"Macha Mamas", give this thread some sugar, please.

[Sugar Smack]

Give us your survival stories of being in the wild.

I was working for a radical environmentalist group. I went to Alaska at their behest. So, I worked in a lodge in Mink Bay, doing all the food prep, maid-work, cuttin' & guttin' fish, bleached the water, and looked after the generators. My boyfriend-at-the-time and I got stranded and had to be rescued by the coast guard. I built a fire because I knew how (Girl Scouts) and we were rescued within 15 hours.

Now I'm working in a dress shop at Xmas. I have ravenous customers throwing dresses at me & I have to split up fights.

Excuse me, now, while I go beat my chest. Happy New Year!:toast:

[donsu]

1. gads, I'm tired just thinking about all the 'wilds' I've managed to survive

I'm old.

must be a trip working in a dress shop. never done that but once I went with another woman to a dress shop and while there watched a woman steal earrings as she was paying for dresses she bought.

[Sugar Smack]

3. Oh, LAWD.

I don't even have the energy to bust anyone. I don't steal, never have, but I'll tell you, this job takes all the energy away from me. I think I'd rather be stranded on some anonymous stretch of beach at this point, hey.

[Richardo]

2. Sounds like you were better off in Mink Bay

:hi:

HNY, Sugar Smack! :toast:

[Sugar Smack]

4. What's HNY, Richardo, and I LUVS YA!

:loveya: :toast: How'd yagettobesocute???????????

[Richardo]

6. *H*appy *N*ew *Y*ear, cherie

:loveya: Hope you have one.... :loveya:

[PDJane]

5. Three months of retail

at Christmas turned me into an anti-social computer drone. God, I hated that period......

[Sugar Smack]

8. You too? Let's take a road trip!

I had a dear friend who worked with me say, "We're six months into December, right?" Heh! We'd been listening to Xmas carols for a month and a half.

And I want to see the Keys again.:-)

[Ravy]

7. I had to get something at Wal-Mart on the Saturday before Christmas. nt

They are my drug store. No flames please.

[Sugar Smack]

9. Oh, yeah?

Do they fling around terms like "fresh bear scat"?

JK.;) I'd wade thru the mess for my meds, too.

[Richardo]

13. Fling? Scat?

:scared:

[Sugar Smack]

19. No, only republicans fling scat.

:rofl: These were merely 10 foot brown bears. Oh, yeah, we had "bear mace". You couldn't reason with these critters.

[zabet]

10. For 6 years..

I was one of the only 2 women
mechanics out of 274 total. I
was the only woman on 1st shift.
I can hold my own. ;)

[donsu]

15. wow, awarding gold star

sounds like you could do Rice's job

[zabet]

21. Thanks...

:blush:
:hi:

[Sugar Smack]

18. You sound like a woman I'd want to know.

Your resourcefulness. Your sense of humor. You're a rock! :D

[zabet]

20. Thanks!

:pals:
I am a master at making
chicken salad out of
chicken shit. ;)
:hi:

[Warpy]

11. I've lived in a truck, in a tent, on the street, and about every

other weird situation you can imagine. I've cooked over open fires, Sterno, woodstoves, and what have you. I can catch and gut fish with the best of them. I used to buy bushels of unshucked scallops off the boats and shuck and freeze them. Same with shrimp with the heads on and whole fish. I've made gourmet dinners from mussels scraped off oceanographic equipment.

I could afford the urban penthouse now but I find I'm not interested in experiencing the one living situation left: luxury. I got so damn good at being poor I'm loath to change. Grameen, Kiva and Doctors without Borders are the beneficiaries.

After 25 years in nursing, beating my chest would probably just be the coup de grace to a heart that isn't working that well any more.

[donsu]

16. love you

nt

[Sugar Smack]

22. So do ANYTHING but beat your chest, my dear!

Blow a Nepalese mountain-horn instead. Love ya, macha mama.:loveya:

[Swamp Rat]

12. LOL! ... k&r

:rofl:

[Sugar Smack]

23. *KISS!!!!!!*

Happy New Year, baybeeeeee! :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :*

[shugah]

14. 24 hours aground in a sailboat in heavy fog

and no food or beer left zOMG! wet, cold, nothing warm to wrap up in.

and also retail.

give me the clam bed any day!

[donsu]

17. I've been aground at nite in a sailboat twice - not fun and I was

on a tri maran when the starboard ama broke off. swam to rescue boat with sharks in the area. that was not fun.

on edit: aground 3 times - sigh

[Sugar Smack]

25. OMG!!!!!!!!

Sharks! Geeze!:wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: No words.

[Sugar Smack]

24. Oooh!

Really! Hey, I remember when my so-at-the-time said "DRIVE THE BOAT" and we had six foot waves. Well. I've never learned anything so quickly in my life.:D

PS-You rule.

[donsu]

26. that will do it! - the sea can be damn scary.

nt

[rucky]

27. Law & Order: Special Retail Rescue Unit

Coming to TNT. Hang in there 'til next Fall!

[Sugar Smack]

29. Don't do this to me!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Vinca]

28. The year was 1958, the place was Lake Fairlee in Vermont.

It was Girl Scout camp. I was a little fat girl - had to have special shorts. Banged my thighs trying to dive off a metal pier and had black and blue marks the size of dinner plates. Then there was the marshmallow situation. We ran out. My dad drove 2 hours after work and brought Campfire Marshmallows for the whole camp (and my favorite, plastic horse figurine). For years after this terrifying experience I had nightmares about giant water spiders. Don't ask me why. :rofl:

[kineneb]

30. not retail, but almost- farmers market

I managed one for 12 years; this is where I learned that most people are Really Stupid. We had a fixed opening time, due to insurance requirements. Growers would get there early to set up and people would wander in and attempt to buy stuff. We were constantly telling them, "The market is not open, please wait on the sidewalk for your own safety." (vision of customer crushed under large box of corn flashes in mind)

Then there was this classic exchange:

Customer:When does the market open?
A: Says it right there on the sign: Noon.
C: I don't read no signs.

there were days...:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[SalmonChantedEvening]

31. Dentist-frightening heaps of sugar, darlin lass

:hi: :hug: :loveya: :yourock:

edit to add: In 3 weeks due to severe panic need, I learned commodities codes for U.S. Customs clearance. Things are bad when the New Guy is explaining why codes apply to our product to people who've been doing this for a living for decades.

Back to bed, fighting a nasty cold.