Week
two has been very different than week one, some better some worse. I'll
start with my sightseeing adventures last Saturday. My colleague, Patty
Orazietti and her husband Tony, graciously offered to drive me down
Turnagain Arm to the town of Girdwood for a sightseeing tour. Turnagain
Arm is a finger that Captain Cook went down and realized he couldn't
get out to sea and had to turnaround. We drove south of Anchorage and
made several stops to view the scenery. The mountains on either side of
the water create a wind tunnel and it was much windier than in
Anchorage.
We
stopped at Bird Creek to watch the fisherman fishing for Salmon as they
swim upstream to spawn; and stopped at McHugh Creek to visit the picnic
area and the waterfalls. Tony was sure he carried his bear spray with
him!
Girdwood is a small town who's real claim to fame is the Alyeska Sky Lodge and Resort. We took the tram up the side of the mountain and the view was great from the top. There was a big sign telling people not to touch any live unexploded ammunition they might find from avalanche mitigation. WHAT? Yep, there are surprises around every corner.
On the way home, we stopped at a wine warehouse...I wanted to buy a few bottles of wine and Patty and Tony picked up a bottle of gin. When I got to the checkout, I was asked for my ID and realized I didn't have it, so I asked Patty to buy the wine for me. What a BIG mistake. The store wouldn't sell the wine to them, and because they were with me, the store wouldn't sell them the bottle of gin either. The liquor laws in Alaska are very strict. There is an alcohol problem with the Native Alaskans and if you get too many DUIs, you have a red line stamped on your driver's license showing that you can not buy alcohol. The stores are held accountable - if they sell to someone underage or with this red stamp, there are fines and penalties...so they just don't take any chances. I walked away thinking, "this would never happen in the south!"
The week was good in that I am really starting to feel like a member of the team and they are starting to realize that I bring both BP knowledge and training expertise to the role. I've made good headway on documenting processes, developing material to be used in stakeholder awareness sessions and updating the Training Approach. The down side of the week is that I started the week with a crappy cold and I haven't gotten much better. I went to the doctor's on Tuesday and he gave me a prescription for an antibiotic that he didn't want me to fill until tomorrow if I wasn't any better. I'm filling it tonight!
Girdwood is a small town who's real claim to fame is the Alyeska Sky Lodge and Resort. We took the tram up the side of the mountain and the view was great from the top. There was a big sign telling people not to touch any live unexploded ammunition they might find from avalanche mitigation. WHAT? Yep, there are surprises around every corner.
On the way home, we stopped at a wine warehouse...I wanted to buy a few bottles of wine and Patty and Tony picked up a bottle of gin. When I got to the checkout, I was asked for my ID and realized I didn't have it, so I asked Patty to buy the wine for me. What a BIG mistake. The store wouldn't sell the wine to them, and because they were with me, the store wouldn't sell them the bottle of gin either. The liquor laws in Alaska are very strict. There is an alcohol problem with the Native Alaskans and if you get too many DUIs, you have a red line stamped on your driver's license showing that you can not buy alcohol. The stores are held accountable - if they sell to someone underage or with this red stamp, there are fines and penalties...so they just don't take any chances. I walked away thinking, "this would never happen in the south!"
The week was good in that I am really starting to feel like a member of the team and they are starting to realize that I bring both BP knowledge and training expertise to the role. I've made good headway on documenting processes, developing material to be used in stakeholder awareness sessions and updating the Training Approach. The down side of the week is that I started the week with a crappy cold and I haven't gotten much better. I went to the doctor's on Tuesday and he gave me a prescription for an antibiotic that he didn't want me to fill until tomorrow if I wasn't any better. I'm filling it tonight!
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