May 24, 2006

No new pictures as of today. Work today was fun - I got caught talking to one of the "old-timers" today - one of those guys who can't stop talking and telling you stories. It was amusing but after him talking to me for over an hour I was able to squeeze my way out of the conversation. :) Tomorrow I have a meeting with my boss and some coworkers to talk about getting a visual interface of some sort going for my project. Should be interesting!
I talked to a guy from Northwest today. We're thinking that some "Joe Schmoe" picked up my suitcase that was going on that Princess cruise that most of the people on my flight were going on. In that case, my luggage is on a cruise right now. I hope it enjoys itself and comes home soon. :P I have to go to the airport tomorrow to go file a claim. Fun times.
This weekend I'm going to Talkeetna and Denali with the roommates and neighbors. We're renting an RV! And we will probably be going rafting up there. I've never gone before so that should be fun! Luckily the costs aren't bad since there's 5 or 6 of us going. So definitely look for pictures after this weekend! :)
That is all for now. I'm watching American Idol right now - ten minutes until we find out who wins! GOOO TAYLOR!!!

May 23, 2006 - The Day of the Moose!

So today was finally the day! Not only did I see one moose, but TWO!! I rode my bike to work today, and on the way home right as I was getting on the trail, there was a large moose just hanging out eating!! (see first three pictures) I called Dad right away, before I even saw the second one! The 2nd one popped out of nowhere and was also grazing. The 2nd was only about 15 feet away from the trail! I rode past it quickly and then stopped to take a few pictures (which as you can see ended up a picture of the moose's backside ;) ) I was told not to have the flash on when taking pictures of moose. They get mad at people and charge them apparently. haha.
The roommates and neighbors and I are planning to go to Denali this coming weekend since we all have Memorial Day off. Denali is where Mt. McKinley is for those of you who didn't know. Should be nice and fun!
Jim mentioned possibly him and Carla coming down to Anchorage June 16th-18th to visit! Jim is my cousin who lives in Fairbanks. Fairbanks is about 7-8 hours from here. That will be awesome if they can come down then, and I eventually want to go up to Fairbanks also. Maybe catch some rays of that 90 degree weather! (yeah it gets hot in parts of Alaska! and VERY VERY cold in the winter too!)
Work today was interesting. It only took me 35 mins to bike to work. I thought it would be longer so I got there a bit after 7:30. My co-workers are SO much fun and very down to earth. We all went "out to lunch" today to a local hot dog stand. Apparently this one stand we went to is the best in town, haha. Because we all know how different hot dogs are. :-P In any case, my coworker Tom bought lunch for me which was super nice. They are all super welcoming. It feels like after a day with them that I've known them for months! I still don't have a project for work yet. They want to use me for my GIS skills while I'm there because none of them know how to do anything. That could be interesting. Hopefully I will live up to their expectations. At PSU I've always had "mentors" getting me through my GIS projects. Hopefully I'm ready to tackle what they're looking for. Today though, Steve and I got to make ethernet cables! (woohoo??) It was actually interesting making them for a bit. It's just one of those tedious jobs though. Much harder than it looks! It was nice though after staring at a computer all morning. Overall though I love my job mainly for the people.
So yes, today was the day of the moose. It made me happy and now I can happily be an Alaska.
By the way, I don't think I mentioned this, but Alaska smells AMAZING. I wish I could capture it in a bottle and bring it home. Well.. someone did have an idea of cutting down and branch and sending it home... it's a thought!
No news on the luggage yet. Tomorrow is day 5 so I can file a claim with the airport. Anne and/or Sue from work is going to take me to the airport either tomorrow or Thursday to do so. I just hope my bag comes back. Preferably before this weekend! I've surviving without it but it's an inconvience. Since you have all been sleeping for hours, I think it's about time for me to sleep also. :) Goodnight!

9:33pm ADT

May 20, 2006

So here I am! Yesterday was one hell of a day... probably one of the worst days I've ever had. One of my suitcases was lost and I was told it would be on a flight 8pm last night, but still no news on it or it's current placement. It needs to come very soon because not only does it have my "everyday needs", it has my work shirts! Lots of other crap happened yesterday, but I'd rather not relive it! I ended up being up 24 hours yesterday, until 1am ADT. (check it out we have our own timezone!)

As we neared Anchorage yesterday on the flight, mountains were just peeping out of the clouds. It was amazing. Just like it looks on Google Earth :) Coming off of the plane and seeing the mountains was INCREDIBLE. We're just surrounded by them. They look so big because we're at sea-level even though they're only about 3000 ft up. The bigger mtns and Mt McKinley are in Denali which is between here and Fairbanks. I'll get up there soon.

I have three roommates, one of which is from Bloomsburg, PA! She is somewhat familiar with Penn State so that's nice having someone who knows where you're from. Two of them are grad students (one is almost 26) and the other is also going to be a senior like me. They're all super nice so far. We have our own rooms but have to share a bathroom. (eek! 4 girls to a bathroom!)

IN any case, it's nice having people to wander around town with and to go hiking with.

I haven't been able to get my bike completely assembled yet -- the rear deraulier does not want to cooperate with me. Hopefully I will be able to get someone from the Arctic Bicycling Club to help me out with that tomorrow. It's hard to get around town without a bike or car. Or maybe I just have an awful sense of direction! (i wasn't kidding when i said i wanted a compass for Christmas!)

The roommates and I are went to the Moose's Tooth for dinner. It was yummy

More updates later. I start work Monday. Might go hiking tomorrow. Farewell friends!