Sunrise-Sunset

Of all the things I imagined about Alaska, the bright blazing sun was not one of them. Don't get me wrong, it's cold here. In fact it's been snowing off and on for a few days now. Up until Friday, our bedroom window had only blinds on it. Which meant on our days off, the sun would peak over the mountains, straight in to our room. I remedied the situation by just getting up no matter how early. Aaron remedied the situation by putting a sock over his eyes, (It was actually pretty funny to see) but this allowed him to sleep in a bit more on our days off. Something had to be done about the window--then enters the sheet. Friday night, I have Aaron get the burgundy sheet out and nail (yes, nail) it to the wall. Finally, we were able to sleep in until 11am without putting socks over our eyes.
For those of you that are not currently aware of the times sunrises and sunsets are currently taking place, there is this handy-dandy website. The sun rise today was at 8:51am and sunset is going to be at 4:35pm. You might be thinking to yourself, but shouldn't you relish the sunlight and try to be awake for as many hours of sunlight as possible. To that my response is: BAH! I like my sleep more and I like my house to be as dark as a cave. This could possible have something to do with the urge to hibernate.

Snow Weasel!

Samara and I just returned home for lunch, and as we were approaching the apartment, I saw an animal bounding away, underneath our neighbor's truck and into the snowy brush.

My first thought was squirrel, because of the way it moved, but obviously we don't really have squirrels here the way that Kentucky does. Then it seemed smaller, and I thought chipmunk, but again... this isn't Kentucky. As we neared the apartment, I could see that it was long, white and seemed to have a black tail.

Snow Weasel!

Now, the thing is: I have no idea what small mammals are resident in Alaska. This is the first one I've seen, and I haven't done any research. But I feel confident in saying that I have sighted a snow weasel. It may have some other "technical" name, but it was weaselly, white and in the snow.

I promised a picture of Samara in the hospital, and she consented, so here it is...

But, in all fairness, I have a better picture of Samara, cooking Thai food for our friend Bobbie's birthday dinner.

A belated happy birthday to my sister, by the way. Samara was still under the weather Thursday and I went to work, and we just completely forgot to call and wish her a happy birthday. We're bad siblings! If she's counting backwards now, I believe she's 29 years old.

An Unpleasant Day

Wednesday was a less-than-pleasant day for us. Samara woke up in the middle of the night and started vomiting. She was pretty constantly sick all night and through noon on Wednesday. She was having headache and stomach pain, and couldn't even keep down a sip of water.

I decided we ought to pay a visit to our local ER around noon, and off we went. Let me tell you--there are benefits to being in a small town. We parked right in front of the ER, walked inside, and the nurse took us right into an exam room. The doctor was there within minutes, and he talked with us longer than doctors usually do. It wasn't until we were there fifteen minutes or so that the lady came by to get our registration information.

Anyway, Samara got a shot of promethazine for the nausea, which helped immediately. Then she got a narcotic for the headache and stomach pain a little later on. They did some bloodwork and regular diagnostic stuff. They couldn't find anything particularly wrong, which wasn't surprising. She has had to go to the ER a few times before because of stomach issues. They have tested her for almost everything, and the conclusion is that she simply has an irritable gastrointestinal system.

After a bit of a nap, she was able to keep liquids down, and the doctor sent us home. She didn't need an IV for fluids this time, since she wasn't that dehydrated. We have some promethazine in case she needs it at home. I fed her some soup, crackers and gatorade, and she's doing better.

I have a nice picture of her in the hospital bed (which she told me to take!) but until she wakes up and the effects of the narcotics have fully worn off, I won't be posting it without her permission.

So she's fine--no one needs to worry, but this was a long day for both of us. It's not much fun to call in sick when someone is actually sick!

Smorgasboard

It's hard to be good and post every day, like we should. What you're going to get now is a post that encompasses a couple of different topics.

The first topic involves the fact that I'm hungry. Really hungry. I get up in the morning and eat a small portion of dry cereal and drink a cola. Then I get to work at about 8am. By 10am, I've got to eat my lunch. It's usually a sandwich (bologna and American cheese on wheat with yellow mustard), pretzels, some fruit snacks and a snack size candy bar. Of course I drink a cola with that. Now that we get fresh fruit, I usually eat an apple or pear by about 1 or 2pm.

Today was the standard menu, except that I also had a fresh orange at about 9am as well.

So you gotta figure that's plenty of food, right? But somehow I'm still starving to the point where my stomach hurts by the time 5 o'clock rolls around.

And there's another symptom. I usually wear pants with a 33 inch waist if I need a pair of pants that actually fits right. (About half my pants are a 34, because that fits okay too with a belt.) I put on a pair of dress pants on Monday, and they were too tight! Uncomfortably tight in the waist.

What does all this mean, you ask? I'm fairly well convinced that my body is preparing to hibernate. I think that soon, I will fall asleep and awake again as the snow begins to thaw from this icy wasteland.

Either that, or, I don't know, maybe I'm just getting old and fat.

Another topic for discussion: how awesome is it that you're going to have to call me "Your Honor"?

Pretty awesome.

See, after I've been in Alaska for six months, I am eligible to be a deputy magistrate. That's sort of like a junior junior junior judge. I'll be called upon to sign off on search warrants in the middle of the night on weekends. Very exciting stuff. However, the Alaska courts have made clear that magistrates are considered judges in the sense of the Alaska Constitution. I'll get to wear a robe, and folks will have to call me address me as: Your Honor. Pretty good for six months out of law school, eh?

That's rural Alaska for you. Many fine options for resume building. I'm pretty Samara now has five people that report to her, and they seem to keep adding people under her every day.

And finally, the election. Samara and I both voted today. Neither of us voted for the Alaskan Independence Party candidate, so we'll probably still be part of the United States in the morning. Alaska, of course, will go to McCain. It's a Republican state, for the most part.

The nice thing about being in Alaska is that I'm getting to watch election results after polls close on the east coast, but it's only dinner time here. In other words, I don't have to stay up late to see John McCain cry.

The breaking news, as we speak, is that Rhode Island has gone to Obama. And as we all know, as Rhode Island goes, so goes the nation.

What to do on a Saturday Night in Dillingham

What is there to do in Dillingham? Short answer: not much. Long answer: make food, invite friends.

I didn't had a chance to use my food processor (the one that I got for my birthday) until last night. In our box of vegetables we got a very small head of cabbage, a couple purple onions, carrots and some golden beets. I had no idea what to do with the beets until I thought about the cabbage, then all I could think about is coleslaw. I made Sweet and Spicy Coleslaw. This is not the coleslaw your grandpa made with fried chicken. Here is the recipe:

1 small cabbage--shredded (or 1/2 a large)
1/2 lb carrots-shredded
1lb golden beets-shredded
1/2 purple onion-sliced thin

Dressing:
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
2 tbl honey
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or you can use fresh jalapenos--I didn't have any)
1/4 c. canola oil
salt and pepper to taste

Toss all the shredded vegetable until all the carrots, cabbage and beets are not in big lumps. In another bowl mix honey and vinegar until dissolved. Slowly add in the oil until it thickens. Add cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly. Add dressing to cabbage mixture. Ta-da. Coleslaw.

After the coleslaw is made, you invite some people over who help you eat dinner. And that my friends is what you do on a Saturday night in Dillingham.

Short Post

You all usually get a decent length post, with pictures. Not today. Sorry.

Samara was ill this morning, but I wasn't. So we split the difference--we both took a half-day off. It was nice to sleep in, but even though she was feeling under the weather, Samara still had to go to work in the evening for a board meeting.

I've been reading Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer. It's probably properly categorized as young adult fiction, but like Harry Potter, is decently well-written and has a good plot. Actually, the writing sometimes leaves a bit to be desired. (Hint to authors: you can use "said" when writing dialog. You don't have to make adverbial puns a la Tom Swift.)

You know what's not so bad? The cold. I can stand sub-freezing temperatures all the time. It's natural here--you get used to it so that taking the trash out in a t-shirt in 20-degree cold isn't insane.

You know what sucks? Ice. It sucks to scrape ice off your windshield EVERY time you go out to get in your car. Like three times in a day. That's too much.

That's all for now.

The Duct Tape Eagle

Our landlord was supposed to come by this evening to fix our leaky sink drain. (He didn't, but that's another story.) We didn't really have any clean dishes or good groceries, so we decided to get some take-out. There aren't a lot of options for take-out in Dillingham.

Obviously, there's the Muddy Rudder. Samara called them to place an order, but they're closed for the season. No more Muddy Rudder until spring. We swung by the N&N Market, which has a hot bar/deli. They didn't have any chicken for chicken sandwiches. That left one option: the Duct Tape Eagle.

Just off Harbor Road, the Duct Tape Eagle is a restaurant that used to serve Chinese food as the Chinese Eagle. Now it's more of a pizza/burger joint, so it's just the Eagle. (I think it may also have changed owners.) But because they just "modified" the old sign, some folks call it the "Duct Tape Eagle."

Samara and I both ordered the chicken sandwich. We'd heard it was good. It comes with onion rings (Samara) or fries (me) for $13.95 a piece. I'll tell you what--it was worth it. It was a good sandwich, and the fries were yummy. Here's Samara waiting on our food.

Since the restaurant is next to the harbor, Samara stepped outside to take some pictures of the dry-docked boats and fascinating aluminum buildings.

Then she even got the proprietor to let her take his picture.

He was a nice guy. Apparently they're going to be open all winter, except when he and his wife take a trip to Korea to see her family.

And here is what your $13.95 buys you.

Those were some good fries, and a pretty good chicken sandwich.

On the way back home with our meal, we got stuck behind a police situation downtown. Yeah, the police chief stopped his cruiser with his lights on in the middle of downtown. It must have been a big emergency. Except that this is small-town, rural Alaska. It was just some plywood in the road that he wanted to pick up.

Hooray Alaska!