Thursday, October 25, 2007

On the Topic of Vodka

Anna's Rant

I just went to the liquor store to buy a bottle of Żubrówka for my college-friend reunion this weekend. Sitting there on the shelf next to its clear vodka brothers and sisters, it looked more greeny/yellowy than I'd remembered it from a mere month ago. So I studied the label a little more closely and saw there is FD&C Yellow #5 added! Wha?!?! And the grass isn't really special Polish bison grass! I did some web-based research and am so sad to learn we'll be consuming a "reformulated" product for American import. I was sure being in Polish Chicago I'd be able to get my mits on the real stuff. I'll just have to meet a Pole who brought some over.

Drink an extra shot of the real stuff for me the next time you have a chance.

The story according to wikipedia.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

A "J-O-B"


That is what my dad always says is the goal. I say, "wrong." Isn't the goal actually not having a job? In fact, I think that is the whole reason people have jobs: to get to the point of not having one. Right?
Well, fathers are not bound by reason, and to appease mine, I tracked down a place interested in employing me. I'm working for Smokey Bay Air as a pilot. I fly Cessna 206s (which is basically the flying version of an SUV) for air taxis, bear watching, hunting, flight seeing, groceries, dead cats, you name it.
We fly in and out of four main villages: Homer (where I now live in a hotel+kitchenette...woo hoo, life outside the Subaru!), Seldovia (a pretty fishing town), Port Graham (a Native Alaskan/Russian Orthodox village), and Nanwalek (Port Graham's party-loving cousins). On the first day of work, the training pilot took us around the bend to Nanwalek as she said "This runway used to be straight." The Nanwalek Airport (see photo) sits on a short, curved strip of uneven gravel that has a town on one side, water on two, and a big ol' cliff on the other. This picture of safety in air travel is littered, at any given time, with four-wheelers and dogs.
I'm sure that landing in a turn, on one wheel, jumping the town dog pack and strategically avoiding the cliff are all life skills that will help me in my quest to not work. However, NOW my dad is saying this is not a very good job. As "good" was not listed in his previous criteria, I am going to press on for a while flying Cocoa Puffs and airsick tourists.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Anna and Steph, Reunited!


Steph met Anna enroute back from Poland. They joined some friends at Oktoberfest in Munich. Here are the results: Polish Vodka