Icewind's Ramblings

Bill Cosby was describing his children’s love of their grandparents whom sometimes seem to do no wrong in the kid’s eyes. His children love their grandmother and think she is the greatest thing.  He tells them maybe you just cannot see it but Bill said to his children . . . “My mother is NOT the same woman who raised me as a child . . . she’s old and trying to get to Heaven.” Thanks Bill! Ice

It has been a mixed week here in the far north as work has accelerated getting ready for the upcoming construction season.  Many meetings trying to sort through which projects will have funding and for those that do quickly moving through the winter time preconstruction activities. Part of this process is making material lists of every part and piece to be built.  Literally it is figuring out exactly how many nuts and bolts will be needed.  All of the equipment that will be installed is ordered and shipped to make the limited barge season schedule.  For many of these villages there may only be two barges that dock bringing with it 98% of things the village will need for the next year.  This could be food, clothing, heating fuel, construction materials, snow machines (most villages have no real roads so not many ‘vehicle’s’ are there other than construction ones), and anything else that you could think of.  It is a different world and if something misses...

How are we doing? With health care and the struggling economy on the minds of most Americans right now I wanted to think back almost a year ago and see if you come up with the same answer I did about our first out of the box stimulus program.  Remember Cash for Clunkers ? Question? What was the most positive result of the "Cash for Clunkers" program? ANSWER: It took 95% of the Obama bumper stickers off the road. With many people still out of work it is now probably about the time that all of those vehicles are being repossessed and a second round of ‘deals’ can be had by those lucky people who get a second chance for those vehicles. Living the Life now, aren’t we? Ice

I need to come clean since I pretended to be asleep last night after “The Incident”. I would like to give you a little back story before I confess.  This past weekend was one of those times where there were multiple things going on and everyone is required to give way from the normal routines and go into that feeding frenzy mode that comes during these times. We had the start of the Olympics with the athletic competition getting underway on Saturday.  Then add to that the happenings in Daytona with auto racing which included Danica Patrick’s debut in the Nationwide Series 300 and the running of the 52 nd annual Daytona 500 NASCAR race and you have the makings of a stomach disaster. To properly watch any of these events you have to prepare for them.  The Super Bowl has its ‘must haves’ to do it up just right.  There is always chili, hot dogs or hamburgers, nachos, and the chips & dip that set the mood for the afternoon.  Mine was no different where you...

Friday evening’s long awaited start of the 2010 Winter Olympics had that just right feeling after Beijing ’s spectacle with a “less is more” format.  It worked well and had some pretty interesting things going on showcasing Canada ’s vast and varied lands and people. Paying homage to the First Nation’s people and culture gave a great sense of place and heritage.  The dancers continued to perform during the athletes walk of Nations which lasted over an hour and a half.  They should have won some kind of medal for their endurance. I tend to like the winter Olympics more than the summer games as it is a smaller contingent of athletes and they make their walk on entrance at the beginning of the program so they can watch everything that happens.  The summer game athletes miss the program standing around in a parking lot somewhere while the show goes on.  A little less of the Olympic experience I guess so winter to me is much better. For those watching on televi...