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Offered A Job At A Fishery In Alaska...


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At a processing plant.About $3600-$4.5K a month, which isn't too bad considering I can live really minimally and bank a bunch of cash.Would have to put off my degree, but that's no biggie.I stopped caring about seeking professions that correlate to my monstrous, painfully superior intellect- there is romance and value in good, old fashioned work. I can smoke weed there and no one cares.I hear the card games up there are *SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK-A_ROO*. Tards coming in off the docks with pockets stuffed to the brim with cash from their deckhand shares ($15K, $20K, $25K and sometimes even more), and blowing a few grand a night playing cards like it's nothing.Between the fishery and the games, I figure I could clear about $70-$80K a year, spend much less.Right now, every day I put on a necktie, I die a little inside. I'm just not meant for this shit. I'm meant for the other side of life. Got my BR back up to decent levels- enough to pay for the move, a few months living expenses plus an appropriate roll to play in the biggest games I hear they have. The hottest women I've ever seen in person was from Alaska. Any other pros or cons to this place?

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I don't think there are any manatees in Alaska.
Yeah, but there aren't any blacks or Jews either, so it's a trade I can live with.
Half a year of darkness?
Meh, I live in the darkness on a voluntary basis. That's no sweat. I hate sunshine.
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Pro: You can have a certain amount of weed up thereCon: There is a reason why they give you a certain amount of weed... It's dark half the year..Pro: It would be awesome to say you lived in AlaskaCon: It's coldPro: The fishing is absolutely amazing (if you're into it) Con: It's cold..Pro: There aren't many negroes up thereCon: It's cold..Honestly... I'd take it, it would probably be the experience of a lifetime....

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What part of Alaska Scram? I am pretty fmailiar with a lot of the state, and my dad goes and teaches law enforcement classes their every year. and he has been everwhere from Ketchikan to Barrow and in between, I have been to most of the state as well.

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What happened to the deli? I want a damn sandwich!
This would be paying for it... I've come to really, really hate debt.
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Got back from a cruise to alaska and i have to say if i was 6 years younger and not married, I would move there in a second.It is so beautiful and there is tons of hiking and during the tourist season I am sure you could get many many hot tourist chicks.

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What part of Alaska Scram? I am pretty fmailiar with a lot of the state, and my dad goes and teaches law enforcement classes their every year. and he has been everwhere from Ketchikan to Barrow and in between, I have been to most of the state as well.
I think the in-processing place is in Juneau.
Are you going to tell what area so I can offer some advice?
Patience, grasshopper.
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I think the in-processing place is in Juneau.Patience, grasshopper.
OK, Juneau is the second biggest city I beleieve, I'm sure that you looked at a map and have seen that it is one of the souther most area near ketchikan. Nice area for the most part, good for you to assimilate because the daylight will not be tremendoulsy diferent than what you are used to.As you go more north the longer that days are in the summer and nights in the winter, so Dpression is very very high up there. If you are prone to bouts of depression I would suggest staying away.For you being an ex-con it is a very forgiving, but republican state, people up there go to start over all the time and they are used to it, keep your nose clean and you should be fine.Anchorage is a dump, Fairbanks is a ghetto so I would never ever suggest going there. Seward is a great port to go deep sea fishing out of. I am sure you will be working your ass off, but if you can get a week of vacation I would suggest driving the loop (it goes from anchorage to fairbanks and back down, and staying at the caming grounds and fishing everywhere you can. We have found a great little stream near soldotna near the Kenai river that we try to get to every year and pul 10 to 20 pound silvers out of their like they are going out of style. You are probably considering moving to the best non-tropical fishing place in the world.Not sure about Juneau but in other parts of the state it is very old world and there are little villages all over the place, small communities and people really band together, but you also have to be careful where you venture on your off days because there are also a lot of hermits that will shoot you if you step foot on their property.Their is a lot of poverty, and crime because of it, especially from the Eskimos, they are treated like second class citizens in a lot of places, very similar to the aboriginies and cannot handle their liqour.If you have any specific questions ask, but I do not know a ton about Juneua, but if you like I'll e mail my father and ask him abou the area.
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You're gonna be working at the processing plant, not on the boats? If yes, I hope you know what you're getting yourself into. Here is a letter/blog a friend of mine wrote while he and another friend spent the summer in Alaska working at a fishery.Joel and I are in Alaska in a little fishing village on the Prince William Sound. We process fish full-time. Well honestly, I do a whole lot more processing than Joel does... Joel spends a good chunk of his work hours driving a 24 foot truck too and from the airport, loading and unloading 50 and 90 pound boxes of frozen salmon. The reason they have given Joel this job is because he can go on the insurance; seeing as he is over 21, has a license, is not a foreigner and not a convicted felon he is one of the few workers qualified.We live in a bunkhouse and share a room with two others. Mike is a 29 year old Oklahoman who is trying to make $4701.01 to finish paying off a costly divorce. He married at 17 to the town stripper then joined the army. She became a meth addict and wrote $13,000 in bad checks. When the divorced, she went back to her maiden name, clearing her credit and leaving him with the burden. If he doesn't make the money, he goes to jail. ("If I go to jail, Lisa goes in the ground," says Mike. "And I am SERIOUS about that.") Alejandro is a middle aged portly Mexican who speaks little English. He drinks constantly, "Mexican Kool-aid", which is a glass of vodka with a splash of Gatorade. He keeps a plastic cup full on the bedside drawer so he can start as soon as he wakes up.To take you through my first few days of work:Monday was easy. Joel and I cleaned out the water coolers with bio-sol, then dumped it into the ocean. We filled those ****ers up at the spring, lugged them back. It hurt, but it was a good hurt. We felt badass, like we were doing something people of our educational/social backround aren't supposed to be hard enough to do. 7 hours of work for me, 8 1/2-9 for Joel because he took the truck while I ate dinner.Tuesday was an opener... an opener is a window of time in which the boats are allowed to catch fish (permitted by Alaska Fishing and Game). They last 12, 24, or 36 hours and they work the full time because if you try to catch fish during any other time its a $25,000 fine. This was a 36 hourer.9:00 A.M.***Work starts and I'm at the wash tank. I'm wearing 3 pairs of socks, underwear, long underwear, thermal shirt, t-shirt, hoodie, rain boots, glove liners, heavy duty rubber gloves, yellow plastic overalls, a beard net, my favorite red winter hat, and a yellow rain jacket.To better explain the wash tank: first the dock crew (big guys) take the fish out of the nets and dump them into carts. The carts get brought into the factory, one big room. Then the Fillipinos cut, gut and behead the suckers. Those go onto a conveyor belt where the sucking line use high-powered vacuums to remove the blood line, which runs down the spine on the inside. The fish move down the line in one-second incraments, then fall off into the wash tank. Its my job to reach into this freezing cold water and grab the gutted beheaded fish. Then I check to see if the hearts still there (its on the inside of the headless throat) and if it is, tear it out. Sometimes it squirts blood, so I've learned to cover with the other hand so it doesn't shoot up into my face anymore. Then I check for remaining entrails, pull them out and throw them onto the next conveyor belt. This must be done VERY FAST, the fish come every second and there are 3-5 of us at this 6' x 2' x 2' tank. From this conveyor belt the fish are graded by an inspector and go to their respective carts, from which the Mexicans box them up and send them to the freezer, one of the bosses, or Joel, who drives them to the airport when a truck is full. (Joel also does alot of the "slime line" work as well, don't get me wrong). Work is envigorating though disgusting. I don't notice the smell.12 PM***Lunch break. I feel okay, a little sore but there's alot of work yet.1 PM***Back to work. This is getting harder but I focus on defocusing, blocking the whole thing out because India, here I come.2:30 PM***No more fish. Next ship comes in at 3:30, come back then. I rest my back and feel a bit better.3:30 PM***Back to work! If you think that this work is disgusting, you understand it at the most superficial level. If you think its painfully repetitive, you're getting closer. More than anything else, this job is painful. It is hard on the hands, on the forearms, and most of all, on the back and neck. I am in pain.6:30 PM***Dinner break. After dinner I'll get overtime, so I'm excited. At dinner I'm told there's no more work tonight. Tuesday work is over. Come back at 1 AM.7:30 PM***I try to nap but to no avail. The sun is out, as it always is, and my roomates are chatting away.Wednesday1 AM***Work starts again. No overtime because technically its a new day. I'm not that tired, and there's an 18 year old Minnesotan girl named Sarah who works across from me. Unfortunately she's a ****ing idiot, but no one has told her yet because she just so gosh darn purdy. Luckily we can't make conversation due to the loud machinery.3:30 AM***15 minute paid break. Everyone heads to the break room. I am soaked in fish water, it has seeped through. People injest the substances of their choice (coffee/cigarettes/methamphetamines/hydrocodone/muscle relaxers/Mexican kool-aid) and get back to work. I think I am ready to do this shift... I am wrong.5:00 AM***My supervisor moves me to the sucker line. It is here that I break... no one can hear what would be my audible whimpering over the loud machinery. Blood, guts and eggs spray into my face. My right hand is covered in fish fluid and has trouble moving.5:30 AM***My supervisor recognizes my agony/lack of production/slow up at the wash tank and moves me back to my original position. Ah, the wash tank. I'm glad to be back.5:31 AM***I'm no longer glad to be back.6:30 AM***I'm starting to get nauseaous, which is interesting because up until this point it has not happened. I gag several times. I feel the onset of diherrea as well. The seconds creep by. In all my life - from tech weeks to gem scams, from illness to injury, sleep studies to heartbreak - I have never felt so close to hell. Breakfast is at 7 AM, thank god.7:00 AM***No breakfast, we must do more fish. Sarah leaves the line, goes outside, and vomits. She will not be coming back. 15 more minutes, my Czech supervisor tells me. I decide to take her spot on the otherside of the wash tank. It is during this short stumble over that I realize how exhausted I am. My back is gone.7:15 AM***15 more minutes, my Czech supervisor tells me. It is at this point that I have decided to give up. This work is not for me. My tickets to India are non-refundable, and there will be a huge debt, but it is okay. After college, I'll get my bartending license and work off the debt at Mardi Gras. I'm charming, I can do that. I'm a talker, not a factory-er. What the **** am I doing here... I'm definetly quiting. I'll tell Joel when I get off work, he'll understand. My parents will understand too. I'll be really dissapointed in myself, but its what I have to do.7:30 AM***Work ends. "Come back at 1," the Czech tells me. I stumble out the door, but I can no longer feel myself. Oklahoma Mike sits outside the breakfast hall and greets me... I hear myself say hello back. I go in... a big bearded man asks me if I'm alright... I hear myself say that I'm fine. I grab a plate of something rather and go to eat it... The food appears to be falling out of my mouth, I hear myself think. I bring the plate underneath my face to catch it. Food is finished and I stumbled to my room and strip off most of my clothes. "How was work?" Mike's girlfriend Holly asks me. "****ing shitty," I say. "I wish I were a drug dealer."7:40 AM***BLACK12:30 PM***Time for lunch. I feel a lot better. I eat lunch. Joe has told me that once we finish the fish, he'll give me overtime making boxes.1:00 PM***Fish fish fish? Fish fish. Fish?! Fish!! HAHAHA! Fish fish fishy fish.2:30 PM***OVERTIME!2:40 PM***No more fish. Clock out. Joe tells me I will not make boxes today, tomorrow when it won't be overtime.

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So is the prospective fiance that you may or may not have fabricated thinking about doing this move that you may or may not have fabricated with you?

The hottest women I've ever seen in person was from Alaska.
This is not an accurate representation. I have a friend that lives up there for part of the year, and apparently it's hog heaven.
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So is the prospective fiance that you may or may not have fabricated thinking about doing this move that you may or may not have fabricated with you?This is not an accurate representation. I have a friend that lives up there for part of the year, and apparently it's hog heaven.
Very true, the women at the strip clubs in Anchorage literally are missing teeth.
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Juneua is beatuiful, been there twice.But the good money / work is farther out, on the peninsula, because you have nothing else to do but work, much easier to save money.If you really want to be in heaven get on a fishing charter boat.Here's one I did this last summer: Trophy King LodgeIf you go to the video section, when it gets to the Halibut the very first fish you see is one I caught (40#s), and the first person you see in yellow is my son catching a 125# Halibut which is the second one they harpoon in the video. I didn't make the video because they didn't want my beauty to overshadow their lodge.But Alaska...beautiful...except for where the people are.

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You're gonna be working at the processing plant, not on the boats? If yes, I hope you know what you're getting yourself into.
Yah, I'm not doing line processing.I will be doing something else.
So is the prospective fiance that you may or may not have fabricated thinking about doing this move that you may or may not have fabricated with you?
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