10:34 a.m., received a ring from a desperate Rada.
She has scoured all of Alaska looking for a presentation box for a hardcover book on Siberia that is going to be given to Boris Yeltsin on Monday.
Wrapping will not do, and she has around a grand to blow. In-route to Norties she rang me to determine if I had any recommendations.
Think, think, think. Downtown Anchorage, corner of Third and K Street, there is a little nonassuming shop owned by a man with one of those craze white moustaches that you only see in the movies.
His name is Walter, and he has acquired from Col. Vaughan articles from Admiral Byrd's explorations. He also has a reasonable collection of Russian America-period artifacts...off chance that there may be something in her price range that will work.
Casmir comes by to advise that she has checked with the pool and would like to go swimming between 3:30-4:30 today. She leaves a large yellow note on my desk to remind me, before returning to her studies.
Next call, 11:02 a.m., Sara Nan needs me to to come down to the docks today to learn how to shoot the classic "congressman with a big fish" pose so that I can be second camera during the Alaska Sealife Center Invitational for the next three days.
11:15 a.m., Sara is deciding whether or not she is going to bring her printer to the booth or keep it at the office. Boats may be coming in early because it is cold and raining. Ya-da, ya-da. Needs me to stop by and grab a "Staff Photographer" jacket on my way out.
Notice that my corner pile of laundry is now up to my shoulders. Eat two brownies and a glass of whole milk for breakfast. Copy four picture CDs onto my LaCie Drive.
At 12:34 a.m I am advised by the Chamber of Commerce that I am the 20th person to sign up for Saturday morning's official tour of the Navy destroyer USS Russell, which means I am not allowed to bring a guest.
Figures. No open toed shoes, high heels, dresses, purses, handbags, lots of stairs and the gift shop only takes cash. This looks to be a good time. Check the bonus box for being on City Council.
1:47 a.m. Sara rings in a panic because the boats are in. Stop by her house and grab shirts and jackets for Casmir and myself. Casmir loves the black shirts, but not happy with the "roomie" grey fleece jackets. Extra room lets the cold in.
I completely re-organize the defunt system while snapping a zillion photos of tired people and big fish. Not really, I collect names and e-mail addresses while Sara snaps a zillion photos of tired people and big fish. Hand me a business card or fill out a form is the name of today's game.
Casmir is in charge of handing out pens, herding traffic, and storing the data. She gets slipped a $5 tip from one of the fishermen and is very excited about that. After half-a-dozen boats come in, and half-a-million tourists try to walk through our shot, Casmir retires to the top floor of the Lighthouse to warm up.
Has been a relatively cold month, and today was no exception. Rough seas turned most of the halibut charters into silver salmon charters. The silvers were large and shine-ie, more than one boat captain decided to lie on the ground in front of his group with a 25+lb. fish carefully positioned to visually extend his member. Must be a guy-thing.
Very tired, thinking about going to the Liberty Theater so that I can get revived watching the Wedding Crashers. Casmir is up for it but the other eight people I check with have already seen it or have made previous arrangements for the evening.
Stop by the ATM at the First National Bank of Alaska, the only ATM in existence that works off of $50s instead of $20. Casmir climbs the tree outside while she is waiting.
Around the corner is the theater, and inroute we run into Tina who is going to the show with a co-worker. Tina is a very pleasant, attractive, intelligent, industrious woman who was on the verge of going psycho earlier this year.
For those of you who read the Seward Gateway link off my website (dorenelorenz.com) a quick click on "Steve Schafer" in the Seward Singles section will explain it all.
At the Liberty we get in for $12; buy a soda, two candies, and a popcorn for $7.30; and the mom-and-pop who own it, the Fletchers, offer condolences for our Grandma Mom. As does Tina, who did physical therapy with my grandfather - and still remembers his jokes.
We settle into the luxurious reclining red mohair chairs that are older than I am and watch the commercial-less trailers. The movie has its moments, mostly of distraction. Casmir covers her eyes off and on, but cracks up over a dozen times.
After the show I ring Sara Nan to see if she needs help printing and framing the 50 shots that will need to be delivered Friday. She suggests she has it covered, although I note it is 9:30 p.m., she is driving some hitchhiking VIPs to the Yukon, and she hasn't even started the project.
Hop on my iMac and self-teach html code. Takes me a couple hours of experimenting but I finally figure out how to add links and content to the sidebar on this blog. At 2:30 a.m. I call it a day.
7:30 a.m. the small children downstairs wake me up with a temper tantrum. I don't recall my child ever screaming in the morning, but over the last couple years I have been through a revolving door of six children living below me who seem to make it a habit. Not liking that at all.
Look up in the skylight to see blue sky and sunshine. Finish composing this post and decide I would like to go back to bed for a little nap now that the world is quiet again.
Before I get a chance Casmir comes in and shows me a molar she just wiggled out of her mouth, the fourth one she has lost this month. Less than five minutes to get it out once she started wiggling it. She is going to call the pool, I am going to hit spell check.
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