Alaska training has begun in earnest, as well it should since the season starts in about two weeks.  I have already driven twice with trainers here that are evaluating our performance.  I have received good marks in all areas and I am becoming more and more familiar with Fairbanks.  I will have one or two more evaluation drives before I am put through the company road testing.  By all accounts this test is more rigorous than the one given by the DMV.  I am hoping that I do well.

I have some very exciting news!  Well, exciting to me anyway…  Two days ago my supervisor, Jill Hyatt, approached me and asked if I could spare a few minutes.  Of course being the overly positive person that I am I immediately started trying to think of what I had done wrong.  As it turned out she asked if I would be willing to consider taking on “The Alaska Highway” tour in addition to “The Copper River” tour that I was assigned.  My first response was, “Jill, I am only a first year…” (First years usually are not considered for highway driving, but about a dozen of us were selected to drive “Copper River” which is a 5-6 day highway tour.  No first years were even considered for any of the other highway tours.)  Jill said, “I know, and I will understand if you don’t want to do it…”  I, all the while, am jumping out of my skin for this opportunity.  I assured her that I would be more than willing to help out any way that I could.  She explained that they had a driver available for the tour, but because of scheduling he would be unable to do it.  Sooo… I am now the king of the yard among all the first years.  They are sooooo jealous!  Of course I now have twice the material that I need to learn… but this is why I came up here, to see as much of Alaska as possible.  Okay… really I am here to make money… but, I want to see as much as I can!

In case anyone is wondering… I have moved into my apartment.  There are currently four of us living here.  Nicole and Brad Spencer, a young married couple from Utah and Robert Dawson, a more seasoned gentleman from Oregon.  All four of us are jammed into about a 400 square foot apartment.  But as all of us are highway drivers (hmmm… except for maybe Robert) we will not all be in town at the same time.  Sooo…  we think it will work out.

As far as new sites we have seen… We were taken on a Fairbanks familiarity tour yesterday.  This included a tour of downtown Fairbanks and a quick ride out to see the Alaskan Pipeline (well a stretch of pipeline that is near Fairbanks).  There is a lot of neat history here in Fairbanks which I may start sharing as the days go on…  The pipeline itself is pretty fabulous.  It stretches 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez (google it) and at current load is delivering about 300,000 barrels of oil a day.  If I am remembering correctly, its max capacity is about 1.25 million barrels a day.  Once all the red tape was gone through, construction of the pipeline took less than three years to complete (1974-1977).  A marvel of vision, engineering and sheer determination!  In case you are wondering… Alaskans as a whole LOVE their pipeline!

 

Tomorrow is our “Division Day”.  This will be the one and only time that all the drivers, mechanics, office staff and support in the Fairbanks area will be in one place at the same time.  There is an all day party planned for us with lots of food, some food and even a bit of food.  I of course will be eating sparingly as I do not wish to disrupt my new lifestyle.  Okay, that is a lie… I am taking a free day and eating whatever I dang well please.

I have been careful with my intake, and since moving into our apartment I have been 100% perfect on my diet.  Granted, it has only been two days… but hey!  I made it two days!  In addition to my diet, I am walking to work and will be occasionally walking home as well.  It is 2.83 miles from my door to the yard.  Alright, it isn’t all that far… but it is a start!  My goal is to be able to make the walk in less than 45 minutes by the end of the season!  I also am working to drop 100 lbs in that time as well!

Pray for me!