BUSH DIARY JANUARY 1999

BUSH DIARY JANUARY 1999:

We survived Christmas in Coquille 1998 and are all back in Barrow for the time being.  

1-8:  Tim is in day three of a wowser of a cold.  He came into the outpatient clinic as a walk-in and was given antibiotics, decongestant and a nebulizer. I have been making pots of chicken soup.  I only have minor sniffles, we shall see how that develops.

1-10: Sunday was our fourth wedding anniversary. We celebrated by exchanging romantic greeting cards.  Neither one of us felt like dragging out to dinner somewhere to celebrate.

1-15:  Bradford has been sleeping more than usual, no eating, no drinking.  Tim took in to the vet and liver tests are not good and are not going to get any better.  We will keep him home until we have to take for the final shot.

Next week Monica is flying to Bethel for safety officer training with a day or two in Anchorage sandwiched in between.  Update:  Monica says she will NEVER complaining about anything regarding Barrow.  The water was oily and it looked like it would ignite if she had used a match.

Most recent bit of nonsense at work is a situation where an inpatient is getting a morphine drip.  The only available morphine had just outdated.  The doctor decided to call the pharmacist and use the outdated morphine. Now in the third world medicine, the outdated morphine would be cheerfully used without any hoo hoo.  However the morphine had already been reported to the DEA as outdated and when DEA sends back approval to destroy stock the PSO must come over to witness the destruction of the stock. So the pharmacist wants the doctor suspended and the hospital CEO is the doctor's significant other.  About the only thing the pharmacist can do is document exactly what happened. 

1-16:  Attended my second class of Gothic Literature.  we are reading The Castle of Otranto, The Monk, Dracula, Frankenstein.  And we are also learning about the concept of sublime.  Which as I understand it, is the exercise of the mind to experience strong emotions such as terror through reading about or going to the Swiss Alps, because they are so overwhelming to experience in person.

Same day we had a power outage and the class teacher lives in the same building at us and it was black inside the building.  He propped one of the upstairs doors open so I could stagger upstairs and get inside to the light. 

1-17:  We made arrangements to meet the Vet and the clinic as Bradford is very bad and needs to be put to sleep. Dr. Caldwell gave an injection that took effect immediately.  Tim was very sweet and told him he loved him.  Then we made arrangements for him to be cremated.  I was pretty much of a blubbering mess for the whole thing.

1-23: The sun came up today at 1:09 pm.  I missed it as I was in class and there was a ground blizzard at the time, so very hazy.

1-26:  Four or five fire alarms at work.  This usually happens when the water pressure drops at BUECI and the alarms go off at the hospital.

1-28:  Weather report this morning was funny.  "The wind chill advisory has been cancelled.  Latest temperature in Barrow is minus 32 degrees with wind chill to minus 50 degrees.".  

Weather projects minus 95 wind chill.  That is when you stay at home if at all possible.

We got our W-2's and it will be painful this year with cashing out PERS for the house closing.  Oh well, will have to cough up about 1300 for Unca Sam.

Because of the wind and the strange wind chill we have weird twisty knobby ice cycles.

Must bundle, baby it's cold outside. G'night folks.

OCTOBER 1998

Um, I re-read the actual October 1998 Bush Diary and it is beyond boring.  We flew to Coquille for the closing of the house.  We shopped for tons of house stuff and purchased a blue van.  

We purchased a new bed and mattress and when it was delivered we discovered that NOTHING would fit up the inside stair case.

There is an upstairs outside door on the North sided bedroom that may, I say MAY be adequate for mattress moving at some point in the future.

I took time to drive to the local hospital to network with Judy Colton.  She has worked there since the late 70's and the other lady has worked there even longer.  They both remember when the department was located down the hall where the CEO's office now resides.  

Everything is on paper.  Judy told me to stay in touch as one of her ladies is studying to be an RN and will be leaving soon.  She could use a transcriptionist. Ok, I like the commute.  

The other bits when I was not in Oregon was back in Barrow puttering in H building apartment.  Staying in communication with husband via computer and telephone.  Telepathy does not work long distance.  

G'night folks.

BUSH DIARY SEPTEMBER 1998

BUSH DIARY SEPTEMBER 1998:

9-4:  Carla sent a rather cryptic email regarding Mom and her current illness.  I called Mom and she had been hospitalized a couple of days for heart irregularity.  After two days she is on a new medication and still feels lousy.  

Also today Tim sent me a dozen roses, red and yellow and boy did they smell wonderful. Thank, you Darling Man!  We had surprise cake and ice cream at 3 pm. yummy!  That got scarfed up immediately there were no left overs. 

Same day we got a poor tourista lady admitted.  She participated in the blanket toss and missed the blanket and broke her leg in two places.  Overheard the husband discussing arrangement on the phone and he was cancelling their trip to climb Denali.  Oy!

Saturday 9-5:  Will be McDonald's Day.  The Alaska Airlines employees are having a fund raiser and are offering to bring Quarter pounders five bucks each, you reheat at your own peril.  I am sure there will be many takers.
Labor day passed nicely.

09-16:  We received the official NSB letter that we have until 10-4 to move.  Got keys to new apartment in H building Apt 9.  The apartment has brand new cream colored carpet.  Ye Gawds.  That should not hold up well after break up.  We are losing a closet but gaining an outside door beside.  Doorbell works unfortunately.

9-16:  Got appraisal for Coquille house, pending dry rot inspection.  Carolyn scheduled one for this evening.  Hopefully bank will get report and we will hear from them Friday morning.

9-17:  Damn, there IS dry rot and carpenter ant infestation.  Carolyn emailed us that pest treatment will run about 300 dollars no estimate on dry rot repair or time line involved.  So loan is approved pending repair/treatment. 

In the meantime while it is raining, Tim and I are schlepping boxes of stuff from A building to H building.  I almost have Tim talked into a yard sale!!

9-22:  Today is Monica's birthday.  Jinky ordered cake and ice cream and somehow we are supposed to surprise her.  She is scheduled to fly to Wainwright at 5 pm so we will have to squeeze in very quickly.  Trip was cancelled because the NSB Director did not want anyone going but the CEO of the hospital.  Cool.

9-24:  Went in to do census, begged Monica to go home and help move stuff.  Tim had brought home the boxes we ordered from the PO and had rolled over three loads using a hand truck.  Thank you!!!  I took the opportunity to throw out lots of old boxes that were empty.  

The other apartment is about ten per cent smaller and we are not moving all of the furniture.  We are leaving the couch which is huge.  We are taking the bed, four end tables and three lamps. Debating whether or not to leave the chest of drawers.  Taking curtains from the bedroom.  None fit the new living room.

9-25:  NSB decided that our trip to national in New Orleans would be too close to Joint Commission so it was cancelled.  That is just fine with me. 

Permanent fund was announced.  $1540.88.  The fund is so big at 25 billion that the size of the check next year will NOT be effected by the market slump.  The fund only had to make one billion to make payment.  

I will probably trade my check for the Alaska Airlines offer of four trips outside of Alaska and one within Alaska.  Still quite a bargain.

 9-27: We are about 80% done moving.  I set up the bookcase and metal shelving to hold the TV so we do not need the coffee table and that will stay in A building.  

I have found a partial solution to the living room window.  We found out quite by accident that the mirror hanging in the bedroom almost perfectly fills the living room window center pane.  I set the mirror within the casing and used a bit of masking tape to secure it.  I will take the front room curtains from A building and use them as side curtains in the living room window in H building.  We have no cable yet but music is just fine.

I have jury duty Monday.  I hope this doesn't take long they called in six jury groups. 

9-28: Jury duty. I went in early to work and got the census completed.  Still have to code a couple of charts. I was selected for the jury and executed by defense at peremptory challenge about 3:30 pm. I smiled toothily.  

I went to A building and took down the curtains and threw them in the dry on fluff and knocked off a few years worth of dust but they came out fairly well.  Got cable hooked up and it is working well. We have a lot of packed boxes in the new place. I am seriously thinking of just leaving them there to serve as room divider or art panel display.  Kitty tower taken apart and put back into original box for shipping to Coquille.  Next, clean old apartment. Cough, cough.

Good new: Carolyn emailed us that pest inspection and dry rot repairs had been completed.  So hope to hear from bank, which means we will be able to book flights for closing.

I hate moving.  My idea of moving is to sit imperiously somewhere and direct minions to carefully pack my treasures and port them miraculously to where I wish.  I need help obviously.

Time to put a very long September to bed.  G'night folks.

BUSH DIARY AUGUST 1998

BUSH DIARY AUGUST 1998:

Sad News:  8-2:  Monica called me this evening to say that Marge Pendleton, Patrick's Mom had called to tell her that he had passed away about 3 am this morning.  He was still hospitalized from his latest surgery done on July 17.  I will miss him very much.  Nothing tickled him more than to stroll into medical records and politely ask if it was permissible for him to tell a politically incorrect story.  Of course we encouraged him to do so.

He had multiple system failure particularly renal and liver and just could not fight his way back.  I do not believe he regained consciousness from surgery.  His mother's last e-mail said that she had been spending time at his bedside rubbing his forehead, which was something that he had liked since he was a little boy.  

I don't know what we are going to do on this end.  We are not too sure who his latest roomie was as he had just recently moved.  We would like to help pack up his stuff to send to Ohio.  As far as replacing him I don't think that is possible, he was quite unique and gave us many funny memories.  The best one is about his Aunt Mary Margaret's recipe for hamburger dildo.  

8-3: Pretty grim at work. Lots of people coming around with condolences.  I am exhausted from rehashing Patrick's demise, poor guy.  We found out that his roommate will ship his largely unpacked belongings to Ohio.  We will clean out his desk here and do the same.  Am hearing from many former co-workers and folks who have left Barrow and have heard about him via e-mail.  We circulated a sympathy card for Marge.

8-4:  After mulling it over amongst ourselves and Patrick's friends within the community, we have decided to have a potluck in commons next Saturday 8-15.  Everyone will be invited to bring a favorite dish and a Patrick story.  We are hoping to get someone to do a video.

Weird dream:  I drove through a forest so well tended that rose bushes grew at the base of all of the trees.  I saw Tom Selleck in a car that I drove past  It must be particularly weird to dream of celebrities.

O NO:  Our next door neighbor in the 12-plex was at the hospital during greak and asked if I had heard the rumor about our building.  Um, no.  She said that NSB housing was doing asbestos abatement and we will all have to move.  She said she is moving this weekend as she is going on leave in a week and a half.  Not looking forward to moving.
Update: I called housing, all too true. However we will wait for the official letter and maybe they will have a couple bodies available for schlepping.

8-15: We had Patrick's Memorial Potluck.  About 30 friends gathered in the commons.  After a few uncomfortable minutes we all shared food and Patrick stories.  I summarized some of them and made them accessible for Marge.  I do wish I had taken home some of Jessie's cauterizing hot curried beef with bamboo shoots.  The head came from Japanese green paste which is suicidal hot.  I think a gulp or two will kill millions of germs.

8-17-18:  Still have sore throat, consuming gallons of Chicken Soup.

8-19:  Alcohol initiative. Will be voted on borough wide in October.  Who ever was organizing the effort found 800 registered voters.  

8-20:  US missile strikes in Afghanistan and Sudan.  I wonder if this will knock the Lewinski scandal off the news.

8-20: Other Barrow news.  The barge is in town!  It is moored just off shore and the ocean is choppy.  The lagoon is bulldozed shut until things settle down.  The barge is piled about eight cargo containers deep and there are lots of modular homes on that thing.

8-24: Jury duty!!! I am in the box and gotta go back 9:30 tomorrow morning.  Maybe they will boot me out, the case is a guy kicking the bejesus out of a woman and I am pretty sure they are going to want more men on the jury.

8-25:  Came in early and got the census done.  Jinky called she will be late.  Monica called in with a headache.  Sandra called wanting to talk to Monica.  By 9:15 there was ONLY ME!  I called one of the coders to come up front and man the phones.  

I am still sitting in the jury box.  We actually ran out of potential jurors TWICE today.  Got a break so they could call in more people.  Ran out of THEM by  pm.  Told to return on Wednesday at 9:30.  Ugh.

8:26:  Showed up promptly at 9:30 went through two more before both sides were satisfied with the jury panel including ME! Took a long lunch 11 to 1:30 and testimony finally began about 2:30.  One of the PSO from the village started to read his copy of testimony. State asked what page that testimony was on.  After a couple of approach the bench consultations,  the judge declared a mistrial because all parties did not have the same information.  We all got to go home about 4 pm.  The judge excused us from jury duty the whole next week in case we got one of those automated calls from the court house.  Yay!!  You just don't see these kind of shenanigans on TV dramas.

8:29:  What a small world we live in -- I received a letter from Barbara Whelan, enclosed was a clipping of a wedding announcement.  Barbara visited her daughter Jennifer (married to Dean)  a couple of weeks ago in Portland.  She was reading the Sunday paper there and one that caught her attention was for Jennifer Logan and Dean Loganbill, grooms mother Esther Loganbill of Barrow, Alaska.

Barbara's letter ask if I knew the person and to pass the clipping along if possible.  After a little bit of detective work, it turns out that Esther Loganbill is a registered nurse who is in charge at the Senior Center in assisted living.  So I called her and told her that a friend had mailed me a clipping from Emmett, Idaho.  Long pause..."um how did that happen??"  I explained it all we had a good laugh.  

She asked me to give the clipping to her sister, Lois Fisher, who is the hospital's social services director.  I took the clipping to Lois and handed it to her without a word. She looked at it and gasped, "Where did you get this?" I told her it came in a letter from a friend in Idaho.  I explained all the distance circumstances and we laughed about it again.  Small world.

We are inching incrementally closer to closing on the Coquille house.  I got a check from Valic and deposited that and also some more papers to fill out and return to the bank.  We will keep you posted.

I really don't wanna move!
G'night folks.

BUSH DIARY JULY 1998

BUSH DIARY JULY 1998:

4th: Very quiet day, over cast but quite warm. No wind to speak of.  Walked around town yesterday taking pictures.

7-11: Company picnic is supposed to be on Deadman's Island.  It is an island past the point.  They think it will be a 45 minute trip by boat.   They tried this last year but the ocean got choppy and it was cancelled.  I refuse to go anywhere in a small craft in the Arctic.  Also, there are no toilet facilities.  I shall stay home in comfort. 

7-7:  Traveling dream.  I took a bus in Boise.  Met my sister Ellen on the bus that was taking us home to Emmett.  Weird.

Paper chase on Coquille house:   Calling around to various mortgage companies and gathering information.

Monica says she is sending us both to National meeting in New Orleans in October.  Fun.

Recap of trip to Barrow:  Trip to Emmett from 7-13 through 7-22.  It was HOT!!!  On Anthony's birthday it got up to 108!!! Mom found an AC unit that needed to be cleaned up and after messing around it actually works, so I did not boil while staying at Mom's. Only shopping was that we dragged out to a Hallmark and I completed my Kwanza angel collection, so cute.   Took Charles, Leslie and Anthony to dinner at DaVinci's, a place in Eagle.  We had salad, bread sticks, chicken marsala.  We also had birthday cake for Anthony's first birthday. Carla's flight from Sea-Tac was cancelled due to fog, drat.  

My trip back to Barrow was uneventful until the Barrow leg.  Captain tried twice to land but had to fly around, third time was the charm.  Fog opened enough to allow the landing.  The regular Barrow passengers laughed and clapped.  The tourist passengers looked a little green around the gills.

Monica finally rose to the top of the list to get a private post office box.  She had been on the list since her first time working her.  Since she is in quarters, she told the them that she had mail covered thanks, please rent the box to someone else on the list.

Some excitement.  We went shopping and upon returning from Pepe's and shopping we smelled gas.  Called BUECI who came and they said, evacuate for a few minutes.  Ok, got the kitties in their carriers and stored in a sheltered foyer.  They came and inspected stuff and found that someone's igniter on their stove had blown out and that was the source of the gas. Also one of the BUECI guys was trying to get into our apartment.  I opened the door for him and he said they didn't have a master key for that door, so they will be making one of those.  We finally got back into the building about 10 am.  Wheee. So glad nothing blew up today.  

It's been summer.  G'night folks.

BUSH DIARY JUNE 1998

BUSH DIARY JUNE: 1998:

6-5:   When I left work today they were setting up for an emergency c-section.  We don't have anesthesia, they must be using a local?   Maybe use conscious sedation?  The visiting OBG/GYN doc is willing to the procedure.   The Lear jet is down and transport is out of the question.  I hope they get the woman transferred by the time I get back to work.  Update:  Life Flight got here and transferred the lady to Anchorage.
  
This was a bad week for high risk pregnancies.  Earlier we had one woman go on a binge drinking episode the day before her flight to Anchorage.  She came in complaining that she was in labor, she thrashed and moaned until she passed out.  She was not in labor.  She still went on the commercial jet.  Two other women in labor were not progressing so they shipped them out.  

I have been on a flight when someone is transferred using the jet.  It takes three rows of seats to accommodate a stretcher with room for an attendant.  The last three rows are the ones usually reserved for such set ups.

KITTY REPORT:  Bradford visited the vet the other day.  Tim was concerned about his thyroid status and he is coughing so much.  Lab work is not back yet.  The vet said he also had a little congestive heart failure and weight almost 13 pounds.  We needs a feline geriatric specialist.

June 8:  I mailed Mom a clipping from the Anchorage Sunday paper.  Headlines read something like this:  "Fish and Game set Moose on Fire".  It was a hoot.  Moose wander into residential sections of Anchorage all of the time during winter looking for browse.  A young moose had wandered into a residential area where his presence was not appreciated.  Fish and Game showed up with Roman candles which when lit usually scare the large undulates off.  This time the moose was not moving.  So the officers taped two Roman candles together and fired them at the moose.  The moose did not move but the candles did set the moose' hair on fire, flames leaping.  Witnesses said the moose shook itself hard a couple of times and the flames went out.  Eventually the moose wandered off to a tastier setting.  Fish and Game reports that this type of thing occurs a couple times each year.

6-11:  Today I got one of my wishes granted at work.  For several years now I have been wishing out loud within hearing distance of maintenance that I wanted "Eskimo air conditioning"  (Hole in floor).  The medical record department had very little fresh air.  We have to keep the main hallway door shut to keep out the kids and various wandering people.  Today while sitting at my desk I felt something on m foot and looked down.  There was a yellow tape measure protruding from a rectangular hole in the floor, which I had not noticed at all.
A disembodied voice said, "Royce! Do you see that? Can you hear me?"
I said, "Yeah, Bill, I can hear you, what you doing down there?"
Bill said, "I'm hooking up the duct work. It's not working quite right yet, how long would you like me to stay down here and blow?"
I laughed, "Thanks but I think we ought to leave that conversation lie just where it is."
A short while later I heard the sound of a drill and a couple of bangs and felt a lovely breeze begin at knee level.  Hazzah!!  Bill said he will install a grill and some controls later when the parts come.  I am so happy.  No more literally boiling in my pants. I must fetch the lad a bottle of our Oregon Blossom wine.

Carla got a job with a civil engineering outfit in Seattle, she will be secretary.  If they need a deli-hag she can fix them right up.  The commute is a breeze, she doesn't have to drive across any bridges and she has computer skills.

Jim is still suffering from effects of his viral meningitis from a couple of years ago.  I emailed a couple suggestions to Anita.

AC had their grand opening on 6-12:  There was huge crowd as there were only 12 walk-in's in the afternoon clinic.  As a matter of fact one of the elder's funerals was delayed so that it would not be in conflict with the grand opening. AC gave away a four wheeler and a 27 inch TV.  There is also a small travel agency in the back of the store.

Weirdness at work.  One of the nurses took a call while in records and she was attempting to help the woman on the line. Turned out the patient was actually calling from one of the exam rooms.  Huh!?  Nurse told her that she would see her in a few minutes. 

Kitty update:  Bradford is on a bronchial dilator as well as antibiotics and a deworming pill.  He is also constipated.  Vet says that is a common think with Manx.  Bowels no move.

Coquille House:  Tim and I have decided to purchase the house in Coquille.  We looked at it last year and it is getting to be time to be living somewhere else.  Gotta go mortgage shopping.  Carolyn is willing to carry the note but I will not go with that.  Carolyn is going to do some upgrades, New AC, fence, carpet.  Will worry about the rest of it some other time. 

Time to put June to bed.  G'night folks.

BUSH DIARY MAY 1998

BUSH DIARY MAY 1998:

May 3:  Back from trip to Juneau.  The trip went well except for the jet departing Barrow was four hours late. Had to rebook my connection to Juneau.  Got there about 10 pm and fell into bed.  

Skipped Wednesday's workshop but did go into take pictures with my snazzy new Sony camera.  Then I played tourista and walked about downtown where everything is very close and well within walking distance.  The big mall is out on Glacier highway and I didn't have a car so I skipped that portion.  Right next door to the venue was the Alaska Museum.   Great stuff there.  

I snagged a Iiadro  angel ornament in a duty free shop! So cute.  I got to ride the Mt. Roberts tram. They opened it just for the medical records group as it is not open for another couple of weeks when the ship board tourists start flooding into town. Ate at a  placed called Second Course and I ordered and enjoyed halibut with mango sauce. Fabulous!.  

One of the vendors demonstrated Dragon Naturally Speaking.  Impressive.  I also discovered that a digital camera HAS TO BE HELD STILL just like a regular camera to get a clear picture....duh.

I have been working on an unofficial web page for the state medical record group. I will see how well that works.  AHIMA wants all of the states to participate in their web presence and that is a terrific idea given the wide range of concerns at the national level.

5-14: Funny but true story.  At coffee break the subject of dogs came up.  One of the maintenance guys owns a golden retriever with hip dysplasia.  He is contemplating taking the dog out of Barrow for a canine hip replacement.
Someone asked casually, "So how good of a retriever is she?"
"My dog found a hundred bucks!"
"No, you're kidding!"
"Yep, I let her out to go take a pee and she came back with a hundred bucks in her mouth; a fifty, two twenties and a ten!"
That struck us all as hysterically funny and we laughed ourselves silly.  The fact that the dog retrieved that amount of money is not all that strange. I myself had stood in line at Arctic Coast grocery and watched a kid sent to pick up a couple of things hand over a 100 dollar bill. The clerk got a little distracted when he laid down the bill on the counter and she gasped "Oh no, I can't break another hundred!"  The kid looked up at me and said that "No that was the only hundred" he had.  Good boy!!

I may have mentioned the lobby redecorating project a few posts back?  About six months ago the hospital completed refurbishing all of the exam rooms in the outpatient department.  One of the decisions was to go with wall mounted cabinetry, cupboards, writing area etc.  Well....I made a private bet with myself that those would not last very long.  I win!!  Yesterday someone went postal and COMPLETELY tore down the wall mounted wall units in addition to trashing the whole room. 

That incident brings us to yet again, the wet/damp/dry situation in Barrow.  There is a petition going around to put the local option question on a borough wide basis.  The City of Barrow currently has a local damp option.  The Borough will put the question to a vote, if the committee filing the petition can scare up over 800 valid registered voters.  If it passed that means the borough will go dry but we are not too sure how that will effect the damp option now in force within city limits.  This could keep a barrage of lawyers very busy.

MISSING ELDER:  A couple of weeks ago it was announced on KBRW that Daniel Okomailuk, 77, was missing.  He had driven his snow machine to his cabin to do some subsistence hunting and had not yet returned.  Search and Rescue sent out crews when the weather was good enough as it had been very foggy.  

A couple villages near his cabin sent out ground crews.  We all thought the elder gentleman was a goner.  The search went on for eight days, finally on day NINE, a plane spotted him about 100 miles south of Barrow.  He was on foot.  He was about 20 miles from Atqasuk.  He had been walking about ten miles each day after his snow machine burned up.  He had been drinking melted snow, but had no food. 

So they brought him into the hospital very quickly.  He allowed as how he was a little stiff and sore from walking using his CANE!!.  He was hospitalized and his diet was carefully advanced.  He knew where he was going, so he just kept walking.  Oh my goodness.

5-25:  Attended the soft opening of the new AC store.  It is located here in the  suburbs a couple blocks away from me.  The new store has a deli, a bakery, meat department, soft goods and a food court.  The court is not yet open but will have a sub sandwich shop, Mexican food, pizza shop and a cinnamon bun shop.  Ooh!  Everyone was impressed and kept saying, "Wow! It looks like Fairbanks...until you go outside."

5-28:  Had a little excitement in hospital quarters.  One of the nurses went out for the evening but left something cooking on the stove top.  Monica heard the alarm go off and it went on so long that she decided she better get dressed.  She stuck her head out in the hallway and could smell something burning. They got evacuated about the time the Fire Engine arrived.  The nurse was understandably upset and has been dodging the obvious question,
"Hey what's for supper??"

5-31:  Got a jury duty notice and I am up for June, July and August.  Oy.

Book report:  I just finished reading "Tacos On The Tundra".  It is a biography of Fran Tate who owns Pepe's North Of The Border.  She is quite an interesting woman.

The book was written by Lynn Kidder, our SSMH lab tech.  She is brilliant and a would often play Scrabble with me while I was doing Friday evening computer back up.  Her husband Frederick, has a background in French cuisine and wound up working at Pepe's.  He thought that Lynn should do Fran's biography.  And so it went.

Their publishing company is Bonapart Books.  It is named after their black Lab retriever.  Bonapart would often attend parties in full on costume.

Fran Tate's background is fascinating.  She grew up dirt poor in a Swiss German family and learned to work hard at an early age.  A chance remark from a boy she liked in high school sent her on a career path as an engineer.  Which is how she wound up working for one of the big oil companies in the late 60's on the North Slope. 

She worked for the oil company until they wanted to send her somewhere else.  She liked it in Barrow so much that she decided to stay and eventually wound up opening Pepe's. 

Her first effort was the Teriyaki House.  It was shipped up.  Fran had wanted a big name franchise but McDonald's was not interested.  At first there was a drive through window but it was so high up that they had to construct a dirt ramp and it was still so high above the cars that the food had to be lowered in a basket from the drive through window.  

As it turned out the cooking crew was only checking in and out and not working much.  Fran had to declare bankruptcy over that effort.  I think the whole fiasco was blamed on husband number four.

Pepe's North of the Border is a featured destination for the Japanese tour groups who come through.  She grew up speaking Japanese where she lived close to the part of town where the Japanese lived.  

She had good friend who were shipped off to internment camps in WWII and she was the only blond headed blue eyed kid bawling her eyes out when the train took her friends away.

Her other businesses in Barrow have been Elephant Pot Sewage and Inupiat Water (not the same truck).  I see the green water truck all of the time. The borough has honey bucket trucks.  Thank goodness.

Time to put everything to bed.  G'night folks.