The (Sort of) Current Situation
Hey all. I sent this out as an email about a month ago. A few things have changed, most notably: I now do have an address and a new cellphone. But I thought I’d post it up as is, for those who missed it. More updates soonish.
Dear Everyone-I-Haven’t-Talked-To-In-Quite-Some-Time,
Here is the current situation:
For the past 4 weeks, I have been living in the Northern Cascades and working as the vault controller for Stevens Pass Ski Area near Skykomish WA, about 2 hours east of Seattle.
I applied on October 12th– online, at about midnight. That was a Thursday. I interviewed that Saturday, was hired the following Thursday (Oct 19), packed up and moved the following Tuesday (Oct 24) and was working the next morning (Oct 25), leaving behind a smal swirl of wind and unpaid bills in Bellingham. It was an opportunity to do something I’d never done before in a place unlike anywhere I’d ever been, and I jumped for it. It was a snap decision, but I’m not regretting it in the least.
My address: I currently do not have one. To explain why this is the case would take way more time than I have right now. If you *absolutely have to* get a piece of mail to me, you can mail it to the Stevens Pass Employee Mailbox by writing: Mike Kelley (Auditing) c/o Stevens Pass, PO Box 100, Skykomish WA 98288. Please keep in mind that this goes into a great big mailbag, which is sorted by the HR dept, into my boss’s mailbox, before finally getting to me. (Please *please* do not send anything large and/or potentially embarrassing.)
My house: As planned, I am living in employee housing which Stevens Pass leases from the National Park Service. It is a four-bedroom house on Lake Wenatchee, in the general vicinity of Coles Corner, WA. (This house does have a physical address and a mailbox, yet nobody seems to know what it is. I have no idea how this could possibly be, but there you have it. I’m working on it.) I currently have one roommate. During peak season I’ll have 3. It is warm, clean and comfortable. You do not need to worry about me.
My phone #: The number at my house is 509-763-3167. This goes to a wired, land-line phone right in the middle of the common room, so the potential for long private conversations is somewhat limited. I am working on getting an answering machine and a wireless phone, which should improve the situation. Right now, I’m generally available for calls only between 5pm and 8:30pm PST.
My cellphone: … is out-of-service. Everywhere. My voicemail is probably bouncing messages at this point, as I haven’t been able to check it in a month. I plan to buy a new cellphone, but it might be awhile due to my…
Financial situation: Dire, but slowly improving. I should be out of crisis mode in the next 2 or 3 weeks, but it’ll probably be 2007 before my savings get back to a comfortable level. Please *do not* send money. I am eternally grateful for all the monetary help everyone has given me. I am deeply indebted to you all (in some cases literally), but I chose to take this risk and I’d like to see it through on my own.
My web presence: Fairly un-wired. I don’t have internet access at the house right now, and probably won’t. I have full internet access at work, but very little time to use it due to constant interruption. This email address ( mwkelley@gmail.com) is always active, and I read it daily, though it may take me a looong time for me to send a reply. My website ( beyondmetamora.net ) may be going down for a little while for want of a $4 monthly hosting fee that I’ve yet to pay. Likewise, my Flickr account ( flickr.com/photos/roguepoet) expired at the end of October, so I’m down to greatly reduced capacity. Flickr assures me that all of my photos will still be there when I get around to renewing my subscription. I also haven’t logged into E2 in a month, and probably have a pile of /msgs.
Snow report: 30 inches of base, just in case you’re wondering. We opened for business Friday, w/ four chairlifts running, though the snow is pretty lousy at the moment due to freezing rain on Wednesday. These past few days I’ve barely been able to see a window, let alone the slopes, but hopefully I’ll get a chance to take a lesson or two in December.
In summary, I am extravagantly isolated from civilization at the moment, even by my usual standard of disconnectedness. I’m working to fix that, and will let you know when I do. Thank you for thinking of me. Or, if you haven’t been thinking of me, thanks I guess for your implicit trust and for reading this far. :)
I miss you all incredibly,
– Mike Kelley
mwkelley@gmail.com
