Personal Thoughts

The last two nights have found me having trouble falling asleep. My brain just goes and goes and it's then that I should have gotten my lazy self out of bed and blogged. One of the first things that keeps me preoccupied is how much more relaxed and happy I am here than I have been for many months.

This could be for many reasons. One, Mike and I are together. Doing the math, it looks like between his job in Denali last year, his RV/truck delivering job, his time in India and on the Tiger Cruise...we've probably spent about 15% of the past year together. Not very much time at all. So, that's probably the first thing.

The next thing that it could be is that I don't think I realized what a toll working nights has put on my body and my attitude. There were so many things that I said "no" to that helped keep me disconnected from friends, family and activies I enjoy. It seemed as if I was either working, sleeping, or worrying about having had enough rest to work. Don't get me wrong, I loved the work I was doing as a hospice nurse and very much miss it!

On the other hand, you are affected by your associations. Here, it's working with people on vacation. There, it was working with dying people. That may or may not have taken its toll, too. But still, it's work I would like to return to.

Also, being away has a certain sense of out of sight, out of mind. I haven't spent much time worrying about finances or what to do with our house. Of course, it helps that Quick Books crashed and I just plain haven't looked much beyond looking at my online banking site! So I do know what our balances are and the bills are getting paid...but I'm not entering the debits on a daily basis and seeing the balance go down. Lauren has sent us the Quick Books disc, so it looks like that Fantasy Island dream of no worrying about finances will disappear this weekend.

So, that's the first thing that's keeping me awake...how relaxed and happy I am! And that's a very good thing.

The other thing that has come to mind is the general age of the people working seasonal work. There are two women, two men, Mike and I who appear to be the only ones over the age of 40 out of about 80 people. And of that small group, only one of them is in their 40's. The rest are all in their 20's or early 30's. This makes sense, because they haven't established lives with families and property...ie., rooted responsibilities.

As it is, even though we've empty nested, there are still some rooted responsibilities for us back in Arizona. These responsibilities always have the potential to bring us home sooner than expected if something goes awry there. So, that's in the background of our trains of thought....free, yet not entirely free.

So it's with that thought that I wish I'd done this sort of work when I was in my 20's. Knowing me, it probably wouldn't have been something I would have had the courage to do at that time. And that's what this part today is all about: Courage.

I think of the young people in my life at home and wish I could give them the push in the back, the leg up, the boost to go out and do something out of their comfort zone. Go out and travel somewhere else and work, go to school or live. Another thing to encourage would be to follow your passion, whatever it is...blah, blah, blah. You've heard that before. Nope. This time it's about living elsewhere VERY different...even short term....doing something different.

Whatever you expect, it probably won't be what is. What it will be is an insight into how other people think and live. It always goes back to not knowing what you don't know. And if you don't get out of your routine, you will never learn that. Ever. Reading about it isn't living it. It helps you know that you're not always right...that your way of thinking and living is only one way of thinking and living...not THE way to think and live. Insularity prohibits growth every time.

I applaud the young people here who have traveled far from family, friends, and significant others. There are times that they must be lonely. But the exposure to new ways of thinking will be with them the rest of their lives. The knowledge that they can do things beyond their routine will help give them courage in times when problems seem unsurmountable. One gentle young man told me that he's looking to become more outdoorsy! And I'm always for that!

Some are here to earn money for college. Some are here because the job market is slim in the fields they've newly graduated from in college. Some are here because a friend told them about it. Some are here because they've been recruited at schools with hospitality programs and are using it for a future resume.

So those are just some personal thoughts that have been keeping me up at night pondering and pondering. Now that they're written, perhaps I can get some sleep tonight!

So a little about our living quarters. The Westmark is a hotel that people actually stay in and we're in one wing of it. On our floor and the floor below are a kitchen, a common eating area (which no one seems to use) and a laundry room. It's free to use the washers and dryers. In other employee housing, there is also a living room with a television. On the one hand, it's nice to have our own t.v. and cable. On the other hand, we do miss out on getting to know each other except for passing while cooking, eating and working. I'm sure more socializing will evolve as time goes on.

I've been doing a little typing and organizing for my boss. She did Sales and Service a couple of years ago and has had several different positions with HAP-AY. But there's a new computer system for our job this year and the rest of S&S are all new people. It will be interesting. Our first official day of training is tomorrow.

Yesterday, Mike had his first experience with passengers in which he was the driver and not just a ride-along with a driver who'd worked Skagway before. He had a group from Taiwan who had their own travel guide/interpreter. It was the schmutziest day we've had here yet with low clouds, rain and snow making for serious white-out fog at the top of the pass.

But it's Mike. So, he stopped his bus at one photo stop. For many of them, it was the first time they'd ever been out when it was snowing on them...including one 70 year old man. So, what did he do? He had them build a little snowman...rubbed his bald head and the snowman's to show that they were the same. And then the photos really ramped up as they wanted photos with every configuration of their friends in it...with him...with the snowman. He told me two women in their 30's propositioned him and told him they were single several times. He was quite flattered. This kind of trip is one in which the tour guide gets the majority of tips and the bus driver, usually none. He made $45 in tips. I love my charming husband!

I've been trying to add a couple more photos...just to show a little more of what it looks like around here. But Blogger isn't allowing that link to function. Again, miss you all and would love to hear news of your lives. And yes, it IS as interesting to me as I hope some of this might be interesting to you at home.