meanwhile, in Alaska

It seems like a weird time of year to me... the slough is still frozen but the ice is rotting (finally), it was in the 50s today, there is still snow on the ground, the mud seems to be about eight feet deep in my driveway, I had doubted that Alaskan mosquitos could possibly be bigger than anything in Florida that has wings, six or eight legs, but I am here to tell you that they are, and they're as thick as a swarm of locusts eating a Dust Bowl corn crop.

riceme wrote:

It seems like a weird time of year to me... the slough is still frozen but the ice is rotting (finally), it was in the 50s today, there is still snow on the ground, the mud seems to be about eight feet deep in my driveway, I had doubted that Alaskan mosquitos could possibly be bigger than anything in Florida that has wings, six or eight legs, but I am here to tell you that they are, and they're as thick as a swarm of locusts eating a Dust Bowl corn crop.

So, do you just cover up with clothes or use a home remedy to repel the mosquitos?

---

What's worse than having the buzzing of a mosquito in the bedroom when you are trying to sleep?

Answer:  Hearing the buzzing stop near you.

What happened to Riceme?

I do both if I am working outside, E. They still sell 100% DEET repellant here, which is illegal in California (of course).

It finally warmed up here, which is relative terminology. I was talking to Az on the phone today and was complaining about how hot it is and said that I was "about to burst into flames." She asked me what the temperature was and I told her it was 63. She told me to suck it up, lol.

nochain, I finally got an Alaskan phone (w/ 907 area code), which should theoretically work better here since Verizon does not even service Alaska, but I can now barely even check my email from home... maybe once a day if I'm lucky. 3G is out of the question. So until I can get a real, live internet connection I won't be around much... I'm at the library right now.

So here's a little update on what's going on up here.

Good news: Most of you know that I've had a very tough time financially and professionally in the past couple of years, which is why I moved up here... to get out of renewables and into oil and gas. My objective when I moved up here was to get a job at the refinery in North Pole. They announced its closure shortly after I got here (just my luck). So I switched gears and set my sights on the big gold mine northeast of town, and I got my offer letter yesterday. I don't think it has quite sunk in yet.

Ironic news: I could not afford the rent at my cousin's cabin on the menial wages I earn working in produce at the grocery store so I rented a room in town (with internet... yay!!), which I moved into... you guessed it, yesterday. lol. This shit only happens to me, really. The upshot is that the drive to the mine is 45 minutes from town... 1-1/2 hours from the cabin (in GOOD weather).

Weather news: It has been raining pretty much non-stop for pretty much all of June and all of the Interior Alaska rivers keep going in and out of flood stage. At the cabin I was right on one of the sloughs. The first day we were in flood stage I was driving home from work and there was a canoe floating towards me in the road   . Ever since then all the people who live at the crossroads along the slough have canoes and john boats tied up to trees and mailboxes on either side of the road / slough (they are now indistinguishable). What seems strange to me -- especially after living in Humboldt and Pensacola -- is that it has not once rained hard... it just constantly comes down at something slightly stronger than a drizzle. Same as how it usually snows here... slow but constant.

Thanks for the update, Ricey.  



Congratulations on your job offer.  

So, what's North Pole like?  I gather they have a grocery store.  What kind of businesses are up there?

Glad things are working out Riceme. Missed your posts! North Pole is not all that far from Fairbanks is it?

Thanks, guys

The town of North Pole itself is very small and has a grocery store, a post office, two fuel stations, a bank, credit union, several restaurants, a laundry, a three-color stoplight, a Sentry Hardware that sells wedding dresses, AK-47s and everything in-between (and I am 100% not shitting you). The ZIP CODE of North Pole is pretty big and includes Two Rivers, Chena Hot Springs, Eielson AFB, Fort Wainwright, a bunch of little places. I lived in the zip code, not the town. My "post office" (note my use of quotes... it's not really a Post Office) was in a crappy little grocery store called McPeak's in the zip code of North Pole. It's only open from 3 to 5 certain days of the week... MAYBE. IF she feels like it. They don't deliver packages here, so if you get one you have to figure out how to retrieve it between those hours. If she shows up. It's totally awesome. Not. Okay, I'll stop bitching about the stupid post office. It's just really irritating.

North Pole is GORGEOUS. There are spruce and birch trees everywhere and everything is GREEN GREEN GREEN. Well, I should clarify. Everything goes from being completely white to very suddenly being completely green. Very, very quickly. It's called the green-up. If I had not seen it with my own eyes I would not have ever believed that a world of complete ice and snow could so suddenly turn to such lush green beauty.

Of course you all know that this is a constitutional carry state, and I am happy to report that we do not have a bunch of random gun violence like the haters of the constitution would like us to believe. I would say that probably less people than you might think openly carry. On a related note, North Pole is very, very conservative and is known for being a haven for "gun toters and bible bangers," of which I can only claim to be the former. The west side of Fairbanks is where all the hippies and rich liberals live (we have those here!), because that's where the university is. I just moved into the ghetto, lol.

The wiki for NP is actually not bad: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pole,_Alaska

Oh yeah... I always forget that people associate Santa with North Pole. I'll let you in on a little secret. Santa is a drunk and he lives in a trailer park. Bummer, right?

Fairbanks is a 45 minute drive in the winter, about 35 minutes in good weather. I've found that it's better to measure distances in minutes than in miles. The gold mine is only 20 miles from town but it takes 45 minutes in good weather to get there because most of the drive is on a windy dirt road.

Eric wrote:

nochain wrote:

Oooooo!  Those amenities!!!!

Gated?

I had to dig this back up to see what it said about water because I was looking for places in Fox and on Haystack Mountain and I found a little dry cabin and thought of this post when I saw it said, "FREE WATER... Dip from the creek 50-feet down the hill!!" LOL. Only in Alaska... right??

This is the most amazing thread. Riceme you are amazing!

I hope you post more updates to this thread and are doing well.

I was a little disappointed to hear about santa though. poor fella. No one believes anymore.   

I enjoy her stories too... she's an adventurer in an age of autobots. Keep em coming Ricey.

RICEME~! I am so glad you have internet access now! I have missed you.

Back to reading your stories.....!

I have missed you too, Melissa! And I am glad to have internet access again and I'm glad you all are enjoying my adventures. My cousin is talking about selling my beautiful little cabin and wants me to buy it, but it's an hour and a half (one way) drive to the mine in good weather. That's pretty tough. I want to live next door to them, and I want the cabin that he built, but I do not want the long drive. I joked that if I could get a helicopter and fly to work, I'd take it.

Tomorrow is my first day at my new job... EHS training is four days. They don't mess around. Lots to do tonight.

riceme wrote:

I have missed you too, Melissa! And I am glad to have internet access again and I'm glad you all are enjoying my adventures. My cousin is talking about selling my beautiful little cabin and wants me to buy it, but it's an hour and a half (one way) drive to the mine in good weather. That's pretty tough. I want to live next door to them, and I want the cabin that he built, but I do not want the long drive. I joked that if I could get a helicopter and fly to work, I'd take it.

Tomorrow is my first day at my new job... EHS training is four days. They don't mess around. Lots to do tonight.

So, Ricey.  Whatya gonna do at the mine?

I will be a buyer... I'll buy all their heavy equipment, fuel, chemicals. Same sort of stuff I did for Enron, GE and Siemens.

riceme, how's your new job?

It is good. I've been in EHS training all week. Mining is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, but my employer has a very good safety record so almost the whole first week is safety training. We got to take a tour of the mine site today and got to see the pit. It was pretty amazing. Over 2000 feet wide and 2000 feet deep. We were supposed to get to see today's blast but they had to let it sleep til tomorrow. Before it's over I'm sure I'll get to see more shots than I can count. I got a picture of the pit but I'm having trouble getting it onto Photobucket. My phone is stupid.

riceme wrote:

It is good. I've been in EHS training all week. Mining is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, but my employer has a very good safety record so almost the whole first week is safety training. We got to take a tour of the mine site today and got to see the pit. It was pretty amazing. Over 2000 feet wide and 2000 feet deep. We were supposed to get to see today's blast but they had to let it sleep til tomorrow. Before it's over I'm sure I'll get to see more shots than I can count. I got a picture of the pit but I'm having trouble getting it onto Photobucket. My phone is stupid.

I hope you get a picture. what you do is interesting as hell. please tell me all about it.

I have to check on you every so often as well. I wish you had a un stupid phone.

Sure... happy to. What do you want to know? Bear in mind that I am new to gold mining, so I might not know the answers to your questions.

riceme wrote:

Sure... happy to. What do you want to know? Bear in mind that I am new to gold mining, so I might not know the answers to your questions.

What's the name of the mine?

nochain wrote:

riceme wrote:

Sure... happy to. What do you want to know? Bear in mind that I am new to gold mining, so I might not know the answers to your questions.

What's the name of the mine?

Fort Knox.

http://www.kinross.com/operations/operation-fort-knox-alaska-usa.aspx

riceme wrote:

nochain wrote:

riceme wrote:

Sure... happy to. What do you want to know? Bear in mind that I am new to gold mining, so I might not know the answers to your questions.

What's the name of the mine?

Fort Knox.

http://www.kinross.com/operations/operation-fort-knox-alaska-usa.aspx

Geez, that operation is huge! Like to have a few of those gold bars for "souvenirs"

It's the biggest open pit gold mine in the Americas... it is pretty huge. As you can imagine, my hippie-dippy sister that hated the fact that I worked for GE would now very much like to disown me, lol. Open pit gold mining is not exactly environmentally friendly.

This guy, Ray, posts to another forum I am a member of. Since I seem to be unable to move when the Northern Lights are out, I'm sharing his photos of them:

(Totally worth it to click large. Hell, 100% worth it to take a trip up to Interior Alaska in the winter just to see the light show.)