Icewind's Ramblings

Alaska has been sensitive to Oil spills especially after the Exxon Valdez incident over twenty years ago.  I think things have moved past the anger and aggravation dealing with the Exxon now that they finally settled the law suit brought against them . . . it only took twenty years and many people have grown old or have died before Exxon paid a dime.  Lawyers . . . kept playing ping pong within the court system even after being fined postponing having to cough up the money. For many years there were many protests about the environment and how things were going, especially here in Alaska with all of the “tree huggers” and environmental groups going on and on about one cause or another.  Things have calmed down somewhat now and seem to be a little easier to deal with when things go wrong. There recently was a small oil spill in Alaskan waters and you could see in the response that those earlier feelings had mellowed a bit.  People were now saying that a little...

I’ve had one of those ongoing experiences this week with another round of jury duty.  It seems like I am on a rotation of being called every two years which is the time period between set up by the court system.  Your name is pulled from the PFD database (Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend) so if you qualify for the yearly money the state gives out from our oil revenues then you have the honor of serving on a jury if called. The day goes something like this.  You call into a number the evening before to see if you are to report and if your number is given you must arrive between 7:30 am and eight o’clock for roll call.  There are between two hundred fifty and three hundred people in a huge room.  Waiting. And waiting . . . then there is another roll call and people head to the assigned courtroom so you may be asked questions from both sides to see if you are acceptable to serve on that case. The others continue to wait and another group is called for the sa...

Will Rogers Remembered I had meant to post this back in August to commemorate the anniversary of the plane crash which killed Will Rogers and Wiley Post, who was known as one of the best pilots in America .  He gained fame by being the first pilot to fly solo around the world. After Mark Twain died, America found another great humorist, raconteur, story-teller, who tickled the nation’s funny-bone and pricked the collective social conscience at the same time.  Will Rogers made people laugh, think about our social interactions and his musings gave us much to think about. Post asked Rogers to come along on a tour of the great unknown land of Alaska , where Post was trying to map routes for mail planes to Russia .  Ever adventurous, Rogers agreed — he could file his newspaper columns from Alaska by radio and telephone.  On August 15, 1935, their airplane crashed near Point Barrow, Alaska , killing them both. One quote by Rogers has always struck me . ....

I just could not resist this little ditty, lol Amelia Earhart Turns Up In Richard Heene's Attic FT. COLLINS, Colo. (CAP) - Authorities conducting a follow-up search of "balloon boy" father Richard Heene's Colorado home have turned up missing aviatrix Amelia Earhart living in a box in his attic, where she'd apparently been since her legendary disappearance. Earhart, well over 100 years old, was none the worse for wear, according to authorities. "She said she'd been in tighter spots than that," said Sheriff Jim Alderden. "She's a tough old bird." Alderden said his men hadn't thought to look in Heene's attic for Earhart, because they assumed she had crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 1937. The discovery has led many to believe that Earhart's disappearance was an elaborate, attention-grabbing hoax planned by Heene, who caused an uproar last week when he erroneously reported that his son Falcon had been carrie...

I’m tearing out the master bathroom this weekend so I am reaching into my “ready” folder for a quick post.  My wife could not wait and take a break after the first one so it started on Friday evening with Brandon and Deb starting the demolition.  I finished trimming out the first bathroom today with the final base trim.  I hung the new light fixture, a three light sconce type moose light.  The tile looks great and everything is put away in the closet for now.  I still have some base trim inside the closet but that is for another time.  More later . . . The madam opened the brothel door in Anchorage and saw a rather dignified, well-dressed, good-looking man in his late forties or early fifties. 'May I help you sir?' she asked. 'I want to see Valerie,' the man replied. 'Sir, Valerie is one of our most expensive ladies. Perhaps you would prefer someone else', said the madam. 'No, I must see Valerie,' he replied. Just then, Valerie appeared an...