Icewind's Ramblings

I do not know about you but sometimes television commercials just do not seem like much thought was given when making them. The one currently running on TV here for Viagra shows a nice looking middle age man sailing alone in a sailboat.   It looks like it is dusk and he is sailing away as it goes into the side effects of the drug.   He is ‘Alone’ in the boat.   Now I do not know about you but the idea of being alone in a boat with a ‘stiffy’ for over 4 hours does not sound all that fun.   The commercial shows him having a problem with the mainsail and having to fix the problem . . . I wonder if the ‘wood’ helped or hindered the repair.   Did this poor fellow use it to hammer the broken part in place or was this about the time the other side effects kicked in? I have never taken any of these so I can only speak from the commercials and the information provided but it seems like . . . well . . . it may not be the greatest thing it is being made out to be. ...

I have not been writing much lately for several different reasons.   With the extreme cold this winter I could say it has been “brain freeze” but that would only be a small part of it.   Things have been quite busy for me in a non-busy way if that makes any sense.   I have been traveling a bit around the state so it has been very cold and isolated going out to the villages preparing for new projects this season or checking on ongoing projects from last.   At work it has been busy with so many things going on with new work and dealing with the logistics of such remote places to get people, equipment and materials to the jobsite.   Around town it has been a time for reflection and throttling back a bit from going a hundred miles an hour.   In that sense I guess I have become a semi-recluse.   What is a recluse, really?   Well, it's someone who chooses to live a life of solitude.   This kind of lifestyle isn't for everyone, obviously.  ...

Funny headlines from the newspapers that make you go what the heck . . . and then the laughter sets in bringing that little smile to your face. You wonder if the editors get burned out in looking at story after story and miss something or if they catch it and decide to let this or that one slip by to give the readers a little chuckle or find that little gem waiting inside the paper. Sometimes the obvious really does not make much sense when it is put this way.   It makes you want to ask, Duh dummy, I know that. In our lives we see and hear many things that make us want to say, I should write this stuff down because you cannot make this shit up . . . well I think you could but the reality of things is sometimes funnier or more absurd than one might imagine. Ice

On the farm lived a chicken and a horse, both of whom loved to play together. One day the two were playing, when the horse fell into a bog and began to sink. Scared for his life, the horse whinnied for the chicken to go get the farmer for help! Off the chicken ran, back to the farm.   Arriving at the farm, he searched and searched for the farmer, but to no avail, for he had gone to town with the only tractor. Running around, the chicken spied the farmer's new Harley.   Finding the keys in the ignition, the chicken sped off with a length of rope hoping he still had time to save his friend's life. Back at the bog, the horse was surprised, but happy, to see the chicken arrive on the shiny Harley, and he managed to get a hold of the loop of rope the chicken tossed to him. After tying the other end to the rear bumper of the farmer's bike, the chicken then drove slowly forward and, with the aid of the powerful bike, rescued the horse! Happy and proud, the chicken rode th...

We’ve had cold temperatures below zero for a couple weeks now and it is slowly warming up (to about 5 degrees) as we are getting some snow this afternoon and tonight.   It is nice to see the flakes floating around as day turned to nightfall giving things a soft glow from the street lights. I am glad this is a short week as everyone at work seems to not be into things or it is taking a little longer to get into the rhythm of the New Year.   To think back to an event in warmer times I thought I would share this with everyone.   This is some pretty awesome pictures from last fall @ the 2011 World Submarine racing Championships in the Gulf of Alaska. It’s pretty neat if you like submarines and with all of the water activities here during the summer months it seemed like a natural.   As Jimmy Buffett says, “This one is for all of us with a little pirate in them.”   Well, what did you really expect to see . . . it’s a submarine race . . . Now h...

I finally got through my work week and did not finish this until tonight so it is about a couple weeks old now from reality.   I had finished up Friday (the week before Thanksgiving) and had a few days off until after the holidays.  I needed to use some of my time before the end of the year so as not to lose it so I did not have to be back to work until Nov. 28th which is not bad. I decided that I had worked too hard these last few weeks and needed a break from everything so I decided to drive down to Homer for the day to clear my head and get ready to slow down from work.  I have a friend who has a boat there who had asked several weeks ago to drop by if I was in the area.   With the cold weather he was not there this weekend but no worries.   I have another friend who has lived in Alaska for many years but had never been to Homer so I asked if she wanted to accompany me on what would be about a 10 hour trek.   Several friends thought I'm crazy to dri...

With the holiday season upon us I wanted to make sure everyone is safe and uses good judgment when going to holiday parties or out on the town.   I remembered seeing this warning a while back and wanted to share it with everyone. Enjoy! WHEN YOU GET TO THE END, CLICK ON THE LINK FOR THE DEMO! Police are warning all men who frequent clubs, parties & local pubs to be alert and stay cautious when offered a drink from any woman.  Many females use a date rape drug on the market called "Beer." The drug is found in liquid form and is available anywhere. It comes in bottles, cans, or from taps and in large "kegs". Beer is used by female sexual predators at parties and bars to persuade their male victims to go home and sleep with them. A woman needs only to get a guy to consume a few units of Beer and then simply ask him home for "no strings attached" sex. Men are rendered helpless against this approach. After several beers, men will often succum...

I was thinking about this the other day while sipping on a Corona out at the lake cabin. Scott and I had several and it was not long before the empty bottles were scattered here and there as we worked getting things ready for winter. It was not long before it was time to clean up and start gathering up our trash and the empty bottles.   It dawned on me that there really is no 'away' to throw things.    No matter what you do or which way . . . away does not exist. When you throw something 'away', you are actually throwing it away from yourself . . . but towards something else.   Think about the concept of “away”.   Away from who or what we might ask?   Away from you maybe, but closer to me.   Away from me maybe, but closer to someone else.   Away from what . . . a ‘thing’ or object?   You can't throw things away, because away does not exist. So don't let me hear you say you are going to throw it away, because you can't.   And you ...

In Alaska we have a great group of men and women serving our country while stationed at Ft. Richardson, home of our “Arctic Warriors” and the 172 nd Stryker Brigade.   Their tour was extended over in Iraq and like many other units the number of wounded or killed has grown over the last few years. I saw yet another news story recently about insurgents using car bombs to attack security personnel in Iraq.   This includes the peace keepers and the Iraqi soldiers trying to support the new “Freedom Plan” government being established for this country.   This has become an almost daily occurrence and seems to have escalated in the last few months.   Thinking about this for a little bit, I decided that the major issue as far as I can tell isn't with the feisty-ness of the insurgents or the poor security in Iraqi cities.   The biggest problem I can see is with the cars there.   They are just too convenient and plentiful to stuff with explosives, drive into a c...

Snow left on the mountains from last winter still blocks the Resurrection Pass Trail in Chugach National Forest .  Things up high are melting fast as you can see the ground and rocks high above the city.  Lower levels of the mountains are in that transition period of greening up for summer.  Over the weekend I had to pull on the fleece in order to sit on my southwest-facing deck and enjoy the evening sunshine. The spring sun, admittedly, feels as good and warm as ever.  But the air, well, something is wrong with the air.  The air is still cool.  As soon as the sun disappears behind a cloud, the temperature starts falling as if it were nighttime in the desert. A bright sun warming the deck one evening last week actually encouraged me to engage in the foolishness of pulling on shorts and a short-sleeved jersey for an evening mountain bike ride.  It was only a fleeting thought as I did not want to dig out the bike from under my deck storage area....

Four or five days ago there were some changes coming to the Anchorage area which gave us our first real glimpse of summer.  The clouds parted, the sun continues to give us the sunlight lost during our long winters.  We are up to about 17 hours now with sunrise around 5:30 am and sunset around 10:30 PM so you can still see it light outside to the west after midnight. The city is in that period of time when everyone comes together to walk the roadways picking up trash that has either been dropped or blown around the streets.  Everyone has the opportunity to clean up the debris and limbs that were blown down in your yard.  The City of Anchorage opens up the two landfills for a couple weekends for those that want to clean up and drop off their debris.  For those two weekends the do not charge so the lines are long but it makes a big difference in how the city looks during the summer. With the sun out in force giving a sense of warmth at about 60 degrees it wa...

Sorry this is not another tasty treat from my Alaska Road Kill Recipe book but one you should really like. Here’s a little holiday recipe to serve your houseguests who drop by.  If you are lucky and no one comes by feel free to enjoy these with your favorite beverage . . . it leaves more for you to enjoy while kicking back on the sofa. Crab Nachos 2 packages Hollandaise sauce (made as directed on the package – with milk, not water) 1 pound lump crab meat 4 tablespoons cilantro, chopped 4 tablespoons green onion, chopped 4 pieces bacon, well cooked & chopped 4 teaspoons pickled jalapenos, chopped (for that little extra bite) 1 package shredded cheddar 1 package shredded Monterrey Jack Tostitos Scoops Prepare Hollandaise sauce according to package directions; reserve. Preheat broiler. Mix crab meat, cilantro, onion, bacon, cheese, and jalapenos in a bowl.  Add hollandaise sauce.  Generously spoon mixture into Tostitos Scoops and place und...

These last few weeks have gone by quickly in some ways as it has been busy with work and my daughter’s hospital stay (she’s out now and doing better) but in those few quiet moments my mind wanders to times past and the return of summer. Last weekend I was able to play a DVD concert of friends of mine from the South called Cullowhee. Most of the guys attended Western Carolina University in the North Carolina town called Cullowhee so their music is mountain rock with a mixture of all kinds of various sounds. Listening to the songs brought me thinking about one of my favorite summer activities, Fishin’ and I started browsing my photo’s to bring back the memories of past fishin’ trips all over Alaska. I thought I would share some of them with you and the lyrics of a song aptly named Fishin’ by Terry Edwards of Cullowhee. If I can figure out how to post the song so you can hear it I will shortly. I hope you enjoy part one of Fishin’ Fishin’ by Terry Edward...

I decided on the way home the other night that I did not want to cook or have to really do anything for dinner so I stopped at one of the local places to grab something to take home. I ordered and it did not take long for me to be on my way again but as I turned to leave I was struck by something by the front door. When you leave, there's a sign on the door that says "Place your next order on-line NOW!" I think the "NOW" is a little over-ambitious. How much do they think I like this pizza? I haven’t even gotten home yet and I'm holding a hot, steaming pie in my hands already, and now I'm supposed to go home and instantly order the next one? I don't think drug dealers are this pushy. ("Here's your order - oh, and before you shoot up, why don't you go ahead and page me? I'll meet you back here in about 10 minutes.") I took the pizza home and ate it with little fanfare. It was ok but nothing that really made me desire anothe...

A warm cup of coffee is sounding pretty good right about now. With cold weather comes the desire to eat warm, comforting foods. This weekend, Anchorage finally got its first snowfall, and what better way to mark the occasion than by making a great big pot of ‘damn good chili’ and a skillet of cornbread. It’s great but I’m sure there are those around me who are not as thrilled with my ‘songs’ after eating this wonderful dish. As I am writing this, we are getting our first snowfall of the season. There were a few flakes earlier today as I was eating lunch with several friends at Henry’s. It had been raining lightly all morning when the change started to occur. The snow fell slowly at first, one flake at a time, but soon it filled the sky, spreading thickly across the entire land. With the native culture in Alaska it was almost as if the tears of the villagers gathered into clouds and, with the chill in the air, returned to earth as Alaska 's first snowfall. ...