Subject lines are stupid

It's hard enough trying to figure out what to put in a blog, but trying to come up with a nice meaningful subject line or title is impossible.

The last week. Oh. My. God. I barely remember last weekend. Part of it was because I had one day off. Then I started the week from hell. It's over. Yes.

Monday and part of Tuesday were rainy and very windy. Am I positive the weather pattern held all those hours without letting up? Uh, yeah. Especially Monday night, Tuesday morning before 7 a.m. How can I be so sure? Because I spent a lot of time going from the apartment to the hospital since I was on call.

Let me back up, during the day, the rain and wind were so bad, plus it was a full moon, which meant high tides. They were worried about roads flooding with the high tides. If the roads did flood it was temporary.

The hospital is six miles from town, so when the weather gets horrible and the roads are closed patients can't get to us. Patients were getting to us late at night, so if they did flood, they were okay later in the night.

This week I asked why the hospital was six miles from town. The original hospital was at this site. In the early 1900s during the influenzia outbreak, half the village died. They moved the village of Naknek to another location, but kept the hospital here. So...if I understand things correctly, Dillingham isn't the reason for the hospital, but the village of Naknek and the hospital at one time co-existed at this location.

I know this is boring. The events haven't been that boring around here though, but I've spent almost all of this past week working and what goes on there, can't go into a blog.

It's my one day off before starting all over tomorrow, so I don't have time to really focus on the world outside the hospital either. I haven't seen much of that.

From Dillingham...Jody

The week in review

I had four days off. Too bad I didn't handle them very well. The first two were fine. The third one was just so so. By the last one I bordered on insane.

Why? I'm not in my home. While I have my laptop that I use, I'm on extremely slow internet. I can't quickly get my internet activities done. Yeah, that's a small thing. But when it's combined that the rest of my things aren't around me, it was enough. Combine that with the fact that yes we can check out a vehicle, other than running into town, there's nowhere else to take it.

There are places to go, we just can't use the vehicle to go there. From what I understand there's at least one gorgeous lake just a few miles away. We can't take the vehicle to the lake. We're right by one of the largest national parks in the nation. Again, we can't take the vehicle to that area.

There are things to do, we just can't do them with the resources we have available to us.

Another problem I'm having to adjust to is when I want to run into town, I have to make sure a vehicle is available first. We only have two for all the temporary help, plus if there happens to be a board meeting, the board members flown have access to them, too. So far, a vehicle has been available when I've needed one.

I'm spoiled. I'm used to going out my front door, getting in my vehicle and going where I want to go. Yes, I could rent a car from town for the day. We might do that before we leave here. I'd like to explore some of the area. But first I have to get past being so cheap.

Normally, these are little things and they don't bother me. The slow internet and not being able to go when and where I want. During a regular work week, I don't have time to worry about such little crap. I'm too busy. When I have four days off, I let the little things build up and drive me nuts.

Yeah, I miss Homer. I really like Dillingham. I really like the job. I really like the hospital. It's not home, though. But it's a damned good place to be while earning money for my home.

Last Monday evening it snowed. We woke to a layer on the ground. It took a few days to melt all of it, but it's gone now.

The people. They're Alaskans. For the most part, very friendly. I've run into one or two that are a little stand-offish, but that's okay. I give them their space. If they don't want to talk, not a problem. I've found most enjoy visiting.

Like most of Alaska, people either like it in Dillingham, or they hate it. There's very few who walk the middle ground. The town itself is a functional town. The exterior doesn't have the same look or feel as Homer, but this area doesn't cater to the tourist industry, so they don't have the budget or need for little machines to clean the streets. The whole town has an hodge-podge look and feel to it. Some of the vocal let's-make-sure-Homer-is-gorgeous folks would stroke out over here. It goes back to my original observation, Dillingham doesn't worry about the exterior. They aren't trying to impress the fickle tourist.

Most of their tourist are hunting or fishing. They fly into the airport, then fly out to remote areas where the great outdoors is their public restroom. They sleep in tents or on the ground. They cook over an open fire. They don't shave or bathe in the wild. They don't give a damn if the streets of Dillingham are dust free or not.

What do I miss? The Homer Bookstore. I really, really, really miss it. I'd love to walk into that little bookstore and make them giddy with the dollar amount I spend there. When I come back to Dillingham, I'll make sure I have lighter books to read. The heavy literary ones aren't working over here. Maybe one or two per tour, but not too many.

Two temps left this week. A new one arrived yesterday. When I saw her, I wondered if I had the same look on my face. I refer to it as the Dillingham daze. Almost everyone has to spend way too much time stranded at the Anchorage airport, so by the time we land in Dillingham, everyone is exhausted. Therefore, they (we) arrive with a dazed expression.

Work is going fine. We will be super busy next week though.

Until next time...

More pictures

Three pictures this week. You know what they say, picture--thousand words. Yeah. Something like that.

Anyway, with all these pictures, if you want to see a larger version, click on the picture and you'll see more details.

This first one is from the front of the hospital.










I turned around to click the hospital.











This is a little to the left of the hospital.















Any blue in the sky is pretty unique. I shouldn't say that. Today was pretty clear, too. But clouds and some type of precipitation isn't abnormal. Naturally, wind is common.

We went into town today. I showed the man who washes my dirty dishes the boat harbor. It was low tide. Damn. I wish I'd brought my camera with us. Unbelievable. The boats were perched in the mud. Next time I'll grab the camera.

I have a few days off and then things will be crazy for a few weeks. I'm not looking forward to next weekend. I work Saturday. I have a feeling I'll be busy. Direct depost for our PFD is next Wednesday. We'll also be down two people in the lab, so regular hours will be a fond memory for a while.

It's been four weeks here in Dillingham. I still like it, but it's not Homer. Homer is home and I'll be anxious to get back to my home for a few weeks. Yes, I plan to come back over here though. The job is fun and the whole situation is a good deal.

A few pictures

Here are a few pictures, as promised. I haven't gotten away from the hospital area with my camera. One of these days, I'll get pictures of the surrounding area.

This picture was taken from my side door. My commute to work is pretty short. Which is fine with me.

This is from the same side door looking toward the back, away from the hospital. It was taken about two weeks ago.

Part of the living area and kitchen/dining area.


This is the living room area.



Why did I select this photograph? If you look closely, you'll notice there really is a television in the entertainment center. Really. Honest. Sure it's the size of a postage stamp, but it's really there.

Three Weeks in Dillingham

This was written Friday evening. Yes, I'm behind.

I've got two hours before I have to be off-line and have the phone available until 7 a.m. I'm on call tonight. Such is life.

This is a hodge-podge of observations. Regarding the climate, Dillingham is pretty similiar to Homer. Lots of cloudy days. Sunshine, more clouds then rain. Tonight the weather forecast is calling for a rain snow mix.

Our temps are five to ten degrees colder than Homers. Because we are west of Homer, the sun rises about thirty minutes later, but it sets about thirty minutes after Homer's sunset. Basically, we get the same amount of daylight, we just start and end later.

The prices are higher here, but not as much as I'd been warned about. I think if I'd come from Anchorage or down south, I would have had more sticker shock. But Homer is pretty high regarding groceries, so I had that to keep my chin off the floor.

What surprises me? Well, moose sightings are rare. Ditto caribou. I'm not sure why, except when it freezes the caribou cross the river. A couple winters ago (is that right...the one that was so mild) the river didn't freeze, so the caribou were stuck on this side.

I've heard bears are a real problem. Especially in the housing that is surrounded by trees. My housing complex is very close to the hospital and in the open, so I don't think I'll have that problem this trip. I hope not. But those 200 or so feet from my front door to the hospital gets a little nervous in the middle of the night. For some reason, I don't think a bear will give too much lee-way to my ID badge. Go figure.

Yeah, workers have run into bears while going in for or returning from callback.

Earlier this week we had the same storm that hit Homer. Lots of wind and rain. My front window faces the US and Alaska flag. Sometime during the night, the Alaska flag came loose. In the morning it was gone and the US flag was pretty tattered. Yesterday they were replaced with new flags.

Last week, two people went missing. I don't think they've been found yet. That's another thing Dillingham has in common with Homer. When tragedy strikes, it affects the whole community.

Another observation. This area doesn't have hard phone lines. It's satellite, which produces a horrible echo on my end. My dialup connection is frustrating to say the least. They have broadband, but from what I've heard, it's not really faster than dialup, but costs a lot more.

UPS and FedEx mean nothing here. We get it, but it takes a backseat to Express and Priority mail. Possibly even first class mail. Not sure on that one.

Today, I was told there's one more fuel barge before winter.

Enough rambling. Now it's time to try to sneak in a couple hours sleep before call officially starts.

An after the fact comment. It's Saturday night. I didn't sleep worth a darn last night. I kept waiting for the phone to ring. It didn't. About 5:30 this morning I felt safe enough to fall into a lovely deep sleep.

It's supposed to go down to 26 degrees tonight.