The phone rang in the middle of the Fairbanks night and was always a br wrong number for the Klondike Lounge. Not here, I'd say sleepily. Different br place. We're a bunch of people rolled up in quilts. Then I'd lie awake br wondering, But how is it over there at the Klondike? The stocky building br nestled between parking lots a few blocks from our apartment like some br Yukon explorer's good dream of smoky windows and chow. Surely the br comforting click of pool balls, the scent of old grease, flannel, and steam. br Back home in Texas we got wrong numbers for the local cable TV br company. People were convinced I was a secretary who didn't want to br talk to them. They'd call four times in a row. Sir, I eventually told a br determined gentleman, We've been monitoring your viewing and are sorry to br report you watch entirely too much television. You are currently ineligible for br cable services. Try reading a book or something. He didn't call back. For the br Klondike Lounge I finally mumbled, Come on over, the beer is on us.