Icewind's Ramblings

I saw in today’s paper that there were over 50 vehicles in the ditches around Anchorage yesterday.   It doesn’t surprise me as it seems people making the drive out to the valley do crazy things while making that commute back and forth every day.   It snowed about 3 inches yesterday and again last night.   It lingered into the evening hours but late last night things were getting back to normal when temps started falling again and yes, it finally HAPPENED!!!!. I was shocked to see things had gone crazy here. While out running errands on my day off for Veterans Day this dick in a truck pulled out in front of me on the way home as it has been snowing all day and everything was slick and people were upside down in the ditches.   I was able to avoid and miss this nut but couldn't quite catch up to him to get a license plate number.   Luckily I do keep a camera with me for job pictures so I was able to get a quick picture to help me find him again.   If anyo...

It’s almost time for Anchorage’s annual FOCC . . . (Festival of Car Crashes) The festival is traditionally held the first day that there is more than a dusting of snow. It's played much like Pamplona's ‘Running of the Bulls’ except everyone is in their car or rig’s and the object are to avoid all the other cars. This is no easy feat given treacherous road conditions and "Auto Alzheimer's" . . . the yearly loss of memory of how to drive in winter that afflicts most drivers in this town. The weak and cowardly stay home those first few snowfalls as the truly macho strut their stuff in the legendary places of traffic mayhem, like the intersection of Tudor and Lake Otis or the S-curves of the Glen Highway by Fort Richardson.   The annual festival is a boon to both body shops and hotels as tourists flood the town from around the world, hoping to see the ‘Northern Lights’ with many getting caught up in the action in their rental cars.   That's the spirit, eve...

Last night I shoveled snow off the deck several times before dark and was down to an area of about 10’ x 10’ that was still packed with about 3 foot depth of snow. All of the front decks were cleared, the side deck that runs the full length of the house was finally clean and I made the turn in the back of the house all the way to the steps going down to the backyard.  I would get them today along with the last patch of snow. Or so I thought when I went to sleep last night. I awoke this morning to find it snowing large wet flakes and the glow of the streetlight out front showed me it was coming down like there was no stopping it soon.  Four inches had falling since about 2:30 AM and when I left for work just after six it was almost blizzard conditions on the Glenn Hwy. with the wind blowing vehicles and snow all over the place.   I had not checked the weather before heading to sleep so I was shocked and somewhat miffed that we cannot get through breakup and w...

I enjoyed a nice lunch on Thursday with several friends at The Peppermill restaurant.  Several of us used to work with one another and one is my new sales guy for an equipment rental company.  It was nice meeting him as my former salesman is working out of a different location so it was one of those quickly planned lunches that are usually made within the hour of everyone meeting. This day the morning started off with snow coming down on top of the semi breakup melting that happened the day before.  The water runoff had refroze overnight as the temperatures dropped and once the snow hit this morning it turned all of the roads into a slick mess.  There was a couple inches on the ground by the time I left the house and the short drive to my office found several vehicles in the ditch or others involved in a crash with someone else or into an object. By lunchtime another three inches or so had fallen and with the compaction of the vehicles the roads were in sad shap...

And so did the ditch divers who cannot drive worth a crap. The front came through and with it a nice steady snowfall covering the frost on everything the last two weeks and as those who make their way to work in the darkness forgot some of the tenants of safe driving.  The main on is slow down lest you end up in the ditch or overturned with that unique view upside down sliding to a scary stop hoping someone else doesn’t hit you.  Another is turn of cruise control on icy roads as they can make you veer off the highway when the tires hit uneven ice on the road making the false sense of slowing down when it just spins those tires until you hit the brake spinning you out of control. After the front stalled over Anchorage it produced some nice fluffy large snowflakes which was pretty to watch once the light of day came but caused major traffic tie ups along the Glenn Highway which was closed for several hours due to out of control vehicles.  It was a long commute ...

Nope, not again this week. Anchorage has been basking in ice fog for the last week which means we have not seen the sun during the brief daylight hours we have this time of year. Traveling around town has been interesting looking at the many objects covered in the hoar frost   makes everything look like the white ice world Hoth in the Star Wars movie, Empire Strikes Back.    Trees, power lines, or anything outside in the elements is covered with about ¾ inch rime ice.  It looks cold and with the temperatures around ten degrees it feels it at times too.  At least the wind has not been blowing making it even colder but at the same time it would have blown out all of this fog with even a gentle breeze. The contrasts between things is interesting as the vehicle colors against the white is nice but the real beauty is seeing the dark colors of moose and different colors of birds against the ice or frost.  As they come and go around the bird feed...

Elin Picked a Wedgie I find it interesting as more information comes forward in the continuing saga of Tiger Woods.  He is a very private person who for years now has developed his ‘brand’ presence while little is reported about his life off the greens. As most of us had finished the turkey, cleaned the dishes, and settled down to enjoy the time away from work news broke about the crash of the Cadillac Escalade and the injuries to Tiger Woods. At first things just didn’t seem right as the story broke on the east coast while many slept but here in Alaska it was still evening and the pop-ups on the internet flashed the early news of what happened . . . or did it? ‘Backing up’ out of the driveway . . . hitting the fire hydrant and then the tree . . . but why was there damage on the front of the vehicle?  Perhaps a quick getaway? Tiger unconscious in the car, a window broken with a golf club after a heated discussion and a neighbor’s call to 911, a quick trip to the h...

When everything's coming your way, You're in the wrong lane. Or so it seemed this morning as once again the weather here is in a state of great change. Last week we were well below zero and that system has now moved southeast affecting the mid western states. Meanwhile our temperatures have risen about 45 degrees warming up enough for it to snow again. That lasted for a day and as it continued to warm around freezing a shift in the winds brought with it freezing rain this morning. Everything turned into a sheet of black ice making things extremely dangerous for drivers. It took me about an hour to make the seven mile drive to work. There were over 75 vehicles in the ditches between the valley and town and I counted 18 in my drive to work. People in to big a hurry even at reduced speeds with not enough time to stop so they put it in the ditches. I stopped by the Burger King by the Dimond Mall this afternoon for a quick bite to eat and...

I saw in today’s paper that there were over 50 vehicles in the ditches around Anchorage yesterday. It doesn’t surprise me as it seems people making the drive out to the valley do crazy things while making that commute back and forth every day. It warmed up on Christmas Eve then snowed all night and day. It lingered into the evening hours but late last night things were getting back to normal when temps started falling again and yes, it finally HAPPENED!!!!. I was shocked to see things had gone crazy here. While out running errands on my day off yesterday this dick in a truck pulled out in front of me on the way home as it has been snowing all day and everything was slick and people were upside down in the ditches. I was able to miss this nut but couldn't quite catch up to him to get a license plate number. Luckily I do keep a camera with me for job pictures so I was able to get a quick picture to help me find him again...

It’s fun going to work on the first workday snowfall of the year. Every year there are those who have sped their way back and forth to work or home during those long summer days without a care in the world . . . there’s plenty of light out and animals are easy enough to see . . . but then that transition time comes when we lose between 5 to 6 minutes a day and that darkness grows across this northland. These first days of the winter driving season brings about this little game that the Glenn and Seward Highway commuters play on almost any snow day. I like to call it “Count the Cars in the Ditch”. Its fun . . . it's free . . . it's mean . . . isn’t it great! All those who blast by you giving you the finger . . . you can just give them that big smile as you slowly make your way by. Winter driving advice . . . the skinny pedal on the right is not the brake. The ones flipped onto their roofs, tires straight up like Roadkill, fetch extra points. This...