Test: this blog is from

Test: this blog is from my phone, I should be able to do some quick updates from the road now.

An expensive but refreshing few weeks.

So yeah, as you may have noticed I has slightly re-worked my page. I don't know if I am completely happy with it yet but it is coming along. I guess I'll go over the past few weeks in chronological order.

Two weeks ago I broke my phone, yes the chocolate has a cracked screen so I was unable to pull the old numbers off. I have finally upgraded to a Motorola Q, so far it seems to be treating me well but we'll see if the windows mobile OS is in any way compatible with the Macbook I've got coming.

Last week my parents flew up from New York. While it was a little frustrating because I am so used to making split second decisions for my self the decision making process of a family of four on vacation is a little slower. Once I realized it was best to just let them figure it out the week off became extremely relaxing. We went and saw Mt. McKinley (Denali), at a little over 20,000 feet it is the highest point in North America. Then we drove down to Seward and went on a glacier cruse. That was really neat, I was amazed on the amount of wild life that we saw. Everything from Humpback Whales to Puffins. We also saw the Portage Glacier, Whitier, Girdwood and several other stops along the way. On Friday we rented 4wheeler and I took them down to point McKenzie. Mom and Dad covered 90 miles that day were tired out. My brother and I attempted to make a break for the Knik Glacier but apparently you can not ride ATVs and Dirt bikes in the city of palmer. We got pulled over about 3 blocks in and the officer was really nice and let us off with just a verbal warning. Sunday my parent left. I probably will not see them again for 6 months.... gotta run i'll be back later





ok, back. My laptop is on the fritz so I finally caved in and bought a Mac, it should be in by early next week. I'm pretty excited about that, it will be nice to finally have something that I can work with. My current laptop is almost 5 years old and has served me well. Yesterday I got my physical therapist to sign me off Light duty so now I can run calls.

Cold War Mike Hercules Missile Silo

For those who wonder why its called "The Last Frontier"

The Brown Bomber from atop a missle bunker.

Why You Never Leave Your Vehical

Yesterday was full of adventure, after my ride Jon, Patrice, Derek, Patrick and myself took the Brown Bomber (1985 Jeep Grand Wagoneer Purchased for $300) to the Bay Site abandonded army base about 15 miles from Wasilla. I realized that I never actually got any pictures of the bunkers because every time we stopped there was someone standing around shooting automatic weapons.

My Quest For The Knik Glacier

Playing In The Dirt

A Moose Trail

Wildlife Checking Me Out

I never actually made it all the way to the glacier but the summer is still young.

Been a few days

It's been a few days since my last post so I figure I'll try and get everyone up to speed. Everything has been going smooth, the lack of work is still frustrating but I'm doing what I can to make sure that it gets seen that I'm not just slacking. I'm still trying to figure out if i could actually live here after school. There are two employment prospects that have caught my eye since I've been here. The first is working Safety up on the North Slope. One of the guys here on department runs with safety for the refineries up near Prudhoe Bay and brings home +- $140 K. The work is two weeks on two weeks off. It would be doing safety, so its something that is actually interesting (to me). The second is the prospect of working for the forestry department and being a smoke jumper. Not to sound arrogant but I've seen some of the people in the department and having a 4 year degree in fire protection it looks like good odds that with some hard work there might be some opportunity for advancement. Working winters in the arctic circle and summers as a smoke jumper could be an extremely physically demanding life style but with the income and some savings right from the start retirement seems feasible.

Frustrations

-Meeting expectations that are not known.
-Drama that is 4000 miles away.
-Being broke.
-20 Hours of Daylight and not having enough energy.
-Not being able to tell people to go away because they are coworkers.
-Having to stand around as everyone else gets to ride fire trucks.
-My computer being in the fritz.
-Not having an office to get work done in.
-Having to entertain my parents for 10 days (you'd think this would be easy considering I only see them 2 weeks a year)