Well, my time in the great (great - unusually large in size or dimension) state of Alaska has nearly come to an end. I've sold my vehicle and most of my furniture, and I have a plane ticket bound for home. This lovely (sarcasm - harsh or bitter derision...oh never mind) place has seen fit to bestow on me a raging cold on my way out. I will do my best not to sneeze directly on other Alaskans as I leave, but if they breathe in my germs, that's their own fault.
What have I learned on my sojourn to the 49th state? Oh, so much.
1. Never put a garage door opener on your keychain. If you do, $600 will fly out of your bank account.
2. Never ask S****** B******* S***** to fix said garage door. They will very aggressively not do that.
3. If you need to do something, do it yourself. Even if that means having to learn our horrible system for ordering stuff. That would have saved a bunch of migraines and misery.
4. Bears will mostly run away, but moose will happily run at you and kick or bite you. Luckily, I only learned this in the paper.
5. Pickle Hill is where they put the tower for the local public radio station. I wish I could have hung out with those folks more. They seemed nice.
6. Baseball in Alaska - as cold as you imagined it would be.
7. Softball in Anchorage - Just Say No. Or you will be saying, "Can you call me an ambulance?"
8. Turnarounds are hell. Again. And they don't get any less hellish as you get older.
9. It's better to join the nice gym close to your house that is closed on Saturdays than the rat trap gym far from your house that is open every day, because, duh, you will probably not go to either gym as much as you hoped, and you will never get that smell out of your head.
10. Drive-up espresso is the libation of the gods. I will miss it dearly.
What have I learned on my sojourn to the 49th state? Oh, so much.
1. Never put a garage door opener on your keychain. If you do, $600 will fly out of your bank account.
2. Never ask S****** B******* S***** to fix said garage door. They will very aggressively not do that.
3. If you need to do something, do it yourself. Even if that means having to learn our horrible system for ordering stuff. That would have saved a bunch of migraines and misery.
4. Bears will mostly run away, but moose will happily run at you and kick or bite you. Luckily, I only learned this in the paper.
5. Pickle Hill is where they put the tower for the local public radio station. I wish I could have hung out with those folks more. They seemed nice.
6. Baseball in Alaska - as cold as you imagined it would be.
7. Softball in Anchorage - Just Say No. Or you will be saying, "Can you call me an ambulance?"
8. Turnarounds are hell. Again. And they don't get any less hellish as you get older.
9. It's better to join the nice gym close to your house that is closed on Saturdays than the rat trap gym far from your house that is open every day, because, duh, you will probably not go to either gym as much as you hoped, and you will never get that smell out of your head.
10. Drive-up espresso is the libation of the gods. I will miss it dearly.