Nov. 2 2008
Bend, Oregon
So after months of sitting at home and pretty much being a recluse I decide to get a job. Let me first give a little background information. Beck and I went on an Alaskan cruise, where we visited the town of Ketchikan and wandered into a little bookstore. We both went our separate ways and ended up meeting back at a dog section of the store. Here I find a book about the Iditarod and for the next few days I immerse myself into the book. By the time I finish the book we are back from the cruise, and to be honest I’m getting a little antsy and not wanting to be a trophy husband any longer. So for a few days I search the internet about potentially becoming a volunteer at the Iditarod. After several dead ends, you pretty much have to fly yourself out there and put yourself up for the duration of the race. Screw that. Plan B. I spend another few days searching the internet about sled dog mushing jobs. To my amazement there is a pretty large culture of mushers out there. Jobs ranged from dog handlers for racers to guiding tours. So I decide to send a resume to some of these places. What do you know, within a few days I have to break some scary news to Beck.
One of the Jobs I applied for happened to be in Bend Oregon and I was having a phone interview with Dave the Kennel manager sometime this evening. As of right now Beck has no idea of what I’ve gotten myself into. I call Beck over to my computer and show her the website I found for the dog sledding jobs. By now in our relationship I have mastered a way of breaking big news to Beck, to not only get her excited about my new endeavor, but also present it in a way that makes it sound like the best option for me to pursue at this point in my career/life. Now of course Beck always has some sort of guideline for me to follow and I usually slowly get that information from her before I really dive into these adventures. Thus far, I’ve been able to play into them pretty well. Now after seeing all the jobs that are out there, I point her to the one I will be having the phone interview for later this evening. She tells me to apply, and in my mind I’m yelling thank god, since this job is another 6 month long adventure, and I’m just coming off an adventure. I could always play the, this one will make me money card, but no need. No sooner then the words fall from her mouth, I announce that I have a phone interview tonight, and this is pretty much how my life goes.
My phone interview comes around and all sounds amazing, well sort of. There was the mention of dealing with 125 dogs which over the phone sounded a little daunting. I head back to the website and apply for a few more positions, looks like they need a guide in Minnesota, and one in Montana, even one in Whistler so I send resumes to all of them.
Once again within a few days I have some more opportunities coming down the pipeline. I trade emails with a few of these folks and was able to set up another phone interview for the folks in Montana. After the interview with the guy from Montana, things sound good and bad. This job starts in December and pays 300 more dollars then the one in Bend, then there is only having to deal with 65 dogs, but here is the snag. Apparently this guy also takes his guides up to Alaska so through the entire interview I’m uncertain if I would be in Alaska or Montana. To top it all off we are communicating via cell service so every time I try to get a handle on if I’m going to be in Montana or Alaska the phone breaks up. Another draw back to the Alaska/Montana job is the guy is completely computer illiterate so I have to snail mail a resume to him. So I explain to him about perusing the Oregon job, and he tells me that I won’t want that job, that his is better. So now I have a timing game that has to be played. I send out my resume via snail mail the next day and hope that the folks in Oregon don’t call before this other guy can offer me a job. In the mean time I’ve been emailing the job in Minnesota, but I’m truly uncertain how that one will play out.
I would say about 4 or 5 days have gone by since I’ve had my Bend interview, as well as the Alaska phone interview. Now every time I hear the phone ring I’m running to check the caller ID to make sure it’s not the Bend folks. One afternoon Beck is home for lunch as she always is and I’m in the back yard playing with the dogs, well because what else is there to do. Also I should note that Beck has been giving me a hard time about calling the Bend guys back as a follow up, but to be completely honest I really wanted to go to Alaska. The phone rings and before I can tell her to let the machine get it, it’s the owner of the touring company out of Bend. Now you need to understand my wife, if there is anything that relates to me actually adding monetary value to our household she turns into a child at Christmas. She runs to me jumping for joy and telling me it’s the guy from Bend. I pretty much have a 2nd phone interview with Jerry and he offers me the job. I scramble for some sort of stall. So I tell him that I’m 90% sure I will take the job, I just want to run things through my wife about maybe flying out there or driving. Jerry is very understanding about the proposition. As soon as I hang up the phone Beck is asking me 1000 questions. The only answer that would shut her up was; “he offered me the job” excitement boiled to a new level in the Soprych house, but I still want the job in Alaska. I was able to buy another day or so of time.
So to shorten this up, I ended up taking the job in Bend and for the first time in my life would be living west of the Mississippi. The week before I left I was researching all kinds of cold weather clothing, and actually showed a little restraint, only thing I bought was a sweet pair of mittens. Here is something that needs to be mentioned. For some insane reason, Beck within the last 2 times of me leaving has put these ridiculous honey-do lists together. So before I could leave for Bend I had to paint the bathroom and reseal the deck, all while she went away to a Michigan football game. One good thing for this set of chores, at least I’m not coming off the flu like the last honey-do list where I had a 103 fever for 3 days and then the day it breaks she tells me to tile the laundry room. I finish my chores and pack the car. My plan is to make it to Bend in about a week, while in route I would stop at my older brothers house and see my nephew.
