How Did I Get Here?


Talking Heads "Once In A Lifetime" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1wg1DNHbNU

And you may find yourself Living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself In another part of the world
And you may find yourself 
Behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house
With a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself, well... How did I get here?

When I was in 4th grade they took us to Cracker County as a class field trip at the Florida State Fair. It is a permanent fixture at the Florida State Fairgrounds that shows an ideal version of 1880's Florida. They explained to us school children that a native Floridian was called a Cracker because they cracked a whip at the cattle and other livestock that they used. I thought we were crackers because we were tanned brown and a bit salty. I was born and raised in Tampa, Florida. I have no problem with being called a Florida Cracker (yes I have a permanent tan). On the Alaska automobile tag it proudly states "The Last Frontier", and here I had grown up thinking that as Captain Kirk had told me it was... (dramatic pause) Space! The Final Frontier!

I've been living in Anchorage, Alaska for exactly six months. I drove from Tampa, FL and recounting that journey might be an article in the future. I have had a lot of uniques experiences here (especially unique for me having lived in Florida for 37 years) and there are a lot of things that seem oddly similar to Florida so I thought I'd start a blog to entertain, inform, and if no one reads it my kids might look at this to someday answer... "What the hell was Dad thinking!?".


I'll try to answer the question I get from most people I get from people in Alaska, "Why did you come here?". I am a Librarian, more specifically a Librarian that is a Manager. I got my MA in Library & Information Science in 2004 and worked my way up from Librarian 1 (Reference Librarian), Librarian 2 (Children's Librarian who Supervises), to Librarian 3 (Technology Manager). Florida pays Librarians poorly and they don't get raises often and the benefits have been getting worse and worse. In the Pacific Northwest (yes that includes Alaska), they have Union representation so they get good raises, promotions, and have better benefits. I have also seen more opportunity for career advancement here so that's the short answer. Personally, I hate the heat and humidity of Florida. I also find other aspects unpleasant so Hasta la vista Florida (my 6 years of Spanish showing) and Hello frozen north! I think that's enough for today. I'll try to update this at least every week or more, if you have questions or comments let me know!


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