Icewind's Ramblings

For some time now we have seen things slowly coming to the point we are now. It has not happened overnight or over one or two terms in office for our leaders. Greed has had a lot to do with the shape of things and not just in the home industry but also with the auto industry as well as our import and exports. Many people did not want to see it but the signs were always there. There were so many people with a “Jones” attitude, as in ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ that bought into the belief that with nothing or little down they could have that half million dollar house and pay only a thousand bucks a month payment. They didn’t believe that balloon payment due in five years would make any difference in their lives. Well it did and every one of those who were selling or brokering those worthless pieces of paper was making a fortune. Greed on everyone’s part and it all came falling down around us Banks are foreclosing on homes at record rates. Illi...

Aaargh . . . ’tis the season once again for those yuletide letters from family and friends about the activities of everyone’s perfect family and overachieving children. Do you get them too? They sometimes have a tendency to drive me nuts. Why, I ask you? Can someone explain this strange phenomenon to me? I have never considered writing one of those letters, and frankly, I have never figured out what makes people write one. Is it a way for family members to get under everyone else's skin by stating (bragging) about their trips, children's accomplishments, or that big promotion at work? Yuck to all of those. The several letters I have received this year were really painful to read. I could almost substitute my own thoughts to make them somewhat funny so I at least could get through the thing. A paragraph each devoted to the children; how talented she is in ballet, how great he is doing in school, how the baseball team couldn’t do without him. S...

If you love what you do You’ll never work another day in your life. I don’t know it this is an “only in Alaska ” phenomenon but it was pretty neat and somewhat strange at the same time. On my drive to work this morning I made my turn south onto Gambell Street from 5 th Avenue about 6:30 am. The temperature was 26 degrees and you have to understand that we are only a couple of days away from Winter Solstice so it does not start to have first light until around ten o’clock in the morning. As I approached 7 th Avenue there is a man standing on the corner playing a guitar and singing Christmas Carols to the people driving by or who were stopping for the red light ahead. This person was having a great time, enjoying his music, and so ‘out of place’ for this area of town. It was great! The cold nor light fog did not seem to bother him as he rocked on to his music. I was semi disappointed that traffic started moving again and I would ...

What will future archaeologists say about our culture? We know that if you want to see what a society valued, you look at what was placed in tombs or in our society possibly landfills. What a society values most are the things that are made to last forever. That is why I believe future generations or aliens will say we valued crap. I do not mean that as a metaphor. I mean actual excrement, and in the case this time of year in Alaska , frozen crap. Why? When ever a dog craps in this town and now in most other cities it is law that its owner must pick up the crap and place it in a plastic bag. This does not make a lot of sense to me as we have now taken something that was totally biodegradable and now wrapped in a protective shell of plastic that will last thousands of years or virtually forever. Now that I think about it . . . most CDs are plastic as well & will last forever. If you don't think that Britney Spears and Avril Lavigne aren'...

. . . or Trying to remember our past. I posted this several years ago but with our hectic lifestyles it still rings true today so I thought I would repost this as we make our way through the darkness here in Alaska and embark on this Holiday Season. With this being that time of year that people tend to stress and wrap themselves into the frenzy of the holiday season, perhaps at this time of year we all need a moment to remember patience and good will. Even though Icewind is hesitant to put religious messages before you, the sentiments below are worthy, whether you pray to God or seek your own inner guidance. Oh Lord, help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children. Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't ma...

I was sitting drinking coffee enjoying a nice fire yesterday morning as I enjoyed a peaceful respite from a busy week. I’m watching MSNBC when the news bulletin flashed and shortly there was the footage of the shoes flying through the air at President Bush. I admit . . . I did chuckle at the shoe-throwing incident. Several thoughts quickly flashed through my mind as I watched the replays over and over again. Bush still has pretty good reflexes in dodging the shoes thrown at him. One of the few times we have seen him ‘lean’ to the left on anything. Where was the Secret Service . . . I guess they have decided they won’t jump in front of flying shoes for the President anymore. I guess the country can only hope they are quicker once the new guy gets sworn in. Watching it seemed that the first one to react headed for the attacker briefly then realized he should head towards the President. Officials stated the hand motion by Bush was ‘wa...

Friday saw the failure in the Senate of agreeing to bailout the auto industry’s Big 3. The world won’t end, nor will the US auto industry disappear without this bailout to GM and Chrysler. The Democrats and the UAW would like us to believe just the opposite. There is the rumor that Bush will fork over some of the 700 Billion for the banking industry to keep this from happening as a ‘Not on my watch’ last ditch effort. Hopefully he won’t do that either and let Free Enterprise run its course. The raping of taxpayers has been delayed for at least 3 weeks. The Senate was very close with this ‘loan to nowhere’ for GM and Chrysler & the UAW. You know what brought down the deal? This shouldn’t surprise anyone - it was the United Auto Workers (UAW). UAW is really more concerned with lining their own pockets vs. saving a company and thus their member’s jobs. Now I do hate to see people going into the ranks of unemployment having been through that m...

I think it is going to be a 3 Dog Night tonight. -9* below zero Fahrenheit. And if it’s not a three dog night, it should at least a 2 dog night if you’ve got em because it is (to quote Chevy Chase ) quite nipply out there. With the fresh snow this week and now the huge full moon, it is bright enough to drown out the Northern Lights. Maybe three puppies and one big dog, that should be about right for the night. In case you didn't notice, last night's full moon was the closest to earth it has been in 15 years. If you missed it, your next chance to see the moon this big will be November 14, 2016. It was 14 % bigger and 30% brighter than normal. It’s clear out tonight so the temperatures drop with no cloud cover to hold the ‘heat’ in, also guest starring tonight: the annual Geminid meteor shower, one of the year’s best displays of shooting stars. There should be up to 100 meteors an hour flying across the sky. The meteors, which are easy to spot with the nak...

Today dawned clear as first light broke around 10 am. Once the sun rose over the mountains we endured what is called “Horizon Sun” until it set around 3:15 pm. With only about five and a half hours of daylight this time of year the sun barely clears the mountaintops and hangs just above the peaks until it drops below again for another long, cold, dark night. It looks something like this . . . Driving towards the east and south is at times difficult due to the sun peeking in between the visor and the hood of your vehicle. There is no good way to block it so with the glare from the ice it makes things difficult to see. Solstice is approaching in ten days and we will start making our way back towards the light and the warmth it brings. I love winter but on the cold mornings when you arrive to work and four hours later the first light of day is creeping in your window as you take another sip of coffee that feeling of a warm tropical locale seems nic...

There should be a better way to start a day Than waking up every morning . . . At least my coffee maker is on auto start at 4 am So it will be ready before I am. There is nothing like a great cup Anytime of the day or night. It’s snowing more tonight so we’ve had about 10” to 12” since yesterday making coffee and a nice fire way to wind down the evening. Cheers! Ice

Greg Maddux announced his retirement from baseball earlier this week. When I lived in Atlanta he was . . . quite simply . . . the best pitcher I’ve ever seen, and most likely ever will see. I’ve enjoyed watching him over the years even after we both left Atlanta . Even his retirement announcement was handled the way he did everything else — low key, with no hint of ego or pride. Oddly, some of my remembrances of Mad Dog were away from Atlanta Stadium as my company was his plumbing company until I left in 1995. I was lucky to see a World Series after so many years trying and Greg was a major part of that success for Atlanta . The crazy antics on the golf course with his pals and fellow players, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Steve Avery kept everyone in stitches as the practical jokes ran rampant. From 1992-95 he won four straight Cy Young awards. His approach was subtle in the fact that despite being known as ...

I was up late last night working on a couple of things for work and I had the television going in the background. I wasn’t really paying attention to it as it was on mainly to drown out the noise of the washer and dryer going behind me. Yes, I’m still writing from the laundry room . . . it’s great to have an office with peace and quiet so I can put all of my weird thoughts on paper. Sunday nights are usually a busy place in my ‘office’ as there are the final loads of laundry to be washed and dried. The constant folding of towels, underwear, and clothes along with the constant thumping sound of the washer drum as it needs a new belt and will bang the sides of the washer if things are slightly out of balance within the wash drum. It keeps me on my toes making sure it does not throw a belt. Anyway I am at a stopping point in one excel spreadsheet and was about to open another when I stopped to take a sip of my coffee. I will drink a cup or two late at night to he...

Usually every year at this time I have always gotten into the Christmas season with a renewed sense of my childhood. For many years I was like Clark Griswold putting light after light up all over the house or yards. It started when I lived in Atlanta and there were many years it seemed our family experienced many of the things that the Griswold family did. I spent year after year collecting lights from garage sales, after Christmas sales, and even a discard here and there. There were a couple of years when our house could be seen from miles away. It may have taken a couple of tries, but when they lit up, Clark W. Griswold would have been green (and red) with envy. You know they were great when the neighbors complained. We had those times of going out to the country to find and cut our own tree spending hours looking for that perfect one. One year we found one on a slightly rainy day and when we walked up over a hill and saw this tree the Heaven’s opened up ...