Being a tourist is all well and good. I've been the tourist many times. My fiancee and I can't tell whether we are permanent tourists or temporary locals. Personally, I like to go with temporary locals. Part of that reason is because I dislike being lumped into the "tourist" group. The typical tourist. Many seasonal workers have many nick-names for them. Terrorist-tourists, tourons(morons), BOB's (bitches on busses). The list goes on.
It's unfair. Many people are quite GOOD tourists, there are just so many who ruin the title. So here I decided to give a few pointers on how to be a tourist.
Tip 1 - get away from the car. One of Chris' favorite statistics is how most tourists don't get more than 100 yards from the car. Silver Falls in Oregon - all the best falls are farther out. Yellowstone 2.2 million acres - come on people! Chicken, Alaska - seems small but all the amazing overlooks and hunting is a hike or a cars-won't-get-here-take-a-4 wheeler-ride road away. Cars are comfortable and remind us all of home, but you're not home anymore people! Get out there and EXPLORE! That's why you went out in the first place!
Tip 2 - Ask where the locals go. West Yellowstone has a DQ and a few pizza joints and a chinese place. Sure. Where do you find the locals? The Wild West Pizza joint has some of the best pizza EVER, the Chinese place is good. TACO BUS!! Everywhere else is almost pure tourists. There's a reason locals go where the go. They KNOW.
Locals would also rather watch Castle or Lonestar go off than Old Faithful. For the record.
Tip 3 - Read the menu. Then follow it. I understand some people have legit special needs and a small substitution now and then is no big deal. However, those that either don't look at the menu or look and then STILL order somethign COMPLETELY different need to be lobotomized. You're on vacation. What's so terrible about ordering something ON menu - even if it's new for you? You're not at IHOP or Burgerking. You can't count on getting it "your way". Beside - cooks generally know whats good. Pay attention, there's probably something AMAZING on that menu you won't look at.
Tip 4 - Talk to strangers. This is a hard one. I know - Momma always said not to talk to strangers. It was hard for me personally to break out of my shell - and I'm still working on it. It's worth it. There ARE idiots out there that you find yourself wishing you'd never smiled at (but there are back home too), however a lot of people will share awesome - or at least mildly interesting - stories abotu where they're from or their travels or what they saw while they were in that same space you're in too. Typically, I'll take my meal out to the dining area (which is out-doors here), cock my chair away from the table and listen until I find a friendly group who wants to talk. Knowing the area is my leg in. Where is this? How is that? When did that get there? Oh, I know! Pardon me, but here's your answer. I've met so many cool people. I don't know names, won't remember faces, but have stories and a general good feeling about the day. I get home and go "hey honey, you'll never guess where this couple was from today!" Things like that.
Tip 5 - Go to the bar. I didn't say drink. I didn't say get drunk. As long as you're not an AA member who can't stand the smell of alcohol, go to the bar. Order a soda, I don't care. This is another "talk to people" things. There's always locals there - usually they're the rowdy ones. The easiest way to get to a locals heart? Buy them a drink. Most of us will buy you the next. Suddenly we're lifelong pals and yeah lets go shooting, I know a great place up on the ridge, you game? (here in Chicken at least) In yellowstone it'd be "This bars to spendy, I got some vodka in the room, just don't tell people you're a tourist and come along! There's a dorm party tonight!" But you see what I mean? The tour directors won't know where the very best hunting spots, the perfect-temp hot springs, the coolest watering holes are. But a drunk local? Holy hell, people.
Tip 6 - Prepare for it all. The easiest way to blow money is to pack for sunshine and summertime only to encounter a typical Chicken thunder storm and suddenly need rain gear. Oh they'll sell it to you, but there goes the money you wanted to use to buy that kitchy thing you found in the gift-shop. I'm Oregonian - I rock it layer style. It helps me to not have to pack super amounts and still be prepared. A cute shirt or two and a tanktop, jeans and shorts (and swimwear - ALWAYS swimwear), 2 pairs of socks and underwear MORE than I need, shoes and sandals, and a lightweight jacket that's mostly rainproof will last me a 3 or 4 days and weather. Keep in mind also when you pack to save room for the stuff you know you'll buy to bring home. AND that some of what you buy will be clothes. You don't need five shirts for a three shirt vaca if you're going to be buying at least one "Been Here" shirt.
Tip 7 - Leave wiggle room. Some can afford only a few hours of wiggle room, some up to a day. I try to always leave a day. You never know. Traffic jam, animals on the road, airport delay, hey look at that cool trail/overlook, that wasn't on the brochure but I want to see it, hungover and overslept (damn local drank me under the table last night! But it was fun), Any number of things, good and bad will delay you. Practically Murphey's Law, isn't it?
Tip 8 - Allergies. Be aware. If you have allergies, realisitcally, you can't count on eating out. Not everywhere can accomodate every allergy. Especially the deadlier they are. A little backed up with a milk so "no cheese on my sandwhich" - no big deal. Going to die if I eat peanuts - so please no nuts. Seriously? Then bring your own food. First off, most places have that sign up, that allergen warning. That clears their ass in case you DO die. Second, a lot of places just won't go out of their way. LARGE volume joints don't have the time or space typically. People that will go out of their way for you - be nice to. It takes time. Sanitize the entire area especially for you, make sure nothing touches anything else, basically baby your dish specifically through production - taking extra time AND taking their time and energy away from everyone else's food. Think about it. Be courteous if you DO bring allergies to a food joint. If you have BAD allergies, just bring your own food. Sure, look at menus, talk to the people, maybe you can get something - but dear lord don't count on it. Also keep in mind the farther into Middle of Nowhere territory you go, the less they are able to accomodate your allergies.
Tip 9 - Tag shock. We all get it - 'A shirt is HOW much?' Again - remember where you are and why you're there. Vacation to some kind of middle-of-nowhere. Think about how far you drove to get there and how far they have to ship ANYTHING from clothes to wine to food. Yes, your soda is 75 cents back home, they don't have to pay for shipment off the normal route. Even ski resorts - just because they're not OUT there doesn't mean they're not OUT there. Up this mountain off that side road is NOT on ANYONE's normal route, I can assure you. Again - the farther out into Nowhere territory you go, prices go up. Realize, then get over. Our most spendy item is halibut - because it costs more to get it here. Our burgers are more spendy than anywhere else, because the price of BEEF in ALASKA is high - it makes sense.
Tip 10 - Vacation or trip are not code words for brainless. I know people are smarter than they let on, but they think that it's Disneyland and everything is supposed to cater to them so they leave their valubles and their brain at home. Unacceptable people. Almost all of the above qualifies as "just think about it" if only you would kindly take your brains with you next time you leave the house.
Ten tips. A good start. Keep in mind tips is all this is. Just things to think about. If you opt to not follow my advice a little or at all that's perfectly fine too. There's more to be said on the subject I'm sure, and maybe I'll add to the list at a later date.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Over a Month!
I hadn't even realized it's been that long, folks! Boy howdy, over a month. Things settle so fast into the day-to-day scene. There isn't much that happened all through June. Not in Chicken. The entire cast and crew have been here all month and truly, I've never dealt with so few people! I have one co-worker, technically. Chris. In the giftshop there are five, one lady who owns her own space upstairs, the twin 4 year olds, the boss man, the big boss owner, the five at the mine. I think that's it. Almost all the personalities have been figured out. And basically everywhere you go you meet the same personalities, so noting real new to report there, other than the girl who avoids me. I don't know why but I also find I don't really care. She's nice enough - just doesn't seem to enjoy my company. Eh.
The tourists have been slow this year. Today is the last big rush and it's even dead-er than usual. It was supposed to be big because it's the fourth, and all the miners from miles around come in for the big picnic and miner-meeting. Well, picnic means no one needs little ol' me in the food trailer. There is only one toursist truck in the parking lot right now.
Puppies were born. Alaskan huskies. One is theoretically going to be mini. Quite unintentional. They're born to dog sledders, so of course they didn't do it on purpose if they could. Just the runt... I want her. She's scrappy and adorable - goign to be a tan colour with a white streak on her forehead. She's called Thimble right now. But, alas, I know better. I don't need kids at this point in my life. I've been having puppy fever bad lately and with this one, Chris was even going to let me have her! Sadly, reality crashed in on me anyways. Having our van in the lower 48 is going to hinder us as much as it frees us. A dog would be so good for Chris and I, but at the same time would hinder us greatly. Maybe in a year or two. Hopefully. It's too bad though. They were going to give her to us free.
The cart is running at a loss. Most days I don't even make my own salary - I can tell when I close out my till. The funny part to me is that they would loose LESS money by shutting us down two or three days in the middle of the week, but they wont. Shutting us down on our two or three slowest days (Tues/Wed, Wed/Thurs or Tues/Wed/Thurs) would mean not using electric or propane OR having to pay our manhours for two to three days. In man-hours alone, that'd save 450 for two days - and when those days we're LUCKY to reach 200 in sales it seems obvious to me. But they wont. They keep us open when we tell them it's pointless. Granted, we don't fight to hard - we're hourly, not commision. I'll dink around all day waiting for that one last guest at 12 an hour. Sure.
We get a vacation week after next. Last month I had three days off - total. We take one day off each every 7 to 10 days. It's working, and we're not burning out in a hardcore way... But burnout can be subtle too. Dead days day after day, not exploring where you're at... It can get depressing. I don't see the point in coming to work. There are too few customers to really CARE. It's not good. The three-day vacation will be good. We're going down to Valdeze together and I'm very excited. Chris is planning it out and a few of the things he's told me I already feel like I'm going to get spoiled.
The little valley of Chicken is currently surrounded by forest fires. Seven in a 50 mile radius, generally AROUND us. sometimes you can see the smoke rise up and haze out. Last week when it was REAL hot up here Chris and I sat on a picnic table and saw all seven plumes. It was kind of freaky. Today it looks hazy and smells like a campfire outside. Just to generally walk around you feel like your in a campsite. But you can't see any fire. They're still somehow too far away for that, beyond a ridge or something. It sure smells tho.
I've started reading Dean Koontz. I always thought they were scary because they were lumped in with Stephen King. Not so, I've realized. I'm on my second book and I quite like it. Chris convinced me to try them. Both books he's reccomended have been good. :)
So you're caught up. That's my June. Happy July. The fourth is here. No fireworks in the Land of the Midnight Sun of course. I will try to update more frequently. Since we almost got fired I think things could get more itneresting soon.
The tourists have been slow this year. Today is the last big rush and it's even dead-er than usual. It was supposed to be big because it's the fourth, and all the miners from miles around come in for the big picnic and miner-meeting. Well, picnic means no one needs little ol' me in the food trailer. There is only one toursist truck in the parking lot right now.
Puppies were born. Alaskan huskies. One is theoretically going to be mini. Quite unintentional. They're born to dog sledders, so of course they didn't do it on purpose if they could. Just the runt... I want her. She's scrappy and adorable - goign to be a tan colour with a white streak on her forehead. She's called Thimble right now. But, alas, I know better. I don't need kids at this point in my life. I've been having puppy fever bad lately and with this one, Chris was even going to let me have her! Sadly, reality crashed in on me anyways. Having our van in the lower 48 is going to hinder us as much as it frees us. A dog would be so good for Chris and I, but at the same time would hinder us greatly. Maybe in a year or two. Hopefully. It's too bad though. They were going to give her to us free.
The cart is running at a loss. Most days I don't even make my own salary - I can tell when I close out my till. The funny part to me is that they would loose LESS money by shutting us down two or three days in the middle of the week, but they wont. Shutting us down on our two or three slowest days (Tues/Wed, Wed/Thurs or Tues/Wed/Thurs) would mean not using electric or propane OR having to pay our manhours for two to three days. In man-hours alone, that'd save 450 for two days - and when those days we're LUCKY to reach 200 in sales it seems obvious to me. But they wont. They keep us open when we tell them it's pointless. Granted, we don't fight to hard - we're hourly, not commision. I'll dink around all day waiting for that one last guest at 12 an hour. Sure.
We get a vacation week after next. Last month I had three days off - total. We take one day off each every 7 to 10 days. It's working, and we're not burning out in a hardcore way... But burnout can be subtle too. Dead days day after day, not exploring where you're at... It can get depressing. I don't see the point in coming to work. There are too few customers to really CARE. It's not good. The three-day vacation will be good. We're going down to Valdeze together and I'm very excited. Chris is planning it out and a few of the things he's told me I already feel like I'm going to get spoiled.
The little valley of Chicken is currently surrounded by forest fires. Seven in a 50 mile radius, generally AROUND us. sometimes you can see the smoke rise up and haze out. Last week when it was REAL hot up here Chris and I sat on a picnic table and saw all seven plumes. It was kind of freaky. Today it looks hazy and smells like a campfire outside. Just to generally walk around you feel like your in a campsite. But you can't see any fire. They're still somehow too far away for that, beyond a ridge or something. It sure smells tho.
I've started reading Dean Koontz. I always thought they were scary because they were lumped in with Stephen King. Not so, I've realized. I'm on my second book and I quite like it. Chris convinced me to try them. Both books he's reccomended have been good. :)
So you're caught up. That's my June. Happy July. The fourth is here. No fireworks in the Land of the Midnight Sun of course. I will try to update more frequently. Since we almost got fired I think things could get more itneresting soon.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Hunting!
Real quick - to follow up the Spring post, where spring has decided not to show up...
The next day after posting that (today I suppose), we woke up to 29, and within four hours it was up to 33 degrees. On it's way up, it maxed out at 55 and a lot of snow melted. The hoses thawed, we even got water back after lunch! Just like that -*snap*- the clouds were gone this morning and it's been bright (really really bright) and clear. It was warm enough that I even ran around in a T-shirt without a jacket most of the day!
So. I went hunting for the first time today. 1.5 hour trip. Took the Ranger (known to me as a mule from my days in Yellowstone) up to the airport strip. Yes, Chicken, Alaska has an air field. Typically for flying in THINGS not people or life-flighting people out. Also for the mail. Lining both sides of the air strip are long relatively skinny lakes, upon which were many duck. An owl. A beaver (well in a lake). And many small birds of air and water kind.
I went with a girl here, Rebecca, and her puppy Charlie. Charlie is a natural retriever. Kind of a dark-chocolate lab. Took to bringing the bird back like fish to water. When Rebecca fired that shotgun, my ears RANG. Charlie shook. The shotgun was not a happy cooperating participant. It was hard to pump, often times getting stuck, so was hard to fire with any kind of speed, so mostly it was a one shot run then wait for the birds to settle.
We (Rebecca - I didn't shoot) actually hit three birds. Only retrieved one. The other two were WAY far in the water. I personally suspect the beaver stole one of them. We only brought back to Chicken one. Bummer. Even more a bummer - it wasn't a duck. It was, unfortunately, a very small water bird that was not worth shooting, truly. But it was an adventure, tromping around through the boggy areas and snow. I got snow in my boots and mud all over my boots. I think I have a blister because I tied my boots down like tennis-shoes and not up tight like proper boots (didn't know we were going out at the time!). So worth it. All the work is basically done. I can take tomorrow easy. Paper work, to re-coup the feet. It was very exciting.
First hunting trip.
First trip in that kind of vehicle.
And eventually - I'm going to shoot the gun!
Or. A gun. Maybe not THAT gun.
So that's all for now. Signing off!
The next day after posting that (today I suppose), we woke up to 29, and within four hours it was up to 33 degrees. On it's way up, it maxed out at 55 and a lot of snow melted. The hoses thawed, we even got water back after lunch! Just like that -*snap*- the clouds were gone this morning and it's been bright (really really bright) and clear. It was warm enough that I even ran around in a T-shirt without a jacket most of the day!
So. I went hunting for the first time today. 1.5 hour trip. Took the Ranger (known to me as a mule from my days in Yellowstone) up to the airport strip. Yes, Chicken, Alaska has an air field. Typically for flying in THINGS not people or life-flighting people out. Also for the mail. Lining both sides of the air strip are long relatively skinny lakes, upon which were many duck. An owl. A beaver (well in a lake). And many small birds of air and water kind.
I went with a girl here, Rebecca, and her puppy Charlie. Charlie is a natural retriever. Kind of a dark-chocolate lab. Took to bringing the bird back like fish to water. When Rebecca fired that shotgun, my ears RANG. Charlie shook. The shotgun was not a happy cooperating participant. It was hard to pump, often times getting stuck, so was hard to fire with any kind of speed, so mostly it was a one shot run then wait for the birds to settle.
We (Rebecca - I didn't shoot) actually hit three birds. Only retrieved one. The other two were WAY far in the water. I personally suspect the beaver stole one of them. We only brought back to Chicken one. Bummer. Even more a bummer - it wasn't a duck. It was, unfortunately, a very small water bird that was not worth shooting, truly. But it was an adventure, tromping around through the boggy areas and snow. I got snow in my boots and mud all over my boots. I think I have a blister because I tied my boots down like tennis-shoes and not up tight like proper boots (didn't know we were going out at the time!). So worth it. All the work is basically done. I can take tomorrow easy. Paper work, to re-coup the feet. It was very exciting.
First hunting trip.
First trip in that kind of vehicle.
And eventually - I'm going to shoot the gun!
Or. A gun. Maybe not THAT gun.
So that's all for now. Signing off!
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Spring is in the Air
Day before yesterday, it was about 65 degrees. A bit chilly, but warm enough most of us were running about without jackets or hoodies for the first time since I arrived. Spring, it looked like, finally - belatedly - was going to bloom.
Yesterday it started to snow. We went through a couple times when the generator shut down for whatever reason. It was... foreboding, but it stopped around seven oclock (dinner time, here). All in all it had snowed around 4 to 5 inches, but in most places only 1 to 3 inches stuck. Very few areas had all four or five inches stacked up to bear testament to the days work.
This morning, I woke up cold. The generator had gone out again. When I got up to make breakfast, Jeff (the only other guy here at the time as Nate lives in Eagle and everyone else was in Tok) said the generator had just run out of fuel. Not such a huge deal. Well, it took Nate and Jeff a good 15 minutes longer than they thought it would, but we got power back, regardless. It has already gone out on us once again today. On the up side - it hasn't be falling. No snow, no rain, nothing. It has also warmed up four degrees since breakfast (breakfast at 8:30 our time).
It's now 30 degrees.
We woke up to a 26 degree morning. Not cool, man. Does not bode so well for a spring. Everyone is now grumbling that it is a cold late spring beyond what they've seen in simply years. No one is pleased. All the running water we had yesterday has frozen, so we're back to buckets from the creek. The creek itself is starting to re-freeze. Ruby is going home - she can't do any real cleaning with ice-cold creek water. Can, technically, but wont. I came in from the trailer. Can, technically, clean with ice-cold creek water, to sanitize. Wont. And beside - I can't clean the dirty dishes with ice-cold water! That would do nothing to cut grease. I'm going to mend and clean and so forth in side. Basically take the day off from the trailer and just cook the crew meals. Ruby said she's noticed all the guys (Thor and Shane returned - Shane brought his girlfriend who will be working out at camp as the camp cook) looked like they were feeling as we are. It's just a miserable discouraging day. Too cold to want to do anything. To cold to efficiently do much. Just not worth it.
So that's the beginning of my spring so far. The ground is still mostly thawed - the roads all muddy. It's the pipes and fingers and tools that are all frozen. (We're worried that a pipe may crack from the frozen water. Could be issues when the thaw finally arrives.)
Speculation and hope is that it will warm back up within the week. Two to three days, they keep saying. I keep looking at the horizon the clouds keep coming in from and seeing nothing but a thick grey layer.
So much for spring.
Yesterday it started to snow. We went through a couple times when the generator shut down for whatever reason. It was... foreboding, but it stopped around seven oclock (dinner time, here). All in all it had snowed around 4 to 5 inches, but in most places only 1 to 3 inches stuck. Very few areas had all four or five inches stacked up to bear testament to the days work.
This morning, I woke up cold. The generator had gone out again. When I got up to make breakfast, Jeff (the only other guy here at the time as Nate lives in Eagle and everyone else was in Tok) said the generator had just run out of fuel. Not such a huge deal. Well, it took Nate and Jeff a good 15 minutes longer than they thought it would, but we got power back, regardless. It has already gone out on us once again today. On the up side - it hasn't be falling. No snow, no rain, nothing. It has also warmed up four degrees since breakfast (breakfast at 8:30 our time).
It's now 30 degrees.
We woke up to a 26 degree morning. Not cool, man. Does not bode so well for a spring. Everyone is now grumbling that it is a cold late spring beyond what they've seen in simply years. No one is pleased. All the running water we had yesterday has frozen, so we're back to buckets from the creek. The creek itself is starting to re-freeze. Ruby is going home - she can't do any real cleaning with ice-cold creek water. Can, technically, but wont. I came in from the trailer. Can, technically, clean with ice-cold creek water, to sanitize. Wont. And beside - I can't clean the dirty dishes with ice-cold water! That would do nothing to cut grease. I'm going to mend and clean and so forth in side. Basically take the day off from the trailer and just cook the crew meals. Ruby said she's noticed all the guys (Thor and Shane returned - Shane brought his girlfriend who will be working out at camp as the camp cook) looked like they were feeling as we are. It's just a miserable discouraging day. Too cold to want to do anything. To cold to efficiently do much. Just not worth it.
So that's the beginning of my spring so far. The ground is still mostly thawed - the roads all muddy. It's the pipes and fingers and tools that are all frozen. (We're worried that a pipe may crack from the frozen water. Could be issues when the thaw finally arrives.)
Speculation and hope is that it will warm back up within the week. Two to three days, they keep saying. I keep looking at the horizon the clouds keep coming in from and seeing nothing but a thick grey layer.
So much for spring.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Frustrated in Chicken!
My fingers hurt from the cold, but at least they're getting warm again. My back and shoulders hurt from the bending and lifting. My brain hurts from trying to understand what the woman who ran the shop before me was thinking...
I just spent the last four hours in the freezer room. There are three big chest freezers and one half-sized chest freezer to organize and take inventory of. To say that nothing was organized and it was total chaos, would sound mean. Surely she had her own system? Surely even though I can't understand it, she knew what she was doing? No. No no no. Everything was everywhere. There were a few feeble attempts at organization, attempts so depressing they'd make the most chaotic person you know cry.
The worst part, to me, was all the junk that wasn't necessary for menu items last year, let alone that aren't necessary for menu items this year. I was told repeatedly that the biggest problem with her menu is that she wanted to do everything. It was simply too much. That being said, knowing the amount of space in the storage and in the diner, I literally cannot fathom what she used some of this stuff for. And - if she was using this stuff for her menu - why such odd packages? 8 oz bags of pre-shreddd mozzarella? Yes - those ARE the ridiculously small bags you find in the grocery stores that are too small for even your personal use. Those bags. In storage for a diner? Anyone? Yeah - I don't know either.
On top of that there were items everywhere. There is no way even she could have walked in (let alone after a winter of not working here!) and knew what all she had. Under these chicken strip bags, that look like they go to the bottom of the freezer? BREAD! But the frozen bread was over there, on top of all the french fry bags.... But wait - there are more french fry bags over there underneath the hamburgers! It's amazing. Stupefying, truly. And I can say that because I literally lost the ability to think and do my job properly. I became so amazingly frustrated that I had to shove everything back into whatever holes they would go into and leave. I packed up for the day, two hours early. Why? Because I truly couldn't take it any more. It was one of those moments when not even a normal ten minute "smoke break" would have been enough to regain my composure and my wits to continue my job. There were items in there with names written on them - they belonged to othe man I believe was her husband, and they didn't take it with them...
Moreover, the part, I think, that annoys me the most is that she now has her own cart. She should not be running a business. I can tell you plain, if I were my boss, I would never hire her back ever, should the chance arise. The way she treated the storage area, the condition she left the diner in shows her lack of respect for the business, for her boss, for the whole lot of it. If she was a woman of any capability, she would not run her own diner like that, if you know what I mean. Even in all this ranting, I feel I haven't conveyed the fullest extent of her inability.
Truly. I don't want to sound mean toward one person. I would be this mad at, this disapproving of, and this disdainful of anyone who kept their place of business like this. As a carpenter, my boss tells me all the time, it's all about the tools. I figure it's like that. A carpenter or mechanic or any of those kinds - you can tell the mechanic by his shop. His shop is in such utter disarray that even he does now know what he has or where it is, or so dirty that you can tell he only surface cleans and you're afraid to touch much of anything - you know something important about the mechanic. You can CERTAINLY tell a cook by their kitchen - or station if the kitchen is not theirs. The way she left her kitchen, the way she obviously kept it by the state of uncleanliness of some things tells a lot about the woman. If I get the chance, I will not meet her nor will I eat at her shop. I don't care to know the personality that goes with that sort of behavior and I don't want to feel pressured to eat her food when I know what her kitchen is likely to look like.
Rant oer. Thanks for listening.
On the up side, duck randomly appeared in the fridge today. Bronk said to be careful when using, it might still have a few feathers in there. But it was the meat, no carcass and no bones from waht I could tell, so at least the feathers will already be disconnected from the bird. That's to be dinner. Randomly appearing duck. There's enough random shit in the freezer that I hope to use some of it. Maybe a duck shepherd's pie?
I find it hilarious - I cooked and ate moose for the first time yesterday. Tonight I cook duck for the first time (third time eating it - yumm!). What I find so funny is that these things to me are exciting and exotic and to them these things are common place. You can't buy it - you hunt your moose and ta-da moose meat. But still it's so common up here. Everyone here finds moose.... commonplace. Except me. Anyway. Off to cook dinner.
Thanks for listening! :D
I just spent the last four hours in the freezer room. There are three big chest freezers and one half-sized chest freezer to organize and take inventory of. To say that nothing was organized and it was total chaos, would sound mean. Surely she had her own system? Surely even though I can't understand it, she knew what she was doing? No. No no no. Everything was everywhere. There were a few feeble attempts at organization, attempts so depressing they'd make the most chaotic person you know cry.
The worst part, to me, was all the junk that wasn't necessary for menu items last year, let alone that aren't necessary for menu items this year. I was told repeatedly that the biggest problem with her menu is that she wanted to do everything. It was simply too much. That being said, knowing the amount of space in the storage and in the diner, I literally cannot fathom what she used some of this stuff for. And - if she was using this stuff for her menu - why such odd packages? 8 oz bags of pre-shreddd mozzarella? Yes - those ARE the ridiculously small bags you find in the grocery stores that are too small for even your personal use. Those bags. In storage for a diner? Anyone? Yeah - I don't know either.
On top of that there were items everywhere. There is no way even she could have walked in (let alone after a winter of not working here!) and knew what all she had. Under these chicken strip bags, that look like they go to the bottom of the freezer? BREAD! But the frozen bread was over there, on top of all the french fry bags.... But wait - there are more french fry bags over there underneath the hamburgers! It's amazing. Stupefying, truly. And I can say that because I literally lost the ability to think and do my job properly. I became so amazingly frustrated that I had to shove everything back into whatever holes they would go into and leave. I packed up for the day, two hours early. Why? Because I truly couldn't take it any more. It was one of those moments when not even a normal ten minute "smoke break" would have been enough to regain my composure and my wits to continue my job. There were items in there with names written on them - they belonged to othe man I believe was her husband, and they didn't take it with them...
Moreover, the part, I think, that annoys me the most is that she now has her own cart. She should not be running a business. I can tell you plain, if I were my boss, I would never hire her back ever, should the chance arise. The way she treated the storage area, the condition she left the diner in shows her lack of respect for the business, for her boss, for the whole lot of it. If she was a woman of any capability, she would not run her own diner like that, if you know what I mean. Even in all this ranting, I feel I haven't conveyed the fullest extent of her inability.
Truly. I don't want to sound mean toward one person. I would be this mad at, this disapproving of, and this disdainful of anyone who kept their place of business like this. As a carpenter, my boss tells me all the time, it's all about the tools. I figure it's like that. A carpenter or mechanic or any of those kinds - you can tell the mechanic by his shop. His shop is in such utter disarray that even he does now know what he has or where it is, or so dirty that you can tell he only surface cleans and you're afraid to touch much of anything - you know something important about the mechanic. You can CERTAINLY tell a cook by their kitchen - or station if the kitchen is not theirs. The way she left her kitchen, the way she obviously kept it by the state of uncleanliness of some things tells a lot about the woman. If I get the chance, I will not meet her nor will I eat at her shop. I don't care to know the personality that goes with that sort of behavior and I don't want to feel pressured to eat her food when I know what her kitchen is likely to look like.
Rant oer. Thanks for listening.
On the up side, duck randomly appeared in the fridge today. Bronk said to be careful when using, it might still have a few feathers in there. But it was the meat, no carcass and no bones from waht I could tell, so at least the feathers will already be disconnected from the bird. That's to be dinner. Randomly appearing duck. There's enough random shit in the freezer that I hope to use some of it. Maybe a duck shepherd's pie?
I find it hilarious - I cooked and ate moose for the first time yesterday. Tonight I cook duck for the first time (third time eating it - yumm!). What I find so funny is that these things to me are exciting and exotic and to them these things are common place. You can't buy it - you hunt your moose and ta-da moose meat. But still it's so common up here. Everyone here finds moose.... commonplace. Except me. Anyway. Off to cook dinner.
Thanks for listening! :D
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Chicken
Today was the day! Finally, and with much finality, I drove up to Chicken. I was warned and warned and made quite efficiently nervous by the women at the gift shop and by Bronk himself to be cautious and take my time. I slid very little. There were really very few icy sections of road. Most of it was nice looking paved road. Some of it was dirt, some of it was gravel.
Mostly, it was incredible. The views you see as you go down this road make you quickly forget you're only 80 miles - or less on the road - from the nearest real town. Mostly, it's nothing but many and many rolling hills. Covered at the base with a layer of pure white snow with hundreds of bare trees that barely had a branch on them, the rolling hills looked like nothing so much to me as so many porcupines lying together for warmth waiting for the late-coming spring. In the distance, at times, you would catch sights of one long hill with more evergreens in patches huddled together, while in other places bare white snow. That reminded my too- caffeinated brain of the Luck Dragon from Never Ending Story - if only he were a dalmatian. I imagined him waiting out the winter up here at the top of the world....
The entire land looked like it was hibernating, just waiting to come back to life. The presence of little sparrows everywhere and the occasional bird that looked like a baby duck but couldn't have been assured one that spring was on the way. These birds, from driving, truly to me looked like baby ducks, but baby ducks to hang around solo on the road or on the side of the road. I saw 8 on the way up, and only three of them were in a group. And they didn't scare so easy. Didn't take to flight right away but rather seemed to prefer to waddle around. I have no clue what they were but I intend to ask.
Meanwhile, I have settled into the rooms Bronk has provided. The two rooms he is providing us with are small enough to need both. One is used for our bed, clothes, and general bedroom stuff. The other will be something of an "office" used as storage for the kitchen stuff we THOUGHT we'd need along with my craft stuff and our computers. I have the laptop in the bedroom (from which I am sending this) primarily for the music it provides. Since this was meant as a hotel room, mounted to the same wall as the door is on in front of the beds is a TV screen with a dvd player in it. It's a bit small for Chris, I'm sure, who has bad eyes, but I think it's cool.
Out my door, ten seconds to the right- down the wooden walkway/patio thing that rings the building - is the office. Both doors lock with the same key. Thirty seconds straight ahead of my door are the bathrooms/showers. I have made up a small shower bag out of a little bitty backpack style bag Chris gave me. Had I not left my shampoo and conditioner in Bronk's house they would be in the bag as well. It contains, also, tooth brushing stuff. Basically, other than hairbrush and deodorant, it holds the bathroom stuff. Thirty seconds to the right of my front door is the trailer we will be working.
It is literally a blue food trailer. No adornments, but none needed as there's a big sign saying "CAFE" above it. Right outside the order/pickup windows is a big covered patio where patio tables and chairs will be put for the guests. Beyond that, on the same wooden patio slab, is a building area where the buffet style crew meals will be put out, or it will be used as extra seating or in bad weather. I will have to clean up after guests who don't clean up after themselves, but largely I will not have to do any typical waitress-ing, which I am relieved about.
So that's our side of town! The town is, to my amusement, kind of segmented. The first section you come to belongs to a woman. She owns the whole "historic downtown" area. Bronk has the middle section, a little farther down. Up the hill, at the end, I'm told is another man's section. He owns everything up there. I find it amusing. While everything within each section is well within walking distance, each section is not truly within walking distance from the other section. Everything here is dirt road, so it's apparently always either muddy or dusty, with very little in between.
Welcome to Chicken, friend! :D
Mostly, it was incredible. The views you see as you go down this road make you quickly forget you're only 80 miles - or less on the road - from the nearest real town. Mostly, it's nothing but many and many rolling hills. Covered at the base with a layer of pure white snow with hundreds of bare trees that barely had a branch on them, the rolling hills looked like nothing so much to me as so many porcupines lying together for warmth waiting for the late-coming spring. In the distance, at times, you would catch sights of one long hill with more evergreens in patches huddled together, while in other places bare white snow. That reminded my too- caffeinated brain of the Luck Dragon from Never Ending Story - if only he were a dalmatian. I imagined him waiting out the winter up here at the top of the world....
The entire land looked like it was hibernating, just waiting to come back to life. The presence of little sparrows everywhere and the occasional bird that looked like a baby duck but couldn't have been assured one that spring was on the way. These birds, from driving, truly to me looked like baby ducks, but baby ducks to hang around solo on the road or on the side of the road. I saw 8 on the way up, and only three of them were in a group. And they didn't scare so easy. Didn't take to flight right away but rather seemed to prefer to waddle around. I have no clue what they were but I intend to ask.
Meanwhile, I have settled into the rooms Bronk has provided. The two rooms he is providing us with are small enough to need both. One is used for our bed, clothes, and general bedroom stuff. The other will be something of an "office" used as storage for the kitchen stuff we THOUGHT we'd need along with my craft stuff and our computers. I have the laptop in the bedroom (from which I am sending this) primarily for the music it provides. Since this was meant as a hotel room, mounted to the same wall as the door is on in front of the beds is a TV screen with a dvd player in it. It's a bit small for Chris, I'm sure, who has bad eyes, but I think it's cool.
Out my door, ten seconds to the right- down the wooden walkway/patio thing that rings the building - is the office. Both doors lock with the same key. Thirty seconds straight ahead of my door are the bathrooms/showers. I have made up a small shower bag out of a little bitty backpack style bag Chris gave me. Had I not left my shampoo and conditioner in Bronk's house they would be in the bag as well. It contains, also, tooth brushing stuff. Basically, other than hairbrush and deodorant, it holds the bathroom stuff. Thirty seconds to the right of my front door is the trailer we will be working.
It is literally a blue food trailer. No adornments, but none needed as there's a big sign saying "CAFE" above it. Right outside the order/pickup windows is a big covered patio where patio tables and chairs will be put for the guests. Beyond that, on the same wooden patio slab, is a building area where the buffet style crew meals will be put out, or it will be used as extra seating or in bad weather. I will have to clean up after guests who don't clean up after themselves, but largely I will not have to do any typical waitress-ing, which I am relieved about.
So that's our side of town! The town is, to my amusement, kind of segmented. The first section you come to belongs to a woman. She owns the whole "historic downtown" area. Bronk has the middle section, a little farther down. Up the hill, at the end, I'm told is another man's section. He owns everything up there. I find it amusing. While everything within each section is well within walking distance, each section is not truly within walking distance from the other section. Everything here is dirt road, so it's apparently always either muddy or dusty, with very little in between.
Welcome to Chicken, friend! :D
Monday, May 13, 2013
Tok
I’m sitting here in the guest room in Bronk’s appartment. Bronk is my boss, the owner of Chicken’s Café. Apparently it’s standard behavior for him to let people stay the night. I've been here two nights now, but hopefully I'm up to Chicken today to get settled in.
When I roadtrip alone, I have a tendency to just drive straight through. I’m not going to stop and walk around in an area that could have any number of animals by myself. I dislike stopping in bigger cities because I have a tendency to get lost. Really I need to stop only to refule myself or my car and to relieve myself. Truly, that doesn’t add up to stopping very often. As such, I made better time than Bronk, or just about anyone else, thought I would…
I’m sitting here instead of in my new bedroom or living room because I made better time than I was supposed to. There’s currently no running water at Bronk’s properties in Chicken. Because they don't simply use well water like I am used to, it's a bit more complex than I thought. They use surface water and a filtration setup. There will be running water - when it's feasible. Perhaps tomorrow, more likely next week. It's been a cold late spring so the rivers have not thawed properly. So many being still frozen over has kept progress back quite a ways. Bronk has told me that there is a thawed creek, however, so I do have a source of water - it's just going to be a touch difficult. Electricity and the rest they have, I'm assured. They are also a tad unsure what to do for my living situation. I think it’s been fixed, but if it doesn’t work out they have a backup plan so that’s good. The way it’s been phrased to me is we will get two of the “back rooms”… I have reason to suspect we will be connected to the kitchen of the café we’ll be cooking at. Talk about a short commute! Though I am unsure how it's to be laid out and look, I am assured we will be using the cafe kitchen as our own personal kitchen as well as using it for the business. It'll be interesting.
We will be doing a comparably small volume of people. Typically, I’m used to the hundreds-of-people style tourism. This is more along the lines of 50 to 100 a day. I am sure when we get those rushes of EVERYONE wants lunch at the same time it will seem like high volume, and I do not think for an instant this summer will be without it's challenges. However, for the most part - a smaller volume than Chris and I initially conceived...It will be a good example to see how well Chris and I will work together. Hopefully we’ll be a dynamic team seeing as how we plan to buy our own food cart within five years and have our own joint to travel with.
Bronk has explained to me the different types of people up there. Trying to brace me for some of the rougher people. He has assured me I need not take crap from anyone. We reserve the right to refuse service, and if someone is harassing me, he says to not only turn them away but to tell him about it. He keeps using the previous cook as an example, how she was so rough-and-tough and didn't take shit. I think after our brief time together, I look and sound like some young, sweet and innocent, can't handle all the bad stuff kind of person. I think he'll be surprised. Not only can I handle them, but I can wiggle around and make them work to my advantage. I have no fear in that matter.
Meanwhile, his descriptions have been interesting. Talking about the dredgers and hard-core guys who CAN get super grumpy and pissy if they're having a bad year. Not enough gold coming up, they get all pissed off and take it out on those around them. Then you have the Porch Miners, as he calls them. Or the Too Miners. They sit on the porch all day and whine - it's too hot, it's too cold, the water is too high, the water is too low - instead of going out there and mining. He says he still tolerates the porch miners because since they don't mine, they sit on the porch and spend a lot of their money at our establishments. Then, of course, you get the tourists who go to gold pan. Tourists are easy for me to handle. He says for the miners that they're a lot like backwoods ranchers. Well, I've dealt with all kinds, and even though miners are new I don't think their personalities are as new to me as I feared.
So yes, that's the word. Heading up to Chicken today. VERY excited. Going to stop by the grocery store and pick up some food before heading up so I have some basics to cook with. Still have the charcoal briquettes for the bbq and matches if I want to grill. Lets do this!
When I roadtrip alone, I have a tendency to just drive straight through. I’m not going to stop and walk around in an area that could have any number of animals by myself. I dislike stopping in bigger cities because I have a tendency to get lost. Really I need to stop only to refule myself or my car and to relieve myself. Truly, that doesn’t add up to stopping very often. As such, I made better time than Bronk, or just about anyone else, thought I would…
I’m sitting here instead of in my new bedroom or living room because I made better time than I was supposed to. There’s currently no running water at Bronk’s properties in Chicken. Because they don't simply use well water like I am used to, it's a bit more complex than I thought. They use surface water and a filtration setup. There will be running water - when it's feasible. Perhaps tomorrow, more likely next week. It's been a cold late spring so the rivers have not thawed properly. So many being still frozen over has kept progress back quite a ways. Bronk has told me that there is a thawed creek, however, so I do have a source of water - it's just going to be a touch difficult. Electricity and the rest they have, I'm assured. They are also a tad unsure what to do for my living situation. I think it’s been fixed, but if it doesn’t work out they have a backup plan so that’s good. The way it’s been phrased to me is we will get two of the “back rooms”… I have reason to suspect we will be connected to the kitchen of the café we’ll be cooking at. Talk about a short commute! Though I am unsure how it's to be laid out and look, I am assured we will be using the cafe kitchen as our own personal kitchen as well as using it for the business. It'll be interesting.
We will be doing a comparably small volume of people. Typically, I’m used to the hundreds-of-people style tourism. This is more along the lines of 50 to 100 a day. I am sure when we get those rushes of EVERYONE wants lunch at the same time it will seem like high volume, and I do not think for an instant this summer will be without it's challenges. However, for the most part - a smaller volume than Chris and I initially conceived...It will be a good example to see how well Chris and I will work together. Hopefully we’ll be a dynamic team seeing as how we plan to buy our own food cart within five years and have our own joint to travel with.
Bronk has explained to me the different types of people up there. Trying to brace me for some of the rougher people. He has assured me I need not take crap from anyone. We reserve the right to refuse service, and if someone is harassing me, he says to not only turn them away but to tell him about it. He keeps using the previous cook as an example, how she was so rough-and-tough and didn't take shit. I think after our brief time together, I look and sound like some young, sweet and innocent, can't handle all the bad stuff kind of person. I think he'll be surprised. Not only can I handle them, but I can wiggle around and make them work to my advantage. I have no fear in that matter.
Meanwhile, his descriptions have been interesting. Talking about the dredgers and hard-core guys who CAN get super grumpy and pissy if they're having a bad year. Not enough gold coming up, they get all pissed off and take it out on those around them. Then you have the Porch Miners, as he calls them. Or the Too Miners. They sit on the porch all day and whine - it's too hot, it's too cold, the water is too high, the water is too low - instead of going out there and mining. He says he still tolerates the porch miners because since they don't mine, they sit on the porch and spend a lot of their money at our establishments. Then, of course, you get the tourists who go to gold pan. Tourists are easy for me to handle. He says for the miners that they're a lot like backwoods ranchers. Well, I've dealt with all kinds, and even though miners are new I don't think their personalities are as new to me as I feared.
So yes, that's the word. Heading up to Chicken today. VERY excited. Going to stop by the grocery store and pick up some food before heading up so I have some basics to cook with. Still have the charcoal briquettes for the bbq and matches if I want to grill. Lets do this!
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