These
are the Chronicles of Famous Surf Writer Ben Marcus and his trip
into the Wilds of the Alaskan Frontier.
Latest Update: September 24, 2000
9:20
OTSEA KITCHEN
I
am in the Otsea kitchen on a Sunday.
Peter
and Anouk and Calder are making blueberry pancakes.
Peter
speaks French to his kids, and they read Tintin and Asterix. Smart.
Margie
is at yoga class.
I'm
reading the Juneau Sunday paper.
The
latest news:
There
were four bear shot in Juneau this summer. They wander down into
parks and won't go away, so they get the silver bullet.
Peter
and Margie have had bear on their back steps and front porch in
the past. They didn't shoot them. They invited the bear in for tea
and salmon hors de ouevre, but the bear refused. "You aren't NATIVE
Alaskans."
This
year Alaska is paying all qualifying Alaska citizens almost $2000
just to live in the state. That is the PFD, the Permanent Fund Divided,
all of the revenues from oil and minerals and tourism and pickled
bear meat and whatever, invested wisely, and paid out once a year
to more than half a million Alaskans.
This
PFD is the biggest ever. Someone here knew how to play the stock
market.
Let's
see: $2000 times 500,000 = $1,000,000,000, give or take a few tens
of millions. A billion dollars. "Righteous bucks" as Spicoli would
say.
Two
thousand is about what I make a year now. I should move up here.
Other
news. There's a big debate in Juneau over building a $230 million
road to Skagway, or updating the ferry system. Seems to me that
a capitol city should be road-accesible, but people in Juneau don't
seem to feel that way. I wouldn't mind being able to drive in and
out, but I'm a Cheechalker, or however you spell it. A visitor.
A dingaling from the Lower 48, so no one cares about what I think.
The
debate continues. Peter says the road to Skagway will be a mother
to build: Avalanche zones everywhere. It'll make PCH along Big Sur
look like a country road.
They
could build it using only one-fifth of the PFD. Pac Bell Park cost
three times as much.
But
a road would most likely congest Juneau beyond the breaking point.
So maybe it's not such a good idea.
That's
all the news that's fit to print. Going to organize the van today
and get ready to hopefully catch the ferry to Haines tomorrow. I'm
on standby. Gotta be there at 6:15 in the AM.
Then
I'm going to make for Anchorage. After that, I don't know. Everyone
is warning me to be ready for winter, because it's going to get
brutal. I doubt I'll stay around for that long. I might try to get
back to Washington by October 16, to contest that ticket. But I
doubt it.
Anyway.
Keep those e-mails coming.
Ben
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