Fairbanks has a few reasons to celebrate every summer. One is the solstice, and the other is Golden Days. What, you ask, is Golden Days? Well, to paraphrase the less-than-educated person standing behind me at Pioneer Park yesterday, Golden Days is when we celebrate Felix Pedro getting left on the banks of the Chena River and then finding gold about 113 years ago. Except Pedro wasn't the one left on the river. And it wasn't 113 years ago. But then, who really thought we'd find the brain trust at a festival, right?
But you know what we did find? Free hot dogs!
Here's Tom, who took a break while eating his four hot dogs. He started musing about entering a hot dog eating contest, but he let me down in a pie-eating contest four years ago. It's hard to respect a man who comes in second.
I only had one hot dog. Marvelous restraint. Plus, they were lukewarm.
But I digress. I really only talked about Golden Days so that I wouldn't blog twice in a row about the transfer station. I stopped in after work again today, because I'm on the hunt for some dining room chairs. First stop: Farmers Loop/Taku. No chairs, but the Transfer Station Angels were there. I heard one of them mutter that he should go into his dressing room before changing his mind and dropping his pants right there to try on some clothes. I can't complain about him too much, though, as he was the one responsible for this:
It's always nice when someone puts some effort into displaying the recycle deck goodies. The rest of the deck was in similarly pristine condition, but I had to get a photo of the refrigerator display case.
The Chena Pump transfer station did not have any chairs either, but it marked a first for me. I pulled in behind a guy in a pick up truck and quickly accosted him with a "Does that work?" question. The short answer was yes.
And so we are now proud owners of a 27" TV. It doesn't have a remote or a power button, but I'm not above sticking a pen in the hole every time I need to turn the TV on. Plus, we can buy a universal remote.
My visit to the Chena Pump transfer station was marred by odd noises from one of the dumpsters. At first I thought some guy was smashing glass bottles inside the dumpster. That would be weird, but I could accept it. However, he was actually leaning into a dumpster and smashing a window. With a hammer. I would have gotten a picture of it, but the dude frankly scared me, so I left him to smash and brought my new TV home.
Transfer station, how I love thee! You take away my garbage and give me other people's garbage in return. Seriously, people, I have of late become a transfer station junkie. It just so happens that I go past not one but TWO transfer stations on my way home. There's the Farmer's Loop/Taku Lot transfer station, which is where all the hippies and college students go, and I also pass the Chena Pump Road transfer station, which is where all the rich people go. Needless to say, outfitting our new house has been a snap. What, you need photographic evidence?
Today's big find: An outdoor table for our massive, massive deck.
Also on our deck: Flowers. I paid for those, but all the planters were free!
Soon to be retired: A grocery basket found at the Farmers Loop/Steese Highway transfer station. I always stop in when I'm on that side of town. It served us well for bringing food up to the main cabin, but is kind of useless now that we don't live in the commune anymore.
Tom wanted a soap dish. Tom got a soap dish. Or rather, I got a soap dish for Tom.
I wish I'd found this chair before I bought a recliner at Salvation Army. Well, now we have two living room chairs.
And an ottoman, which technically is not a transfer station find. This one I found out with someone's garbage in the Aurora subdivision about 4 years ago.
Small nightstand for our office? Transfer station!
Filing cabinet? Again, not a transfer station find. A friend found it on her new property when the snow melted. It comes complete with a UAF sticker.
Three-foot tall wooden tiki fork? Transfer station!
Dresser? Transfer station!
Mirrored bathroom cabinet? Transfer station!
Computer desk? Say it with me now....transfer station!
You may be asking yourself why I am posting all these pictures of my dump finds. Well, my friend, it's because I can. I can sit in the comfort of my own home at my own computer and do this. You know why?
High speed Internet! (Not from the transfer station)
Anonymous, you were right. How can I expect hordes of screaming fans at the burlesque show if I don't give you a few, key details?
Drum roll, please....
Fleurs du Mal Burlesque is back! This outstanding, locally produced classic burlesque show will have an exclusive run at the Palace Theatre in Pioneer Park during the month of July. The ladies will take the stage at 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights starting July 13. On Thursday, July 12, don't miss your chance for a special pay-what-you-can "Boston" show. It's your only chance to see the show without necessarily seeing it all (wink wink).
You know what? I'm pretty damn sure that I've used that as a post title before. But my point is that my blog may look a little odd for a few months. I'm taking a few classes over the summer, and one of them requires that I set up a blog at Blogger. Now, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, dear readers, but I happen to have a blog at Blogger - and you're reading it right now. Actually, I have four: this one, one for my restaurant reviews (woefully behind in updates), one for my recipes (no, NOT the brownies, Jill!) and one for Tom's bike trip (although he got back in September). And so, I've petitioned my instructor to let me use this blog. Don't be alarmed if I started talking about processors or whatnot.
On the bright side, maybe this means I'll get on top of updating my blog. I was reprimanded for being lazy at a swanky lil' soiree for Jill this weekend. Di anyone else know that Jill is a lean, mean, digits-getting machine? It's kind of fun to set challenges for her, because she always overcomes!
And since you're still reading, let me just remind you that the Fleurs du Mal burlesque show starts THIS WEEK. Free preview show Tuesday night and a Boston (i.e. "clean") show on Thursday, with the show officially starting on Friday. Friday and Saturday nights at 10 for the rest of the month. Be there or be a figure with four sides of equal length and four 90-degree angles.
UPDATE: I lied. Or rather, I changed my mind. Putting my assignment posts on this blog would quickly become quite messy, so I created a new blog. If you're really interested, you can check it out. And don't forget to come to the show this month!
Fairbanks may the be second-largest city in the largest state in the nation, but that doesn't stop everyone from knowing everyone else. Cases in point:
• I went to a Canada day/surprise birthday party for a friend. The host had once co-chaired a gubernatorial debate with my boyfriend. Though I didn't know most of the other guests, we were all somehow connected through either the Fairbanks journalism world or through the blogosphere,
• Because we are looking for furniture for the new house, a coworker put me in touch with her son, who is selling furniture for a move. We chatted over the phone about a bed he had for sale, and I went to his house yesterday to look at it. He looked somewhat familiar, but I knew we had some friends in common. When he showed me the bed, I realized that I recognized him because I had sold him the same bed four years ago.
I'd love to regale you with more stories or photos, but none of the other bloggers have put up photos for me to 'borrow,' and I've got to go to an interview.
