Ryan McFarland

Today marks my completion of eight years of employment with the City of Petersburg.  I remember those first few days in town so well.  I arrived on the ferry at about 5:15 on a Friday (the 16th of July 1999).  Since the offices were shut down i couldn’t get my keys.  It was me, my red GMC Sonoma, Oliver, and Comet and my kayak, bike, and a few boxes of stuff.  I knew nobody.  I had no place to go (with two cats in a kennel in the back of the truck).   I slept in the back of the truck in the South Harbor parking lot for two nights.  The weather was nice - people were walking all around town and riding bikes past my hideout.  I had to kill two days before being able to settle into my new office.  I called every apartment listed in the newspaper from a pay phone.   Nobody wanted someone with cats.  I eventually moved my tiny RV to Tent City and stayed there for a little over a week - paying for showers by the quarter.  Eventually i found an apartment for $800 a month.  It only cost me about $70 in cleaning supplies to make it worthy of moving into.  I remember that the bag boy at the grocery store remembered me but the checker didn’t.  She still treated me like a “tourist” 3 years later.   That was a pretty lonely time.  Good to get settled into a new town though.