Suicidal Tendancies

The time is 10:07 am. The NOAA website reports a temperature for Seward's harbor of a balmy 41 degrees, the warmest we've seen since August. The rain pours sideways from the steady southerly wind, gusting up to 26 mph. The warm temperatures have melted most of the snow, but the layer of thick ice  stubbornly does not want to leave the gravel. And here toils Tyler, utilizing the short half hour window of morning twilight to attempt a truck repair. Most people have heard our horror stories of this truck. It brought us to Alaska, then wanted to die. It hasn't been running since the beginning of June, so the penniless Barenjagers have to get around town with some generously gifted bicycles, which can be a little tiresome with the wind and the rain blowing the opposite direction. And yes, when the roads were a thick layer of ice last week, Klutzy Kristen biffed it and has the giant lump on her knee to prove it. 

We made progress on the truck two days ago, however, and fixed a problem that had been the bane of Tyler's existence for the past few months--he had to fabricate his own part. The excitement of the fix was short lived. Yesterday morning Tyler left for work, the truck sat steadfastly in the cement driveway. By the time I'd finished my shower and looked out the window, the truck was in the middle of the road waiting to be hit by a car. Tyler rushed home from work and we were able to push it to the side of the road in the gravel, which was hard to do yesterday when ice and slush covered everything. 

So now Tyler's trying to repair the truck enough to get it back in the driveway so we don't get a ticket for parking it on the wrong side of the road. The battery is dead, though, from sitting for so long, and Tyler and I have to go to work. But here is a window into our frustratingly poor life here...a suicidal truck with no will to go on that haunts us every day. And Tyler's been working on it like this for months...in his rain gear, with the wind blowing like crazy. And all I can do to say thank you is bake some cookies. And maybe give him a mug of warm wine for his troubles. 

Good thing I get to play with ocean critters at work!