The Hoppy Mailman

Sondy

   I have discovered that writing a blog is a little like being a DJ at Sondrestrom Air Base, Greenland. You don't have a lot of listeners, but it sure is fun.

   Working for AFRTS (American Forces Radio & Television Service) Greenland, I had the pleasure of spinning records from March 1976-77. Just like the movie tittle, in many ways it was "My Favorite Year". Who wouldn't want to be a DJ? I guess you could say that being in Greenland would be a little bit of a downer, but looking back at it, that only added to the charm. Heck I was only 23, I didn't know any better. It was a small base with less than 100 U.S. service personal stationed there, but there were quite a few Danes who worked at the base and the SAS airport. The runway, which separated the two, was used jointly by SAS airlines and the military. Sondy Air Base is gone now, decommissioned in 1992, and they have changed the name to Kangerlussuaq. Located just above the Arctic Circle at the end of a fjord on the west coast, it went by the nickname, "The Miami of the North". I just got on a website which had the current temperature at 4F. Trust me, it doesn't get that cold in Miami.

    What you see, is what you get. I found this recent picture of Sondy during a web search. I doesn't appear a whole lot has changed. Base to the right, airport on the left. The barracks where we lived are on the far right were the fjord winds through. To get to the radio station, you had to cross over the fjord and follow the road along the ridge to the top of the hill. We were nestled right along side Lake Ferguson. I have a lot of fond memories of stepping outside the station to witness the aurora borealis in all it's splendor. No words can fully describe the phenomenal brilliance of these free multi-colored light shows. It was awesome!

   I also had the great fortune of meeting Rick Shaw at Sondy. We still remain friends to this day. We worked the graveyard shift from midnight till 6 and loved it. Our live show was from 2-4 and we played just about anything we wanted to. The only other people who were awake were the crew in the control tower, the cops, and the folks along the DEW (Distant Early Warning) sites. Small audience. We also enjoyed doing production work like promos and PSA's (Public Service Announcements). We called ourselves R & R productions and we were good. My goodness did we have fun. Rick and I were honorably discharged from the Air Force around the same time in 1977. We hooked up soon after that, toured the States for a few weeks, and finished our trip in Denver, Colorado where we both still reside. The last I heard, Rick was working for Fox News in the New Orleans area. Thanks for turning me on to Rock n' Roll brother.

   Another person that I have stayed in touch with is Virginia Priybla, my CO (Commanding Officer). An officer yes, commanding no. She was a Lieutenant back then, on her first overseas assignment. Having recently retired as a Lt. Colonel, she and her husband Mike, also a retired Lt. Colonel, have settled down in the "greener" pastures of Hawaii. I've never had a better boss, what a terrific person. Thanks for getting Rick and me into the Officer's Club.

   We had plenty of things to do. There was a movie theater, a four lane bowling alley, the library, BX (Base Exchange), and the NCO Club. Ah yes, the Caribou Club where many an Elephant beer was tossed down in celebration. We would celebrate foxes, breathing, Tuesdays, sunrise, no sunrise, 10:23 pm., it really didn't matter, any excuse to have another round. It was THE place in town and even the officer's wanted to come on over. You had to have a little anti-freeze in you before you ventured outside in the cold. Every once in a while, they would have a band there on a USO tour. Something tells me that the band would fire their manager after the gig, but we enjoyed it. As the song goes, a whole lotta things I ain't never done, I ain't never had too much fun.

    I could go on and on here about this and that, but I won't bore you. It was just a special year that I will never forget. Putting Echoes by Pink Floyd on the turntable, knowing that I had 23:31 minutes to witness the northern lights before I had to go back inside. Shooting foxes with the MP's by the base dump at 2 in the morning. Some were rabid, so it needed to be done. Meeting Bridgette Bardot when the aircraft she was on came in to refuel. Firing up the TV transmitter at 4:30 in the morning for a private showing of "Fractured Flickers" with Hans Conried. Looking out for the dreaded "snow snakes" that would usually get you just after you left the NCO Club. Listening to the crunching noise your footsteps made as you walked about the snow covered surroundings in sub zero temperatures. Going past tit mountain as you made the long 5 mile journey out to the port. That's not natural. The biggest damn mosquito's that I have ever seen and being able to hear them buzzing from 15 feet away. Not knowing if it was 2 in the morning or evening. No sun. Witnessing the tireless dedication and hard work of all the people who labored together after a C-141 crash landed, killing 23 of the 27 people aboard. The tragic and sudden loss of a friend and fellow serviceman who drowned in the fjord. Good times, bad times, it all made for a very intriguing year. I left there older, wiser, and in many respects, it was my favorite year.

   I drink when I have occasion, and sometimes when I have no occasion.   Miguel De Cervantes   -   Spanish writer

   

    

   

23

   It has now been three weeks since I've been on my new route and so far, so good.

   People want to know why I would change routes when I had been on my old one for such a long time. There are a lot of factors that are considered when a letter carrier decides to bid on a new route. How much walking is involved? Does it have apartments on it? Are there bad dogs out there? How many deliveries are there? Essentially the perfect route, for me anyway, would be a mounted route with rural mailboxes that has no walking or satchel involved, and would be 8 hours in length. Fat chance for the 8 hour part. Out of our office we have 4 fully mounted routes in the exclusive Cherry Hills district, but they get so much mail that they rarely, if ever, have an 8 hour day, unless they get assistance. Nice gratuities at Christmas time, but they really work for it. Some carriers prefer a business route. More mail involved, but you're not carrying any of it on your shoulders. Other carriers, and I am not one of them, like routes with apartments on them. You don't have any walking and that's a good thing, but keeping track of all the people that move in and out can make your head spin. That and trying to jam all that junk mail into a tiny hole that already has mail left in it from the last four days is just more than I want to deal with. With that in mind, my new route is a little of all three.

   Route 23 is mainly a business route with a little mounted delivery and 4 apartments. It's broken down as potentially having 144 business deliveries, 87 mounted stops, and 36 apartment deliveries for a total of 267 delivery points. That's around 100 less stops than my other route had. Keep in mind that some places are vacant. The best thing about it is that I don't carry any mail on my shoulders. No more satchel. No more navigating through snow covered lawns with buried land mines ie: garden tools, water hoses, rakes, toys, and dog shit. I enjoy the businesses. You get to interact with your customers, which for the most part is good. Another good thing about a business route is that because of the large volume of mail they get, the slots on your case are bigger to accommodate it all and that makes it easier to case it. After that I have residential deliveries which all have rural mailboxes. It's nice and cozy in the winter time, but in the summer it can be a little warm, or should I say darn right hot. I should explain that this is not a high rent district that I'm delivering to here. Blue collar, low income would better explain it. It's a mainly Latino population and the homes are older and fairly small by today's standard. The last 20 minutes of my day are spent delivering to the 4 apartments. I must admit that this is not a whole lot of fun. I don't know what they charge for rent, but whatever it is, it's too much. Two of them have 6 rooms and the other 2 have 12 apiece. Some of the apartments have 4-6 different names living there, plus people have a tendency to move on a moments notice without anyone knowing. I was delivering mail one day when a police officer happened to walk by. I sarcastically mentioned something to him about this being a fun place to visit and he looked at me and asked if I carried a firearm. He said, "I wouldn't come here without one". Very reassuring. I did not take any pictures of these structures.

   The hardest thing about a new route is trying to figure out where everything is on your case. After years of seeing the street names Inca, Huron, Kalamath, Jason, Lipan, Mariposa, and Windemere, suddenly I'm dealing with Zuni, Cornell, Bates, Umatilla, Wyndot, Shoshone, and Tejon. When I explain it to people, I tell them it's a little like getting married and having to instantaneously memorize 267 names, plus all of their relatives and know where they live. That first week was a real struggle, but it gets easier with time as you start to match names with numbers. It does tend to keep the mind sharp.

   So except for the very end, I'm likin' it. For the first time in 21 years I have a route that actually IS 8 hours long. That is a rarity. I do miss all of my friends from route 13, especially Bruce, but 23 is better on the body and with only 46 months to go before retirement, that's pretty important to me. Hell yes I'm counting. It also comes with some killer views. This picture sucks, but what I'm looking at is Pike's Peak located about 70 miles south of Denver near Colorado Springs. I love being outside. Whether it's 110F or -10F, outside is where it's at. I would not mind finishing my career on this route.

   "You don't like jail?"  They got the wrong kind of bars in there.   Charles Bukowski  - American writer             

Lazy

   Okay, it's your last day of vacation and what do you want to do? Anything you want, right? For us that meant not a darn thing, and that's pretty much what we did.

   For a solid week we had been looking at the pool, but had yet to set foot in it. We ended up spending the better part of the day just hanging around down there and enjoying the surroundings. All of the shrubs and trees are so neatly trimmed, it's very attractive. These pictures were all taken around the pool area at the condos we stayed at. They have one gentleman that takes care of all the common grounds and he does an extraordinary job. You can tell that he takes a lot of pride in his work. Each one of us finally jumped into the cement pond for a quick splash, admired the scenery and managed to play a couple of hands of hearts before we left the serenity of poolside for our condo. We were all enchanted by the hummingbirds as they flit from blossom to blossom in search of that sweet nectar. It was very relaxing and just what the doctor ordered. Later that afternoon it was time to return the rental car and then that night we dinned on red snapper cooked over, what else, mesquite. How many different ways can you say it doesn't get any better than this?

    Our flight did not depart until 2 in the afternoon on Tuesday, so we had some time to get our stuff together and say goodbye to a fabulous vacation. We took a three block hike south from our condo to the beach and said a proper farewell. We will miss it all. The ocean, the shopping, the weather, the beer, but most of all, the people. In my three visits to this region, I have yet to come upon a native that was rude or abusive to me in any sort of manner. Tourists yes, but not the Mexicans. I've mentioned before about how well kept our condo tract was. Well it does not stop there as they also do a great job of cleaning all the main streets in and around town. Even the median strips are devoid of refuse. It all made for a lovely stroll.

   It has been an awesome nine days, and it was enhanced greatly by the companionship of our two best friends. I'm at a loss of words for these people. I feel extremely blessed to have found a soul mate for life in Patty, she means the world to me. To have the good fortune to find two genuine comrades to supplement us, now that's remarkable. We love them dearly and this excursion would not have nearly been as much fun without them. To Bruce and Jeanie Testerman we say thank you, and we love you with all of our hearts. You guys are the greatest.

  Hasta luego, I'll see you later.

   

Change

   They say the only thing that's constant is change. I've got no problem with change as long as it's for the better. Taking the red line out of hockey is good change. Celebrating a tackle in football with a dance after a 3 yard gain is bad change. I have not agreed with all the changes in the post office, but getting a route where you don't have to carry mail on your shoulders is a good thing.

   After spending the better part of 20 years in the same neighborhood, I have changed routes. I had the opportunity to bid on a route that needs no satchel and I jumped on it. No more trudging through the snow and hauling mail on my shoulders. My neck is very happy about this. I will miss all the friends I made on my old route, but it was time for a change.

   It will take awhile to learn all the new names and addresses, but once that is done, this route should be a good one. It is mainly a business route with a little residential at the end and it has 100 less stops on it than my previous one. The homes all have rural box delivery so most of my time is spent inside the truck. I'm looking at this route as one I can retire on. Saturday was my first day and what a bear of a day it was. Like I said before, it's going to take some time before I become efficient. Wish me luck. 

  A mind the caliber of mine cannot derive its nutriment from cows.   -      George Bernard Shaw

Salud!

   The only thing on our agenda for this beautiful Sunday was a trip to Juan and Clara's for another feast. Be still my beating heart.

   We enjoy these two people so much and for whatever reason, they seem to enjoy us. They live on top of a hill in the "suburbs" just east of San Jose. To get there, you must cross the freshwater Rio San Jose that runs into the Estero San Jose and eventually the Pacific Ocean. The river is usually nothing more than a babbling brook and is easy to cross, except when a tropical storm called chubascos hit. Juan was telling us about one year when he got stuck in town for three days before he could pass across the arroyo to get back home. They enjoy the country setting and with a view like this from their house, who can blame them. You are looking south, along the riverbed to the Pacific Ocean, with San Jose on the right. A bueno vista indeed.

   But as beautiful as the views are, we were there primarily for the food. Clara never disappoints us with her culinary expertise. Today it was pork that she had stuffed full of a variety of goodies. I wish I could be more specific, but beyond spinach, almonds and raisins, I'm not sure what else was embedded inside that pig. I just know that after it came out of their smoker, it tasted fantastic. Before our meal, we sat outside, drank beer, and exchanged stories. The smell of mesquite wafting about helped to peak our appetites. Clara speaks very little English, and we very little Spanish, but we all seem to communicate remarkably well. If we got stuck in conversation, we would just raise our glasses and say, "Salud!" (cheers). That would always make us chuckle with enjoyment.

   We were joined for dinner by two other friends of theirs, Mike and Connie, an American couple who live in the area. Mike is an architect who helped design their house and Connie stays busy caring for all types of birds. We all proceeded to tear into that hog. My goodness what a delight. We truly feel it's an honor to be invited to their house for such a feast. Mi casa es su casa (my house is your house) is not just an expression with them, they live it. What a privilege it is to be a part of.

   That night we slapped the red snapper on the grill. We are definitely eating well on this trip. One day left and we can't believe how fast the time has gone by. Salud!