Update for the Hot New TV star

Ok so the time if the show is 7pm my time, it comes on 10pm est on the food network and I hope that you all get to watch it and see the new place I am working. I am not in the show but thats ok my kitchen in there and if it shows the pizza line, thats now my spot 4 nights a week

Diners and Drive Ins

Well thanks to the want of a hot new tv star, the local restaurant I am working at is going to be featured in the tv show Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. Its going to be on Monday night at 7 pm, and I hope you all are able to watch.

So The Winter Is Back

Some of you may pay attention to the weather here in Alaska, but I doubt it. For those of you that don’t, just to fill you in, the current temp is 5 above. Last night the coldest temp I saw was 15 below. The snow has been on the ground for about 3 weeks now with a good 4 inches. The trees, minus the evergreens, are bare and lifeless. The birds are gone, with exception to the Alaska Famous Dumpster Chicken (Raven). The like in NC with sea gulls you are not allowed to shoot them. The Natives have a spiritual tie to the Raven, they believe that they carry the soul onto a better place when a native dies. These birds are huge, they dig in your trash, the defecate all over your car, and you have no idea what its like to try and clean off frozen bird crap. Not as much fun.

You can see the tracks of a few snow machines out and about but there is still not quite enough snow to ride just yet. We are all starting to plug in the trucks at night. Nothing is as much fun as getting up and running outside when its 10 or so below and your in your pjs, and then you realize you forgot to plug in the truck and it’s frozen, yes I said frozen. That really sucks. Then when its 60 below and it is plugged and it’s still frozen, imagine how frustrated you can get then. That is cold enough for coffee to turn into vapor when you toss it into the air. I will have to make a point of recording that for you some time so you can all see that. It’s kind of cool.

Still warm enough to wear only blue jeans and a sweatshirt. We havent got to the bibs and carhart stage of winter yet. We still have another month or so before that hits.

Have a wonderful day and I will talk with you again soon.

Life is as normal as it can be for now

Well its time to get back to life at hand. I have been trying for a long time to figure out a way to get back to normal after losing Anna. Well there is no way to get things back to normal. Normal is gone for now. I have tried many different ways to hide, drown, cover, and make go away the thoughts of her and move on with out her in my life. Well I have come to the conclusion that life will never been the same again. I have someone that meant the world to me. She was my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night. She carried me through the days with a smile on my face and  a warm heart. Well my heart has been hurting since the morning of May 31st. There is no simple way to get over something like this. There is no easy way to make the pain go away.  There is no way to imagine life without her here. Sometimes through the day I think of her. All night long I lay awake in bed wishing she was still here. Well I know that she will no longer be here with me or be able to share in the smiles and laughs that I have. She was the reason for my smile for a long time. And now she is the reason I cry at night. But I have also learned the she is the reason that I keep getting up in the morning and keep trying to better myself and make things right.  I try to get through the days without thinking what could have or should have been. There were plans made and dreams put into play. There were hopes for the two of us. There were many talks of many plans made between us and trips planned and all the stuff that goes along with it. We had made plans on getting a house together and starting a life with just us. But now things have changed. But now the only difference is, I have to keep on with all those plans and dreams without her. I am just not sure if i can, or if I want to. We did all this together, and planned on doing all this together. I don’t think i want to do any of them without her.

The Loss Of My Love

     Sometime Sunday afternoon, May 31 20009, my best friend and companion was found dead in her bed. Anna Marie Merchant was one of the amazing people i have ever met. Her smile warmed the hearts of many. Her friendship was cherished by hundreds. She was smart, beautiful, kind hearted, warm, sensitive, and compassionate. She was the glue that held so many people together. She kept the balance for so many people. She was one of those people that voluntarily carried the weight of the world on her shoulders, and never once complained about it. She, no matter the mood or temperament, always could put on a smile and a laugh for everyone. She cared about everyone. There was no one she wouldn’t try her best to help.

     She left behind her mother, Gina Raye Wilson, her sister Andrea Merchant, and her perfect son, Joshua Blake Creek. Blake lost his father in Nov of 2007 to a tragic car accident. Now he has lost his mother as well.  Blakes’ grandparents, Paul and Anita Creek, have now lost their son and the their daughter in law. I cant even imagine how her family must feel, but I know how I feel.

     She was my best friend from the day I met her. We were never apart. We shared everything between us. All the good and the bad and the really ugly. She always had the words I needed to hear to make the day go by. She always had a smile for me when i walked in the door. She used to sit on the couch with me and just cry sometimes because she was worried about me.  There were so many time we would just hop in the truck with me and her and Blake and just ride. I have seen so much of this state thanks to her. I can even begin to tell you how much I love her and how much I am going to miss her. She was the light in my day.  She was one of my Real True Friends. Anna is the only person in my life that has ever taken my hear from me. I didn’t have a choice in, she took it from he and held it close to hers. She will always be with me in my heart and my thought.

Things Are Looking Up

Well we thought summer was here. We had about 2 weeks of beautiful weather. The days were averaging between 65 to 75 degrees and sunny. It has been beautiful and absolutely desirable. Then the mosquitoes came out of the woodworks. You cant imagine how big these things are, its scary. They swarm you like bees to a hive. The bites leave whelps. Not little bumps on your arm or leg like i am used to being back home in NC. But here they leave giant red whelps. You can watch them swarm around your vehicle just waiting for you to step out and give them dinner.

The past week it has been back down to the mid 40’s and as low as 30.  We have only had one day of rain and one 20 minute snow shower since all the snow disappeared. Everyone’s yards have turned into swamps and sink holes. You have to be very careful where you drive and walk, you may lose your shoe, or even worse, your truck. To put it lightly my driveway is only about thirty feet long and for almost a month I had to use four wheel drive low to get in and out. Twice I was stuck and had to have a friend pull me out of my own driveway. If you own a car, there is no way you could have parked in my driveway.

 

The job market as I have mentioned before in my posts has been slim to none, but i did get lucky and found a decent job with a pretty nice company based in Fairbanks. I am now working as the Business/Marketing Manager for Aviators Steakhouse.Sky’s the Limit Catering. Which is nothing like anything I have ever done before but I am really looking forward to getting the ball rolling. I have so far worked two nights for them because they were short staffed in the front of the house, so I got to wait tables for a couple nights. It was kind of nice to be on the front end of the restaurant for a change. I have done it before but it has been a long time since I had to worry about refilling drinks and taking orders. I have been in a kitchen so long i thought I had forgotten how to do that fun stuff. But my first night back on the tables, my first tables was a 13 top and I rocked it, so the boss said. I have had nothing but good reports about my skills and talents with the customers and am looking forward to waiting on some more of them.  We are starting a new marketing program this week that I a heading up. We are going to be opening for lunch at the end of the month. So I have from now to then to get a program vehicle put together, and get radio ads, and television ads, yellow pages ads, newspaper ads, and starting a new web site for them.  This is going to be fun and exciting. Lots of good opportunities with this company to do some really cool work and make a ton of money.

Some of you know about my recent problems with my living situation and if not, to make a long story short, I am having to find a new place to live. Well I have found a place in Fairbanks. Two bedroom, all utilities included for $800.00/month. Which is a great deal. Most places I have found are way to expensive for not enough amenities.  But since I found this deal, which I got real lucky with because my new boss is a very good friend of the landlord, so maybe I can get in the door without having to come up with a pile of money to get in. But we will see how things go when the time comes.

Well for now I am going to let you all go I think I have rambled off for long enough.  Have a great night and enjoy yourselves.

 

Happy Mothers Day to all of you mothers who may read this.

Summer is Approaching

Well things here are finally starting to warm up for the summer. The average daily temps are reaching up to as high as 39 above. The ice is starting to melt off and the snow is getting soft. More and more people are getting stuck in yards and driveways thanks to the melting hard pack of ice that has formed throughout the winter. You now don’t have to go out and start your truck an hour ahead of time now. Most of the time during the day it retains enough heat that you can get away with just leaving. The sun is here until as late as 10 pm now. Its coming up at around 630 to 7 am every day. All I can say is, thank god for sunlight.  The animals are starting to stir around again and making life happy for us. We definitely welcome the birds, birds bring warm weather. The state guys are working full time plowing up the hard pack so we can finally see pavement and driveways and dirt roads again.

But the downfall to this time of year is that work is really hard to find, there is a lot out there, but there are twice as many people looking for work than there are jobs. So you better hope you keep what you got or get lucky and find a spot that you can fill. Just don’t let yourself get down and out. The locals here are all excited about the warm up, they can’t wait for the summer fishing trips and hunting weekends. We are all excited about the summer time coming around the corner. The land scaping companies are starting to get back into full swing and moving ahead with the projects.

Ice Park 2009

Thursday night we decided to ride into town and go check out the Ice park. This is another locals event where everyone gets together and carves ice statues and figures. There are several different categories that you could enter, single block, and multi-block competition. The had made some ice slides for the kids and mazes and tunnels for everyone. You know I have seen some pretty cool stuff in my life but seeing what these people have turned big square chunks of ice into is amazing.

Here are the pics and videos

 

This was an awesome experience for me. The hot chocolate was good and the sights were breathtaking. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Chatinkia Days 2009

I was able to attend this events that apparently has been several years running. It consists of a bunch of locals from around the Fairbanks North Star Borough who appreciate the outdoor winter activities. The was great food, hot chocolate, and the smell of snow machine exhaust in the air. Great way to spend a weekend. This was first time at the event and i promise you next year I will be building my own outhouse to race down the road with the rest of ‘em. Yeah you read that right, the people build their own custom outhouse’s, attach skis, and then race to the bottom of the hill. The snow machines tied up and had their own kind of fun playing tug of war. The winner being an Arctic Cat M1000 Mountain Sled. The green one in the videos.  I am posting links to see the videos and all the pictures that i was able to take. I hope you all enjoy them. The human bowling was all kinds of interesting.

The Pictures and Videos You Want To See

That should take you to where you can view all the fun we got to have today.

Critters in the Neighborhood

You know back home we had to worry about raccoons, squirrels, rabbits, the very occasional bear, deer, and local dogs. Well up here in Alaska we have a little different concerns up here. This was a calf that was in my neighbors yard on the way to work this morning. He stands about 6 feet tall an the hump on his shoulders.

This is the Cow(mom) just a few feet away from the above pictured calf. She stands almost 8 feet tall at the hump in the shoulders. We have learned that Moose have a tendency to roam through you yard at any given time. They are for the most part harmless and unless they are startled. Once startled they kind of run in the direction of what ever it was that startled them, be it your dog, your truck starting in the morning, you calling your dogs in. I have two different ones on my front porch but couldn’t get to the camera fast enough to get some pictures of them. 

But on a different note, the days are getting much warmer. Its averaging around 20 to 30 degrees above zero now. Which is awesome. More snow, more daylight, and more days to ride the snow machines. Nothing like fresh powder under a rocking Skidoo Rotax 800 mountain sled. Wish you all could go for a ride with me sometime. Maybe one day it will work itself out.

I got to take a ride last week through Denali National Park. Holy crap what a beautiful ride. I was a little rushed for the trip as it wasn’t planned, a friend wrecked her truck and needed a way home so off i went without the camera. But man I don’t think a camera would capture any of this. But I am heading out there again sometime soon so I will remember to take the camera and show it to you all as best as i can.

 

Take care and I will see you again soon

The Man At Work

Time To Travel

Well the time has come for me to head back home for a few weeks. My Dad has been battling cancer for a couple years now. He has beaten it once, but now it has come back to get even. Well it has taken its toll on him and he is getting down to the last few weeks. I am unsure how I am going to handle all of this, I am a little scared about it all. It’s terrifying to say the least. He is a strong willed man that comes from a strong family with big hearts and unending kindness. We have all been praying for him and I am sure the prayers have been heard and will be answered in Gods accord. He will do what needs to be done. I just don't want my Dad to suffer anymore. He has been through enough in his life, granted he brought most of it upon himself, but not this. Life just seemed it necessary to bring this last battle to him. He has worked his fingers to the bone all of his life and done amazing things with is hands. He has been a carpenter all of his life, and I wish I could show you some of the things he has built with is own hands.  I don't know what else to say about him other than I love him and I am going to miss him very much when all is said and done. I just hope I have made him proud.

I am going to be heading back home for a few weeks to deal with everything that is about to happen and hoping that there will be a few good times I can spend with him before he is gone. I have never been a sentimental person at all, but this hits deep, it’s my Dad. Any advice is welcome to how to deal with this.Ii am clueless. Best wishes to you all and I hope to hear from you soon.

Man The Weather Sucks

Well as most of you know the weather up here has been on a roller coaster. It has been extremely cold and now its back to kind of warm at like –10 up to 10. Everyone is fighting off colds and dealing with bad sinus’s.  The roads keep freezing and then thawing and then freezing again. We are gaining 7 minutes of daylight each day. The sun is averaging coming up sometime around 9 – 10 am and going down around 4-5 or so. Still not quite used to that idea. Everyone is burning up the trails and roadsides on their snow machines. Man I am so jealous of them, I want one so bad. But there is some good news, I think I am about to be taking a trip out to Summit or Eagle River to do some snow kiting. For those of you that don’t know what that is you can check it out on www.youtube.com . Well folks i am going to run for now. Talk to you all again soon.

Checking In

Well things are starting to turn cold again. The average temp is back down to 20's and 30's and daily getting colder. Which in my opinion is good. The snow is starting to fall again. Roads are easier to drive on. Traffic is moving faster. The mood has lightened. Its  just good. So I hope you all are doing well with your days and nights. Just had to stop in and say hello and see who all is there to talk with. Hope to here from you all soon.

Man Its Hot

Well now its Thursday night and I am sitting at home wasting time and watching my room mate play the new Tiger Woods Gold Game. Mindless entertainment is a great thing up here. Well the weather has taken a huge turn to the warm side of life. It has jumped up to a high of 48 degrees above zero. Now if any of you read my posts from last week you will remember that it was -50 and worse. So as you can imagine all the snow and ice we have accumulated in the past 4 months is starting to melt away and roads are getting bad to drive on and trees are dripping. Don't think I am complaining about it being warm, but my complaint is going to be in a week or two when it drops back to -30 and what not. All that water and slushy crap leftover is going to freeze again and then we are in a world of hurt. The roads to Anchorage have been closed now for 2 days because of washouts. But man I tell you what the snow machines are out in force. You can hear them buzzing by the house and up and down the levees out behind the house. It makes me almost jealous that I don't have one, but that problem might be solved as well. But that will be another story to tell.

Well January Is Under Way

I am sitting here with a friend of mine at her work just kind of hanging out and wasting time. The weather is starting to warm up a little but. For the past few weeks it has been below -45.  For the past days or so it has starting moving towards 0, thank god. It still isn't close, more like -30's give or take. But its heading in the right direction.

I have started the college education now. I am attending Phoenix University Online. So I am able to sit at home and take all of my classes from the comforts of my couch. Its kind of aggravating trying to make sure to get online and do the work. It's not as difficult as I thought to go to college. Now granted these are the easy classes and its only the first couple weeks, but I am looking forward to the rest of the degree process. So any advice from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

Cars are still freezing and no one stays outside for any more than a few minutes at the time. The trees are coated in ice and what not so it looks like trees of ice. I am going to be getting more and more pictures now that the weather is warming up a little bit.

Well you all have a wonderful day and I will catch up with you all later.

Welcome to 2009

Well New years eve was great and wonderful and trouble free. Had  blast with all of my new friends here in North Pole. The weather has taken a turn for the cold. It has been anything from -25 to -58 at its worst so far. Your vehicles freeze, even with the $350 worth of winterization I had done. Just so you know unless you go out and start your vehicle several times a day regardless of whether or not its plugged in, its going to freeze and you cant make it to work. Oh and another funny piece of knowledge, propane freezes at -48 or so. I am working at a pizza place here in town and we have had to close early several times recently because of the oven getting cold thanks to frozen propane tanks. Now granted being a pizza delivery guy, I am doing ok with the tips and what not because as you can imagine no one wants to be outside when its -20 or worse.  I wish I could get some pictures of what is called ice fog. You have no idea how horrible it is to be driving around all night long and its -45 and you turn your lights off when you make a delivery at a dark house and you turn to come back and you cant see your truck and its less than 20 feet away. You drive 25 to 45 mph and make sure to be as easy on your brakes as you can, cause I found tonight just how easy and can be to wind up in a ditch.  Going outside to start your vehicle is a horrible task that you must endure. Your hair freezes, your mustache freezes, you cant touch metal with bare hands. And I will get a video of what happens to a cup of hot coffee when you throw it into the air and its this cold. It turns to vapor. You have to see it to believe it. But like I said I will get a video of up here for you all to check out. Anyway for now I am going to get out of here and wish you all a wonderful year and happy lives. Just remember to enjoy all that you do and make sure to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to you.