Our Latest Hostage/ Guest Worker, Guest Worker!

I gotta practice that term.  Guest Worker!

It happened.  We burned through all the eligible family members that we could con, er, persuade to visit Alaska for a work-cation.  The last guy, Zach, Beret's wife's brother was a stretch to even be called a relative but we got two good years out of him.  He actually moved on here in Alaska to a paying job but we won't hold that against him!

So we had started pulling nets with this year's products ourselves and were writing to Char send back ache liniment.  She sent instead the web address of a great site, ********.  It actually charges people to be matched up with us, the host.  

It is such a great site that Larry and JR want to keep it a secret so that all of the other farmers and locals don't get to the best workers before we do. 

People write a profile touting their skills and we can select from those that want to travel to Alaska.  We wrote up a listing for the location, the housing conditions, and the work involved with pictures and interested parties can contact us as well.

I don't want to brag about our writing skills or maybe it was the photography but we woke up the next  morning to the ping ping ping of incoming mail.  We were stacking them up! 

 It seems everyone between the ages of 20 and 40 dreams of taking a gap year and working on an oyster farm in remote Alaska.  They want to live off the grid, work from 3 a.m.  until 11 p.m. in the cold rain with wet, heavy nets, and stay on a cot behind the cabin with no running water.

And I told 'em like it is.  You will be chopping wood, carrying water, eating whatever you catch, and playing second fiddle to Brick, our dog.  He sits on the boat seat!

They pay their own way here.  They agree to work around 25 hours a week on the farm plus help with the living chores and we provide the room and board.

We heard from a couple from Australia, Poland, a girl from Malaysia, a Frenchman, a Scotts, several Brits, a Hoosier, and one guy from New York City.

We wrote back and forth with several people.  We ruled out the New Yorker right away.  Too citified.  After all these exotic applicants who do you think we actually invited?  A good ol' southern Indiana farm boy!  

Yep!  Lee showed up one week ago.  Jerry spent the weekend boating him around and taking him fishing and out to pull in the shrimp pots.  On Monday we put him in rain gear and he was soon elbow deep in oyster poo.  He is catching on quick, is polite, likes my cooking, and is willing to do whatever.

This weekend we are having a three day rainy, windy gale.  He still seems to want to stay.  We are all ready talking about  promoting him to management and pulling in more workers.  Jerry can take a different one out fishing and adventuring each day.

********, what a deal.