Friday, March 13, 2009

Woke up to a beautiful morning once again, although it’s overcast, 38F feels good out there. I love the sound of tweety birds singing their bright and chipper songs loud and clear, I still can’t believe a bird that small can make that much noise, you can still hear them from pretty far away!! They help to give awe to this paradise I call home! The eagles screeching and flying around, goofing off with each other, probably waiting for breeding season to start up, ahh... Spring time… Dante loves going pee outside with his brothers! I still have to keep him on a leash or he won’t want to come back in! Roscoe and Tug know what “inside” means!

I got down to work early again, trying to make it a new habit to leave the house and get to work at least 5 mins before I’m supposed to be here. People always ask me if I’m ok because I’m here earlier… ha ha ha, that funny, just because I’m here and not home they expect something to be wrong. I’m just trying to be early, instead of walking in right at 10 or a little after, I feel it’s a good habit to have! :D

I entered all the charge slips in the book, and gave our store manager the cash for the store for today. I cashed a couple checks and a couple people put money on their store accounts before lunch time rolled around. The plane came in on time today, 11:30AM it was pulling up on the ramp. The dentist and his wife, the dental assistant, and a surveyor check out of the hotel, they should all be taking off on that first plane. There is a slight drizzle feeling like it wants to maybe start to rain, but right now it’s just the occasional rain drop falling from the sky. A small amount of mail came in, and one observer for Trident.

We had chili dogs for lunch today. So it’s going to be my neighbor and good friend’s birthday here on St. Patrick’s Day, and he’s Irish, so he really likes to celebrate his birthday with the traditional dinner of Corned beef brisket, cabbage and potatoes. Well only problem is, we don’t have any corned beef brisket in our store freezers at this time… so I did the only thing I could think and call the one person who instantly came to mind: CB!!!! So I gave him a ring at lunch and asked for a big favor, asked him to pick me one up in Dutch Harbor and send it over on the next plane… He told me that he will do it tomorrow, since we have until the 17th (weather permitting :P). Such a sweetheart to help me help make my neighbor’s birthday!! Thank you so much again CB!! I don’t know what I would do without someone like you!! I love your support, I love bs-ing with you, and I can’t wait until we can actually hang out!! I know we’re going to have a blast! So I will make sure to get pics of the brisket’s journey!! LOL!!

This afternoon I got a lot of hotel billing re-billed. I had to fax copies to some of the businesses. I don’t know if they ever got the ones I mailed to them, even though the address I have for them is correct, they claim that they never got them. So I’m making sure they are getting them this time by faxing them to their accounts receivable. I have to bill the company who sent the dentists down and the surveyors company, since they checked out I may as well get their billing done up since I have everything out for it!
I stopped by the clinic to pick up the dental assistant’s room keys, guess she left them there or someone dropped them off there, either way I went and picked them up. The dentist prescribed some toothpaste to my hubby to help with his teeth. He used to get it before, but his refills ran out and I guess only a dentist can refill it, and it seems like every time the dentist came in we were traveling, not this time! So, yay, he finally gets to get that toothpaste again. I think it’s like really high fluoride toothpaste. I’m just happy he’s finally being serious about his oral health and watching how much soda he really is drinking, which happens to be way too much!

At about 2:30PM it started to rain, finally… you can tell it wanted to earlier! Spring time rain!! But it only rained for like a good 30 mins then stopped and dried back up! I helped our store manager on some stuff we need to get ready for the next store order. As bad as it is, we have to order more soda… running out of the main brands: Pepsi, Mt Dew, Coke and Diet coke! My hubby also decided that he was going to cook steam bath tonight… damn we wanted to try to cook it while the dentists were here... but with our work schedules – me here and him with his dental appt this week, and the barge.. We didn’t really have time to go down and get it started up. But my hubby wasn’t doing anything this afternoon, so he figured he’s go cook and clean bath. So that’s something to look forward to after work!

I don’t know what we want to have for dinner tonight. I cooked meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans for dinner last night. I felt like cooking my hubby a good meal after he got off work! I picked him up at exactly 6PM; he worked for exactly 12 hours!!

Slowly getting people to get these health care support post cards filled out. I just need you to fill out your name, address, phone number, email, the name of our clinic: The Anesia Kudrin Memorial Clinic. Then once I know I have almost everyone I’m going to give them back to our CHA (community health aid), I guess she figured it’d be easier to have people fill them out up here than the clinic. As Darryl has put it, it’s harder than pulling teeth to get people to come down… speaking of which I’ve been meaning to go down there and get my blood work done up. You know, fasting glucose levels, cholesterol levels, blood pressure and whatever else he has planned for me! I will make sure to go in on Monday, I’ve been procrastinating it for over a week or two now…….. Guess I’m another one that it’s hard to get go in just for a simple finger prick and tests! LOL…..

Well I went around and did my apologies to certain people to make sure they knew I wasn’t trying to push their buttons the wrong way. This is way too small a place to be letting people have a grudge against you… way too small… so I made sure to go around and clear everything up (hopefully).

The second flight was right on schedule, it was here on the ramp at 4PM. A couple town people came in and a handful of mail. Steve is flying, we know all our pilots by their first name, and they are family out here! We have a certain love for our bush pilots that is unexplainable!! I can remember almost every single person who has ever flown the goose here to Akutan, and I have a great friendship, at least I believe I do, with all of them over all these years! I always depend on them to get my home when I’m traveling!! No other way to get here, unless I take a boat, which I hate doing, but sometimes you have no choice but to take a boat! I don’t mind as long as I’m getting home… or making it out on time!

Well it’s stayed about 43F out for most the afternoon. The weather has been clear, with the occasional sprinkle falling from the sky. There is barely a breeze whispering thru the still air. There are actually a good amount of people out and about on this Friday the 13th, the boardwalks are actually buzzing with activity, people and 4-wheelers. Most days you barely see anyone outside and you’d think you lived in a ghost town! There just isn’t enough people here to be at work and outside at the same time!

Well I hope everyone has an awesome weekend. Really wish I could be in Dutch tomorrow night to enjoy the night out on the town with CB from Dutch Harbor Dirt, Alena from The Real Dutch Harbor, Cookie Dough from Just a Mom in Unalaska and her friend who came up from the lower 48! I know I’d have fun with you guys, make sure to have a drink for me!! Have a great time guys, take pix!! :D

Much love to everyone, thanks for reading and being interested in what I do! The stress of dealing with stupid crap was getting to me, so that’s why I went out and tried to clear the air from everything… over the last week I’ve lost over 8+lbs from stressing… I get that don’t want to eat and always feel sick feeling and I didn’t know how to get rid of it… so I figured apologizing to the people who I accidentally hurt and argued with over the last couple days would help me feel better. And I already do!! Thank goodness! Stress is not the best way to lose weight… but at least there was something good I got out of it :P And here I was almost about to go to the clinic to see what I can do to help battle my stress, because I know it eats at my body, that why I have ulcers (at least thats what the doctors said). They told me that my body is eating it's self because I'm stressing... at least I feel a lot better now and hopefully life straightens back out and goes back to the way it used to... nice and quiet without pissing off anyone!! LOL...

Ok well have a great weekend!! TTFN!!
A copy of those cards we are trying to people to fill out for helping support our Health Centers. I scanned the front and back of the card with the pic of my mom!!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Well we had to wake up extra early this morning so I can get my hubby to work. His call out was for 7:30AM, but I set the alarm for 5AM so I can cook him breakfast. At about 5:30 we heard the tug rolling in the bay, those monster engines that run that tug were growing and I can heard it and jumped up and got on the radio. I asked the captain if he would like to me to wake the hubby and get him ready since they are here already. He said yes, so I woke him up and got some scrambled eggs and toast whipped out for him. By 6:03AM I was driving up him Trident on the 4-wheeler. It was clear and calm, not too cold; the puddles weren’t iced over so it’s above freezing! After dropping him off I went home and fell back asleep until 9:30AM

I didn’t want to get back up and kept hitting the damn snooze button until the alarm didn’t respond to the snooze, so I managed to convince myself to get up and get ready for the day. I got down to the office a little bit before 10 (wow I’m early today, put that on the calendar!); my mom had already gotten the charge slips entered in from yesterday. I had a couple projects on my desk that I needed to get done. One of my projects is to get my cousin’s taxes done up for him, super easy. He only has two w-2 and his PFD to report, he’ll be happy knowing he’s getting a pretty good tax refund this year! We also have these “we all need health care supporter cards, asking policy-makers to help support Alaska’s Community Health Centers” Our CHA Lorraine stopped by and dropped them off a bunch of these cards for us to help get people to fill them out and support our clinics! I will scan in a copy of one of the cards so everyone can see what I’m talking about. If you’re here in Akutan, please come up to my office and fill one of these cards out. Please help support our health centers!

The plane came in around 11:19AM, I heard there was some kind of medical emergency up at Trident and they needed to get someone off the island. So the plane is actually here earlier than usual. I heard a good amount of mail came in, I’m didn’t make my way down to the plane ramp, so I’m not exactly sure what came or gone on the plane. I’ll check my mail later today :)

Just before lunch time I ran home and got a coat for my hubby, then picked up my bro and dropped him off at the barge! I brought Tug with me, he loves to run and follow me when I’m on the 4-wheeler, I left the little ones in the house running around; we usually lock them in their “corners”. But I figured I’d see if I can trust them for 15 mins out on their own. Came back home and they were good boys! I had some Anchor’s brand Mozzarella Cheese sticks for lunch with sweet n sour sauce!

Got back down to the office early again, LOL – can tell my hubby isn’t around to keep me at the house longer! I have a store order that I need to get started, we have a freighter leaving Seattle tomorrow, but I have to get what’s going to ship in 2 weeks ready for our vendors. The weather is so beautiful today. It’s about 41F outside right now, the sun trying to make its appearance from behind the overcast sky. I love the way the Rosy Finches (tweety birds) can have such a loud sweet voice when they call and sing to each other. I wish there was a way to record them and get my cockatiels to sound like that, all my birds like to do is wolf whistle and scream and squawk! I have a couple learning CD’s that make whistling sounds to them and I play it on the stereo on repeat for them. I think they are slowly trying to get “Yankee Doodle” down! When they are happy you can hear them singing parts of it! So cute!

Today is my little bro-in-law’s 11th birthday today. Damn where did the years go? I still remember my mother-in-law when she was about to pop with him and when she brought him home!! And now he’s already 11! Damn a couple years away from being a teenager…… like I said where are the years going? I don’t know what to get him for his birthday, I told him to find something he wants and let me know and I’ll see if I can get it. I think we might just save up and get him a Wii with Mario Kart, he’s been proving to us that he’s getting more mature and responsible with handling highly scratch able, expensive Xbox 360 and game cube games. We cut him off a couple years ago because he didn’t understand that the reason some wouldn’t work was because they were damaged (scratched up) from not being cared for properly. Now he understands that those are important if you want to keep playing them and to keep them in perfect condition. So I think he’s ready for a Wii now, since he’s had an Xbox 360 since Christmas and he’s been doing really great with that. So that probably the next “big” purchase I’m going to be making here soon… lol… I’m hoping to be able to take him down to Cali when he’s a teen; hopefully he’ll be willing to get on some big rides by then, because anything fast scares the crap out of him right now! I hope he has an awesome birthday today though!

The plane came in again around 2PM, not sure if that’s part of their schedule or if it’s a charter. I wasn’t expecting them back until the second scheduled flight around 4PM.

I want to say thank you to everyone who’s been emailing and commenting me with their support. I know right, it’s my blog; I can write what I want. I really like margarita said and I have write it down again what she said: “This is your personal blog you may say whatever you feel if someone doesn't like it then they should stop reading and move on. If I am watching TV and something comes on I don't like I don't send nasty letters to the TV station I just change the channel....” I love that saying thanks!!! And it’s only true! And I’m really happy that if reading my blog makes you want to start you own blog. Go right ahead, but once you start to try to write personal crap about me that demoralizes my character watch the F out because I’ll get a lawyer to vouch on my behalf if I have to. Because I know that’s kind of against the law because I’ve heard of other people who dealt with it legally and won! So watch out what you want to say. Like I said I don’t make mine personal, I don’t put names to what I’m saying. I’m not pointing fingers at specific people. But if you feel that I was pointing at you, just shows you have a guilty conscience about what I said! At least I have the “balls” to voice what I think and not have to be worried about what people think, because if I don’t really care what you think, why you care so much what I think? HA HA HA…. If you don’t appreciate what I have to say, then don’t listen/read and go somewhere else! Don’t act like it’s that hard… unless of course you’re just jealous that I am one of those people who will not hold back what they are feeling and I let people know. I am blunt like that. I learned that I have to be that way from some of my friends; beating around the bush never really works. Have to be straight forward and willing to not let anything hold you back from how you truly feel. I never said I didn’t like Akutan as a whole, I just said there are just a couple nasty people who like to give us a bad name. I didn’t give us that bad name; I was just pointing it out. Not like I anything I said wasn’t something people didn’t already know, they just never put it in writing and voice it out like I did. Typical village drama, I swear they watch too much Soap Operas, they want to live in one!! Well they do a pretty good job at it anyways!

Here I can’t believe I let them get under my skin like they wanted, and I was about to make my blog private. I don’t have to and I don’t want to, and no one can make me do it… so I’m staying public so the whole world can see what life in a village is really like with no blinders on trying to make it seem pristine and untouched by the evils inside people. I still can’t believe I got calls bitching me out about how I feel and what I think. You can’t change how I think and what I feel about things, I am my own person with my own thoughts, dreams, and everything else that makes me who I am! I love my parents, love my in-laws, I love my family and I definitely love all my friends and acquaintances I make thru my journey in life! Oh, and Demetri Tcheripanoff Jr is my Husband, not boyfriend… so when you call me to bitch and tell me and my b/f to pack up and move, make sure you have your saying right. He is my husband and I am damn proud of that! And we’re not packing up and going anywhere. I was born here, raised here, and plan on living here all my life if I can! I plan on raising my kids here, I plan on being buried here (well I want to get cremated and have my ashes poured over the island so I can forever be home! But I think I have to get permission from our Orthodox church to be cremated… well see when the time actually comes… makes me think… am I too young to write a will?? Anyone know?? Isn’t it called a living will?) That way my wishes for being cremated will be granted and they won’t just stick me in the ground one day for the bugs to eat on me…….. That creeps me out a bit…. So quit trying to get me to go anywhere… if I do go anywhere it’s for vacation and I will always be back!! This is my home, this is my life, and I love it here and don’t have any plans on moving anywhere soon! So, I’m sorry, you’re stuck with me like a marriage – until death do us part!!!

My dad stopped up, guess he has a dive to do. Both my dad and my uncle Darryl work together in our family business, Pelkey’s Dive Service. If any of the boats need a diver either my dad or my uncle will go up and do a dive. I want to get my certification, well both my hubby and I would like to get certified so we can help and keep the business going in the family! I just want to go play with sea lions! :D


At 4PM on the dot the second scheduled flight was pulling up on the plane ramp. The dentist, his wife and assistant should be packing up and taking off tomorrow. They were some pretty cool people from what I can tell; I tried to BS as much as I could with them! They are only a couple years older than I am, probably why I feel connected in a way with them! Hope they had a great stay and are welcome back anytime! I think one of my aunties should be flying home today too from doctors appointments in Anchorage, most people fly out for checkups that can’t be done here on the island. Such as mammograms and surgeries and anything else they can’t deal with at our clinic. We have a pretty good clinic, filled with some pretty cool electronics that they use in the medical industry! You wouldn’t think for a small village of under 100 people that we would have something as sophisticated as some of the stuff they hold in that building! I’m happy that they are able to take care of most problems and we don’t always have to be constantly flown out for simple health care.

Like last year in August, my hubby got the tip of his index finger chopped off from this jacked-up/rigged lawnmower we were borrowing (that’s a whole nother story on its own!). And he ran down to the clinic and the nurse we had here at the time was able to clean it up and sew the tip of the finger back on. They were able to deal with him the whole time here without having to be sent out. And in like 7 weeks his finger had healed up and he was back at work again. The finger actually healed pretty nice! He’s lucky to be able to keep it; it chopped his finger right across the nail sideways, shearing off the whole tip and most the nail bed. Only thing now is that he don’t have full feeling in the tip because I don’t think the nerve ending reattached, but at least he still has his finger and the nail is starting to finally grow nice over it to where you can barely tell it happened!

Well I’m hoping my hubby should be getting off work around the same time I get off work. I need to go shopping down at the store and find what I’m going to cook for dinner tonight. I ended up going to the café for dinner last night, I actually had something different!!! I ordered beef chow mein, and the hubby had ham and eggs (I don’t know why he wanted breakfast for dinner, when he knew I had to wake up and make him almost the same thing in the AM!)

Gee I think this is enough for today… I know I could probably find something else to write about and keep going… but I’ll leave it at this today :D OH YEAH… Chef Gordon Ramsey is gracing my TV with his sexy hot headedness towards the idiots he has to deal with. You would think that since Hell’s Kitchen has been out for a while now (this being like season 5 or so) that people would understand who Chef Ramsey is and what he’s looking for in a cook. I don’t know why people who don’t know what the hell to do are even doing on that show, I guess to add to the drama that sucks us into reality shows! I don’t care, I love Gordon Ramsey, and if he asked me to be with him… sorry hubby, I might just leave you for the chef (only chef Ramsey though!)… But my hubby appreciates him just as much as I do… but I don’t ever want to be with anyone else but my hubby. He still gives me butterflies in my tummy… ever since we were 12 and no one can take away the love I have for him!!

Well, superstitious Friday the 13th tomorrow. Hopefully the effects of the full moon have worn off by tomorrow. And I hope everyone has a great day, knock on wood and all that other good stuff ;) Again, thanks for all the support, I know right... it’s my blog and I’ll write what I want to! Have a great Thursday night everyone!! Until tomorrow, Ta ta for now!

Pic posted is one of the cards that the clinic wants us to fill out to support our health centers. I scanned the card with the pic of my mom and my cousin! Well once it let me post it I will... it's being a pain right now..

Don't complain about your job....

I thought this was super funny and couldn't stop from sharing it!!

Don't complain about your job again, unless your this guy....

Bill of Rights

DO NOT SCREW WITH MY RIGHTS AS A HUMAN AND AS AN AMERICAN!
READ THIS IF YOU DON'T KNOW IT ALREADY, BECAUSE PEOPLE TRYING TO TELL WHAT I CAN AND CANNOT WRITE IS GOING AGAINST MY RIGHTS
Amendments
First Amendment – Establishment Clause, Free Exercise Clause; freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly; right to petition
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Second Amendment – Right to keep and bear arms.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. [6][7]

Third Amendment – Protection from quartering of troops.
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Fourth Amendment – Protection from unreasonable search and seizure.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Fifth Amendment – due process, double jeopardy, self-incrimination, eminent domain.
No person shall be held to answer for any capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Sixth Amendment – Trial by jury and rights of the accused; Confrontation Clause, speedy trial, public trial, right to counsel
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.

Seventh Amendment – Civil trial by jury.
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Eighth Amendment – Prohibition of excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Ninth Amendment – Protection of rights not specifically enumerated in the Bill of Rights.
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Tenth Amendment – Powers of states and people.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

Hell with it - I'm staying and not going anywhere!

I have enough people who support me and my rights.

Hell with the people who don't like what I have to say.

Like I said, if you don't like it... don't read it...

I am going to just keep my blog public, it's my right as a human to be able to share my thoughts and feelings with out being harassed about my opinions.

Thank you everyone! It feels great to be supported by my followers!

So I will say it again If you don't like what I have to say, then don't read it, I am legally open to my own opinions, no matter what anyone says!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Woke up to a good inch of snow on the boardwalks. Snow squalls passing blocking out the blue sky and sunshine. We got up early because my hubby had his dental appointment today. We walked the dogs then got ready to go down to the clinic around 9:30AM

I took the day off and spent the morning at the clinic, helping the dentists with what I could while they were working on his teeth. So I spent this morning at the clinic, keeping everyone company while I was being nosey with my hubby’s teeth.

At lunch time we had a ladies only lunch for our store manager’s birthday. I brought a big bowl of jello with fruit and whipped cream on top. There was a good assortment of goodies to munch on. They had some shrimp, chili cheese sandwiches, whole grain rolls, and assorted finger foods. They also had some salmonberry shortcake and moss berry cobbler. I brought a small plate of food home to my hubby, since it was ladies only.

I took the afternoon off from work since there isn’t really anything important that I need to get done today. I got some calls bitching me out about what I write in my blog. If you don’t like it, don’t read it. Easy as that right? I may not like what some other people have to say either, but I don’t try to make them change what they think, or how to express it. We are all open to express our feelings, thoughts and opinions. I don’t feel that I have to move, I never said I didn’t like it here. I don’t appreciate getting calls from people telling me they want to run me out of here because of what I wrote yesterday. Like I said before I am entitled to my own opinion, and if you don’t like it – then like the “famous” CB said, “If you have a Problem with that go to another blog, there are like a billion others…”

Well, I have nothing planned for dinner tonight. We made kielbasa, potatoes and green beans for dinner last night. I might just call the café and order something if I can’t find anything I want in my cupboards or fridge/freezer.

We got one plane in so far, it came in around 2PM. The snow squalls come and go and the hills are freshly frosted with new snow. But the sun is still shining, and I can actually feel the heat from it! It’s been about 37F all day. A slight breeze from the south. Not sure if the second flight is going to come in, but I wouldn’t see why not, it’s beautiful out other than the occasional snow squall.

I just got a call out for the barge at 10mins to 5PM. 2 guys tomorrow, one guy at 7:30 AM and the second at noon. I think this time it’s going to be my hubby first then my bro. Raymond is still sitting this week out because he’s waiting to get some dental work done. And your teeth are more important than a job, but it’s all good because we have enough people in our rotation to let him take a break! Ray’s been doing the barge for the past 15+ years or so, he’s our most experience long shore man out of the three of them. Next would be my bro then my hubby on who’s been there the longest. But my hubby is so good at what he does he can probably do it blindfolded or backwards or both or even one handed! :D Sorry to seem cocky, but you can ask the Gyrfalcon crew about him and how hard he works and how he knows what he’s doing and what’s supposed to be going on. He’s been working there since he turned 18, and we’ll be 26 this year! So this will be his 8th year working as a long shore man for the ILWU ( I believe that stands for International Long shore mans Workers Union), he loves doing the barge… I can see it in his eyes when he talks about it, he gets that fire in the eyes – you know that loving fire! I think he’s the cutest when he’s smiling and talking about work, can tell it makes him happy. And what makes him happy make me happy too!

Well hopefully the effects of the full moon start to wear off and everything makes its way back to “normal.” I’ll probably be putting my blog to private soon and just invite people to view it. So if you want to be on my list, email me… :) and I will send you an invitation. That way I don’t have to worry about people bitching about it being public. It will only go to whom I choose. So please get to me soon. I will be changing this on Friday the 13th!

Luvs to all of my followers who don’t have a problem listening to what I write. To all those others, just close the window and forget I even have a blog, since you don’t like what I have to say. No one said you have to love what other people have to say… but that doesn’t give you any right to bitch at someone because of what they think. If you don’t like what I have to say, then don’t read it. Easy as that.

TTFN...

Freedom of speech

Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship or limitation. The synonymous term freedom of expression is sometimes used to denote not only freedom of verbal speech but any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used. Freedom of speech and freedom of expression are closely related to, yet distinct from, the concept of freedom of thought or freedom of conscience. In practice, the right to freedom of speech is not absolute in any country and the right is commonly subject to limitations, such as on "hate speech". This is because exercising freedom of speech always takes place within a context of competing values.

The right to freedom of speech is recognized as a human right under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognized in international human rights law in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The ICCPR recognizes the right to freedom of speech as "the right to hold opinions without interference. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression".[1][2] Furthermore freedom of speech is recognized in European, inter-American and African regional human rights law.


The right to freedom of speech and expression
Freedom of speech, or the freedom of expression, is recognized in international and regional human rights law. The right is enshrined in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights, Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.[3]

The freedom of speech can be found in early human rights documents, such as the British Magna Carta (1215) and The Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789), a key document of the French Revolution.[4] Based on John Stuart Mill's arguments, freedom of speech today is understood as a multi-faceted right that includes not only the right to express, or disseminate, information and ideas, but three further distinct aspects:

The right to seek information and ideas;
the right to receive information and ideas;
the right to impart information and ideas.[3]
International, regional and national standards also recognize that freedom of speech, as the freedom of expression, includes any medium, be it orally, in written, in print, through the Internet or through art forms. This means that the protection of freedom of speech as a right includes not only the content, but also the means of expression.[3]


Relationship to other rights
The right to freedom of speech is closely related to other rights, and may be limited when conflicting with other rights (see Limitations on freedom of speech). The right to freedom of speech is particularly important for media, which plays a special role as the bearer of the general right to freedom of expression for all (see freedom of the press).[3]

Origins and academic freedom
Freedom of speech and expression has a long history that predates modern international human rights instruments. In Islamic ethics freedom of speech was first declared in the Rashidun period by the caliph Umar in the 7th century.[5] In the Abbasid Caliphate period, freedom of speech was also declared by al-Hashimi (a cousin of Caliph al-Ma'mun) in a letter to one of the religious opponents he was attempting to convert through reason.[6] According to George Makdisi and Hugh Goddard, "the idea of academic freedom" in universities was "modelled on Islamic custom" as practiced in the medieval Madrasah system from the 9th century. Islamic influence was "certainly discernible in the foundation of the first deliberately-planned university" in Europe, the University of Naples Federico II founded by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor in 1224.[7]


Freedom of speech and truth

First page of the 1644 edition of AreopagiticaOne of the earliest Western defences of freedom of expression is Areopagitica (1644) by the English poet and political writer John Milton. Milton wrote in reaction to an attempt by the English republican parliament to prevent "seditious, unreliable, unreasonable and unlicensed pamphlets". Milton advanced a number of arguments in defence of freedom of speech: a nation's unity is created through blending individual differences rather than imposing homogeneity from above; that the ability to explore the complete range of ideas on a given issue was essential to any learning process and truth cannot be arrived upon unless all points of view are first considered; and that by considering free thought, censorship acts to the detriment of material progress. Milton also argued that if the facts are laid bare, truth will defeat falsehood in open competition, but this cannot be left for a single individual to determine. According to Milton, it is up to each individual to uncover their own truth; no one is wise enough to act as a censor for all individuals.[8]

Noam Chomsky states that: "If you believe in freedom of speech, you believe in freedom of speech for views you don't like. Goebbels was in favor of freedom of speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you're in favor of freedom of speech, that means you're in favor of freedom of speech precisely for views you despise."[9] An often cited quote that describes the principle of freedom of speech comes from Evelyn Beatrice Hall (often mis-attributed to Voltaire) "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it," as an illustration of Voltaire's beliefs.[10] Professor Lee Bollinger argues that "the free speech principle involves a special act of carving out one area of social interaction for extraordinary self-restraint, the purpose of which is to develop and demonstrate a social capacity to control feelings evoked by a host of social encounters." The free speech principle is left with the concern of nothing less than helping to shape "the intellectual character of the society". According to Bollinger tolerance is a desirable, if not essential, value and protecting unpopular speech is itself an act of tolerance. Such tolerance serves as a model that encourages more tolerance throughout society. However, critics argue that society need not be tolerant of the intolerance of others, such as those who advocate great harm, such as genocide. Preventing such harms is claimed to be much more important than being tolerant of those who argue for them.[11]


Democracy
One of the most notable proponents of the link between freedom of speech and democracy is Alexander Meiklejohn. He argues that the concept of democracy is that of self-government by the people. For such a system to work an informed electorate is necessary. In order to be appropriately knowledgeable, there must be no constraints on the free flow of information and ideas. According to Meiklejohn, democracy will not be true to its essential ideal if those in power are able to manipulate the electorate by withholding information and stifling criticism. Meiklejohn acknowledges that the desire to manipulate opinion can stem from the motive of seeking to benefit society. However, he argues, choosing manipulation negates, in its means, the democratic ideal.[12] Eric Barendt has called the defence of free speech on the grounds of democracy "probably the most attractive and certainly the most fashionable free speech theory in modern Western democracies".[13]

Thomas I. Emerson expanded on this defence when he argued that freedom of speech helps to provide a good balance between stability and change. Freedom of speech acts as a "safety valve" to let off steam when people might otherwise be bent on revolution. He argues that that "The principle of open discussion is a method of achieving a moral adaptable and at the same time more stable community, of maintaining the precarious balance between healthy cleavage and necessary consensus." Emerson furthermore maintains that "Opposition serves a vital social function in offsetting or ameliorating (the) normal process of bureaucratic decay."[14] Research undertaken by the Worldwide Governance Indicators project at the World Bank, indicates that freedom of speech, and the process of accountability that follows it, have a significant impact in the quality of governance of a country. "Voice and Accountability" within a country, defined as "the extent to which a country's citizens are able to participate in selecting their government, as well as freedom of expression, freedom of association, and free media" is one of the six dimensions of governance that the Worldwide Governance Indicators measure for more than 200 countries.[15]


Social interaction and community
Richard Moon has developed the argument that the value of freedom of speech and freedom of expression lies with social interactions. Moon writes that "by communicating an individual forms relationships and associations with others - family, friends, co-workers, church congregation, and countrymen. By entering into discussion with others an individual participates in the development of knowledge and in the direction of the community."[16]


Limitations on freedom of speech

A National Geographic Magazine censored by Iranian authorities. The picture hidden beneath the white sticker is of an embracing couple.[17] February 2006.For specific country examples see Freedom of speech by country, and Criminal speech.
Currently, freedom of speech is not absolute. Legal systems, and society at large, recognize limits on the freedom of speech, particularly when freedom of speech conflicts with other values or rights.[18] Exercising freedom of speech always takes place within a context of competing values. Limitations to freedom of speech may follow the "harm principle" or the "offense principle", for example in the case of pornography or "hate speech".[19] Limitations to freedom of speech may occur through legal sanction and/or social disapprobation.[20]


Members of Westboro Baptist Church have been specifically banned from entering Canada for hate speech.[21]In "On Liberty" (1859) John Stuart Mill argued that "...there ought to exist the fullest liberty of professing and discussing, as a matter of ethical conviction, any doctrine, however immoral it may be considered."[20] Mill argues that the fullest liberty of expression is required to push arguments to their logical limits, rather than the limits of social embarrassment. However, Mill also introduced what is known as the harm principle, in placing the following limitation on free expression: "the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.[20]

In 1985 Joel Feinberg introduced what is known as the "offence principle", arguing that Mill's harm principle does not provide sufficient protection against the wrongful behaviours of others. Feinberg wrote "It is always a good reason in support of a proposed criminal prohibition that it would probably be an effective way of preventing serious offense (as opposed to injury or harm) to persons other than the actor, and that it is probably a necessary means to that end."[22] Hence Feinberg argues that the harm principle sets the bar too high and that some forms of expression can be legitimately prohibited by law because they are very offensive. But, as offending someone is less serious than harming someone, the penalties imposed should be higher for causing harm.[22] In contrast Mill does not support legal penalties unless they are based on the harm principle.[20] Because the degree to which people may take offense varies, or may be the result of unjustified prejudice, Feinberg suggests that a number of factors need to be taken into account when applying the offense principle, including: the extent, duration and social value of the speech, the ease with which it can be avoided, the motives of the speaker, the number of people offended, the intensity of the offense, and the general interest of the community at large.[20]


The Internet
International, national and regional standards recognise that freedom of speech, as one form of freedom of expression, applies to any medium, including the Internet.[3]

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

I woke up and the first thing I did was call my little sis and sing her “happy birthday” on her voice mail! I obviously didn’t let her sleep in… lol… opps… sorry sis….. I started to cry after singing her happy birthday, I can’t believe we’re as old as we are now. I still can’t believe my baby sis has a baby! I guess it just hit that soft spot in my heart and it makes me choke up and tear up a bit… Guess I just don’t want us to be growing up and getting older… just stay kids and keep our parents young and around us all the time! Kind of sucks to know that we can only cherish memories from the past and we can never “go back in time” and live that moment again. Damn that means my 26th b-day is right around the corner (next month)……… where are the years going?

Today is so beautiful! Walked outside to clear skies, the sun looks like it’s just about to come up over the horizon, the colors of the sky vary from light blue to dark blue! There is a slight chill in the air, the boardwalks are frosted over with a thin layer of snow and ice. There is a slight breeze blowing from the Northwest. The dogs ran out and enjoyed running on the lawn, before eventually doing their thing before coming back inside. I try to make sure they play enough before and after they pee so they don’t think outside is no play and only potty! Makes it easier to get them to go potty first, if they know they get to play after and not go straight inside!

I got down to the office, entered in the charge slips, and went over yesterday’s paperwork. I have to check my mom’s adding machine, I think it’s rounding up. She’s trying to match totals from what I got yesterday to what she’s getting today. I went back to my desk and added all yesterday’s checks up on my adding machine 4 times, and kept coming up with the same number I had. Then I showed her for some reason her machine was rounding the totals, that’s why she had a different total than I had. So that wasn’t hard to fix.

After screwing around with yesterday’s paperwork, I got to counting up the cash my mom picked up for the Corp. I hate counting one dollar bills and paper clipping them in bunches of $20.00 then rubber banding 5 of the $20 bundles to equal and even hundred, then put it in the safe. The bigger bills seem easier to count out and paperclip up. The plane is scheduled to come in on time today, should be here around 11:30AM. We had one person check out of the hotel, I think we have some kind of surveyors here for the Airport project.
We ate at the café for lunch, well we ordered it to go so we can eat at home. I had my usual (everyone should know what that is by now… LMAO) and the hubby decided on a chicken burger today.

Well this afternoon seemed to go by smoothly. I got a bunch of the ones counted up, I didn’t realize that most of the 1’s in the safe hadn’t been paper clipped up. So that gives me something else to do. I got the Tribal Council’s store account figured out for them and sent them a copy. I guess they weren’t coming up with the same totals that I was. So I sent them all of what we have entered in and faxed them that copy. I still came up with the same totals!

I guess the fridge in 203E stopped working, the room the dentists are in. So we moved the fridge from the back of the Salmonberry Inn (which isn’t being used right now) up to the dentist’s room. My hubby moved it for us, he said it was really light and easy to move with just a hand cart. Oh the drama yesterday, my hubby WASN’T even working for us nor doing anything for the Corp. And I guess he grabbed his parents’ 4-wheeler, and his mom had a huge cow over it and started to call both my office and the president’s office bitching about him using her bike for Corp work. Well… for one, he was not doing anything for us at the time. He was just using her bike to do whatever the hell he was doing at the time, which had nothing to do with the Corp. But she still picked up the phone and decided to bitch the corp. out for nothing. I want an apology for being harassed at work for something my hubby is doing that I don’t even know what the hell he was doing anyways. And two, if he was working for the corp., then he would have been told to just take the corp.’s 4-wheeler. I hate when people call about one thing, then make shit personal and start bitching about other shit. I can do the same, and I did. I’m not ashamed of anything I had to say, I know people have been wanting to say something, but didn’t know how. So at least I said it and it’s out in the open now, I’m not sorry that I had to be the one to say it. If you are going to call my office during work hours, let it be for something pertaining to the corp. If your all heated up and pissed off, wait to make that call or else nothing is going to get done if you’re just going to bitch and cuss and hang up without getting an explanation of what’s even going on. I just say it’s the full moon effecting people, I know they say not to talk about the sun, moon and weather and stuff… but I swear it has some kind of impact on people around here. I swear half this town is being bitchy the last couple days, must be the effects of the full moon being so close to Friday the 13th… who knows... I just know its stress that I don’t need to be dealing with.

I WILL EDIT THIS PART OUT OF RESPECT FOR MY VILLAGE, AND NOTHING ELSE. I DID THIS OUT OF MY FREE WILL, BUT ONCE I MAKE THIS PRIVATE - I WILL NOT LET ANYONE STOP ME FROM SPEAKING WHAT I THINK. LIKE I SAID IT'S MY RIGHT AS AN AMERICAN TO HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

Well, cashed a small amount of checks today, only 4. I counted up and paper clipped almost all the cash in the safe… I think all I have to do now is start a store order again here soon. We should have a freighter leaving Seattle this Friday the 13th and it will be here next week. So I should start on what we’re going to need to be shipped here in a couple weeks. My hubby has his dental appointment in the AM. Hopefully they fix all the problems in his mouth, that damn soda he drinks is literately eating holes in his teeth. I drink almost the same amount as he does, just I drink Mountain Dew or Cream Soda. They don’t have the phosphoric acid in it that Pepsi and Coke have in them. So I’m thinking that’s the “battery” acid part of the pop that’s eating his teeth. He needs to switch to what I’m drinking, and he needs to slow down! At least I slowed down. I now will carry a pop in my hand, but I won’t drink it. Kind of like how a cigarette smoker has to have that cancer stick in their fingers, I need to be holding that damn pop. It’s a habit I’m slowly trying to break, it’s like being a hardcore alcoholic and just trying to stop drinking! It’s not easy to accept change, no matter how small/big it might be, just as long as we’re persistent at it!

It’s our store managers birthday tomorrow, but she still insisted and wanted to come to work, even though the bi-laws state that an employee’s birthday is considered a day off for that employee. She still wants to come to work. I guess there are some of us who can’t stay away from work for too long! She don’t have internet and I know she don’t read my blog, so I can write in here that there is going to be a surprise party at lunch at the school tomorrow for her. Ladies only please. I am going to make a big bowl of jello with fruit in it, whipped cream on the side in case anyone wants any!

LOL... I had to post my horoscope that MSN emails me daily. Pretty weird how some days it hits right on the nail. I am on the cusp, I was born April 20. Which is right between Aries and Taurus, msn puts me as a Taurus.
Your horoscope for March 10, 2009
What good does it do you to resist change, April Dawn? Everyone knows that people of your sign have trouble adapting to the incessant changes in the world around you. Unfortunately, April Dawn, this is life and you can't do much about it. However, you are not powerless. You will find that your life is much more stable when you can learn to surf the waves of change. That is, embrace change and make it work for you, rather than resisting it all the time

It is now 4PM and the weather has cleared up, but they sky is overcast. It’s about 37F out, and there is a new coating of frost/snow on the hills from the passing snow squalls. The wind switched and is a slight breeze from the Southeast now. At about 4:11PM the second flight had landed and was pulling up on the plane ramp. I didn’t think it was going to clear back up. What’s that saying out here “if you don’t like the weather wait 5-10 minutes” Some days that saying is so true!

Well, I think T.I.’s Redemption and Snoop after Dark are all new on VH1 tonight, other than that I don’t’ have anything planned for tonight. I hope everyone had a great Tuesday. Until tomorrow, ttfn!

My babies!

I thought this was cute and had to share!

Monday, March 9, 2009

Well today is a windy day for sure. The wind is blowing a good 30+MPH from the south today. The boardwalk looks like it’s drying off, so it must have been raining a bit earlier before we went out. I picked my bro and hubby up from the barge last night around 1:30AM last night, I had to wait around for like 20 mins for them to sign out and jump off the barge. We stayed up until about 3AM, and then fell asleep.

Because I was up last night with my hubby, I kind of slept in this morning. I didn’t even hear my alarm clock, and it’s like right next to me! My hubby rolled over and looked at the clock and jumped up and told me it was five minutes to 10AM! Damn it, going to be late today… I called down and let my mom know I just woke up and would be a little late. We ran the dogs out to do their thing, then hurried up and got ready to get my butt to work!

I got down to the office and got all the charge slips from over the weekend entered into the books. The usual busy Monday morning, especially since I was 30 mins late. There are a good amount of trident employees coming up to cash their payroll checks. Already handled 10 checks before heading home for lunch. Gee this morning seemed to blow by fast.

Went home and had Jose Ole brand Mini Tacos (taco snacks) for lunch. The weather is still windy, not too cold feeling though. Blue skies and the small amount of heat offered by the sun feels good on my skin! It’s clear out at least, no fog today.

Went back to work after lunch, and there was a good line of Trident employees waiting for cash, and our employees waiting for payroll to be done. My mom was dealing with pay rates on people, so she wasn’t able to get payroll done this morning. After getting the ink cartridges changed in the printer, she got payroll done by 2PM. For some reason, the brand new ink cartridges are skipping a line… well not skipping it but barely printing it…. Damn those are new… maybe a cleaning or priming will help…. Hmmm no biggy :P

Wow what a busy Monday, by 3:30PM I have cashed about 25 checks so far today! So far 6 people have put money on their store accounts. The café owners came up and paid for leasing the café building from us. I have to figure out the Tribe’s store account. They are coming up with different numbers than we have. So I’ll just enter everything from the charge book into a spreadsheet and give them a copy. Looks better than just coping off the charge books totals, cleaner looking when it’s printed off a spreadsheet, other than copied off the hand written sheet. Then once I get that done, I’ll fax them a copy. :)

No planes today, guess it’s blowing too hard for them to come in, although I can say I’ve seen them come in weather like this before with no problems. But it might be blowing too hard on the outside of the harbor.

Fred left last week for some doctor’s appointments in Anchorage, so Doc is finishing up putting the second coat of paint in the halls and stairway. Really bright looking when you walk up to my office now! Hate the smell of paint though… gives me a headache… I have all the windows open!!

My hubby checked our mail… got a couple packages in… just junk that I ordered from PCH (publishers clearing house). Trying my luck to win the millions, ha... never know though ;) At least it gives me an opportunity to order junk that I probably didn’t need to get but I would like it. I got my own Pedi-paws in. Going to try it on Dante later… he hates me clipping them with the cutters… so maybe filing them with this fancy dremel tool for dogs nails will be easier. I’ll make sure to do it outside, I heard the smell that it gives off stinks…. My cousin uses hers on her yorkies!!

I got us everything we need to have ham and cheese sandwiches with chips for dinner. Something light where I don’t have to cook! HA. I’m just waiting for the store to close, do up paperwork and head home for the day. It’s my younger sister’s birthday tomorrow! Wish I was up in Anchorage to celebrate with her… but I’m stuck here on this beautiful island squeezed between 2 massive bodies of water! I have all new shows to watch tonight, Gangland on History Channel, I Love Money 2 and For the Love of Ray J on VH1!

Hope everyone didn’t have such a hectic Monday like I had!! Enjoy the rest of the day, and until tomorrow, TTFN!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Woke up to a dry but foggy day. I forgot to turn my clocks a head an hour last night before we went to sleep, luckily my mom called this morning to let me know she was taking the tug back over here. I was like “why did you call this early?” and she was like “turn your clock ahead an hour babe…” so it wasn’t as early as I thought it was! Not too long after she called, the captain of the Gyrfalcon called to confirm the callout. They should be here by 1PM, my hubby will go up around 6PM – after dinner break, and I’ll feed him good here at home before sending him up!

The dogs loved their walk this morning! At about 11:30AM I ran down to get the paperwork done up and ready for today. While I was in the office I heard the plane fly over. What are they doing here in this fog?? Gee can barely see the other side of the bay! I went down to the plane after getting the paper work out, nobody came in (that I could tell of) and there was a handful of mail. I watched the plane take off into the fog, ha just because my mom too the tug over, the plane comes in!

At 1PM, I rode down and picked up my bro then proceeded up to Trident to meet the barge as it was docking up. I waited around for my mom to make her way off the barge so I can take her home. The fog has disappeared for now, and there is blue sky and sunshine. The sun is actually giving off some heat, finally! There is a slight breeze coming from the southwest, it feels nice and warm out today. The boardwalks look dry, so it doesn’t look like it’s been raining.

At about 4:30PM I started to cook up something to eat, figured cheeseburger hamburger helper was good enough… I like to spice up the meat while I’m cooking it though! I don’t like the meat just browned plain and cooked out of the box kind of thing. I have to add my own little touch to it! I drove my hubby up to the barge at 6PM.

I didn’t hear another plane come in today. Even though it’s been clear out since 1PM, but the sun didn’t stay long before it became overcast, but still clear out – no fog. The breeze picked up a bit, making it feel a little cooler out there, especially after the sun was shielded by the clouds!

To comment a bit on Darryl’s blog, the plane won’t fly in here on a Northerly wind because it comes over the hills, hits the other side of the bay and becomes a wind that can blow in any direction. As the pilot Steve says, “It gets really squirrely in the harbor, give me 20MPH in any direction but a northerly.” We always say, “Blowing every way but the right way”. A Northerly wind in this bay doesn’t just blow from the north, at least not in our harbor. Every other direction has no problems staying in that direction, but not with a northerly. It doesn’t matter how calm/hard the wind can blow from the North, they just don’t trust it here in our bay! It isn’t because of where the plane ramp is located. Just figured I’d clear that up a bit :)

Well I’m going to sit around and watch TV and read my book. Wait around for the hubby to call me tonight and let me know when I can go pick my bro and him up from work. They should be done in about 6-8 hours hopefully. So he’ll probably call and wake me up, and I’ll get up and go pick him up. Other than that, I don’t have anything planned for this evening!

Ok well I hope everyone’s weekend went great! TTFN

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Well... woke up to a wet and windy morning, actually it was wet and windy all day today. The fog is completely down to the water, big rain drops falling from the sky. The winds are blowing pretty hard, I heard it's blowing a good 100MPH outside the harbor.

I was expecting to sleep in, when the phone rang before 10AM. A call out for the barge tomorrow, 2 guys: one at noon and the other 4 hours later. My bro's turn to go up first, then probably my hubby. So after I hung up we got up and walked the dogs, which was quick because the little ones hate the rain. Somedays Tug seems like he don't want to be in that weather either!

We didn't do much today other than hang out in the house with the dogs. I had to run down just before noon and get paperwork and money out for the store so they can open up for they day. I almost forgot that my mom wasn't here! Luckily I have the 4-wheeler so I was able to get down there quicker than walking! I picked up chips and dip and some microwave food for later when we get hungry.

I read on my book, watched some tv, and enjoyed spending my time with my hubby and the pups. We evenutally ate our microwave dinners. I took a hot bubble bath. And now we are watching COPS, and America's Most Wanted comes on next.

Also it is one of my childhood bestest friends ever birthday today, HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAREN!! I hope she had an awesome day, I was trying like hell to find a way to call her with out having to run around town, but I didn't find anyone who knew what her number was or where she might be. I'll maybe call down to the Roadhouse later and see if she's celebrating her b-day!

No planes today, obviously with the fog and wind. It was garbage day today, but we didn't have enough in ours yet to set it out, so maybe on Monday!.

I need to work out but I'm being lazy about it :P I was thinking about doing an hour of belly dancing, I want to get an ab workout done this weekend. I have a whole good stack of different workout dvds - ranging from yoga, to areobics, to tae bo, belly dancing, and Carmen Electra's whole workout dvd set.. just to name a few....

Well have a great Saturday night everyone, nothing much going on today.. just enjoying spending my day off at home reading, hanging out and watching tv! TTFN!

Trident caught the hill on fire

I don't know specifics.. I just know that Trident some how caught the hill on fire... and it's burning out of control right now... it is far enough East that it shouldn't endanger the town.


Well after mass calls were made (I got about 5 at my office for what the VPSO's number was or who to call, I recommended the city office if they couldn't get a hold of the VPSO). 15 mins after I originally posted this, they had about 25 people up on the hill, including people from town and trident, but mostly Trident employees. From the looks of it, their burn pile must have been too big, and with the winds blowing the 15-20 from the south, it ended up buring up the side of the gulley and part of the hill side. But with all the help from everyone on the hillside, they got the fire contained and turned out by 5:30PM. Good thing people acted fast, from the looks of where it started and where it got it, they luckily responded not to long after it started.

So that was the excitment for the day. We went to steam bath then ate at the cafe for dinner. Didn't see too many people there, only one guy from Trident sitting down eating. We called in our order when we ran home after bath. When we were finishing up eating, the dentist and his wife happened to walk in and take a seat. I sat and BS-ed a bit, I like letting people know about my blog, since they are from Sand Point - which isn't too far or much different than here - well landscape wise. :P We don't have cars or a runway.. or as many people! But I love it the way it is here, it's always been this way, 4-wheelers are good enough! I like to walk, or take a hike up the hill and listen to the sweet silence of nature. You know, birds chirping, the water rushing in the small streams and the waves crashing on the beaches. All types of birds, from eagles-seagulls-tweety birds singing, squaking and screaching! Nothing but fresh air and a slight breeze wispering in your ears. Where some days are foggy and some days are clear. I love this place I call home. I am very proud to have been born on this island, I am very proud of my Unangan background! This will always be my home!!!! I LOVE IT HERE... (although it can get boring at times, but that's when you get your butt up and do something about it, there is always something to go out and do... that's why I still live here and a lot of people ask me "how can you live there??" that's easy to answer... it's Home, and no one can ever take away what this place mean to me!! I'm not only talking about here, but this whole part of AK I call home, the beautiful Eastern Aleutain Islands!! :D

Ok well on that note.. good night... have a great weekend!
This sunrise pic was taken by Sarah "Sister" B. from the school this morning. I wanted to share it with everyone!

Friday, March 6, 2009

WOW, TGIF already and another week to add to my blog! Well today started as a windy morning, a good 20MPH wind from the south, blowing directly at the house. It’s clear out, looks like a flyable day today. No white caps or anything out in the bay today! It’s about 36F out this morning. The dogs ran out and enjoyed the weather this morning. They are so cute how they run around all happy together! The people who were supposed to check in on Monday finally showed up on a boat last night, my mom checked them into the hotel at like 8PM (she called me because she didn't know we had anyone coming in that late) I had forgotten to tell my mom that I was told that those guy got on a boat around lunch time yesterday... opps....

I made my way down to the office. I had the 4-wheeler this morning, so it was a quick ride down. Didn’t really see anyone out, like usual. The internet was down at the office this morning. I guess people around town said it’s been acting up lately. Hopefully they get someone to fix whatever is wrong with it. My mom had already gotten the charge slips entered in from yesterday. I started to get paperwork entered into the spreadsheets, since I had gotten almost everything done for this week. I had worked on my taxes and gotten everything ready for them to be sent out. I had almost forgotten about filing mine until I ran into my tax booklet last night. So I filled everything out and got it ready to be sent out. My mom is going to Dutch for a cash pick up, so she’ll mail it from Dutch for me. Happy to know I got that taken care of and out of the way! I figured it was time to de-frag my work computer, and do a disk cleanup, since there was nothing else to really do.

I didn’t sleep too well last night. I don’t know why it felt like all my muscles wanted to do something, probably bothering me to go workout, but it go to late last night to be working out… I’ve been slacking the last couple days on my exercise routine, but at least I’m trying (which is more than some people do). At least I don’t have as bad a sweet tooth as I used to, I love chocolate – especially dark chocolate. My hubby isn’t a big fan of chocolate, so he helped me not each as much as I used to by not having it around as much. We usually share stuff when we eat, and I’d feel guilty eating it to myself. So I kind have just slowed down, which is a good thing if I’m trying to watch my weight! I’ve slowed down on my soda habit, I used to drink a lot of pop, and I mean a LOT! I’d get withdrawal symptoms if I didn’t drink a pop (I think my body was becoming depended on the caffeine, I have been a big Mountain Dew fan since I was like 10!), I’ve slowly weaned myself down to less than a 6pk a day (I swear we used to drink at least 12 or more 12oz cans a day, my hubby hasn’t slowed down though – he don’t have weight issues, his problems is with his teeth…). I don’t really eat any candy anymore… I don’t really eat chip and dip anymore… down to eating lunch, and dinner. And if I do snack I try to keep it small, and healthy. I love cheddar cheese and fruit (especially apple slices and grapes) with plain yogurt on the side!

Well the plane came in early today, flying over the village at 11:13AM, and pulling up on the ramp a couple minutes later. Not sure what they have coming in or what’s going out. But at least it came in, beautiful day for flying today. Patchy cloudy skies, a calm light blue peeking out from behind the clouds. It’s super clear out; if you were in a boat in the harbor you could probably see Unimak Island looming in the far distance behind Akun Island! My mom rushing around to get down to the plane, she’s always one of those last minute people, I’m really happy I like to be prepared! She should be back on this afternoon’s flight. :) The internet turned back on at about 11:30AM, yay!

Not sure what we’re going to eat for lunch today. I know the café is having pork chops for a special today and my hubby wanted to go there for dinner tonight. At least I know I don’t have to cook a dinner tonight. YAY! But I think I’m just going to have grilled ham and cheese with soup. Well the hubby has soup, I just have a grilled ham and cheese. :)

Where did this year go already, we already have to “Spring ahead” and turn our clocks ahead an hour tomorrow night! I cashed a couple checks, about 3 people so far have put money on their store accounts, not bad considering that I only dealt with 6 checks so far and it’s only 3PM. The hubby decided that he was going to cook steam bath again tonight, so I have something to look forward to after work. I am so tired and lazy today because I didn’t get sleep that great last night. Hopefully bath makes me feel better! I paid a couple personal bills online, other than that, just entering paperwork into the spreadsheets (always seems like that never ends…). Not too bad today, pretty good amount of people coming up to the office, most needing copies or addresses/phone numbers to other businesses.

The second flight flew over town at 4:03PM, pulling up on the ramp minutes afterwards. I know there is a little bit of outgoing mail, I was just down at the post office before the plane flew over. I guess my mom had some business to deal with and didn’t make the second flight back, but hopefully the weather is nice and she’ll make it home tomorrow. I’ll get the paperwork done up, go to steam bath and enjoy a pork chop dinner at the café tonight. Nothing else planned except to enjoy being at home with my hubby and the pups!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!! Ta ta for now......

Thrusday, March 5, 2009

Well the wind was blowing, but the sky is blue and the sun is coming up over the horizon. Looking west towards town I can see the sky darkening, another snow squalling moving thru. The hills are lightly frosted with a powdery white snow from the back to back snow squalls. Feels a lot cooler today than the last couple days, temps hanging around 34F. I think it’s funny that it can be calm, blue sky and sunny, but then still be snowing/raining at the same time. Sometimes there isn’t a cloud in the sky and it’s snowing/raining! The wind is about 15-20MPH, with good gusts up to 30MPH, enough to make white caps in water out in the harbor. The dogs ran out did their thing and ran back to the door, guess they don’t want to be out in the cold this early, especially after just waking them up and pulling them out of the blankets and taking them right outside! Dante just loves to lay right next to me at night, Roscoe prefers his bed above my pillows. Spoiled pups! After getting back inside I made a call down to one of my close friends down in Washington, singing him happy b-day on his answering machine (obviously no one answered)!

The walk down to the office was interesting… I kept slipping on all the newly packed snow coating the boardwalks. I eventually got down to the office and it was pretty quiet all morning. I see that there are a couple checks in the till already, so my mom must have had people come up for cash. I entered in all of yesterday’s charge slips into the book.

To my amazement the damn plane actually came in! WOW, I heard that it took 3 tries to get up on the plane ramp! The weather out there is definitely not flying weather in my book, totally surprised me to hear that the plane was here, let alone the fact that it even took off from Dutch!! Sometimes it gets me just a little mad when they bring that plane over in this kind of weather, that’s the only one left (well that Pen-Air owns, they rent another one, they used to have 3, but 2 had crash landings over in Dutch and are parts planes now, pretty sad). I heard there was nothing but mail on that plane. I hope they aren’t thinking about making that second flight today! I don’t know what they were thinking coming over today anyways…

We went to the café for lunch. I had my usual French dip, the hubby had chicken nuggets. I almost choked on my first bite, when the PA Darryl walked in and asked me if I was having French Dip. I just started to laugh right after he said that, my mouth full because I just took a bite. That’s funny that everyone knows what I’m having when they see me there!!

Well got back to work a little late from lunch hour. I got a bill in the mail and had to dispute it. I know for sure that I refused a couple Disney Movie Club shipments that came in when we were on vacation, and had them returned back to sender. That was back in December. Well I am still getting the bill in the mail. I called them in January and they told me to wait a bit longer. So I waited. Called back, they still haven’t gotten anything. Then they said that since I didn’t put tracking on it and it hasn’t come in yet that I’m going to have to pay for them. I don’t know what else to do but to pay that damn bill to save my credit score from dropping because they want to send it to a collection agency. Damn pissed me off… having to pay for something that I know I refused and had sent back. Stupid auto shipments, it makes me just want to cancel my membership with them…

Well nothing much going on in the office this afternoon, quiet just like this morning. A couple phone calls come in, nothing too important. The fax machine will ring, and then pages print out. Nothing too important, mostly notices to be posted.

I started to read a book, figured I’d get back into reading so I can try to help write my blog. I figured that by reading and seeing how an actual author writes would help me with how I word and write my blog. I don’t know where to start with reading books again. I used to always be a bookworm, reading for Battle of the Books in school (Jess and I were pretty good at it!) but after school I never really kept up with reading books, mostly just magazines. So I am starting with a romance novel, I used to be into those books where animals were your main characters, like the book Watership Down or any books by Brian Jacques. I also loved Enders Game by Orson Scott Card, and all the books that came after it.

Well we had some minor problems at the Salmonberry inn (bunkhouse). Trident is leasing it from us right now, and I guess they have some people down in the building. And I guess they just send some new people to go stay down there, and I guess one of the new guys pulled the shower on/off thingy out of the wall and the water wouldn’t shut back off. I don’t know what he was doing pulling that hard to get the water to turn on, but now since he pulled the thing out, the water won’t stop running in the shower. And now it’s kind of flooding it in there because the shower can’t keep up with all the water that’s coming out or something. So they had to shut the water off to the building and now we have guys trying to work on it to get the shower working again so they can turn the main water vein to the building back on. It was so hard to understand the guy who came up to my office trying to tell me what was going on. It took both my mom and me a while, with some laughing with the guy because we all didn’t understand each other. After all the laughing we figured out what we were all trying to say to each other and got people down to work on the problem. Hopefully they get it taken care of quickly! LOL… how hard it is to know how to take a shower??? Ah…. No comment…

Well, the day seemed to go by pretty fast. I don’t have much planned for tonight. We ended up having bbq ribs, au grautin and green beans for dinner last night, even though I didn’t really want to cook. Not sure what I’m going to whip up tonight. The hubby wanted rib eye steaks, but I don’t think we have any in the store right now. So I’ll have to find something else. I don’t know what to cook anymore… I got a couple calls for the school, I let people know that they had the wrong number, school is -2205, my office is -2206! I guess this morning’s flight had the new Dutch Harbor Fisherman newspaper on it, “fresh off the press” as people around here are calling it, since it is dated today! We usually get them a couple days after printing, usually never the day of! So that’s pretty cool I guess. Other than that, nothing really new happening. The plane is on weather hold, but I hope they don’t decided to come in because the weather is still crappy out!

Well I have Hell’s Kitchen to watch tonight on Fox! Well I hope everyone had a great Thursday! TTFN.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Well woke up to a slightly breezy morning, a light mist hanging in the air, the kind that when you walk in it you get soaked but it’s not like rain falling from the sky. Just little suspended water molecules like someone is out there with one of those misting systems found in the produce area of a grocery store. A warm 52F degree’s out there again, feels way too warm for this time of the year! The dogs got soaked and they weren’t even out for long! My chi’s didn’t seem to like getting wet, but my lab was all for it! Dante is starting to learn to pee on the lamp post just on the other side of the boardwalk in front of our house. He’s been watching Roscoe, and then once Roscoe has pee’d then Dante will go over and pee over it. So he’s slowly starting to learn, both my chi’s poop on the pads though, they haven’t pooped outside the whole time I’ve had them. That’s ok I guess… we pick it up as soon as they are done and flush it. Tug likes to go over the bank and hide and do his thing!

So I went to the dentist yesterday! YAY, I have perfect teeth! I got a cleaning and they put some fluoride stuff on my teeth and I was good to go. My hubby on the other hand… he needs to stop drinking pop. His teeth are going to fall out of his head. OMG, so I was a little offended, but he was asked if he does Meth!?!?!?!?!?!? OMG, we don’t even know what that shit looks like, other than what they show on TV. I told my hubby that is an insult and he should be taking care of his teeth more! He used to brush them like 5 times a day before we moved in with each other. Now his mouth is full of cavities, and he still won’t put that damn Pepsi down and drink water! So hopefully he gets the idea this time, I know back when we were 23 the dentists told him that drinking pop was like dumping battery acid on your teeth. He went thru all the pain of having braces… just to treat his teeth like crap and have them eventually all fall out (well that’s how I put it).

So I rode down on the 4-wheeler to work this morning, getting soaked on the way. Didn’t really see that many people out this morning, usually around 10 there are a couple people out and about, but not today. I got the store order out first thing this morning, after getting that rushed out I entered all the charge slips into the big book and counted up all those quarters. I have to take that $50 back to the coin machine when I head home for lunch. We pan fried up some halibut last night, saved a couple pieces today for halibut burgers! I just have to get some of those Easy Fries (microwave kind). I felt good about having good teeth, so I went and got myself one of those hollow Easter bunnies to snack on (LOL). I am one of those people who go for the ears first… I think it’s funny how many people do that!

Well we’re going to have halibut burgers for lunch today; I saved a couple of the halibut pieces that I fried up last night. I like to re-heat mine with cheese melted on top, my hubby don’t like cheese. Awesome lunch!

Now it’s blowing out there, with that same wet mist blowing around like a curtain fluttering thru the skies. I got back to work after lunch and noticed some stuff missing on the shelves that I knew we had in boxes somewhere. So I went on a hunt looking for some feather roses and some other stuff. I found everything I was looking for hidden under some of the Christmas inventory! I also found some coats that needed to be brought down. After helping move some stuff on the shelves I made my way back up to the office. Only thing left for me to do is get last month’s paperwork into our spreadsheets. I backed up everything on my computer last night before I went home, it was about time I did that!

No one showed up today to get their checks cashed, and the phone has been oddly quiet. We got a couple new dolly-carts for the store, my uncle took one of the boxes over to the garage to get it put together, and he’ll grab the other one later. I think it’s so cute when Raemie (she’s almost 3) comes up to visit and say hi! She’s so cute, always comes up and asks me where the puppy is! I finally had 3 people come to the office wanting to cash their checks.

There are obviously going to be no planes today with all the fog, mist and wind. The wind is slowly starting to pick up, gusting a good 30MPH once and a while, the water in the harbor is laden with white caps. The temp has dropped about 2 degrees down to 50F now at 3PM.

I got a call from ADF&G asking for pix of the village and of people fishing. I don’t know if I have any fishing pix, but I do have pix of town that I can email to them. They are coming out here later this month to do a subsistence harvest survey, at least that’s what that lady said, and she also made hotel reservations.

Well I didn’t plan anything for dinner tonight. Guess I can always go have the usual French Dip from the café… I don’t really feel like cooking today. We both are going to work on getting the dishes cleaned and make the kitchen look good again. I made pickled fish last night. Hope it turns out ok…

Well have a great Wednesday!! TTFN

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Woke up to another beautiful morning! There is a slight chill hanging in the air, last night before we went to sleep there was it snowing/raining. It’s about 37F out this morning. The dogs ran out and did their thing, I think that’s the first thing we thing about is walking out dogs as soon as we wake up!

Got to the office this morning and my mom was busy picking up the mail from the Post Office. We got a lot of our Easter stuff in! Finally got stuff in early, with how the mail usually moves stuff usually doesn’t come in until like the week of the holiday! So this time our order made it in early enough! I got all the charge slips entered into the book, cashed a couple checks, and answered a couple phone calls. The phone is ringing off the hook this morning, nothing really important. Checking on my dentist appointments, people changing hotel reservations, calling to see if we have cash or not, and a couple just updating their contact info on us. We got a couple checks made for the cash we bought off the Post office.

I am making tacos for lunch today, Fire sauce sounds really good right now! So that’s what’s on our lunch menu! We had ham and cheese sandwiches on hoagie last night for dinner. Not sure what I’m going to make for dinner tonight. We have our dental exam appointments at 4:30 and 5, and my hubby was thinking about cooking steam bath today too. Bath sounds really good, especially after seeing the dentist (I’m not too worried, I take care of my teeth – other than my soda habit!).

The weather is so calming and beautiful, it’s almost like it wants to be summer here already! All that is missing is the smell of all the flowers and plants that grow around here! There is a slight low tide smell, that sweet smell of kelp and salt water wafting thru the silent air. It’s so peaceful, with seagulls singing to each other while they flock in the bay, rock ducks whistling and bobbing up and down in the water, and as eagles serenade each other as they soar over the village. The occasional couple sea otters floating around, probably eating the sea urchins that are pretty abundant in our harbor (you can always usually get 5-8 of them off the floats down in the boat harbor). Fog gracefully draping parts of the mountains and small wisps of blue showing thru the cloud covered sky.

This kind of weather makes me want to go out jigging so bad! Jigging is the term used here to go fishing for halibut and/or cod. My husband and I prefer to use “hand-lines” over fishing poles. Ok, let me try my best to explain: we take a good amount of line – at least 250 feet of so. The line cannot be too thin or thick, it’s best that when tight is easily held and can be pulled without cramping your hands up (some people have super small line that sucks to pull up, I’ve never really seen anyone use too thick of line). We wrap the line around a wooden handmade spool specially designed to help get the line off the hand line quick and to be able to wrap the line back around it for storage. The wooden “handle” is usually shaped kind of like a stretched out roman numeral 2, and you wrap the line around the center, on the top side it’s best to put a swivel and something to be able to hold your hand line with. I will try to find mine and take a pic of it. I have to make myself a new one this year, the one I have is really old and the wood is starting to go bad (it’s seen a lot of halibut though!). On the end of the line that’s wrapped around your hand line, you attach a weight that’s over 3lbs (I found 2lbs or lighter doesn’t make it to the bottom) to your line about 2 feet from the end. On the very end you put a circle hook, the kind that is used for the halibut long lining fishery. Made sure to bring assorted bait, I like to get a fresh salmon out of the creek or net when the salmon are running. If not, using a pole or lure to catch some cod for bait works great! They will also eat skulpins (or “kull-ug-inn” as we call them around here). Halibut don’t seem too picky about what they are eating, I’ve heard of people using smoked salmon and puffin feet! My father-in-law loves those Norwegian Cod jig (I think that’s what it’s called) on his pole. They also work great on a hand line! Ok so you go out to the desired depth (of course it can’t be deeper than the amount of line you have on your hand line), you go out and throw the baited hook and weight over board, while holding the handle attached to the swivel on the hand line, it will begin to spin, unwinding the line until it eventually hits the sea floor. You then pull up a couple feet, at least like 4-5 feet so you’re not dragging your weight and hook on the bottom - don’t want any snags now! Then you “jig” the line up and down, waiting and feeling for a bite. Once you feel something on the other end you pull it up to investigate! You will know when you have a good size halibut; the fight to the surface is such a rush. Always wanting to keep the tension on the line so the halibut doesn’t shake the hook out of its mouth! It’s one of the best feelings fighting a big fish to the surface by literately pulling it off the bottom with your hands! When I get tired I have my hubby pull my fish in for me:P… lol! Once we get it aboard, depending on its size and if it’s flopping around bad, we’ll take a small club and whack it really hard between the eyes (some people resort to shooting them, I don’t think I have to waste ammo… if you club them hard enough it has the same effect!) Make sure to put your halibut white side up so that you to reduce visible bruising also make sure to bleed your halibut! After a day of fishing we will take home our catch, hand out some of it to people and/or “clean or dress” the halibut to take home. I like to skin my halibut before I put it in Ziploc bags to be frozen!

When cleaning a halibut I like to first rinse the slime off, sharpen my knife and have something to put the meat in after cleaning it up. I make my first incision starting from the tail moving towards the head, right down the center. Halibut have a visible line that goes from their head all the way down to their tail, separating the halibut into 2 sections: the “top” part is nothing but meat, while the bottom part is half the vital organs and digestive system nearest the head and meat near the tail. Make a perpendicular cut right across the tail where you started your first cut, this small cut will be the end cut of your fillet. After making the big cut down the center, I like to feel for the guts and slightly angling your knife, you go a couple inches away from the guts and cut all the way out towards the outside edge of the fish (that makes your other end cut). Ok, now to get your fillet of meat off the carcass. I run my knife under the meat from the first cut I made, literately cutting/peeling the meat off the halibut. If you have your knife angled just right, you can all most fillet the whole slab of meat off the fish carcass. Once the meat is off I make sure to cut it along the outside edge to completely remove it from the fish. I do the same on the top part that I didn’t cut yet, but this time instead of watching out for guts, you can make your cut along the top of the head out to the outer edge. Using your knife to remove the meat from the halibut. I flip the fish over and do the exact same thing to the other side. I usually get 4 good slabs of meat off one halibut, I will then de-skin all the meat, cut it up into good size portions and freeze them. The fish is usually still quivering and literately frozen or cooked up the freshest you can get it!! (I hope I explained that ok….)

Nothing much going on this afternoon in the office. Hotel reservations and this phone ringing like ever today! We got an email from Story Corps, they are hoping to come over and we have signs up letting people know what it’s all about and if they are interested to sign up. I know a lot of people over here have a lot that they can talk about from their childhoods and some of the superstitions and ghost stories from back when we didn’t have any street lights! People over here are rich in stories, it’s just the fact of trying to get it out of them… come on people open up and talk… the only way to keep your stories alive and going is to share them! Hopefully there is a good turnout from over here…

I made a couple “WET PAINT” signs to hang up downstairs. I guess Fred kept painting and he almost got the whole building. Right now he’s down in the lobby area where you first walk into the building and he wants to make sure that people know that all the walls down there are coated in a fresh coat of paint! Don’t want shoppers or anyone to go home with white paint all over them! So I quickly whipped out a couple signs (super easy, he thought it would be bothering me to ask… but it only took like as long as it took to open the program and push print! LOL)…

Well I’m going to get those quarters counted up and make sure I bring some down with me to my dentist appointment, since the clinic is right next to the corp building (where the laundry mat is located). Answer the phones if/when they ring, and get that store order out to our vendors, they need/want it by tomorrow at the latest.

I think we might just eat at the café… if not I will find something for us to heat and eat tonight… maybe just pan fry up some halibut with rice on the side! I am looking forward to steam bath after my dental exam! At 3:30 PM the plane is deciding to try to come over, that will be the first flight for the day. It has been pretty nice all day, it's about 46F out right now.

Have a great Tuesday, TTFN

Monday, March 2, 2009

Well today is another beautiful day here in the Aleutians. It is clear out but the sky is cloudy, looking east toward the pass I see dark low laying fog. What is it summertime already? It’s already 48F out there and the sun hasn’t even come up yet! The dogs loved their walk this morning!

I made it down to work a little late; I was on a phone call when I realized what time it was. After hanging up I made sure to call in and let my mom know that I was going to be like 10 min late this morning. We rushed out of the house but decided to bring the two little ones down with us. The loved the walk down to the office, Dante is slowly getting used to stuff and not being as scared anymore. So that’s really good!

So it’s Monday, and the beginning of the month. So I have a good amount to get done today. I have to get the store billing done up, get a store order done, get hotel billing figured out, and help my mom with payroll. Not to mention cash everyone else’s checks, answer the phones, count up the quarters from the laundry mat (at least I emptied them… just have to count them now) and get a couple faxes out. So today is a little busier than the usual Monday. On our rush out the door this morning we somehow forgot my computer sitting on the couch closest to the door. My hubby ran back up and got it for me. We had a couple late planes over the weekend and I guess all the dentist’s equipment came in. I also heard that the village VPSO came in too, he was out for training.
So helping my mom with payroll was pretty easy, mostly just printer problems (it’s taking more than one check at a time…), then we had little problems with the Xerox machine (it didn’t want to take any sheets in thru the auto feeder). Both just needed a little dusting and they started to work again. After getting payroll done almost everyone was here to pick up their checks and get them cashed. My mom had already entered all the charge slips into the book from over the weekend.

By noon I had already cashed 10 checks! Four people put money on their store bills. The clinic called and asked if we needed to see the dentist or not. I let them know; yes we would both like to be seen. So my hubby and I have dentist exam appointments tomorrow at 4:30 and 5PM. My mom has an appointment this afternoon, so it will be just me this afternoon in the office.

The plane came in on schedule today; I heard nothing but people and their bags on that plane. No mail, not like I’m really waiting for anything. There were at least 4 people on that plane for town (including their 2 adorable little boys!) PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SANDRA & WELCOME HOME!! At least outgoing mail made it out. :) I think I’m just going to make cheese burgers for lunch with a side of French fries.

It’s starting to rain a bit out there now. I love the fresh smell just before it starts to rain! It feel nice and warm at 50F, there are lots of sea gulls, ducks and eagles flying around. Starting to feel more like a spring day now with the rain… still seems way too early for this weather to be here yet. The last couple years the snow was still on the ground for my birthday!

Well I worked on getting all the charge accounts billed up, printed out, enveloped up and put down in the store to be handed out (that seemed like it took all afternoon :P). Next thing to check off my list is to get the store order into the spreadsheets and get that out in the AM…I like to make sure they have everything we need down in the store put on order before I send it to our vendors, the freighter leaves next week (another Friday the 13th!). Then eventually get my hands dirty counting quarters, I don’t have to take that much back down to the change machine (I only got like 50 in 1’s out of it), so I will put at least 50 in quarters back in it. :)

Ok I don’t understand why people get cell phones if they never answer them. Kind of pisses me off when you have an important message you need to pass on… and no one is answering their phones!! What do I have to do, broadcast it over the VHF radio?!?!?

We are supposed to have a couple people come in for the hotel today, but I’m not too sure if the plane is going to fly back this afternoon or not. Guess I will just sit and wait for them to call (that’s if they call).

Well today was a busy, busy day! Hopefully tomorrow isn’t as busy, I got the store order to get out, I have to get those quarters counted up, and get hotel billing looked over. So at least I know I have something to look forward to tomorrow. I didn’t plan anything for dinner tonight. Going to get the paperwork done up for the store, then for my office and make my way home around 5PM. I think there are supposed to be a lot of new shows on the tube tonight. I know today Gangland comes on (they changed what day it comes on, used to come on on Thursday’s), and all new I love money 2 and For the love of Ray J on VH1.

OH, and the Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association (APICDA) gave everyone 200 gallons of heating fuel for their houses!! Yay! (Thanks APICDA!!) and the second flight never came back in.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Wow, starting the 3rd month of the year already.... Woke up to a cold rainy morning, from the looks of it, must have been cold enough for it to freeze; the hills have a fresh coating of frost on them. A slight 15-20MPG breeze from the South. My hubby was still working when I woke up, so I took the dogs out and waiting for him to call me so I can go pick him up.

At around noon I got the call and I went up to pick my hubby and bro up from the barge. A couple of the guys on the tug go home soon and they are going to have a swap out with the other crew (they have 2 crews). So I made sure to go up and see everyone before they go home for the next 3 months, I believe they work 75 days on, 75 days off or something like that.

I ran down to our store after dropping my hubby off at our house. We are out of pop and need to get something to eat. I ended up getting taco snacks, chips and salsa and our pop. I took tug with me for a run, he loves to go running with the 4-wheeler! For some reason the corp. atv trailer was parked up by my house, so I hooked it to the trailer hitch and drove it back down to the store. My mom drove me back home, because she said she needed the bike.

By 4PM it was dry out, a slight breeze and fog. The temps hanging at 50F. We have nothing planned but to take a shower, relax and see what's new on TV. We'll cook those taco snacks up sometime for dinner. I'm debating whether or not to work out today, all that walking on the hill yesterday should count for a couple days work :P We ended up going back up the hill for like another hour and half trying to back track ourselves and find his hat, with no luck... I know he had it when we started to go up, can see it in our pictures. Didn't realize it was gone until we got home... so it's probably gone forever now... darn it.... oh well... :(

Well, I got work that the Northwestern is heading my way, so I'll be sure to keep an eye out for them. It's a 4-5 hour boat ride from Dutch, and I heard they left there around 3-3:30 or so, so they should roll in our harbor at between 7-8PM tonight.

Well I hope everyone had a great weekend, back to work tomorrow... TTFN