It has been a long time since I have updated my blog, hoping that I would have some good news to share about employment.  This has not worked worked out yet so I will press onward anyway.  On January 29 I was invited to the Matanuska-Susitna (MatSu) Borough School District Middle and High School Honor Choir and Band Festival.  Several students from Glacier View School (grades K - 12 in one building) were in the program and it was on the way back from an Anchorage Job Fair I attended.  I saw the most unusual sight in the lobby next to the Bake Sale table. There was a sign for the Gun Raffle.  YES, a Gun Raffle.  The gun was not in attendance but they were raffling it off in the school lobby.  In Charlotte they are doing everything possible to keep guns out of the schools, but up here it's another story.  I have a picture of the hand-lettered sign, but I can't get it out of my phone because there is no digital service here.  I guess my life is not as hard as the original pioneers here, but I bet it's pretty close.

The next unusual event was my winter cruise.  Several months ago I had offered to help my friend Brian work on his fishing boat that was in dry dock in Whittier.  He mentioned going back to work on the engines and I offered again.  He took me up on it.  We went down about February 7 and spent 5 days there.  Whittier is beautiful, but infamous for variable weather and high winds.  When we arrived a healthy wind was blowing.  We took our stuff up to the condo we were staying in and then headed over to the boat to shovel out any snow that had collected in the bow(front).  This was not too bad, except when Brian forgot and shoveled off the starboard (right) side, INTO the wind and me.  The next four days were clear, calm, and warmish.  We got everything done that he had parts and tools for and on the fifth day where cleaning up just as the weather changed.  The morning started out with snow but within about 10 minutes we had snow and 25 knot winds!  We quickly headed back for Anchorage and Glacier View.  There is a 2.5 mile, one lane  tunnel connecting Whittier to the Passage Glacier valley, once we cleared the tunnel the weather improved greatly.  I had a house-sitting gig for Brian's brother's family waiting for me while they went to Hawaii for 10 days.  He turned around, with more parts and supplies, and returned to Whittier to work in snow, slush, overnight freezes, and a blizzard on the trip out.  I returned with him on the final trip for the 2008 maiden voyage.  We finished up in about a day and a half (in a cold, wet, soggy, snow storm) and launched the boat on Saturday, a perfect day for a boat ride.  The newly rebuilt engines sounded and ran great and it was fantastic to be out on the water again after such a long time.  (This summer's cruise didn't really count.)  It was mind boggling to think I was out for a boat ride on February 23, in Alaska, with snow covered mountains coming right down the the water and I didn't feel like Mr. Freeze.  It was an awesome time enjoying God's majestic creation.

This job search has gotten to be so frustrating.  First was the programming job I interviewed for in October that crashed and burned.  More recently, the NOvaGOld mine job turned into a NOGO.  I was originally told they were hurting for drillers.  I contacted the HR department and sent my resume.  I had an interview with Tiffany in HR.  The interview consisted of "Do you have any questions?"  I should have been suspicious right then and there.  I was told the construction mgr. would call me to interview me.  He did not.  I then drove into Anchorage, 100 miles, because they had a booth at a construction job fair there.  I stopped in to talk to Tiffany in person.  "We would like to have a face to face interview tomorrow.  Can you be there?"  I said yes and made arrangements with a friend in Anchorage to spend the night with him and his wife and dog.  I then went to the honors concert in Wasilla and had a great time.  I drove the 40 miles back to Anchorage to spend the night at Vaughn's house and on to the interview in the morning.  At the interview I was told, "You are not eligible to be a driller because you don't have heavy equipment experience, but you can apply for a mill or mining trainee position."  This paid much less than the driller position but I said OK.  I left to drive back to Glacier View pretty down.  I heard nothing for almost 2 weeks so I called them.  "Oh, we re-evaluated our needs after the job fair and realized we don't need any more trainees."  Pretty down turned into pretty depressed.  Brian and I talked about these things in Whittier and he asked me if I had ever considered being a school bus driver.  I honestly said, NO.  He told me another neighbor was looking for a full time driver for one of the Glacier View School routes.  Without much enthusiasm I called about the position and found out he was still looking.  Do I really want to be a bus driver? (PRIDE) Can I afford to be a bus driver? (lack of trust) Do I have the patience to be a bus driver? (selfishness)  Do I have the skill to be a bus driver? (fear) How many more objections can I come up with???  I have been able to work off and on while looking for a permanent job.  I have hung sheet rock, we finished the water well (only to find out it was not finished because the supplier gave us the wrong pump), the boat work, some computer repairs, and I will even get something for the house sitting.  I also have two more house sitting jobs booked for later this month.  Nice places too!!!  This is a good time to start meditating on Jeremiah 29:11, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

The most unusual thing just happened.  Today (January 21) has been an exceptionally nice day with temperatures in the twenties, above zero.  I went to bed about 10:30 and as frequently happens, did not fall right to sleep.  At about 11:45 I was thinking about tomorrow, I will be going back to the water well drilling project for a day or two to finish off the last 20'.  I remembered that my old work coat was in Frozone and I did not want to forget it in the morning because I was planning on taking the Cadillac.  I change into the old coat when there are messy tasks to do and keep the new coat for the rest of the time to keep warm.  I decided I needed to bring the old coat into the house so I would not forget it as usually happens when I put off something like that.  I got up, put on my boots, and ran across the driveway to Frozone, and retrieved the coat.  The sky was mostly overcast but I could see the moon and hear a neighbor's dog howling.   It was really nice.  I was outside less than a minute and didn't get cold, shivers, etc.  It was still only 24F out there.  I am just blown away by the difference in the effects of cold temperatures up here.

When I was in Jr. High, or thereabouts, I read a Jack London short story in English class called To Build a Fire.  In the story, a man, I don't think he even had a name, was treking across a part of Alaska in the winter.  It was somewhere between -40F and -70F.  The man broke through the ice while crossing a stream and got wet.  To make a short story even shorter, he needed to build a fire to dry out to survive.  He ended up freezing to death because he failed to build the fire.  I also read London's novel White Fang, but do not remember much about it.  With memories like this it is no wonder why I was not chomping at the bit to go to Alaska, but now I would recommend it to anybody and everybody.  If it weren't for my friend Garry and his fantastic, but true, tales of his life in this great Last Frontier, I would have never given this place a first thought, let alone a second thought.  I hope you will be able to come visit me some day and experience a bit of my new home.  God Bless You and Good Night.