Icewind's Ramblings

Friday afternoon we head out to sea leaving the boat harbor in Homer heading 265˚ while running about 16 knots.  The fishin’ area we wanted was 26 nautical miles from Homer in the direction of Augustine Volcano which we could see in the distance with a plume of steam rising out of the top.   The "Ring of Fire" (map) is an arc stretching from New Zealand , along the eastern edge of Asia, north across the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, and south along the coast of North and South America . The Ring of Fire is composed over 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes. This huge ring of volcanic and seismic (earthquake) activity was noticed and described before the invention of the theory of plate tectonics theory. We now know that the Ring of Fire is located at the borders of the Pacific Plate and other major tectonic plates.  Alaska has many active volcanoes ranging across the Cook Inlet from Anchorage winding its way down along the Aleutian chain. ...

One more Summer fishin’ and crabbin’ adventure. With the Autumnal Equinox passing today giving Alaskans a ‘normal’ day of almost equal amounts of light and darkness it was nice to have another opportunity to head out fishin’ one more time this summer. In what was a slight turn about of seasons I awoke Friday morning to an unexpected sight . . . the sun . . . with hardly a cloud in the sky?  We have had cloudy and somewhat rainy days the last few weeks so everything appeared to our heading into fall and winter.  I had packed away rain gear and warm clothes so I could layer up if needed for a trip to Homer Alaska to meet up with a friend of mine, Lance who owns an insulation company that I contract with to work on many projects all over Alaska .  He had recently bought another ‘boat’ and he wanted to hook me up with a few of his contractor associates.  It would be a great break from the office to network more work in a social setting. I left early Friday mor...

I wanted to write about my fishing trip this past weekend but I left the pictures at work and did not get them uploaded . . . the work was a bear today so I did not have a chance to write tonight so I figured I would give you another Observation which lately has resembled my work environment. Saying "I will try" is like saying I will do something differently until it becomes uncomfortable, and then I will change back to the old habits. Ice

I’m heading down to Homer Alaska for a little fishin’. Have a great weekend! I’ll be back online on Monday . . . Ice

Politics lately have been really boring with all the in fighting between all parties on almost any talking point.  No one is happy about the Health Care proposals and the stimulus money is being squandered away like many people thought it would be with little oversight or accountability. The economy is in disarray with the jobless rate continuing to rise “as things are getting better” and the vehicle rebate program flooded the nation with scrap metal and the upcoming wave of repossessions as those who traded in cannot afford to make the payments. “Change” was promised and that is what we have received . . . like it or not. I am into being positive each day and sometimes you need those little positive affirmations to set the tone for the upcoming day.  Tony Robbins says those things help break the cycle of negativity and can change habits and thought processes. Here is my daily routine when I get up in the morning before heading off to work.  I grab my cup of coffee...

I read a lot of blogs when I get the chance on all kinds of subjects and one that seems to get a ton of verbiage is about people who work in offices.  Some are complaints about people who have co-workers who steal their lunch or co-workers who wear too much perfume.  A few about those people who haven’t mastered email etiquette at work.  I read blogs where people rant about their bosses, complain about their work schedule, moan about their cubicle size. Which makes me feel somewhat guilty. Because usually . . . I don’t have anything to complain about.  Sure, I might have a backlog of work from submittals or O&M manuals waiting for my attention or a list of calls to return but is that really something to complain about?  Not really.  The work hectic but I think I thrive on it if truth be told but this is just . . . It’s sort of a gross story, but I did it as a child too . . . so I can understand the appeal. (Get it . . . A PEEL?  I’m here all ...

An update. The social experiment of neighbors competing and then voting each other out of the neighborhood ended Sunday with the winning family beating out the other families of the $ 250,000 prize money.  Eight families were isolated behind 20 foot high walls and the bickering began and continued for the last seven weeks.  The first thing to happen in the scorching heat of summer in a suburb of an Atlanta Georgia subdivision was the power to be cut off. No air conditioning, no television, internet, cell phone, texting or other ‘modern day’ items to occupy the time.  It’s like a trip back to the 50’s when families spent time together.  There is the family dynamics of spending time together 24 hours a day plus the interactions between the other families playing the game. The neighbors, 5 of the eight families call themselves “The Core” while the others who have not been living there as long “The Outsiders”.  The core group moved in when the subdivision w...

Originally appeared in the September 2003 issue of Esquire Do you remember this photograph?  In the United States , people have taken pains to banish it from the record of September 11, 2001. The story behind it, though, and the search for the man pictured in it, are our most intimate connection to the horror of that day. Read more: http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0903-SEP_FALLINGMAN#ixzz0QruXC4RU   Falling Man. Taken by Richard Drew at 9:41:15 a.m., on September 11, 2001 In the picture, he departs from this earth like an arrow. Although he has not chosen his fate, he appears to have, in his last instants of life, embraced it.  If he were not falling, he might very well be flying.  He appears relaxed, hurtling through the air.  He appears comfortable in the grip of unimaginable motion.  He does not appear intimidated by gravity's divine suction or by what awaits him.  His arms are by his side, only slightly out rigged.  His left le...

So here was my What-If thought about 911. What if the two hijacked planes, American Flight 11 and United 175, had plunged into those north and south towers at 8:46 and 9:03, killing all aboard, causing extensive damage and significant death tolls, but neither tower had come down? What if, as a Tribune columnist called it, photogenic "scenes of apocalypse" had not been produced?  What if, despite two gaping holes and the smoke and flames pouring out of the towers, the imagery had been closer to that of 1993 when the  World Trade Center was bombed in the basement parking lot of the hotel?   What if there had been no giant cloud of destruction capable of bringing to mind the look of "the day after" . . . no images of crumbling towers worthy of Independence Day ? Eight years later the American spirit of rebuilding had completed renovations to those twin towers and corporations would be back working away with only faint thoughts of that fateful Tuesday.  The f...

It’s 9/11 once again and oddly now everyone in America knows what that means.  Eight years ago America suffered the worst attack on our homeland soil, since Pearl Harbor . We remember but did we take it to heart the full impact of that beautiful morning blown apart by terrorists bent on killing us ‘Infidels’. September eleventh, will always be a where were you when moment in history.  But it should also always have a deeper emotional meaning for all of us that are old enough to remember that day. Suddenly, one clear morning it seemed to arrive . . . by air, complete with images of the destruction of the mightiest monuments to our power, and (just as previously experienced) as an onscreen spectacle.  At one point that day, it could be viewed on more than thirty channels, including some never previously involved with breaking news, and most of the country was watching. At first reports the news had us thinking it was just a freak, but horrible accident, with the f...

That could be a series of topics that I may develop into my blog but for now my thoughts reflect the time spent with our elders and other seniors compared to our own days on Earth. I had a pleasant surprise this past weekend when I received a phone call by one of my distant family members who was in Alaska for the start of a two week vacation consisting of a week by railroad glass domed ‘Wilderness Explorer” cruise cars and the second week on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship sailing south from Whittier to Vancouver along the inside passage with stops in several cities. I had just returned from the lake when I received the phone call from my ‘uncle’ Aubrey.  He and his wife were traveling with a church group of friends from Florida , Georgia , and Tennessee .  They had just arrived in Alaska after an all day trek across country.  They had left Florida in the early morning with stops/plane changes in Atlanta and Salt Lake City before arriving in Anchorage in late aft...

This year provided a mixed bag of things going on, outings planned and changesthrown in with a couple of surprises. I had planned for several weeks to make another trek out to Big Lake for one last weekend for Jet Skiing, boating, and relaxing mixed with those things Alaskan’s do preparing for the upcoming winter. The cabin needed cleaning, winterizing, and some repairs to make it through the extreme winter on the lake.  It is not unusual for minus 35 below zero for weeks at a time so making sure everything that can freeze is out, the toys are stashed away in the shed and firewood stacked in the tinder box are just a few of the chores to be completed.  There was one last lawn mowing and we kept a fire going in the fire pit burning up all of the old decking and joists from Scott’s efforts putting on a new deck several weeks ago.  We made it to the lake and mowed the grass put all of the jet skis into the water and everyone headed off in different directions.  ...