Greetings all... I've been on leave for the past month, spending time with family and friends in both SLC, Albuquerque, and Nashville! I am flying back to Seattle tomorrow afternoon to go back to the Dyson, where it is berthed until we go into dry-dock sometime in the very near future.
I have tons of pics to upload once I get back to my stateroom on the ship. I have not one, but two new tattoos!
I've had a great time, but last week I started to feel the pull of actually wanting to return to the ship.
When I was in SLC, I helped my Mother with her condo, and spent several days there helping her get rid of a bunch of stuff that has been gathering dust. She actually got rid of ELEVEN boxes of paperback books. I hate to sound like I am talking badly about her, but I was fairly appalled to take two thirty gallon garbage bags of paper trash just out of her living room, and a ton of extra unused extra coffee mugs and pots and pans to the Goodwill. I know I get the packrat gene from her, though;)
There is only SO much vacation time one can endure, lol... I will add more to this tomorrow, and upload pics, but until then I hope this finds you all well:)
Friday, September 21, 2007, 02:20 PM AKST [General]
Well, it's been nearly two months since I've posted here, but I can't say I have a real good reason for my less than prolific state of mind, other than that I've been immersing myself in other projects lately. I've been playing guitar mostly, and doing some drawing, but not as much as I would like.
We got to visit Nome, Alaska, and I took some pics of the finish line of the Iditarod Dogsled Race, and the giant Gold Pan, I will post soon. I bought a banjo there:)
We are preparing to end our field season very soon, and I think the Bering Sea would like to send us off in grand fashion by trying to kill us. LOL We just had a real monster of a storm 965 millibars is a MAJOR low pressure system, we had 55 knot winds and 20+ foot seas, so we ran and hid behind St Lawrence Island!
I did another tattoo on one of my shipmates. Joel, the one who initially purchased the equipment let me do a ‘fouled anchor' on the inside of his right forearm. I even went as far as to buy some more tattoo equipment, to include two more guns, another power supply and an autoclave. I also bought an assortment of new needles.
Since the last time I posted, we've received our "Golden Dragon" which, for those of you who do not know, means that we crossed the International Date Line. It is a very old maritime tradition. We also received our "Blue Nose", which is another maritime tradition wherein you cross into the Arctic Circle. We received really nice certificates and cards for our wallets.
I believe I was ranting about my Mother's Air Conditioner the last time I posted. Well, after several quotes from various companies, they decided on one, and she got a new A/C - Furnace unit installed. The Grand Total was a little over $4800.00, not including the initial $400.00 that went to the other company who tried to fix it when it first went out. I had sort of hoped that they would go with that company, because at least they would have applied the initial $400.00 to the cost of replacement, but... oh well. I will be paying for this for the next couple of months still. At least my mother is comfortable.
I'm getting ready to take a much deserved vacation in just under two weeks. I will be flying from Kodiak, Alaska to Seattle and staying overnight and then flying to Salt Lake City to visit Mom and some other family and friends for a while. I will be taking a couple of days to visit a friend down in Albuquerque, too. While I am there, I will go to the huge hot air balloon fiesta they have there, and possibly go see Roswell! Then around the middle of the month, I will fly on to Nashville to visit my Sister and her family, and I will see some friends there as well.
Oh yeah, the truck I bought on Kodiak was a really good buy! It's got a lot of character, and I think it will be a great truck when I put a little work into it!
That is all I can think of for now, but I will not be so negligent in my blogging in the future.
Sunday, September 16, 2007, 10:51 AM AKST [General]
Greetings Friends,
I've been awfully busy these last several weeks, preparing for the end of the field season, and getting ready to go on some much needed leave. I will give a full accounting of the recent happenings this afternoon, but know that all is well here and I have missed being able to check in... More later:)
So, I waited around yesterday for an email from my sister to find out what the story was on Ma's A/C. I finally got off the ship and took the launch to the Unisea dock where I could use a phone and I called her. Yeah, it's a three hour time difference, but I felt this was important enough for a late call.
My Ma's sister, Sue was supposed to have been there to help talk with the A/C repair guy, but unfortunately she had to take her father in law to the hospital. He's into his eighties, so they have to keep a watch on him. I'll find out how he is doing after I finish this entry.
It was almost $400.00 just to get the A/C up and running, but of course the tech said that the unit is on it's "last legs". Replacing the rooftop combination A/C-Furnace is going to cost between $2500.00 and $3000.00
My Ma, bless her heart is a smart lady, but my sister anticipated my concerns and is going to call the guy and get more information. Since the plan is to sell Ma's condo and have her move into my house (that I will buy) in Nashville, I do not see the sence in dumping $3K, just to barely get enough to cover the mortgages (yes, that is plural... yikes)
Well, I should go and see about Mr. Winslow, and get ready to start my day. We're switching out groups of scientists today, so that means we will have this last group clearing out their staterooms, while the new ones are trying to move in... I'll be asked three or four times, "Where do we put the dirty linens?" and "Where do I get clean linens?" five or six times, LOL We've got to prepare three meals today, which is something that has changed over the last little while, typically they have let us close the galley for dinner on one night, so we can have an evening off like everyone else... eh, no rest for the wicked, I suppose.
Well, it appears that I will not meet my goal this month after all... I received an email from my sister this morning telling me that Mom's A/C sh*t the bed on Friday. My Mom doesn't have the money to have it fixed, and neither does my sister. I told her that I would take care of it for her, because it's over a hundred degrees in Salt Lake City in August, and I can't leave her without A/C, with her health as bad as it's been.
So, I will take care of this and regroup next pay-period to knock the last debt out of the ballpark.
You know, it's kind of funny that this happened the way it did, too... Just the other day, I sent an email to My Mom, asking her an important question. I asked her if she would move to Nashville, where my sister lives, and where I lived until I came to the Dyson, if I bought a place there that had a ‘mother-in-laws apartment'
I didn't expect her to say yes, since she has what I like to call ‘dirty-diaper-syndrome', which prevents her from taking advice or assistance from anyone for whom she has ever changed a diaper. But, to my surprise she did say yes.
I am relieved that she agreed, since I know her health has been getting worse, and I know she REALLY wants to move to Nashville so she can spend time with her grand-daughter. Plus, she really can't afford to move any other way.
So, I am waiting to hear from my sister on what the damage will be to repair or replace the A/C unit, and I am also waiting to see what sort of properties are available with the criteria I require.
