger and share his fire and neither party be worried.
As we were driving home we saw a moose! They like to forage at night. It was close to the road so we slowed down and watched him eat. It never gets old. I love them so much. He was just eating some leaves enjoying his dinner - it's neat to watch them chew. I think he started to feel awkward because after all, it is rude to watch someone eat, so he turned and walked away. It was 1am or a little later at this point so we decided to go home too. It was just a good night. Nothing too crazy but fun all the same. I can't wait until the moose start getting their antlers.

2008-06-08T07:28:00.002-08:00

7:29am Kenai, AK
I am the sole worker at the plant today. And that is fine by me because that might equal quiet time for me.
As i was walking to the snack shack - "my office" - this morning i looked up and saw it...the green light flashing. That means the shit is going down...or rather it's not and that's the problem. The light is the indicator that we need to get the men to come and give us a pump. Dale usually likes to pump the tank before it's full but they couldn't come the other day. I am having a personal dilemma...wake Dale and Bobbie or not wake Dale and Bobbie. I know for a fact they were out drinking last night and were up late.
I finished work at 7:15pm last night. Molly and Charlie were planning on going to Kenai Landing - the closer bar that we walk to. So i figured i would meet them after work. I stopped by Dale and Bobbie's trailer to pick up the asparagus that Bobbie left for me and then walked it over to the outside fridge...because i'm guessing that's what you do with asparagus. When i got there the Ukrainian kids were in the outside kitchen enjoying the borscht they had just made, with Dale and Bobbie. They invited me to sit and have some. Not wanting to be rude and having never tried borscht i had a seat. Apparently it is usually served with sour cream or mayonnaise neither of which i am too fond of or can knowingly add to my food so i went it alone. They even had Ukrainian bread that they brought with them - it's pretty dense. note to self - if in Ukraine avoid food fights where flying bread is involved. Anyway, it wasn't bad, a little too peppery for me and i came at the tail end of the feast so most of the potatoes and meat were gone but it was still nice to be part of the experience and to get to try borscht made by people who know borscht.
I gotta go. Michelle saw the light too. She woke up Dale and Bobbie and now i have to run around a put signs on all of the toilets and sinks. The pump truck can and does come on sunday's and it is a wake up-able problem. Answer found.

2008-06-06T18:59:00.002-08:00

6:59pm Kenai, AK
I forgot to tell you...last night i partook of an Inlet fish tradition. The girls and I went to the bar last night and we were laughing and having a good 'ol time when Justin, our bartender of choice, brought over a round of Duck Farts. Its a shot. Bailey's, Kahlua, Crown Royal. Its supposed to be layered. So next time you go to the bar ask for a Duck fart and see what they say.

2008-06-06T07:35:00.002-08:00

7:36am Kenai, AK
I just got to watch my first boat go in the water! It's a very exciting morning here at Inlet Salmon (or if you're illiterate and from Michigan - Slamon.) They drove the boat lift over to the boat, got the straps up on underneath it, lifted the boat, pulled the wood blocks it was resting on, lifted it some more, drove the pretty lady on over to the water, and then when it got to the end of the dock they gently lowered it in. I was there dutifully taking pictures - it being my first time watching a real boat go in the water. I was all excited. I was standing there poised and ready for the boat to hit the water...when my camera died! Ain't that just the way it goes. I guess now I know how guys feel...
okay time to make the donuts. pictures later...after i charge my battery

2008-06-05T11:57:00.002-08:00

11:58am Kenai, AK
So I'm up to 3 helpers today which is great because even more people are here as of last night. Simultaneous cleaning is going on all over camp! Now my time is spent running around making sure they know what to do and how to do it. They aren't quite eager enough to come and find me after they complete each task so i also spend a lot of time running around trying to find where they are hiding and smoking and...eating the pringles they keep in their purse...
Jane Fonda has nothing on me. Well except those crazy spandex outfits and that ain't gonna happen. Alright it's the lunch rush. I have less time to write now that i am busy all of the time. Hopefully i'll be back later.
Holy crap...the new girl i aquired just came by to say she had finished cleaning all of the rooms i had her working on...all before lunch! she is amazing. okay now im really going.

I'm back

2008-06-04T07:24:00.002-08:00

7:24am Kenai, AK
It's really beautiful here this morning. The sun is shining on the mountains differently. They are so bright you can really see the colors and there isn't a lot of fog around them, they really pop today. I was thinking that it's probably my grandparents happy to be together again - so why not go to a place they love. Lucky me I just so happen to be here to see it.
Just like Bobbie said, I hit the ground running. I landed just before 5pm, was picked up brought back to the plant, dropped my stuff off, checked in at the office and clocked in at 5:25pm. There was lots of laundry to do and i had to survey the damage. Not too bad. The silty water really starts to stain the toilets if they don't get scrubbed every few days. But luckily help arrived last night. Two girls they weren't expecting - the company they (and 23 of their friends) were supposed to work for just didn't show up. I think they went under or just couldn't give them all work. So we took 3 of them in. I'm going to put them to work cleaning the rooms for the rest of the crew who will be showing up soon. Lots to do today...lots to keep my mind busy. I started writing on the plane because i hadn't written in a few days...i amassed 3pgs. I'm going to try and scale it down a bit but you'll have something to read later - and by later i mean you will probably get it tomorrow.
More people are showing up so it's going to be a busy day. But i figured i would say good morning while i had some time.

2008-05-30T19:00:00.002-08:00

7:01pm Kenai, AK
Grammie I get to fly first class! that means no smelly mountian men or shortage of wiggle room :) and there is champagne involved. I don't have anything nice to wear but i know that doesn't really matter - and i told my mom that i would leave my fish boots here. I hope that you are sleeping peacefully and thinking good thoughts. I will be there soon. I love you.
~Meredith

Flyin out

2008-05-30T18:28:00.003-08:00

6:28pm Kenai, AK
My grandmother's breathing has slowed down and has become more labored. I am in the process right now of writing down notes about my job and where i have been putting things because i am hopefully going to fly out tomorrow morning. My mom is booking a ticket for me from Anchorage to Michigan. Everyone here has been really helpful and understanding which is making this all easier. They said they don't know how clean the camp will be when i get back but that i shouldn't worry because they will be fine. and i know they will. I can't imagine why they wouldn't want to don some latex gloves and get up on in some toilets...
I'm really glad and fortunate that i am getting to fly to michigan to be with my family. My sister is arriving tomorrow too. It will just be nice to be with the people i love.

2008-05-30T12:30:00.002-08:00

I just realized my time zone was set wrong. Alaska has its own time zone - Alaska Standard Time...who knew?

2008-05-30T12:13:00.000-08:00

12:14pm Kenai, AK
This is my address - at long last - just in case you wanted to send mail or pictures or love in the form of a package...
P.O. Box 114
Kenai, AK 99611
the po box can accept packages.
OR...
2000 Columbia Street
Kenai, AK 99611
this address is for packages only since i don't know if ups or fedex deliver to po boxes

either way if you are going to send your crazy don't bother...we're all stocked up here.

doesn't taste like chicken

2008-05-30T08:14:00.001-08:00

8:14am Kenai
I just tried black bear jerky.
"would you like some bear?" "some what?!" "bear." "are you for real?" "yes" then i hesitated and figured what the hell - i'll try almost anything twice.
It was in a zip lock bag and had seasoning all over it...very shady. So i took out a piece and went for it. Apparently Mark - the head of transportation - his wife made it. One of our maintenence guys Ernest gutted and cut it up. It was really tough and tasted sort of like dried fruit only not and then i just couldn't do it. It was taking too long to chew and it started to creep me out so i had to spit it out...its too early in the morning to eat bear. I may try it again later to see if i don't mind it (thats why you try things twice - the first time might have been a fluke) but probably not today. Hell at least i tried it. and then ran to get something to wash my mouth out. It still tastes funny...

2008-05-29T19:55:00.000-08:00

7:55pm Kenai, AK

My grandmother is dying. She is slowly quietly losing her life. She has Parkinson's and before i left as i was sitting in our front hall packing my bags i found out that she had emphysema too. My mom and uncle are sitting with her right now holding her hand and they say that she is just so peaceful. I sent her flowers today - the most beautiful and bright arrangement i could find - i wanted to brighten her day because we don't know how many she has left. I was just talking with my mom and she said that she is asleep. She didn't wake up today. She is just resting very peacefully. I don't know if she will get to see my flowers but they will be there for her just in case she wakes up. My mom put the phone up to her ear so that i could talk to her because she can hear whats going on around her. I was a little embarrassed because i was crying and i didn't want that to be what she had to listen to but i told her that i missed her and that i hoped that she would be able to wake up and see my flowers. My mom said that whatever i said to her made her mouth move almost like a smile. She also said that my grandmother has been loving having my blog read to her and seeing the pictures which is really all that i wanted. They didn't get to read it today but they will hopefully tomorrow.

It makes my heart hurt.

My dad called me from the road today. He said he was driving to Michigan to be with my mom. I'm glad. because even though we know it's coming there is nothing easy about losing your mom. I am just thankful that my mom is able to be there with her - to sit by her side and find that peace that only comes with meditation and prayer. I don't want my grandmother to suffer or be embarrassed. I want her to be at peace and to be comfortable. Although part of me is selfish. there is so much i want to know. so many questions i have. My grandmother is such a refined graceful woman. Very well spoken and extremely well read and she used to knit like nobodies business. She could watch whole episodes of murder she wrote and never drop a stitch. She would make us hats and afghans and they were always so beautiful and full of love. And she knows more poems and songs than anyone i know...and i wish i knew them all and that i could sing them too. In their retirement she and my grandfather used to travel a lot. They had a camper and they would drive all over the country to different camp sites - marking what states they went to on a magnetic map. I wish i knew more about where they went and what they thought. I want to know what she was thinking as she walked down the aisle and I want to know more about my mom and uncles when they were growing up. I want to know how she was able to stay so positive and I want to know more about our history. I guess i just want more time - to make up for the time when i didn't always make time.

My mom thought i should say something in my blog. because it is affecting me and it helps to put it out there.

Grammie if you are still sleeping when my mom reads this to you - here is one of my favorite poems. I wish i knew it by heart. It really is best read aloud...so you're lucky:

Winkin', Blinkin', and Nod, one night sailed off in a wooden shoe; Sailed off on a river of crystal light into a sea of dew. "Where are you going and what do you wish?" the old moon asked the three. "We've come to fish for the herring fish that live in this beautiful sea. Nets of silver and gold have we," said Winkin', Blinkin', and Nod.
The old moon laughed and sang a song as they rocked in the wooden shoe. And the wind that sped them all night long ruffled the waves of dew. Now the little stars are the herring fish that live in that beautiful sea;"Cast your nets wherever you wish never afeared are we!"So cried the stars to the fishermen three - Winkin', and Blinkin', and Nod.
So all night long their nets they threw to the stars in the twinkling foam. 'Til down from the skies came the wooden shoe bringing the fisherman home. 'Twas all so pretty a sail it seemed as if it could not be. Some folks say 'twas a dream they dreamed of sailing that misty sea. But I shall name you the fisherman three - Winkin', Blinkin', and Nod.
Now Winkin' and Blinkin' are two little eyes and Nod is a little head. And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies is a wee one's trundle bed. So close your eyes while mother sings of the wonderful sights that be. And you shall see those beautiful things as you sail on the misty sea, Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three - Winkin', Blinkin', and Nod.

2008-05-29T07:13:00.003-08:00

Thursday May 29, 2008 7:35am Kenai (this is from yesterday but it wasn't cooperating)

Yesterday they started putting boats in the water! There is this giant boat lift that can drive around the plant and they load the boats in and drive them back to the dock where they put them in the water. The tires ride along the track and they drive out over the water and then lower the boats. It's pretty awesome to see that big lift driving around...i want to drive it so bad. The tides really rule what gets done during the day and when. One morning the dock crew had to be up at 4:30am for high tide.

They also started dropping anchors for the boats. Things are starting to pick up and get more interesting now. I'm so jealous that i don't get to play with the boats. well...i might...we'll see.

To and from the bar

2008-05-28T13:48:00.000-08:00

The moose - foraging

Moose pellets!

Me feeling victorious and sassy at the bar

Curiosity has just cost you one dollar for the juke box - and it was worth it

Sunset...at 10:20pm...

Nearby the plant

coming up the driveway

It's not even that low yet! at 10:20pm!

2008-05-28T12:34:00.000-08:00

I just got the most awesome email from Liz - 3 in fact - with pictures of the BBQ. I loved them and i laughed so hard! Her captions were priceless but i really loved seeing everyones faces. I really do miss everyone...the people here are nice and all but its just not the same. So keep the pictures and the updates coming i love hearing how you all are doing it makes me smile every time.
Love
~m (dizzle)

2008-05-28T07:15:00.000-08:00

Last night Molly and i decided to walk to the other bar within walking distance - The Vagabond. It is further away - much further if we actually take the road - but there is a direct path from the end of our road/"driveway" that the ATV's use. So we start walking and I realize that i don't have my camera and since the path goes through the woods i thought i should have it just in case. I run back to my room get my camera and then run back to where Molly is waiting for me. First thing she says, "Meredith you aren't hoping to see a moose are you? We don't want to see any moose." Huh? yes i do. "Why?" "Because they are really dangerous. Especially now because they have babies. They were saying that they are more dangerous than bears right now." "Really?" "Yes! Okay Meredith, imagine the scariest meanest horse you have ever been on. Now make it meaner, taller and faster." At this point i am laughing because she is serious - and i'm imagining it. Apparently before we left she told some of the women where we were going and that we were taking the path and they were saying to be careful and talk really loud because it scares the moose away but that they are really dangerous. So there we are walking along we get to the end of the driveway and cross over the road and get on the path. We're talking about who knows what and i'm looking around and I look to my left and i'm like "Hey Molly! A moose!" It was looking right at us. I am so excited. I really love moose and did want to see one. Even though i do realize the danger. She stops in her tracks and is like "What? Where?" "Right over there. What should we do?" I personally wanted to take a picture - really how often are you less than 20' from a moose in life? But I also know that that probably would have been the wrong choice. "Walk backwards." "What?" "Walk backwards and don't look at it." So there we are 'moon walking for moose' as my dad put it later when i called him. I periodically look to see where it is. It's still there watching us. In my head i know that we were doing the right/smart thing but the rest of me is thinking 'we're fine.' For some reason i just wasn't worried. I guess it was that i hadn't been getting advice and warnings from people for a few weeks. I was laughing the whole time because Molly was pretty freaked out. "How far do we have to walk backwards?" We get to the road (which was all of 30' away) and we stop. Apparently this is far enough. We both take out our cameras and take some pictures. As we were moon walking i got to thinking 'wouldn't that be something if me - lover of moose - was trampled not 10min after i am hearing about just how pissed off these massive beasts can get. So now what? We still wanted to go to the bar. "You okay?" "Yeah. Lets just take the road" "Molly the road isn't that much farther from the moose. We're still going to walk right by it. You think that just because we are on pavement a few feet farther away we are safe?" "Well, yeah." So we take the road. Keeping our eye on the moose. "I have to call my dad. this is nuts." I get out the phone and as it's ringing an eagle flies overhead. 'hello?' "Dad I am having a total nature experience! I was just less than 20' away from a moose and an eagle just flew overhead." I tell him the whole story crazy details and all when he says "That would have been the perfect time to use your whistle." A bright orange safety whistle from Duluth 'When being heard is a matter of life and death' Doh! I have had this whistle for 2 years and i brought it because my grandmother told me to be safe. I finally took it out of the packaging when i got here to use as a key chain that way i would always have it...for instances just like this one. and it was on the hook in my room! 2 years i have been waiting to use this whistle. I had the chance and i blew it only i didn't and that's the problem. Next time. So anyway we're on the road - talking loud to scare any further moose - and i'm thinking 'this is going to take forever we need to get back to that path.' so we make a left on some road and start trekking through the woods. I'm looking down for small woodland creatures and large holes when i see a pile of crap like i have never seen before. Moose droppings! So of course i take a picture and keep walking. We wind up back on the path further along and eventually make it to the bar. But it was quite the journey to get there. So Steve there you have it - I was walking to the bar and i looked up and there was a moose.

"you're doing a great job"

2008-05-27T16:58:00.001-08:00

So they are working on making a staff kitchen. It will be for a select few of us and it will also be where the cook will make one meal a day for the whole crew. They are making this kitchen in an existing trailer but it is sort of coming out of nowhere. It is so neat to see them run the gas and water lines and move whole doors replacing a wall where the hole was. I know these things are possible...i do theater where we make things for imaginary people everyday...it's just different. Anyway I was in the kitchen cleaning it up and doing the dishes when Dale - the boss - came over to check things out. I had some questions about what was going where and what sort of extras we would have (microwaves, toasters, etc.) because there were no outlets near by the counter and i didn't know if we were going to run extension cords or reroute outlets to power all of these things. He answered my questions and then said "hey if no one has told you yet - you're doing a great job. you've just jumped right in and you've got a great attitude and i just thought you should know." And i have to tell you it just made my heart soar. Not that i wouldn't continue to work just as hard but it really helps to hear that you are doing "a great job" especially when you're still figuring it all out and are a little unsure (and when you spend lots of time in a toilet bowl going a little crazy.) So there it is...I'm doing a great job and it feels really good.

crazy tobacco shop

2008-05-27T10:07:00.000-08:00

the drive through tobacco shop. Espresso is across the road. you have to work for your addictions here...but not too hard.

the drive up window. complete with menu. "would you like rolling papers with that?"

The little things

2008-05-27T07:17:00.000-08:00

7:17am Kenai
You know life really is those little things that happen in your day. I finally shaved my legs today. And trust me it wasn't for lack of trying that i didn't do it sooner. The showers here are...small - very small and i am not. There is nowhere to put your leg and you don't want the shaving cream to wash away and you certainly don't want to get water all over the floors and cause later damage. I know what you're thinking just rotate the head and have the water wash down the wall - you stay shaving creamed and the water doesn't leave the shower. This option can only be used in a few showers here because most of the shower heads are where they are and they ain't movin - trust me i've tried. that water washing down the wall trick works wonders when you are cleaning showers. Well the planets must have aligned today and the shower head moved so i thought "awesome today is my day." So there i am happily removing the small animal that has grown on my legs (slightly insensitive in light of the recent bunny death...i know) when all of the sudden i look down and there is water everywhere. While i'm leaning out one side the water is creeping around the curtain on the other side! So tricky. At that point i figured "screw it i'm gonna keep going i've come too far." not to mention I'm the one that cleans the bathrooms! I'll go back there in half an hour and mop it up anyway. I get to start my day knowing that i am down that much hair and that is a wonderful feeling. :) (Bill you know what i mean...i laughed so hard)

oh and i love all of the comments! I can hear you saying them in my head and it makes me smile.

Hi Grammie!

2008-05-26T10:05:00.001-08:00

Hey Grammie~
Welcome to my blog! I hope my mom is reading it with the right emphasis and using special voices...that really makes it so much more enjoyable. And i hope that you can see the pictures.
You are the reason that i decided to write this blog. (its also nice for the rest of the people in my life...but you were the main impetus) I know how much you enjoyed the time you spent in Alaska and I wanted you to be able to see it and hear how i am enjoying it as well.
To be quite frank i'm not leading a glamorous life out here. I clean toilets a great part of the day (and i do a damn fine job if i do say so myself.) That will change when my helpers come and then maybe the glamor will increase but for now i am being humbled daily. They say that i may get to go out on the dock some nights when its really busy...i secretly just want to wear the orange overalls and throw a few fish...but we'll see.
So enjoy because this is my gift to you! I hope you are having a great day with my mom. I miss you so much and love you more than i can convey.
Love always,
Meredith

McC BBQ

2008-05-26T07:51:00.000-08:00

A shout out to those at the BBQ enjoying the day. I miss you and wish i could be there. I would like to see pictures if there are any. If someone has a picture of my face and a printer...bring me with you! tape me to a chair. I always miss the fun times... (okay thats a lie. not always.)

RIP

2008-05-26T07:15:00.000-08:00

Monday May 26, 2008 7:16am Kenai
I have some sad news. The bunny met its maker over the "weekend"...and i didn't do it. There was a $50 bounty on his head. Some people were told dead, others alive, either way the bunny is no longer with us. I'm sorry for those of you who were looking forward to my bunny "tails."
Yesterday I was given a reprieve - i didn't have to clean ALL of the bathrooms because everyone wasn't working. But Sunday is office cleaning day and i got to clean the big football field sized office. Everyday i think more and more about getting a pedometer. Then i took a break and went with the van load to Fred Meyers and Sweeny's (an irish owned outfitter shop...leprechauns in carhartts.) Along the way we stopped at the drive through tobacco shop, we didn't drive through though because we were on a mission. There are lots of little drive through huts around here for various needs...apparently alaska is cold in the winter and people don't want to get out of their cars. then we went to Fred Meyers where i stole a pair of pants by accident. I didn't realize until i was halfway across the parking lot to the taco bell (they have that awesome blue mtn. dew i just love so much) so i turned around and went back in and actually paid. Then it was back to work - another office, fish gear organization, and some laundry. The gear was all washed and packed up at the end of last season and i have to unload it and set it all out so at the top of the day when all of the processors come we can just hand it out (they aren't here yet but when they are i'll be ready.) Each person gets cotton glove liners, black rubber gloves, rubber sleeves, and an apron - apparently the guts and scales get everywhere and that's where if you're not careful they can light the dryer on fire...crazy fish oil and flammable fish bits. I don't care what they say...those rubber sleeves had a fish smell to them...and that was a shame because i wasn't expecting that. but i breathed it in like a champ because that was cleaned fish smell. i can only imagine what this place is going to stink like in a week or two. (but don't you worry i will try and describe it as vividly as i can :) )

2008-05-24T07:30:00.000-08:00

Saturday May 24, 2008 7:30am Kenai
Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Last night after work I went and found the local watering hole. Its literally just across the way but like most things in Alaska there is a round about way to get there. So Molly, Richie and I walked the extra 2/10ths of a mile down the road to check it out. okay i started something i can't finish. I need to make more coffee and go start cleaning bathrooms. more later.

more pictures

2008-05-24T07:06:00.000-08:00

this is the dock where the magic happens

the giant fridge. we each get a cubby. it's right next to the outdoor kitchen

The outdoor kitchen. Trust me...its awesome

this is the point when i stopped the car and took pictures

this is around 9am on the rainy day

a little roadside scenery

I couldn't focus because i was zoomed in so far. but that is a moose butt :)

MOOSE!!

2008-05-23T10:09:00.000-08:00

Friday May 23, 2008 10:10am Kenai
I saw my first moose!! (and then my 2nd and 3rd) I had a feeling as i was leaving the plant to go to town that today was my day. Since it had been raining they were out foraging. Well I wasn't too far on my drive when i saw her. I know its a her because i told the office since she was funky looking. Its a mother and she is a cow moose so she is sort of calico. crazy right? then not a few 10ths of a mile down the road and i saw another one! it was just so cool. Then on my way back i stopped to take some pictures of the scenery. The sun was causing the clouds to glow and it made the mountains really pop so i will put those up later. And then since you are always scanning as you drive anyway because its like my dad used to say when i was a little girl "you always brake for things that will dent your car like deer and moose" I saw another one just chomping away in someones yard. I tried to take a picture of it but all i got was a fuzzy butt shot. (and i learned my lesson with the bunny to stay back. plus momma didn't raise no fool and i know that i shouldn't get too close to the big moving nature.) So there it is. Moose. Im so happy :)

Rainy day

2008-05-23T07:21:00.000-08:00

Friday May 23, 2008 7:22am Kenai
Well it's raining here in Alaska today. No sun for the first time in days. I'm interested to see how this affects my job. Thankfully I distributed a bunch of paper products to their respective closets yesterday (no one wants wet TP) I also got to go for a drive yesterday. I went to visit my new friends at the Asplund supply store...they sell me my chemicals and paper products. Super friendly and eager to help. And since i stocked up on products I was finally able to start cleaning bathrooms...not an exclamation i thought i would ever make. I really just wanted to start doing my job. Thinking about things to do is so much harder than just doing them. And as I was up to my elbows in the men's bathroom I smelled someone cooking out back - which was totally exciting because it means that they turned the gas on out there. When I first got here i was using the kitchen in the bosses trailer because they have a stove and a freezer. But there is this outdoor kitchen and it is probably one of my favorite places on camp. There is just something about it. It is covered and has 3 walls (i have pictures but i didn't load them onto my computer last night and internet here is sloooww) but it is essentially outdoors and you feel like your camping...i just love it. I made enough pasta with meat sauce to last me a few days. Plus it was nice to have a stove and not have to microwave things.
Anyway its time to make the donuts. I just found out i get to run to town again today! They are feeding the crew so i am going to go pick up a few things. Then its more cleaning and getting camp ready for fishing season.

2008-05-22T10:25:00.000-08:00

the plane i took from the airport

this is where i saw the eagle my first morning there

this is what i see everyday. There are some mtns. and some glaciers in there...its a pretty sweet view

cute right? WRONG. I think i'll name him "Lunch"

here it is trying to look innocent. i bet it's planning it's attack

there's the little shit circling me getting ready to make its mark

where the drinking water comes from...you pump it up top

My dresser/nightstand and where i lay my head

that's my 2nd dresser. the drawers don't really open. I use it for the height

my bed...and my $4 carpet

the view out my door

the womens bathroom is the one on the end

the airport

2008-05-22T10:11:00.000-08:00

Anchorage Airport

"you will not be allowed to chop walnuts during the flight. thank you."

club-like items...frankly i enjoyed the whole list. titles and order.

Whew...im busy

2008-05-22T07:13:00.000-08:00

Thursday May 22, 2008 7:14am Kenai
So I'm super busy. I took the head of housekeeping job because it sounded right up my alley. Think stage management only dirtier and smellier and there are chemicals involved. It's guaranteed work 7 days a week and there are lots of hours which makes a big difference up here (overtime after 8hrs...no problem...try 12 or 14hrs) I am in charge of cleaning all of the bathrooms and the break room - which is where everyone eats (9 microwaves and that may not even be enough), I run the "snack shack" where we sell food so that people don't have to cook or walk back to the fridge which is across camp, I have to make sure we have enough food, chemicals and paper products to do my job, I empty trash cans, make coffee...essentially run around like a headless chicken so that other people can do their jobs effectively.
Last night I finally moved into my own room. I had been staying in a temporary room which will be overrun with "kids" - the foreign workers that they get in - in a few weeks...no thanks. It was so nice to finally be able to unpack and make my bed and stop living out of a suitcase. We also went to Fred Meyers yesterday and I was able to pick up some things that had been on my list (shower caddy, foot towel, Doritos :) ) and that was the first time I left camp since I've been here. So after we got back I made the big move and then pimped my room. Pros: own room, comfortable, heat works (woo!) Cons: I can hear EVERYTHING that goes on around me - footsteps, conversations, you name it. and I am right across from the fisherman's bathroom and I'm sure they are a sanitary, quiet, polite group of guys.
Anyway its time for work. Today I am going to be a cleaning fiend. And I have to make a chemical run. Never a dull moment. But I can walk out any door and see something pretty and that is no small thing.

2008-05-19T17:34:00.000-08:00

Sunday May 18, 2008 8:56pm Kenai

I was totally worried that I wouldn’t have anything to write about but I do.
I didn’t know when it would hit me that I was going to Alaska. It didn’t hit me while I was packing, or as I said my good-byes, it didn’t hit me on the way to the airport or even as I was sitting at the gate boarding pass in hand.It started to become clearer when I wedged myself for the second time in the middle seat (thanks to my mom for the exit row because if I didn’t have leg room I might have started punching people) and a rather pungent local man sat down next to me. He totally looked like an Alaskan mountain man. Long hair, dusty shoes, dirty calloused hands – whew and funky! But it finally hit me as we started our decent and the snowy mountains were peeking through the clouds. There were so many of them! And then as we got lower and there was nothing but trees and dirt and lakes. “I’m here. I’m actually doing this.” And it was great to finally have that feeling. The plane kept getting lower and lower – we were flying over a large body of water and I was starting to wonder just where the pilot was going to put down when all of the sudden there was land underneath us and that was it…Anchorage Airport - surrounded by mountains and trees.
The fish company decided to fly me right to Kenai instead of putting me up in Anchorage over night at a hostel only to have me sit on a bus for 3hrs the next day. I went and got my bags (all 100lbs of them) and then tried to figure out where to go. I had to catch a shuttle to another terminal. I made it to the other terminal brought my bags to the gate and realized that I had to check in upstairs at the ticket counter (where my “ticket” was waiting at will call.) Maneuvering 100lbs around a shady little airport is not as much fun as one might think. Thankfully some kindly gentleman offered to show me where the ticketing counter was. When I told him he could just tell me he said he wasn’t doing anything anyway so up we went. I guess that’s just how it works out here.
You know you are in a small airport when…the woman checking you in is in a hoodie and jeans, making small (slow) talk with the woman in front of you, she checks you in with a highlighter off of her clipboard, asks you how much you weigh, doesn’t need to see your ID and then doesn’t give you a boarding pass because its only going to be you and 4 other people on the flight and the pilot is going to give a headcount and walk you out to the plane himself.
When they ask you your weight you know the plane is going to have a propeller. But in all honesty it was awesome. It took 30min to get to Kenai mostly over water and then trees as we got closer. There were streams down below that looked like they could have spelled things the way that they curved all crazy like. And there were mountains in the distance – it was just beautiful.
We arrived at Kenai Airport where John (it’s a very personal airport) came out to help us off the plane and get our luggage. Charles, Molly, and Chapin all came to pick me up which was great because it meant that I was really here and that I could stop getting on and off planes. Plus it was just really nice to see friendly faces.
I didn’t know what to expect as far as the plant but its not what I expected. Its kind of run down and looks like it has been sitting since last season – which it has. There are only a handful of people here, the international people will come in June. I still don’t know what I am doing – I find out tomorrow when I report for work at 8am. I got a tour of the place. It doesn’t stink…yet. I’m bracing myself for the funk.

9:50pm
Welcome to Kenai: don’t drink the water. So I go to brush my teeth and I hear Molly saying from before “don’t drink the water.” I’ve already wet my brush and started to brush…but now what. So I go to the other bathroom…gray sedimenty water. Then I go find Chapin “Where am I supposed to rinse” but through the foam of course. He tells me to go over to the break room where I find a water cooler – with cold water…to rinse my minty teeth. COLD on the teeth! I dip my brush in the rest of the clean water and walk back to my room. Note to self – find a solution for this bizarre quandary. Hmmm…showers…

Monday May 19, 2008 7:07am Kenai
I just saw my first bald eagle – and it was awesome. I woke up at 5:45am because I just couldn’t sleep anymore. I tackled the shower and the brushing of the teeth – the people here seem clean so they must be using the showers and sinks - I think I’ll be okay. But then I had time to kill so I figured that I would go take pictures and look around. I was walking over to this pond by the road into the plant and I looked up and there it was flying overhead. It was this really peaceful and overwhelming moment because I wasn’t expecting it. I guess that’s how it happens though. So of course I called my dad and while I was on the phone with him this cute bunny scampered across the road. I’m thinking great - “nature” - I’ll take a picture. It was all cute sitting under the front of a car so I got closer to take the picture. It didn’t move so I took a few shots. Then I started walking and the bunny ran in front of me. I’m thinking “brave bunny.” Then it went and sat by one of the boats looking up at it so I figured I would take some more pictures. I got closer and it didn’t move again. I was trying to get some close up shots when it ran by me again then stopped. Then as I was lining up my shot out of nowhere the bunny darted across my path and then it circled me and before I could realize what was going on it started spraying me with who knows what out of its butt. It was like in Jurassic Park when that “cute” dinosaur sprayed Newman. So naturally I started to walk away and it followed me! I took some more steps and so did it. I was starting to get nervous because a.) What the hell did it spray on me? 2.) Why was this bunny so crazy? And d.) How was I going to get away? I stared into its beady eyes and decided just to run. Luckily the bunny realized it had met its match and I escaped but it was just so weird.