Icewind's Ramblings

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” Soren Kierkegaard My emotional baggage is in storage most of the time. I'm not afraid of it, but I don't think it helps me to be dragging it out and laboring over it all the time. It's a part of who I am but it doesn't define me. I do the defining. Working towards being the person I want to be when I finally get things right is what I focus on . . . not the baggage that might have gotten me off track. I look ahead, not back. I travel light. Ice

Ideal Marriage if there is such a thing could have been the first one. Adam and Eve had an ideal marriage . . .   He didn't have to hear about all the men she could have married. And she didn't have to hear about the way his mother cooked. Ice

My best friend went through a divorce just over a year ago and at the time there is that feeling of trying to get it right with how you respond to the news. The traditional way upon hearing that word, “Divorce” is the response, “I’m so sorry” . . . But sometimes depending on the people’s circumstances divorce might just be a happy occasion . . . after all, no one hears of a happy marriage ending in divorce.  Leading up to it might have been bad for a time but it’s over now so is it a happy occasion?  Different people probably look at it from many vantage points. Here it is a year later and I am going through it after many years together and it comes with many strange and sometimes challenging expectations. I’m older now so the prospect of getting into the ‘dating’ mode comes with mixed feelings.  The mind plays strange things with one’s self . . . you see that pretty lady and the ‘ego mind’ quickly jumps on your shoulder and whispers (or shouts) in your ear . . . You...

People do not change . . . You only get to know them better. With time you will see exactly who they are . . . As they reveal their true self.  Ice

The story continues from previous post . . . My wife learned quickly that things are not exactly as they are shown on HGTV where things are wrapped up nicely in a thirty or sixty minute television show.  They do not show the time preparing, marking lines on the walls and floor to install straight tiles or that time needed to mix the sand and mortar mixes used in the deck mud (concrete shower base) in the bottom of the shower.  With each batch there is the mixing to get the consistency of something that looks like toothpaste.  The adhesive thin set is applied to the walls and the tile itself and pushed onto the wall with a little wiggle and tap to make them stick to the wall surface.  What should happen next is the waiting time for the thin set to cure.  For us it did not happen that way for us . . . the tiles would slowly creep down below the line I had drawn to align the tiles.  This led to some heated words and a scramble to cut wood to make a ledge t...

If anyone has a decent memory you will remember I have been remodeling two bathrooms in my house.  The first one was completed with a quick pace using just a couple of weekends to accomplish the demolition and make the necessary repairs.  The changes were also done quickly and included installing new tile flooring, new moose light fixture, toilet and towel holders and relocating the lavatory/base cabinet giving more room next to the toilet. Moving on to my master bathroom I was reminded this week that the demolition pictures which started with tearing out the shower tile walls took place the last week of October, making this makeover several months longer than was initially anticipated. I worked on the demo and the repairs which were more than I thought we would find but nothing that really surprised me.  The work progressed getting the walls and floor stripped and the piping relocated for the water and drain lines.  The water damaged areas were cut out and the ...

Elin Picked a Wedgie I find it interesting as more information comes forward in the continuing saga of Tiger Woods.  He is a very private person who for years now has developed his ‘brand’ presence while little is reported about his life off the greens. As most of us had finished the turkey, cleaned the dishes, and settled down to enjoy the time away from work news broke about the crash of the Cadillac Escalade and the injuries to Tiger Woods. At first things just didn’t seem right as the story broke on the east coast while many slept but here in Alaska it was still evening and the pop-ups on the internet flashed the early news of what happened . . . or did it? ‘Backing up’ out of the driveway . . . hitting the fire hydrant and then the tree . . . but why was there damage on the front of the vehicle?  Perhaps a quick getaway? Tiger unconscious in the car, a window broken with a golf club after a heated discussion and a neighbor’s call to 911, a quick trip to the h...

All trips probably have those elements of surprise, wonder, and joy. On the flip side there is also the aggravation of dealing with children who cannot be reasoned with at various times over a long period. Part One of these next couple of Posts will be “The Good” . There were moments even though I probably sounded like it was one total disaster after another that were truly awesome; here are a few of them. The ‘Happy’ Kids – playing before bed. Diane & Deb at the wedding. Kelly, Ron, & Nathan – On the beach after the wedding Zachary “Ring Bearer” on the way in, Flower Man on the way out Taylor swinging in Jacksonville Beach , Florida Family Picture D., Mom, Lori Ann, Ron, Diane, Deb, Taylor, & Zachary Ice

I’ve been way too serious these last couple of weeks with my daughter in the hospital but as things might be looking a little brighter now (we are gaining about 5 ½ minutes of daylight every day) so I thought it might be fun to do something with a little of my twisted humor. Enjoy . . . or not . . . but hopefully a little smile comes across your face. There has been much in the news lately about the economy and the cost of doing business or other things. Here is another example of wasteful spending. The math on the Paul McCartney-Heather Mills divorce is as follows: After 5 years of marriage . . . he paid her $49 Million! Assuming he got sex every night (which we men know would have never happened); it ended up costing him $26,849 each time he had sex with his wife. This is his ex-wife Heather: Now on the other hand, let’s talk about Elliot Spitzer’s call girl who obviously has an amazing body. There is no ...

I have been following this story in the news as it has all of the ingredients of a good crime drama or even a modern day ‘western’. It has a bad guy, greed, the trophy wife, a horse (the airplane & motorcycle), the good guys (Marshals), and a moral to the story. There are so many funny little things that come to mind and how this could easily be on television. Let’s see, bailout, golden parachute, ‘Financial Crisis: The Movie’, trophy wife for an affair, flashy “red” motorcycle, and most of all . . . poor planning. The financial crisis has led to same very interesting stories that seem ready made for television movies. There is the Madoff mess that continues to bring things to light as each day passes and now for example the case of Marcus Schrenker, an Indianapolis financial manager, who appears to have tried to fake his own death by crashing his Piper PA-46 into a Florida swamp. I’m sure the idea was for the plane to go down into the Gulf of Mexico ...

When my wife’s alarm went off a few days ago I realized a curious thing . . . the sound that heavy machinery makes to warn you that it's backing up is the same sound her alarm makes. That's when it hit me; all those years I woke up feeling like my life was going backward wasn't me . . . it was the alarm. I guess I’m thankful that I wake up earlier these last few years and seem to be moving forward. Ice

In the continuing saga of a cool family living in the wilds of Alaska where the Alaskan Pipeline parallels the haul road as it makes its way from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez , Alaska in a little village called Livengood. Many families living in a rural area face many challenges and ours is no different from those found in our area. We live a subsistence lifestyle living mainly off the land seeking out berries, fruit, and the abundant fish around. Taking time out of our day for play time and the occasional trip into Fairbanks to stock up on food we enjoy time spent together with family. I spend some much needed quiet time with the baby . . . While the children do their work home schooling . . . While Icy washes the car . . . And there is always laundry to do . . . ...

I needed this one after a long grueling week. This came along to brighten my day. Enjoy! It’s getting colder outside this week and the radio said that Fairbanks today was minus -15˚F this evening while I was driving home from work. It’s only October what’s up with that? Have a great weekend! Ice

Or inside the Man’s brain. We’ve had a little fun with the elections lately and I’m sure there will be a little more in the next couple of weeks. We can move on to something a little different and give you maybe a laugh or two. I wanted to give the ladies a little insight into the makeup of the male being. Today, we’ll talk about how you can train your new hubby and possibly make him more obedient. Over the years I’ve observed or had some of these techniques used to make me into the man I am today. That may be good or bad depending on your perspective I guess. The key to your success in training your boyfriend or spouse is trying to understand how . . . and if . . . his mind works, and then incorporating that information with proven training techniques. Remember this . . . although your spouse likes treats, loves it when you rub his belly, and often chases the mailman down the street . . . he is not a dog and therefore does not think or react as a dog woul...