Friday Night!

Friday night in the big city! Or something like that anyway.

I was off today for all but two hours where I and my fellow drivers were educated on how to safely and effectively handle the following situations: emergency evacuations, Noro virus presentation (vomiting on the bus), and spill response (some sort of fluid leaking from the coach). Very useful. Very informative. There were limited times in which I felt I was being parroted to, which is progress, I think, from the last Hazard Training Class.

Came home and worked on some paintings. They still need a lot of work, and the more I do this stuff, the more I think I should take a basic drawing class or something. Since most of my pieces have to do with body parts, maybe life drawing is more appropriate? Or maybe just more practice. I'm going to go with practice for now.

I went out to dinner with one of my roommates, Paul (the pilot), as he came home and was just gushing to tell someone the crazy day he had. There was an ambulance involved, a passenger with what seemed to be an exploding hernia, and a race to the landing strip in which he barely beat an Alaska Airlines jet. Pretty good for a little prop plane! So we went to the hanger and ate. I love halibut. Dinner tonight just reiterated that. Halibut = Win.

Then tonight, the dispatcher from Allen Marine, which is the company we partner with to sell and transport cruise ship passengers to whale watching tours, was playing bluegrass music with his band down at the Alaskan Bar. The guys are great! Violin (or is it a fiddle if it's this genre?), mandolin, standing bass, banjo, and guitar. Sorry Dan, no jug or tub players. But great still. I met some of the drivers out, as well as some of the other tour industry folks. Throw in a couple bosses and a few beers, and it was a great time had by all. And dancing! I still thank Ms. Luhn for casting me in her play as the stand in (for my brother) and made me learn how to swing dance. I love swing dancing! There were a few people there that had an idea of how to lead, and were happy to find a partner who could, at least, follow along. It was great!

Most of the time, I was leading my friend, Erin, along the floor, as she was too nervous to dance with strangers (what?) but even then she and I were laughing over our clumsiness and confusion about who was supposed to do what. The down side to all this - I may have hurt myself even worse. I didn't really feel anything, as I was under the influence of the delicious Alaskan IPA, but now, sitting here, I'm sure I'll need to nurse my heel in the morning. Oh well! It was so fun! I love dancing!

The band plays again tomorrow night, so at least I'll have a fun time tapping my foot along, if I'm too injured to partake in the galloping. Hearing really good bluegrass live - there is really nothing like it.

Miles for the trip - 5900! Now, lets go drive in circles.

Before I get too far into my life in Juneau, I'd like to pat myself on the back. I did the calculations, and my trip from Bloomington to Juneau, via visits to Dan, Sarah, Ciara and Adam, and the Spokane clan puts my mileage over 5,900 miles! There where hundreds of miles where I thought I heard little noises that made me rigid for hours, fearing I would be stuck in the middle of the ________ (you choose: Oklahoma/California/Oregon/B.C.) wilderness, but I made it. There were support phone calls, books on tape, and many cups of coffee. So, thanks to everyone, and nice job me.

Now, on to the more recent past.

I met with Ron and saw the house today. To say the least, it is in a sad shape. The good news is Ron has agreed to not charge me rent while it is getting into the agreed upon condition. This gives me the time I need to 1) help get my areas into livable condition, or 2) look for a new place to live. Either way, I'll be ok. It's just the newest challenge I've been given.

I went to the bus yard to meet the people I've been talking with for months, fill out paperwork, and get an idea of what my next weeks will look like. I'm doing my refresher training tomorrow if my drug test results come back. The training will be reacquainting myself with the bus via pre-trip test and four hours of driving around a 25 mile loop of roads. The pre-trip will be me and my re-trainer, Mikey, walking around a coach while I point, feel, and visualize 308 points of inspection. I don't know how many I need to pass, but an 80% is 246 items. I would beat myself up if I got anything less.

That means I've been cramming. All the things I learned between February and May of 2004 need to be taken out of my cranial storage. Phrases like "the blower boxes are mounted and secure" and "The emergency engine shut off switch is in the off position" will be used again. I'll get intimate with u-bolts, push rods, brake drums, valves, and steering linkages. I'll be trying to remember the proper pressures and timing for the break test and emergency procedures. Radio checks. Fast idle. Various sight glasses containing various viscus materials used to keep the coach running. Lights! Camera! Action! And after all that I'll be ready to go back on my 53 foot stage to entertain tourists on those 25 miles of looped road.

Let's hope I didn't come all of those 5,900 miles just to fail now.