Fire alarm, OH NO!!!

Who would believe you actually have fire alarms on the North Slope. Well, last night about 10:30 pm, as I was sound asleep, all snuggled in my bed the damned alarm goes off. And believe me, it will wake the dead. With the weather up here you can't just go running outside - not a good idea in single digit temps. Luckily I sleep in a t-shirt and long pajama pants. I keep my slip on shoes close to the door and my winter coat hangs on the back of the door. Jump out of bed, slip into my shoes, grab my coat and make a run for it. Out into the freezing weather that will wake anyone up. So we're outside for about 5 minutes and we get the word that it's all clear. I stumble back upstairs and crawl back into bed. Oh wait, I did make a slight detour to the restroom - cold weather does that to me. Anyway, back in my room I crawl back into bed and then......wide awake. Yep, I'm staring at the dark ceiling listening to the wind howling outside...until about 2:00 am. Toss and turn, read for a bit, toss and turn some more. And then the crazy alarm goes off at 4:00 am. Ok, so I hit the snooze a couple of times and then dragged my sorry self out of bed, hit the shower and got to work. I get to my office and sure enough the network is down...something about a bad switch. It's been replaced and we're up and running. But I'm tired, so tired. It's gonna be a long, long day!

Counting down....

Six (6) more sleeps and I'll be home for good, thanks for the reminder SA. I have most of my stuff packed so I'll be ready Sunday - am I getting anxious, only slightly. I'll get home sometime Sunday evening and start my new job first thing Monday morning. That means it will officially be 27 straight days of work before I get a day off. Believe me, I'm sleeping in on Saturday 11/10. Just in case anyone gets the sick idea to call on that particular morning I'm moving the phone to the other end of the house and J will be in charge of answering it. But then it will be my first day off in 27 days and I don't want to waste it by sleeping the whole day away and I'm sure there's going to be loads of stuff to do. Housecleaning, laundry, grocery shopping and all that fun stuff. And I'll want to visit the family in Palmer....lord too much to do. I'm getting tired just thinking about it.
My big problem, what to wear for my first day on my new job. I know that sounds silly, but I'm not the type of person that can just go in and pull something out of my closet, throw it on and go. I have to think about it, you know, stand there with the closet doors open and just stare..... I usually start doing this the night before. Yes, it's a sickness of some sort. And I try to rotate my clothes so I'm not wearing the same thing too often. I do the same with my shoes - can't wear those because I just wore them yesterday so that means I can't wear the dress or pants I wanted to wear today because I wore those shoes with that so I have to pick somethng else, but those shoes aren't my favorite or the sweater is in the laundry, so pick something else, but what shoes to wear with that....you get the picture. So anyway, not having my closet here to stare at - I'm in a funk. Yes, of course I know what's in my closet but I have to be able to see it to really get an idea of what is there. I do have it narrowed down to 3 or 4 things at this point. I don want to make a good impression on my first day and I do want to be comfortable. I know, I know, stop whining! It's my world and I'll whine if I want to......Oh, isn't there a song about that, an oldie but a goodie. It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To...am I dating myself here?

Too early to think

Now I'm a firm believer in sleeping in on Saturday mornings - so why am I sitting at a computer at the ungodly hour of 7:00 am? Even worse, why did my alarm bother me at 4:00 am? Oh, that's right, work - my job. Damn, that means I have to stay awake until at least 6:00 pm tonight. Actually, later because this is laundry day for me. Damn again. I'll rush out of here at 6:00 pm and pray that a washing machine is open.
F - I don't know when I'm coming back to Ohio now that my work life is changing again. We have plenty of extra rooms between SM and me - when is someone from Ohio going to drop in for a visit? We would love to have one or two or ALL of you come at one time. Wouldn't that be a hoot! Come on, you know you want to visit us - you're dying for some snow. Too bad you can't get up here to the North Slope before I leave - now this is extreme weather.
Anyway, it's just another day - things are starting to wind down for some reason. I have work to do, but I also have a feeling that my boss may be holding on to a bunch and not passing it on to me. Do I care - don't think so. And if they think they can wait until the last day or so and expect me to bust my butt to get it done before I leave - again, don't think so.
Back later......

Another day in paradise...

The title of this post....well you hear it all the time up here on the North Slope. It's the constant phrase of nearly everyone. Pass someone in the hall and say "Hi, how's it going?" or just "Hey!" or "good morning" - the majority of the time the response will be, "Just another day in paradise." And if you've been up here for more than 30 seconds, you can definitely hear the ring of sarcasm in the statement. It's said in jest, of course, but it's also a way of keeping the spirits up around here. And in some ways and to some degree, it is true. Where else can you work and get approx 50% of the year off? Where else can you work and not have to pay for one single thing - food is provided - housing is provided - transportation is provided. Yep, while you're up here you pay for nothing. You just work and earn money.
So, you ask, why would anyone leave a dream job that pays extremely well, and allows you half the year off to do as you please? There's also another saying, "You go to work for a company because of the money, but you usually leave a company because of the people (or person). Well, I'm hear to tell you, in my case it is soooooo true. One person has literally turned me sour on the whole slope work experience. As my grandkids like to say, "Nine more sleeps and I'll be home." Before they could tell time and read a calendar it was (and still his for little R) their way of knowing when an event would happen, by the number of 'sleeps'. Well, G-ma will be going home in nine more sleeps.
Am I venting here, you bet! Ok, back to work here or I'll be going home a lot sooner!

Happy dance time...

So I'm sitting up here on the North slope in the bitter cold, a whopping 4.9 degrees, with the wind chill factor and yes it's snowing. As some of you know, I dearly love the snow. I don't even mind the cold. But what I can't stand, absolutely hate is the wind. The kind that just goes clear to your bones and about knocks you over when you step outside the door. Now, I'm not the smallest person in the world - I have my extra pounds, but this stuff is making it hard for me to stand up. And having to wear safety glasses when you go outside just to keep the snow and wind and dirt from blinding you - literally - now this I hate.
So with that in mind, I have a spring in my step today knowing this will be my last hitch up here. Yep, I've found another job - back in Anchorage. I've turned in my notice and my last day will be November 4. That is if they want me to stay that long....lol! Seriously, it's not unusual up here that once you give notice of intent to resign they buy you a ticket home and kiss your sorry ass good-bye, which of course, I won't mind. I've already started packing, just in case. I'll miss so many of the people up here that I've gotten to know and I'll miss the dinners with K - it's really been nice just chatting with him in the evenings when we're both up here. But, because of "conflicts with management styles" (how does that one sound) I have decided I would rather not work under these conditions - and I'm not talking about the weather. Family knows the problems I've been having and I know they understand what I'm referring to. Besides, I miss wearing my 3" heels to work everyday and I miss my business suits! Family can also tell you how I love my clothes!
Really though, the last couple of months have been tough. I've bitten my tongue more than I care to admit. I'm not the type of person to walk out on a job so I've done my best to remain professional, keep quiet, and feverishly search for another job. Well, thank the lord ( and believe me, I'm doing a lot of that) I've found another job.
More later - I better get some work done, just in case they tell me to leave today....LOL!!!!!!

Don't let SM read this!!

If you are SM please don't read this...please! I'm certainly not trying to ruin your day but.......IT'S SNOWING! Yes, I know I'm on the north slope and we're supposed to get tons of snow. But it's those gorgeous flakes that are coming down in bunches and bunches...the ones I so love. And yes, I know I'll be complaining about the cold and the ice....but IT'S SNOWING!! At this rate we're going to get quite a bit by morning. Thank goodness I'm not close to SM right now or she'd smack me. I won't be doing the happy dance outside - my luck, I'd fall on my kiester!

Passing wave!

Not much happening these days, but i thought I'd pop in and wave Hi to everyone. It's getting just a tad cold up here on the slope - a whopping 16 degrees right now - and it's the middle of the day. That tells me it's just going to get colder and colder. The snow is not bad, but that's because the crazy wind keeps blowing it so much. Yes, horrible winds. I literally could not get the door open to get in the truck yesterday. I finally gave up and walked (or let myself be blown) around to the passenger side and got in. What can I say....this is really an advanture!

Looking for the time.....

Yes, there are two clocks, no three clocks that I can easily see - oh wait, four clocks counting the one in the lower corner of my monitor, so I'm not looking for the exact time right now. I'm looking for the two and one-half weeks that flew by since I got home from the slope. I'm scheduled to fly back up this Sunday and I don't know where the time has gone. Oh sure, I've gotten all kinds of things accomplished, but at the same time it seems like I haven't gotten enough done and there is still so much I'd like to do before Sunday rolls around.
On the upside I've spent some badly needed snippets of time with the family; lunches, dinners, sitting around talking and a couple of shopping trips. I've also done a bit of re-organizing here at home - nothing major, just little stuff. Visited with friends and still have a couple of lunches scheduled to visit with more friends before leaving on Sunday.
Oh, and my brother would enjoy dinner tonight at my house - you see SM has class tonight so Keith and the kiddos are coming over for liver & onions. SM detests liver and onions - she cringes at the thought of even smelling it, but Jim, Keith and I love it so this is the prime time to have it. Of course I'll fix something else for the grandkids as they haven't developed the taste for it yet. I can still remember growing up and hearing Mom say she was making liver & onions for supper. I was in heaven! So dear brother, hop a flight and I'll have it ready when you get here. Yes, I know, your wife will fix it for you, but think of the fun conversations we could have about the old days.
I've started back to weight watchers. It's so true what they say about the food on the North Slope - it's dangerously delicious. I have a few extra pounds that I had lost that have mysteriously re-appeared since starting my job up north. Well, it's time to get rid of them and get back on track. It's just so darned tempting with nothing else to do up there - work, eat, sleep.
Did I mention the chill in the air? It's about 22 degrees right now...I think that's slightly more than a chill. The lovely weatherman is calling for snow by the end of the week. Nothing major yet, but we're about ready for it. My one wish would be for the grandkids to have one warm Halloween. One time of not having to wear so many layers of clothing under and over the Halloween costumes. D does fine with it cause she's our warm baby (baby? lord, she's 9), but R has a tough time with it. He's not the winter child that D is. His idea of trick or treat is to wear his costume around the house all day, go to a few (very few) houses close in the neighborhood and then head back to their nice warm cozy home and help hand out candy to the other kids. Of course, there's his rational thinking of just dumping the candy that Mom bought for the other kids into his trick or treat bag. After all, he's her favorite trick or treater, right?
OK, so sitting here isn't getting anything accomplished, or maybe it is. I'm kind of, more-or-less, catching you up on my life. How exciting, huh?
Better get moving or I'll get nothing done today.