The S.F. Giants just finished "sweeping" the first place in Division L.A. Dodgers. 1.5 games out of the #1 spot now. 4-0 today's game. Today Los Angeles, tomorrow The World! Nah, it's just Colorado.
There's an old quote about Warfare: "Long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror." The same can be/should be said about any work on the water or catching/processing fish. One minute you're laying around in your rack laughing yourself silly over something Tom Robbins wrote and the next minute you're working 20 hour days for three weeks straight and being a combination of punch-drunk, silly and grouchy.
We'll deal with punch-drunk first: Staying awake for 20 hours, with three .5 hour breaks to eat mixed in there somewhere, sleeping 3.5 hours per night, will make you crazy after a couple of weeks. Twilight Zone kinda' crazy. "A signpost up ahead...Nah, it's a fish with a machete." A guy has a hard time knowing whether he's awake or asleep sometimes. You know you're on Auto-Pilot and you don't care. It's all overtime after two days and that's GOOD. We like $1,000.00+ a week paychecks. More, if you have certifications and such. If you step off the boat with $20,000.00 at the end of the Tour, you get to go to REI or whatever, drop $2 G's on new gear, stay in a hotel, get laid with someone that isn't wearing Danger High Voltage Yellow Wet Gear and go hiking in Denali National Park for a month. After your "Land Legs" come back, which takes about a week. It's a couple of the reasons God invented Beer, Bar Girls and Hotels. There are lots of ways to blow your savings in Anchorage. The Alaska Rail System is as good as any other getaway car.
Secondly: Silly. Shit gets straight up nuts after staying awake for extended periods of time. Ask any truck driver. Ask any Soldier, Summer Resort Line Cook, Janitor or Jailer. Most accidents happen from lack of sleep, drunkenness, inattention to details or plain carelessness. Or, any combination thereof.
Thirdly: "Grouchy-ness" is usually its' own reward. Not only do the people you're around hate you but, as an extra, added attraction, you hate yourself. Nothing tastes good, there's never "enough" of anything and the Universe smells like somebody took a crap in its' mouth. Lucky for you, it's only YOUR mouth and it will pass after some Ipana or baking soda and a good brushing. Sleep? Even better.
And, when the money runs out: It's UNENJOYMENT and BONUS TIME! Yay! MORE MONEY!
"Hey, Man, you want to go to Hawai'i for the Winter?" "O.K., just let me have a couple cups of coffe, pack and we're outta' here." Those are, verbatim, the exchanged words on a January morning in 1993, after spending six months playing around and going between Homer, Ak. and everywhere else I could think of. The Talkeetna Bluegrass Festival was a high-point in the Summer. End of the first week in August, my Birthday Weekend. Look out, Frauleins, Musicians and Bears...Oh, My! Talkeetna is a great place to hang out. A staging place for Denali climbs and general festive debauchery. Hawai'i, did however, sound a whole lot better. Three days later, I was in Lahaina, Maui with a cold drink in my hand. Sort of. That's another story entirely.
Remember: "Things Go Better With...Wait For It: MONEY!" Fuck Coke. Both kinds. Old Coke and New Coke.
A Volcanic Eruption can and will brighten up your life, if you're waiting on a tent repair job in Anchorage. Mt. Spurr, across Cook Inlet from Anchorage, went up after the Talkeetna Affair. I tore a zipper on my North Face Tent sometime after the Festivities. I think I went up to get the tent fixed in late September. I remember that I caught First Snow coming back down the Kenai Peninsula. Thanks for Hotels, God. Stuck in Anchorage, eating Kentucky Fried Chicken and drinking Bourbon for most of three days. Playing "Drunk Chess" with the other guests while waiting for the ash to settle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_McKenna
<Oyster Stew Break Here>
Mmmm. "Fake" Oyster Stew. One can of Progresso "Loaded Baked Potato Soup," 8 oz. whole milk, "some" water, 1 can (8 oz.) Cove Oysters w/juice left in, celery, 1 whole Yellow Onion, two good sized potatoes, diced, green pepper, chunked, a couple Thai Bird chili's, seeded and flamed, diced, "some" black pepper, fresh Cilantro to taste and as much butter as you like. Heat until veggies get chewable and be careful not to cook too fast or you'll "break" the milk. Bread and butter, optional. Crackers in stew, mandatory. Oyster Crackers, even better.
O.K., so maybe this is best split into thirds. Or, simply "buried" right here and now. Tomorrow will tell. These Sea Stories develop a life of their own and skid off the road for no good reason sometimes.
And there are cocoanuts all over the Highway in Homer, Alaska,
-Doc
What I was listening to after the ball game:
It was either The Nelson Band or re-runs of Magnum, P.I.. The Nelson Band won, hands down. Yippee!
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