2009-06-24 - 11:33 a.m.
I'm starting to get used to, if not quite appreciate the internet situation in Wells. See, it costs an arm and a leg to get internet at home, as you have to buy a bunch of infrastructure like a dish and so on, so it's not worth it for us summer residents. Therefore, I have to head to the general store or to the pub the use the internet. They both have upsides and downsides. The general store is nice, and Carol, who runs it, is really great, and very helpful. They also have coffee all day, making a perfect place to spend a couple hours on the ol' day off. It's also a bit of a meeting spot- you never know who you're going to run into- last week I came for a short e-mail checking session and got embroiled in a three hour conversation. This also means that if you have actual stuff that you need to check (as opposed to stuff that you like to check) it can be a bit distracting. The general store is also only open till 6 or 8, depending on the day, making it a bit of a rush to get here after work sometimes. The pub, on the other hand, serves beer, which I find goes very well with internet use. The pub is equally a meeting spot, although you tend to see different people there. They have food (now serving until 9!) so a guy can get a pretty good evening in. They don't insist that you drink if you're in there, so occasionally I'll go in and have a pop (which is a lot cheaper) and check my e-mail. The pub, as you would expect, is also quite noisy, and people seem to love to come up behind me and see what I'm reading- then read it out loud and ask me about it. Not the best place for delicate e-mails. If I ever get any, I'll have to remember that.
Internet aside (and I'm in the general store right now, if you were wondering), now that it's summer, I'm starting to find out more and more things to do around here. Fishing, for example. I've gone fishing twice now, and while I'm not going to pretend that I'm any good at it, I at least enjoy it. Micaele, one of the street actors in Barkerville, is an old hand at fishing, and is teaching me and a few other people who want to learn. We went out for the first time the other night. We went to a nice little lake that was a good fifteen minutes down some quite credible gravel roads. I'm sure you can picture me, holding my cheap Canadian Tire rod and reel in one hand, and the tackle box that came with it in the other. There were lots of mosquitoes, but that is hardly worth remarking on around here. Anyway, we got a lure tied on, and she started to show me how to cast. Of course, as soon as she started, my reel started screwing up. The line was rolled on it funny or something, and it never spooled out right. We lasted just long enough for me to get an idea of what I should be doing, but after losing several lures, we called it a night. The lures that we lost were all my fault, of course, and they were all Micaele's lures, which I felt bad about. One of them got snagged on a log under the water, and two of them were lost when I tried tying them on. I tried to tie them on, but as soon as I cast, I would lose the lure. It took me two lures gone to figure this out. We went out again the next night, with about the same luck. This time I had a much better reel (one that Micaele had loaned me), and it worked quite well. The problems this time were with the operator, as I manged to snag a couple trees behind me whilst casting, and one memorable underwater log. This one was memorable because I was so sick of losing lures that I took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my jeans and went in and recovered it. I got soaked, but I got the lure back. Unfortunately, not long after that it was stuck again, and this time we had to abandon it. Next time we're going to take a canoe out, and maybe we'll get stuck less.
Work is going really well. Last week was the last week of the school tours, which is awesome. Some of the kids are really great, interested and engaged. The rest just run from one candy store to another. It was also the opening weekend at the theater in Barkerville. They opened three new shows, all of which are really great. If you're planning on making it to Barkerville, make sure you find time for the theater. One drama about the Great Fire of 1868, one variety show with songs from the 1870s and a one man show that is hilarious.
I've gotten to the point in the summer where I'm very comfortable in Barkerville, and know (and like) most of the people out here. Trev told me that I would get to the point where I love it here and don't want to leave (which is true) and by August will want to leave and never come back. We'll see, I guess.
