That's the random name given to this picture. I downloaded a new app for my phone which allows me to manipulate photos. It seemed fun to go back and find a picture from the old Chronicles and play around. Here is a sunset over Mount Shavano from Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center in Salida, Colorado.
He inherited $1400 from his mother who lived in a house in a town in the cascades. He hadn't seen her in 5 years. His step-brother drove him there, along with his step-brother's friend, who he didn't know, to get the money and some of her things, to see where she lived, maybe who she was, by seeing who she was with at the time.
The Cascades, oh, the Cascades, where the rivers are like moving lakes. Oh, the cascades, the Cascades, where it's dark and wet, and you can disappear without a trace. Without a trace. Without a trace.
And on the way back, he bought his girlfriend a camera, bought his dad a knife and them dinner and a case of beer. And in the back, he waited in the car. They sat for hours in a bar, because he was underage. Then in the mountains, they pulled off on a Forest Service road, and dragged him from the car. They took all the money, his i.d.bracelet, and all of her things, and left him there. $1400. $1400. $1400.
Oh, the Cascades. Oh, the Cascades, where the rivers are like moving lakes. Oh, the Cascades, the Cascades, where it's always dark and wet with rain. Oh, the Cascades, the Cascades. Disappear without a trace. Without a trace. Without a trace.
Today, I have a serious project ahead of me. I'm going too unclog the head on the boat. I had to clean stuff up to make an easy path from the head to the outside, where I have a large bucket waiting so I can dump my $#!t appropriately. It's going to be interesting. At least Dash, The Dog, is waiting patiently.
This morning, I took time away from work to spend with The Girl as she packs and gets ready to leave for weeks doing her part with kids on a canoe adventure over on Prince of Wales Island. The program she's working with is designed to take troubled youth and teenagers. She loves it, and is gone most of the summer doing it. I'm actually excited for the time I'm going to have to get to know the boat, and to do stuff like play with my three-legged wonder dog.
Let me tell you all a story about electronic equipment and wireless providers that fail.
I have a Samsung Galaxy II. I love it. It's the means by which I update this blog, get in touch with family, etc. Small, thin, fast, bright, it's a great phone.
At least, it was. The swype started failing on it. I went in to GCI, and the customer service rep looked at it, played with it a little bit, and then downloaded updates for the apps I downloaded (totally unrelated), and told me that my phone was just fine, only I souls use a regular keyboard, not swype. Seriously? Basically, nothing changed.
I took it home, frustrated, and called tech support. I waited on hold for almost half an hour before I was told that the contract I've been paying for every month will cover it... with a $200 deductable.
So now the phone has a deteriorating condition. The voice command program just opens when it feels like it. It shuts off on a whim. It interrupts phone calls and basically just sucks.
I went in to GCI again, talked to the manager, who was preoccupied. He called my phone from his big iPad like device, and apparently, if my phone can receive that one call, it's all in my head.
Then, while still distracted, he hands me one of the brochures there in the store... for the tech support number... and the insurance claim info... with the $200 deductible.
Oh, how I miss T-mobile, where I would walk in and say, "hey, I have this problem with my phone," to which they would respond "oh, no! (with genuine concern) let's see what's up?" They'd dig, they'd make my phone do things that I'd never seen, and they'd either fix my problem or replace my phone. That's it. One visit, maybe half a hour invested. GCI, while I'm forced to continue using you for lack of better options, this has left a very bitter taste in my mouth.
I was nervous at first to be moving onto a sailboat with my dog. I didn't know if my dog was going to do alright with the close quarters, the jumping and climbing around, the docks, all that stuff.
First off, Ketchikan has very drastic tides. The average difference between high and low tides is something around 16 feet. That means when the tide is low, the ramps leading to the docks are very, very step. One half of any ramp here in town has these pseudo steps built in so you can climb them like stairs when it's steep.
The dog struggled at first. Some of the walkways are metal grates that you can see through. I image he was either scared or it was painful to walk on. But, with some gentle coaxing and bribery, the dog found his way.
Down the ramp and to the wooden walkways of the docks, he's now good to go off leash for the entire experience.
Getting into the boat was scary at first, too. He couldn't commit to taking that first step. It took him a couple of weeks to figure it out, but he got there.
Here he is on the dock just hanging out.
Tonight, Joey and I went with the theme of colors on the radio facsimile of the blog. I've been volunteering for KRBD for over a year now here in Ketchikan. I've never really had a set style of music that I've played, so it's really fun to see what other people bring to the table.
Tonight, we played an eclectic mix, stuff like Coldplay and The Old 97s, Incubus and Bon Iver, M83 and Jimi Hendrix, and all of the on air antics... it's awesome.
Always a good time on community radio, and KRBD is the best outlet for that sort of creativity that I've ever been a part of.
