I'm Trying not to...

I'm trying not to write about the weather. So I'll not mention the +40 degree temperatures last week nor the -8 degree temperatures earlier this week. However this mornings commute was, I believe, noteworthy. The temperature is a moderate +12 and it snowed 8 to 10 inches last night. Leaving my unplowed driveway, the snow came over the nose of the Subaru, coating the windshield and blocking the headlights. I had to stop and clear the front of the car when I got to the plowed street. So traffic was a nightware. Slick snow packed roads and 30,000 commuters bumper to bumper and an average speed of 30 mph. We come in early, leaving Wasilla at 5:30 am. Consequently, we are ahead of the heaviest traffic. Usual commute, in the winter is 45 minutes. This morning 1 hour and 25 minutes. Several early ditch divers. I'm still trying to get the tension out of my shoulders.

Turn Indicators

I couldn't find anything wrong with the turn indicators. The emergency flasher button was sticky,

Turn Indicators

I couldn't find anything wrong with the turn indicators. The emergency flasher button was sticky but I couldn't figure out how to get into the dash to clean it without taking the whole dashboard off. So I just sprayed some WD40 into it and let that soften up the caked on remains of splashed coffee. The roads and weather have been so bad that I decided to take the Subaru to a Wasilla shop this coming Friday instead of juggling cars to and from Anchorage. So I drove the Subaru to and from work yesterday, carefully planning my route to include actual turn lanes whenever possible so that my fellow drivers would know I planned on turning in spite of my lack of signalling ability. I negotiated to work in the morning and all the way back to my girlfriend/carpool partner Kate's house without incident. At the last left hand turn into her driveway my hand automaticly flipped the turn indicator lever down. The indicator came on. Surprised, after I pulled into the driveway I flipped back and forth form right to left, everything worked. Since all I actually did was pull and install perfectly good fuses and spray some WD40 I didn't figure out until this morning that it was the WD40 that did the trick. It was just a sticky coffee encrusted button.
Weather update ...+13 with wind. Chill factor -3.

More Weather...Groan!

I don't intend to have this a blog about Alaska weather. However it was -18 degrees when I got up this morning. It is +5 here in downtown Anchorage at noon. Hopefully the forecast holds since it's supposed to warm up starting tonight.

Weather

-8 degrees again this Saturday morning. This follows five work days of Hellish commuting. It snowed everyday this week. Not a lot, 8" total in Anchorage, half of that in Wasilla. But the roads were "slicker than greased ape shit," as my adolescent friends and I would say when I was an adolescent. That lead to ten, 50 mile commutes at an average speed of 25 mpg this week. I heard on the radio that in Anchorage, by Thursday morning, there had been over a hundred fender benders and cars sliding off the road for the week. My 12 year old Subaru, with 235, 000 miles is showing it's age. Last weekend I lost a headlight, the one I didn't break on the moose ass the winter before last. This weekend I have to try to fix my turn indicators. They quit working Thursday morning. I've checked the fuses, they're good. This morning I'll try to wedge my considerable self under the dashboard and try to find the flasher. If it's not the flasher it's a trip to the Subaru clinic next week. If I hadn't bought a motorhome and hearing aids lately I might be car shopping. Just as well, my plan is to drive this Subaru until I retire, in 4 years and 10 months, but who's counting.

The Osmonds

This morning Donny Osmond was on the FoxNews morning show. He said that for the first time in 30 years all of the Osmonds are getting back together for a show. According to Donny, no one is more excited than Tito and Jermaine!

Hunting Picture Time

Just because I have nothing new to add, it's back into the way back machine...

This is the largest caribou I have shot. It was Fall, 1998. Kate and I were just slowly driving, through the freezing rain, along a trail above the Susitna River about 2 miles from camp when I spotted him. He was moving through the brush less than a hundred yards away. As soon as he trotted behind a small hill I jumped off the Honda and sprinted to the top of the hill, (I could still sprint in 1998.) We had him packed up and hung in camp before breakfast.

Thank You!

For all of you who responded to my plea for more man made global warming, thanks. The morning temperature is +14 this morning. I really feel, if we all contribute, by July we could get the temperature all the way up to +70. It would be like, you know, weather.

More Global Warming

Someone is not doing their part! You probably know who you are. Your driving a Hybrid or riding a bike. You've replaced all your light bulbs with those funny looking $5.00 ones. You've done a Jimmy Carter and turned the heat down while putting on your cardigan. Well, stop it and buy a full size SUV. Turn up the heat, damn it! It's -5 degrees in Wasilla this morning! Burn some wood, oil or coal.

Motorhome

Just so you don't think I have done nothing productive on my vacation, here are the before and after taillight pictures.

January 1, 2008

Like many dogs, Shadow, my black and white malamute, is frightened of fireworks. Last night's celebration of the New Year was the loudest I can recall. As I drove home last night there were rocket bursting above the trees everywhere. My dogs were in the garage. I found Shadow hiding inside the motor home. He had climbed in through the open driver's door window. After we went into the house he paced and panted until 1 a.m. before he settled down.
This morning I had a cow and calf moose in the front yard. Since it was daylight I spend an hour trying to get a decent shot or two of the cow. She was closer to the edge of the brush and lighter in color than the calf.