Alaska Daze

A word or two about water…

Very few homes in Bethel have piped in water; only the luck few who live within a small radius downtown. The rest of us have water tanks which are filled by municipal water trucks as often as twice a week or as seldom as once a month. The tanks range in size from 250 gallons to several thousand gallons. Most tanks have no gauge to indicate water level so folks either rig up something or just develop a “feel” for how much water they’ve consumed. Some lucky folks have clear plastic water tanks and can see the water level. Households are billed by the size of the water tank, not by gallons consumed. In fact, at this time the city does not have a way to measure water usage nor a system to charge by the gallon and says it would be too time consuming and costly to institute such a system. Thus my goal is to use up every drop without running out! I suspect that all over the city people catch up on laundry and dishes the night before water delivery as I do. Households have an equal size sewer tank which is emptied on delivery day. Yes, a different truck! What goes in must come out.

The water tank               Sewer tank

I have a 800 gallon water tank and I get delivery every two weeks. I ran out of water two days early when I first arrived so I’ve had to learn to conserve even more. First - how do I know when I’ve run out of water, besides the obvious? The water pump keeps running and can lead to serious problems, ie burning out the pump. In my case I had started a load of laundry and then left the house. When I went to take a shower later there wasn’t any water. I ran to the washer and sure enough it had stopped with only a partially filled tub. How the pump shut itself off I don’t know. I borrowed a few gallons of water from a neighbor for flushing the toilet and showered at school. What a luxury to come home on delivery day and have running water again! As a result of running the tank completely dry, I had nasty rusty water for the first few days after delivery.

Water conservation 101: “If its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down.” Keep a bucket in the shower to collect the water run while it heats up. Use that water to flush the toilet. Same with bathroom sink - keep a small bucket in sink to run water in while waiting for hot water to wash face. Use that water first to wash hands and then for flushing toilet. Use a glass of water to brush teeth. In kitchen when washing dishes - wait until there is a pile and do all at once. Use a tub for rinsing to avoid having to run the water. Do only full loads of laundry. Shower every other day. It works! I had plenty of water left on delivery day and was able to fill several milk jugs with water for future emergencies.

Hope you enjoy this peek into Bethel life.

Vikki

September 23, 2007

Expensive gas in Bethel:

My first tank of gas cost $51.95! Sticker shock but luckily a tank of gas can last three weeks.

Smores can’t go outside alone due to loose dogs and foxes so I’m training her to wear a harness so I can keep tabs on her. She doesn’t look too happy about it, does she? She has her ears back which is how she tells me she does not like the things I am putting her through.

 It’s the beginning of week 6. Class schedules have been settled and school is beginning to be routine. I am enjoying Yupik class at the high school and seeing how clothing and household items are made using traditional methods. In this picture the teacher shows how to use a hatchet to begin carving a bowl. Once the rough cuts are made then hand made carving knives are used. The knives are sitting in a hand made bowl.

Love Vikki 

Click on this photo to enlarge and you will see my car parked behind the high school

Sept. 18, 2007

The rain comes. A solid two weeks now and it’s getting old. Last year this time I was basking in warm, sunny fall weather. No such luck this year. I had a fun mud experience last week. I volunteered to drive a group of cross country team students out to the course they run during competition. I was the last in a carvan of 4 school vans, so I followed the leader. Unfortunately the leader chose the road that led to an unpaved part of the “highway” that circles town. It was a quagmire! Which way to go? Aim for the ruts or the falsely luring flat spots? I asked the kids as the van bucked and slid, and got a variety of anticdotes but no solid advice because as one sage student pointed out - they were all too young to drive! Upon arrival, safe and sound, I got a handshake of congratulations from the coach. It was a fun afternoon.

My car arrived September 5th and I had the chore of unpacking 2,000 pounds of provisions. Food, cat litter, car parts, airbeds, clothes, dishes, laundry soap, you name it…if I could cram it into the car, it came. Funny story - I had finished loading the car after dark back in Washington and awoke to the sight of the car chassis barely clearing the rear tires. Gulp. I never thought about the load capacity of my Subaru, I only thought about the high cost of everything up here. A gallon of milk is $7.80! My favorite, english muffins, are $4. A 2 lb. brick of Tillamook cheese is $10. Surprisingly, I can get meat at a decent price if I buy on sale. Not inexpensive, but comparatively reasonable. Veggies and fruit? Again, not bad if you get them on sale - but far from fresh.

So I unpacked and my car has returned to normal. Whew. So far it’s handling the mud and ruts just fine but with every bone-jarring pothole (and this at 5 mph) I fear for my shocks. Now I understand why people with cars didn’t want to venture way out to Tundra Ridge where I lived last year - each trip must take months off the life span of a shock. I cheered when I saw the city grader out on the road. As soon as the rain stops they come out and repair the roads but it only lasts until the next shower. Oh - did I mention gas is almost $5 a gallon? It costs over $50 to fill my tank. The good news - the tank lasts several weeks.

My brother Bill departed for his tour of duty to Iraq. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Here he is with his beautiful family: wife Belinda, kids Mahala and Taylor.

Please write your congress person, senator, president and insist the US bring the troops home safe and sound!

Not all of my photo album titles are appearing to the right. If you click on any of those showing - then you will see the entire list. That’s where you’ll find the pictures of my new house.

Peace and love to All,

Vikki