Icewind's Ramblings

It was a long drawn out campaign for both sides and to be honest I’m kinda tired of all of this now. But I know I will keep watching, reading all I can to learn and stay informed of the issues. Because I know, that despite the divides that politics can create, despite the unrest from all sides, the strained tensions that develop . . . politics ultimately DO bring out the good in people if we let it. Politics allows everyone to put our heart on our sleeve, to illustrate what we believe matters. It allows us to talk of subjects we have views on but may not know how to bring up . . . topics of abortion, of gun control, government size, wars and the environment. It provides the perfect opportunity to believe with every ounce of you in something outside yourself. Politics sometimes brings out great people . . . it’s given us Churchill and Trudeau, FDR, Mandela and the Kennedy’s. Politics has provided a platform to address social injustices . . . to highlight inequaliti...

I had an interesting phone call from my daughter this afternoon. One I was not sure how I would react. She called today to let me know she is in the process of getting her orders for Iraq . She will probably do training to prepare for her Guard unit to deploy in a couple of months. Pride was my first reaction and then the thought of my daughter gaining a Life Experience only the few see first hand. Another briefly went through my mind was a daughter in combat . . . but I know she can handle anything put to her besides her training and attention to detail will carry her through. Its funny when she first joined I knew she understood what Duty, Honor, and Country meant and the sacrifices of leaving her husband and son during her times of deployment. Soon those will take on an added dimension to her life. One Friend Comes Home and another goes in to stand post. Cheers to both! Ice

I'm a little bit aggravated. I take that back, I'm very upset. Would you like to know why? Of course you would. I'm mad because Subway restaurants have stopped their classic "Sub Club" promotion. One of the nice things that I have enjoyed these years in Alaska is I usually have an opportunity to eat lunch several days a week in sandwitch shops like Subway and Quiznos. My company also does the plumbing and mechanical work in all of the Subway’s so I usually am not too far from one during my normal course of my business activities. For many years now I seemed to have at least two days a week of stopping by a Subway for a quick meal. For me the BMT has been a favorite and getting the stamps with each sandwitch I could fill up a card in about two weeks for a ‘free’ sub. Anyone who’s ever eaten at a Subway restaurant knows what I'm talking about. Every time you bought a sub sandwich you could get stamps. Collect enough of th...

We are in the throes of winter now with our daylight winding down each day as we approach the winter’s Solstice. The snow has arrived and the winter storms are now lining up along the Aleutians and heading in one after another. The interior has dropped well below zero now and the night sky can be lit up with the always vibrant colors of the Aurora . For many Alaskans the images of Alaska are embedded deeply within our Alaskan consciousness. It does not matter what time of year as we have seen first hand images of sentinel pine trees frozen in time. The sight of our native people gathered together on the beach harvesting a whale for their subsistence lifestyle; of glaciers with a majestic azure blanketing the peripherals with giant walls of white. The huskies hopping through a snow drift glad to be pulling a sled through snow now and not a four-wheeler across the tundra, the tips of their fur crystallized and glistening. We need these reminders now as the day...

Being from the baby boomer generation growing up as a young boy that when you grew up you wanted to be an Astronaut. We were in the time of a great space race with the Russians to be the first to step foot on the Moon. Those were glorious times and everyone had a common purpose in bringing us toward the goal of men on the moon. Thousands of people worked to bring about new technology, new ideas, and a spirit of wonder in the possibilities of all things that may come from such an endeavor. We were introduced to Tang as our breakfast drink and shortly the computer. They filled whole buildings then inside refrigerated rooms so it’s funny now to see a laptop with more ability than a building full of computers back then. Our technology and packaging has come a long way in just a few years. That spirit seems to have passed somewhat as we have had our tragedies over the years within the space program. Many of the brilliant engineers have aged and retired now as we ...

I guess there is always a bit of drama during the holiday season. Every year it seems something pops up to make things interesting. This year was no exception. Everyone seems to be fascinated with our Governor Sarah Palin. She tried to make light of the past several months and was invited to ‘pardon’ a turkey for Thanksgiving at one of our local fresh turkey suppliers in the Mat-Su. It was supposed to be a fun outing and the pardon went without a hitch. Such footage of any governor would no doubt have drawn interest, but the continuing obsession with the former Republican vice presidential nominee sent this one into the stratosphere. Just afterwards the media started asking questions and Palin stopped to talk for a few minutes of the political climate these last few months. The interview that followed the ceremony is being called "Gobblegate," "the interview of death," or "Silence of the Turkeys ." The video, shot by KTU...