If you were an employer, you’d want a worker who was completely dedicated to and wrapped up in her job, right?  Someone who can’t stop talking about his or her job would be an ideal employee.  Well, Kim Robinson is one such worker.
          I met Kim at the Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla, Alaska.  All of the AGLP participants were swarming the store, checking out souvenirs and taking up most of the space, and Kim didn’t bat an eye.  She stayed calm and collected, even taking a minute to give me an interview.
          Kim works full-time at the Iditarod Headquarters all year round.  Because of the Alaskan seasons, she has a variety of jobs to do at different times of the year.  Most of the time, she runs the gift shop.  She also helps sign up mushers for the real Iditarod race, which takes place in early March.  She told me that they have signed up about 50 mushers so far—and it’s only July!  To be able to do the Iditarod, the mushers have to go through some special training.
          Another of Kim’s jobs has begun only recently: taking care of the sled dogs.  This is her favorite part of her job, and it is evident in the way she talked about the animals.  When I asked her what she does for them, she answered that she helps to feed them and sometimes goes on the sled during demonstrations.  She doesn’t yet know all of their names, but she loves them just the same.
          While her favorite part about her job is the dogs, her favorite part of living in Alaska is being outdoors all the time.  Kim was born in California and raised in Oregon before visiting Alaska in 1995.  She liked it so much here that she went home only to pack her things and move to Alaska for good!  She hasn’t left ever since.  When I asked about the long, dark winters, she said that she doesn’t mind them.  Someone who doesn’t mind twenty hours of darkness a day is a true Alaska lover!
          The only part she isn’t crazy about in Alaska is the wind.  However, if she could change anything about Alaska, she wouldn’t change one thing!  Kim plans to stay here and live in Alaska for years to come. 
          Kim gave me several leaflets and brochures about the Iditarod before striding back over to practice some crowd control with the shoppers.  Now isn’t that the life: living in Alaska as a dedicated worker, taking care of dogs every day?  I’d hire her as a worker any day.