The Way Things Work in Skagway...TWTWS

So, Peggie said to tune in and read what I have to say about Sunday, May 3. It's now a week later but...TWTWS...

May 3, 2009--Great weather ended today at about 3 o’clock. It was windy when we got up so we knew change was coming. It is now 7 and clouds are low and temperature is low and it is still windy. Peggie was off today and got lots of arranging around the RV done today. She went with me in Don’s (my brother) truck to the airport to get my brake pads (more later) and to the lumber yard/hardware store because the AP&T (Alaska Power & Telephone) office behind the lumberyard is a wi-fi hotspot. She went online while I got some necessities. She would call going online a necessity.

I was also off yesterday so before I took my brakes apart (reference baaaad sound in previous entry) and I got some hard sewer pipe. In our RV spot, the sewer is on the wrong side. I decided that hard pipe would make it easier to keep a downhill flow over such a long distance. Back to that later. TWTWS – I went with Don last Thursday to get him his uniform pants at Klothes Rush (get the Klondike gold rush reference?? Cute, huh?) They did not have his pants there so a clerk took him to another store…many merchants here have more than one business…I stayed looking for Levis (at $50 I decided I didn’t need them). I stepped outside and here comes Don walking down the street with his new pants, to pay for them back at the original store. Only honesty kept him from taking them home.

TWTWS continued…The hardware store has everything but food. So, wanting sewer pipe, I go there. I am told that it is at the lumber yard. I drive the block (I am going to have to load the truck) to the lumber yard. I walk in the front door and there is a rack of sewer pipe right in front of me. Before I went to town (10 blocks from “home”) I carefully calculated my needs. That is to say, I looked at the sewer connection on the trailer, decided it was eight feet from the back, another eight feet under the trailer and an additional eight feet to the sewer head. Like lumber, pipe is in 8 foot sections, right? So I need 3 plus an elbow, a coupling and a 45 degree elbow at the ground connection. The lone clerk finishes with the single other customer and I tell him I need sewer pipe. “Those are in 20 foot lengths. What do you need?” I’m thinking I need an 8 foot and a 16 foot. He pulls the first piece, and lo, it is just over 6 feet long. Hmmm…if I get a 20 foot cut in half, I will have a 10 foot and a 16 foot—close enough, “go for it”. So, he cuts a 20 foot in two, we load it into the truck and I say, “I need some fittings.” “Those are at the hardware store.” He hands me an invoice with no amount, just “26’ ABS” on it. “You pay for this there too.” Then he points up the alley and says I can just go in the back door there. The fittings I need are just inside the back door. I get what I want, unseen by any people, because this is an attached back room to the store. But again, honesty compels me to take my invoice and my fittings and pay for them. The trust these people put in a stranger is amazing. The other amazing thing is that the 26 ½ feet of pipe is perfect. Ten feet to the back and 16 ½ feet over, just as I figured. (Don’t go back and re-read what I said.) Okay, sewer successfully built, I can get on to the brakes. Plan A was: I had to go to Whitehorse with Dave (boss) and Barry (other driver) to get the buses. Dave would give me intro to Service Manager at Whitehorse Motors and I would schedule my truck in for repairs on Tuesday, my day off. WRONG. They need at least a week. I don’t know my next day off so I can’t schedule it. Plan B: I disconnect the offending noisy piece and continue driving until I can get it in. So, I remove the tire and look at the wheel. I see no nuts, bolts, screws, clips or other removable part. But it makes a baaaad sound when I spin it. Plan C: Don comes over, “Those are easy to replace.” You don’t say. All I need is an allen wrench to remove bolts that face in so I didn’t see what they are. Don has the correct size. Good because I don’t. Okay, that’s done. “The pads should just pop off.” You don’t say. They just pop off with right size screwdriver which Don has. Good because I don’t. Aha! The pads are bare metal, obviously the source of aforementioned baaaad sound. Don takes me to THE gas station where we got the water pump 14 years ago. “No, we don’t do that anymore. You’ll have to call Haines.” Haines? Haines is a town, who do I call in Haines? “I think Big Foot is the place.” I am a temporary worker. No phone book for Skagway, certainly not Haines. She has phone book for SE Alaska. Who knew?? I get number for Big Foot. Yes, they have the part in stock (miracle), $40 (reasonable), ship to Skagway? TWTWS continued…”I’m new here so I’ll have to check on that.” Later…yes, there is a flight from Haines to Skagway at 5:45, $11 shipping. They can accept my credit card on the phone; all is good. Except, if they don’t get any passengers, they won’t fly until tomorrow.

Now it’s tomorrow. The phone rings; my part is at the airport. This is where I started. Got the brakes on while sun was still out. More back story…Yesterday I also built a front porch from pallets and plywood that were lying around. Put up the awning. Washed the windows. Got bike ready to ride. Today I replaced brakes—needed a large C-clamp to spread the pad holders. Don had right one. Good, because I didn’t. It went very smoothly because Don supervised and had the tools. Barry came by and asked for assistance in getting his trailer re-leveled. Maybe later I will talk about some of the trailers here. So we did that. Later he came by again. With the trailer in the new position, the door latch no longer aligned so we cut and drilled that. He had a good sense of what to do but has no tools because he flies in and has no car. The trailer stays here. Anyway, I got the slide-out covered on ours and was cleaning up when a fellow comes over and, quite frankly, states that his ride has canceled on him and he needs someone with a truck to take him and his gear to the airport. He has a large tool box and other gear in addition to clothes. He actually offered me money, but wasn’t surprised at my refusal, agreeing that helping each other is the normal…TWTWS continued. Don and I then cleaned up some cut wood on the area by the trailer by taking it down to the tent section for them to use. The three of us got together to finish up leftovers for dinner and Don brought turnovers from the bakery. Mmmmm, good!