Feel Like Complaining

After the debacle of my winning trip to Alaska last fall I have really been down. I won't bore you with the whole stinking story again but I still feel like I was robbed. I took that action to write and speak to Jeff, from Miller Coors. I spelled out the whole trip, not leaving out any details, as to why I should not have to pay taxes on the full value of the trip when in fact we did not get a whole trip. I didn't get my 1099 this year for tax purposes so called the marketing company in charge of promoting the contest. She explained that since they will be cutting me a check this year, I won't get a 1099 until tax time next year. Finally, last week I got my check for $1633.00! I would have liked a breakdown on how they came to that amount and I don't even know what the trip will eventually be valued at, but she said it was reduced quite a bit. So it kind of seems like this trip really cost me nothing as this check will cover any taxes that I will have...

When we landed in Anchorage it was 10:30 pm. Everyone took off in different directions. A few of them had brought some frozen crab and had to pick it up. At this point, I couldn't give a flip about their crab. Barb and I went to find her checked bag, which never showed. One of the hosts called me and left a message saying to get our boarding passes for the next day and meet them at the baggage claim. We were just there, they weren't there. We were all so tired and chasing this bag around did not help. I finally called back and asked where they were. We had got our stuff at Penair and they were at Alaska. I lost it. When we found them I yelled at them for leaving us. Damn it, why was it so hard to travel as a group and get things done faster. It was like wrangling kittens, they were running around all willy nilly. They looked at me like I had slipped a cog. They all kept insisting that Barb's bag was here somewhere, like we hadn't been to every place we were sent to. Fin...

Desperate People, Desperate Times All of us were up early again , loaded our crap in the back of the van again , and headed to the airport. There we sat for hours waiting for some kind of word. Didn't look good, more cancellations and the airport was filling up. It's only one large room, separated by a chain door to the ticket counter. The natives were getting restless as well as the crazy white people from Washington state. We were told it could be two or three days before we could leave. For others, it had been weeks, depending on where they were going. People were out of clothes, I was out of bp medicine and I sure could have used some by then. The airport said it would update us at 2:00, then 2:30, then 3:00, then 4:00. That's what was so hard, the severe highs and lows of the whole situation. After breakfast at the airport we were so bored we actually went to Safeway to walk around. Seriously people there is nothing to do there. 'The Others' had already b...

Before he left us the previous night, Keith said he would pick us up at 8:00 am to go to the boat. He told us that maybe we could go out but it all depened on whether Discovery needed more footage or not. If they did, we would go. If not we would stay docked. We checked out because that was our day to leave and were waiting in the lobby with our luggage waiting for Keith. He didn't show up so Steve, the other MC host took us to the boat about 8:30, it was still dark out. I mean pitch black dark. It was pouring so hard, so miserable. We had our coats on and our little paper bags with our hats and tshirts from the night before. The crew would sign them for us we were told.  Roger and I in the rainy darkness The way the boats are tied up are one boat is at the dock and others are stacked next to them. Monte greeted us and we had to walk a long grated walkway and through the belly of one large boat to reach Keith's. Basically you are crawling across the railings which is t...

Even that title doesn't sum it up. Because that was just the beginning of The Horribly Sucky Trip to Dutch. Excitement filled the air as we arrived at the airport in plenty of time. Finally our travel mates showed up, both named William. We liked them immediately and before we even boarded the plane we were calling them 'The Bills'. They were sitting right behind us on the plane and we were joking around; then we heard the news. There was a problem with the fuel gauge and they needed to transfer fuel from one tank to the other, which they could only do with us off the plane. They said it would only take 15-20 minutes and we would all make our connecting flights. I never saw people move so damn slow in my life. We were told to leave our carry-ons as it would be quicker. Fifteen minutes turned into nearly an hour and after we finally arrived in Seattle and literally ran to our gate to our connecting flight to Anchorage, it was too late. Screwed. We could have taken the ne...

Have you ever wanted something so bad and then when you get it, it scares the crap out of you? That's what I'm feeling now, scared of my upcoming trip . My Mom likens it to being pregnant. When all you think about is having a baby and then when you find out you are pregnant you go "Oh My God, what have I done?" I feel like I've just stepped on a carnival ride and the bar has come down and there's no way offa dat ride! Some of the things I'm thinking about: What if I get so sick from either the prop plane or the boat that I can't eat crab or have any fun. What if I act like a star struck goofball and make a fool of myself? What if I whack myself in the face with a hook; it happens! What if I get a Vertigo attack and end up sitting in the hotel room for 2 days. What if the other guys going with us are real jerks? (Although I am the winner of the contest , employees of either Henry's or MillerCoors have their own incentive travel winners...

Do remember a few months ago when I wrote about this contest I was entering daily, Greenhorn For A Day, sponsored by Henry Weinhards????????? Well I'll be damned---I WON! I kid you not, this girl is going to Alaska in a few short weeks. I got the call on the 5th and I was shaking when I heard the message. I called back and was told that I would be sent some papers that I had to sign and return within 7 days. I also had to pick somone to go with me. First off, I would have taken my daughter if she had been 21 but I couldn't. Hubby? Didn't even consider him, I want to have fun. Sorry if that sounds mean, but it's true. He doesn't even like to ride on a ferry, what in the heck would he do on a crab boat in the Bering Sea? Plus he isn't crazy about planes and I read that after arriving in Anchorage we will be 3 hours on a prop plane to get to Dutch Harbor. He'd be crying like a little girl by the time we arrived. I'm taking Barb, a friend from school l...

I've been wanting to write about this for awhile but was embarrassed. Most of you know that I'm GaGa for Deadliest Catch and all of the lovely Captains of the Bering Sea. My family and I have seen different Captains at book signings, grocery stores, Walmart, etc. This summer Capt's John and Andy Hillstrand and Sig Hanson were doing their own Captain's Tours, not affiliated with Discovery. When I saw they were coming to town I got tickets for hubby, daughter and I. We got good seats but not the premium seats which included a private meet and greet after the show. But at $75.00 I wasn't going to spend as much as Elton John tickets cost. I mean I love them, but they're not worth the same as Elton. That's a ticket price you have to earn. I had seen clips here and there and sort of knew what to expect. I had a feeling that it would be an OK show, but not as great as a personal book signing tour. But we were still excited to go and joined the other few thousan...

Typical Thursday, go shopping at the same store at approximately the same time (8:30 am). I know it sounds mundane but that worked in my favor today. As I walked in, some guy was setting up a tent type thing depicting a local country radio station. I don't like country music much so didn't pay much attention. They were having some kind of a seafood sale and thought after I was finished with the usual groceries I would swing through to see what they had. On my way back to the seafood, I saw a couple carrying t-shirts. I could have swore I saw the word Wizard on the t-shirt. There is only one Wizard I know and it's not from Harry Potter fame. DEADLIEST CATCH!, I screamed in my head and as I came around the corner, Capt. Keith Colburn was right in front of me. And Shit, me without my phone. I stood there prancing like I had to pee and asked a cashier if I could use the phone. I called home and my daughter answered. I'm stammering and stuttering and told her who was at ...