Ramblings about the last two weeks...

Well, it has been more than two weeks since I have sat down at my computer to try and think of anything worth sharing with the rest of the world. These last two weeks have been interesting, that is for sure. Not interesting in a bad or good way really; just plane mediocre.

Business has been really slow, which is a bummer, but Harmony and the baby (Laurel Breeze), and Sunni and Mike came in last weekend, so it was good to finally have some company! They came in for the golf tournament. A few other people did end up coming into town for it as well, but there were still only 30 participants all together, which is pretty dismal. We usually have twice that.

For those of you who don't know, the golf tournament in Port Alexander is a pretty big deal. This year was the 25th annual. It is called the Port Alexander Troll Closure Open because it used to always happen when trolling (fishing) was closed so all the fishermen could play too, but now a days, too much planning goes into it ahead of time, and the closure is never announced early enough, so it hardly ever lands during the closure

The tournament lasts two days and is played at low tide on the beach. The men play 18 holes and the women play 8. Us women like to take our time and chat and just have fun, whereas the men are more serious and go, go, go. So, for that reason, we also have to let the men play through, meaning if we are playing a whole and they want to play that whole, we have to stop and let them proceed! But we are fine with that; we just play 10 less holes!

This year three people conked themselves on the head with a golf ball. Man, golf is a dangerous sport, especially playing on the beach. What happened to all three, was they were trying to hit around a large rock or old piece of motor that was on the beach, but they ended up just smacking that ball right into it, so it ricocheted off and hit them in the head. DJ got it the worse, we thought she got it in the eye, but it was just her eyebrow. For a little while, we thought she was going to have to be medivaced to town!

Sunni and I were in charge of the tournament this year, meaning we called all the businesses in Sitka for prize donations, and we mowed the greens and put up the flags and organized the pot lucks. Sunni did more - she was in sitka, but having me down here helped her because I could figure out where the clubs, balls, and flags were stored last year, and where the lawn mower was, and where we could store the prizes and the food, etc. It worked out well. I thought once Sunni got to PA things might get a little messy because her and I usually argue a lot, but it actually worked our REALLY well. I was pleasantly surprised.

I ended up getting 9th place (out of 20 women) in the tournament, which is horrible. I'm usually at least in the top 4. I played terrible this year. My first hit would usually be pretty decent, but then it would take me a million more strokes to get it to the tee; I just kept over shooting it. I lost three balls this year, too. I never lose my ball, but this year it happened three times! That is when i finally just got fed up and started taking 8's on holes even when i was only on my 2nd stroke (8 is the highest score you can get on any of our holes).

So ya, the golf tournament went well (except for my crummy playing), but it was sad to see everyone leave. The day after the tournament PA pretty much turned back into a ghost town.

I'm leaving PA next weekend! I can't believe the summer is over already. It seems like just a couple weeks ago I came down here with Mike and we were pluming and building and trying to make my espresso machine work. But, here it is the end of August. I have been here for practically 2 months; since June 27th!

My coffee experience has been amazing. I think when I am in Sitka this winter, I am going to try and get a job at a coffee shop. There is something about making coffee and working at a cafe that just makes me feel good. I get to talk to people, see how there day is going, make them something that puts a smile on their face. It is just fun! I think I'm just cut out to be a barista :) HAHA, I wish I could be cut out to be an awesome reporter for say the New York Times, but hey... I'll take what I can get!!!

I must say that I have gotten a lot better at making cappuccinos. I don't free pour them though.. I scoop the foam off and put it in the cup... that is how the lady who taught me did it, and that is what I have decided works best for me! I really don't have to make very many of them, so it is not that big of deal, but if I do work at a larger coffee shop, I suppose I will have to work on mastering the cappuccino a little more.

Also... my new favorite drink would have to be a breve hot chocolate with sugar free vanilla. I always get a non fot HC with SF vanilla, but when ever I make my dad his breve mocha and there is left over half and half, I make a mini HC for myself and it is DELICIOUS! But, of course it would be... it is made with half cream!! I'll have to steer clear of those in the future though, they have almost 1000 calories, haha!

Last night was pretty intense. An older gentleman who has been stranded here in PA for almost a month now because his boat engine conked out on him, passed out. He has been trying to order parts and everything for quite some time, but being down here with spotty phones and Internet, it has been difficult. That and we only get mail twice a week!

Anyway. Last night this old gentleman passed out on the dock. We got him all situated with oxygen flowing and everything because he was not breathing well, but he was fully conscious and didn't really want to go to sitka. So, after we talked him into it (we couldn't force him because he was fully conscious) we called the coast guard and they came down and got him in the helicopter. He was very cold and couldn't sit up with out feeling nauseous, so we brought him on the stretcher into the coffee shop. He fit just perfectly on my floor between my counters. So, when the coast guard got here, it was pretty crowded in my little shop.

He got to sitka last night and was released from the hospital pretty quick. My mom picked him up, and he is staying at my house in sitka until he can make it back down here. He told my mom that the hospital couldn't figure out why he passed out.

This morning all of us that were around last night when it happened decided that it was probably carbon monoxide poising. He has a little wood burning stove on his boat, and he always has it going at night when his doors are closed. The symptoms fit. So, if that is the case, he should be fine as long as he keeps his boat ventilated from now on when he has his fire going. I don't think CO2 poisoning would be something the hospital would know to look for, especially because they didn't know he had a wood stove on his boat. There isn't much they could do for him either. With CO2 poisoning, pretty much all you do is leave the area the CO2 is and maybe get hooked up to oxygen. So hopefully he is back to normal in a day or two.

At any rate, last night, I got to use a little of the ETT knowledge I had, (and my jogging paid off- I had to run to bear hall to get equipment twice) but also realized that I need to take another course because it was not as fresh as it should be. This winter, I want to actually take an EMT course. I used to always want to be a paramedic; I don't know what ever happened with that dream! Who knows. At this point, my life could truly go anywhere!

-Coral