All things Alaskan (or Tennesseean?)

Ketchikan 17
Originally uploaded by MicVat.

Well, I finally transferred some pictures to the world wide web. The image presently at right is one of many mediocre pictures I was able to capture while in Ketchikan, Alaska a few weeks ago. Keep in mind they were all taken with my cell phone; I take no responsibility for their quality and I hold true to the claim that, when handed a real camera, I can take some pretty nice shots.

Currently I am in Knoxville (or more precisely, Maryville), Tennessee. The trip so far has been a large success. The folks drove into town for a few nights to hang out, which was teriffic, and they brought with them a final draft of the house plans, so they walked me through the house over (hotel-plastic) glasses of Makers. They departed on Friday, so yesterday afternoon I went solo into Smokey Mountain National Park to visit Cades Cove. The weather held out just long enough for the trip to be a success. Unfortunately my cell phone was dead at the time so I have no pictures. Alas.

It's about time to wrap this thing up - I've droned on and on for hours now - but first I have two quick things to share. The first is that I might be going to Galway, Ireland for work in June, a trip which would amazing for two reasons - that I'd be in Ireland and that I'd be on someone else's dime. I'm not getting my hopes up yet, because the site is not confirmed and June is too far away for anything to be set in stone. I learned earlier this year - the hard way - that it's best not to count your marbles even when they are a week or so from hatching.

The second item I have to share with you is a funny story from work this week. It goes like this: Some dunce walked into the newspaper where I am working and saw one of the girls drinking a can of Pepsi, to which he commented, "Only communists and yankees drink pepsi!" Wow, welcome to Tenessee. I actually had to restrain myself from saying something or at least giving him a dirty look. What stopped me was the thought that maybe he was right. Maybe Pepsi is the clear link between Communism and Yankeeism. Maybe Nazism too! He might be on to something. And on that note, I'm outa here.

for the record have you eva rode a horse?

Murphy's Law For The Business Traveler comes in many forms, some of which I'll include here:
(a) If you need to wake up at a certain time in the morning in order to make your flight and you make the (quite generally safe) assumption that the children with which you live will have you out of bed well before the hour becomes late, you will sleep right through the first quiet morning the house has seen in days.
(b) If you stop to get gas and wash your vehicle on the way to the airport, the car wash will certainly not be operational despite the $9.95 that has been charged to your credit card and you will be forced to leave the station, disgusted, in your filthy-yet-no-longer-thirsty vehicle.
(c) After you have caught your flight and landed, after this has happened if you let down your guard, the jetway will break down and you will be forced to sit on the plane while it is repaired.
(d) And when you finally get to your hotel and are unable to check-in because your room is still not ready, if you go to the nearby grocer to buy perishable items because "Holiday Inn Express rooms always have a fridge and micro," at that point my friend, if you check into your room holding perishables there will be no fridge, no micro, no highspeed, and certainly no apparent way to connect the Game Cube you carried all the way from home.

I've found the only way to stare Murphy's Law in the face and not be defeated is not getting yourself caught up in the 'nilla 'nilla...

Detroit bound

Today Ketchikan is a different place. My site is complete (it went resplendidly), the sun is shining, and there's about a quarter inch of snow on the ground. Honestly, it doesn't even look like the same town. Of course, all of this came to pass on the day in which I depart. Fortunately, though, I don't leave here until after 5, so as soon as I pack up and check out I have the rest of the day to explore the totem pole parks and the docks and the trails and the mountains and the forest. As I type all of that, it occurs to me I should get started...

a footnote:

I feel as though I should take some of my lunch break to post this addendum to my last story. The rain has stopped, and though the cloud cover is still remarkably low, it has lifted just enough - and this is not an exaggeration - for me to notice the fact that this town, and its accompanying lake, are completely surrounded by snow crested mountains. Obviously I knew that it sat on a hill but the fog was so dense that I wasn't able to appreciate the landscape. It's actually quite nice, and I can imagine in the summer months this must be a beautiful town under the sun.

Of course, I don't want to discredit my last post entirely. It is scheduled to rain again before I leave for the day.

no groundhog here

Greetings from Alaska. I just arrived at the newspaper for day 3 and I have only a few minutes before we go live on the new system. Hence, I have just enough time to tell the tale of a quick encounter of mine this morning.

I overslept. If my hotel has taught me anything these past three nights it is the hard truth that waking up early in the morning to go to work is quite difficult when you have no clock. Waking up at five in a panic that you overslept is remarkably easy, but waking up a second time shortly after that is like trying to [insert hurdle too difficult to overcome here] while underwater. Back to the story, I quickly showered, shaved and ran downstairs, stopping briefly to grab a complimentary coffee (Raven's Brew, what a name). On my way out the door the old man that I've grown accustomed to sharing breakfast with in the morning scampered up to me; he had been hosing of the sidwalk in front of the place and he had, for the first time all week, a youthful spark in his eye. When he was within reach he grabbed my arm and cried, "You missed it!" I smiled and asked, "What did I miss?" "For about two hours this morning it stopped raining!" was his reply. Because I was running so late I had already freed myself of his grasp and began walking away, but I smiled and said, "I guess I should start waking up earlier, then." A cheesy reply? Yes. But he nodded vigorously, and besides he's only my old nameless breakfast buddy who tells me the same story each morning...what more is there to say in response to such an outburst?

But that's Ketchikan. The two hours since I've been here that it stopped raining is the current best-moment, despite the fact that I was sleeping. And what was this old guy doing hosing off the sidewalk?! Was he afraid those two hours might have dehydrated the concrete? I'm baffled. The story ends when I arrived here at the paper to find the doors locked and no one here. I slipped in the back entrance (through the actually press room...I got some weird looks from those guys who have no idea who I am...) and started typing. Good thing I rushed myself this morning. But now everyone is present and the game of putting out tomorrow's paper can begin.

Fin.