Things I Intend To Do In Alaska

1. Sleep from about 5:30 PM on 1 September until 11 AM on 2 September. Fairbanks, Alaska is four hours earlier than NJ. Since I am to be at the airport two hours before my flight, that means being at the airport at 6:15 AM and bouncing through the time zones until I land at what my body will insist is 9:30 PM. I am writing off the remainder of the first day unless there are auroras involved.

2. Take a fly/drive trip up to Gates of the Arctic National Wilderness. It costs around $250 to fly up there, then get driven back and taken for tours of things like the local tundra and forest and wildlife and stuff, but I get to cross the Arctic Circle. An arbitrary line, I know, but it's something none of my family has done before. Even Great-Uncle Francie only ever served in the Aleutians.

3. Visit one of the local natural hot springs. The nearest, far as I know, is Circle Hot Springs; that's something like fifty miles away. There's a shuttle bus. It's a little expensive as the springs are part of a resort area. I'll deal. This is why I've got a vacation account that I'm not touching again until the Friday before I leave.

4. See auroras. One good clear night of weird fires in the sky, that's all I ask.

5. See the Fairbanks Large Animal Research Station. They've got caribou and musk-oxen on the campus of the state university in Fairbanks. I wanna see the musk ox, I wanna see the caribou, I wanna buy some qiviut on scene. Too little to knit into anything, I'm sure, but it'll still be a neat souvenir.

6. I'm told Fairbanks has a botanical gardens. This would be interesting to see, as I doubt the research facility will take an entire day. Perhaps they will have some Alaska giant vegetables on display.

7. The University's museum is supposed to be excellent, too.

8. Wanna ride a horse in Denali National Park for a day or so.

9. Wanna raft on the river - probably. Or, potentially, camp in the park but I've never done that before so I dunno.

There were other things, but right now it's late and I'm tired. I will remember them as they arise. Oh, I do want to set foot on Mt. Denali (McKinley) if at all possible. I don't wanna climb it or conquer it or anything; I want to set foot on it, solely so I could say 'I was there and I met the mountain'. One foot. Then I turn around and leave. I dunno if that'll be possible, but it's a neat idea.

There. Dealt with.

Ate lunch at desk today so as to have lunch hour free. Drove to Morristown on lunch break, bought bulb for marker lamp from local auto parts place as NAPA was nowhere to be found (am sure it was on same street, only yours truly did not see it). Got right bulb for once, for 55 cents; liked guy working counter, so bought steering wheel cover too. Marker lamp holds in place remarkably well w/Phillips head screw, which is good 'cos yours truly dropped original screw two days ago and cannot find any more.

Drove to Randolph. Forgot how long that takes. Nearly choked when sign said '82 minutes wait from this point'. Assumed it was mistake on sign's part. Wrong. Got in reinspection line & took close to that long - as knitting was back at office, pulled out copy of The Wee Free Men and got most of way through book before called up to front of line. Did not have old inspection report, so had to hand over car registration so Parsons Auto Inspections guy could look me up. Rear tires - OK (should be, I bought them the day they inspected the car). License plate lights - OK. Marker lamp - OK. Rejected sticker has been scraped off & new inspection sticker now in place. No more inspections until May 2005.

Am sincerely hoping mass transit will be my primary means of transportation by then. Getting v. tired of cars.

Blood and Saturday

Mrph. So far I've got six or seven possible donors among the volunteers for Buffycon, one person who emailed me to say he wanted to give, one person who emailed to say she wanted to give but her blood pressure tended to get her deferred, and me. The local blood region contact says he's put posters up all over the Holiday Inn, which may be something, but...

If any of y'all out there are normal in your iron counts, and don't have active cold sores or other blistery disases, and haven't had sex since 1977 with a man who's had sex with another man since 1977, and haven't tested positive for anything nasty lately, and aren't on a medication more complicated than the Pill, and haven't had anything pierced in a year, and aren't pregnant, and haven't spent vast chunks of time in the UK or Europe lately, and aren't prone to blood/lung/heart diseases, and aren't a cancer patient, and haven't had major surgery in the last month or so, do me a favour. Show up and bleed at Buffycon, OK? I asked the Bloodmobile people to wear fangs, and I'll bring the freaky candy that the Japanese make that combines pop rocks with sourballs. You can have one if you want, or if you're afraid of them I'll refrain from giving 'em to you. C'mon, please? Despite the scientists' best efforts there's no substitute at all for human blood.

Oh, and if you have had sex with a man who's had sex with another man, or if you are a man who's had sex with another man since 1977, I would like to apologise for the fact that your saying so will result in your being turned away. It's beyond my control, but I'm still sorry for it.