Icewind's Ramblings

I ran across this older post on my gaming board, The Amazon Basin and it gave me a chuckle on parenting and children coming of age and dating.   I thought I would post on my blog so others may gain insight into their own experiences.   This was written in 2006 and brought with it several events that have run full circle now in my family’s life. Enjoy. As my youngest daughter has grown up and started dating it has become apparent that I needed to break out the rules again for dating my daughter.   Before the holidays I had a strange thing that happened and wanted to share it with you.   On one of the weekends before the Thanksgiving holiday some little girls stopped by the house to sell some gift wrapping paper for a school project.   This happens every year and talking with the neighbors kids was nice seeing how they were doing and what was happening in their school.   One of the young girls asked me if we could get the car that parked at the edge of ...

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...

I wanted to write tonight but had several things to do before I came home and now the mood has passed so I figured I would put this funny story out to give a little smile to everyone. A couple made a deal that whoever died first would come back and inform the other of the afterlife. The biggest fear was that there was no heaven. After a long life, the husband was the first to go, and true to his word, he made contact. "Rose . . . Rose . . ." "Is that you, Douglas?" Yes, I've come back like we agreed." "What's it like?" "Well, I get up in the morning, I have sex. I have breakfast, I have sex. I bathe in the sun, then I have sex twice. I have lunch, then sex pretty much all afternoon. After supper, I have sex until late at night. The next day it starts again." "Oh, Douglas, you surely must be in heaven." "Not exactly . . . I'm a rabbit in Nebraska" Ice

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...

It’s that time again for the Fall classic of America’s pastime, the World Series. Many people from young boys to men collect baseball memorabilia from cards to baseballs and programs from the games.   With some people it may be an obsession in all of the collectables gathered over the years.   There are businesses that swap and trade items and even gatherings for autographs of your favorite players. Some people never outgrow that childhood obsession but I must say . . . If you need to shave and you still collect baseball cards, you're probably a loser.   If you're a kid, the cards are keepsakes of your idols.     If you're a grown man . . . they're pictures of men.   Enjoy the games but be careful of how you display your treasures! Ice

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 ...

The days are getting shorter now and winters on the way, there’s whispering on the winds telling us it’s that time to pray.   Pray for a quick winter and a return to our beloved summers. We are almost at that time when the frost is on the windshields of vehicles not tucked away in a garage and the time to return to using the auto-start on your rig to warm it up before you get in for that drive to work.   I originally came from the South and I have been surprised that no one there has started selling vehicle auto-starters for the use in summer to cool their vehicle before getting into them in the near 100 degree heat.   Could do well there I bet with a little promotion.   Not I mind you as I could not take the heat full time unless I was on one of the tropical islands somewhere with a drink in hand.   Jeff Foxworthy made famous the “You might be a Redneck” jokes and along those same lines we have our share of Alaskan humor that is a little different than the...

Summer is a great time for grillin’ keeping the heat buildup out of the house and fishing season is upon us so I thought I would put this one out there for everyone. 1/4 c pineapple juice 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice 4 (6 oz) salmon fillets 2 tbsp brown sugar 4 tsp chili powder 2 tsp grated lemon rind 3/4 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp cinnamon Cooking spray Lemon wedges (optional) Combine first 3 ingredients in a Ziploc plastic bag, seal and marinate in refrigerator 1 hour, turning occasionally. Before we start grillin’ let me give you a few tips on barbecuing salmon recipes. Make sure that the rungs on the grill are clean.  There’s nothing worse than old bits of food burnt on the grill bars, not only does it leave a horrible taste but it will make the Salmon stick. Get that barbeque really hot.  Depending on charcoal or a gas grill use plenty of charcoal to build a really good fire that will retain plenty of heat. Let the flames die down until you can see...

Tomorrow is Bike to work day and my company is hosting a BBQ for our new interns who come in to work with us during the summer months.  The combination bike day and a welcoming BBQ will make it a fun time and the weather is looking great for the event.  I was volunteered to help cook and people were bringing side dishes and deserts.  I figured I would give everyone a treat with my slightly different baked bean recipe. Baked beans are a favorite side dish in the South.  It's rare to go to a barbecue or to a pot luck dinner and not see a baking dish with baked beans. Some baked beans are a whole lot better than other baked beans . . . it takes some "doctoring up" to make the really yummy baked beans . . . the kind that means you come home with an empty casserole dish or crock pot.  If you’re really lucky someone will take the cornbread and lap up the juice in the bottom of the dish. There are probably as many baked bean secrets in the South as there are South...

This year like many in the past has shown us that there are more homeless and ‘street people’ than years past.  It is a problem with no easy solutions.  Several years ago the company I worked for built a new state of the art shelter called Brother Francis shelter which is next door to Bean’s Café which we remodeled the year before.  Both handle feeding and housing those in need of a hand.  Many have given up on life and go through the motions of hanging out all day waiting for the next meal or place to sleep.  Mixed into this counter culture are families and children.  Sad but true. One of the major problems here in Alaska is we have extreme conditions that can kill you quickly even when properly prepared for it but leaves little chance when you are intoxicated and not 100% ready for survival.  Each year we have many deaths, and last year I think I wrote about it raining men as one after another seemed to fall out of the sky being frozen to death....

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...

I need to come clean since I pretended to be asleep last night after “The Incident”. I would like to give you a little back story before I confess.  This past weekend was one of those times where there were multiple things going on and everyone is required to give way from the normal routines and go into that feeding frenzy mode that comes during these times. We had the start of the Olympics with the athletic competition getting underway on Saturday.  Then add to that the happenings in Daytona with auto racing which included Danica Patrick’s debut in the Nationwide Series 300 and the running of the 52 nd annual Daytona 500 NASCAR race and you have the makings of a stomach disaster. To properly watch any of these events you have to prepare for them.  The Super Bowl has its ‘must haves’ to do it up just right.  There is always chili, hot dogs or hamburgers, nachos, and the chips & dip that set the mood for the afternoon.  Mine was no different where you...

Thanks to AMC cable channel it was nice that they are playing Christmas Vacation over and over again today.  I awoke early and was able to watch it in the quiet of my man cave . . . no laundry going at this early hour. The days this week leading up to this morning were filled with all of the necessary items that make up “that perfect family Christmas” that Clark Griswold so earnestly tried to bring together. My family was probably no different from his as everyone scrambled with busy lives, work, doctors appointments, and the waiting for when those that had been out of town returned home for the holiday’s . . . then add to the mix our family dysfunction and the stage was set. "I don't know what to say, except its Christmas and we're all in misery. (Ellen Griswold)" - Christmas Vacation Dog barking, kids screaming and running around like chickens with their head cut off (if you’ve lived in the South and watched your grandmother do this before the holiday mea...

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...

Alaska is a sometimes strange and wonderful place to live. And while coming into winter with five fresh inches of snow for Thanksgiving the down time gives one time to reflect on the summer and have a chance to write a few things down from earlier in the year.  I think with the longer nights there “seems” to be more time as you stop doing some of the outdoor things in the afternoon and early evening as darkness sets in now around four in the afternoon.  Put away now are the fishing gear, boats and personal watercraft as well as most of the hunting gear as much of the subsistence game has been acquired and in the freezers with only some winter trapping still going on in the rural areas. I have many friends who do live a subsistence lifestyle which hunt and fish each year to provide food for their families.  It is a time honored tradition here that both Native and non-native families participate in which makes one appreciate where and sometimes when you get food to ...