Category Archives: Uncategorized

OTY: Driving a forklift on a barge was a trick. Driving a loaded forklift off the barge was suicidal. Two wooden planks were between me and eternity. The learning curve was steep…and you mastered the balancing act quickly or you … Continue reading →

OTY: People pay big bucks for vibrating beds. Mine came with the job. The huge towboat engines throbbed throughout the day and night, sending shock waves through the hull and superstructure. The vibrations set everything in rhythmic motion. I just … Continue reading →

OTY: Are you what you eat? The cooks aboard the Tanana were determined to Make It So. Marty and Eddie were Diner ladies, queens of their galley. Food (and mostly high cholesterol food ) was plentiful. Marty and Eddie wanted … Continue reading →

OTY: We would be pushing hundreds of gallons of jet fuel along the rivers, and layered on top of the barge fuel tanks were stacks of fifty gallon drums of gas, enough lumber to build a few houses, a truck … Continue reading →

OTY: Indoctrination into the River Rat culture was unique. With all the down time moving along the Nenana and Yukon rivers, there were opportunities to be creative. Drinking beer apparently was one creative strategy used by a few river rats. … Continue reading →

OTY: I had been a whirling dervish gandydancer pounding spikes on the Alaska Railroad; a frost bitten doodlebugger laying cable across frozen tundra with Petty Ray Geophysical on the North Slope; and the Night “faker” Baker kneading dough into submission … Continue reading →

OTY: I trusted my intrepid Two Stroke Saab to carry me from Boston to Alaska. And though I left a blue cloud in my wake (owners needed to pour oil in with the gas at every fill-up), the tin can … Continue reading →

And so begins a tale of two river runs some forty years and half a world apart. The first run was on the Yukon River as a crewman working for the Yutana Barge Company out of Nenana, Alaska. The second … Continue reading →

The New York Times just ran a spread (Idyllic Island, Toxic Workplace 4/28/21) that obliterated one of our top epicurean fantasies. Back in 2019, we had saved up to splurge for a Birthday celebration for Michele at the Willows Inn. … Continue reading →

American Samoa and Western Samoa Approaching a small island in the mid-Pacific, it is a bit of a relief to see land after flying above such a vast expanse of water.  On landing, my taxi driver tried to rip me … Continue reading →