'And the sign flashed out its warning'

Last winter a pretty healthy storm hit the East Coast. It was the one that shut down Washington, D.C., for a day or so, the one where both Alaska senators made it to work despite the snow and one of them found a delegation from Nome waiting in the office. It was referred to as the storm of the century, pretty presumptuous considering the century was only nine years old and still had Katrina in it. The storm provided the opportunity for every global warming doubter to come out of the woodwork and claim it was all a scam and the proof was in the snow. Even the Governor Interrupted chimed in calling global warming "snake oil science." It was one of those comments that caused the complaint about embarrassing Alaskans blog a while ago.

So, last night a story came across about the triple digit heat wave in the Lower 48 and what people are doing to endure it. One fellow who lives in the watermelon capital of the country said he was even worried about his famous fruit which apparently thrives in the heat. Toward the end of the story, a person from the National Weather Service said June was the warmest month on record since records have been kept and July was shaping up for the same sort of record. In fact, that person said 2010 could be the warmest year in the history of record keeping.

Knowing a little about climate, and meteorology and weather, I am sure this is not the total indication of global warming any more than snowmagedden last February was an indication that global warming is not happening. But, how does the saying go? This silence was deafening.

Not one of those global warming doubters heard from. They will show up shortly though, saying this is only a blip in a natural cycle, which it probably is, and the indication of nothing, even though the blip in the cycle last winter was absolute proof the earth is not warming.

It is kind of a cool, wet summer in Alaska. So, maybe 100-degree temperatures are indicative of nothing as the warming is not universal. Have to wonder what the increased power use to run all those air conditioners is doing for the amount of CO2 in the air and the whole trend of warming. Junk science. But at least it silenced the wackos for a while.

"Hello darkness, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again …"

Not even if the economy runs all the way down

Put this one among jobs I won't be applying for: counselor at an archery camp for blind kids. No kidding, we had a story tonight about people who do this. And none of them look punctured, at least in the pictures with the story.

A day with a mechanical success

Ever felt a degree of anxiety and not really know what was causing it? I find that happens often. Years ago I developed a system to deal with it. I sat down and made three lists of things that might be bothering me. One list was things I couldn’t do anything about. The second was of things that would take a good deal of time and effort to fix. The third was full of minor things that could be done quickly and easily if only I would just do them. Sometimes those lists grew quite long. Most often though, in the process I would discover the source of my anxiety.

After I had made the lists, though just making the list didn’t always satisfy the anxiety, I always felt a little more like I had things somewhat under control just having quantified the problem. Then I would look at the list of easy things and do one or two of them right away. That accomplished two things. The first was taking a couple items off the list of things that bothered me. The second was in accomplishing something, anything, it made those items on the middle list of more difficult problems a little more accessible and often with new confidence I would at least get things in motion to solve one or two of those. And there was the realization that I can’t really stop the war in Iraq so why let it bother me so much (the list of things I can’t do anything about).

Overall, it did serve to ease the anxiety and it got a few things done that needed doing.

Since I bought this Jeep, the turn signals have been funky. The right one would go on without blinking when the headlights were on. The left one would stop blinking when I hit the brakes. One day the odometer light flashed on and off with the turn signal. A few months ago I had a dealer look at it. After charging me $100 for the diagnosis, they wanted $180 to replace something called the multi-function switch.

I deferred. Then during the second great Alaska relatives trip, one day both the brake lights and the turn signals blew out fuses. I managed to get the brake lights working by leaving the fuse out for the turn signals and we went on with the trip, but the Jeep has been sitting here since then waiting for me to fix it. Mind you, going into the wiring in a steering column is not a chore for the timid. Today, calm and collected, I went out and took the assembly apart just to see how it would go and it went fairly easily. That accomplished I went and bought a new multi-function switch, put it in and everything now multi functions the way it is supposed to. Big deal?

Well, to begin with, it is one item off that anxiety list that has been on there for a year. Jeep is functional again, and, at a cost of $70 and about an hour's work instead of $170 and a day lost going to Anchorage and waiting for it to be done. And, best of all, on a rainy, cloudy dark and dismal day, a mechanical success makes everything seem all right.

Not in my Alaska, you don't

As if all the things I mentioned a couple of days ago that necessitated a trip to the East Pole weren't enough, this came up today. A New York Times travel writer visiting Alaska and apparently bored with wilderness and wildlife decided to do a number on Anchorage and came up with telling folks they just had to visit the cute bistros and boutiques in downtown Anchorage.

Bistros and boutiques???? NOOOOO!!!! It is enough to drive a sourdough deeper into the mountains. She said the city was laid out like a game of Battleship and the slideshow she produced is called Across or Down, Anchorage is Alive. It is here just for proof if you want to look. And, yikes, I have been in one of those places. Just what this place needs. Are we going to be known by our boutiques and bistros.

I remember years ago thinking an awful lot of people moved to Alaska and then demanded all the things they left behind and did what they could to get them here, in the process making this place just like every other place. I was willing to put up with two week delays to watch football games on television as part of the frontier charm of the place. Now we have people demanding the streets get cleaned quickly in spring for the bicyclists. And others wanting all the bears shot so bicyclists can ride on wooded trails along salmon streams in safety. Bicycles have always been the symbol of this endless change but we could just as well substitute the bistros and boutiques that have now caught the attention of the New Jack Times. I had a flash of me walking into one of those places dressed as I do for the East Pole and packing my bear rifle. Put that in your cupcakes, cupcake.

There was a saying in Cleveland around the Cavaliers when we were there. And it fits here: "Get that weak shit out of here." Right Now! And, now the subject of the posting below becomes even more imperative.

But first I have to fix the Jeep

A pirate looks at seventy

Can a boy run away to sea at the age of 67? It looks like we might find out. I have received yet another call of the wild and the wheels, or should we say the sails are in motion. Not giving away too much at this point, but the picture might be a clue. Watch this space.

But I have to fix the Jeep first

Flower gardens? Lady Gaga? Music history? Weddings? Oil spills? It might be time for a regenerative expotition to the East Pole.

So, tonight there was a 5.25 earthquake 17 miles northwest of Willow which puts it just about right underneath the cabin, and now a trip becomes even more necessary.

Homecoming for a narcissist on the Fourth of July

For a period of time years ago I commuted on the railroad. At the time I remember reading somewhere that the Japanese actually employed people in the subways to push people onto the trains, to make sure they were fully packed. I got the idea the reverse of that might actually be pleasant, the idea that it would be nice to be greeted even when you finished such a simple trip as a commuter train ride. Might actually be a nice job to be a greeter in the subway. Walmart then took the idea to new heights or lows, not sure which.

So later in life when I was making longer voyages including some across the ocean, I was always conscious that no one was ever there to meet me. At times I even fantasized how nice it would be to have someone waiting on the dock at the end of a voyage, someone who really wanted to see me, Never happened,

So last night it was quite the wonderful surprise when I came around the curve where the road opens up along the river and all these people on the gravel shore set off a bunch of colorful fireworks to welcome me home from a long day at work. In a quick survey it looked like there could have been a hundred vehicles parked on the beaches on both sides of the bridge.

Tonight there was an even bigger show, so many fireworks a thick layer of smoke hung in the air over the river. Two nights in a row welcomed home with fireworks can go to a guy’s head.

It could even suppress the vision of fireworks in the rear view mirror as Anchorage celebrated my departure shortly after I left work.

Garden 2010

It's been in a little more than a month so some progress photos are in order. Thinking I might go for some vegetables next summer. I can still remember shucking peas and the sweet taste of the perfectly ripe freshly picked ones.

Here is the garden album.