North To Alaska

Just a quick post to brag. Anthony got his first quarter report card back and he is on the Honor Roll! Three A’s and two B+’s. We’re VERY proud!

Finally got a second to try and string a couple of thoughts together. That doesn’t mean they will be coherent thoughts though.

We’ve completed the heating systems for the cars. Only thing left for winterization is new tires for Denise’s car. Probably a couple weeks out on that yet. The heating part is pretty cool – an engine block heater that takes the place of a freeze plug, an oil pan warmer and a transmission warmer, both of which are pads that are silicone’d to the respective area. The three of these go into a 3 plug extension that tied to, and hangs out of, the front of the car. They also change out the coolant and replace it with fluid good to -50. I’ve heard that if try to lower the temp resistance to more than -50, it inhibits your heaters ability to heat. I don’t like that idea.

We’ve had the cars plugged in a couple of nights now. Most folks plug them in when it will be in the single digits, however, it’s proven to be better on your rigs if you plug them in when it’s below 20, so we’ve just been plugging them in when we are in for the evening.

We had some snow yesterday or the day before. It didn’t melt, but most of it kind of blew away. It is so light and dry, that all I had to do was turn on the wiper and the snow dusted off. No streaks, no sign of moisture at all. We have a few days coming up that will be 32-35 for the high, but for the most part, we will be below freezing for the next 10-15 days. The lows look to stay above single digits, so it will stil be nice out side. I don’t know about Denise and Anthony, but i noticed a little difference when it got down below 10 – especially if I was wearing thin slacks. o_O
Snow should be falling over the next 2-3 days too. Should be a beautiful week!

Well, I think thats all the news that’s news for now. Y’all take care!

Well, I’ve finally got a chance to breath a bit and thought I would write and update a little. The weather here is staying nice to everyone’s amazement. They say it is not normally like this. The temperature is expected to drop in the next week pretty drastically though. My car is now “weatherized” now so if the temps dip down too low I can plug my car in and have it start for me in the morning. Our landlord’s brother is a mechanic and it was nice to get a referral when you don’t know where to start. I told Anthony we were getting the car fixed and he said, “Oh, our car will have a tongue.” Many of the cars up here have the plug sticking out of the grill of the car and it looks like a tongue hanging out. Our plug tucks nicely into a ledge on one side of the license plate though so it is more sophisticated. 
Anyway, I’ve been hard at work trying to learn my new job. Last week I spent time training with the girl whose place I took. Today was my first day without her but I had lots of help from my boss and others so it went ok. I have a lot to learn but I REALLY like my boss and the people who work there and the office is beautiful and it always smells like coffee.  I take coffee orders from our clients which are mostly the coffee huts and businesses in Fairbanks and North Pole. (There are coffee huts everywhere here! I guess because people want to drive though when it’s cold and not get out of their cars.) We roast and flavor coffees shipped in from all over. (We also supply bulk and retail coffee to the Superstores up here like Wal-Mart and Fred Meyer.) I handle the accounts receivable right now and as soon as that is organized and running smoothly I’ll be adding the other pieces (A/P, payroll, and the rest of the bookkeeping responsibilities.) The business is small consisting of a service technician who’s been trained to work on the espresso machines and other things and a delivery guy and a couple of part-time roasters and packaging people. Today, Tom, my boss said we were going to have an office meeting Wednesday morning and he’s asked his dad to come in and make us waffles (apparently his dad really likes to cook and bake.) And, Janet, Tom’s wife brought lunch in for all of us today. Steve says he wants to quit his job and come work with me. 

I guess some of you may already know my last bit of news but, if not, it is my delight to inform you that I’m going to be a grandma again! Jessie and Mark are expecting another baby and I couldn’t help myself; I just had to announce it.  We are so excited!

Well, better leave it there for now. Thanks for checking in on us. We love and miss you! Denise

Hi I’m Anthony and this is my blog. I like it in Alaska. I like it that it’s cooler up here but I don’t think I will swim much here. I miss California and all of my friends and family but I’m still making a few friends up here. Last Friday when I got home from school I had to get ready for a camp for Royal Rangers. We brought firewood when we got there and the next day more kids came and we practiced shooting bb guns and air soft guns; it was very fun. I like my school because it is new and different. I take the bus to school every day. I’m looking forward to more snow.

It’s been a LONG week. Both here and down in Sacramento.

Our family said our last good-bye’s to Grandpa Thursday. It sounds like it was a very nice time remembering him.

Here, we’ve been busier than a one armed paper hanger in a windstorm it seems…
We were at friends houses both Monday and Tuesday nights, church Wednesday night and then trying to catch up with work stuff Thursday night. Last night Anthony went on a Royal Ranger camp-out and we finished unloading a bed that our new friends at church (the associate/youth pastors Chris and Jeannie) gave us for Anthony. He’s going to love it.

This last week was also the week of the perfect storm for Denise in her looking for work. She had interviews at 3 different places and all three offered her a job and all were the same money. Benefits were the deciding factor and since I have great insurance, she took the one that seemed like the best fit with the most flexibility. She’s working her North Pole Coffee Roasting Co. as the office administrator. I can’t wait for the samples to start flowing in…

I’m enjoying work a lot, but amazed at the lack of urgency and customer service concerns. Again, I think it is the “Alaska time” thing – they are just a WHOLE lot more laid back than I’m used to.

Well, that’s it for now. More to come I’m sure….

To see some more recent pictures, click here