Icewind's Ramblings

I was a late comer to start watching the television series Lost but once I started it has been a nonstop joy ride.  The show has a huge cast that is driven with multilayered characters and storylines.  It has been entertaining and fascinating watching the different aspects come into play and focus. The pilot episode introduced us to the main group and in later episodes through flashbacks their stories and dramas unfold before us.  It seems every one of the survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 is indeed “Lost” in their lives.  Over the seasons we watch as each face their particular problem and the metamorphosis that transpires. Terry O’Quinn is one of the main forces on Lost and over the years he has appeared in some of my favorite shows, NCIS, JAG, The West Wing, Alias, Star Trek TNG as well as many movies.  He is always a joy to watch as his characters have varied widely.  On NCIS in the episode called “Enigma” he played a Marine Colonel suf...

I have a buddy that lives in San Francisco who tells me that like many places in this country that the cost of health care is way out of reach for many people . . . including him.  He tells me that with some of his ‘issues’ he has to get creative to get the kind of quality health care that is readily available in his area. He tells me that on the Golden Gate Bridge there are yellow emergency mental health phones located every 200 feet or so.  These are possible suicidal jumpers who can make that last call for help if they want too.  He says he cannot afford mental health services, so every Thursday; he goes to the bridge to get some free therapy.  There is one catch, throughout the conversation he has to say he feels like jumping. "So lately, I just don't feel productive and a lot of my mother issues keep coming up." "Sir, this is only for emergencies." "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I feel like jumping.  Now, can we get back to that dream I had last week?...

The rest of the country has Groundhog Day but as always we do things a little different here in Alaska .  During last years legislative session Senator Linda Menard’s Senate Bill 58 finally passed and tomorrow marks Alaska ’s official first Marmot Day. In the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, the character Bill Murray played, Phil Connors, wakes up each morning repeating February 2 over and over again.  Phil’s sour and sarcastic attitude carried through each day in the beginning until he finally changed his outlook on things and looked for the positive or meaningful things in life breaking the cycle. We should all look around for the positive things each day so we do not become in a ‘rut’ going through life in some meaningless existence. Celebrating Marmot Day in Alaska is not quite like Pennsylvania ’s version with Punxsutawney Phil as we did not give our marmots and weather forecasting duties ensuring no one gets blamed for the crazy weather found here.  Groundhogs are ...

Driving home each day I pass a power plant close to my house that usually has a large steam plume rising several hundred feet into the sky this time of year.  If there is no wind it goes vertically straight up over a thousand feet into the air and on days with a light breeze it angles up into the air until the steam plume evaporates.  The hot air continues to rise even without a visible plume to show you where it is going. The strange and sometimes funny thing that many of us driving by each day notice is the large flock of birds that are flying in circles upon the rising warm air.  When I used to fly hang gliders when I was young it is called thermaling and within the hot air rising you make tight turns so you can stay in and ride to the top sometimes just under the bottom of the clouds. It was a great feeling going up to the top of a thermal and then leaving that one to fly over to another rising air mass to start circling all over again.  Some flights I may...

The last several days since I came back to town it has been somewhat trying to sit down and write my blog as several weeks before I left I started watching the television show “Lost”. I missed the first season and decided I would not worry about another program to keep up with so I did not get into all the rage about how good a show this was at the time.  Since then I have been using HULU to watch programs on my computer or my Netflix to keep up with other shows I might have missed.  Lost was one of them that are much better than I had imagined. I am just starting the 3 rd season and hope to get all the way through season 5 by the time the premier of the final season starts on February 2.  It has been like reading a good Steven King novel that you cannot put down.  There are many characters with intricate storylines being developed and it seems plot twists at every turn giving that great unexpected surprise.  Some may be good and a few that we have not l...

Several plane flights and a sled dog ride driven by schoolchildren helped kick off the 2010 Census in the United States .  Alaskans in rural communities not linked by roads have been the first people counted since the 1990 census. The village of Noorvik had the honor of kicking off the official count of our citizens and Clifton Jackson, a World War II veteran and the village’s oldest resident at 89 was the first person counted.  Noorvik is an Inupiat Eskimo community of six hundred fifty residents.  After gathering with village officials and elders U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves along with other census takers were greeted to a celebration and a day of festivities including a potlatch dinner.  There was a sampling of muktuk . . . strips of bowhead whale skin and blubber along with traditional dances, an Inupiat fashion show including a feast of caribou soup and baked bearded seal. It was a heat wave as the temperature hovered around zero compar...

The devastation in Haiti is a sad and unfortunate thing to happen in a country that sees natural disasters almost on a regular basis.  Every few years the seasonal hurricanes ramble through the Caribbean doing damage to anything in its path. Two days after the devastating earthquake in Haiti a story caught my eye in the newspaper.  Apparently some Haitians were so angry that the world was taking its time rushing to their aid that they were going to build roadblocks with the corpses of earthquake victims as a sign of protest.  How very intelligent of these people I thought expecting help from strangers and then possibly being ready for those who bring aid.  Not only will the stench and sight of a pile of rotting bodies make the rescuers feel really welcome but it would delay the convoy’s progress.  Clearly intelligence is not a commodity much in evidence in Haiti . What has Haiti done for itself?  Not a great deal by the look of things.  The ...

I’ve been out of town so trying to catch up so a quick little feel good post. From the movie “Summer Catch” it’s the closing credits song and just makes you feel good.  If you haven’t seen the movie it is a fun film with Jessica Biel, Freddie Prinze, Jr., Brittany Murphy, and Fred Ward. Also for one of the cast, Brittany Murphy it is a fun way to remember her since her recent passing. Have a great weekend. Ice

This week Alaska is having strong winds that usually are more into springtime but as we have had crazy weather all winter it seems the ‘big blow’ has come early.  Monday had winds over 75 mph and one house in the valley had the whole roof ripped off and as it broke up it scattered pieces over a two block area.  In Palmer several airplanes had been blown off their tie downs and tumbled over and over across the airport. For a coworker and me, we left at 0 dark thirty to catch a plane headed for Kodiak so we could catch another smaller plane to take us across the island to the village of Old Harbor to do a little recon of an upcoming project we are starting soon.  The project on paper had several areas where we have questions on how and what we will be able to do so it was decided to go there and see first hand what will be involved and to take pictures of the area where we will build a new village water storage tank and water treatment plant. The takeoff out of An...

It’s a Dogs Life . . . They must think it very strange that most humans only sleep once a day, but for 7 to 10 hours at a time. Over the holidays being home during the day I had the chance to watch my dog go about his day continually taking naps after playing or getting into something. Gus would charge out the doggy door and chase the birds or squirrels then come in and nap for a bit. Next he wanted to play ball so we threw it for ten minutes then a quick drink of water and another nap. He would try to find something to get into . . . trash, toilet paper, underwear, or the grandkids toys left out to chew on and after a while, yep another nap. If my wife watched television or decided to take a midday nap he would be at her side . . . both on their backs snoring lightly. Gus is still a young dog and likes to play but one problem is a short attention span as he gets distracted quickly as you throw the ball after several times retrieving it the next throw as he passes an...

With the ongoing problems with people trying to do harm to our country there is a way that these ‘enemy combatants’ . . . yes we are still at ‘war’ after the attack on our country on 9/11 . . . could be handled that is workable for almost everyone. Trying to solve the world’s problems with style takes thinking outside the box.  This administration has been trying to figure out what to do with the Gitmo detainees.  Do we close the facility or continue to keep them in Gitmo? De we set them free to wander off to parts unknown to continue their mission?  What about sending them back to their home country to be revitalized into their organized cells?  Do we let them loose inside America to wreak havoc on our soil again? How do we get our heads around this so that it makes sense and can be monitored to ensure our safety?  This might work and can be done with technology that is already used . . . just modified somewhat in scope and magnitude.  Each detai...

I haven’t written an Observation in the New Year so from the past holiday period this little diddy . . . If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, maybe you just don't understand the situation. Ice

At the end of the Survivor Samoa Reunion show there was a brief clip of the upcoming season for its twentieth run of Survivor.  They called it “Heroes vs. Villains” which gave us a glimpse of who may be playing.  It started many blogs debating who should be on and possibly which side based on past appearances. Jeff Probst revealed the cast of 'Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains' during the People's Choice Awards on Wednesday night.  The cast features twenty former players that fans either love or love to hate  . . . and after seeing the roster, I can't wait until it premiers on February 11, 2010. With the production crew in the Samoa ’s filming started just after season 19 wrapped making a quick turn around for season 20.  You may also remember there was a major earthquake in the area during that time period but it is not known if that will play into the show as when it happened the only thing released was no one was hurt during the event.  Production may...

Now to report on a ‘sticky’ situation a few days ago in California . . . Over the holidays an incident happened in Bakersfield when one of the many people traveling went through the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security checkpoint and was detained when two agents ‘found’ what they suspected to be a suspicious liquid. The passenger was said to be fully cooperating with TSA which leaves one to wonder just how incompetent some of these people are.  A hazardous material crew and bomb squad were called to Meadows Field Airport when sharp eyed TSA spotted several jars in a passenger's luggage. The airport was put under a security lockdown for hours while the investigation was ongoing.  The liquid substance that had everyone so worried?  Honey . . . the stuff Winnie the Pooh likes to eat.  It’s not just the human component of Homeland Security that failed, though. An expensive machine designed to detect the chemical signature of explosives c...

I’ve spent the last two days in an orientation class for job I recently started.  I was supposed to go to one in mid December but with the holidays it was cancelled until after the first of the year. I was able to start work for several weeks and as Monday approached I was starting to dread having to stop for two days to attend a class.  It had elements about the company and our mission.  There were lectures about the systems and the different divisions within our organization.  There were also several lectures (stories) about cultural differences within our staff and also our clients (patients/shareholders).  They were enlightening at times and showcased what makes this group of people somewhat unique in our fields of expertise. The class was filled with people from the four different divisions, some health care personnel with one doctor and six to eight nurses.  There were admin type people who worked in various clerical or billing type positions....

Happy New Year everyone! 2010 is here so out with the old and somewhat bad times during the last ten years and in with the new decade!  I want to wish all of my blog readers a very Happy New Year.  I hope that 2010 is a great year for everybody!! One dilemma I have been having as this day approached is how to say it or talk about the year.  Writing it seemed easy but in conversation it brings up somewhat of a debate between us. I remember when the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" came out, the title rolled off the tongue so easily.  TWO THOUSAND and ONE.  It sounded right and it never occurred to me that perhaps that naming was not consistent with other year naming practices, if not downright incorrect. So, as the millennium approached, and we all began to get caught up in the excitement . . . or dread . . . of not only the year changing, but also the decade, and also the century, we all named the year TWO THOUSAND. When the next year rolled around, I wa...