They Found Me

Good Morning,

Good Grief!!! It's been more than a year since my last post. I apologize to those of you who found me, and have written such nice comments.

My life has been a flurry of ups and downs these past few months. Now it seems we are experiencing a veritable tidal wave of crap. We have been trying to sell our condo. We accepted an offer on it, and were shopping around for a new place to live. Then, on December 15th, 2009, I came home from work and there was a policeman's business card stuck in the door. It had a note on the back that said, please contact this number in reference to incident #uptyump. I'm thinking, "Oh, shit! What did I do?" And started wracking my brain for things I might have witnessed, etc. Rather than doing the obvious, running like hell, (which, incidentally is pretty stupid in Alaska. It's like trying to run on a boat)I called the number. I got the dispatcher and told her the incident number. She said, "that officer is unavailable at the moment ,and will get back to you". So, for the next hour I sat around sweating blood, and trying to contain my bowels. Then came the knock on the door. Sue answered it, and I dragged my wretched carcass into the living room to see my fate. An older police officer loomed in the door, with an extremely serious expression. Mercifully, he didn't beat around the bush. "There's no easy way to tell you this," he said, "but your brother died, and Myrna needs you to call her right away. I wasn't going to tell you this over the phone." I was stunned, grief-stricken, and relieved all at once. I called my sister-in-law, and learned that Rich had died in his sleep, and nobody there could find my number, so they called the local sheriff, who contacted APD.

The funeral was on the 20th, and I was able to get a bereavement flight to Wyoming on short notice. Let me say that it's much easier to get to Alaska than it is to get anywhere in Wyoming. I landed in Billings, Montana at almost midnight, and they had already rolled up the sidewalks. The rental car places were closed, and the hotel shuttles had stopped running. I looked around for a secluded corner to crash in that wasn't in the traffic pattern, or already occupied by a drunk. Not finding any, I called one of the local hotels, and woke the desk clerk. She was kind enough to send a taxi for me, and put me up for the night. The next morning I left the room for a cigarette. The sun was shining, and I nearly had to fall on my knees, and worship, because I had not seen the sun in almost two weeks. I rented a car, and drove to Buffalo, Wyoming.

Rich had a nice funeral, and it was good to see my nieces and nephews, but he died without a will. So now everything is in probate, and his wife is "running" things. It's a fucked up long story regarding properties that Rich and I shared. I was able to get a flight back to Anchorage on the 23rd of December. Sue and I spent Christmas with no gifts, no tree, and no money, but we had each other, and our friends Paul and Dennis came over for dinner. So, it was OK.

Just after Christmas we found a place to live and made an offer on it. Our place was set to close on January 20th, so we were rushing around trying to get things done so we could close on the new place about that time. On the 10th of January, our buyer's mom got involved in the deal, and she backed out of the purchase. So, we had to back out of our offer on the new place, and went back to square one. The excitement, followed by the devastation, is not a roller coaster ride recommended for the faint of heart.

Then, I get a call from the Wells Fargo fraud division telling me that some dude down in Redondo Beach, California is using my credit card to buy crap at Target.

WTF???

So, anyway, the shitstorm continues with Myrna being a blockhead, thinking she runs everything, and won't listen to me. It's starting to look like I'm going to have to hire a lawyer to press my rights. I'm always reminded of Johnny Carson's law firm, Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe. Lawyers have a way of sucking you dry, and I'm not looking forward to it, but I don't really know another alternative.

This shit is getting me down.

On the positive side, Sue and I still have each other, and she has been very supportive. I don't know what I would do without her.

I guess leaving this on a positive note is what I want to do. So, until next time (which is hopefully sooner) I'll

C'ya'

Oh Fook! A Chinook

Good Morning.

My last post was about the weather, and this one is too. After 2 weeks of sub-zero temperatures, we got one of those tropical blasts from the south known as a Chinook. Normally a Chinook is cause for celebration, and I'm not bitching about the temperatures flying up to 40 degrees, but the icy conditions created are so treacherous they demand a bitch or two. I didn't go to work yesterday because the roads are ice rinks. Today the temperature is 40 degrees, and the aforementioned Chinook is happily gusting up to 100 miles an hour. I need to go out for cigarettes in a few minutes, so I'll see firsthand what the road conditions are like, and whether I need to call in again.

One bad thing about the sudden warm front pushing the bitter cold out, is that it went south, and is hitting the Midwest of the lower 48 with 30 below F. One death reported so far. I sympathize with them.

Kamai good to see you again. Yes I got the present, it's hanging in the kitchen. :)I tried to go to your page, but it said your profile is not public, so I couldn't. Fix that shit. ;)Or educate me on how to get there.

Fin, Dorrie, Mr. Scribbler, and all the JS people here, I am so glad to see you. I don't feel so all alone now. I hope to slowly piece together my old friends list, and read your thoughts again.

Well, gotta' go. Please take care and I'll

C'ya'

Weather

Good Morning.

I added this page as having adult content today, because I want to complain about the fucking weather. Those of you who know me, know that I don't write the word often, but I wanted to protect young ears from getting blistered by such a profane expression.

For ten days in a row now Anchorage has been in the double digits below zero Farenheit. That's about a million degrees below zero Celcius. In other words, if you go outside with any skin exposed, it's going to start burning in no time.

When it's that cold for so long, zero looks like a fucking heat wave. My car didn't start on Monday, and it's in the garage. Our cold water line has been freezing, and we live on the 3rd floor. We should have the benefit of warm air coming up from those below, but no -- the air coming up the chimney is freezing the water line.

Sure, you're going to say, "Well, you made the choice to live in Alaska," and that's true, to a certain degree, but this cold wave is breaking records even for Alaska. I don't like it. Hence the bitching.

It can be pretty though, if you don't freeze your eyeballs looking at it, and if your finger doesn't freeze on the shutter button.



If you've seen this picture before, it's because I haven't gone out in this particular cold spell to take new ones. I'll try to buck up and do that though.

Despite not having any money, for various reasons, we managed to have a pretty good Christmas. Paul and Dennis came over for dinner, and Sue outdid herself this year with the prime rib. There aren't enough mmm's in Yummy.

I'm still pissed that I lost all my posts from Journalspace. I had a partial backup, and may be able to Google others, but I know much has been lost. The same for all the other journalspace people. I'm really sorry for your loss. Writing isn't easy, and to lose so much work in one fell swoop is a disaster.

Anyway, I have to put my car in the shop today, so I have the day off to stay bundled up in about 40 blankets. I need a dog to cuddle up with. Even a poodle would help. Speaking of which, I got a real dirty look one day when I said, loud enough for everyone to hear, "I got to pet that lady's poodle." :)

Take care all, and don't do anything I wouldn't do. I'm a firm believer in freedom.

C'ya'

P.S. I've done several edits trying to find the right size for pictures.

Journalspace refugee

Good Morning,

After nearly 3 years of blogging (somewhat sporadically) on Journalspace, I find myself on a new site, in strange territory. I'm sure some of you are stranger than others, but I think I'll fit in ok.

Journalspace was sabotaged, or the victim of an act of God, I'm not sure which. At any rate, everyone there lost every post they ever published. I've started this blog to have a place for old friends to find me and, hopefully, to make some new friends.

I'm a pretty easy-going guy, for the most part, and try not to take things too seriously. I have a great sense of humor (at least I think so), and try to use at least half of my wit on every post.

My old journal was named: Aurora and Snowdrifts. This journal's name represents the geographical distance Alaska has from anywhere, and the sometimes deep and distant thoughts that cry out from the depths of my being. Most of the time my posts will be on the shallow side, but there will be times when I will need to explore the receses of my heart, and there are some dark and heavy things hiding there.

At any rate, here is my first post on a new site, with a new learning curve. I hope to see old friends, and to meet new folks. When it's too cold to leave the house, a blog is a great way to keep in touch with this altogether crazy and mixed up world.

Take care all, and I'll make an effort to write something once in a while.

C'ya'.