Last Day at the Office

From Left to Right:

Joe Slusser, Martha Merculieff, Adena Shanigan (hiding), Blanche Jacobs, Katie Pete, Martha Tikiun., Glenda Chaney, Dave Buettner, Imo Samuelson, Lance Joanis, Yours Truly, AJ Barkis, and Tom Jamgochian. (Special thanks to Kari McCrea of the PDA for taking the picture.)

I will definitely miss working with all the above great people. Each and every one of them does a great job under very trying circumstances, and they all need to be commended. (I do worry about Dave though - until they find a replacement he will be handling his entire caseload, plus all of my misdemeanor caseload. As a point of reference, the public defenders have three attorneys for his misdemeanor caseload alone, and that's just a fraction of what he does.) At any rate, best of luck to them in the future!

Blanche has been there the longest - she started when Dale Curda (who just retired as a Superior Court Judge) was a DA. I was there the shortest.

As a going away present, they got me a framed enlarged copy of the text of AS 12.60.220. You kind of have to read AS 12.60.180, 12.60.190 and 12.60.210 to get it, really.

And also they got me some highlights of actual officially filed court documents. Some of them may be scanned in for your entertainment.

And now, farewell! Blogging has been fun, but my time is done. You can keep up with Genevieve and Revel-Roo at Lapacaca Life Adventure Part II.

A blistering 47 degrees!

Last year at around this time, it was 75 degrees colder. 

Heat Wave

It's currently 41 degrees.  Yesterday it rained alot.  The record high, in 1994, was 42. 

K300 and the Best Housewarming Present Ever.....

Tom's Tribute to the K300 (yes, it's a scottish terrier sled dog)

Our Tribute to Tom and our wonderful days of housesitting his place!

What's this, you ask? Well, you don't really know what someone truly needs until you spend a week in their house. Tom doesn't just pretend to be a bachelor and I admire him for it. But he claims not to have even noticed his cracked toilet seat...yes, how could you miss it?

And plus his bathroom temperature hovers just above freezing (he proudly proclaimed that there's been ice in his bathtub before). So Google.com came through with just the present that he needed. He may have been skeptical when he opened it, but the next day he sure was happy. We don't have a picture because he knows all too well that anything he sends us will probably end up right here. (So sorry, Joy, no pics. But don't worry we'll still do plenty of blogging about Tom when we move to Dutch Harbor. And I think we might have a video-off between Pax Rev and Kusko. For those of you who don't know Tom's video talents, check this out.)

Back to the main subject, though, if anyone wants to invest in a electrically heated toilet seat, Tom gives it a thumbs up. But the real reason I made the investment is that the website proudly stated that these seats are so safe that: "Though not recommended, you can even put your tongue on the electrical connection and you'll experience no more of a shock than putting your tongue on a battery". Now, that's safety. Not recommended, though? Who can't recommend putting your tongue on your toilet seat. Ahh, bet they don't know about the boil situation in Bethel.

To get off the potty humor subject, here's one more K300 starting line pic.

Mega Photo Upload Blog

Well, super busy is the word!  Words, technically.  I went up to Emmonak for a very surprising trial.  I learned a lot.  And I brought home two very cool hats.  In the end, justice was done. 

Grammy Williams came up to our neck of the woods, which was a treat for us. And for Revel-roo. 

And the timing was perfect - K-300 time!  Bethel's claim to fame.  At least, positive fame.

Little Boo-da has been giggling and cooing a lot, which always livens up our days.  Here he is sleeping intently.

Here's the K-300 winner, Martin Buser, at the finish line.

And here's his 16 year old son Rohn, who came in 4th place.  Notice his extreme dog-mushing footwear.  Both of Martin's sons are named after checkpoints on the Iditarod trail.  His other son is Nikolai.  Here's a cool article about them.

The reporter asked if his feet were cold. 

"No.  I've got two pairs of socks on." 

Keep in mind, this is a 300+ mile race in sub-zero temperatures! 

John Little and his family make an amazing team.  His wife, and their son Salem were running around helping out.  He's 8 months old, and sort of Pax's soul-brother.  (Their names mean the same thing.  But Salem was also sort of named after Jeff King's Iditarod-winning lead dog.  )  Anyway, those guys are amazing!  Check out the story of Salem's birth.  At home, unassisted, in a log cabin!

Paxson and Salem meet:

Hanging with the hounds:

Post-racing treats (salmon slices):

Some dogs look a little more tired than others at the finish line.

And finally, the Kuskokwim-River mail-delivering hovercraft in action:

Cute Baby Noises, Etc.

"Let Us Develop a Kind of Dangerous Unselfishness"

Hooray to Martin Luther King and all he stood for. Hooray to peace, love, understanding and kindness. Hooray to standing up for a dream. Hooray for non-violence.

We had a heatwave yesterday - mid-20s - so enjoyed a little walk with Pax Rev facing out. He loved it.

For the first 100 seconds or so anyway... then he conked out.

Team Wilco on the river:

All Tuckered Out

Revel's First Live Concert (Technically)

Well, his first concert was Michael Franti, but he heard that from Genevieve's belly, so it doesn't quite count. But he really enjoyed his first concert. Paul Basile came back to town, after moving back to the big city (New York) to advance his music career. Hooray Paul! Keep up the good work!

Revel also enjoyed his first adventure facing outward in the Bjorn. He's such a happy guy, it's great.

Paul, Katie, Jesse, and Kevin performed an awesome cover of Wagon Wheel, made especially awesome with Katie's high voice in there. (Sorry, I don't know technical musical terms. But it sounded excellent.)

Super-Yurt

As it turns out, we have been researching our living options in Unalaska, and we have some exciting opportunities.  There are a few lots for sale on Haystack Hill.  If you look at the picture below, it's the hill sort of in the middle left of the frame. 

From that hill, you get views like this. 

Or, this:

Or maybe this:  Now, if you'r going to build a house with a view like these, you'r going to want one that has nice windows.  And what better kind of house than a round house to make the most of it?  But it has to be a house that can withstand hurricane force winds on a regular basis.  Well, this company, Deltec, has a proven record of houses that have been hit dead center by hurricanes and lived on unscathed. 

Here's a few inspiring shots:

At any rate, the homes are surprisingly affordable.  (Especially compared to the average home cost in Unalaska - which is $400,000).  And just add one of these windmills to defray the exhorbitant cost of utilities, and you're living the dream!

Here's the text describing the following picture: 

A cottage for gold miners and free time usage. Electrified with Windside WS-0,30C wind turbine which charges batteries giving electricity for lights, radio, mobile phones...

Well, I almost blogged about crime, because as a normal human I need some kind of outlet to vent, but that ends up depressing not only me but at least one or two other innocent readers, so instead I wrote a letter to the Governor.  I'm sure it will make it to the top of her agenda.

Bethel?

On the rugrat front, Pax Rev is adjusting well to the babysitting scene. But Friday will be his last day of that. And another person was murdered on our street. Bethel's third homicide in the last four weeks. How's that for a holiday season?

Detroit's got nothing on Bethel. And neither does New Orleans.

Hands Full

Or what to do in the event of a simultaneous meltdown....

Do they make double bjorns??

By the way, Pax Rev was an A student on his second day of trading childcare. Whew. Also by the way, working is a fair bit easier than dual baby watching.

Babysitters R Us

Well, not quite.  Genevieve stayed home for the first half of the day and watched Pax Rev and Gabe.  Then Jennifer took the second half of the day off and watched them.  Apparently Pax Rev had a small case of the grumpy pants from approximately 2:30-5:00.  Jennifer was not too excited about the program after day one, but she's giving it one more shot tomorrow.     If that fails, Paxson Revel will be getting his first Albanian immersion lesson, courtesy of Marjeta's mom.  (Bethel has a small Albanian community, and they've managed to corner the market on daycare.)