Ahh... the glamorous life of a polar explorer. Sashaying from one elegant engagement to the next. Going out to eat at fancy restaurants - barely a care in the world. Yeah, right! Here is the aforementioned polar explorer cleaning, of all things, chimneys.

Just so you know, my life hasn't always been this glamorous. I have had worse jobs. Housekeeper at a fancy Victorian-style bed and breakfast is definitely in my top 10 worst job experiences. I'm not much of a neat nick, but how do you love something that you hate? Do it so much that you find the positive.

Peeling logs was another fun job. There is nothing like bending over a 40-foot long pine tree carving away bark with a draw knife for eight hours a day. That experience definitely gave me some extra time for self reflection.

I was eaten alive by fourth graders as a substitute teacher in the fall of 2001. I mean they saw me coming from a mile away. I guess I forgot to take the big 'sucker' sign off my back before coming into work that day. Still, I learned to think on my feet and quickly scrap ideas that weren't working.

I have had more dead end jobs than I care to list here. I also had some really great jobs as well. It has not always been easy. It has not always been hard. Over time, these experiences have come to shape the person that I am today. I am happy for that.

Cleaning chimneys is dirty. My back hurts at the end of the day. But my friend Mark Spinler owns this business and needed the help.

In a not so unrelated event, Mark owns the bike shop in Grand Marais as well. So all this chimney work has led to my being able to purchase a brand new red bicycle which I will ride everywhere that I can.

Special thanks go out to my parnter in soot Dave Mills who took this picture and placated my smokey vanity.