I know I know, yet ANOTHER question about moving to Alaska (Anchorage: housing, rent)

[Majik_Imaje]

yep.. that did happen .. I remember hearing about that !

no place is truely safe any longer.

I am wondering if anyone in the Juneau area Knows of a person (always on the news) named John Harris ??

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by warptman

Whoa, that was random. Thats like saying that two highschool students in Barrow murdered a cab driver up for drug money a year or two ago.

They did exactly that!

[karibear]

Originally Posted by karfar

I wouldn't be surprised about mountain lions in Alaska, but here in Wisconsin people still don't really believe it. Although it would be very cool if they were here. Ok, here's a stupid question: let's say I finally do move my butt up there, & I start thinking, hey I wonder how those fishing jobs are. You know the ones where you work for like 3-5 months & depending on how everything goes, take home a nice fat paycheck. How realistic is that? I realize the jobs like in that show Deadliest Catch are one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, but is there something else in that industry that would give you a good take home pay, something you could work for like a few months & then leave? Or are women just not considered in something like that? Is everyone laughing at me now?

There are women in the various fisheries. They are a miniority, though. There are women who own and work their own setnet sites, and a few who own and run salmon boats. I've known women who worked deck on halibut, crab, and scallop boats, but there were only a few - it's a very hard life, harder in some ways than for men, but they do it anyway. There are plenty of women who drive dozers, dump [as in gravel] trucks, cement trucks, work as carpenters, and so on. The one over-riding rule is that if you SAY you can do it, you'd better be ABLE to do it. If not, word gets around, and no one will give you a second chance.

[Metlakatla]

Ok, here's a stupid question: let's say I finally do move my butt up there, & I start thinking, hey I wonder how those fishing jobs are. You know the ones where you work for like 3-5 months & depending on how everything goes, take home a nice fat paycheck. How realistic is that

What jobs might those be? The ones on television?

TV and Alaska are two very different things.

You're a couple decades too late to just come up here, hop on a boat, and take a nice fat paycheck back to the lower 48.

I can give you a job in a salmon cannery if you want, though.

[karfar]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

What jobs might those be? The ones on television?

TV and Alaska are two very different things.

You're a couple decades too late to just come up here, hop on a boat, and take a nice fat paycheck back to the lower 48.

I can give you a job in a salmon cannery if you want, though.

How much do those jobs pay?

[karfar]

Originally Posted by Xa'at

I apologize for the tardiness of my reply. I got a new computer and it's taking me a long time to figure out how to use it... In fact, I've already typed a response once to this message then lost it instead of submitting. Stupid vista.


Well, I was born here, and I've tried to leave a couple of times, spent a lot of time down south, but I just keep coming back. I love Juneau because the people are kind (although they are terrible drivers!), the scenery is mind-blowing, and there's an altogether laid back feel that you just can't get down south. I love going to "black-tie" events and seeing a guy in a tuxedo talking to a guy in ripped jeans and extra-tuffs. I'm not the sort of person that cares what various chain crap stores we have or don't have, (although you wouldn't see me complain about a Dairy Queen ), I'm not so important that I feel I have to have my food delivered to my door, I would never wear shoes that couldn't plow through slush, and the last time I had a latte I almost ended up in the hospital. There are some people who couldn't survive in Juneau- I'm coming to the conclusion that I couldn't survive anywhere else.


Well, I would go so far as to say that the chances of you being hit over the head by a madman with a gun are incredibly slim, although anything's possible. I would recommend locking your car doors and such, though. When I was a kid, we found a drunk guy sleeping in the back of our car. Scared the beejeebes out of my dear mother and the car smelled gross for weeks. Don't get me wrong- very few of Juneau's many drunks are actually dangerous in any way. They're really quite harmless. But it can give you quite a shock finding them passed out in all the various places they manage to crawl into.


Ah, you jest, but the pizza delivery pickin's are pretty slim. Most places just don't bother. There's always Bullwinkles, but unless you have a thing for grease slathered on cardboard, I'd stay away from there. No, you'll have to get used to picking up your pizza the old fashioned way.


We have... deer, black & brown bears, hawks, tons of bald eagles, various assorted brown-sparrow-like birds, blue jays, five varieties of salmon, orcas, humpies, porpoises, sea lions, halibut, wolves, marmots, mosquitoes (state bird), tourists, and other stuff that I forget at the moment.


Out the road is a state of mind!! Haha, well it's not like a terribly long drive. Maybe half an hour to get out there from downtown, more if there's bad traffic. There is a place to rent cabins, it's called the Shrine of St. Therese, aka "The Shrine". (Shrine of St. Therese in Juneau, Alaska Home Page)

Flickr: Photos from Xa'at

Hope this has been of help!

I saw those cabins for rent, but it looks like it's more vacation rentals than actual long-term. Ah well. Average temp in the summer, is it really only around 60? Does anyone ever go swimming, or is that asking for hypothermia? Do you guys have bratwursts there? Not a stupid question, I've found they're almost impossible to find anywhere outside of Wisconsin, same thing w/McGuillicuddy's (a drink). What about festivals? And smoking, is it considered taboo to be a smoker?

[cobolt]

Originally Posted by karfar

I saw those cabins for rent, but it looks like it's more vacation rentals than actual long-term. Ah well. Average temp in the summer, is it really only around 60? Does anyone ever go swimming, or is that asking for hypothermia? Do you guys have bratwursts there? Not a stupid question, I've found they're almost impossible to find anywhere outside of Wisconsin, same thing w/McGuillicuddy's (a drink). What about festivals? And smoking, is it considered taboo to be a smoker?

The search option on this forum is a wonderful thing. You'd be amazed at how much info you can gather on your own. Enjoy the Alaskan food fare and leave the brats for your visits to Wisconsin.

[akck]

Originally Posted by karfar

I saw those cabins for rent, but it looks like it's more vacation rentals than actual long-term. Ah well. Average temp in the summer, is it really only around 60? Does anyone ever go swimming, or is that asking for hypothermia? Do you guys have bratwursts there? Not a stupid question, I've found they're almost impossible to find anywhere outside of Wisconsin, same thing w/McGuillicuddy's (a drink). What about festivals? And smoking, is it considered taboo to be a smoker?

You're right, the cabins there are more for vacation/retreat rentals. Temp highs can go to the 80s, but 60 is probably the average. Swimming is done mostly at the indoor pool, but on a nice day you'll see kids playing in the water at the glacier. There is an Octoberfest at the tram on Mt. Roberts where they did serve bratwurst in September. Can't vouch for the quality, since I don't know what good bratwurst should taste like. They just banned smoking in bars and while it's not considered taboo, there are fewer places to do it unless you consider the whole outdoors (this includes being a good distance away from bus shelters). Oh, and there are festivals and activities year-round.

[Xa'at]

Originally Posted by karfar

I saw those cabins for rent, but it looks like it's more vacation rentals than actual long-term. Ah well. Average temp in the summer, is it really only around 60? Does anyone ever go swimming, or is that asking for hypothermia? Do you guys have bratwursts there? Not a stupid question, I've found they're almost impossible to find anywhere outside of Wisconsin, same thing w/McGuillicuddy's (a drink). What about festivals? And smoking, is it considered taboo to be a smoker?

Oh yeah, they're not long-term. I'd get in touch with a realtor about that...
Yes, we are in the middle of a temperate rainforest, and temperatures are mild. We have cooler summers, but the trade off is that we have warmer winters. That's not to say that it never gets hot, it does. The strange thing I've found about Alaska, Juneau in particular, is that like 80 degrees, which is really rare, feels like 100 down south. I can't explain it, that's just the way it is. There are some places to go swimming- Twin Lakes is a good one although it's kind of gross in there. All of the biological scum (in the summer, think rotting salmon) from the bottom of the Gastineau channel gets sucked into Twin Lakes so it's pretty disgusting. I've been swimming out at the glacier, but it has to be pretty warm for that to be worth it. Just remember that no one here has air conditioning, so things get warm pretty fast.
I honestly don't know what a "bratwurst" is in comparison to like a sausage or a hot dog, but our Freddies carries a lot of stuff that you wouldn't expect it to.
We have a ton of cool festivals, including Fourth of July, Alaska Folk Festival, Juneau Jazz and Classics, etc etc, plus First Friday which is the first friday of every month and there are tons of gallery expositions and stuff.
It's not taboo to be a smoker, and a lot of people do it, but we have pretty stringent laws about where you can do it. Basically, no smoking in buildings that aren't your home. You can't smoke in public buildings, in restaurants, in bars, and there's city legislation in the works that would prohibit smoking at private gatherings, like Elks Club meetings. If you have to smoke, you can do it outside. These laws are fairly controversial, but I agree with them fully, except the last one about private gatherings, which I think crosses a line.

[Metlakatla]

How much do those jobs pay?

For family members they pay quite well.