Getting Buy With A Little Help From My Friends

     ...Yeah, I know I spelled it wrong.  But I'm making a point.

I'm sitting in the Juneau Airport restaurant killing a little time.  I arrived at 1:15 pm and I really don't have to be anyplace until 5:00 pm, when I get on the boat that delivers me to the mine I work at.  I'm mostly over the episode starring cellulitis infection and co-starring gout, but I'm not out of the woods yet.  My foot is still a little tender and swollen, but the meds are doing a remarkable slow and steady job of improving things.  Hopefully, I'll be feeling back around 100% in another couple of days.  These things suck because although I can do my job with a little limp, there are things within the scope of my job where someone could say that I'm not doing my job because I have to do some things a little slower.  In a job where productivity is measured by the speed of which tasks get done, or the number of tasks that can quickly be performed, injury or illness at work has the potential of getting you sent home - a very expensive notion.  Let's just say that when you show up for work - you stay there until your regular schedule permits you to be off.  If that sounds a little scary - it's supposed to when all you want or need to do is work for the time being.

Okay, surely I digress.  But not completely.  You'll see in a minute...

I achieved a milestone yesterday.  I am a 100% bonafide no-debt-owing HOMEOWNER!  On the way to the airport yesterday, I stopped by the title company and handed over a cashier's check for my land payoff.  For those of you not in-the-know, I bought an acre and a half in July and immediately commenced land clearing and cabin building.  I now have a cabin shell (no insulation, heat, water, or electricity yet) that is yet unfinished.  The pad is ready for concrete to be poured for the 32'x52' shop I'll build later, septic system is in, and my proudest achievement is the working flush toilet in my unfinished cabin.  Some of you understand the Dry Cabin Blues.  In rural Alaska, there is indeed something to be said for a flush toilet. That is the kind of thing that can turn a guy from a bachelor into an eligible bachelor (gotta be careful stepping into "eligible" territory - very tricky ground there) real quick.

Okay, so I'm working on the cabin, have the land payment wrapped up.  Now let's take a look at what goes into achieving this in less than 5 months:

First, I have the amazing neighbor and dear friend.  For anonymity's sake, let's call her Panda.  Along with battling health issues, raising two sons, being a mom to a grown daughter, taking care of her two dogs, running the housekeeping crew, bartending, memorizing lines for her parts and others' parts for local community stageshows, and being a pillar of support for her countless friends and family who turn to her at every bend for friendship, advice or comfort, she watches my dog when I have to be away, which is frequently.  And she checks on my PO Box so it doesn't fill up when I am gone.  She is a saint.  To me, to so very many.  Thank you Panda!

There's Kaila, my loving malemute.  We've been inseparable since she was 5 months old.  Now, at 8 1/2 years old, I leave her behind to go to work.  That is the absolute, most terrible part of my life.  I hate leaving her behind.  She's always went to work with me.  Now she is a yard and house dog.  It sucks.  Kaila, I love you puppers!

There's my my friend the bus driver, Seeker (not his real name).  Building his own house, he was generous enough to spot me a lot of money when I needed it to carry me through until the next payday, because I was only home for a short time, and my checks weren't jibing with my off/construction schedule.  Summer really does go by too fast in Alaska when you are trying to build your home.  Thanks a million buddy!

There's my mom and her boyfriend.  They have camped out at the property while I've been home for some family moral support, help moving out of my rental, and so much more than I can name.  I have to say that they have certainly eased the burden on many occasions.  Here they'd come, RV or camper shell in tow, every time I was home, with campfire wood, home cookin', work gloves and 10-12 hour days when it mattered most.  You.  Two.  Are.  Amazing.

My friend John.  I can use his real name.  I'm just not using his last name.  I used to work for John.  I hated that he was my dad's age and would work circles around me - no matter what.  I learned a lot from him, though, about work ethic.  I still try to emulate his work ethic today, even when I am falling apart at the foot, or knee or whatever.  John said he'd help me get my cabin up.  You know, I don't think we had 12 hours into setting the deck and getting 4 walls put up.  At one point he said, "Rod, pick up your hammer and get over on that side.  You're going to remember what it's like working for me, buddy!"  For a moment, I felt a streak of terror race from my abdomen through my chest to my throat.

I have three other friends who helped with miscellaneous things.  The Beast moved some dirt around so I couls attend to some other things, The Giant made so many store runs on his way home from work with lumber and whatnot I swear he should have had commercial insurance on his truck.  Chicken Little kept me calm when I started freaking out about running out of time and still managed to put in one hell of a septic system with me, and last but not least, my friend who peddles hugs around town kept me company a lot in my shell of a place and spent a day helping me with the two person job of hanging roof rafters.  Thanks you to all of you.

So with all of this going on, all I have to do is go to work, make the money, buy the materials and get busy on the project.  But going to work in the first place is the most important part.  And my cabin isn't finished.  And my foot hurts.

So you see, There have been a heck of a lot of people who have come together to make this milestone happen.  I'd still be scratching dirt and paying rent if it wasn't for all of these remarkable souls.  I have got some of the best friends in the world, period.  Some are near and some far, and it doesn't take this project to prove friendship to me.  These were just the beautiful souls who happened to be there at this time.

Go ahead, take a moment gratitude.  If you don't have a place to write it down, please, use the comments section below to share how your friends have picked you up when you have needed them.  Thanks!

Keeping the Pace: Gout teaches you how to be flexible

I have been thinking about blogging for well over a year now.  Prompted by my love to write, a very successful blog by a old neighborhood friend, Mrs. Fatass, and my good friend and neighbor kicking out a few from time to time, here's the first.  Incidentally, I have a little time on my hands at the moment since a gout attack coupled with a bout of cellulitis in my left foot have got me off of my feet for a few days.

We all make plans.  We all have things that we look forward to.  We negotiate each day, working and getting our ducks in a row so that when the time comes to execute our plan, we are able to.  In my case, this little protocol doesn't always pan out quite that way.  I can't count how many times I have gone to bed anxious and excited because I had an activity or event that I have looked forward to, and then I wake up the next morning with that familiar ache in my foot - Gout. 

I have tried everything.  Limiting my diet.  Quitting drinking.  Taking pills.  Increasing my water intake.  Still, it rears it's ugly head.  I had my first flareup when I was about 25 and gradually it seems to get a little worse as I get older.  In retrospect, I should have done a lot more to mitigate the severity of my condition but I thought I was invincible.  That's a condition that afflicts everyone in their youth, I think.

I don't brood over what I could have done different, though.  I don't have time for that.  At 39 years old, I have done a lot of pretty amazing and exciting things in the 11 years since I moved from the Flint area to start over in Alaska.  I have hiked to the base of Denali across gorgeous country, walked glaciers, handled and ran sled dogs, traveled to some beautiful areas in search of nothing but the experience and I am not done.  Not even close!  A little obstacle to my mobility isn't enough to kill my spirits or my dreams.

Sometimes you have to adjust for life's unexpected curve balls.  I realized a long time ago how important a good attitude and positive outlook is in determining the quality of my life.  Whoever said to make lemonade when life hands you lemons was a genius.  I think that it is sad that so many people don't really believe that in their hearts and let blind acceptance of their life's lot keep them miserable - and unproductive. 

So sure...I wanted to do plenty this week and weekend.  It's probably not going to happen, but I have to look at my alternatives and embrace them as my reality.  I think it's pretty neat that I finally had some time to start a blog.  I have been wanting to, so why not now?  I can't get high because of my job, so I'm really digging the pain pills I have at the moment.  I finally sat down and addressed making plans for an upcoming vacation that I may have put off.  Turns out I got the last available room and never would have gotten that if I had waited. 

So you see, it's all in the perspective.  I could have been bummed out about not visiting my friends or working on my new home.  Instead, I think some really positive things have come from this forced down time, and I am glad.