Bad News in 3s

They say that bad news comes in 3s....so I'll see about that.

The alternator went out in my car yesterday. First the battery light came on so I took it in and had the posts cleaned off with some miracle solvent. My reward was the dashboard lighting up all over- the little man with the rifle (seat belt unfastened), the ABS (braking system) and it went downhill from there as they all started to fade. I coasted into my garage and attached the battery charger.

Paul called from New Hampshire this morning, waking me up fairly early. He was walking to a clinic in Gorham, NH. He'd fallen and was in lots of pain. Apparently, he was climbing over some particularly slippery and steep rocks when he started to fall backwards. He twisted and fell hard on a sharp rock. He heard his rib hit the rock and it felt like something snapped. Some fellow hikers came upon him and stuck around for a few minutes, helping him on with his pack. He assessed that he'd rather continue up to a visible gondola (about 3/4 mile) rather than back down the steep mountain 2 miles. A family at the top helped him get into the gondola and stowed his pack and at the bottom, he paid his $7.50 and an attendent helped him off. He hitchhiked back to Gorham, dropped his pack at the hostel where he stayed last night and walked, in pain, about a mile to the nearby clinic. They wouldn't even see him and had no advice for him on getting to the nearest hospital in Berlin, about 15 miles away. He hitched, by now in the rain, waiting almost an hour for a ride. The driver, from NJ, dropped him off at the hospital. Yep, broken rib.

So that's two. Hopefully, the run is over.

Resolutions: Sunshine Rae Motors installed a new alternator to the tune of $258 and the car is running fine. Paul is flying home tomorrow from Boston and will arrive in the wee hours of Friday morning. It will take about 6 weeks to heal and he is resigned and happy to be coming home. Check out our trail journal in a few days to hear the story in his own words.

In other news, I'm still working at the Fair and picked up a check today for the first 2 days. If I'm very conservative for the last 3 days of the Fair, this check will cover the food I've consumed.

Teachers started back to work and I'm retired, nyah, nyah, ne-nyah, nyah. On Monday, when the school kids start back, I'll be dining in style with the Retired Teachers Club at the Carlson Center.

Senator Murkowski is holding a town meeting style forum on the health care proposals. I'll be donating time at the School District booth at the same time, so I won't be able to attend. Lisa, too many people don't have health insurance and those of us that do are paying too much for it! Fix it! Even if I have to pay more taxes.....!

I'll be going to Kuspuk District next week maybe to see my fellow mentor Susan and establishing professional rapport for Math in a Cultural Context. I've never been to Aniak before so I'm quite excited about the prospect.