Hi everybody! It's been a few days since I've had a chance to write. Well, not quite true. I've been writing quite a bit in a different venue. It's eBay time again. It seems I am gaining quite a few new readers here so I thought I might take a moment and talk about how I got to this point in my life. Kind of an autistic recap!

To begin, I came to Alaska in 2008 after I ran out of work in St. Louis. I had been going through job after job there, it seems aviation is not a stable business to be in. Most of the companies I worked for are no longer in business. The final company I worked for there was SilverState Helicopters. It was a nationwide flight school that closed its doors nationwide the same day I was sent to Las Angeles for training. I landed at LAX only to receive a message of the company locking the doors as well as locking all employees out. I hightailed it home and managed to get my tools back.

Fast forward here! I came to Alaska to work for the summer. I loved it, was offered permanent work, and never looked back. I was the golden child. I could do no wrong. I worked hard. Things worked out. For some reason, I had the Midas Touch. I met the girl. I bought the big house.

In 2013, it all came crashing down. I lost my job on 1 September 2013. The helicopter company I had worked so hard for pulled out of Alaska. Tough but not a big deal. I had held a job consistently for over 40 years. I had been working since age 14. 

Times change. All of a sudden, I could no longer find full time, year 'round employment. I was able to find seasonal employment for about four months a year, but that was it. It seems I was no longer an asset. The money stopped coming in steady. The digital credits deposited into my account every other week dried up. This was also about the time I started learning about my autism and my autism reared its ugly head in a big way.

I had no idea how to survive in a time when more and more older workers were facing the same challenges as me. I had no idea how to think outside the box. We managed to stay in our home about 1½ years after that fateful day. 

Fortunately for me, Kitty knew what to do to try and make ends meet. She has always had a love of antiques...buying, selling, and trading. Before her head injury back in the 90's she learned the antique business. It began in a store named 'Ribbons' in old town San Diego. This was high end with customers from around the globe. The owner played dress up with her. She was sent to Christies and Sotheby's. She learned to be one of those hot young girls with the paddle, using every trick there was to buy priceless antiques that you see in the snotty movies. She was 'da bomb'! With her injuries, it all came crashing down for her, but those are stories for a future time.

Flashback is over, back to our home. Kitty had been buying and selling on eBay since it's inception. She had a following. She always made enough to survive. She convinced me, kicking and screaming ( you will notice the kicking and screaming part with me a lot over my lifetime, especially with my wife) to sell on eBay. She had turned our home into a living, breathing, and beautiful interactive antique display...all on nothing. Anyway, she convinced me to start taking pictures with my little Fugi 8MP camera and digitally sell. She convinced me to write stories to attract customers. 

I had no idea what I was doing. At the time, I was in the very early stages of a midlife crisis coupled with a severe autistic meltdown. Kitty is the one to know she had to keep my brain occupied or we were going off the cliff.

The Round Barn...Google it!

 I invented Annie. More about her in a second. Yeah, I took the credit for it but it was Kitty continually putting ideas in my head to write. It was Kitty that continually stroked my feathers and said good boy to me every time I made it through another listing. I needed reassurance and I needed it bad. It was Kitty that guided me every step of the way, from item choice to display to picture to story to sale and shipping.

I was a disaster. I mixed steps up. I took pictures of items not properly cleaned. I had a pile of shipping boxes taller than my head in the front yard for all to see. We lived a few doors up from one of the wealthier families in town. I'm sure they loved seeing that on their drive home every day! Because of Kitty, we survived for a year before having to sell and move from our home. Because of Kitty, Annie was born. 

Annie was a fictitious Alaskan with a very nice estate. She was a musher. She was a nurse. She served in WWII. She was Alaskan! Here's and example:

“This coat was made for Annie during the mid 40's. When she returned from duty, Annie lived close the the boarder between Alaska and Yukon Territory, Canada. Just on the other side of the boarder lived a French Canadian lady that had married a native man. She was pregnant at the time and her traveling nurse wasn't able to get to her when she needed some help. Annie got word and made it to her by dog sled. After this, they struck up a friendship. Annie also struck up a friendship with the traveling nurse. They ended up making an agreement to help each other out when needed, checking on each others patients. Annie traveled to help in Yukon many times. After her pregnancy, in return of Annie's kindness, this lady made and embroidered this coat out of an old Hudson Bay blanket that Annie had left. This took her about a year to complete before presenting it to Annie. The embroidery is a dying art form that this person was masterful at. It has long since disappeared, but there was an outer coat to go over this. This was made of an oiled canvas, used to protect the coat from the elements. The zipper has been replaced, if you notice. Annie wore this coat enough that she finally wore the original metal zipper out. The replacement just happened to be what she had laying around for a different project of hers. This was a loved coat. I have never seen another like it. Annie always made sure to wear this coat when she went to

visit the other side of the boarder. They remained friends for many years.”

That coat sold to a person in Canada to surprise his wife. They loved it and asked for more information about Annie. Remember, the parka was real but Annie was fictitious. I wrote little short stories about Annie all winter with my Kitty's help and direction. Although Annie was a just a story designed to sell stuff, most of the stories were real. They were all little snippets of Kitty's life, growing up during a time when Alaska was still a wild frontier. We pulled off a miracle. We made our bills for three months during Ebay's worst slump since its inception. Nobody was selling anything but

Shangri-Lah-Di-Da!

Yeah, I named it. Autistic future entrepreneur! ArcticArtique is a much better name. It only took me five years to come up with it! To correctly sell on an outlet like eBay is a lot of work. I mixed things up. I got tired. I got frustrated. I could only do it for about three months at a time, maximum. We survived for a time though.

It was time to sell our home or risk losing it. I couldn't keep up with making home-made money for any length of time. I got tired and my brain wouldn't accept the change yet. I was turning into an *sshole. My meltdown was really starting to show. It was time for me to grow my hair out. I had short hair ever since my Navy day and I wanted to look like Geddy Lee. For you youngsters, Geddy is the bassist and singer for Rush. It didn't work. The longer it got the wilder it looked! I was starting to look like a bum. I got involved with a guy that did home repairs. I had to deal with home owners and I looked like a meth head. I was still me but I looked bad. Kitty put up with it and never said a word. She had to wait until I eventually figured it out that I was too old to act like that or risk the verbal wrath of Scott. Yeah, I was an autistic *sshole and didn't even know it.

My meltdown and mental condition were in full form at this time. We were closer and closer to our home selling. I was running around and fixing everything, changing everything, and we made that cabin look as beautiful as it had ever looked in its life. That's when I started to learn about working with wood. That's when I laid in the kitchen floor in the fetal position mumbling gibberish. That's when Kitty had to chase me around the yard with a machete (mostly for effect but she was pissed). I was an *sshole with my extended meltdown in full form.

My favorite listing...I can't figure out why!!!

Our home sold to the first viewer. What they bought was Kitty's vision of Alaska style and grace. Rustic yet elegant. We were out. Nobody would rent to us. We had two dogs, one of them being a Siberian Husky that was ¼ wolf. He was special dog. Oni was her service dog. He was professionally trained to detect her seizures and care for her when they happened. They happened a lot back in those days. His picture will always be at the top of this blog. In fact, this blog started out as 'Oni's Bucket List'.

You can make a tent nice and toasty with a little plastic and a couple candles?

 We went camping. We were on a great adventure, or at least I was. Technically, we were homeless since we couldn't rent a cabin. We were not going to give up our dogs. They were family. We live for three months in a tent. It was Kitty who taught me survival skills out there. It was Kitty who stroked my confidence and kept me upbeat as I started to realize just what was happening. We traveled around and saw a little bit of our state. We ended up down in Seward. I couldn't find work as my cold call skills were nonexistant. I had no idea how to sell myself in person and outside of my helicopter world. I would leave our campsite and drive around looking at places to go try and work. Look is all I did. I was too scared to walk into a place, say 'Hi, I'm Scott' and sell myself into a job. Picking up tourists trash and cleaning outhouses was beneath me. Not any more.

About this time was when Kitty started getting sick. Cancer and all of her old injuries were starting to haunt her. She lives and has lived every day in pain since the 90's. My brain wouldn't go there. I didn't understand or accept her condition. It was still all about me. Oh yeah...I had finally cut my hair and looked acceptable again! 

We left Seward as the rainy season had started. I got a two week gig traveling with a helicopter for a company out of Homer. We needed somewhere secure and safe for Kitty to stay while I was gone. I talked to a guy that I had worked with earlier that spring. We headed back to Fairbanks and camped in his back yard. It ended up being a goat yard. I still had no idea how low I had fallen. For me, everything was good. Kitty was safe while I was gone. That turned out to be a really bad place. That guy was insane and I hadn't seen it. I'm an autistic that doesn't read body language and innuendo well. I thought everything was fine. Of course, I was gone. 

Our one real friend that had been there and watched us go through all of this hunted and found an elder with a vacant cabin. He convinced him to let us rent. Finally, we had a roof over our heads. Finally, things were looking up.

Farewell and the Golden Ring...He's in the archives!

I still didn't have work. Kitty convinced me to make art with her. We didn't have money to buy what we needed so we scrounged the dumps for materials. I should clarify at this point that I took Kitty to the dumps while I kicked and screamed. Yes, there is a lifelong pattern here.

Farewell and the Golden Ring was born. If you search back through the earlier times of this blog you can find him. He was our first real project together. He was 85% other peoples trash and he was beautiful. Today, he lives in

New Orleans!

The Big Top...Before.

We made a lot of art that year and it sold. It kept a roof over our heads. It kept my brain occupied while still coming to grips with our situation. I was learning to write as well. I started trying to post on my blog at least once a week. My writing was crude but I started to enjoy it. It was an outlet for me. It helped calm my brain and emotions. It was the beginning of what I do today. If you feel bored and haven't been with me from the start, go back through the archives and see some of the beautiful things we pulled out of our *ss. You can kind of see where my head was just by what I wrote.

Eternal Patriot...Our Tribute To Lavoy Finicum

We still didn't have any security. Still no work. We had to move after a year to a different spot. We appreciated the help but it was time to go. We downsized again. Kitty got sicker and my brain finally started to realize what was happening. Didn't matter. I was still a cluster...you know what. We moved into a cabin with cheaper rent. It was good at first but quickly we realize just how bad that place was. I panicked over money and went to New Mexico. I was keeping our bills paid but I was gone. Kitty went through hell in that place. It was bad. I had made a terrible choice in our new home. She got sicker and was miserable. She cried nearly every day while I was gone. 

Fast forward and we moved once more. Since 2015 and after a lifetime of financial stability, I moved us for the fourth time in just a few short years to where we are now. This place is nice. Most important, Kitty likes it here. It's small but comfortable. I'm finally learning how to work and make money without going to work everyday to draw a paycheck. Because of Kitty's patience and understanding, I've learned how to write, create things, and survive. Because of Kitty, I've finally learned what it means to be a caring human being and not just think of myself, which I have done my entire life. Don't get me wrong, I still have my moments. I have always been self centered. I've always had to have my way, even though most of the time my way is not the right way. I've learned how to control things better now. I know how to realize when I start to go to that dark place of 'It's all about me.'

Seward, Alaska

Hopefully, because of Kitty I'm now a little better person with compassion and just a bit of empathy. That's a tough word and concept for autistics. I am no exception.

For those unfamiliar, this is a glacier...or what's left of it.

There is so much more I could write. If you're still with me at this point, I know this is getting long. I won't have Kitty much longer. She is hospice. Kitty is a hospice care nurse that has crossed over 30 souls. Now, with me learning and helping, she is her own hospice care nurse. It's tough. I want to enjoy the time we have left together. I want to be with her until the end. I never believed in the words soul mate until now.

I guess what Kitty has taught me over the years is finally hitting home. I'm learning to be self sufficient. I'm learning to survive without depending on a helicopter job. I'm learning what being a real human being is, instead of going into my autistic robot mode when I don't understand or freak out.

It's funny...with all of our financial problems and me going from the time I get up to the time I go to bed and things not selling right now to figuring out how to pay the next bill and keep a roof over my wife's head, the only thing of importance to me besides Kitty is...Just how good this coffee table is going to look when it's finished! I got work!

ArcticArtique.BlogSpot.Com

Recycle Repurpose Reuse

If you're still with me here, you should check out our eBay auction going on currently. You don't have to buy anything. Just take a look at how far my photography and writing has come. It's all because I finally started following my wife's lead and learned! She can't do it anymore so I do it for her. It's my time to take care of business!

Check us out!  Just follow the link!

https://www.ebay.com/usr/arcticartique 

ArcticArtique on eBay!