Shibby's Alaska Journal

The Epic (fail) of GCI Alaska

2009-12-02T15:27:00.007-09:00

Below, please find the contents of a Microsoft Notebook file that I have been composing throughout the day:

Well, it's been a while since postings on this blog have wound down from a crawl, to a drip, to a nothing. I suppose I should apologize, but as anyone who knows me is aware, I haven't given up on filling everyone in on the mundane details of my existence. I've just changed forums. After constantly updating Facebook and twitter, there always seems little left to package up into an original blog post.

But today I need to post about a topic that will take me longer than 140 characters.

The latest chapter in our ongoing, now 4-month loathe/hate relationship with GCI, has prompted me to put the whole story (or at least as much as I can accurately remember, with my notes from phone calls, etc) into writing. Mostly as catharsis, but also as fair warning. Yes, GCI has a monopoly in Bethel, so if you want cable, a cell phone, and internet (though there you have a couple other options, I believe), you'll have to deal with them...but be afraid. Be very afraid.

Sara and I got our cell phones this spring in Nunapitchuk. It was an exciting time, as GCI had just put up a cell antenna, and this was the very first time such "big city" technology was going to be availiable in the village. The representative set up camp in the community building, and residents flocked over to sign up for their contracts and get their phones. I headed over after work, got in line, and after 45 minutes of waiting we were told that the reason the line wasn't moving was that the coverage was down, and that we could stay in line or come back in a bit. This wasn't the first time that day the cell coverage was out, and the reps weren't able to call in and activate new phones. In retrospect, this should have been my first hint at what was to come, but the tech was new there, so there were bound to be bugs, right? Well after getting to the head of the line, watching people be told they were going to need to put down 4, 5, 600 dollar deposits (which I totally understand, by the way), I signed up...only to be told they were now out of phones. Well, not out of phones, exactly...the representative, seeing the results of my credit check, began a "hard sell", trying to get me to "just go ahead and get a blackberry". When I asked (already knowing the answer) if the service to support data was even availiable in the village, he said "well no, but it will be someday!"

Really? So I should purchase a $300 smartphone that won't even work to make calls in the village half the time, in preparation for whenever GCI brings data service to this village? What are the odds that such a thing will happen before this particular model is hopelessly out-of-date? But I digress...

We waited, called Anchorage, got our phones by mail, and they worked about as well as we would have expected in the village. That is to say, not always, but at least as often as out land line, and without the 8-second delay. So we were happy. Then came summer, back in WI, where the service map correctly told us we'd have service in our hometown and points north, but none at all once we ventured 10 miles south. Trips to Madison and Wisconsin Dells confirmed this...no problem, it was expected. Odd things with out phones, though - some folk's text messages wouldnt come through, while other people couldn't call us, only txt, and others would try calling us only to get an error as "invalid number". All calls had a 5-8 second delay. When I asked about this while later on the line with a particularly competant GCI tech, they mentioned this was most likely the fault of whichever service ran the particular towers we were bouncing off of not recognizing GCI phones or their setup, which sounds plausable considering I can't imagine Verizon in Central WI has much use by cell phones from Alaska. GCI gets a pass on that, in my book.

Then in August, we head back up to Alaska and move into Bethel. Hub town, lots of services, obvious the cell service would be better than in the village, right? Heh. This is where it gets interesting.

To date, I have not made a single call from my home lasting longer than 5 minutes that has not been "dropped". And that's when I'm lucky enough to be able to make a call. Often, dialing and pressing send gets a "BEEP BEEP BEEP" and a big red error message on my phone. The specific error rotates: "NETWORK BUSY" is most common, with "UNABLE TO COMPLETE CALL" and "NETWORK ERROR" also making appearances. Now, I know what you're thinking...how's the signal strength in your house? Well, as I sit here at my computer desk typing this, my phone is next to me, showing 4 bars. It was showing 4 bars throughout my conversation with a GCI tech this morning, during the course of which the call dropped and he called me back 4 times (I have taken to asking, first thing when I get on with a human, for them to call me back if we get disconnected. It works.) Now, mind you, this didn't stop a GCI Cell Tech from sounding annoyed and suggesting that I just stand by the window or go outside whenever I want to make a phone call. Dispite the fact that I told him I had 4 bars and that I wasn't convinced signal strength was the issue. Oh well.

This would be a good place for me to interject that the bright spot in my whole interaction with GCI has been their 1-800 line customer service reps and techs. I would say that 75% of the ones that I've talked to have tried to be helpful, and even when they couldn't (and usually after having to call me back 8 or 9 times in the course of a 15 minute converation) they've been very sympathetic, saying they couldn't *believe* how bad my service was, how they'd never heard anything like it, etc etc. One even managed to put a $100 credit to our account for the trouble, which was nice, considering our bills are currently in the $150-$180 range for cell and internet combined. Now if only they could get something done about maybe letting us be able to use it.

Anyways, to shorten up the story of everything leading up to today, we've been struggling to use our phones. After complaining on twitter (much as I intend to now, after today's incident), I was contacted by the very nice, helpful person in charge of the GCIAK twitter account, who forwarded my information and problem to a Cell Help Desk specialist(?), I think, named Michael Lane(?)...the reason those are currently uncertain is because I can't access my email at the moment to confirm them. Anyways, Mr. Lane was extremely helpful and informative about the situation in Bethel, and told me that there were some tower upgrades going on, and asked for some feedback as to how they improved my service. It was marginally better for a few weeks, but as the Internet Tech I spoke to this morning and who had to call me back a nuber of times because the "network was too busy for my call" at 8:45am can attest...that improvement is no longer.

So that gets us to now...our cell phones suck, but they are what they are. Internet is expensive, and the transfer limits archaic for current browsing, but we stay off of youtube, don't download much, and just suck it up and pay the overage when we ultimately go over by a couple gigs a month. Then, yesterday. Heh. Well, our internet just plain stops working. Power-cycle the modem a few times, it's fine, no errors, all lights are good, no firewall issues, no hardware issues, went outside and checked the cable line into the house...it's fine. My first thought was that there was an outage, as happens sometimes...it would suck, but there are other things to do rather than check my email, so no big deal. I wait a few hours, try again, still no luck. Try calling the Bethel GCI office, first two times my phone disconnects before the call rings twice. Third time, "NETWORK BUSY". Fourth time, it's ringing! And ringing...and ringing...no answer. At 3:45pm on a Tuesday. I chalk it up to "it's Bethel" and txt Sara, to see if she can try calling from work while I try the 1-800 number in Anchorage. She gets ahold of someone at the Bethel office who curt and annoyed, tells her there's no outage and we should just turn the modem off and back on again. Thanks. Meanwhile, I have no luck getting my phone to call Anchorage, so I decide to just let it sit unplugged overnight and hope things resolve themselves.

This morning, same thing. Internet connects for maybe 10 seconds, then freezes, "limited to no connectivity". Boo. So, I wait until after 8 and call the 1-800 number to talk to GCI internet tech support. Not to much of a hold at this hour, so I get a tech quickly and tell him my usual "if you lose me, can you call me back?" schpiel. Explain the situation, he runs through a couple things, it's all good, he puts me on hold while he talks to some people. Call drops, he calls me back, and has some interesting news. Our modem has been shut off for non-payment. Mind you, I pay my bills online, have emailed confirmations, recipts, and entries in my checkbook program and on our bank statement SHOWING exactly when and for how much we made our payments. Here's where the frustration turns to absurdity and hilarity. What have we not paid? Our cable television bill! We do not have cable television. In fact, we pay an extra $7.99 a month "cable access fee" on our internet bill specifically BECAUSE we do not have cable TV. I explain this to the internet tech, who is instant messaging different people at GCI in customer service, etc (i'm not sure), and they all agree something is seriously messed up, but that the "shutoff" was initiated in the Bethel GCI office, so he isn't able to do anything right away, he has to leave a message for the people in Bethel.

So that's where I stand with GCI Alaska right now. Despite the troubles we've been having with service, I've been paying my bills on time, using their online "my ebill" system, getting recipts, bank statements, never a word of problem...only to have them shut off my internet for non-payment of a service they do not provide me.

It's 10:40am here in Bethel as I'm tying this. I got off the phone with the internet tech (whose name I sadly cannot remember at the moment, because he was excellent) about an hour and a half ago. He told me he'd do whatever he could to get this mess resolved ASAP and give me a call back. As I'm not going to be able to post this text/manifesto until I get internet back, I will continue to update below if/when anything happens.

*UPDATE* - 11:15am: Nothing from GCI yet, no call and internet not working. Interestingly, just was told by my wife by txt that of the handfull of people around her in her office, two have had similar billing problems with GCI here in Bethel. Now that I think of it, it isn't our first billing problem with them here, they charged us double for installation on our September bill, and double rates for our first month. Not sure that even ever got resolved on our account. I remember calling Anchorage, having a CSR there look at my account, and say "what the heck are they doing at that office there?"

*UPDATE* - 3:12pm: RESOLUTION! So get this. After not hearing from them by 2:15pm, ww decide Sara would call the Bethel office to see if anything had been resolved. She texts me, while still on the phone with them, "they say we never paid a connection fee!" So as you can imagine (see my previous update, re: being DOUBLE CHARGED for a connection fee), this gets me pretty darn hopping mad. I call Anchorage. The CSR, Stephanie, is very nice and helpful, and reads through all the notes on my account, and as far as she can figure, the error has been corrected and our internet has been turned back on as of 11:20am...yet I still have no internet. She forwards me to Rick over in Internet Tech support, who magically zaps my modem and bingo, back online.

Now back to the subject of the mysterious unpaid connection fee. Remember the connection fee of $24.99 we were double billed for in September, the one i mentioned above with the billing problems? That I then called and had corrected by the good folks in Anchorage who couldn't figure out how the Bethel office had screwed up the billing? Yeah, that was for "Internet Setup"...apparently, according to the good folks in the Bethel office, there's another $26.99 connection fee for CABLE SERVICE, even though we don't have cable, and already paid the internet setup fee. Apparently when you set up "Cable Internet", they charge you for each word seperately.

Why didn't we pay this Cable Service set up fee, you ask? Because we never got a bill. Why didn't we get a bill, you ask?? Because the cable billing is ON AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT COMPUTER SYSTEM THAN THE INTERNET/PHONE BILLING SYSTEM, AND SINCE WE DON'T HAVE CABLE TV, THEY DIDN'T HAVE OUR INFORMATION! That's right, the global communication company can't even get it's Cable Department to communicate with the Cell phone and Internet department. They didn't have our address, didn't have our phone number (our GCI cell phone number, I remind you), and as such, simply waited 'til the time had passed when we were far enough past due on our cable setup fee and shut off the cable line to out internet modem.

The genius of this system surpasses anything my mind is able to comprehend.

But at the moment, since my internet is back up and running (thank you un-named tech from this morning, Stephanie, and Rick in Anchorage), I'm going to click "save" on this notepad file, and get to posting. I'd promise more updates later, but god I hope not...

*UPDATE* - 4:37pm: Wow! So the Internet Tech that I spoke to first thing this morning - his name is Carl, by the way...I had forgotten that earlier - called back to follow up. I told him how things played out this afternoon. He did some checking in the notes on my account, with his supervisor sitting beside him checking along, and decided that they need to send a message to Bethel and the CSRs. Apparently, the way Bethel Office explained it to Sara (separate fees for hooking up cable and internet when you're only getting internet) is NOT how it's supposed to be done. And that emphasis is his, not mine. When I told him the Bethel office had waived the late fees and was sending a bill for the "overdue" $26, he asked "Oh, so you haven't paid that yet? Good. I'm going to personally make sure this gets figured out and we get your charges on your account right."

Video Dump!

2009-05-16T12:11:00.011-08:00

So! Facebook video uploads are still not playing nice with our internet, so we have a minor backload of videos from the last couple weeks. Mind if we throw them all into one big post? K, here ya go:

Here's Loki out for a swim this morning, dodging chunks of river ice...

Here's Isaac walking home from school Thursday afternoon...

And now some from the Bethel trip. First, a video of our transportation to and from the airport :-P...

Isaac spent an entire day continuously running around the Yurt, destroying everything within his reach...here's a sample...

And finally, a quick one of us taking off from Bethel, heading home!

A brief AK political update...

2009-05-07T17:45:00.004-08:00

After reading yesterday that our dear Governor's approval ratings have dropped once again, now down to 54%, an interesting article posted today that helps explain why still over half of the residents of this state are still eating up Sarah's b.s. sandwiches:

Tundra Drums: Reformer Palin takes on political machine again

Now that's some quality stuff, huh? The title alone was enough to make me lose my (yummy) Bethel Subway lunch. Mind you, this is the same "newspaper" that published an "article" by the CEO of a mining company last year, extolling the virtues of the new proposed mining project. But it's not just the little publications, the largest paper in the state and the most popular local network's evening news are often using the same kinds of ass-kissy, hometown hero, "she's our girl!" kinds of spins on their stories. Not editorials...pieces of supposed news.

In reality, I guess I should be impressed that 46% of Alaskans have managed to see through the smokescreen. Given what a "big deal" her V.P. nomination was, and how she put Alaska "on the map", she must be scared shitless at this point that her approval rating has dipped to where it is. Maybe people are noticing that while Alaska is facing a ton of vitally important issues at the moment, she's been too busy forming legal defense funds, forming her own P.A.C, and using state funds to travel the country on the paleo-religious-conservative meeting circuit. Not to mention farming out the trainwreck her extended family has become.

Ok, rant over. Watch for a Bethel trip report :-)

Muchly with the Videos

2009-05-02T23:38:00.006-08:00

Because we seem to have found our niche with the recent video postings...

The first one is Isaac playing with his soccer ball a week ago or so:

And this is Isaac walking around outside on the boardwalk for the first time this afternoon:

No, Alanis...

2009-05-02T14:21:00.003-08:00

Not ironic (dontcha think?), just bummeriffic timing.

So of course, the weekend after we sell the snowmachine, I have no fewer than three people ask me if I want to go along hunting with them. Where were they last weekend? Ugh.

Though I suppose the family we sold the machine to hasn't actually given us any money for it yet, so I should just call them and ask to use it...but I'm a little too socially awkward to do that. Besides, I'm sure they're out on it hunting anyway.

Ah, spring on the tundra.

Another Video..

2009-04-30T19:37:00.006-08:00

Well, I guess if I can't do a lot of blogging, at least I can post videos, right?

Here's Isaac playing his game of the day (for Thursday)..."I run, and they chase me!"

P.S. Please pardon the messy state of our house...moving soon, ya know...

Sprung!

2009-04-29T12:50:00.005-08:00

Spring, I mean...not in the Sir-Mix-Alot usage. Though have you seen that BK commercial? Disturbing...

So yeah, I've obviously been lured away from the at-length blogging here by the micro-blogging miracles that are Facebook and Twitter. Though if you're reading this, you're probably a Facebook friend, and maybe even a Twitter-er. If you are on Twitter and don't have me there, I'm shibby917. Hook a brotha up.

Not much to update here that hasn't been covered elsewhere...in the last month we've played Trivia (Dad's = 2nd place to Network. Look out next year...), made and then broken plans for a visit to SoCal, watched spring struggle to arrive on the Y-K Delta, started (barely) getting ready for our big move to Bethel, and done a lot of chasing an 11 month old destruction machine around the house. Good times.

Ok, I must warn you...there's a video here. It's really boring, most likely, unless you're related to this little bugger. Also, he was running around nekkid last night before his bath when he opened up his early bday gifts from grandma, grandpa, and Auntie Laverne...so if you're at all offended by baby-wang, don't click play. Indeed, I probably wouldn't have posted it here, if it weren't for the fact that Google Video has now stopped offering direct uploads (where I would normally have uploaded this, marked it as unpublished family video and just sent a link to grandparents), and I can't access youtube from here, so on the blog it goes for all the world to see. I apologize to Ike in advance for future embarrassment/trauma/therapy, and if anyone feels I should take it down, just let me know :-P

Hey look!

2009-03-26T21:50:00.001-08:00

We made the news!

Breakfast

2009-03-26T08:49:00.001-08:00

The thought process of Ike eating breakfast, as interpreted and narrated by an interested observer:

Ooh, look, cheerios on the coffee table! Jackpot!

*nom nom nom*

Hey, the dog is on the couch, within arms reach, cool!

*nom nom nom*

I bet the dog would like these cheerios, too! One for me *chomp*, one for the dog while I'm chewing, to keep me entertained

Hmm, dad saw my plan and sent Loki to sit in his kennel 'til I'm done. Now what do I do? I was having fun giving Loki cheerios...I know, I'll pick one up, walk to the kennel, and give it to the dog!

*nom*

Hmm, every time I try carrying it over, I end up eating it before i get there. This is a problem.

I know!

*grabs handful, walks to kennel while eating cheerios out of semi-closed fist*

Here you go Loki!!!

*giggle maniacally, return to table for additional fistful of cheerios*

*repeat for 20 minutes until cheerios are gone*

Hibernation

2009-03-15T18:28:00.003-08:00

So you know what the problem is? Too damn many social networking sites. By the time I get done posting pictures and "status updates" on Facebook, not to mention Twitter now, there's really nothing left to come here and write a blog update on without being redundant. Seriously, is this form of blogging becoming obsolete? It might be, at least for me...

But! In the interest of trying to not go, oh, a full month between posts, here's an update. Because really, there has been news.

First off, we spent last weekend in Anchorage! Well, a long weekend, that made up our abbreviated Spring Break. We headed in on Wednesday evening, by snowmachine because the weather (of course) wouldn't let our chartered plane fly out to get us. Once we got to Bethel, sore and soaking wet, we discovered that the jet from Anchorage was actually going to come in for the first time in two days! Buoyed by the news we might actually make it out, we trucked over to the nearest diner to have some supper and kill the few hours 'til the plane was to arrive. Then, the scariness began. We were traveling some friends/coworkers and their baby, same flights, same hotel, everything. After we ate (and only a couple minutes after Sara, Ike and I had started to walk back to the terminal while our friends got ready), our friend had a seizure and collapsed, while her husband frantically called for an ambulance. It's astonishingly lucky that this happened while we were in Bethel, where there's actual medical care available, as if it ha happened in the village they would have had to rely on help to fly out, which in the weather would have been nearly impossible. So...while Sara, Isaac and I got word of this, let the airline know that their bags needed to come off the plane, etc., and flew to Anchorage on our regularly scheduled flight, our friends were taken to the hospital, and then on to Anchorage a few hours behind us on a medivac flight. Unreal.

So, our weekend in Anchorage was a combination of relaxing, sobering, productive, and adventurous. We helped our friends as much as we could, did some shopping, ate some good food, drank some good beer, and generally did what bush teachers do when they head into the big city. We even got memberships at Sam's Club, filled a cart, and braved the "bush order" process. Our boxes are supposedly on the way, but I'll let you know how that goes :-P

As for other big news...it's LKSD Shuffle season. Contract time. Our version of the hot stove league. The time of year when gossip is afoot about who's leaving, who's changing sites, who's moving up in the world and who's giving up and going home to the lower 48 to lick their wounds. Well, as you may have known, Sara's position has been eliminated for next year. Nothing to do with anything, other than the fact that the district had apparently used the wrong funding for the program, and has to alter the way the job gets done. Not a huge deal, since all the teachers in those positions are pretty much guaranteed jobs either at their sites or elsewhere in the district if they so desire, but it has made "shuffle season" a little extra shuffly this year.

As for what Sara plans on doing, we had (or so we thought) a few options. One of the potential jobs was as a teacher coach, basically teaching teachers how to fill in the blanks left by the fact that the ELD positions were going bye-bye. Then there was the option of simply taking a regular teaching job, either here in Nunap or elsewhere in the district. This is pretty much where we thought we were headed, with a sweet, sweet spot in Oscarville with one of our good friends at a great, small school only a stone's throw from Bethel. Until....Sara heard about an opening for a jig at the District Office in Bethel, and was encouraged to apply. For various reasons, we assumed this was sort of a pie in the sky, not really plausible, "hey, I'm gonna do this just to practice my interviewing skills" kind of job application.

Turns out....she got the job. We're moving to Bethel.

I can't even wrap my brain around what this means, both in terms of challenges and advantages. The Cliffs Notes version from our "very serious discussion" about whether we wanted to take the job and move "into town"? Here we go.

Cons: Moving sucks (but we were going to have to do that no matter what), we'll have to buy a car, we have to find (and pay for, at Bethel prices) our own housing, Sara stepping into the unknown re: working at the D.O. and we'll have to live at a more "real world" pace...no more laid back lifestyle of the village, where most days the big decision is whether or not to hit up the Post Office and the store on the way home from work. It's amazing how stress free life can be where there is simply nothing to do.

Pros: Access to stores and restaurants, easier travel (it basically removes a step), stuff to do, hosting friends from the villages, work/volunteer opportunities for me, easier for people to come visit from the lower 48, access to a vet (not to mention our own, human, medical care), and a downright cool, quirky community.

Yeah, the decision was scary (as are it's implications), but it wasn't all that tough to make. Bethel ho!

Yes, we are huge nerds.

2009-02-17T18:44:00.003-09:00

And if that's not enough, here's a link to an even better video...at least for the Grandmas in the audience ;-)

Customer Service Fun

2009-02-14T20:48:00.006-09:00

After a few months of finagling and more emails than she probably cares to count, Sara succeeded this week in bringing fresh, organically grown produce to the village. No, she didn't plant a garden. She did, however, coordinate to get Nunapitchuk as a drop-off site for Full Circle Farm. So now, instead of hoping to have a few bruised apples and sad looking onions (if anything) to pick through at the store, we will get glorious fruits and veggies delivered once a week! Needless to say, we're quite excited...not to mention eating like royalty.

We had another successful - if slightly more frustrating - customer service victory this week, involving trying to take advantage of the new cell phone service here in the village. Recently, GCI put up a tower, and after seeing cell phones on TV and all around them when they visit Bethel or Anchorage, people here have all jumped on the cell phone bandwagon. It's a good thing, in a way, as many of the Search and Rescue missions that are currently conducted for people who have gitten turned around or run out of gas between villages will probably be reduced if people are able to call for help.

But anyways, GCI started cell service here recently, and came out to the village for a day a couple months ago an signed a bunch of people up. After hearing about this, we had discussed calling the company and getting signed up, not knowing if the reps would come back out. I actually called them a week ago to ask a few questions about the service, but as it turns out they came back on Wednesday, and I headed over as soon as I could to try to get signed up. Well, when I got to the community building, there were a bunch of people already waiting, so I got a form to fill out, and had a seat. Well, as it turned out, they were at a standstill because their tower and network were "down" (good sign, huh?), and we were all sitting around waiting for the reps to be able to call in credit checks. Yeah. Once the network came back up, I spent an hour waiting around for people to get their credit checked, have it come back bad, and argue with the reps about having to pay hundreds of dollars in deposits to get a phone. So. By time I got to talk to a rep, they were out of the phones we wanted, and the rep was (and this is a gross understatement) not at all helpful. Add to that the fact that he kept calling me "bro", trying to sell me a Blackberry even though the tower here doesn't support data service, and I just asked him for my paperwork back and walked out. So after wasting a few hours waiting in the community building, I just decided to call the 800-number and try to get phones that way. After talking to a couple people and getting disconnected (again with the good signs from a phone company), Sara and I have cell phones on the way that will replace our crappy landline here, and work just fine (in theory) back in WI.

So numbers will be forthcoming :-)

(special note: This entry was written, about a sentence at a time, over the course of 5 hours today. Please blame any repetition, logical leaps, and disjointed writing on NPR, Loki, Isaac, and a Zach Galifianakis TV special.)

On CNN

2009-02-09T12:08:00.002-09:00

CNN: In rural Alaska villages, families struggle to survive

I wonder if any of this attention is thanks to our lovely Governor's new national profile?

Unfortunately, she's too busy setting up her Political Action Committee and trying to figure out how to keep her name in the national headlines to actually do anything productive.

"Well THERE'S yer problem!"

2009-01-29T17:20:00.002-09:00

So yeah, when they tell you to be careful about over-reving your snowmachine when the track's frozen, because you might ruin your belt...

They're not kidding.

Good thing we're S-M-R-T and keep a spare around! (though now we have to order a replacement for the spare...but at least we can still bum around for now :-P)

You know what's tough?

2009-01-29T17:13:00.002-09:00

Getting back on the blogging train once you've missed a whole bunch of time. Especially over the holidays and beginning of a semester when there is really SO much blogworthy stuff to catch up on, that it just keeps getting more and more daunting.

So you keep slacking.

But fear not, dear readers...I will take up the challenge. For now, here are links to 2 photo galleries that are posted on Facebook but available for all you non-facebookers to see :-P

Holiday Break Album

Isaac IV

Xmas Break So Far (in Varying Poetic Forms)

2008-12-29T11:18:00.005-09:00

Travel (McWhirtle)

The airplanes and jetways
are never the problem,
it's just getting airborne
in spite of the fog.

And so as I shouted
while sprinting the tarmac,
"Just screw my blue luggage
and load the damn dog!"

First week Back (Haiku)

Beer and cigarettes
Nights at Joe's Bar on the Square
Like I never left

Weather (Fib)

Wind,
Snow,
More snow.
Roads are bad,
But the plows aren't out:
Waiting to make holiday pay.

Christmas (Limerick)

As the holiday season inspired us
To be social and festive and pius,
Clan Mac drove up North,
Where we all waddled forth,
To the can with a mean norovirus.

Rougher in Alaska!

2008-12-09T18:51:00.004-09:00

So being the giant nerds that we are, Sara and I listen to a lot of Public Radio. Mind you, this is the only radio station we get, and even if it wasn't, our radio dial is broken, stuck on 640am, so it wouldn't matter. But even so, we both listened to a lot of Public Radio before we were up here, so it's fine by us. Anyways, for those of you back in the lower 48, let me explain a little about our ...eclectic...local station. It's a mix of the following:

1. Standard NPR programs we all know and love (Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Cartalk/WWDT/Prairie Home Companion/whatever else on the weekends)

2. Local programming like area news/events/weather, along with some very regional "traditional" stuff (like the Birthday Call-In show at 3:30 every day, where people can just call in and wish friends and family a happy birthday, and which, considering local phone etiquette, can be quite humorous). Not to mention locally-programmed music shows that are as crazy and varied as the folks who live here...Reggae one night, Techo the next. Kinda like large scale college radio, now that I think of it. The Thirsty Thursday Show was EPIC in its coolness (where else do you hear Kris-Kross, David Allen Coe, and G'n'R played back to back on Public Radio, with the swear words usually "accidentally" not bleeped?) but alas, is no more, as the hosts moved away from Bethel this fall.

3. Alaska Public Radio programs, including state news reports and all the regular stuff you'd expect from state public radio stations, but one show in particular has really grown on me. It's a show called simply AK, and every week is a treat. This past week's episode had a little comedy bit thrown in at the end making fun of all the Alaska-based reality shows that have popped up on cable in the last few years, and Sara and I enjoyed it so much I had to download, clip, and find a way to post it on here for you to enjoy. I ended up just using the audio in front of a picture and uploading as a video, so watch for a special (and apropos) cameo by our own favorite 2nd grade teacher ;-)

Time to get a Blackberry?

2008-12-05T13:20:00.003-09:00

Cell phone coverage has made it to the village!

Tundra Drums: Cell phones the latest rage in Bush Alaska

So far, we can get a signal on Sara's pre-paid phone she bought in Anchorage last spring while she was there waiting for Isaac to arrive, but we can't actually use it as we're not on the same plan. We get 3 bars of signal, but the display reads "emergency use only". Still, it's good to know that it works in an emergency. As for my phone, it's on the Sprint network, so it's still useless 'til I get down to the lower 48.

But if GCI has brought a cell signal to Nunap, might internet be close behind? We can only hope...

Like a furry, grey marshmallow

2008-12-04T19:25:00.005-09:00

So I rarely post pictures of myself here, not because I'm shy or anything, but because I'm usually the one taking the pictures...but here I am last night.

The weather shifted earlier this week, with the temp climbing 50 degrees (from -15F to 35F), and winds gusting to 40 mph bringing moist air and snow. Of course, as I watched the wind whip the wet snow into soggy drifts around our house...all while losing sight of all but the nearest neighbors' houses...I decided it would be a good idea to cover up our snowmachine, which I had stupidly left uncovered after returning from Bethel. Unfortunately, I had to wait until Sara got home (it was a little too stormy out to bring Isaac out to play in the snow), so by the time I got out there, the machine was pretty well drifted in. I swept it off, covered it, and bungeed the cover down (considering snow seems to sneak under the cover when it's windy), and Sara was kind enough to snap a picture as I came in the door.

Had it been a few degrees colder my face would have been solid ice, but luckily it was just covered in slush...

Happy Trails

2008-12-03T10:26:00.004-09:00

You know, it's amazing how much of a difference a little less drifting can make.

I took advantage of the long Thanksgiving weekend to take a ride into Bethel on Saturday to pick up some groceries and a new mattress for Isaac (he's gotten too good at climbing to be just in the co-sleeper at night). The plan worked out well, as a few of our neighbors flew in early to visit the craft fair, and the husband of one of the fliers wanted to ride along, as he had never been into Bethel by snowmachine, so I didn't have to ride alone.

Last year, the trail was so rough from the light snow and windy weather that the 26.3 miles from my front door to the AC store was anywhere from a 2 to 3 hour ride, most trips. The best we did all last year was to run a pace that would have gotten us there in around an hour in the early spring when the weather was warm and the trail was flat and slick, but unfortunately the warm weather and our...aggressive pace...caused my co-traveler's machine to give out (to the tune of a couple new pistons and cylinders :-/ )

This year so far, knock on wood, the trail is much better. I don't know if it was the early freeze or how much snow we've had so far, but the trail was better Saturday than it was at any point last year. We made it in only an hour and fifteen minutes, which is pretty darn fast considering it was Jim's first time on the trail. Even heading back pulling a mattress and boxspring on the school sled, we got back in less than an hour and a half. That is, minus a tail light (from sled impact) and a chain clip pulled apart like a paper clip (from the weight of the sled), of course.

Unfortunately, it's been snowing and crazy windy for the past few days, so the trail could be wrecked by now. I guess I'll find out next time I go riding :-P

Sounds like someone was going "Into the Wild"

2008-12-03T10:19:00.001-09:00

Fairbanks News-Miner: Brooks Range hiker rebuked for rescue

Gotta start him early!

2008-11-22T11:04:00.003-09:00

This is what happens when you combine geeky parents, Saturday morning, and access to polkas.

Poor little guy.

Five. Five-dolla. Five-dolla foot longs.*

2008-11-21T12:34:00.007-09:00

*(Unless you're in Bethel. Then they are nine-dolla foot longs)

Well! What's new here, you ask?

Not too much. Can not believe we're coming up on December and the end of the semester already! Maybe it's because I've been at home with Isaac and not teaching, but this year is just flying by. We'll see how next semester goes once I'm...knock on wood...back to working part time (or maybe even full time? Rumors are afoot...)

I got to make a surprise trip into Bethel last weekend. It's actually kind of funny, because on Sunday morning while we were watching the Packer game, Sara made a joking suggestion that I snowmachine into Bethel to get Subway. You see, Subway is the only national-type chain within a good 450 miles, and sometimes the lure of the TV advertising does its job. I, of course, replied to her suggestion in the negative, stating that with the trail conditions as they were, it would be 4 hours until I returned with her sandwich, by which time she would have surely eaten something else. We considered the matter tabled.

Well, little did I imagine that later that day, we would receive a call about our Principal being stuck in Bethel due to weather and planes not flying, and asking if I'd be interested to ride in and help pick him and his bags up. Of course, having yet to get out and "stretch my legs" farther than to Kasigluk so far this winter, I jumped at the chance. The trail had actually improved a little bit due to a few inches of light, fluffy snow that fell over the weekend (and without wind to drift it about), and we made it in at a decent pace...about an hour and 15 minutes.

So we picked Garry up, made it back before 9 (which was a plesant surprise, considering we didn't leave 'til after 5), and Sara ended up getting her Subway after all.

Thanksgiving in Wasilla...

2008-11-21T11:13:00.003-09:00

Ah, our classy Governor. Is there anything she can't ruin?

Best quote: "(sarcastically)...certainly we'll get criticism for even doing this!"

She truly is the gift that keeps on giving.

Loooong weekend?

2008-11-13T22:30:00.002-09:00

It's been a little odd around here this week. Sara's been home all week sick...well, home sick Monday and Tuesday by choice, and then yesterday and today because they sent her home Wednesday because her eye looked kinda funky. She went to the clinic today, more out of a desire to get the ok to go back to work, I think, but ended up "winning the clinic game" as she called it: mild eye, sinus, and ear infections, strep throat, and a cold on top of all that. So yeah, how Ike and I have managed not to really get sick (yet...knock on wood), I don't know.

As a side effect of having Sara home today, I had a few hours to poke around and retroactively apply "labels" to all the posts on this blog, all the way back through 2006. For some reason, the labels aren't showing up on the posts themselves, but the menu on the right should work if for some reason you ever wanted to go back and narrow down to all the entries I ever wrote about Loki, or snowmachining, or posts with video or anything like that.

Now if only I could post more often, eh?

Another link (with bonus rant)

2008-11-13T12:06:00.004-09:00

Gentle reader, I hope you don't mind that many of my posts this year have been links to articles about our lovely state. It's just that we've been in the news, not to mention the lower 48's public consciousness, lately for some reason, and let's face it...the articles by the real, actual "writers" of the liberul media elite do a much better job than I ever could.

So! In that vein, here's an article from the ADN today about our use of wind power here in Kasigluk/Nunap:

Our view: Wind at work

Quite interesting to me, in that I think it provides a little bit of a roadmap to the viability and the way renewable energy is finally going to get traction in this country, at least in my humble and unenlightened opinion. Having less to do with concern about climate change, environmentalism, and worry about our "carbon footprint" (garbage disposal here consists of hauling trash out to a designated "dump" area on the tundra and setting it ablaze on occasion), and more about simple economic self interest. If wind turbines can generate energy in a local economy dealing with $7+ per gallon heating fuel, then hell yeah, we're on it.

Not that things like this would necessarily happen without the "pork" that Alaska gets from the Federal Government...you know, like the "Bridge to Nowhere". Sorry, venting again. I'm getting a little sick of reading all the Alaska-bashing on some of the lefty political blogs I frequent. Haha, we're still counting votes because they're arriving on dogsled...haha, we're all idiots who voted for a convicted felon...haha, we all want to "drill baby drill", shoot wolves from helicopters, and think we have foreign policy experience because we're by Russia. Well guess what, we need some of that "pork" because many places in this undeveloped state still are missing basic infrastructure like roads and plumbing. And those backwards, hillbilly rural voters whose votes they're now counting, more than a week after the election because the dogsled just arrived? Yeah, they just put Begich ahead of ConvicTed Stevens, even though we know not having Uncle Ted in the Senate will probably lead to less money and slower development out here. Yeah, you're welcome.

Haha!

2008-11-12T09:52:00.003-09:00

What is up with all this national media attention lately out here??

Wall Street Journal - Are These the Shortest Commercial Flights in the U.S.?

Note to readers...as the person re-doing the school's website (at a snail's pace, admittedly), don't count on that link to the dog sleds working for long ;-)

Unfortunately, she is my Governor, so I must keep mocking her.

2008-11-10T17:08:00.009-09:00

Copy-pasted, because I'm the laziest blogger ever:

From the Urban Dictionary:

Palin

An applicant lacking even basic job skills

Someone supremely un-self-aware or lacking any relative sense of what he/she does or doesn't know.

HR sent me another Palin for the marketing manager job.

Palin v.

to abandon one's principles for short term gain

Tom, a devout vegan, palined when he consumed a happy meal solely to obtain the collectible toy it contained.

Palin n.

Pejorative term that refers to an incompetent, impractical, irrelevant or incapable person who has been appointed to a position of great importance.

A person who holds authority disproportionate to his or her requisite ethics and qualifications. Derived from John McCain's controversial 2008 Vice Presidential pick, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

John was recently made principal, but everybody thinks he's a Palin who can't do the job.

My new boss is such a Palin - he took my deserved place because the CEO is
his personal friend.

This list, however, I compiled over the course of the last 2 months...some of the funnier nicknames I've spotted for our illustrious Governor (in no particular order):

Caribou Barbie

Snowbilly

Bible Spice

Nanookie of the North

The Disasta from Alaska

Mooselini

Brain to Nowhere

Iditabroad

The Wicked Witch of Wasilla

Jane Six-Pack

Jane Winebox

Sideshow Moosetits

Sarah Flailin'

The Election Day post

2008-11-05T15:13:00.011-09:00

Okay, I'll readily admit I'm a big geek for politics (among other things, of course), so election days are pretty much like Christmas, Thanksgiving, St. Patrick's Day and Trivia all rolled up into one. We did it up right yesterday, with a family voting adventure and a party to watch results come in until late in the evening. Plenty of comments I could make about what voting here was like, not to mention the amazing results nationally and some not-so-cool state level results, but for now lets just take a look at some scenes from the day that was:

This is a video I cut together quickly from what I shot yesterday when we went to vote...sorry if it's a little Blair-Witch-y at the beginning, I'm just no good at the walking and the shooting.

Outside our polling place...

Isaac got to celebrate the event by getting his first solid food - avocados! There's video of this somewhere, too...I may spare you that.

Sara showing off the Obama Victory Cake I made...did I mention I'm a huge nerd? But we figured if we couldn't celebrate with beer...

Yeah, we party like rock stars here in Nunap.

Stay tuned...

2008-11-04T15:47:00.002-09:00

Busy busy election day...but stay tuned for a video and pics of Isaac's first election and the party to follow. Once I get a chance to edit and upload everything...

See what happens?

2008-10-23T13:14:00.004-08:00

I hope when Sara thought about the ramifications of leaving Isaac home alone with her intrepid, loving, handsome husband (and his downloaded sports-talk radio) every day, she took into consideration the things he might be learning...

Action Shots

2008-10-16T12:35:00.005-08:00

So last night Isaac wanted to play in a box. All was well, fun was being had. So much fun, in fact, that he got excited and started rocking back and forth, squealing with joy, as the next picture shows. You can guess what happened next...

Notice the far end of the box a good 4 inches off the ground. Kudos to the picture timing by mama...as appoximately .2 seconds later there was a minor thud on the carpet, and a brief moment of crying...and then immediate return to merryment :-P

Today's midmorning NWS update.

2008-10-15T15:31:00.002-08:00

KUSKOKWIM DELTA-
INCLUDING...BETHEL...HOOPER BAY...NUNIVAK ISLAND
1030 AM AKDT WED OCT 15 2008
.NOW...

THE KUSKOKWIM DELTA INTERIOR AND THE BETHEL AREA IS REPORTING BELOW
NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND RATHER BLUSTERY WINDS WITH WIND CHILLS OF 5
TO 10 BELOW ZERO. THE FORECAST THROUGH MID AFTERNOON IS FOR SUNNY
SKIES WITH A FEW AREAS OF COASTAL CLOUDINESS THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON.
TEMPERATURES IN TEENS AND LOW 20S WARMING INTO THE 20S TO NEAR 30.
MOSTLY NORTH WIND TO 15 MILES AN HOUR EXCEPT GUSTY TO 30 MILES AN
HOUR ALONG THE COASTAL SECTIONS.

Now that's some October weather!

Goodness!

2008-10-14T21:56:00.004-08:00

My oh my, Alaska's a hot topic lately...

BBC: Alaska village faces eroded future

Newtok's a village in our school district, over on the coast (obviously)

If you've ever wondered...

2008-10-12T21:26:00.003-08:00

...about why we're living in a dry village up here, and just what that means, read this:

Bootleggers Playing Hide-and-Seek on the Tundra - New York Times, 10/12/08

Saturday Hijinx

2008-10-11T16:25:00.004-08:00

Now that our area rug has arrived, making our living room floor a little more, well, "traction-friendly", Isaac's been working on his forward mobility. It's not exactly what you'd call "crawling" just yet, but he can definitely get where he wants to go, even if it takes a while. Good thing for me, he isn't camera shy...in fact, it's one of his favorite things to try to play with:

Hunt for White October

2008-10-09T17:40:00.004-08:00

A fine greeting this was this morning! It kept snowing and blowing all day, too...and it's supposed to go all night as well. The bad news is it's so windy (>30mph), that most of the snow is just blowing away. Not that it's likely to stick around anyway, I'm sure there's at least a couple more days near 40 degrees in our near future (if not in the forecast) before real winter sets in.

Same goes for the river...there's ice on the far side, but I doubt it'll last. If only because it's too early for people to put their boats away, and as such will keep breaking it up to get across.

But yeah, just wanted to drop a quick post to say I hope you Wisconsin folk are enjoying your 60-whatever degree weather....I could be snowmobiling in a month ;-)

Our little theoretical physicist

2008-10-05T12:18:00.003-08:00

Another first

2008-10-02T11:00:00.002-08:00

I know, just about everything that happens in an (almost) 5-month old's life is a "first", but some are deserving of a photo...

FIRST SNOW! Woohoo!!

That means first snowmachine ride can't be too far off, right? :-P

Long, boring catch-up post.

2008-10-01T10:28:00.007-08:00

Oof, I really have let this get away from me, haven't I? If you're still checking here, thanks...hopefully your persistence will begin being rewarded again soon. It's been a combination of lack of post-worthy things going on, the ease of just posting tiny updates on Facebook instead of trying to expand them into blog posts, and the fact that most of what I'd want to post in this election season would have been more suited for my old blog, and not this "Alaska Journal" specific blog. My days are pretty locked into a routine of bottles, diaper changes, and naps (while trying to fit in some school projects and other things where possible), but here goes a bit of a last-3-weeks roundup :-P

A day or two after my last post was the pushed-up date for my first Alaska PFD check. Woohoo! A nice little chunk of change. So, like many Alaskans, first thing I did was purchase some plane tickets. In my case, back to WI for xmas break. In order to save a few hundred dollars, we decided I would fly back a week early like I did my first year up here, so I'll be back in the midwest starting 12/14. Just in case you were wondering.

This year's check was even larger than originally expected, thanks to an additional $1200 tacked on by the legislature (supposedly at the behest of our Governor...you may have heard of her recently), for the expressed purpose of ofsetting the insane cost of living increases out here in rural Alaska, specifically the cost of energy. Well, in many cases, it's having another effect...people are just moving from the Bush into the hub cities, or even into Anchorage. In Bethel, I've even heard a term coined for it..."energy refugees". Now, I'm not up at school enough to be really "in the loop" as far as knowing exactly what's going on all that much in the community, but from what I hear, most of the moving that's going on here is for other reasons, but it seems (to my admittedly narrow perspective) that there's more people moving away from the village. It's by no means scientific, but we're appearing to fit the pattern. Shrug.

Speaking of Alaska news (how's that for a segue?), there was a story on the Anchorage news last night about people here paying more attention to the political news, blah blah blah, and how it can raise stress levels. They even interviewed a therapist who said people who are feeling overstressed by everything should know when to "take a break"...which I found a bit amusing, seeing that I did just about the exact same thing a few weeks back. I dunno, the whole selection of Palin and the lying BS of the Republican convention Alaska attention politically...my head was threatening to explode, so I just decided to stop paying attention for a couple weeks. And guess what...it worked. I managed to save my sanity and not go completely bonkers before election day. I hope.

One thing that's been interesting is all the attention Palin is bringing to Alaska politics. Some has been good, but most of it has been of the negative variety. While national scrutiny has blown open the Troopergate deal and the Stevens trial, it's also basically put the McCain campaign basically in control of state government, acing as council for the Governor and basically maneuvering the day-to-day operation of state affairs to the best benefit of the GOP presidential campaign. In the short term, it's helping Palin and McCain (even though Caribou Barbie's approval rating has gone from 82% to 68% here as news of some of her more...interesting...positions have come to light, McCain/Palin has basically locked Alaska's 3 electoral votes up at about a 15 point lead...you may think AK was going red anyway, but Obama had cut it to a 5 point deficit in August!), I think it's going to hurt Alaska's "solid red state" status long term. I mean, the state is still super "independent"-minded, plus lots of oil interests, etc...but when the newscasts every night are the latest gaffes by our ever-more-obviously imbecilic Governess, followed by daily coverage of our senior Senator's trial and our longtime Representative's scandals and poll deficit...well, let's just hope we can crack this ice yet.

Let's see, anything I'm forgetting? Oh, I had the chance to chaperone a trip to Bethel a couple weekends ago. Got to shop, eat out (gyros!), and watch some of the best cross country runners in the state. I was even able to bring back some goodies for Sara (sushi, anyone?) thanks to some miracles of scheduling right before we left. All in all, it was a good time and a nice 24-hour break.

At the moment, I'm going to keep watching the Brewer game while Isaac naps...with the Twins out of the playoffs thanks to a coin-flip and some shady dealing from MLB, and the Packers facing an uphill road to an 8-8 season thanks to brutal injuries, the Brewers are the only think I've got going at this point. And they're down 3-0 at this point in game one. Yee-haw.

Insanity

2008-09-11T16:53:00.005-08:00

Three posts in 2 days? Has Shaun started smoking the crack? No, but something just happened that's so cool that it demanded immediate posting...

Yeah, that's a picture of 2 cold air funnel clouds. There were 3, I guess, and the big one was even larger, but by the time I heard what was happening and got outside, these were all that were left. Isaac and I still watched them for 10 or 15 minutes before they roped out. Not surprising they lasted as long as they did, considering my wind gauge at the house was reading 0.0mph all afternoon :-P

But yeah! 5 summers of storm chasing in WI and the best funnels I see are outside my house in Alaska? There's gotta be a moral to that story...

Catching up...

2008-09-11T16:11:00.006-08:00

See? I told you I’d be back…

So what’s been going on here? Well, a whole bunch and nothing at all, if that makes any sense. A couple of weekends ago I was lucky enough to be able to chaperone a Cross Country trip to the village of Toksook Bay out on Nelson Island. I’d never been there, and had heard that it was a pretty cool place, so I really wanted to go. It was the first X-C meet of the season, and Nunap only had three runners that had gotten enough practices in to be eligible to travel, so Coach Carey didn’t necessarily need a male chaperone, but since the school had gotten a charter airplane instead of paying seat fare, my tagging along to help didn’t add to the cost of the trip :)

The races there are a part of a community-wide Berry Festival, so there were all kinds of things going on, and people visiting from all over. We went to see the traditional dancing for a little while, but for the most part the kids wanted to do what the kids always want to do when we travel…go to the store, hang out with friends from other villages, and stay up as late as possible. As it turned out, I had brought along Guitar Hero for the DS (always prepared…and I was never even a Boy Scout!), which proved quite the popular little activity with the students. At least until the battery ran out. So the rest of the nights were spent playing, reading, talking, and trying to sleep while the fiddle dance raged…if a fiddle dance can be said to rage…until 2am.

The races themselves were fun to watch. Toksook is right on the ocean, but there are some pretty substantial hills, cliffs, and rock formations, all of which the running courses took advantage of. The weather was not the best for a race, it was windy, cold, and spitting rain, but all three races went off without a hitch and the Nunap runners pushed hard and did well. As I said, it was a small group, but there wasn’t a whiner among them…which, to be honest, was a nice change of pace from most chaperoning trips I’ve done.

After staying another night, we flew back early Sunday afternoon. Our flight out on Friday had been interesting, flying low and on an indirect route around the hills because of low cloud cover, but on the way back it was clearer and we were able to fly as high as I’ve ever been in a bush plane – over 3000 feet. It made for some good views, and I was able to get my camera out and take a couple of pics as we were about to land back in Nunap.

So, while it was nice to take a little trip for a couple days, it was even nicer to get home. After all, I’m used to having a lot of baby-time these days, so I missed the little guy. I have to say, staying home during the school day has been working out pretty well. Yeah, I’m going a little crazy, and yeah, there have been some frustrating days (did I mention he has a couple of teeth already?), but on the whole it’s been a lot of fun. I try to get as much stuff done as I can during the day, both around the house and with my side projects. I’m starting a Radio Club at the school, as some of my students last year really took an interest in writing/recording/producing music, and I’m hoping to help them point some of those skills in the direction of their writing phases, expose them to some music that isn’t Tupac and 50 Cent (though, yeah, that stuff has it’s place…it’s just really all that some of them listen to), and I’m hoping to eventually get them to produce a few podcasts, in radio show format, to get them out there for everyone to hear. I’ll let you know once there’s a link…

But back to Isaac. It’s amazing how much he’s changing, getting new skills, discovering new things. I was a little worried the other day that he was getting sick, because he was sort of grabbing at the side of his head, until I realized that nope, he has just discovered his ear and was playing with it. He’s really taken quite a liking to Loki, trying to follow him around, and keeping a close eye on him whenever he’s romping around playing, or even just sleeping in the living room. I can’t wait until he’s old enough for them to play around together. I think they’re going to have a lot of fun.

Otherwise, not too much else going on. Missed the Packer game Monday night because our satellite had only been partially working for a few weeks (no ESPN, or half of our other channels), and I tried messing with the cables in a fit of desperation. The result? No TV at all, and of course the store didn’t have the hardware I need to fix pieces that had rotted from just laying on the tundra for who knows how many years. I managed to hook up a different cable Tuesday evening (the one from Carey’s house, because she doesn’t’ get TV and was nice enough to allow me to steal hers), which required a bit of monkeying around and belly crawling under her house in the muck, but at least for the moment, we have a 90% functioning TV connection. At least enough that I’ll be able to watch football this weekend…and really, isn’t that the main function of television, anyway?

Filler...but with video goodness!

2008-09-10T18:03:00.005-08:00

Yeah, I've got a lot to catch up on (this not getting up to school and online every day thing is really messing up my blogging habits, eh?), but while you patiently wait...

He can do this for hours, just cycling through his toys, getting excited about whatever it is that we happen to be holding and forgetting about what he's got. So...I thought I'd film it. Sorry if it's boring, I'll admit this video probably has a very specific target audience...*cough*grandparents*cough*

K, more before the end of the week...promise!

To touch base...

2008-08-26T17:09:00.005-08:00

Wow, 10 days since I last posted? Dizzamn. My bad.

There's been stuff going on, too. Lots of things on the fritz around the house...everything I touch seems to be breaking. Our satellite connection is only half working, my Dell laptop has a few keys now that aren't working thanks to some questionable placement and a clumsy water spill, making anything that involves typing a no-go on that computer for now, until I get a keyboard to plug into it. Not to mention various things around the house, like the heat being stuck on and window installation being...ahem...ongoing. This year is certainly starting off with a bang.

As for school, well, I'm not there. I was on the schedule for the last two hours of the day, but somehow or other they couldn't see fit to let me bring Isaac in and hand him off to Sara for the last 45 min of her day (which was going to be prep anyway)...so I'm relegated to after school duties only for this semester. A "leave of absence", officially. Yee haw.

Crazy news today, though...I got a phone call from a teacher I had in high school, who's the head of the Historical Society back in Point, and somehow he got a hold of a paper I wrote in college on the Prohibition era in Portage County, and wants to publish it. I'm flattered, but more so, I'm curious how he got a hold of it. And I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to writing, I'm never happy with what I've written...I'm sure if I went back and read it now, 7 years later, I'd want to go revise the whole thing. So I doubt I'll even look at it again, for fear of being embarrassed at what's in print with my name on it.

But still...quite a shock. Who gets randomly published? Weird.

Let's see, what else can I touch on in my random drive-by of the last week and a half? I voted today. Had no idea that as someone who is officially registered as "Unaffiliated" that I could choose which ballot to vote on, Democrat or Republican. If you know me, you know that with the really interesting primaries on the GOP side in Alaska this cycle, I had to take that ballot, just to feel like I was working some mischief :-P

More to come...including, hopefully, some pictures of random late-summer village goodness...

Back...barely.

2008-08-16T15:12:00.007-08:00

If there was ever a perfect visual representation of how we all felt when we finally made it home Tuesday night, this is it.

To be perfectly honest, I'd rather not re-live the craptastic rest of the trip, but in the interest of give the Paul Harvey-esque “rest of the story”, I’ll go ahead and give you a run down of what happened.

So when I left off, we were hanging out for another 8 hour layover in the Anchorage airport. Which, whatever, there’s internet and Starbucks, and although we were all tired and cranky and in desperate need of showers, we were able to pass the time relatively comfortably. We got the dog checked back in and through TSA (for the 3rd time in 24 hours…most inspected. Dog. Evar.), and made our way through security and to the gate. There were, of course, a whole bunch of people we knew waiting for the same flight as us, so we had a good time catching up and chit-chatting at the gate. When it came time for us to pre-board, we were really relieved to be getting on the plane, because we knew it was packed full of all the people that were scheduled for that flight, plus all of us on the morning plane that circled and came back. JUST as we were handing the gate agent our ticket, we heard the worst sound possible…our names being called over the P.A., asking us to come to the desk.

Let me just preface this by saying I have ALWAYS had nothing but good luck with all of the Alaska Airlines staff people I’ve had contact with…compared to other airlines I’ve flown, they seem to try to go out of their way to be helpful, from the flight attendants to the desk agents to the people who answer the customer service phone lines, I’ve always been really impressed with the level of service we’ve gotten. That’s why I’ll chalk up the attitude of the person at the desk to stress, likely from a long few days of dealing with stranded Alaskans and tourists due to the volcano situation…but this one specific b!%@# was just plain rude. And it’s not just that she was rude, but I have the distinct feeling she was either trying to pull one over on us, or just plain lying. And if you know me at all, you probably know how I react if I feel like someone’s trying to screw me over.

So we get out of line and rush over to the desk, and of course, Sara’s already worried, stressed, and starting to cry…because really, there’s no positive reason that you can be called to the desk at that point. Well, Miss Desk Lady informs us in an accusatory manner that we had “told the airline that our dog’s kennel was a ‘400’ size when it’s actually a ‘500’”, and because there’s 7 dogs on the flight and not enough room, we need to purchase a new kennel from the airline (at their inflated price, of course), or not be allowed to get on the plane. Yeah, you can imagine the reaction that caused. FIRST of all, when we first flew with this kennel 2 years ago, we HAD ALASKA AIRLINES MEASURE IT to tell us what size it was and what we needed to pay to transport it. SECOND of all, when we’ve booked or flights since, we’ve told them it was an extra large kennel. Is there even a size larger that we could book it as? And what’s with this “400” and “500” business? When I asked her these questions, she wouldn’t (or couldn’t) tell me.

Well, upon first hearing the situation, and Miss Desk Lady’s attitude, Sara got really upset, which set Isaac off crying (not that it took much at this point), and I just about lost it…enough to be willing to fight a little bit not to get bowled over, anyway. I’m not sure if she was expecting us just to say ok, we’ll pay for a smaller kennel, and then pay to have our regular kennel shipped, or if she thought we’d just choose to spend ANOTHER 12 hours in the Anchorage airport, but I wasn’t about to do either until I was sure it was absolutely necessary. Long story short, there was another guy there that had two dogs in large kennels, and he took pity on us (or just wanted to quiet the couple with the crying baby) and offered to combine his two dogs into one kennel. This shut Desk Lady up, and she said that could work, but continued to be snotty with us, telling us that thanks to this guy “stepping up”, we could go ahead and get on the plane. Funny thing is, after all that, when we all got to Bethel the guy’s two dogs were in separate kennels, so no rearrangement or new kennels were even needed in the first place.

Aaaanywho, we made it to Bethel in one piece, got all our stuff (which was a relief, as I thought for certain the general mess in ANC, plus with the Bethel flights messed up that day, would have made for some lost bags), and over to JP for the charter home. JP was grumpy as usual, but he’s good and likes dogs, and with the cost of seat fares these days the charter’s not really that much more expensive. Plus, he stayed open for us (as well as another couple we know that had chartered to Quinhagak), which he didn’t really NEED to do. We couldn’t get a hold of anyone by phone to let them know we were on our way, which was a little stressful (to one of us, anyways), but we took off and got home and got a ride from the (new and improved!) airstrip just fine, making it home around 10pm…making for a total travel time of about 37 hours, personal records for both of us.

As for the rest of the week, there’s been a lot of unpacking, cleaning, organizing, etc. We returned to a few surprises at home, including a new floor in our living room (linoleum? I liked our carpet…), and one new window and our bedroom window completely boarded up. Sounds like some classy Nunap youth(s) were going around throwing rocks through windows in teacher housing over the summer. So after cleaning broken glass out of our bed as well as Isaac’s, washing sheets, as well as cleaning up after the folks who were doing “repairs” around the house (picking nails out of the carpet…I even found another two today :-/), we finally got to bed. Hey, at least the boarded up window means it’s dark in our bedroom, right?

School’s a whole ‘nother issue. I’ll probably post on that situation once it’s resolved. Basically, I have no idea yet if I’ll be working at all this semester, and the semester starts Monday. So yeah, to be continued…

Hanging out with Ted

2008-08-12T11:27:00.004-08:00

After dodging ash clouds on the flight from Chicago to Anchorage last night, pulling our usual 8 hour overnight layover in baggage claim with the dog (left), and boarding our flight to Bethel on time, I was just about to breathe a sigh of relief that the latest installment of the migration was complete, or at least near-complete, without too much of a hitch.

That'll show me for even letting the thought creep into my head.

Isaac decided about halfway to Bethel that he was done with airplanes for the day. Not that I blame him, I'd pretty much had it with planes at that point as well. Or so we thought. About 15 minutes out of Bethel the pilot let us know that some pretty dense fog had rolled into the airport there, and that if it broke up enough, we'd "try" to land. Well, after making a circle or two, we tried. And waved off. And flew all the way back to Anchorage.

*sigh*

So here we sit, waiting for our second try at getting to Bethel, not leaving here til 6:45 tonight. That puts us in Bethel at 8, and our charter guy says he'll take us then. If we get there on time. If the weather's ok. So many variables, and it's not even winter yet.

I just want to get home. The thought of being stuck in Bethel tonight is unbareable. We still may just push back 'til tomorrow morning's flight if it looks like this evening's is going to be at all late. At least we can hang in baggage claim again tonight in Anchorage...no such luck in Bethel, we'd have to find somewhere we could take the dog. I just don't know if we can do another night on airport food and no sleep...

You know what's funny?

2008-08-02T06:00:00.004-08:00

Well I'll tell you. When someone gives you an awesome piece of baby-type-clothing, which you then look at and say "wow, I can't wait til that will fit him!" Then you decide to try it on him....and it fits just fine. Are babies supposed to grow this quickly??

So thanks to Molly and Peter (seriously...thanks Molly and Peter!!), Isaac has now officially picked a Big 12 team for his first College Football season.

Don't worry folks....he's still a Big Ten boy at heart ;-)

Place your bets...

2008-07-29T10:43:00.004-08:00

Anyone care to lay the over/under on when Isaac's going to have a blog of his very own??

cue trumpets

2008-07-29T09:33:00.005-08:00

Sen. Ted Stevens indicted!

Hee!

2008-07-25T06:42:00.004-08:00

So Geo Beach from "Tougher in Alaska" was on the Daily Show last night...and Jon Stewart even made a reference to teachers!

Yeah, I'm a geek...but I'm totally nerdy for Jon Stewart. Not as bad as Sara though...I think she has a bit of a crush :-P

Watch it here!

BTW, if you've never watched "Tougher in Alaska" on the History Channel, you should. The actually do a lot of filming in rural Alaska...even out in our neck of the woods a few times! Some shows just focus on the "touristy" areas around Anchorage and Southeast...

Details

2008-07-23T13:34:00.004-08:00

Well, considering all the putzing I've been doing with my page layout here in the last couple of days, I figured I'd better post an actual entry, lest the flashiness be for nothing ;-)

It's been a busy last week or so, what with all the back-and-forth, errands, seeing people, and knocking things off our "to do while in Point for the summer" list. Lets see, what have we done in the last week? Ate Barb's stroganoff, went out for our first anniversary, played some "Rock Band", played some Settlers, saw the Bambergs, met up with a Pointer that's headed up to LKSD for the first time this fall, got to the University Archives to dig through the 1880 Census, got an appointment set up for a tattoo, saw my brother, went shopping in Appleton, hung out at a mini-style family reunion, bought some books, checked out some books, watched some nice storms, drank some nicer beer, got some brewing supplies, got to Belt's, visited Democratic Party HQ, and basically had a whole lot of fun...even if it was hard to catch a breath. And there's still plenty left to do and people left to see in the last 2-and-a-half weeks!!

Isaac's been a trooper through the past week of fun. He's used to a certain...well...let's just say prolific amount of napping during any given day. As of course, he should be (and trust me, Sara and I appreciate every last minute of it). Alas, between car rides and window shopping, Main Street adventures and getting cuddled by aunts, great-aunts, and grandmas, his napping schedule has been a little thin. While this usually makes for a little later wake-up time in the morning (yay!), it also makes for a little crankier baby in the evening (boo!)

Oh well, it's not like he'll have much to do come August 12th. Right? Oof.

Pictures, pictures, and more pictures

2008-07-23T07:14:00.004-08:00

Well, apparently I've been taking and posting enough pictures this summer to require starting a second album on Facebook.

So enjoy!

Nothing to see here...carry on...

2008-07-14T21:55:00.004-08:00

alternate title: what happens when I open photoshop at 12:30am

Let's see if this works

2008-07-13T19:34:00.004-08:00

In an attempt to solve my problem of posting new pictures of the rugrat mostly on my Facebook page ('cuz it's easier...and let's face it, I'm lazy), I'm just going to post a public link to the album here...hope this works:

Isaac's Facebook Album #1

Oh, it's on now!

2008-07-10T15:50:00.004-08:00

It's gonna be a fun fall...

Alaska Chants for Oh, Oh, Oh, Obama - HuffPo

Obama campaign establishes beachhead in Alaska - APRN (audio link)

The most self-indulgent thing you will see all day.

2008-07-10T08:47:00.005-08:00

So it's finally happened - I've become one of those parents/bloggers. This is a one-minute video clip of my child "talking" to his stuffed animals.

I don't know what's worse, that I'm posting this....or that you'll watch it ;-)

Tag-Team Blogging

2008-07-07T19:03:00.003-08:00

So yes yes, whole lot of doing and not much blogging going on this summer...so how about this for a special treat?

Sara and I have made up a video from some clips we had from taking the dogs swimming when her sister Mel was up last week...she just posted it on her blog.

So for your comic video enjoyment, check out Mel's dog Wyatt and his unusual swimming style :-)

FU, NCLB

2008-07-03T06:05:00.002-08:00

Yeah, 'cuz I'm sure schools in "rural" Maryland and Illinois have *way* worse problems then in the Alaska bush. Mmmhmm. Morons.

A little early, but...

2008-06-29T15:45:00.001-08:00

Happy 4th of July, everyone!!

Late-June Update

2008-06-26T11:34:00.003-08:00

Not to break up my string of picture-posts, but no pictures today (seems like the facebook users have been getting the better end of that deal this summer, eh?), but I just wanted to post an article I read about fuel prices out in the Bush. Mostly because they interviewed one of our neighbors in Nunap for the article.

But seriously. Dude, weak.

I can't even imagine what living out there (or here, once we're back) would be like for us if we DID have to pay for our heating fuel, and if our gas needs weren't simply for "fun", boating and snowmachine-wise. As it stands, airplane seat and chartering prices have skyrocketed...making flying in for fun (or simply to get in/out) a real pain.

*sigh*

Not that I can really complain...it's everyone else in the village that has it rough. But what can I say, I'm whiney.

Well hello there

2008-06-13T10:25:00.005-08:00

Yes yes, it's been forever. But in my defense...no, I can't say I've been that busy. Well, with baby stuff, I have, but that's in no way prevented me from posting, really. I'm just out of habit considering the summer migration and all it entails...

But yes, we got to Wisconsin just fine...the trip went pretty well, all things considered. Honestly, the biggest challenge with Isaac was the airports, not the planes. Sara and I are considering getting a jet engine installed in our bedroom. It works wonderfully at putting (and keeping) the baby asleep.

So our days back in Wisconsin have been so far filled with babyness and beer and food and family and friends. Pardon the use of the space saving crutch, but I'm sure many (most?) of you are here for pictures...so I'll get right on that...

First visit at Grandma and Grandpa's :-)

Baby's first cheese factory trip!

Big smile in the bathtub...

Loki's enjoying summer vacation too...making sure he gets his proper attention and plenty of swimming :-P

Isaac stretching out on his amazing, handmade puppy quilt. We're just picturing him dragging it around by an ear in a couple years...good thing they're triple stitched. Way to go, Mary!!!

Chillin' on the deck up north at the shack...hanging out, rockin' the hat..

All quiet(ish) on the western front...

2008-05-27T17:44:00.004-08:00

So remember when I said I'd try not to let this become an exclusively baby-picture blog? Yeah, off to a smashing start, aren't I? :-P

But really, there' s so very little to report. School's out, which means we're just hanging out, getting things ready to leave for WI on Saturday...but otherwise, there's nothing to distract us from the endless joys of little 3-week old Isaac. He's even occasionally cute, as these newest (grandma-requested) pictures may be able to shed some light upon:

Surrendering in his sleep...maybe he was French in a past life?

Loki's been good around him...showing concern when he cries, otherwise leaving him mostly alone. The occasional curious sniff is about it. Just wait a couple years, dog...you'll be good pals, I'm sure.

I've really been amazed at how alert and expressive a little baby can be when he's not crying, sleeping, nursing, or otherwise occupied...

Picture dump...

2008-05-20T20:28:00.005-08:00

Extreme close-up! Wooooooaaaaaaahhhhh! (ok, so I'm referencing Wayne's World...have I sufficiently dated myself??)

New kid on the block (there I go again)

Rockin' the camo

Baby's first life jacket!

"Oh dear...I do believe I may have soiled myself. Ever so sorry!"

Home again

2008-05-16T12:59:00.004-08:00

We made it!

After a little bit of suspense, we did indeed make it back to Nunap on Wednesday afternoon. We were worried, because, as you may remember, the airport is on the opposite side of the Johnson River as the school and our house, and the river ice had melted just enough while we were gone to make walking/snowmachining across impossible, but not enough for the ice to actually break loose and leave, thus making crossing by boat easy. It's the "break up" season, after-all...an annual event here in the area, with all the expectation and uncertainty it involves. The tension is thick in the air...everyone's waiting to be able to get out by boat and after the birds that are flying around.

So, after discussing and wavering back and forth a little bit on Tuesday about whether to postpone travel for a few days based on river conditions, it was decided that we'd take our chances and hope that somebody'd be able to help us across. Sure enough, Matthew and Raymond were nice enough to meet us on the "across" side of the river from school. So we loaded into the boat, motored about a third of the way across the river, and then us guys got out on the river ice and pulled the boat up, in order to push it across to the next area of open water near the shore we were trying to reach. It was a little nerve-racking for this kassa'q to be pushing a boat across rotten ice, listening to the cracking and groaning underfoot and radiating out from the boat, but I had a tight grip that (I hope) would have ensured my ability to jump right in had the ice gave way. Alas, we made it to the rest of the open water, and on to the boardwalk and home. Home!

Don't get me wrong, Anchorage was great, for a bunch of reasons. But there really is no place like home, sleeping in our own bed, being able to get into our own routine with Isaac here now. Not to mention, we missed Loki :-)

The weather was fantastic for us traveling Wednesday and yesterday, too...really warm and sunny, helping to melt that river ice. Which it was such a shock to wake up this morning to find 6 inches of heavy, wet snow on the ground. Oh well, it won't last long.

Reality

2008-05-10T20:36:00.006-08:00

Though wow, that word has a whole new meaning now, doesn't it?

First off, things are all going really well. We're getting into a groove here, learning Isaac's routine and trying to subtly impress upon him that complicated fact that light=day=awake, while dark=night=sleep. I know, I know...babies have a clock of their own. His has been just about perfectly reversed. Overall we've been doing ok, I think, with Sara, of course, being the rockstar...what with nursing being her department and all. I'm doing what I can, of course, but it's not like when the 3am feeding time comes around that I can be the one doing that particular job. I feel a little guilty, but I'm trying to channel that feeling into doing as much of everything else that I possibly can. I'm confident we'll get this whole thing mostly figured out just yet.

On another note...or rather notes...I just want to take a note to say a huge thank you to everyone for your notes, comments, emails, and facebook messages over the last few days...it's been an amazing past, oh, 10 months for Sara and I, and we've just been overwhelmed with how truly blessed we are to have such an amazing group of friends spread out across this planet. We appreciate each and every one of you :-)

Ok, I think I hear him starting to fuss...better run!

eta: Oops, almost forgot...for Karoline who'd asked in a comment a few days ago - our address in the village is PO Box 96, Nunapitchuk, AK, 99641...otherwise my parents' address in Point still works just fine! I'd have emailed you or replied directly, but I can't find a current email for you in anything I have. I suck :-(

Check this out, eh?

2008-05-07T20:54:00.005-08:00

You'll have to indulge this proud papa...I've definitely been in picture-taking mode!

More to come, but for now...

2008-05-06T22:53:00.003-08:00

Welcome to the world, Isaac Vincent "Alek'aq" Przybylski!!!

Vital stats:

Born at 3:57pm, May 6th

Weight: 8 pounds, 2 ounces

Length: 20 inches

Cuteness: Off the charts :-D

Mom and baby are both doing great...at the moment, we're all here enjoying all the "firsts", which really, at this point, is just about everything.

More to come. You can bet your a$$ on that!

What the...?

2008-04-26T08:40:00.004-08:00

Well, made it to Anchorage! And as Richard Hayden would say, "and in just a shade under a decade too...all riiiight!"

Seriously. New personal record - just barely under twelve hours spent waiting at the Bethel airport yesterday. And by airport, of course, I just mean big concrete room with chairs. It was like a slow-burn nightmare. It's not really a fun story, just planes getting canceled and such.

But I made it! and just in time for a late-spring blizzard, apparently. One of the Alaska Airlines guys said he's lived in Anchorage all his life and he'd never seen a late season storm like this. No idea how much they've gotten here "officially", but it's about knee-deep in the driveway. After a week, Sara says, of beautiful, sunny, warm weather. Trees were budding, all the snow was gone. Oh well.

K, I'm off to explore. Yee haw!

Google-riffic

2008-04-21T09:30:00.003-08:00

I decided to make up a quick Google Map of some of the points and places I've been mentioning here on this blog. I may incorporate it into the html of the site at some point, but for now it's just a post. So zoom, pan, and enjoy.

View Larger Map

Pistons, Pitchers, & Pike

2008-04-20T15:43:00.010-08:00

Well, spring is almost here, and I'm less than a week away from heading into Anchorage for the big event, so what this blog needs is one last good adventure story from this winter. Right?

So on Friday afternoon, Maria asked if I'd like to go fishing. "Of course," I said, not realizing (though I should have) that she didn't actually mean fishing around here, seeing as the pike haven't made their way this far upriver yet. She meant down on the Kuskokwim, as I soon learned. Either way, I was definately up for doing it, considering the snow and ice are fast melting, and that my remaining snowmachine days this year are numbered, and I'd pretty much take any excuse to get out and ride and do something fun before weather forces the machine into hiding for the summer.

The plan was to meet Christina and Erin in Bethel A.S.A.P., head down to the mouth of the Johnson past Napakiak, fish, and get home before dark. It was a good plan.

We got dressed and our stuff together, gassed up, and headed out. It's been pretty warm the last few days, and the trail was as smooth as I've seen it. And smooth, of course, equals fast. So we're making good time, and just a little past 2/3 of the way into town, when all of a sudden I see Maria fall off behind me. Her machine just died. Started to sound weird, then just lost power. So we check it out, and right away it looks bad, but we though maybe she'd just overheated. We let it sit for a while, and it got better, but still wouldn't stay running. Long story short, a guy that happened by did an impromptu test of the cylindars, and yeah, looks like she dropped a piston. Which sucks. So we knew we had to get her machine either back to Nunap or into Bethel for repairs, and so it didn't get stolen or stripped if left it on the trail overnight. We tried hauling it with my machine, but pulling it, with both of us, was really straining my engine and the though of having both machines broken down on the trail was scary enough for me to convince Maria to hop on with me and head into Bethel and figure out a solution from there.

When we got to Bethel we met up with Christina, as well as some folks we didn't know were going to be there. Not to mention, certain refreshments we weren't expecting, as well. So after, ahem, refreshing ourselves, Maria and a small crew headed out to wrangle her machine into town, while the rest of us continued to...refresh. At this point, we knew we weren't going to be doing any fishing Friday night, and after comtemplating heading back to Nunap, I decided to head down with Christina, Erin, and Maria to Oscarville and crash there. We still didn't know how Maria was going to get her machine fixed, or exactly how she'd be getting back to Nunap, but we did still want to try to get some fishing in. So, after a slight gas issue in the parking lot of the Bethel post office, and a visit with Bethel's finest out on patrol, we made it down to Oscarville around 2am and caught some sleep.

On Saturday morning, Maria got a hold of the repair shop (where she had just had her machine tuned up a week before!), and got them set to pick up and work on her machine, as well as getting a hold of our Principal, who with her husband was going to be headed to Napaskiak and back to Nunap in the afternoon. We made tentative plans to meet up with them and ride back together in the early evening, so we knew we had a few hours to head out fishing. We got our stuff together and headed out down the river about 10 miles, past Napakiak to where the Johnson comes into the Kuskokwim. There were probably half a dozen spots where people were fishing, with dozens of families out at each spot, but eventually we found who we were looking for and settled in to try to catch some pike.

One of the reasons I was really excited to get out ice fishing for the first time this spring, was to try out my new hand auger that I'd gotten back a little while ago. So I un-strap it from the back of my machine, screw it together and start drilling. And drilling. And resting. And drilling some more. Well, I don't know how deep was in the spot where I was drilling, but it was at least 44 inches, because that's the length (I measured) from the tip of the blades to the handle, at which point I couldn't turn it any more. Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself! But luckily, the people we met up with had some extra holes cut, so we just hopped on into those. It was a nice day on the river, and the fish were biting at a steady pace. Not an overwhelming bite, but enough to keep it interesting. I got five in the hour and a half or two hours we were out there, including a couple pretty good sized fish (nose to tail about the same length as my pole, so about 24"), and everyone else was catching at roughly the same rate.

After a couple hours, as I said, it was time to head back to meet up with our Principal and her husband to head back to Nunap. Maria rode in the sled they'd brought stuff down in, and proceeded to get drenched as there was a lot of water on the trail. But it was another smooth, fast ride, spooking up flocks of ptarmigan every few miles. Had I been thinking, I'd have brought my shotgun along too. But all in all, I was really glad that despite the drama and the "quick trip" becoming an overnight adventure, it was really great to hang out with Christina and Erin, to get all "refreshed" with Lee and some other coworkers, and definitely worth it to get out and do some fishing. Because hey, I leave for Anchorage on Friday! Not only is this likely my last snowmachine outing of the season, it's my last spontaneous trip before fatherhood strikes!

So yeah. Good times :-P

From the update desk...

2008-04-16T16:59:00.004-08:00

Let's see, anything new to update? Oh yeah, a bunch of stuff!

Trivia was this past weekend, which was fun as always. It was a little strange, but fun. First of all, it's always tough playing from a distance, what with having to figure out how to listen to the contest (thank you, Skype) and how to communicate with teammates in HQ (thanks, unfiltered backdoor into blocked website that connects to the blocked MSN messaging network). Second of all, the weekend...hell, the entire preceding week...was marred by recent tragic events.

I'm not going to tell the story here, but there was a death in the village last week. A student. So the funeral was on Friday, at the school, and started about an hour before the contest was set to start. So I got to my desk when I could, but the funeral went on for quite a while. Not making any judgments, but just an observation - Russian Orthodox services make Catholicism look like a quick stop, fast food, in-and-out deal! Seriously, you've gotta have some endurance to make it through, it seems.

Speaking of endurance, Trivia. I actually got out and away from my desk more this year than last, and really, I was probably away from "questions" as for about the same length of time I would be if I was in WI and leaving to hunt down Trivia Stones, etc. But I was in and out to let out, feed, and play with dogs (Loki, as well as some co-workers dogs I was taking care of while they were into Anchorage for a mini-vacation). That, along with two naps of three hours a piece on Saturday and Sunday mid-morning (mid day, Trivia-Time...assuring that the basement at HQ would be at full capacity and not missing whatever help I might have been), made for a smoother and less insanity-inducing contest than some have been.

Unfortunately, in what in hindsight will be the big happening of Trivia 39, death reared his ugly head again during the contest, when it was announced that Tom Daniels, the "Voice" of Trivia, had passed away in his sleep. Everyone was completely stunned and taken aback. But to the Oz's credit, and to the credit I think of all the 90fm staff and even Trivia players, we took some time to pause, let it sink in a bit, and then got right back to the contest, really, as if nothing had happened. Leave the grief for Monday, whenever you wake up (or in may case, at work...), play Trivia and have fun. I can't claim that I knew Mr. Daniels, only to have met him once or twice...and I can't claim to know what he would have wanted. But for a guy as dedicated to Trivia, Stevens Point, and 90fm as he obviously was...yeah...he would have wanted exactly what happened. Rack 'em up, Fast Eddie. The show must go on.

So, we kept on truckin' (oops, wrong year), and fought our way to our first top-5 finish. And really, it was an amazing year, considering. Now, I can't claim to have helped much. Between the slow speed of my internet connection, using what seems to be a good chunk of my available bandwidth to just *hear* the contest, and then having a filter block many of the key websites that are useful to a Trivia player, my primary usefulness to the team was effectively neutralized. But I had a good time, communication issues were better than last year, and after getting a little frustrated in the first dozen or so hours of the contest, I came to a realization about my role, and really came to grips with what I needed to do and how I needed to do it. So all in all, Trivia was Trivia, even from 4000 miles away.

Let's see, what else? Oh yeah! Baby!

Sara seems to be doing really well in Anchorage while she's there waiting, getting around to appointments and meetings and stores and swimming, etc. etc. etc. on the bus. She's keeping busier than I thought she'd be able to there by herself, which I'm really happy about.

Now if I can just get this calendar to move a little faster so we can get to next Friday, the 25th...I can get into Anchorage and we can hopefully get this show on the road! I think we're both pretty much good and ready to meet this kid!!

Why dry?

2008-04-04T11:16:00.003-08:00

Yeah, I grumble about the fact that I can't get beer here. I've even had an ongoing debate in my head, trying to reconcile my previous attitudes about "bootlegging" as I've known it to exist, mostly as a romantic outlaw period during national Prohibition, versus the obvious destructive effects "bootlegging" has in this part of the country on a daily basis.

Articles about the issue appear pretty regularly in the state news, and on occasion I think about posting links, but rarely do. But this recent article in Alaska Magazine entitled Turning off the Tap got to the heart of the issue, I think. It's a real battle...some people want alcohol totally banned, all across the region...others want it legal. Still others like the ban, if only because it's a profitable business venture to buy $10 bottles of rotgut and bootleg them into villages where they can sell them for $150.

So yeah, if you've ever heard me complaining about not being able to drink up here, and wondered exactly why that was...read the article.

Getting right down to it.

2008-04-03T11:24:00.005-08:00

It's a little hard to believe. Sara leaves for Anchorage in three days! How is that possible? It was just yesterday that we were telling everyone that she had the proverbial "bun in the oven", and now she's headed in to be near the hospital in case baby _ _ _ _ _ decides to come early? He was officially 36 weeks along yesterday, so he's "fully cooked", as I believe the technical medical terminology puts it...but let's just hope he decides to stick it out at least long enough for me to get to Anchorage and be there for the unveiling, shall we?

So, of course, that means that this week has been spent getting as much as we can in order for our return in May, baby in tow. The clothes and diapers are washed, organized, and ready. The co-sleeper is set up and strapped in position. I'll do some hardcore cleaning right before I leave, because let's be honest...anything we uber-clean now will have a layer of brown fur on it anyway by the time May comes around. Silly dog. Not to mention all the travel and logistical preparations. If everything works out without too major of a hitch, I'll be amazed. Gleeful, but amazed.

So that's where we are right now...in final preparation mode, feathering the nest with stuff, gifts, and amazon.com orders (which is in some cases redundant...you know who you are!!). I'm excited, too, that Sara's parents decided to fly up to Anchorage for a week while we're there, and hopefully, if the baby's not too late, they'll get to hang out with their grandson, too. But either way, it'll be good to see them.

But we'll see how the next month or so goes. No matter when it happens, I'll have one heck of a photo post to put up on this site...assuming I make it to Anchorage on time! I may be asking you all to cross your fingers for me at some point, ok??

Dang.

2008-04-01T09:10:00.003-08:00

Well, I know one emeritus professor of anthropology at the University of Alaska Southeast that isn't going to invited to any village feasts any time soon!

What to do with dying villages?

But it all seriousness...with any distance from the obvious emotional and cultural issues involved...does he make a good point? I don't know. I don't think so...but I'm not so certain that maybe there isn't something there.

But don't tell anyone I said that, ok?

Bears!

2008-03-28T12:42:00.003-08:00

So never mind about the Polar Bears getting killed off by global warming...how's about we worry about them heading this way and eating me!!

From the Anchorage Daily News (though I first heard it on APRN this morning):

Wandering polar bear pays with life.

A polar bear that drifted 250 miles south of Alaska’s north coast to Fort Yukon was shot and killed after it charged a hunter, a Fairbanks Daily News-Miner story says. Community residents didn’t believe first reports that a polar bear had come that far from its usual territory and was in their region, but half a dozen hunters began tracking it when the reports persisted, according to the story.

Two hunters caught up with the animal outside of town on the Porcupine River and one of them shot it with an AR-15 after it came out of a brush pile and charged him. “I shot from the hip, seven or eight times,” said Zeb Cadzow. “If I had gotten it to my shoulder, it would have been on top of me. It happened so quick; by the time it was down, it was about 10 feet from my feet.”

Why do I think Stephen Colbert might have something to say about this when he comes back with new episodes??

Following the North Trail to the Yukon

2008-03-23T11:02:00.011-08:00

We had a three day weekend for Easter, so I decided to ride along with some folks that were headed up to the treeline by the Yukon river. I had never been before, and it was something I've been wanting to do for a while, though every time the opportunity arrives I seem to come up with an excuse not to go. It's a ways, about a 2.5-3 hour ride each way, and I'm always a little over-concerned about whether or not my snowmachine is up to it. Not to mention, it can be a bit of a gas hog, and it's not like there are any other villages (not to mention gas stations) along the way. This time, however, I just said "why not" and decided to give it a try.

So we got started and headed out around 8:30 Friday morning, and I have to say it was a beautiful ride. After about the halfway point you start to see scattered trees, and all of a sudden you come over a small ridge and see trees everywhere. Which I know doesn't sound like all that big of a deal to you Wisconsinites/Minnesotans out there, but here on the flat, treeless tundra, it's like seeing an oasis :-) Even the trail conditions, which last time I rode to Bethel were horrendous, have really improved due to a bunch of powdery snow over the last couple weeks. The ride was a little bumpy, but nothing compared to the concrete-hard drifts a month or so ago.

The big difference in snow, really, was after we got up there. Down here where there is much wind and no trees, all the snow that doesn't pack down and drift just blows away. Well....now I think I know where it goes. As you can sort of see in the top picture, the snow in the trees was deep. Very deep. Like, when I got off my machine to walk into the trees, I immediately sank into my waist and didn't touch the ground. Which made cutting trees (and more notably dragging them out to the river) quite difficult.

I rode up with Carey and Maria, who wanted to bring back a load of wood for steaming, and with Matthew (the school's Site Tech, Community Advocate, and general jack of all trades/glue that holds the school together) and one of his sons. Matthew had brought a chainsaw, so he went about cutting down dead trees, which then had to be de-limbed and de-nubbed, tied to the back of our machines, and drug down to the river where we had left the freight sleds and our stuff. It's quite an operation, and a lot of work dealing with the waist-deep snow while cutting, axing, dragging, and towing. Not that I did much of the work, seeing as I was mostly along for the ride and just to get to the Yukon and see trees...but still. I helped a little, with what I could.

One thing that we could not have done any better with was the weather. The forecast had made me a little nervous, calling for the wind to pick up and snow to move in, but it stayed perfectly clear for us, warmed up to about 10 or 15 degrees, and what wind did pick up was at our back the whole ride home. So, we got back home around 8pm or so, a little sore, but having avoided and of the misfortunes or misadventures that seem to usually plague my snowmachine/airplaine/boat travels around the tundra. Carey attributed our luck to the "evil eye" stone she brought along to ward off evil spirits. Normally, I wouldn't put much stock in such things, but after the poor luck we've had in the past, to go on this lengthy of a trip without anything going wrong....well, I'm certainly not going to question it.

No Halfback Left Behind

2008-03-20T11:48:00.004-08:00

So, I know it's basketball season, and that I'm committing a cardinal sin of blogging by posting an *email forward* here, but I just thought this little analogy was pretty appropriate...being testing season, and all.

Plus, it might help all the non-teachers in the audience realize what's really going on in the schools right now. So enjoy:

No Child Left Behind - Football Version

The football version of what is going on in education right now. (If you're not an educator, this may not make a lot of sense to you. But send it to your friends who are in education. They will love it!)For all the educators - In or out of the system.

1. All teams must make the state playoffs and all MUST win the championship. If a team does not win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable. If after two years they have not won the championship their footballs and equipment will be taken away UNTIL they do win the championship.

2. All kids will be expected to have the same football skills at the same time even if they do not have the same conditions or opportunities to practice on their own. NO exceptions will be made for lack of interest in football, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or disabilities of themselves or their parents. ALL KIDS WILL PLAY FOOTBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL!

3. Talented players will be asked to workout on their own, without instruction. This is because the coaches will be using all their instructional time with the athletes who aren't interested in football, have limited athletic ability or whose parents don't like football.

4. Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in the 4th, 8th, and 11th game. This will create a New Age of Sports where every school is expected to have the same level of talent and all teams will reach the same minimum goals. If no child gets ahead, then no child gets left behind.

Video Quickie

2008-03-16T18:33:00.004-08:00

So as I mentioned, last week was cultural week here at school. As always, it was pretty challenging, but there was fun to be had.

Here's a quick video of some of the students out on the river chipping clean ice. We loaded up sleds (8 in total over the course of two days) and delivered the ice to elders around the village. Kind of an eskimo ice machine, as someone put it...

(Sorry 'bout the video quality...the file got really squashed when I uploaded it to the web...)

Yes, that's one of the students hiding in a hole chipped in the river ice. I didn't have anything to measure with, so I'm not exactly sure how thick the ice was in that spot, but it was a good three feet at least. Hope you're enjoying spring, Wisconsin....heh.

Gotta take a step back..

2008-03-11T11:30:00.007-08:00

Been busy lately, as you can probably imagine, but wanted to update on how the rest of last week went, as well as what we're up to this week here in Nunap.

The multimedia training last week was a lot of fun for the kids. They basically got to work on video projects (this group on the right was filming their short movie at Bethel's video rental shop!), play with new effects and learn things about iMovie, as well as hang out with friends and see some of the games at the district basketball tournament that happened to be going on at the same time! So, all in all, while it was a big ol' pain in the butt to be in Bethel and away from home for a week, I have to admit it was well worth it. I even learned how to do green-screening (or chroma-keying, as I found out) in iMovie. So I've got a tarp and a few good ideas...once I get something together in post-able form, I'll be sure to share :-)

And this week is Cultural Week here at A.T.M.S. in sunny Nunapitchuk, AK. I won't go into too much detail (for fear of digressing into an epic rant), but let's just say it's not the easiest week of the year. There are some attitudes on both the student and the staff sides of the coin that combine to make this one of the big "humps" to get through second semester, as I learned last year. This year is certainly proving no exception to the rule. Though on the positive side, I was able to get my snowmachine into the school shop this afternoon and have a couple of the high school boys help me fix a problem I've been having, so that was pretty productive. But I'll post a more comprehensive Cultural Week entry after it's entirely in the rear view mirror. I promise.

So let's take stock...

2008-03-04T09:22:00.004-09:00

Here I sit, on a chair in the District Office in Bethel. I'm tired, I'm hungry, I vaguely smell. And my week is just getting started. Time to take a look at my situation.

Sara and I went to Anchorage on Saturday, hung out and had a generally good time, and had our last pre-coming-in-for-good appointment yesterday morning. The plan was to try to get back to the village yesterday afternoon, get a day (and more importantly a night) back at home, and then come in for the multimedia competition and training here this afternoon, and staying 'til Friday.

Well, as often is the case, the weather had other plans. Bethel weather was crappy yesterday, so our flight from Anchorage to Bethel was late, and flights out of Bethel to the villages were all shut down. Too windy and rain/snow mix. Then, Era Aviation, who we like to fly when we don't have the dog with us (slightly cheaper, much more convenient than Alaska Airlines for BET-ANC), bumped our bag. We've flown with them twice now...the first time they sent our bags to Kodiak, despite everything being clearly labeled and us checking in 2 hours ahead of the flight. This time, they just "bumped" our suitcase...the plane wasn't full, our box of groceries made it, thankfully, on the plane, but our suitcase did not. It wasn't heavy, it isn't large, there was room...they just didn't bring it. So I don't think we'll be flying with Era again. Their baggage people in Anchorage are just too...sketchy.

So we spent last night in Bethel, paying Bethel prices for a Bethel-quality B&B room, picked up our bumped bag at Alaska Air, who brought it in for us last night on the jet, and got Sara on the first Yute flight back to Nunap. I'm just hanging here, as it didn't make much sense to me to fly back to the village this morning, only to turn around and fly back in with the team this afternoon. So Sara's going to send a bag with some clothes, my school-issued Macintosh that I need for the training, and other etceteras with the team when they come.

So here I sit. I'm depressed because Favre retired today and the last starting quarterback I've seen for the Packers was Don Majkowski when I was 12 years old. I'm tired, I'm grumpy, I'm dirty, and I'm ready to go home (notice "hungry" disappeared from the list...a very nice lady took pity on me while i was writing this and gave me a donut :-P ). And my trip hasn't even started yet. I'll spend the next three nights on a classroom floor. Wish me luck.

That's it!

2008-02-23T17:45:00.006-09:00

Having pretty much had it with the snowbank that keeps enveloping the front of our house, and the precarious, "hope Sara doesn't fall" path that we've been using to get down and out of the house in the dark each morning this week, I went ahead and cut steps in the snowbank while I was outside putzing around with the snowmachine today. Sara seems to like them.

Otherwise, not too much has been up here. We (as in myself, a teacher, and about half a dozen students) were supposed to be in Bethel from Tuesday through Friday this past week, doing some more multimedia training at the District Office, as well as viewing the competing entries, and finding out the results of the judging. As it happened, it was fairly warm the beginning of this week...it had finely gotten above zero last weekend (for the first time in a couple weeks!) and by Tuesday it was all the way up in the low 20s. Hence, there was all kinds of wackiness, freezing rain and the like, that caused the meeting to be postponed to the first week of March. Which sucks a little, only because next weekend Sara and I head into Anchorage for the last of the appointments before she heads in for good, and as such will be heading out Saturday and in on Monday (weather permitting, of course) and I will then have to turn around and head to Bethel for the rest of the week on Tuesday. We'll see how that goes. Not to mention, the Kusko-Delta League basketball tournament that was suppose to be going on as I type this was postponed due to bad weather yesterday, so now it's going to be next weekend as well. Yee-haw. Guess it's that time of year...lots going on, and lots of weather to make everything either happen or not by the skin of its respective teeth.

Gotta love it.

I'd like to thank the Academy...

2008-02-15T15:00:00.004-09:00

From our Site Administrator on the staff email folder:

"Congratulations to Shaun Przybylski for achieving full GEEK status. He was observed operating 4 computers at once while supervising a classroom of students on computers at approx. 10:20am. This qualifies him for the GEEK AWARD (not to be confused with NERD)"

A true accomplishment indeed. Hey, can I help it if I've become a bit of a de facto tech support guy since I know a teeny tiny little bit about Windows here in the land of Macs??

And now my fellow nerds and I will retire to the nerdery with our calculators (20 points to anyone who gets that reference!)

Stick-venture!

2008-02-06T09:00:00.001-09:00

Well, our trip to Anchorage went really well...relaxing, productive, and fun. But since I last posted, we had a bit of a time getting home. So by popular request, let's continue the theme of stick figure representations of our trip, shall we?

Here we are at Era Aviation in Bethel, finding out that our checked bag and box of perishable groceries had not come with us from Anchorage, but had instead been sent to Kodiak.

Here we are at the airport in Nunap, with me, Trent, and the pilot pushing the plane back onto the runway after getting pulled down towards the tundra by a snowdrift.

Here I am racing to turn off the washing machine after realizing the draining wash water was draining onto the bathroom floor due to some pipes freezing/plugging/who knows what.

Fun!

2008-02-04T13:10:00.001-09:00

Sara's appointment went great this morning. Now we're sitting at the Anchorage airport, waiting to fly back to Bethel, and this is the weather email I see posted on the staff board:

Bethel, Alaska (Airport)
Updated: 18 min 22 sec ago
Blowing Snow
-20 °F / -29 °C
Blowing Snow
Humidity: 74%
Dew Point: -26 °F / -32 °C
Wind: 20 mph / 32 km/h / 8.7 m/s from the NNE
Pressure: 29.96 in / 1014 hPa (Steady)
Windchill: -48 °F / -44 °C
Visibility: 4.0 miles / 6.4 kilometers
UV: 0 out of 16
Clouds:
Clear -
(Above Ground Level)
Elevation: 121 ft / 37 m

Forecast for Kuskokwim Delta Hide
Updated: 5:00 am AST on February 4, 2008
Wind Chill Advisory in effect until 11 am AST Tuesday...

Anchoraging...

2008-02-03T16:18:00.002-09:00

So, we're in Anchorage this weekend for Sara's doctor appointment on Monday morning. We've been hanging out, enjoying good food, some shopping, and (for one of us) some good beer!

Unfortunately, not only can Sara not partake in the hop-heavy fun (Alaskan Brewing IPA...yum!), we didn't bring a camera along on this trip, so I can't take a picture of the beer like I did last time.

But at the liquor store, Sara had an idea....so here you have it, my own stick figure ms-paint drawing of the current state of our room here at the Dimond Center Hotel :-)

Oh, the ways we find to stay entertained...

2008-01-31T09:51:00.001-09:00

So I'm fully aware that this may not be as funny to you as it was to us, but I'm digging it up to post for you anyway.

So ravens...they're pretty smart. And mischievous. They've been taunting this dog that's chained out across the boardwalk from our kitchen window. I think they try to lure him away from his dish when he gets fed so another raven can get in there and steal the food. It's pretty funny to watch...though I'm sure the dog isn't as amused.

Anyways, one day I happened to have a camera handy and caught part of the action:

sigh

2008-01-28T10:16:00.001-09:00

So Sara and I try not to get too serious about looking online for houses at this point. However. Apparently, our dream house just went on the market in Amherst.

Here's a link to the listing.

Please, please remind me that we're not supposed to buy a house right now....40 acres...partially wooded...outbuildings...ceiling beams....BRICK FARMHOUSE...UGH!!

Loony

2008-01-23T11:22:00.001-09:00

No real post here, just a picture I took of the moon coming up last night. It just happened to be passing behind the radio tower by the store when I was playing with the camera, and when I downloaded the pics I kinda liked this shot. So I'm posting it...deal with it :-)

Weekend.

2008-01-21T14:26:00.001-09:00

Ever see the movie Memento? Let's work backwards through the weekend that was:

Sunday

How about we just not talk about the Packer game. It's just. too. soon.

Saturday

What the heck is up with this weather?? By the end of last week they were predicting a major storm for the weekend, with a blizzard "watch" in effect until Sunday. Well, the system showed up, but instead of 25 degrees and snow, it was 35 degrees and rain. The wind was crazy...on the left is a picture of our weather gauge from sometime Saturday afternoon (bottom two readings are sustained wind and highest gust). And our wind speed reading is typically about 10-15 mph low, depending on the direction the wind is coming from (darn buildings), so who knows how high the gusts were actually getting. Either way, it was crappy out...mostly because we went from having really nice, deep, powdery snow cover to having a few piles of crappy snow and foot-deep puddles of water everywhere. Good times.

Friday

Now here's a funny story.

Remember, oh, last fall or so when we had a bit of an adventure with taking the boat for a ride over to a neighboring village? If not, it's ok. Just a bit of an adventure...one of those things that are a little frustrating, even scary at the time, but you have a sense even while it's happening that it'll make a pretty good story later on. Assuming you get through it.

Ok, I'm being way over-dramatic, I'll admit it. But it's still a good story.

So our friend Sara was planning on hitching a ride over to Akiuk from Napaskiak in order to retrieve the snowmachine she had left there in the spring, and was looking for some of us to ride back with her (the trail pirates are back....shiver me timbers!) Of course I said I'd go, I've been looking for an excuse to head in to Bethel and try out our sled and the new rig we hooked up to it. The original plan was to make the trip on Saturday, during the day, but Friday afternoon we all saw the weather forecast, and worried about getting caught by bad weather, decided to head out right away after school. We knew we'd probably be headed back after dark, but better the dark than in a "blizzard", was my thinking.

Well, everything started off well, except for getting a little later start than we expected. Which was troublesome, considering Christina was planning on meeting us in Bethel at AC at 5:00, and we didn't leave the gas station and get on the trail 'til about 4:45. But that didn't concern me *too* much...she knows we're poky, and probably wouldn't too worry too much if we're an hour or so late. So Carey, Maria, Sara R. and I headed out into the dusk, and were making pretty good time when our first little snafu happened...somehow, the bolt holding her hitch on came loose and the sled came off. I was riding behind her, with Maria behind me, so all three of us stopped and tried to figure out a way of hooking the sled back on without the bolt. In the meantime, Carey hadn't realized the rest of us had stopped behind her, and had kept going, so Maria went on ahead to catch her, and I stood by being very little help as Sara got her sled reconnected using some rope she had with her and the snap clip I still (luckily) had connected to the tow rope of my sled. By the time we were done and good to go, Maria and Carey got back to us and we all headed on, having lost a little time and one bolt, but with no real harm done.

Next comes the embarrassing part for me. So as I believe I mentioned before, our new tow bar for the sled was made to break down into pieces to allow us to bring it up here, in a box, from Wisconsin. Well, when I put it together last weekend, I did so on the living room floor, considering it was mighty cold outside, and I wanted to do as little of the work outside as possible. The problem, however, is that I failed to notice that I had put the bolts on the rear portion on upside down, that is to say, with the nuts on top when I put the thing together on the sled. In my defense, I had every intention on fixing them Saturday morning before we left (per the original plan), but in the rush to leave Friday afternoon, I kinda forgot. That is, until we stopped to fix Sara's sled and I noticed I had already lost one bolt, and the nuts on a few of the others had rattled darn near off as well. So I tightened them the best I could with my fingers, which I then crossed as we headed off to Bethel. By the time I got to AC I had lost two more bolts. Everything was still holding together, but only by a thread.

So Carey and Maria had headed on to Napaskiak with Sara, and I had broken off to Bethel, partially because of my precarious sled situation, and partially because at this point, we were a full 2 hours late meeting Christina and her roommate Erin, and someone needed to let her know we weren't stranded or hijacked somewhere. Here would be a good place to point out that when I arrived at AC, I parked by two snowmachines. This will become vital information in a minute.

But in the meantime, I chatted with Christina and started my shopping (including some extra tools to allow me to shore up my sled before heading back.) Carey and Maria showed up, having gotten Sara to Napaskiak, and were doing their shopping when Christina and Erin (who had been at AC for, oh, three hours at this point), decided it was time for them to head back to Oscarville. Or so they thought. I got a sick feeling in my stomach as soon as I saw Christina walking back down the aisle toward us, which only got deeper when she said something along the lines of "well, now I can top your guys' story for tonight"....her snowmachine, which I had parked next to only an hour or so before, was no longer there. Stolen.

So! Our new plan: Erin has her snowmachine there, but they both have groceries, and no way of hauling them back, so we'd all head the 6 miles down the Kusko to Oscarville, drop her off, and head back. Which is precisely what we did after everyone was finished shopping (and I made my...ahem...sled adjustments). The only problem on the way down was that I was riding 3rd in a line of 4, and the two machines ahead of me kind of...well...took off on the clear, wide, flat Kuskokwim, while I and my sled, better attached but not 100%, and feeling like a parachute behind me with the added weight of everyone's groceries, couldn't go much over 25 or 30 mph. But, Christina was on Maria's machine behind me, and thankfully passed me up and lead me to Oscarville after I had missed the turn off the river trail.

So we warmed up for a few minutes at Christina and Erin's, I called my lovely wife, as it was now about 10pm, 6 hours after we'd left and around the benchmark time we'd earlier set at which point she was "allowed" to start worrying. Luckily, she had been sewing some cool stuff (how domestic! Seriously, she should post about it...you all need to bug her to post on her blog, mmkay?) and hadn't really gotten *too* worried just yet.

A few minutes after 10, we headed out from Oscarville, thinking we had about a 15 minute ride back to Bethel, and then a roughly hour long ride back to Nunap (depending on how quickly the sled would allow me to go). However, none of us being familiar with this particular area, there were "issues" finding not only the trail, but the right direction to head. I'll leave it at that :-) Suffice it to say, after a little bit of wandering around the middle of the Kusko in the dark, and one frightening run-in with an overflow (yeah, I had never seen one in person before...damn...) later, we got on the trail, in the right direction, and back into Bethel to fuel up for the ride home.

At this point it was 11:20. We found the H-marker after a little detour, and we set out, breaking trail as the storm was starting to kick up and it was windy and drifting, despite clear sky above, all the way back. Despite the bumps and the worry about the sled, the last 20 miles were really quite a nice ride...the moon was out, the wind was mostly at our backs, and due to how late it was, there weren't any other machines out on the trail. We rolled into Nunap right at 1am, a little cold, a little stressed, but really happy to be home with our machines, or groceries, and ourselves intact.

**********

Happy ending postscript: So Christina's stolen snowgo? Well, she reported it to the Bethel police, of course, right away, and they took down all the information, etc. And guess who got a phone call from Bethel's finest around 2am? Yup, they found her machine, out of gas, about...oh...a couple hundred yards from where she had parked it. Nobody can figure out what happened, if the thieves took it joyriding, and then just happened to run out of gas at the video store next door, if it was all someone's idea of a joke, if someone was just drunk, or what. But hey, whatever the scenario, the machine is back with its rightful owner, and Christina will be able to ride over and visit Nunap this weekend! Hooray!!

Edited to add: If you're interested (and, unlike me, you live somewhere where you can access Myspace), here's Christina's blog entry about her super-fantastic snowmachine theft adventure!

Our new toy

2008-01-18T11:35:00.001-09:00

Well, I promised my father I'd post a picture of the solid (yet collapsible) tow bar he made for us while we were home over xmas break, once I got it attached. We brought it back on the plane with us in a box as luggage, with clothing packed around it for cushioning, and amazingly, it made it all the way to Bethel with just a minor hole poked in the box. And, even with my shaky measuring efforts in the snow a month ago, it ended up fitting darn near perfectly on the sled. So go team.

I've just taken it "around the block" so far after getting it hooked up Wednesday night, but after pulling the sled with a rope a few times this fall, the difference with the solid rig is unreal. Thanks dad!!!

Glad we don't have to shovel

2008-01-16T08:43:00.001-09:00

Here's a picture we took yesterday of the drift that's blocking the bottom of our front steps at the moment...mind you, Sara was standing on the second or third step, I think.

Though, the temperature has risen a total of 62 degrees since Monday morning...so that's nice. Gone from wearing fur hat, face mask and goggles to walk to work to wearing my ball cap this morning. Silly weather.

Back in the Saddle (kinda)

2008-01-15T15:52:00.001-09:00

Well, sorry for the long break in posting, but here we are, back again after xmas vacation. Far, far too many things to post from break, so rather than try to hit the high points and forget/leave out a whole bunch, I'm just going to skip the whole thing. Suffice it to say, lots of fun, friends, family, food, fermented beverages, and a whole bunch of other things that probably don't start with the letter F. If I'm feeling ambitious and in need of a post topic later, maybe I'll reach back into my bag of stories. And there's probably a photo post to be had out of my xmas pictures as well...we'll see.

So we're back, and what a shock to the system the weather was. Back in Wisconsin, the weather had been beautiful...too beautiful for early January, in fact. Since we've gotten back here, we've had blizzard warnings, a canceled school day, and a reminder that our brand of digital weather station only reads down to -21.9 before saying "off scale - low" (though at the time, the wind was calm, so there was no wind chill to speak of.)

The blizzard that hit us Sunday night through yesterday has left a massive drift in front of our door...I'll try to get a picture of it after school tonight. It's really quite impressive.

Otherwise, just getting back in the swing of things here at school and in the village. Aside from math classes, I've got a "Computer Applications" class with some of the high school kids, and we'll be working on ~~updating~~ totally re-doing the school's website, so I'm sure I'll be posting links for you to see our progress. Good times.

Loki is definitely happy to be back in all the snow...his habit of "needing" to go outside 3 or 4 times an hour is getting worse with all the snowdrifts to play in. I'm sure he misses all of his "grandparents" back in Wisconsin, but he's been having fun running laps both inside and outside of his Nunap house.

Anyways, I'm sure there will be plenty to post on the Loki, baby, school, basketball, and who-knows-what-other fronts in the next few months, so I'll just stop here and look forward to a great spring semester!

Meat is murder yummy!

2007-12-18T11:51:00.001-09:00

So our Span frozen order came. Finally.

Admit it, you've always wondered what a few hundred dollars worth of frozen meat products looks like. It's ok...it's good to be curious.

Almost enough to make me sad we'll be headed to WI for Xmas on Friday, unable to really dig into the wonderful symphony of animal flesh in our freezer.

Almost ;-)

iTraining

2007-12-17T11:13:00.001-09:00

I spent last Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday with a great group of students, in Bethel for training for some of the great multimedia tools that are on the school computers. The district flew up an Apple trainer from California who, from the sound of it, does a ton of these sorts of workshops. At first, I was a little skeptical of how the training was going to work, but I have to say, he won me (and more importantly the kids) over right away and just took off running with showing us the capabilities and the nuts and bolts of some of the "iLife" programs that come with computers that the schools have for all the students to use.

Now, I've never been a "Mac guy", but that's mostly been because I've never had occasion to use a Mac for any reason. So when I did, it was only to, say, check my email on Sara's school computer, and of course the interface was pretty foreign to me, and I just didn't have the comfort level to use it like I do with my PCs. But now that I'm using them more, and seeing the kinds of programs available on Macs, and their focus on creative-type stuff, I'm definitely seeing the appeal. I'm even entertaining the possibility of having a Mac around at some point in the near future, and splitting my time on seperate gaming/work-focused and creative-stuff-focused setups. Not that I want to buy another computer right now...just saying I can see myself doing it in the future sometime. Like maybe a tax-return or PFD time splurge...

But the training itself went awesome...can't wait to get started on some of the website and podcast stuff we're going to do with the High School students next semester. I think they're going to have a blast...

Without further adieu....

2007-12-11T11:36:00.002-09:00

It's a boy!!!!

Here are the first of what are sure to be countless pictures of the kid to appear on this blog :-D

(Doesn't that second picture make him look like the pig-doctor from that Twilight Zone episode??)

Update

2007-12-10T15:22:00.001-09:00

For those of you wondering...here's what I know so far:

1. Sara's appointment went really well.

2. The ultrasound person wrote down the sex of the baby on a slip of paper and put it in an envelope along with some snapshots, etc (apparently the printer was working this time...heh). We'll open it together when she gets home tomorrow :-)

3. You can definitely expect another blog post on the subject.

cue halleluja chorus

2007-12-07T09:40:00.001-09:00

New York Times: Some Airlines to Offer In-Flight Internet Service

One of the airlines mentioned? Alaska. Yeah, how nice will it be to be able to get online during the six-and-a-half hour flight between Chicago and Anchorage? A much better use of $10 than the "digi-players", that's for sure :-)

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they equip the long-haul planes by spring. If so, I might have to invest in an extra laptop battery so I get my money's worth out of the flight...heh.

"it's all kinda sketchy past anchorage"

2007-12-06T10:58:00.001-09:00

[rant]

Christmas shopping from the village is interesting.

Of course, the "revolution" of online shopping has undoubtedly changed life out here...I wouldn't know personally, as I've only been here a year and a half. But to be able to sit at one's desk and browse the full collections of the online retailers of the world is definitely a comforting connection to the world outside. It's just as easy (and dangerous) to browse Amazon or Target.com on payday as it is to go bum around Target in person, tossing things into the cart on impulse...more than once, I've exclaimed my relief that Fleet Farm doesn't have an online store :-)

The only problem is when it comes to the shipping. That's where the title quote of this post comes, from Sara. I've been doing most of my xmas shopping online, of course, but just as planning travel this time of year involves a little bit of dice-tossing, the same goes for the speed (or turtle-like-sloth) of the arrival of anything purchased online. The variables are myriad and sundry...weather, river, competence of a company's shipping people, the service they sent the package with, karma, the phase of the moon, the direction of the migration of the Caribou herds, etc. A package sent regular mail arrived from Florida in a matter of a few days...a box from Seattle sent UPS "next day" a few weeks ago has yet to arrive...frozen food shipped freight from Anchorage even earlier is, at this point, probably halfway over the Alaska Range on dogsled.

Really, anything we need to buy has to be done online, seeing as we won't be getting home until right before xmas. Thankfully, we've been making a few of our gifts this year, so that's dependent only on our motivational level and raw materials. Anything else I need to finish up ordering online, at this point, is going to have to just be shipped to Wisconsin, lest they turn into Martin Luther King day gifts.

[/rant]

(Non) Controversy

2007-12-03T08:54:00.001-09:00

So, after a couple weeks of cold and snow and actual winter weather, it decided to get all warm and springlike again last week. We're talking almost 50 degrees for a week. All the snow we had is gone, and the ice on the river got so bad again that we missed some school on Friday and again today. Awesome. *smacks forehead*

The reality of "climate change" may be questioned elsewhere in the world, but all I heard here last week was students walking the halls, looking out the windows, muttering "#*&^@%! this global warming!"

I didn't have the heart to yell at them for swearing.

An aside...

2007-11-30T08:39:00.001-09:00

I know, I know...not Alaska-related, but I put my other blog on hiatus and I need to post this somewhere.

Two points about the Packers-Cowboys game:

1. AARON! F*@%!^&! RODGERS! The kid is for real! Or, as Sara pointed out, maybe it was the mullet giving him power.

and...

2. Final Score -> Packers 27 to Cowboys 23 (+ Refs 14 for a combined total of 37)

That is all.