Monday Football

Oh Monday, I don't think you're so bad :)

It was another wonderfully sunny day in Juneau. I walked to work and stopped for a cup of coffee. The A team was in the office: Lauren writing the schedule, Lev on the Ops board, Wes rounding up the dock reps, and me running between the dock, the office, and the occasional small transfer. We all had a blast down at the Zuiderdam, sending tours off on time and with happy guests, and making the best of the crazy shuttle madness that happens every time a ship docks at AJ.

For about two weeks, the ops team has been having trouble getting our act in gear to finish up the day together, without leaving anyone hanging out to dry with loads of work to do. We have all been getting reamed by 902, drivers are dropping like flies, AC is broken, people upset with tour distribution, too many hours to work in a day and not enough play; the burn out is running wild.

Maybe it's because today was the last Monday that we'd have a ship. Maybe it's because we were all jazzed to watch Monday Night Football, or maybe we finally remembered we are good at our jobs and those that don't think so can shove off. Maybe it's all of that.

Sure, we had to scramble when the Mountain Zip and Glacier tour over sold their max by 6 and we didn't have enough seats on the bus for the tour that was supposed to leave (what's that?) five minutes ago. Sure, when 281 broke down on the side of the road an hour after the shop said it was good to go, it took a minute to get another vehicle out to transfer the passengers to their Whales & Trails Adventure. But even with the awkward phone calls to the tour operators explaining the delay, there was no blame being thrown around. No rivalry to fan the flame.

Now is also the time where Year Reviews are being written and handed in to our bosses, telling them what we would like to see changed for next year. I've only been here 5 weeks, but those kinds of things (finding ways to make operations run better) gets me excited! I got an offer last week for a year round position up here, and even though I'm not taking it, I can't help but put my mind to work on things that will make next season better for whomever they find to work here. However we got here, today was a good day in the HAP office.

Or - maybe I'm so freaking happy because my fantasy team won (again) this week with 129 points to 78.

Here's hoping the last week is a good one!

Saturday afternoon hike

Lauren, Kristen and I went hiking yesterday on Perseverance trail. It is a beautiful 6 mile hike that leads back into the Silverbow basin where gold mining was prevalent in the early 1900's.

It was a gorgeous sunny day with temperatures in the mid 60's. We had a great time enjoying the sights and smells, as the trees had already started turning their falls colors in some areas.


The water that comes out of this valley is from several snow packs around Mt. Juneau and Mt. Roberts. Just behind these peaks is the gigantic Juneau Ice Field. The water, when pooled, is one of the bluest blues one can see in nature. The only other place I've seen water this color is at theme parks, and their's is dyed!



We saw bear tracks and scat, but thankfully no black bears!



All this is a right out of downtown Juneau. Take a 10 minute walk down the end of 8th street and you are at the trail head in the basin. Another 20 minutes up the beginning of the trail and you are surrounded by mountains and history. It is all so accessible. It is all beautiful. It's one of my favorite things about Juneau.

Lola and Ariel =

I've got wheels! Now that the rain has settled in, I found it an incredible stroke off luck that Lauren's scooter became available for rent for the last month I'm here. Her cute blue scooter is named Lola, and I got to meet her last summer when Lauren first got her. I was hoping to rent her when I first showed up, but a driver who is up for the summer had beat me to it. But starting today, she's all mine!

I can layer on my rain gear and cruise through the weather to get home a bit faster. With the bubble gum helmet and the goggles, I look a bit ridiculous, but who cares! I love it!

Week 3

I know you've seen this same view about a million times now, but this is Juneau's downtown on my way to work this morning. The sun is rising so much later now, even in the two weeks since I've been here!


Do you see the light coming up in that little dip on the left side of Mt. Roberts?


Sitting on the couch at Caitlyn's, this is what I see out the window. Mt. Juneau! Lauren and I hiked that mountain last summer - maybe we'll get the guts to do it again, but really, the rain will be here non-stop, so I don't see that happening.



Today at work there was a little free time to be silly - and it was Katie's last day (every one is jealous). This is Lauren and Darlene. Lauren thinks she looks super tired and Darlene thinks she looks pale. Just for that I'm posting the picture so they can see how ridiculous those thoughts are. You ladies are gorgeous!


Below is Able. Remember the dude with the hurt foot playing the guitar a few days back? He is mostly better and back in action. He made that face special for me after the camera came out :)
This is the aforementioned Katie. She has been this season's trooper, being one of the only returning ops people from a previous year to be here at the beginning of the season. I've stories from May and June, and really, I don't know how she kept herself going to work. This is not the type of job one person can do, and training people to do it is a full job in of itself, let alone training and working! Katie, you are amazing! I'll miss you!


As for me, I'm holding up. Dispatching for 8 hours is so much more draining than driving 14! When driving there were breaks and only one person's schedule that I needed to concern myself with. Now I'm at the board almost non-stop and I have to keep 40 driver's schedules rotating in my brain. I'm pretty useless at the end of my shifts now. But, things will slow down, fewer ships will come in, and then I'll be back home - no doubt missing the mountain views and sea air. I need to get over this "grass is greener" bs and enjoy my time here! Everybody, just tell me to shut it!

So. With that, I will shut it.

Saturday

I got to see this on the walk home today - sun, rainbow, and the gorgeous mountains. I walked past two people who also took a picture of the rainbow, and found out they were a dual driving trucker team, husband and wife. They are here for another week, and we talked for a good 15 minutes about what they should do while in town. This is where I work when I'm in the OPS center. I sit, or pace, around this board and answer the radio. Questions and problems come in and this is where some of the fixes come from . Exciting. I know.
After work today, I spent some time with Lauren while she was working at the Crab Shack. The Great Baldini came by for some bisque-to-go, and we shared a beer while he talked about working at the Red Dog saloon and various cruise ships. He plays piano, plays trumpet, and has a Louie Armstrong routine. He busted out his iPhone (I really shouldn't be shocked by this by now!) and showed me videos of him making fun of tourists (with them eating it up in the audience) and playing lounge tunes for lounge lizards. Lauren and I said we'd come by and go against our "No Red Dog" unofficial rule. It really is a place just for tourists...

Another great day in Juneau!

Juneau! A place to live!

I was so happy to see this sign on the walk to work this morning. 56 degrees. Whoa. Right now, my toes are still cold from work and I'm wearing two jackets, but I love it. Love it! Also on my walk to work I got to reconnect with the eagle that sits on the cross bar by the bridge (not always the same eagle, but I pretend it is) and the morning fog rise up Mt. Juneau and Mt. Roberts. :)

The cruise ships were coming down the channel and hardly anyone was awake - the mornings in Juneau are so peaceful and refreshing.

Today it was nothing but rain, rain, rain. As soon as I got to work it started, and when I was coming home it stopped. After the morning ship had all of it's tours departed, I went back to the office and had my shirt drying over a fan and my rain gear all over the desk, trying to get it dried a bit before the next span of time out in the rain.

I'm so happy to have a place to stay! I thought it was going to take me much longer to find a place than it did, but now I know not to doubt the power of word-of-mouth in this tourist town. This is it!

It's a cute one bedroom rented by a sweet girl named Caitlin. She has a gem of a dog in Mac, a black lab, and is super chill. She is in the bedroom, and I sleep in the loft, in the space above the closets. I climb up that ladder and crash on a feather mattress and my sleeping bag. It is exactly what I was hoping for - enough space to have a room of my own, but not so much that it was an empty homecoming at the end of every day. I have the benefit of the lived in home with the convenience of not paying my entire paycheck. And, I can walk the two miles to work, so no car is no problem!

This was last night. Hanging out with Lauren, her boyfriend, his mom, and some friends from the ship.

Hanger and float planes coming in for the day.
Some images from the afternoon passengers leaving the ship for town.

Shuttle line!
Mikey, Darlene, and Lauren hamming it up before the ship was docked.
Lauren and I!

Juneau

(View from the plane on the way here)

I started work today - a whopping 9 hours of writing tomorrow's schedule. My brain hurts. Or, maybe I'm hungry. Or both. There is a lot of hostility in the office at this point. People don't want to help each other, things aren't getting done or getting missed. Its only been a day, but it seems like it's coming from the top down, and as it goes down, it gets messier.

It's great to see Lauren and Lev and the rest. Things pick up right where they left off, and that is wonderful. No awkwardness, no revving back up into the taunting and bull shitting. It is easy to be here with them.

Here are some images from my time here already.

Hilary! We were sitting in the driver's lounge waiting for Ms. Laura Rudy to be finished. A group crossword puzzle made this happen to her, but I don't remember how.

The front of Alyson's lawn, at the house I stayed at last night. You can't really see it, but there is a real back how bucket across the street.

Scenes from Tracy's Crab Shack - voted Juneau's can't miss eatery in some travel magazine, or travel site, or something. Lauren is the cashier (it's her fun money job!) and I feel a bit bad I caught her with this expression...but it's speaks volumes! I had a blast sitting at the little counter in front of the melted butter pot, chatting with her and drinking (free) beer. I also talked with just about every customer that came through the line, asking where they were from and such. We met two handfuls worth of Spokanites! Gonzaga toting locals. It was wonderful :)

This is the wonderful Erika. She Laura and Hilary are from Bellingham. They are upbeat and happy, and some of the best people I've ever met.

Laura is showing off her Alaskan car, complete with rusty wheel wells, a broken door hinge, and (when it rains) water filled floor boards.


Able hurt himself kicking a soccer ball. He can still play
a mean tune.
The Bellingham ladies + Stance Sampson (isn't that a great super hero name?) all showed me the newest shop in town where you can buy frozen yogurt, better known as froyo. It is DE Licious, as Dan would say.

No ships today!

The town is empty of cruise ship passengers. This is the first day we haven't had a ship in port since May. No throngs of umbrellas stabbing innocents in the head. No photos taken with the gigantic stuffed eagle outside the fur shop. Just people enjoying the cafes and the weather.

Lauren and I went to Thai last night. So tasty. Then we drove around all over Douglas Island looking for a house for rent that Lauren's boss mentioned, and in looking for it, we found all sorts of great neighborhoods we never knew existed. Douglas is a little treasure! We happened to be wondering around just as the magic hour was starting, and the golden light setting over the channel and seeping through the trees made me think of Cour d'Alene lake in the summer. We didn't find the house for rent, but we spotted some great little nuggets that were for sale. Maybe Lauren will make a long term decision. Either way, it was fun to drive and see the great homes.

Then we went out. All I can say this morning is ouch.

The good news, we walked by a cute little three story walk up that is next to the Governor's Mansion that had a for rent sign in it. It is right in the corner where my favorite house in town is located, and hopefully, it will be Lauren's new abode. It would be great if she could live down town.

I'm going to enjoy my coffee, my book, and my cat for the next few hours. Happy weekend everyone!

Beautiful, beautiful day off

We had three days of sunshine. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday - all 60 degrees and sunny. Work was easier, tourists were happy, solving problems seemed to be a cinch. The rain is back now, and I'm watching a sad movie on my day off, loving the small things like hand lotion, hot coffee, and dangle earrings that hit my neck.

Lauren got a promotion this week. She is the new Transportation Manager here in Juneau. It's a year round position, and great stepping stone to move up in the tourism business. She will be moving to Juneau from Spokane, and is required to attend meetings at the end of this year. Great for Lauren, sad for me, as she won't be driving back with me now. Duty calls. I'm flying solo again.

I was a little concerned about how we were going to get both of our belongings into my car, so that isn't an issue now, but I was excited for both the girl time and benefit of having two drivers. I'm going to search out some books on CD. They were my saving grace on the way up, and they'll take the place of conversations with Lauren on the way back.

Only 26 more days!

Unload the camera

I haven't been taking very many pictures lately, but here are some that have been on my camera for awhile.

Kristy sent me an awesome care package. In it was this pin. Roar

This is Sarah Ramano. She has worked for Allen Marine all summer as a dock rep. Today is her last day. I'm so jealous she is going home tomorrow.


And this is when we went out a few weeks ago.

DAN!

Dan is here! Dan is here!

We've been having a grand time together. Yesterday I had off from work, so we went whale watching. The rest of the time he's been here, we've been taking in some of the local flavor. Here are some whales for you !

Humpback!
Bubble net feeding!

Orca!
Pretty!

Lauren got to come with us, as she had the day off also. Yay!

I think tourists are funny. I especially like the dude in the rockin' turquoise fedora. Very nice!

Proof we were there.