Hazy Crazy Days of Summer

Ok, so this was the scene today at about 7:00 a.m.

If you download and zoom in on that photo you will see that you can barely see the mountains in the background. It's not pollution that is doing it, it's smoke.

As in from a fire.

Currently, Dillingham is surrounded by six forest fires. Exhibit A :

Click to expand.

The saving grace is the surrounding water, so we aren't completely boxed in. Also you have to keep in mind the scale. That image represents about 120 miles across, and probably 60 miles from top to bottom. It's not like Dillingham is in immediate danger, but we are close enough for smoke to waft our way.

It does, however, make one double-check one's location.

• Fire? Check.

• Earthquakes? Check.

• Floods? Check.

• Pestilence? Check.

If I didn't know better, I would say from that evidence alone I am in California.

The Latitude Attitude Adjustment

If you are moving to anywhere in the Alaskan Bush, even Dillingham, the best thing you can do is to leave your attitudes and expectations back in the lower 48. That may come off as snarky or preachy, but it really isn't. It's just good, ol' fashioned reality.

You will discover after you hit Dillingham everything - and I do mean EVERYTHING - runs on "ish" time. When you set a time to do something - ANYTHING - with anyone else it is meaningless. If you want something to start exactly at 5 p.m., you better tell everyone 3:30 p.m. Otherwise you will get people showing up at 5ish, which is to say anywhere between 5:45 p.m., and 7 p.m. It would be better and more accurate if you just said "Tuesday" or "Friday".

It also means when the power goes out, it goes out for a while. If the internet goes out (which it does from time to time), it can be out for 2 -3 days. Rain? Hope you like it in doses a week at a stretch.

It just means your life here will in no way, shape, or form resemble the one you are leaving behind in the lower 48. You may as well figure, unless you are willing to pay a LOT for the privilege, you are going to be stepping back in time about 5 - 10 years. No, the TVs are not cutting, bleeding edge here. No, you can't stream Netflix. No, you're not going to stream Amazon Prime either.

I guess I am trying to say that if you are whiner, don't move to Dillingham. Nobody here wants to hear it. Most of the time they have it far worse than you do. In short, before you come up here make sure you leave your attitude back home. Everyone will be better off for it, especially you.

Leaving On A Jet Plane

By now many of you have heard the news. Our Alaska adventure is coming to an end.

I have accepted a position with a start-up company in Chicago, Illinois and we will be reporting there to begin our Illinois adventure 06 JUL 2015. Needless to say, this is going to be quite the shift from Dillingham to Chicago.

Boy, will it ever be a shift.

You really don't know what quiet is until you hit Dillingham. You just think you know what quiet is. When you get up at 5 a.m. and the only sound anywhere in the town is the gentle thrum of the diesel generators, then you will know what quiet is.

I am not likely to see many moose, elk, reindeer, foxes, or porcupines there either. There are a lot of things I am going to miss about Dillingham, but too many people and too much noise are not among them.