Icewind's Ramblings

The last few days have been wonderful here in the beautiful summer sun of Alaska.   Had some great golf, a nice dinner last night and my usual Saturday Breakfast with friends and went to Sunday coffee before heading out to do some shopping and chores for the day. Now I am not one to complain about a lot of things but I do pride myself in observing people and commenting on the sometimes funny and crazy things that people do, especially if they do not think people are paying attention. This is a “what in the world do you think you’re doing” category rant that I observed this morning.   It totally put me off my coffee and I wanted to go out and find him to ask . . . What the hell? After about 4 cups of coffee and get up and head to the restroom and as I am walking in there is a fellow about 35 heading out the door.   I go in and there is someone standing at the urinal so my only place is the stall.   I walk into the stall and to my amazement the guy coming out did...

It does not matter what time of year it is but when things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough . . .    Remember the mayonnaise jar . . . and the coffee. A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.     When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.     He then asked the students if the jar was full.     They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.   He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.     He then asked the students again if the jar was full.     They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.     He asked once more i...

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 went into a Starbucks today for a cup of coffee while on our way to a meeting and it dawned on me why I really do not like going here preferring to stop by one of the many coffee stands with a cute barista on almost every street here in Anchorage. I hope I get right because I heard it rather quickly and didn’t have anything to take notes with but as we stood in line to get a normal, plain ole cup of java there is this pompous guy in front of us ordering.   It dawned on me the more complicated the Starbucks order, the bigger the asshole. He walked in to the Starbucks and barked out "decaf grande half-soy, half-low fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread cappuccino, extra dry, light ice, with one Sweet-n'-Low, and one NutraSweet," ooh, you're a huge asshole. I think I’ll keep bringing mine from home or hitting the drive ups. 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...

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...

And so did the ditch divers who cannot drive worth a crap. The front came through and with it a nice steady snowfall covering the frost on everything the last two weeks and as those who make their way to work in the darkness forgot some of the tenants of safe driving.  The main on is slow down lest you end up in the ditch or overturned with that unique view upside down sliding to a scary stop hoping someone else doesn’t hit you.  Another is turn of cruise control on icy roads as they can make you veer off the highway when the tires hit uneven ice on the road making the false sense of slowing down when it just spins those tires until you hit the brake spinning you out of control. After the front stalled over Anchorage it produced some nice fluffy large snowflakes which was pretty to watch once the light of day came but caused major traffic tie ups along the Glenn Highway which was closed for several hours due to out of control vehicles.  It was a long commute ...

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 ...

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. ...

Is It Still A Mess? I grab my morning coffee on my way to work and some mornings the conversations can be quite entertaining. Woman: It's a pig sty.  I want it cleaned out! Guy: But it's my office. Woman: In our house! Guy: I'll shut the door. Woman: I'll know it's there. Guy: You'll never see it. Woman: Doesn't matter. Guy: What?  Why? Woman: Because I'll know it's there. Men . . . we can never win a conversation. I’ve wanted to post a couple pictures of work around the house over the summer.  A few I had already shown but the big project was getting a facelift to an old facade. Here is the old blue that has been on since the house was bought.  Nice, tired and just blue.   The new coat of paint has been toned down a bit with the splash of color on the front door with a red look to go with the ‘ See Rock City ’ birdhouse hanging close by. These next few weeks will bring about a solid change but this weekend there is one last fl...

I am not in the mood to write tonight so just a few goofy thoughts. What are some funny things to say with two lungs full of helium? I’ve got a helium balloon in my possession but I’m stuck for something funny to say with a high pitched voice. Any ideas? Falling Rocks Sign – This must be a gravity defying place. This sign is helpfully placed at the top of a cliff.  You will have to take my word for it that there is absolutely nowhere a rock could fall on you from above if you can read this sign.  Therefore the rocks would have to drop off the eroding cliff at your feet, circle back up around and fall on your head. Unfortunately climatic conditions were such that the phenomenon was not happening on the day I was there. This morning when I logged onto facebook someone had posted a Kurt Vonnegut quote that amounted to something like, "Our purpose on this earth is to fart around." I find that to be very, very comforting. And to end on a quote I saw recently a...

At Starbucks the other morning, I noticed a new sign at the counter. "Support our troops. Send them coffee." Seriously? I don't know about you, but if I was regularly waking up to 120 degree heat, wearing a minimum of 50 pounds worth of field equipment while being shot at by people . . . I don't know if coffee would be the first thing I would wish for. How about a Popsicle? Maybe a snowcone or just a cup of ice. Just my thoughts. Ice