Icewind's Ramblings

For some time now we have seen things slowly coming to the point we are now. It has not happened overnight or over one or two terms in office for our leaders. Greed has had a lot to do with the shape of things and not just in the home industry but also with the auto industry as well as our import and exports. Many people did not want to see it but the signs were always there. There were so many people with a “Jones” attitude, as in ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ that bought into the belief that with nothing or little down they could have that half million dollar house and pay only a thousand bucks a month payment. They didn’t believe that balloon payment due in five years would make any difference in their lives. Well it did and every one of those who were selling or brokering those worthless pieces of paper was making a fortune. Greed on everyone’s part and it all came falling down around us Banks are foreclosing on homes at record rates. Illi

Aaargh . . . ’tis the season once again for those yuletide letters from family and friends about the activities of everyone’s perfect family and overachieving children. Do you get them too? They sometimes have a tendency to drive me nuts. Why, I ask you? Can someone explain this strange phenomenon to me? I have never considered writing one of those letters, and frankly, I have never figured out what makes people write one. Is it a way for family members to get under everyone else's skin by stating (bragging) about their trips, children's accomplishments, or that big promotion at work? Yuck to all of those. The several letters I have received this year were really painful to read. I could almost substitute my own thoughts to make them somewhat funny so I at least could get through the thing. A paragraph each devoted to the children; how talented she is in ballet, how great he is doing in school, how the baseball team couldn’t do without him. S

If you love what you do You’ll never work another day in your life. I don’t know it this is an “only in Alaska ” phenomenon but it was pretty neat and somewhat strange at the same time. On my drive to work this morning I made my turn south onto Gambell Street from 5 th Avenue about 6:30 am. The temperature was 26 degrees and you have to understand that we are only a couple of days away from Winter Solstice so it does not start to have first light until around ten o’clock in the morning. As I approached 7 th Avenue there is a man standing on the corner playing a guitar and singing Christmas Carols to the people driving by or who were stopping for the red light ahead. This person was having a great time, enjoying his music, and so ‘out of place’ for this area of town. It was great! The cold nor light fog did not seem to bother him as he rocked on to his music. I was semi disappointed that traffic started moving again and I would

What will future archaeologists say about our culture? We know that if you want to see what a society valued, you look at what was placed in tombs or in our society possibly landfills. What a society values most are the things that are made to last forever. That is why I believe future generations or aliens will say we valued crap. I do not mean that as a metaphor. I mean actual excrement, and in the case this time of year in Alaska , frozen crap. Why? When ever a dog craps in this town and now in most other cities it is law that its owner must pick up the crap and place it in a plastic bag. This does not make a lot of sense to me as we have now taken something that was totally biodegradable and now wrapped in a protective shell of plastic that will last thousands of years or virtually forever. Now that I think about it . . . most CDs are plastic as well & will last forever. If you don't think that Britney Spears and Avril Lavigne aren'

. . . or Trying to remember our past. I posted this several years ago but with our hectic lifestyles it still rings true today so I thought I would repost this as we make our way through the darkness here in Alaska and embark on this Holiday Season. With this being that time of year that people tend to stress and wrap themselves into the frenzy of the holiday season, perhaps at this time of year we all need a moment to remember patience and good will. Even though Icewind is hesitant to put religious messages before you, the sentiments below are worthy, whether you pray to God or seek your own inner guidance. Oh Lord, help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children. Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't ma

I was sitting drinking coffee enjoying a nice fire yesterday morning as I enjoyed a peaceful respite from a busy week. I’m watching MSNBC when the news bulletin flashed and shortly there was the footage of the shoes flying through the air at President Bush. I admit . . . I did chuckle at the shoe-throwing incident. Several thoughts quickly flashed through my mind as I watched the replays over and over again. Bush still has pretty good reflexes in dodging the shoes thrown at him. One of the few times we have seen him ‘lean’ to the left on anything. Where was the Secret Service . . . I guess they have decided they won’t jump in front of flying shoes for the President anymore. I guess the country can only hope they are quicker once the new guy gets sworn in. Watching it seemed that the first one to react headed for the attacker briefly then realized he should head towards the President. Officials stated the hand motion by Bush was ‘wa

Friday saw the failure in the Senate of agreeing to bailout the auto industry’s Big 3. The world won’t end, nor will the US auto industry disappear without this bailout to GM and Chrysler. The Democrats and the UAW would like us to believe just the opposite. There is the rumor that Bush will fork over some of the 700 Billion for the banking industry to keep this from happening as a ‘Not on my watch’ last ditch effort. Hopefully he won’t do that either and let Free Enterprise run its course. The raping of taxpayers has been delayed for at least 3 weeks. The Senate was very close with this ‘loan to nowhere’ for GM and Chrysler & the UAW. You know what brought down the deal? This shouldn’t surprise anyone - it was the United Auto Workers (UAW). UAW is really more concerned with lining their own pockets vs. saving a company and thus their member’s jobs. Now I do hate to see people going into the ranks of unemployment having been through that m