March 28, 2004
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Loose Ends
LuckyStars asked me how the two men with the new sled design did in this year’s Iditarod, and reminded me that I neglected to finish the broken shovel story.
Jeff King, who invented the “Bark-a-lounger” with two sled bags and a seat for the musher on the rear bag (instead of the old design with one bag where the musher stands behind it), came in second. My favorite musher Martin Buser, sitting on his sled bag (he “stole” Jeff’s design, which is okay I guess, since Jeff was using his ski-pole idea), came in eleventh. Greyfox’s favorite old fart Charlie Boulding finished sixth. Dee Dee Jonrowe was fifteenth, back there but still in the small money.
Kjetil Backen, who led for most of the first half of the race, finished third after his lead dog Takk died suddenly of gastric ulcers on the trail. I admired the way he unashamedly shed his tears, although he did avoid the cameras and reporters for a while. He spent a few hours in the checkpoint to which he had carried Takk’s body, asking himself if he should continue. Another musher told him Takk would want him to go on. So he completed the race in Takk’s memory.
In the days before the race started I copied an ADN photo of Rick Larson of Sand Coulee, Montana, holding one of his dogs for a veterinary check. When Rick got to Nome (finishing 47th–out of the money–in 11 days, 21 hours, 59 minutes and 36 seconds) he was greeted with the news that his house, garage and truck had burned up. The trail committee has established a fire fund at www.iditarod.com.
When I took the two pieces of my broken aluminum grain scoop, the only kind of shovel I’ve found to be strong enough for heavy snow, into Sears for replacement, they didn’t have any more of that type. An older man helped me, even went back and searched the stock room. He offered me a “gift card” refund. Since I didn’t have my receipt, and he didn’t know the replacement price of that item, he asked his young supervisor.
The kid offered me about half what I know I paid for the scoop. I know he knew what he was doing. I’m psychic, remember… and I also saw the momentary flash of chagrin bordering on panic in his eyes when I said I would have to do some digging but I could find the receipt. He had already said, with fake sorrow, that “nobody” keeps receipts for five years. Yeah, right. I’ll be able to take my receipt in and get a refund for the difference between his “estimate” and my purchase price but that won’t, of course, buy a new scoop to replace the old one.
I still haven’t done the paper-digging. I have other stuff to do. Greyfox recently purchased a lot of old unsold tourist-trap-type merchandise such as t-shirts, miniature dogsleds and lapel pins. I’ve got a few hundred pins to sort, and some sort of display for them to come up with. Most are Iditarod pins from the eighties and nineties, but there are pins from the John Beargrease and Yukon Quest, and many other things. This looks like a job for a Virgo… when she gets around to it.
Some recent Xanga-surfing reminded me that I MUST remember not to try and fix people. People, when they moan and complain, are not looking for answers, solutions to their problems. They are looking for sympathy. They won’t get it from me, of course, unless they have insoluble problems. And as long as I remain mindful they also won’t get my well-considered advice. Even the ones with NPD…. especially the ones with NPD. I also have to remind myself that just because he’s a narcissist, that doesn’t mean his suicide hints are empty threats. Ns commit suicide too. And, dammit, that just complicates the whole mess, doesn’t it?
Comments (3)
I try not to give advice, but sometimes I can’t help myself. Thanks for twisting my arm a little, btw. I’m a subscriber now!
Good Gods I love you so much.
oh! second place! and that’s after he fell asleep and fell off? that’s great! i think the new design sounds so practical, if not too comfy that is.
you’ll get a new shovel. trust me. idiots. if he won’t deal w/you…just email them. i don’t mess w/lifetime guarantees being half a guarantee. nope nope nope.