Friday picture roundup

Don't worry, there will be a post detailing my first 3 days in the world of education *cough*snicker*cough*, but I'll write that this weekend. For now, how about a few pictures from the folder I've been keeping seperate from the rest as "stuff I should probably post at some point". Everybody likes pictures, right?

Here's one of Loki being generally retarded (or cute, if you're into that sort of thing)



Here's one Sara took while out picking berries on the tundra. I like it because it's good composition, and 'cuz it's a pretty good picture of the landscape and how flat it is, etc.



Finally, the two of us on the boat. And apparently showing our loyalty to the ol' alma mater.

lu-na-tic (n.)

Well, despite the risk of identifying myself as the astronomy all-around geek I really am, here's a link to a story I just saw about something cool happening with the moon up here in the northern latitudes. Makes sense, of course, and it's not as terribly exciting as a comet or an eclipse or whatever, but I thought it was neat. Not that I'm able to see it here lately...clouds, rain, and fog have been the status quo all week. Oh well. There's time.

I'm looking forward to getting away from the village lights some clear, cold night this winter. That's gonna be sweet.

Update

Well, A couple hours into day number two of this whole substitute teacher thing and I gotta tell ya, I was mildly shocked. In a good way. I didn't self-destruct, nobody caught fire, and I didn't end the day yesterday huddled in a corner sobbing quietly. All in all, I'd say that's a good sign.

In fact, I was almost giddy over how well it went/is going. Just ask Sara...she may have found me a bit annoying. And of course, knocking on wood. I can see how it could get tiresome and frustrating at times if I were to have to do it on a daily basis. There are some students that are definately a challenge to keep, how shall I say, on task. Or even in their seats. But I think this sub thing is just fine for me at the moment, honestly. I shouldn't be in any one place long enough to get too burnt out and jaded. I think. I hope. Right? :-/

*gulp*

If you think of it, send a calm vibe or two my way today. It's my first day subbing. Like, in a classroom. With students and everything.

Scary, huh?

Not to be dramatic or anything... (or, The Fantastic Voyage)

Well, Friday night was interesting to say the least. Sometimes it seems like I have to brainstorm things to post about here if I'm going to be updating more than once a week or so. Not today. You know the scene in "Swingers" when Rob tells Mikey that the previous night's drama didn't upset him too much, because "it's like now I've got my L.A. gun story"? Yeah, it's kinda like that. Except with a boat. Or more accurately, a 75hp outboard I'll be hereafter referring to as "Ol' Smokey".

The story goes like this. Christina, Carey, Sara and I headed out on the boat around 7, over to Akiuk to surprise Sara R. for her birthday. It was to be a good time, with some food, a 6-way game of Settlers (which I got rocked in by the way after previously winning in my second game ever), and a few episodes of Sex and the City on DVD, a show of which I'm not really an active fan, but I've seen a few times and find fairly amusing, if a little annoying. So we hung out with Sara R. and Eric, and decided at around 11 that it was just about time to go. Now, when we got here a month ago, it would have been light at 11pm. Now, it's about twilight, and a mostly overcast sky made for the prospect of a dark boat ride home. Despite my slight worry about traversing the tight channels and cuts of the meandering river in the near-darkness, I knew I was with a party of bush-teacher-superstars, two of which have been in Nunap and driving this river for at least a year. We'd make it home, it would just take a little longer that the trip there, being careful and navigating by memory and flashlight.

Wait, let me back up a second, I just have to drop in a story from the trip over. We had a bit of a run-in with the shoreline, having been moving quite quickly through the lake so as not to get the motor bogged down in the weeds that cover the majority of the shallow water. Christina was headed for some equipment on the shore that had previously marked the opening to the next cut, but apparently...someone had moved the equipment. So there we were, bow in the weeds, unable to use the motor to reverse for fear of wrapping up the prop in said weeds, trying to push ourselves out from shore with a length of 2x4 that someone had luckily left in the boat. We didn't have too much luck using it, but enough to eventually back us out to the point at which we could put the motor in reverse and head out and over to the actual cut through to the next lake that got us to Akiuk and Sara R.'s place. At the time it seemed like a touch of adventure, enough that I took a picture with the intent of posting on it, but little did I know at the time that the trip to Akiuk would be the easy, even funny, half of the evening's travels.

So back to a little after 11pm. Armed with a pair of flashlights and not much else, we headed out to make the two or three mile trip back...or so we thought. We'd made it a few minutes out, maybe a third of the way across the first lake when the motor started to noticeably strain. The fact that we were traveling through pretty heavy weeds, and more slowly than usual at that due to traveling at night, made us think at first that it was just a matter of the prop being wrapped with vegetation. Soon however, the thick smoke and high-pitched beeping from the instrument panel seemed to indicate otherwise, and the initial diagnosis was that the motor was out of oil. Not a good situation in the middle of a lake at 11:30pm, with no oars of any kind, not to mention VHF radio or outboard oil to add to the motor. So, after a bit of discussion we decided to turn around and head back to Akiuk, to see a) if we could make it, b) if we would be able to scrounge up some oil for the motor, and c) if not, if there was a place there we could crash for the night until someone could come get us/fix the motor.

Of course, the "fixing the motor" part was entirely contingent on us not completely ruining the thing on the way back by running it (so we thought at the time) bone-dry on oil. Limping back and listening to the motor strain, I have to admit that while I knew we weren't in any real, immediate danger beyond just getting stuck on the water for a few hours overnight (and getting in trouble for blowing up the motor on the school boat), there was a bit of praying to the gods of internal combustion machinery. And, well, it worked, because about 45 minutes after we had left, we nursed the boat back into the school dock at Akiuk. Now lit by the village lights, we were able to take a look at the motor well enough to determine that while the boat was indeed a little low on oil, it was by no means out of oil as the beeping would have suggested. This was good, as we were unable to find any usable oil anyways at around midnight on a Friday. No, the beeping was something different indeed. A closer examination of the instrument panel by Christina revealed that the beeping we were hearing, combined with the inability of the motor to run above half speed, meant that the problem was as simple as overheating due to mud/grass/muck/whatever being sucked into the cooling system. The motor was then turned on to check if the output of water did indeed seem restricted (we hadn't noticed this through the smoke while trying to get back), and whaddaya know? It was spitting out exactly no water at all.

After all breathing an audible sigh of relief that the problem seemed to be an easy fix, as opposed to a possible welding of pistons to cylinders for want of lubrication, we procured some wire with which to clear the output, and borrowed an additional flashlight and Sara's VHF radio...just in case. We got the motor "peeing" like a champ again, and after the slight delay headed back out one more time for the attempt to make it home for the evening. We took it slow, which helped the motor stay a little cooler, but which also meant drafting a little lower in the water and chewing up more weeds and gunk, so we stopped a few times to clear the prop, make sure the output was clear, and give the engine some time to rest. The sky had cleared nicely in the time we were dorking around in Akiuk, and a full moon provided quite a bit of light for us as we dropped anchor each time to prevent the wind from pushing us into the heavier weeds at shore. In addition, the little bit of light was helpful in finding our way through the cuts and channels to navigate back to Nunap. Not to say we didn't make a wrong turn or two, but all in all the rest of the trip back went fairly smoothly...if at a much slower pace than the trip out.

I have to say, after we all knew the engine would behave if treated kindly, the mood relaxed and we had a pretty good time making our way back. With Cap'n Christina at the wheel, Carey navigating and operating the spotlight, Sara reprising her role as Communications Director in charge of the VHF as well as keeping an eye on the motor's "peeing" and a firm hold on the wire with which to clear the hole, and myself, well, not doing much of anything but trying to keep my appointed flashlight charged, we joked around and tried not to get too loopy from the smoke/fumes. Only a brief moment of panic when the motor didn't seem to want to start after we had stopped to rest within sight of home and swiming distance of the Nunap school dock put a kink in the mood, but like I said, that moment was brief. We were home and on dry(ish) land only a couple hours after we had originally left Akiuk.

Probably the biggest reason we needed to get home was that the boat was needed on Saturday morning to pick up another teacher and the school's cross country team at the airport, which as I understand was another adventure altogether...but I'll leave that story to Christina, as I was thankfully home snug in my bed at the time.

edited 9/12 to add pics :-)

Bright lights, big(er) city.

Well that was fun. Like I mentioned, we went into Bethel this weekend to do some stuff and really, just to get away for a night. Which, I think, was about the perfect amount of time in Bethel, really. You see, we have this dog, and he's a bit...hyper. But yeah. One day was enough time to eat out a time or two, do some (okay, a whole lot) of shopping, and get back home without going too crazy. Not to say there wasn't craziness and a little frustration, but knowing we were headed home pretty quickly kept things from grating too hard, I think.

The problem with Bethel, it seems, is transportation-based. Not to say that transportation in Bethel is a problem in general, I obviously don't know the place well enough to judge that, just that it was a problem for us. We flew out after school on Friday afternoon with a few other teachers, and after the short, 10 minute or so flight, we were at the airport with some decisions to make. Namely, how do we want to do this? We had a short list of things we needed to do, as well as a couple things we'd like to do if we had time/a way to get there. Here's where the proper putting-of-things-into-order became crucial. we had gotten in just barely too late to get to the bank to deposit the cashier's check I'd brought with from my bank in Wisconsin, and they wouldn't be open again until, well, today because of the holiday weekend, so that plan was done for. The only thing remaining to do that night was to check in to our hotel and find something to eat.

After grabbing a taxi and checking in to the Longhouse again (which you may remember as the place we stayed when we were weathered in Bethel back in March), we walked over to the pizza place where we had made plans to meet up with Christina and Richard. We sat down, and since we were a little early, in true Wisconsinite style ordered some delicious fried cheese as an appetizer. Now, I don't know if I've mentioned this in passing in any posts before, but Sara has a little mantra that she's learned from living up here a few years that I'm trying to take to heart my cheap self..."Just don't look at the prices. It's not worth it, you'll just get upset." I'm learning quickly the wisdom of these words. You see, anything that gets out here for us to purchase likely wasn't produced within, oh, a thousand miles or two. Combined with the fact that there aren't even any roads on which to truck said products to us consumers, and you can see how the overhead might make things a little bit pricier that I'm used to. And being fairly cheap in the first place, it makes certain bullets harder to bite. But aaaaanyway...

So that was basically the extent of Friday night's excitement in Bethel, we poked around Swanson's until they closed and got an idea of things we'd look for while shopping the next day, then walked back to the hotel and were slugs and watched some Chapelle's Show until we fell asleep. Next day, we grabbed some "continental breakfast", a.k.a. watery coffee and one of those little boxes of cereal you remember from your childhood. Apple Jacks, yum. And here's where the transportation issues come into play. We're on a pretty good stretch of road, with a bunch of things within walking distance. the problem is, everywhere we want to go today is somewhere that involves purchasing things. And not just a couple things that can be thrown into a bag and carried with us to our next stop. We're talking lumber, gallons of paint, groceries to last us weeks, etc. That leaves us with the taxi, which are flat rates instead of by time or mile, and generally a pain in the butt. So along with Swanson's (which is really three stops: the hardware store, the lumberyard, and the grocery store), we also hoped to get to Subway...an honest to god chain fastfood place, akin to civilization...as well as the A.C. Which would require some fancy taximanship, loading up from Swanson's, one of us being dropped of on the way to the airport, while another took our massive quantity of stuff we'd purchased to the airport. This seemed like a good plan, until we got through at Swanson's and decided that, yeah...Subway's not worth it, not even now. Let's just go to the airport. Mind you, this is the sanitized, hindsight version of the transportation saga. At the time there was much debate and deliberation. Long story short, or I guess pretty long at this point, is that I think it will be a lot easier to get around Bethel, if maybe not to Bethel, once winter sets in and we can just take a snowmobile the 15 miles or so.

So after getting everything boxed up and to the terminal at the airport we got out of Bethel around 24 hours after getting there...a few hundred dollars lighter in the bank account and a few dozen pounds overweight with freight for our flight back (each passenger is allowed 40 lbs of luggage/freight on the bush planes...we were at about 130 between the two of us). And after getting our stuff home from the landing strip and surveying the damage done by Loki and hearing the tales of his dual dogsitters, I must say it was good to be home and not have to worry anymore. Either about how he was doing or how we were going to get to the next place we were going.

And that's the long, rambling story of the Bethel trip. Exciting, huh? Well at least we got right on the ball with using the painting supplies...I'll have to post before and after pics of the living room soon...remind me, ok?

And we're out.

Okay, off to Bethel for the weekend! Well, a day at least. Going to do a little shopping and just generally enjoy the big city life, ya know ;-)

I'll have a report on the trip when we get back! Have a good long weekend, everybody!!

Home sweet home

I've been hearing a little bit of whining as to why I haven't posted a picture of our house yet...so here! The inside is still a work in progress (as you may have seen if you looked at the video of Loki and Bailey), so pictures of that may wait until after we get to Bethel for paint, lumber, etc, but I figured I'd better give you all something. So here's our front door!

The building our apartment is in is actually an old school building, with the classrooms just separated off into living space. Which means, if you want to picture our place, just think of a big rectangular classroom, with two walls dividing it into thirds. That's it. We've even got the sweet long institutional fluorescent lighting fixtures. Don't worry, we don't use them unless we're cleaning or something.

So there are three of these apartments in our building, with one teacher living in each of the others. It's nice, we have a washer and a dryer in the building, water is piped in (no bulk tank), and flush plumbing! Really, what else can a guy ask for? But seriously, compared to what I saw of Sara's place in Quinhagak last year, there are some minor things about this place that are a little more, shall we say, ghettotastic, but there are definitely some major convenience factors that make it more comfortable. All in all, so far, so good :-)

And on another happy note, yesterday was like christmas...a grand total of 4 boxes came in the mail! Including...hold on to your hats...all my fishing gear! You have no idea how excited this makes me...ok, maybe you do, but still. I'm pretty excited.

Well hello there

Partially, I'm just checking in here at 12:28am on a Sunday night/Monday morning to assure you I haven't been eaten by a rogue salmon or anything...I've just had a perfect storm of internet issues and time issues this week that kept me from being online much at all. Sorry about that. More stories and pictures to come, I promise.

But for now, I wanted to just post a link to a story that I found interesting and that might give some of you a bit of a frame of reference for what life's like up here using something I know many of you are familiar with...high school football.

An added bonus, of course, goes to the fact that the story is about the school where our previously-mentioned northernmost pal Jody is a teacher! Allowing you, gentle readers, get the inside scoop as well. Nifty, eh?

(I would just like to point out, postscript-style, that while Barrow is indeed way, way up there, it also has a population of around 4,700. Nunapitchuk is roughly 1/10th that size. So I don't think I can hope for a $100,000 football program around here anytime soon. Just have to wait 'til basketball season, I guess.)

Testing...video testing...

Okay, so youtube.com is blocked by the school internet, but Google Video is not...so in the interest of experimentation (as well as showing you the canine craziness, of course), let's see if you can access the video of their morning wrestling match if I link it like this!