Icewind's Ramblings

I had a great weekend with my friend Mark Evans in town after his long motorcycle ride from Texas to Alaska.   He made it all the way up past the Arctic Circle and on to Deadhorse in Prudhoe Bay at the top of the world a feat many people will never experience.   Congratulations Mark, driving a vehicle is tough enough but doing it on a motorcycle is a feat in itself! We met up on Wednesday and I took him to see Sarah Palin’s house on the lake and drove up about an hour where we enjoyed lunch in “Beautiful Downtown Talkeetna”. We wandered the streets and airport seeing the crazy sights and listening to all the sounds of a busy tourist season.   We drove back to the cabin he was staying in Wasilla where we enjoyed sitting on the porch of a two room cabin built in 1931.   Totally rustic with a gas lamp and outhouse we sat on the porch for hours talking and getting to know one another after communicating on FB for several years. Sipping from bottles of Jack & Crow...

I’ve had one heck of a day and I do not know where to start explaining the madness so I guess I will start at the beginning.  Saturday is my time to get different things or chores done that get put off with a busy work week.  This Saturday was no different but I had a few added places to go or stop for things before I was able to stop and relax for the evening. “Where everybody Knows your Name” – Village Inn breakfast with friends.  I started going to ‘Saturday Breakfast’ over six years ago when I was working on a Project at the University of Alaska Anchorage .  We were building a very nice Library and the project took over a year and a half to complete. My Superintendent and I started to go there on Saturday morning so we could go over the progress of the job, set goals for the crew in the coming week and to review the past weeks goals and to make sure we had all the material to keep 12-15 plumbers busy the next week.  It was too hectic each day to fi...

My time on Saturday morning is spent for a couple of hours with a few friends during which we talk about all sorts of subjects, tell a few stories, and mainly laugh. It is therapeutic time to decompress the usually busy week. It is normally pretty full of people coming and going during the couple of hours we are drinking coffee. Sometimes watching the other people is fun and can sometimes give you a surprise or two. One couple was sitting behind us and we noticed they were not in a good mood while they waited to be seated. After a few minutes of strained conversation the talk turned serious. Woman: “Just once I'd like to sit down and have a conversation.” Man: “Pass the sugar, satisfied?” See . . . Talking Is So Simple . . . Really. Ice