Who needs a man once an Alaska girl has mastered the chain saw?

Alaska Dispatch News ^ | August 16, 2014 | Laureli Kinneen

[Foundahardheadedwoman]

NOME -- I used to joke and tell my friends that other than for obvious reasons, I only need a man to operate my chain saw. Because really, I’m an Alaska girl, and can bleed the line when I run out of fuel at the house. I thaw my pipes when they freeze. I can change a flat tire, butcher a caribou and catch, filet, smoke and can a silver salmon. Oh, and shoot a few ptarmigan with a .22 for dinner. You know. Normal stuff.

But here’s the thing. I’ve relied on a man for seven years to supply the wood for the stove. And it’s embarrassing.

[S.O.S121.500]

Funny...come to think of it now I remember reading about a similar technique in Swiss family Robinson, using something like a bicycle pump.
—==00==—
Useful for small animals and birds. Learned from an old taxidermist, useful to harvest feather and fur for fly tying purposes. Think there is pertinent on the web....google bait

[ConservativeMind]

Uh, how many of those fatherless thugs had a father that chose not to be there? How many mothers of those fatherless thugs expected the father to stay around and not go off and bed another?

How many men are creating fatherless thugs and blaming the women for their sperm causing a pregnancy?

Marry the right one, stay married and have healthier kids. The studies prove this, and you allude to it in your words.

But this better way does not always happen. It can be either partner, but when the woman is left with the kids, don’t be harsh about her learning how to survive without the guy.

[Rodamala]

Does your sister need a husband? I promise to let her run the chainsaw all she wants.

[goat granny]

Was taught by another farmers wife, her hubby didn't like skinning goats...(we raised Angora and the hide was worth anywhere from 60 to 100 dollars. Twice what a live one cost. I hung the goat from the head. With the single edge razor blade make a small (about an inch) incision at the front leg (knee area) You have to be very careful not to cut into the meat, the razor gives you good control of the depth of the incision....with a trigger on the air compressor, insert into incision and run it for about 7 seconds (depends on the size of the animal). It blows up like a balloon in the Macys day parade. do the other leg the same way. The compressor leaves large air bubbles where it has pulled the hide from the meat. I would go down the belly of the goat, the skin is thinner there thats how I nicked the bladder on my first. Hide comes off easy. The most important thing is NOT to cut into the flesh. You can tell when to stop as there is fascia between the hide and the flesh.....If I can do it anyone can. There hide is so thick and they have long curly hair that it took a couple of weeks of daily salting to prep it for the tanner. I sent my to Pennsylvania to be tanned. The place in Bucks county was the cheapest and they did a great job. that was years ago, I don't think I left out anything important. Most of the work is just popping the bubbles after your done with the legs. I talked with the taxidermist up in town and he wasn't too sure of my way....went into his shop one day and he said someone brought him a coon (fresh road kill) and he tried the compressor and razor blade...Laughing he said it worked great on the coon as he usually has problems doing a coon foot, with the 5 fingers on each foot..

[ConservativeMind]

Amazing. I'm telling this to my wife now.

Many thanks for the insight. I had no idea it could be done this way. When my dad and I did it, it was a knife the whole way. What's funny is that when I was 15, I used my detasseling money to buy us a good Craftsman air compressor for the things I knew could be done with it. This would have been wonderful to have seen at that age.

[SkyDancer]

Ever see Aussie spiders?

[Paladin2]

"Laureli grew up listening to KNOM while camping and fishing; in 2001, she moved to Nome with her husband and cherished nine years hanging out at home with their two children, Joe and Sidney."

she had one at at least some points. Now? not so clear.

[B4Ranch]

The length of her hair tells me she doesn’t spend 30 minutes a day messing with it and she doesn’t waste a whole lot of cash on hairdressers.

[Jack Hydrazine]

I tend to notice that women with short hair are more independent. If they are independent then they don’t need a man. And that’s okay because it’s her choice.

[Paladin2]

"many men in this thread feel threatened by a woman saying she can now cut her own wood. "

I only fear a woman who won't bring me a cold beer when I'm in the middle of fixin' something, dirty, should be kept out of the kitchen, and have nicely asked.

I'm workin' on training my dog, but she is a Chesapeake and may not come around to being that useful.

[B4Ranch]

Just maybe the man in her life is lousy in bed.

[Foundahardheadedwoman]

Not so far. Do they look anything like kangaroos? Do they bite, sting, or kick? Don’t worry, I will do my best to protect you from them.

[Smokin' Joe]

I think people should be able to run their lives however they want. If she runs the chainsaw and he pickles fish, whose business is it but theirs?

I agree! To each their own.

[Foundahardheadedwoman]

“This thread is showing latent hostilities from some of the men here I would not have thought would have had a problem.

When a woman to get past her fears to help her family survive—this is a truly good thing. There’s not a single shred of sanity in these negative posts. It’s obvious this lady has a sense of humor and is talking to other women who can understand.”

Another voice of sanity. I would not have believed the bitterness I have read here over what I thought was a humorous article. I come from a place where some men think their woman, they own em you know, should walk 6 feet behind them. The women I have known have always been welcome beside me.

[Tax-chick]

I was interested in the thread because of the novelty of life in Alaska. I was a bit surprised when it turned into criticism of the young lady.

Oh, well.

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Probably shouldn’t put a chainsaw in her hands. Her nickname growing up was “the spazz.”

[ConservativeMind]

Your animosity is unwarranted.

How in the world can you pull that from the story? What if her husband has died?

This lady is chumming with the girls, encouraging them to be willing to try doing what the guys might normally do. You and I can’t live forever. If it were possible that you could ever marry a great lady, wouldn’t you want her to be able to cut wood or, maybe even defend herself with a freaking gun? What if YOU died? Would you want her to be helpless?

[trisham]

Whoa.

[trisham]

LOL!

[trisham]

LOL!