The Hard Part

The hard part about operating a business in a rural town in Alaska is sort of two-fold. The first, and most obvious, is not knowing how many customers I am going to have. The second sort of follows in line with that - not knowing how much supplies to order.

It has worked out pretty well so far. I have only had to have two emergency grocery orders put on the plane to come down to PA instead of being mailed. But, I really wish that I could get it together and not have to have my mom running around Sitka for me. But, it has just been so unpredictable. One day, I will sell 1 burger and the next day I will sell 10. There really are not even that many people around, but somehow I have been selling a lot of burgers. I have sold 60 in the last 9 days. Which, considering I really didn't have too high of hopes for this shop, is really good. Don't get me wrong. I knew that people were going to buy stuff and I was going to have fun, but I have not been expecting to make much of a profit. I just want to make sure I make back all the money that has been put into it. At this point, I don't really know how I'm doing in the profit department. I just know I have a lot of bills I have to pay before I can start even thinking about making some spending money for Europe.

Right now, I mean right this very moment; my problem is something a little bit more odd. So, to make sure that I have enough milk, while making sure it doesn't go bad, I keep a few gallons in the freezer. Yes, milk freezes and stays good while it is being kept frozen. It does however, go bad faster once it is unthawed, but it will live past its expiration date!

So, my problem right now, is unthawing the frozen milk. I took a gallon out of the freezer and put it into the fridge 2 days ago, and that puppy still isn't thawed out yet. I don't know what to do. I need milk, and it is not ready. I have some boxed milk that I will use if I have to, but that is a last resort. Not because it taste bad or anything, just because it is more expensive. The boxed milk actually works just fine; it tastes just the same.

For those of you who didn't even know there was such a think as boxed milk, yes, there is such a thing. It is packaged just like the boxed soymilk, rice milk, chai tea...etc. The milk is basically vacuumed, so all the air and bacteria is removed, which gives it a long shelf life. I don't really know how it all works; I just know that it tastes just like regular milk and lasts a long time. Before it is open, it has an expiration date that is a year down the line. I'm sure it is good after that too, that date is probably just for FDA purposes and what not.

So. I have a bunch of hamburgers coming in on today's plane because I only have 12 left, and I won't be getting my big order for another week. The last thing I want to happen is to run out of burgers!!! That would be horrible. So, I had to ask my mom again to run around for me up there in Sitka. She is so wonderful. She deals with a lot of stuff in the summer. My dad always calls and needing groceries, parts, hooks, hootchies, etc. Now I’m always calling her. If I were her, I know I would get frustrated and annoyed, but she has been dealing with very well I think.

Thank you mom; you are amazing.