[2-manytoyzs]

I haven't been here since the 1st of May due to an unbelievable turn of events. On or about may 1st I got a phone call telling me my dad was very sick. I drove up to Lodi for the day (stayed for a month) to see what was going on, ended up taking him to the hospital in Sacramento, where he stayed for a few days. Finally nursed him back to health, found an assisted living facility here in Fresno and got him in there where is is getting the care he needs and is still improving on a daily basis. With that done my friend calls me and says his brother (owner of a travel agency) needs another coordinator right away. They give me $500 cash to go out and buy blazer, slacks, shirts, etc. Two days later I'm at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Seattle eating the finest food on the menu. The next day we board the ship and I'm given my job of assisting passengers. We spend a week cruising Alaska... Juneau, Glacier Bay, Sitka, Ketckikan, Vancouver, then back to Seattle to end the week. Randy Travis was one of the singers where I had unprecedented access to him and his staff. Great group of folks! Two weeks later I'm back in Alaska and traveling with Michael W. Smith (contemporary Christian singer/songwriter), again working with Michael and his staff while paying special to some kids from Make a Wish. I just found out today I'm scheduled to go again Aug 5th through the 12th. The Salmon are supposed to be running around the 1st of Aug. Hope to get some fishing in on the next cruise, I did see some monsters in the water on Thursday in Ketchikan. Who would have thought I would ever be working on board a cruise ship! It really is a dream job. The travel agency is great to work for and we use Holland America which are 1st class ships. I'm not bragging here, just happy to share my good news with you all.

The Divco is on hold for now, I just couldn't say no to an opportunity like this.

[jcclark]

Good for you!!!
I've talked to my wife about doing the same thing when I retire,
sounds like a cool thing to try.

[Blackdog]

Sounds cool. I became a substitute teacher after I retired. Building rods takes money.

[MARTINSR]

What an awsome experiance! And I thought that was the kinda job you took to experiance life when you are a youngster! I still have things to look forward too, thanks for the uplifting thread!


Brian

[americanLT1]

Very cool. Stay healthy and enjoy and thanks for sharing.

Ed.

[dinger]

You don't actually get paid for that kind of fun, do you? Dan

[2-manytoyzs]

Yeah Dan, Its almost double what I was making as a Ford tech. Ony thing is, I work every third week, but I wasnt making any money at all when I was retired. I guess I am semi retired for now.

Hopefully I can get back on the Divco soon. Last month I also had to move 8 vehicles home from my friends storage yard where I was hiding them. I moved the fence over 15' and put them in the back yard where no one can see them.

Ross

[dinger]

Yeah Dan, Its almost double what I was making as a Ford tech. Ony thing is, I work every third week, but I wasnt making any money at all when I was retired. I guess I am semi retired for now.

Holy Cow! I had no idea they paid that well. I had a chance years back to work on a cruise ship, I passed. BTW, did you see the article in the Hot Rod mag on the Divcos a few months back. The local A&W guy in Visalia has a nice one he uses for the business, air bagged, very nice. Dan

[68RATVT]

That sounds like a good time! Any more openings?

[2-manytoyzs]

Yes, I saw that article on Kennys Cambells Divco in Street Rodder. I emailed the editor and told him about some of my favorite custom trucks. Maybe they will do an article on one... hopefully mine.

On the cruise before this last one I saw a guy wearing a club T shirt on the ship and asked him about his car. Turns out he is a friend of Kennys from New Mexico. That reminds me, I still need to email him my link to this site.

Sorry ratvt. I've known the owner of the travel agency for 30 years and he is just now is putting me to work. Of course I had another job before and then the injury kept me from working for a few years. There are 16 of us who they call on from all over the country. Last trip there were people from Boise Id. New York, Pennsylvania, L.A. and Fresno.

[Bad Rat]

Hey Ross,, Sounds like that Alaska trip is worth the funds,, my wife and I have been wanting to take that cruise for some time now,, and was just discussing that last week,, I have always wanted to take the one during spring when all the ice burgs are breaking up,, enjoy your good fortune,, Retirement just got better,, sure beats being a walmart greeter all to hell Bill

[2-manytoyzs]

If you get the choice, Hubbard Glacier is so much better than Glacier Bay. There is not much action in Glacier Bay. Much of the glaciers there have retracted back over the sand and are melting over the silt. Hubbard is one of few that is still growing and is very active It sounded like a Texas thunder storm as the ice cracks and splits. We saw several large sections of ice fall into the water with massive splashes.

Shore excursions are quite expensive but can be worth it. Last week a whale excursion boat went out just to site whales but what they got was amazing. They got to see the whales circling then jump out of the water during a feeding frenzy. The captain of the charter said that was very rare. An 8 year old girl on one boat caught a 55 lb white fish. It was bigger than she was.

I changed my mind about fishing in Ketchekan. Its $168 for the excursion, $30 for a 1 day lic. plus cleaning, packaging, and shipping extra. I can buy a lot of salmon for that price. I get plenty of salmon during the week at dinner. I'm almost tired of it when the cruise is over.

[Bad Rat]

Thanks for that infro, Ross,, I know what you mean about getting tired of salmon,, we have a big run of spring chinook and steelhead here in the rivers, Its like a freensy with the fishermen during the spring run,, The Willamette runs right through the center of Portland before it runs into the Columbia river,, and the fishermen form what they call a hog line clear across the river and tie up side by side to fish and party, I cause alot of fist shaking and angry threats with my jet boat every year by not passing by real slow,, they got the idea that they own the river during spring run ,, been some 30 - 50# chinook caught here in downtown Portland,,
even this Sturgion I heard that it weighed in at over a 1000 # ,, 11 feet long and took 6 hours to land it,, course they had to let it go,, that dude is over a 100 years old ,
This is off topic for the post so I'll shut up Enjoy the trip and that is spendy for fishing trips but the guides do have lots of money tied up in equipment,, Bill