I've been out here long enough to see my share of wildlife. In the bay I've seen some orca whales, dall porpoise, some other stuff. I have yet to see any real whales up close though, but I'm sure I will. On the island we have a decent population of mink, porcupine, as well as river and sea otters that like to hang around a lot. As well as tons of birds, bald eagles, ravens, puffins, etc. I'm sure as the season rolls on, I'll see lots more.Spring is finally in full force. Within the last week, the grass has grown from practically nothing to about a foot and a half. One day out here rolls into the next. Time on the island just seems like one, huge day. Because you know, nothing ever changes. You never really leave work. I go home to the crew cabin, hang out, watch a movie, knit (I've started a killer aphgan) sleep, walk one hundred yards to the day lodge for work, work all day, start the cycle over again. I spend weeks at a time not moving more than 500 feet. The gigantic day illusion is also aided by the fact that it never REALLY gets dark. I mean, seriously. Yesterday, Mel and I went for a walk at 10:30 pm and it was as bright as it is at six o'clock in the evening at home. It's WEIRD. And then, after finally sort of but not really getting dark at like 1 am, the sun comes up again at about four in the morning. And we still have a month until the summer solstice! I feel like I have been here long enough to accurately evalutate the other inhabitors of The Rock. I have one thing to say. Mormons. Lots, and lots of Mormons. MARRIED Mormons. I know I told you this before, but I need to reiterate. But actually, they're good people. They range from at least tolerable, to actually pretty cool. Jesse is the manager. He's 24, has a very dry entertaining sense of humor, and is all in all a good guy and good manager. His wife Missy..well, in the words of Mel, she's not the brightest bulb in the box. I think that's a pretty accurate description. She's going to school to be a preschool teacher, and that makes SO MUCH SENSE. She has kind of high, squeaky voice and talks about cute things a lot. She's alright though. And such a GOSSIP..OOoo..the gossip on this island you wouldn't believe. When you don't really have anything else to do but talk about each other, you can imagine how quickly stuff gets around. Sam is the assistant manager, and he's okay too. Always in a good mood. A little gung ho about being assistant manager though, but whatever. His wife, Genevieve, she's also relatively cool and a hard worker. I say "relatively" because well, I'm sorry if this sounds harsh or narrow-minded, but exactly how cool CAN you be if you're 23, married, and Mormon? It is strange how much religion can define what kind of person you are, but it does. I just don't have that much to talk about with a bunch of newlyweds who don't drink, don't smoke, and don't swear.Anyway. Then there's David and Rachel, also married. Probably the coolest Mormons out of the bunch. With Rachel, I actually feel like I could be friends with her possibly in a different setting. And David's cool too, and he has an extensive DVD collection. Then there's Nate and Jessie, also married. They just came out to the island today though, so I'm not sure how acurately I can assess them. They seem pretty cool though, once again, relatively speaking.Okay, whew. That's it for the married Mormons. Then there's Dave, the maintenance guy. Better known as Weasel, due to his easily morphed last name, Wiesler. He's pretty nice, pretty funny, and pretty pretty to boot. There's something weird about him though. It's not that he keeps to himself or anything like that, but he's..well, he's just a hard nut to crack. Kind of like he's always playing an act or something like that. I'm sure I'll have more to say on the matter of the Weasel in later installments of the Alaska Chronicles.Then there's Merlin, the assistant chef. Merlin is from Philomath, Oregon. If any of you are familiar with rural Oregon, you will realize what this means. Meaning, he's a huge hick. Well, in some senses, but not in others. He's a hick in the fact that he grew up on a ranch running around in the woods reaking havok with his two older brothers, that he knows how to drive a tractor, that he chews tobacco, and that he has artificially enciminated a cow. But he's actually an okay guy. We have a pretty good rapport, though he likes to whine about stuff a lot. But when he does I just tell him to quit his belly aching and he eventually does.Then there's another single chick, Tina. Basically neutral about her. A little boring, not the best worker, but whatever. Then of course there is Mel, who I don't think I could survive without. And there's one more single chick moving out there soon, and, although not Mormon, I hear she's a total prude. And she was homeschooled. 'Nuff said.Which brings me, last but not least, to Brad. Oh, how can I describe Brad. I HATE BRAD WITH THE PASSION OF A THOUSAND STARS GONE SUPERNOVA. He is, by far, the most obnoxious, unpleasant jackass I have ever met in my whole life. Mel and I have exhausted our list of insults in order to come up with exactly the MOST apropo for this particular douche bag, and I think "Tool" really sums it up. Choad is also very effective. He is a gigantic, smarmy dickwad. He's the chef out on the island, and I am very worried. He actually made Rachel cry today. What makes him such a dildo? It's kind of hard to explain. He seems to be under the all too common misconception that he is The Shit. He strives, with every word he says, to try to make you feel as stupid as possible. He is fundamentally lewd, condascending, and rude. I hate him. I really, really hate him. I try not to let him get away with anything though. Every punkass comment out of his mouth I retort, every blatant inflamation of fact about himself he claims trying to make himself sound cool, I shoot down. He has met his match in Chloe Bowen, my friends. The battle of wits is on. Bring it.Anyway, big drama. Big drama with Brad. Everyone hates him and wants him gone. And he's been on the island for less than a week! Right now he has his own room down in the Wilderness Lodge, but I actually think that might be changing soon. You see, Jacob has decided to continue deck handing all summer instead of moving out to the island, which leaves each of the single males on the island with a room all to themselves, and all four of the single girls jammed into one room. This shall not stand! Tina, Mel, and I have been raising a royal stink. It's just plain fucking unfair. But I think it's going to change. I think what is going to happen is Nate and Jessie are going to move down to the Wilderness Lodge, which is cool because no married couple in our only remaining single refuge, but uncool because this MEANS that BRAD is going to MOVE IN WITH MERLIN and live in the CREW CABIN WITH US. As you can imagine, I am not pleased. Neither is anyone else. But, actually, I don't think it will make a lot of difference because Brad keeps coming over to the crew cabin to hang out at night anyway as it is. Which doesn't really make logical sense; if he reallly thought he was All That and So Much Better than All of Us, why would he keep coming around? Oh God how I hate this guy. He's so going down.