Thought you'd find this interesting...

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...but I applied for a GIS job in Barrow, Alaska--less than 1,000 miles from the North Pole.

Cool! what is the job supposed to be about?

I knew a guy who did the summer fish processing thing in Barrow. I remember he said it was good there was absolutely nothing to do so he wouldn't spend the money he was making. But nothing to do is relative. Nothing to do is bliss for some of us. I bet you would meet some interesting independent people there.

That's awesome! I used to want to live in Alaska when I was a kid, because my special interest was wolves. You'll have to keep us posted as to whether or not you land the job.

good luck, i hope you get the job

Wow, that's a huge change from Texas. Well done for applying & Good luck!

Congrats on applying. How will you handle the cold?

It's not just the cold. Alaska, especially the area north of the Arctic Circle, has very extreme day/night cycle variations between seasons. In other words, winter has very long nights and very short days, and summer has very long days and very short nights. There are even times called "polar night" and "polar day", when the sun either never rises or never sets, depending on what season it is. Polar day and polar night may be fun in a city like Reykjavik, Iceland, with plenty of civilization, nightlife, things to do, and places to visit, but I'd be uncomfortable having that in an isolated town like Barrow. What's your take on it? (Plus, Barrow doesn't allow sale of alcohol, which would put me off.)

I don't know about wolves along the Arctic coast, but a lot of whales, though. (are the Inuits exempt from the U.N. whaling ban?)

Just in case, I applied for jobs in Houston, Pittsburgh, and the Denver area. In fact, I may have an interview for the Pittsburgh job.

I spent some time in Alaska many years ago and you either love it or hate it. The cold is not the thing that people don't like about Alaska it is, like Aspie1 said, the 6 months of daylight and 6 months of night. The cold is something you get used to. The Inuits are allowed to hunt a limited amount of various marine mammals. I tried some whale and walrus and it is nasty stuff. I didn't know you couldn't buy alcohol in Barrow.

Good luck with the job hunt.

What're you gonna do, build igloo's?

my alaskan relations tell me that alaska has a high cost of living compared to texas. the pipeline dividend is only a small compensation for this. but i hope you like it up there and make lots of $$$$$$.

My dad worked in Adak, Alaska for a year and said milk was about $15. Supplies and mail were brought to the island once a week by plane. He played lots and lots of pool and poker.

Pittsburgh is a nice city (I'm on the other side of the state).
Really cool hills, like San Fransisco.
3 rivers (where the traffic backs up in the morning crossing bridges into The Triangle - but it's pretty!)

Last time I was there I remember great restaurants and artsy festivals downtown.

Good Luck!

Oh, and if you chose AK, if you don't like it you can always switch later.
Might be fun for a while.

Pittsburgh


Barrows City Hall


Looks like a significant difference in lifestyle