The Office

I just finished my second day of work this afternoon. And despite the label on my little sign there I am not an intern. Although I applied to be an intern and they call me an intern, apparently the National Park Service doesn't pay interns and really doesn't have interns. Instead I am a Cultural Resource Aid, meaning I get paid and I am someones bitch. That someone is this nice middle aged woman named Bonnie Houston. My job is basically doing research on a couple of buildings in Klondike Gold Rush National Park in Skagway, Alaska, or as hip office folk refer to it KLGO (pronounced kill-go).

My first project in to do research on a the Jeff Smith's Parlor Museum. Originally this building was a saloon and gambling spot run by Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith, probably the most famous person in the history of Skagway although he only lived there for just under two years. My job is to show the distinguishing characteristics of this historic building and present it to the Park so they will preserve and restore it. If you have any questions just google Soapy Smith and Martin Itjen and you will learn more than you ever wanted to about what I am reading in these next couple of weeks.

So I have a draft of that proposal type thing due June 15, pretty damn professional for a bullshitter like me, but hopefully I can pull it off. The good thing about this first project is there is already a ton of research on this topic availible to me, so my job is just to put it all togehter in a concise and formal manner.

My next two projects are similar, but are on different buildings. I will do research on a WWII Comisary and then a house owned by the Rapuzzi family. I don't know shit about the Comisary, but I do know that the Rapuzzi's were a prominent family and they managed the Soapy Smith Museum for about 15 years in the 70s and 80s. Basically I am doing the exact same thing for those two buildings as I will do for the first one, but the difference is there isn't near as much info readily availible. So those will both require a ton of research and a lot of work and are pretty intimidating when I think about it. But luckily I will already have one project under my belt so hopefully I will be a little more confident when the time comes.

So that's what I am doing. If you got any other questions (why would you, right?) just leave a comment under this post and I will clear it up for you.

The research is relatively interesting but office live is a soul draining experience that I am absolutely dreading entering when I graduate next year. As my dad told me "There is a reason they say college is the best time of your life." Right on, Dad, right on. The real tough part is that these first two days I have been the only intern at the office. The others either aren't in town yet or don't start for another week or two. So that means I am not only the new guy, I am the young guy and the only guy in my situation. When other get into town, one kid starts tomorrow, but then will be out of the office at the beginning of next week. So it's going to be a tough first 10 days. Here are some pics of my very own cubicle.
It is a little hard to relate to my co-workers thus far. Cubicle life is awful. I don't have kids. I am actually younger than most of these people's kids. This one dude has a grandson who is a freshmen in college, so he is basically my grandad. Most of the other folks are real weird academic types, but they are friendly. Well at least the ones that I talk to. The big boss is incredibly awkward and talks to me like I am a hearing impaired slightly disabled infant. The only time he spoke to me like a semi-adult was when I met him with Bonnie on the first morning. After that he just gives me mean looks and treats me like a moron. Maybe I am a moron, but at least wait until week two until you make your opinion so obvious.

But again, for the most part I like what I am researching and am excited to be doing something so professional. Hopefully I will still feel that way in a few weeks. But I am in desperate need of some young people around the office. There are 6 or 7 other interns coming so I just gotta tough it out. I will share more office stories as they happen.

Here are a bunch of pics I have taken while biking around the city. Anchorage is pretty small so a lot of the views are similar, but when it's clear its absolutely gorgeous.

So this is somebody's pet reindeer that lives in a Plexiglas/chain link change about 6 blocks from my work place right in downtown Anchorage. The poor thing looked miserable, but he also looked like he would make a delicious piece of jerky or a burger. Sorry vegetarians.

This is my apartment building from the outside. Looks great doesn't it.

That's it for today, more later.