My First Day On The Job

My first official day on the job was actually quite nice. I had about 33 homes to interview; got 5 done, with maybe 4 being vacant. The rest I just left notice that I’d been there. I’ll have to keep going back to those till I get them.

I started at 9:00. Went to the base and picked up my base pass, then headed on over to Muldoon and got to work. I got home by around 2:00, then cleaned up the paperwork and got organized again for tomorrow.

The neighborhood I’ve been assigned to isn’t so bad. There are some really interesting homes, lots of apartment buildings, and a wide variety of ethnic races.

At one apartment, a very young little guy running around in his diapers opened the door for me. Unfortunately his father was in the shower at the time. I know this because the bathroom was directly across from the front door - and its door was open, too. I quickly told the little one I’d come back later and closed the front door again. I could hear the father yelling out to the kids as I left “Who was that?” I wonder if he knows his kids are opening the door to just anybody?

Another house had me interviewing this 89 year old Eskimo woman. She was a sweetheart; told me all about her 8 sons and 1 daughter. She’s been sick lately, but is finally starting to feel better again. Her cousin from Kodiak came to help her out. As I said, very sweet.

To make the whole thing an experience I won’t forget soon: I managed to lock my keys in the car. I had to call a cab to come break in to my car for me. Last time that happened to me was back when Little Debbie’s husband was killed – we were at his funeral… Back then it cost me $10 - this time it cost $25.

Here at home, Rob came over and fixed a few things around the house. He fixed the bathtub in my roommate’s bathroom (the overflow drain cover had come off), he put the rack on my new bike (had to manufacture special brackets out of scrap metal), he fixed my computer desk in preparation for my new computer (drilled air holes so it won’t heat up so bad and got the file cabinet drawer to work properly), he tweaked on my dishwasher and fridge so that I am now able to actually open the door (the fridge got moved over slightly and the dishwasher is now at an angle), he took apart my microwave fan & grill thingy and cleaned them (years and years of grease, grime, and dust), and last but not least, he started building the birdfeeder that I’ve been wanting (took the broom handle, made a hook out of the remaining sheet metal scraps he’d used on my bike, screwed in some smaller hooks to hang feeders off them). I guess guys are good for something, after all.

I ended the day by making a huge pot of soup. It’s a Butternut Squash soup base with tomatoes, corn, and black beans from my pantry downstairs - plus red, green, and yellow pepper strips from the frozen veggie isle at the store – and I threw in some freeze-dried veggies, rice & onions from my stash of soup makings. Then I added some fresh ground pepper, allspice, and a dash of cinnamon. Oh, and lots of garlic.