I am cheechako

No, really. I know - you think that you figured that out from the name over there on the left, right above the chipmunk.

The term chee-CHA-ko came about during the Yukon Gold Rush days. It meant someone green and perhaps ill-prepared for Alaska – especially winter. So I am cheechako. I'll be cheechako until I move Outside or I die. That's as honest as I am here, regardless of my disclaimer. For every other statement, see my disclaimer, contact my lawyers, or lets talk my cut.


I've been hanging out on RIU for a few months now, so more than a few already have bumped into me. So here's something to fill in some of the blanks:

I worked in NYC in the early 90s and lived all too briefly in SF before getting married and raising step kids through much of the 90s in the bay area of California. By 2000, we lived in the Santa Cruz mountains – an easy drive to SC, SJ, SF, etc.. Then Silicon Valley took a turn for the worse – a big dive, in fact. I got an IT job on the North Slope oil fields and moved us here. Seemed like the smart thing to do at the time, especially since I sold my house back in CA at a loss as the bank was close to foreclosing. The Slope gig didn't work out in the long run.

My wife (originally from Alaska) and I struggled to put our lives back together. Now we have stable jobs that we enjoy, if not the best of pay. We're doing mostly OK, except we're stuck in a horrid roommate situation while we save for our own place. We're in our 50's and this is Alaska. I don't really see a way out. I'm cheechako and I'm stuck here. I try to avoid Alaska as much as I can. It is pretty and I understand the appeal. But if I didn't have what little this city had to offer, I would go nuts.

I live in Anchorage. Around half the population of Alaska lives near me. Hardly any of Alaska is near me. Alaska is not a place – it is a collection of many places, most far away from here no matter where here is.

Some people call me (in post) cheech – what can I do, eh? I really didn't think of that when I took this name. I never met Tommy, I am white, and I am chee-CHA-ko.

White power

White power? You don't live in AK. Only white power here is snow. I hear you, cheechako. The dark here sucks for sure. The local hobbies are beer and snow machines. The music scene is not. It's way different.

Hello cheechacko, nice to meet you.

I'm sure I have called you 'cheech' at some point, probably more than once. Please accept my apologies as I didn't know any better and would have done it out of pure laziness. Now I know.

Best of luck to you in getting out of your roommate situation. I've been there, done that, and yes, it does suck. Remember that nothing lasts forever and better times are sure to come as long as you never give up.

Hang in there, buddy. Tomorrow is just one day away.

atidd11 said:

White power

Click to expand...

----------

hotrodharley said:

White power? You don't live in AK. Only white power here is snow. I hear you, cheechako. The dark here sucks for sure. The local hobbies are beer and snow machines. The music scene is not. It's way different.

Click to expand...

Really depends on what kind of music you're into. KNBA is one of the best things about AK, and I support them. Been to some great shows, though mostly not local artists.

TalonToker said:

I'm sure I have called you 'cheech' at some point, probably more than once. Please accept my apologies as I didn't know any better and would have done it out of pure laziness. Now I know.

Click to expand...

Don't worry about it. I just never thought that way cause I hear the correct syllables in my head. But it is no surprise and I'm sure many will do that.

So anyway, thanks to anyone that's checked out my intro. One thing you need to realize - not just about RIU, but the Internet in general - there are a lot of idiots out there. A lot of misinformation, closed minds, immaturity, and out-right hatred (obviously). But if you stick around this place for a while, you'll learn to look beyond the jerks and run into some cool people and helpful knowledge.

And a tip even for some of the people that have been here a while - not everyone knows this: In "my rollitup" (upper right corner of the web page), you'll find a menu that includes your Ignore list. I really don't use it a lot. But it is a nice feature when needed.

I reported atidd11, but mods can leave it those posts here I guess. They can serve a a warning to newbies, perhaps - there are all sorts here - beware!

I have atidd11 on ignore, ranted about RIU assholes in my journal, and I got to use an Interesting Guy Meme Generator. Total score in my book!

To atidd11: Oh look, it is back. The only way to click report it to view the post. That sucks.

It was certainly not a surprise - oh, the witty and intelligent comeback and the clever use of the n-word yet again!

Would atidd11 care to explain to everyone how his posts in this thread contribute to this forum or this community? Obviously I'll read the response too since that is the only way to report.

See, one thing people should learn and learn very quickly about the Internet is that there is no shortage of idiots. Take atidd11, for example. All he got from my intro was "white power". Not only did I put him on ignore, I had a little fun with it.

Should I have expected this reaction - the slightest hint that I'm not into "white power", and the local KKK comes down hard on me, accusing me of loving niggers and stuff like that? I'm being facetious about the KKK - if there really is an RIU branch, please let me known so I can log off RIU one last time.

Well, "stuff like that"... heh. All this idiot has done is add three terse responses to my introductory thread suggesting that I do/should love/fuck niggers. This bothers me more because of the style of argument - mostly vulgar name calling - which is not debate and strongly suggests a closed mind and low IQ.

If you have a closed mind and low IQ, there is really no point for us to chat. This is a big enough forum and we can avoid each other. I've figured out the Ignore feature. Yet I have run into RIU members that seem worth chatting with in my short time here. In part, I opened up a bit about myself here in this belated intro thread for those that have already bumped into me a lot - those I would welcome the chance to smoke a bowl with.

atidd11 is most definitely not one of those people I honestly would be interested to read an explanation (English, not foul-mouthed twitter) from atidd11 gets from his trolling behavior in this thread, or what it brings to the community, or what it says to other new members coming to RIU. Even more, what kind of life do you have that doing this adds to it? It must be very sad. I'm here to share some laughs and music, and learn to grow.

If, along the way, I have to continually report atidd11's n-lovin' posts, so be it. I don't mind. I know other members have reported these as well. Don't know if the mods mind that they have to deal with it, but not my fault here.

We love u cheapaco.

It is just sooo cute that atidd11 has a hard-on for me!

Anyway, thanks for the bump. You know, I am trying to view RIU in part as a place to meet some people (albeit over the Net) and maybe hang out and smoke a bowl together. With it being this Internet, we can't really do that. But I feel that way a lot when I share musical tastes over in the Music section. That's where I get a lot of my post count, and a lot of likes and whatnot. It is a pretty cool sub-section within RIU which actually has nothing to do with weed or growing. A lot more of my posts come from TNT. That's also not about weed or growing - it is more of a free for all, but not quite. There are sections for Politics and whatnot. It can be fun, but there are lots of sharp things and dull things too. I've also tried to participate in Newbie Central and other Growing Room sections, helping others. I've even created a journal where I share my grow along with rants and other bits of wisdom (or not).

So, like I said, RIU is a place with all sorts. There are idiots and assholes here. And there are some fun, interesting, and/or knowledgeable people here. There are people I would like to sit down and smoke a bowl with if we had the chance. Two responded to this thread. There are many other RIU members too that I want to at least smoke a virtual bowl with. atidd11 - well, I wish he would stick to his meth recipes or whatever it is he does on this forum. I've never encountered him until he started to troll my intro thread.