Following a schedule not unlike that of a vampire, sleeping betwixt the hours of 7am and 3pm, I have been keeping myself busy and out of trouble by working two jobs in an attempt to save up money for my fall travels. At 5:30pm I arrive at my first job with a local tour company that specializes in Arctic Circle flights and drives. My official title is Guest Services Coordinator. Right away I am handed a guest list complete with tour programs and a list of shuttle stops for me to make in order to pick up guests desiring to fly up past the Arctic Circle to a small town called Coldfoot, where they are met by a guide who takes them up to the even smaller gold mining town of Wiseman. According to the 2000 census the population of Wiseman is 20. I'm not sure that constitutes a town, or even a village. Perhaps it's a community?
I park my car between the air traffic control tower and our 9 passenger, Piper Navajo Chieftain twin engine planes.
[I know, right? Listen to me sounding like I know the difference between a Piper and a Sasquatch!]
[I know, right? Listen to me sounding like I know the difference between a Piper and a Sasquatch!]
When I was between digital cameras I took some photos with a Bell+Howell BF977 I found laying around the house using film that had been in the fridge since probably the '70s. Never heard of the camera model before? That's most likely because it's the cheapest "point and shoot" camera one could have found in the '90s. I don't think there's even a flash. But there is a panorama option. Now that's fancy. Maybe it wasn't the cheapest after all! I took this photo in blazing sunlight but I like that it turned out almost black and white looking, like a fancy effect people would try for.
The university is visible from our office.
After collecting my guests from their hotels, I give my guests a little briefing about their tour using a headset microphone in my van, a van which, incidentally, I always operate safely and smoothly. Once we arrive back to our tour office my coworkers and I take their bag weights, get their sack lunch orders, take payment for gift shop items they wish to purchase, show people on the map where they'll be going, and encourage everyone several times to use the restroom since all there is in Wiseman is a mosquito infested outhouse. Of course invariably not everyone actually uses the restroom until I'm calling out names to walk out with me to their flight. So we wait...
Then I take them outside and help them board their planes in a safe fashion. Any given night we can have between 0 and 5 planes going up depending upon demand.
This shot was taken at 11:30pm with the old point and shoot.
After they take off, I head into the office to organize the rest of my night's shuttle rides, create the Arctic Circle certificates for my 7pm flight guests, do some paper work, some cleaning, meet drives and flights, and shuttle guests back to their respective hotels. At the end of the night, generally between midnight and 1am, my air guests come back to Fairbanks. I go out and greet their planes, hand out their certificates in a ceremonious fashion, complete with clapping and handshaking, take my guests out to my van and shuttle them back to their hotels. I then have the ever so glamorous job of scrubbing toilets and vacuuming. On a normal night I get off at 2am. 4 nights a week I then head over to my hotel job where I work part time as a night auditor/front desk clerk until 6:30am.
Here are some more shots taken from around the office. Besides the first one they were taken with my new digital camera.
The midnight sun sneaks into the hanger from under the hanger door.
Shadows cast by a midnight sunset.
The night crew wishes you a good day.
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