Pre-Job Fair Ponderings

I will be in Alaska in less that a week. That seems so odd to me after planning for and thinking about this job fair for the past several months. Of course, when I plan anything, it’s in a very global sense (meaning I’m on the other side of the globe and I need to get there). Details like booking hotels and flights are kind of after thoughts. Granted, my father’s funeral did delay some of the bookings, but it is true that I should have booked things some time ago.

I first tried booking flights through my travel agent here. Andy and Andre are my go-to guys when it comes to booking the cheapest, most direct flights. However, when it comes to booking US domestic flights, I’m better off booking online. So Andy and Andre booked my flight to LAX. I booked the flight from there to Anchorage.

Here is where it gets interesting. When I booked my flight, I noticed a warning in a big yellow box with red type, stating that due to volcanic activity at Mt Redoubt flights were limited and may be canceled at any time. Mt Redoubt is a volcano just outside of Anchorage that has been spewing volcanic ash for at least 2 weeks (probably more, but I can only speak about when I first learned of it). As of today, the ash-spewing has decreased enough to bring the warning level down to orange. Orange?

Criminey! Will I even be able to fly into Anchorage? Even if I can, what am I flying into? Who the hell thinks it’s a good idea to fly into an active volcano city? Crazy people! Oh, and me.

So anyway, this brought about my dilemma for the day. I decided to book hotels today. I will be in Anchorage for 6 nights. I will spend 3 nights at the Captain Cook Hotel because that is where the job fair will be. I had originally thought that I would spend the other 3 nights at the Howard Johnson because it is a bit cheaper. However, there is no restaurant in the hotel so I would have to walk to restaurants through potentially oppressive clouds of volcanic ash. After a great deal of agonized deliberation, I decided to spend those additional 3 nights in the Captain Cook Hotel because they have 4 restaurants and a few shops within the hotel. So as the megatons of volcanic ash rain down on Anchorage, I will be able to dine and shop without worrying my pretty little OCD head about walking anywhere and contracting black lung disease.

Now I just have to worry about mutant strains of super-viruses breaking out in the hotel which government agents will not allow me to leave, even if I get over my fear of black lung disease. I really should not be allowed to watch 24.

In actuality, all of this crazy thinking is just helping me deal with the anxiety of not knowing what will happen next year, or where I will wind up. Somehow, black lung disease and a mutant strain of virus are better than not being offered a job (easy to say since I am healthy).

By the way…it’s super fun to say “Captain Cook.”