J0nny Ling0

Yup, it's the water for sure. When I was an engineer abord Alaska's ferries, every watch I stood, the Mate would call down to the engineroom and ask for the sea temp to put into the ship's log. And even down here in Southeast Alaska, the temps would range between 43 degrees and 55. And many times when I have been out sport fishing in a boat, once close to shore and the day near done, I'd strip down to my skivvies and jump in. I'd do this for two reasons. The first, to remind my self of how deadly cold it is, and also to just experience the shock and then get ahold of my mind and swim around for a bit to remind myself that if it really happened for real, that I fell overboard, that with God's help and a lack of panic and clear thinking, I could make it. There have been numerous cases of people living through two hours of trying to swim to shore and making it, and so, I guess I just want to set my mind that I'd be one of them if my boat went down, or whatever. But the tragedies far outweigh the succesful situations. A guy swam ashore for two hours in the Cooke Inlet a few years back, and got help for the rest of the party that was hanging on to a steel buoy. The guy was in his forties too. They all lived but this one 12 year old boy who just couldn't take the cold, and slipped into the depths. So terribly sad. In another incident, a guy here from Juneau, told me this story about himself. He was out sport fishing with his wife on his 24 foot sport boat. They were heading north towards Juneau down by the Taku Inlet, about a half mile off shore and cruising at around 25 mph. The guy has to take a pee, and so instead of using the boat's own head, he hands the wheel over to his wife and goes aft to pee over the stern. Well, somehow, he lost his balance and fell overboard while peeing, and his wife, not knowing this, kept on speeding northbound for at least ten minutes until she wondered just where the hell he went. The guy in the meantime, with his pee pee hanging out swims to shore, and fortunately, makes it. After another half hour or so of shivering his butt off on shore, his wife finally spotted him and came and picked him up, and then called off the oncoming Coast Guard search and recue mission. He said though, that he was so incredibly weak and cold halfway to shore that he was amazed to have made it, giving God the thanks for his life. We had a good laugh about his pee pee hanging out as he swam, and made jokes that he was lucky some king salmon wasn't out trolling for some lunch! We have a friend whose son went down with his halibut boat off of Yakutat. In fact, this weekend, the the Olin Nash Memorial Big Air Contest will be happening just north of Haines in the Yukon in the mountains. Olin, the young fella lost at sea, was an avid snow boarder, and he had started this "Big Air" event before he died. My boy Riley is just dying to go this weekend, but, the ferries are off schedule for it, wouldn'tcha know! But yeah, although Gloucester Mass has it's history, sadly, so does Alaska. Hats off to all commercial fishermen the world over. Crazy but cool way to make a living.

Geez, OFM, you are a daggone American Hero in my book! Are you in a very secure situation? And do the locals appreciate your service? Well, God bless you brother, and as another poster said, "keep yer head low", and watch out for the extremists! God bless you John... Kevin (my real name-yeah, I have come "out of the closet" as far as my first name goes)

Wow. I really loved Takit's music. I'd like a tape/copy to... "What Is Life......." My Fav.....

Yeah Toppie, if you want to do your Patriotic Duty to Alaska, never buy "farmed salmon". Wild Alaskan Salmon is the very best. And just think of the "daring do" those fishermen go through to bring you fresh, wild caught Alaskan salmon, halibut and king crabs, in your local grocery store! Yeah. I totally take my hat off to Alaskan Commercial Fishermen/women..I've been there, done alla that. But, Bering Sea crabbing, well, that's the toughest of all. Never done that. I have a wife and kids. Can't afford to skip out on 'em, like in the Perfect Storm. Love 'em too much. Don't want to hurt 'em...

Hey, me too. I wanna say hi to you John. And so, are you back in Iraq? Man oh man, that's a ballsy thing to do. Are you working as a civilian or in the Military? Because you say "medic", it makes me think military. But anyway, nice to hear from you, and so glad for the blessings in your wife's life. Big blessing for you too no doubt. Take car and God bless!

I am an Ex Wayer. And I, like you, am thankful for PFAL and for The Way Ministry having come along at that time in my life. Peace bro, but watch your head around here. It can get rough. Not many here have much good to say about The Way. In fact, I think it is safe to say that this is an anti-Way site. You will see some interesting dichotomies here though. You will see rabid bitterness towards The Way (much of it justified), but then see glowing accounts by the very same people about how sweet the Rock Of Ages was, as well as glowing reports of those who have passed away and are found in the In Memorium forum. I think many wonderful things were said about Don Wierwille, for instance, and yet he presided over the Way as it's vp for years. Also, Donnie Fugit (Mr. WOW himself) is spoken highly of here, yet supported Dr. Wierwille whole heartedly, and died as an active Way guy. So, it's pretty interesting. I will say that towards then end of my involvement with The Way, it no longer resembled anything like The Way that I first got involved with back in 1975. And, I have learned here from first hand "accounters" that there was serious sexual abuse by Way leaders, all the way to the very tip top, which of course was/is inexcusable. I believe, as some here do, that there was a TWI One, a Twi Two, and even now, a TWI Three. It is generally agreed upon that TWI One was a far more less legalistic time, and that there was more Love in The Way back in those days. But to me, even by 1982, things were spiraling out of control, and egos, works of the flesh, and vicious arrogance were setting in more and more. And so, have fun here Norm, put on some thick skin, and God bless you!

Oh! Must be different than I was thinking. But there was a really cool on that I saw. And so, I will check it out. Thanks my Strange Friend Tom!

Yup Tom, I have seen that documentary. Totally awesome. I have friends who have crabbed up there, and as far as my having been in some really tough stuff in the Winter North Atlantic on freighters, I have to bow down to them and say; "I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!" To me, to have crabbed in the Bering Sea in winter is the pinnacle of "big balls-ness". Such small boats in such heavy seas, and so much cold and ice. http://www.fishermansexpress.com/photo-gallery.html I have commercial fished for halibut on a 36 foot gillnetter in a place called Shelikof Strait and near Augustine Island (of recent volcanic activity note http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/Augustine/augustine.jpg ), but the worst we got into was eight foot seas, and we just worked right through it. It was way fun and adventurous, hauling those big halibut ove the stern with a big gaff hook and then knocking them out with a ball bat. They averaged between 80 and 130 pounds. Perfect weight for marketing. One monster weighed in at 240 pounds though. We had to harpoon him, then shoot him in the head to stop him from flopping and tearing the deck all up. That was in May which made it frickin freezin at times. Here's a picture of Shelikoff Straight: http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/coastline/line0131.htm Commercial fishing is a sure cure for Cabin Fever to be sure! http://www.orioncharters.com/2001%20Halibut.htm

Just for the record, here are some facts about Alaska that I copied off the net: And so, when we speak of folks needing their pizza flown in from Nome, we are talking about very rural communities that are way out in a very remote part of Alaska. In this case, Shishmareff is on a barrier island off the coast of the Seward Peninsula, just north of Nome in the Chukchi Sea. When you click the link and get the map, make sure to put your cursor in the lower right hand corner of the map to click and enlarge. You'll be able to see where Shishmaref is that way: http://www.travelalaska.com/images/maps/AlaskaMap.jpg And the Seward Peninsula is approximately 1500 miles from where I am at this moment. And so, it's not like me and Mo need to have our pizza flown in. We have two Dominos's here in Juneau, two "Bullwinkles" Pizza places, One "Jovanny's", one "Freakin Pizza", and one "Vito And Nicks", as well as a couple of others. And this is Juneau, a city of 30,000. Now Mo, in the rough and tumble city of Anchorage, has all of that and more. No doubt Pizza Hut is there as well as others. Anchorage is approaching a population of 300,000. Not a huge city by Lower 48 standards, but a mean little city to be sure. But a nice place also, in places. My 21 year old daughter was born there in a house on 9941 Sitkalidak Lane, on the edge of a float plane lake. The place where the Flying Pizza flys from is Nome, population 3500: http://www.alaskatravel.com/alaska/nome.html Nome is on the West Coast of Alaska near the confluence of the Bering and Chukchi Seas. I worked out there one winter and had a blast building houses for the Eskimos. I also worked in the villages of Mountain Village and Emmonak on the Lower Yukon River where it dumps into the Bering sea: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/photogallery/emmonak.html Also, I worked for a month in the village of Unalakleet, my favorite village. The natives there were really friendly unlike Emmonak, and were very eager to show me all of their handmade whaling harpoons, and other subsistence gathering equipment. I met an old Eskimo guy there named "Muggsy" who did in fact drink too much. But, everyday after work, he would be waiting in the house we rented (even though we'd lock it in the morning-now how'd he keep getting in?) and since I was almost always the last one home from working, he would always ask with his neat Eskimo accent; "Where's Kevin?" And when the guys would explain that I'd be along soon, he'd say; "Oh". And then a few minutes later, he'd ask; "So...Where's Kevin?" And when I'd finally come in from the cold, he'd break into a near toothless smile and say; "Kevin! I brought you some Windsor!" Which of course was Windsor Canadian Whiskey. And so, I'd have a snort or three with him and we'd talk about the day. He was always inviting me to come over to his house (a shanty type home really) to eat "muk tuk" and other Eskimo delicacies, but I always found a way to decline. The reason I declined is because I ate some Beluga muk tuk (blubber) in Emmonak, and it gave me an Alaskan form of "Montezuma's revenge". It killed my digestive system, and I was no good for work for a whole day, running to the outhouse all of the time. Thought I was going to die! So, I just told old Muggsy, that their food was too rich for me, except for the caribou, salmon, and moose. But, Unalakleet was way cool: http://www.dced.state.ak.us/dca/photos/all...comm=Unalakleet But there was no Flying Pizza here, only Flying Whiskey, Flying Vodka, Flying Rum, and Flying Tequila. Hah! Unalakleet is what is called a "Damp" village. Not "dry" and not "wet". Emmonak was completely dry, and the natives there will pay $150.00 a bottle for a fifth of the cheapest of whiskey or other hard liquor. Nome was "wet", and has bars and liquor stores like most American towns. A higher cost for a fifth of Jim Beam like $21.00, but way cheaper in a dry or damp village. But in the "Damp" village of Unalakleet, one could legally have liquor, but it was illegal to sell it or purchase it from another person's private stash. However, it was sold in bootleg fashion for fifty bucks a bottle. And so, since it is legal to ship your own booze in, there was this funny cultural thing that has been going on there forever. They call it "The List". Northern Air Cargo (NAC) on one of their weekly runs out from Anchorage would purchase the specific booze that people had put on The List. And when it arrived in Unalakleet, the folks would simply go to the NAC office at the airport, pay for their booze, as well as for the shipping. I learned of this one time when the self appointed "mayor" came over to our rented house one night and asked we white men if we wanted to put anything on The List. We asked him what the list was, and after he explained, we put in an order. It was pretty funny, and so, we ordered up a few "jugs", for all alcohol in a bottle there is known as a "jug", regardless of it's size or content. I remember many an Eskimo ute (youth) asking me or my carpenter buddies in their unique accents; "You gotta jug?" Anyway, Flying Whiskee there, but no Flying Pizza...

Well Cool no doubt you are not surprised...

I only asked the question sarcastically. I do not believe they can be killed. God will be able to "put them away". As the song says in "Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys" by Traffic; "Only spirit is something that can't be destroyed". And I think this is also biblical, and that is why the spirits and Satan will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire, for they cannot die, just be tormented forever.

pond, I don't think you are a freak... And, another weird thing that occurred surrounding all of that was this. Up in Anchorage, where the believers also saw the production, there was a couple who had a three year old son. (A young man now, who just finished his tour of duty in Iraq as a Marine btw). Anyway, back then, young Ben was used to running around the house with a rainbow headband on playing the role of (now don't puke) Martindale! And one night, when his Mom was putting him to bed and told him that it was time to say his prayers, he looked up at his Mom and asked innocently; "Why do we have to pray to God Mom? Why pray to God when Martindale will take care of us?"

And, so many times, the ice goes out on a hot sunny afternoon, which narrows things a bit. One year, my first in Alaska back in the spring of '83, I guessed that the ice would go out on May 8th at 3:47 p.m. May 8th is my birthday, and so I picked that date just for what the hell. And so, the ice went out at exactly 3:47 p.m. on May 9th! Now, just for the record, it could have been 3:27 or 3:47, I can't quite remember. But the only thing I had wrong was that I was a day early! Bummer, that... And Cool Waters, I remember being in some downtown Anchorage store with the same limb leader you mentioned, and he said a terrible thing, and I was appalled! He was looking at a foot long model of the space shuttle Challenger, and when the lady came up to ask him if he needed any help, he held the model of the space shuttle up and said with a laugh; "This is nice, but do you have any that catch on fire and then blow up?" The lady, aghast, asked us if we would please leave the store. And in the car, he thought that was the funniest thing in the world! I asked him why it was so funny to laugh about it. It seemed like he spent alot of time trying to act like J*ff M**n. Even adopted the same laugh...

Oh yeah, DMiller. You must be talking about, who was it? Raf? And yeah, there's plenty of reindeer meat to be had up here. You can get reindeer/caribou sausage (like sliced breakfast) at many of the breakfast buffets around town. It's as common as bacon in most northern breakfast buffet places, especially during tourists season. There is a reindeer farm in Palmer. They have one there named Rudolph... http://www.knls.org/images/slideshows/palm...pg_akpalm18.htm You are most welcome Cool!!

I remember when I had to play the video of AOS for the locals in my twig area. There were about twenty five hard core Alaskans there, and most were gnarly biker/Alaskan/construction worker/hunters and commercial fishermen types. I was so embarrassed to have to do it, because it seemed so faggy for LCM to be prancin around like that with a rainbow headband. But, orders were orders, and so, we proceeded at this guy's house where he had a big screen tv. I also remember that when the video was over, the instructions were to make sure everyone sat and listened to the entire length of the credits at the end, because; "Devil spirits could still be cast out as people watched the credits and listened to the God Music." And so, with great discomfort, we all watched, with very few looking to the right or left to avoid embarrassment. A couple of the biker boys couldn't help but look at eachother and grin during certain scenes as if to say; "Whatta fairy!" And when it was over, but the credits had only just begun to roll, the owner of the home, the owner of a big construction company, and a biker at heart, jumped up, turned off the video player, and said; "Well! There's coffee, soda, and beer in the kitchen!" And everyone immediately stood up heading out of the room toward the kitchen. All control of the meeting was hopelessly lost! And yet, supposedly I was to regain control over the meeting, make sure thay all sat back down and watched and listen to the credits, and then talk about it and then close with prayer and mannies. But did I do that? Nope. I disobeyed. I had a beer, and not a soul said much about it other than it was "interesting" and that Murphy look hot in her leoretards. I think the "humping scene" brought on a few grins as well. Do you all think Craig had much to do with coreographing(sp?) the "humping scene"? Those devils certainly were wicked little humpers, weren't they?

How do you shoot a devil spirit?

Funny that you mention the Michiganders having less of a work ethic. One thing I have noticed here in Alaska is that there is a good number of Michiganders who are really good hard working people, and who came to Alaska with a sense of the old Frontier spirit who love to hunt, fish, and work hard to take advantage of Alaska's economic opportunities. But none of the opnes I have met are displaced auto workers, but rather are from more rural and small northern Michigan towns like Charlevoix, and the Upper Peninsula. Probably big cultural differences between the two regions of Michigan.... And Mo. Turns out that the usual RAIN is here today, and for all I know, it may last for weeks and weeks and weeks. Rather have your colder weather, and then a real summertime. And Mo, did you buy your Nenana Ice Classic ticket yet? The NIC is another way we deal with Cabin Fever... http://www.nenanaakiceclassic.com/

Just thought you all might get a kick out of this. Have eaten the pizza mentioned while I was out working in Nome, and so I thought it cool to read the article. And, I have met many of the "Shishmaref Sweehearts", very beautiful Eskimoe/Russian Americans. Many of them are tall and slender, not what one would expect in Eskimoe folks. The Russian blood I spect. Anyway, here is the article... http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/10/flying.pizzas.ap/index.html

Hmmm...Texans. Threw one of 'em in the Chesapeke Bay one time for mouthing off and mutilitating a blowfish just because he thought it was ugly. Never could stand senseless killing. Even ugly critturs... But I think our resident Texans here at the GSCafe ar nice people, even though that one guy is Straaaannge. And he is a fellow OLM as well... And speaking of the Yankee/Johnny Reb thing. When we lived down in Old Virginny, I went deer hunting with some local mountain boys from a little "ravine community" called "Bacon Holler". We got outfoxed by a big old buck which had given their "deer dogs" the slip, and so, we called off the hunt to try for him another day. And since the hunt was over, and the Jim Beam was passed around, Junior Shifflett slaps me on the shoulder and says; "Ya know Keb'm, you ain't so bad fo a Yankee". And Jeff Shiflet (they wuzn't kin but were from up in the same holler, go figure) says; "Why that's right Junior, this here Keb'm's a right fine fella! Yew kin go huntin with us anytime! Maybe we'll bring your dog along next time, see if he's any good. He might make a fine deer dog (pronounced "doge" hard "g") And of course they loved old Starbuck Von Der Weg, for he was the finest dog I ever knew! Miss that old fella... :( Anyway, I told them that I appreciated the compliment, but, that I wasn't a Yankee because the Great State Of Maryland was mostly neutral during the Civil War. And then they both laughed , slapped their thighs, and one of them said; "Well now we know for sure you are a Yankee now, Keb'm!" And with a resumed deadly seriousness he continued; "Cuz there wuddn't nuthin civil about that wo-ah! (war) That wuddn't no civil wo-ah, it was the Wo-ah of Nawthen Aggression! And I could really see that the South still hurts deeply over that tragic War Between The States. I nodded to them with due respect, but had a desire to lighten it up as well. And so to that, I laughed and said; "Okay, you got me, you got me!" And we all laughed and passed the bottle of Beam around again. Great guys, and I enjoyed my culturally enlightening experience with them. They were really fun those guys. At another time one of them pointed to the top of Broken Back Mountain (it's in Greene County Virginia), and said; "See that Mountain there Keb'm? Well, My kinfolk came down off that mountain. That's right, that's where we Shiffletts come from. We come down off that mountain," as he nodded earnestly. And I told him that that was really something, as I wondered just what the hell that actually meant. Did that mean that they were "hatched up there" and then "come on down off that mountain" or what? Too funny, all of that... And speaking of the weather, well, Mo, down here in Juneau, it is fairly spring like. Bulb flowers are poking their little heads out, and the pond nearby has iced out. In fact, my boys were out there today on an inflatible raft and rowed out to the little island there and were cutting down saplings for spears so they can guard their nerwfound haven from "invaders." Hah! Boys....

He may not even know that this places exists Ex...

I had a handgun at the November meeting. I kept it in my room, in my sea bag. But, I have always carried a handgun. It's a Smith And Wesson nine milimeter semi auto double action w8ith an ambidextrous safety. But, I have always carried it. My reason for bringing it had nothing to do with the nature of the meeting though. I just always carried it when on the road (we drove there from Oklahoma). But, I didn't feel the need to have it there because of the "serious spiritual times " we were going through, I just always carry a hand gun. So far, I have not needed it, and I am more than happy for that. Don't want to shoot nobody. But, nobody is going to take my kid's Daddy away from them if I can help it...

Aww geez Dooj, thank you so much..... And, I swear ta God, it happened the way I described it. Truth to tell though, Linda Z was probably in more of an immediate danger in that a car at 70 mph "without a driver" for only even a few seconds could have a quicker disaster than in the planr situation. For, if the plane started to go weird, the guy probably would have woken up and corrected things. In other words, there was probably more time to correct his situation than Linda Z's driver. However. The plane was probably on auto pilot, and, had both of them been sleeping, and the plane had overshot Haines, at 3,000 feet, they would have had a nice opportunity to auger into these 5,000 foot mountains: http://www.pbase.com/wolfwehnert/image/6826787 And so, it could been The End. But, as in LZ'z case, God woke her up. And so, very very cool! You are so right on: God is good - ALL the time!

Speaking of falling asleep at the wheel, my wife had a very similar situation to yours LindaZ. But I must first say Linda, that that was an awesome story! Wow. God really took care of you two by waking you up. That must have really startled you also! But your calm actions were right on the money. Cool. Well now. Up here in Alaska, we do a lot of flying on small commuter planes. There is one company called LAB Flying Service. http://www.labflying.com/ The LAB stands for Layton A. Bennet, one of the last old time Alaskan Bush Pilots, who now at 80 plus years, still runs his own flying service. He still flies his own plane, but hires young pilots to fly his fleet of 10 plus Cherokee Six six seaters. Most of the time these young pilots are fairly new at their trade, and are simply trying to get as many hours under their belts so they can move on to bigger and better things. We used to shoot pool and drink beer with one young fella from Los Angeles, and he gave us the low down on how Mr. Bennet operated his business, and learning of the "young pilot factor" did not give us a feeling of confidence with this bunch. LAB is based in Haines, where we lived for eight years, and we'd fly down to Juneau from time to time either to go shopping, visit the doctor when needed, and things like that. We make macabre jokes about LAB standing for "Legs Arms and Bodies" because of the few fatal crashes that have happened on LAB planes. One time a plane full of gay men off of the gay cruise ship http://www.mygayweb.com/cruises/sailing/ship/?SailID=210 were being flown on a flightseeing tour, and when the pilot, too close to the mountainside dipped his wing so his passengers could get a better look at a bear, his wing caught the hillside, and down they all went, dead. The bear lived though. But from then on, a new knick name was added to LAB, which of course was "Look At Bears". And because of this, we almost always flew with a little company called Skagway Air, but once in awhile when Skagway Air was full up, we would have to resort to LAB. And now, to shorten the story, but with the added background to show why we have been apprehensive to use this flying service. And so, THERE SHE WAS: Mrs. Lingo was flying home from Juneau, very tired after a long day of "Retail Therapy". She was the only passenger, and have the right side passenger seat which affords the best view. But being tired, she soon dozed off. At one point, just like you LZ, she woke up, looked over at the young pilot, and he was asleep! The plane was still on an even keel at around three thousand feet over the fjord, and Mrs. Lingo was astonished! And so, she said softly; "Hey". And the kid woke up, looked startled, and began making some adjustments to his instrumentation panel. Needless to say, she stared at this kid all the way home! Mrs. Lingo reported the incident to Mr. Bennet...

....Aah Krisylis, you are my kind of a gal! But then again, like Tom said; I thought you all were heading out to Heidi Fliess's Stallion Ranch. Chickenin' out? But then again, it was that "Naughty Rottie Girl" who started all of that!