...drums, drums in the deep...they are coming.--J.R.R. Tolkien, Fellowship of the Ring
Last days of April. Nineteen more days until beneficial occupancy of the cruise ship dock. In other words the ships are on the way north. North to Alaska, north to the future! If only the future would wait another month.
Traditionally, all in-water work is complete on marine jobs in Alaska around the middle of April. This is because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have determined young salmonoids arrive in town at approximately 12:00 am the morning of April 15th and stick around until June 1st. While we all enjoy a visit from our wide-eyed little friends this presents some difficulty when you try building a cruise-ship terminal in their path, specifically you can't drive piles in a navigable waterway without sound protection for the fish.
Since the project is due in 19 days, the contractor is left with three choices: liquidated damages, individual hearing protection for the fish, or installing a bubble curtain around each pile during pile driving operations. Michele likes option two: ear muffs on fish. However the contractor has elected option three; enclosing each pile in an air bubble shroud to reduce pile driving noise in the surrounding waters. This is standard practice in the industry but it further delays a process on the critical path to completion.
The cruise ships are coming and the crews are continuing to feel the heat. Additional crane derricks have been mobilized from Seattle and the Ketchikan waterfront now looks like a little Dubai. Around the clock the work goes on and the big cranes will not so much as shut down engines for another month until the work is done. With our apartment perched above the harbor there is no escaping the noise or thoughts of the project.Fortunately last month before this last big project push, Michele and I did get off this rock for some rest and relaxation. We traveled California to visit family and spend a little time in Carmel-by-the-Sea. The only thing in common between the central California coast and southeast Alaska is the saltwater. 
Michele and I used the time to enjoy a little babymoon and plan for our little new addition. We've read the child-birth books and have seen the cheesy how-to child birth videos so now we just sit and wait for 'Go Time'. We didn't get to attend a child birth class up here as the spring class was cancelled due to lack of interest. Apparently, when pregnant residents in Ketchikan find out there are no epidurals at the local general hospital the next scheduled appointment is with a travel agent.
Michele and I used the time to enjoy a little babymoon and plan for our little new addition. We've read the child-birth books and have seen the cheesy how-to child birth videos so now we just sit and wait for 'Go Time'. We didn't get to attend a child birth class up here as the spring class was cancelled due to lack of interest. Apparently, when pregnant residents in Ketchikan find out there are no epidurals at the local general hospital the next scheduled appointment is with a travel agent. Michele is still working at the hospital a couple of days a week and is enjoying seeing the belly grow and move. In her free time she has taken up quilting. By the time we leave Alaska at the end of the summer we will have enough homemade blankets to winter comfortably for another year should we chose to stay. This week she will be spending some time back in America; specifically Seattle and LA. She tells me she is looking forward to seeing her shadow again.
