Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Christmas Time Is Here

Well this is the first Christmas for me in the wonderful town of North Pole.  The town has been busy getting everything together for the events that are about to happen. I have no idea what they consist of but the radio has been buzzing about all kinds of stuff going on. I am heading out with the camera tomorrow to try and get some pictures of the town and what not.

Work has picked back up again, I am back to work at the pizza place delivering to all the hungry folks up here. Which is kind of interesting sometimes. Its amazing what some of the roads up here are like when they are covered in snow and ice.  Me and the dogs are enjoying the cold winter nights sitting at the house watching movies and as much TV as I can tolerate.

I hope you all enjoy your Christmas' with your families. I am a long way from mine but they are all in my heart and my thoughts. I wish you all safe and happy trips to wherever you may be going to see your friends and family.  Best wishes to you all.  See you all again soon.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Life Is Not Easy

This is the time of year just like back home when the summer ends and winter begins. It is hard to find more work or a real job for that matter.  I am working a a Family Restaurant here in the town of North Pole. The nights are getting short and the bills are getting big. The power bill has gone up about $65 per vehicle that you have to keep plugged in in the winter time. So as you can imagine the power bill is around $200 to $300 dollars a month. Work is shard to find because the outside work and general labor is hard to find.  So now you  must think to yourself are you willing to work outside when its -20 to -30 below.  Well I will tell you, it takes a special kind of person to be able to do that. I am not that person. I am the guy that will cook for those guys. The hours at the diner have gotten slim. And I am looking for more work. I have an opportunity to go to work with a rather large towing company, Alyeska Towing. So we will see how that works out.

On some other good new I have finally been accepted to college, which I have been applying for for the past several years in a row, and have been told no. Well financial aid apparently deemed it plausible for me to go to college. Well we will see how that works itself out.

 

Anyway I hope you all have a good night and I will talk to you all again soon.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Well Its Cold Again

Tonight the weather man says its supposed to reach -30.  Now this morning when I got up it was around 7 give or take a few degrees. Yesterday It was up to as warm as 25 and  better in some places. It snowed for most of the day with an accumulation of about 6 inches or so. It was nice to be able to be outside and enjoy the cold weather with the snow.

I am beginning to see to see what so many people have warned me about.  The winter time up here can be a very dismal time for yourself.  I am seeing some of the people that I know around here and watching some of the others start to get into what me and the rest of the world would classify as a "funk".  There is only about 4 hours of real daylight now. And I can understand why people are getting depressed. The work has slowed down a lot. The morale of the area is getting down and out. People are starting to just kind of stay at home and do as little as possible. Me personally, I am just doing what I always do, work and try to find something to do while I am not work or sleeping. Which all in all isn't to bad.  I guess I got lucky in the deal and got a few friends that have snow machines that will let me go and ride with them. I have friends are all about the idea of taking a road trip for the day or night.  So its not really that bad.

The snow is absolutely beautiful they next few days after. So its gets warm and snow falls and then it gets really cold for several days and the snow goes from white to like and ultra bright white. The trees are ultra white and just crispy and you can see it. 

Well anyway for now I hope you all enjoy the warmth of your winter time and I will catch back up with you all again soon.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Friday, Dec. 5th 2008

Well today is kind of warm outside, its around 25 degrees above zero. The snow is starting to melt just a tiny bit, but you can bet that tonight it will all freeze again and be back to crap ice. But you know what can you say. The clouds are thick and the sun is almost gone already. We down to about only 5 hours or so of daylight.  We are daily losing 6 minutes of daylight. So before too much longer the sun will be gone for good. But there are only 3 days of complete darkness.  From Dec. 22 to Dec. 25th there will be  no daylight at all.  Thanks to the winter equinox, meaning the sun is it at its southern most point in the sky. On the 25th day of December the sun will move 1 degree back to the north bringing back the warm days and more and more sunlight each day. Until sometime in mid June when the Summer equinox takes places, which means the Sun will begin to head south again. But you know there ain't nothing you can do about that, other than deal with it.  So you just have to find something to occupy your time and keep you happy and motivated until the sun comes back to high in the sky bringing back the warm days of summer. Oh and the we get like 3 months of daylight with no darkness. And man I love that time of year up here.

 

Well anyway its time for me to get to work and go make that money. Hope you all enjoy your days and nights until I get to write you again.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Welcome To Alaska

Wella s some of you knw I have revently moved up to the wonderful little town of North Pole Alaska. So of you laugh and some of you say, "is the really a town called North Pole?" Well in answer to your question, yes there is. This is a very quiet and comfortable place to live and work. It is the kind of place where you stop to talk to someone you know in the grocery store. You see people help the little old lady cross the street. You know that if you break down on the side of the road that there will be someone there to help you out and get yourself back on the road. This is the type of place where you aill be passed on the road by a snow machine (snow mobile for those of you who dont know).

The days are getting shorter and shorter and the outside temperature is getting lower and lower every day. Today was actually warm a wonderful 4 degrees this morning and up to a whopping 25 degrees by late afternoon. Now mind you when I say warm, I mean in comparison to last week where it kind of stayed in the average of 15 to 30 degrees below zero. If you have never experienced this kind of cold, it is something to dealt with thats for sure. Its gets cold enough outside here that you can throw a cup or hot coffee into the air and watch it instantly trun into, I guess for lack of a better word, powder.

For those of you who are into the Bar scene, you would lvoe this place, the local abrs are open at either 10 or 11 am ready to get your favorite heavy handed drinks to you. There is a wonderful game in all the bars and some private establishments called Pull Tabs, you spend a dollar per card for your chance to win up to $500. I have only played a few times myself, but the few times I played I was fortunate enough to leave with more than I came in with. Now I have sat at the bar and watched so many people spend hundreds of dollars on minutes of entertainment with no reward.

There is what is called the Public Lands Use Act here in Alaska which mean that unless there are signs that say stay out or private property or no trespassing, yo uare more than welcome to ride your four wheeler or snow machine or even your truck anywhere you want to go. You are allowed to go just about anywhere you want and target shoot or skeet shoot, or whatever youw ant as long as you dont hurt no one.

Life up here is very slow and laid back and easy going. No one tries to get in your business or anything like that. You are for the most part kind of left to yourself. My neighborhood is quiet. Most of the dogs pretty much kind of run free with no regard and no one seems to care about this.

Well for now I am going tolet you all go and I will return another day to tell you more about life up here adn the normal day to day routines we all go through. I hope at least one person finds this interesting and enjoyable. Thanks for your time and hope to see you again.