Saturday, July 1, 2023
Every Meximelt
Friday, June 2, 2023
Bozeman Radiator Disaster
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Catching our antifreeze leakage in cooking pans. |
It was in Bozeman, Montana, during our 1994 drive from Indiana to Alaska, when we sprang a radiator leak. We managed to limp into a Napa auto parts parking lot just before the engine overheated completely. We parked and let everything cool down, catching the leaking antifreeze in pans because we were afraid Napa might kick us off their lot if we flooded it with coolant.
As bad as that seemed, things only got worse from there. Among other disasters, our camp stove decided to give up on us too.
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Laura with our faulty camp stove. |
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Fire at the Napa store. |
That got the store staff riled up more than antifreeze in their parking lot ever could have. Multiple staff members immediately came pouring out of the building wielding fire extinguishers. My first thought was to take a picture (above).
When brother Todd saw the explosion in his rear-view mirror, he just threw the van in neutral - coasted right over all those pans of antifreeze.
Laura fell down and peed her pants from laughing so hard.
It was freaking hilarious.
[Originally posted on I'm Nacho Steppinstone, Feb. 10, 2004]
Thursday, December 8, 2022
Easter, 1992
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Easter, 1992. |
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
Vending Machine Rant
"A tall bearded hillbilly...claims the dollar bill changer only gave him 75 cents back for his dollar. His initial comment was, 'Hey!...It only gave me 75 cents!! But, hey!...That's all I need!' After he finished his snack though, he started beating on the change machine and yelling for somebody to 'Call the fuckin' cops'.
He tried to write on the wall that the machine owed him money, but his pen was dry; so he hurled it against a nearby table and sat down with his face in his hands. Soon, he started to demand that somebody, 'Call the fuckin' cops'!!"
"He says, 'If I robbed a liquor store, they'd call the cops on me; but this machine can rip me off a quarter and the cops don't even care.'"
"Now he's swaying a lot. He can barely hold his head up straight. He's saying, 'Fuck America' and 'God Damn America' over and over and over again. Now he just added, 'God Bless Alaska'!! He'll be asleep soon."
"Oh! He got a second wind. He's raving (to nobody in particular, just in case anybody's listening) - 'I live like an animal!...I'm a savage!!...If you don't believe me, if you think I'm full of shit, just live with me for a year - I'll show you how an animal lives'!!! ... 'I've been sleeping by railroad tracks and under trucks for years, usually with no heat"! [Jonnie comments: "ha ha, "usually"?] 'We're living in the end times...and when the cities fall, I'll be thriving'!!"
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Packing Crew, Nautilus Marine; Valdez AK, 1991. |
Monday, June 29, 2020
Street Fair
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View from the ferris wheel, Anchorage, Alaska; May, 1996. |
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Cat Scan
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Machete on the scanner. |
[ Originally posted on The Real World…Blogger Style! – August 25, 2007 ]
Friday, June 5, 2020
Potato Launcher
Probably our most outrageous source of entertainment in Dillingham was the potato launcher.
Our boss built it from PVC pipe—just the right diameter to snugly fit a potato down the barrel. At the base, he attached a wider plastic chamber with a screw-off cap, where we’d spray in the “fuel”: Aqua Net hairspray. (It worked great until they changed the formula; after that, we had to switch brands. The key was finding something flammable.)
He rigged it with an old electric grill starter and a bolt inside the chamber, so all it took was pressing a red button to send a spark across the chamber and ignite the hairspray. We kept a broomstick handy to use as a ramrod whenever a potato didn’t quite fit.
When you hit the button, it let off a loud bang that echoed through the trees, and the potato launched with surprising velocity. My supervisor once speculated that a direct hit could break a man’s ribs.
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Potato Launcher. |
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Taking aim. |
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Todd prepares to launch a potato. |
We used to set up targets in the backyard and fire the potato gun at them—usually an old trash can lid propped up with rocks.
That was one of the perks of living in the middle of nowhere. There’s no way we could’ve gotten away with that in a suburban neighborhood without drawing the attention of the neighbors—and probably law enforcement.
Monday, June 1, 2020
Smart(ish) / Dumb(ish)
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Smart Jon, Alaska, 1998. |
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Dumb Jon, California, 2004. |
Experiences with Canned Meat
Canned meat has been a part of my life, and I’m happy to share this memory:
Chicken of the Sea – Back when I was living in the Alaskan Bush (pre-internet), entertainment was scarce. To pass the time, I started writing to companies in hopes of getting free coupons. One day, I wrote a letter to Chicken of the Sea, claiming that I had found a chicken feather in my can of tuna. I told them it was probably the result of a worker on the production line who thought it would be funny play on the product name.
Chicken of the Sea replied, saying that it was very unlikely for a worker to have done that, due to their stringent quality control processes. However, they did send me two coupons for free cans of tuna.
[Originally posted on The Real World...Blogger Style!, July 23, 2005]
Monday, May 25, 2020
Records of Time
1. The first was for Chad and was the February 5, 1990 issue of Time featuring a “Mandela: Free `at Last” cover story. We added, “Chad, Chad, Go! GO! GO!” in red marker. 2. The March 2, 1990 issue was dedicated to Travis Fry, the cover dealing with Soviet Disunity. We added in red ink, “Travis, Travis, Do You Have Enough Time?” 3. We saved the “Starting Over” February 19, 1990 issue of Time for Denny and wrote in black, “Denny, Denny, Do You Have Enough Time?” 4. Finally, we gave Kathy the March 5, 1990 issue of Time which dealt with the subject of “Gossip”. We, in all respect wondered, and added in red, “Kathy, Kathy, How Much Can You Take?”
Friday, May 22, 2020
Das Heilander Techno Tapes
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Das Heilander, vol. 1. |
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Das Heilander, vol. 2. |
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Alaska, 1990, pt. 2
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Kennicott, 1990. |
On the road to Valdez, we took a 60-mile detour to visit McCarthy and Kennicott, an abandoned mining town. It wasn’t the most convenient stop, but we figured if we didn’t check it out then, when would we? The journey involved a treacherous 30-mile drive down a rough dirt road in the middle of nowhere. By the time we reached McCarthy, we had managed to ruin two tires.
Getting to McCarthy is an adventure in itself; you have to cross a river on a hand tram. So, we lugged our flat tire across the river and found a guy on the other side who specialized in tire repair. To our surprise, he fixed the tire for a surprisingly low fee. Considering how far we were from civilization, he could have charged us anything, but instead, he was shockingly fair.
McCarthy itself had a population of barely twenty-something people. It was quaint, but also a bit eerie, especially considering the dark history: years ago, a resident computer programmer went on a rampage, shooting up the town and taking out half the population, which amounted to about ten people. A real testament to the wild side of life in the Alaskan wilderness!
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Plant foreman, "Mad" Max, Paul processing, me processing, & me on boat. |
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Icing salmon on the dock, working & playing in the ice house, packing w/ Erin. |
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Alaska, 1990, pt. 1
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Homer, AK, 1990. |
In early 1990, my friend Paul and I began exploring options for an interesting summer job. Nothing stood out until Paul mentioned his aunt in Alaska and the possibility of working up there. Without hesitation, we decided to fly to Alaska and try our luck in the seafood industry for the summer.
At the time, Paul was a far more seasoned traveler than I was. In fact, it was my very first time on a plane. Alaska made an immediate and lasting impression on me. I was captivated by the sight of mountains in every direction, even in the heart of the city. I also fell in love with the cool summer climate and the eccentric people who called Alaska home.
Before the trip, I brought along a lantern, fully expecting to do some serious camping. Little did I know that Alaska barely gets dark in the summer! Fortunately, we were able to store the lantern at Paul’s aunt’s house.
We also bought a beat-up old car, which we affectionately named "The Abomination." It came with four studded tires for winter, though they weren’t much use during the summer. Thankfully, Paul’s aunt kindly allowed us to store those at her house as well.
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The "pup tent", Working for Anne & Mean Gene, Ol' Tom Adams, & Claudia w/ customized rubber boots. |
When it came to finding employment, we were completely winging it. Ultimately, we decided to drive out to Homer, where we set up camp on the Homer Spit—a 4.5-mile stretch of land jutting into the ocean. From there, we went door to door looking for work until a company called Keener Packing hired us to dig a ditch.
As it turned out, they initially planned to fire us once the ditch was dug. But, for whatever reason, they took a liking to us and decided to keep us on. We quickly became known as "the Pups" by everyone there, a nod to our complete lack of knowledge about fish or Alaska. Our campsite was affectionately dubbed "the Pup Tent."
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Salty Dawg saloon, Paul from California, Melissa, Kennicott, the abandoned mining town. |
We stayed in Homer through early July, eagerly anticipating the Fourth of July fireworks display over the ocean. However, the spectacle fell short of our expectations—Alaska’s endless summer daylight made it difficult to enjoy fireworks without the contrast of a dark sky.
By then, we realized we weren’t saving any money, so we decided to try our luck in the salmon fisheries of Valdez, which were rumored to offer plenty of overtime. Some of our co-workers at Keener knew the plant managers at Nautilus Marine. One of them even ran dog sleds with one of the foremen during the winter. They planned to meet us there, as we all prepared to jump ship from Keener.
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Mr. T's Birthday
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Mr. T's Birthday. |
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
More Smiles Per Gallon
Monday, May 11, 2020
Van Log, 1994: A Collective Narrative
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Van Log '94. |
Van Log: We brought along an audio cassette tape recorder to log any comments or observations we felt were worth remembering. The recorder, along with the collection of nine or ten audio tapes we made, became known as the "Van Log."Van Log 1994 is a collective narrative, much like Wikipedia. Instead of identifying individual speakers when transcribing the audio tapes, I blended everyone’s statements into one running commentary. The same paragraph might incorporate statements from any or all four of us, or it could even include comments from a fifth or sixth person who happened to be around the tape recorder at the time. Van Log '94 is perfectly coherent without identifying each individual speaker, though I occasionally placed conversational dialogue in quotation marks to indicate when a conversation was taking place between two (or more) people.
We were all unseasoned travelers at the time, and what might come across as naive, irresponsible, or even stupid in these logs was, in reality, just careless youthful exuberance and (possibly misdirected) lust for life in all of us. Some of the things we did were embarrassingly stupid, but that was part of the adventure—learning through experience, no matter how misguided at times.
Van Log, 1994: Forward by Todd
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Van Log O.G.s, 1992: Mel, Todd, & Ross. |
Van Log, 1994: Leaving Indiana
We're finally done talking about it, planning, getting everybody together, and we're on the way right now. The wheels are rolling and we're on the road. We've got pop and cigarettes and we're getting out of working in the garden today. They're growing peppers and tomatoes and tobaccy. Gotta go get the cash and that's it.
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Van Crew, '94: Todd, Jonnie, Mel, & Laura. Ready to leave Indiana. |
Laura went into Pizza Chef to get her check. We're gonna go into the bank and cash it and it's gonna be a long ride.
We've crossed the 1st border of the trip. We're in Kosciusko County. I may never be back in Whitley County.
First hitchhiker. Maybe. We're going to go talk to him.
Andy! He's going to Chicago. We could take him further if he wanted to.
There's a giant dragon and there's a giant inflatable ape in a used car lot - A NEW car lot!! And there's a big bull. This is the Land of the Giants.
"Valparaiso is - in addition to the huge bull and the huge dragon - there's a huge mound of dirt in the middle of nowhere..."
"It's a huge anthill!"
"But the Bigboy at Azar's was small."
"Maybe compared to the bull he just seemed small."
"Indiana's own Little Texas."
Van Log, 1994: Illinois
Van Log, 1994: Wisconsin
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Stretching our legs in Winnebago, Wisconsin. |