Neighbors Came By To Welcome Us Home

I went out to check on the snow conditions of the driveway yesterday.  We'd gotten back late the night before.  Two of the neighbors came by to welcome us home.

The biggest issue I saw was that the mailbox had been barricaded by the plowed snow.  

I emailed Nordic Lawns, the company that was taking care of the snow in the driveway while we were gone so our house sitter could get in and out.  Then I went back out and carved some steps to the mailbox for the time being.

When I got in there was a call from Nordic Lawns apologizing profusely and saying they would come out.  This was NOT something that should happen.  Meanwhile the mail carrier managed the steps I'd made and stuffed the mailbox with about as much mail as it could hold.

And then Nordic showed up to clear in front of the mailbox.  So I went back out and asked if he could also just clear a space in front of the house for me to park the van, which is still sitting in the neighbors' driveway.  It's great to have good neighbors.  When I called him to ask if I could rent part of his driveway (his is double wide) he said no - I could just use it.

So now the berm the city left in front of the house - which would have meant I would have to park well into the traffic lane - has been rearranged with a space.

Then I rushed off with my wife's car to the Alaska Public Media Community Advisory meeting.  I figure I can't reasonably complain about their practices until I know more.  They went through their listener/viewer statistics for the Anchorage area.  KSKA is the most listened to radio station for a number of time periods during the day.

And by the time I got home, my knee was bothering me again.  So today I spent a lot of time with ice on my knee.  That was good enough to allow me to shovel the deck.  Tomorrow it's supposed to be warmer - into the 20s - so I'll wait til it's toasty to see if my car will start up after sitting there so long next door.

Alaska's - particularly further north - has had one of its coldest winters while the rest of the US and northern Europe have been having an unusually warm winter.  It is nice to have snow that doesn't get turned to ice on a regular basis because the temp snakes above and below the freezing point regularly.

Continued Frosty Sunshine

It's still a mystery how birds, like this raven, can survive wearing the same set of 'clothes' at 5˚F below and 80˚F above.



This was yesterday morning walking back from breakfast with friends.  If you're dressed right for the weather, it isn't cold.


I didn't post this yesterday because I really wanted people to read the Willie Stark shakedown post, because I think it helps us understand how 'quid pro quo' aren't as explicit as the Trump defense would have us believe.  And it also shows how power-hungry people screw over the people who work for them as well as everyone else.  Jack most probably shows us a variation of Michael Cohen who ended up doing Trump's dirty work.  And it's a warning to Republican Senators that it doesn't matter how often you defend Trump.  If you don't show absolute obedience every single day, you'll get turned on.  Ask Rep. Gaetz.  You can read that here.

A Throwback To Past Anchorage Winters

People in California couldn't understand why we still live in Alaska.  "You're retired.  You could live anywhere."  And with the temperature yo-yoing above and below freezing regularly during winter, I was starting to even ask myself that question.  Ice and 4 months of break up isn't all that great.

But this January is going to be the first month in a couple of years that hasn't been the warmest on record.  In fact it's going to be colder than normal.

When I went out to clear the driest, powderiest snow from the driveway, Municipal Light and Power had a man in a cherry picker clearing snow off the trees across the street where the power line was apparently threatened by the heavily laden limbs.

 

Then I went walking to get a friend a birthday gift.  

A chain link fence decorated in snow crystals.

Everything was gorgeous.  This was the first day since we got back that the sun came out.  It helps.

Another decorated fence.















Later I walked over to the Alaska Public Media board meeting.  It's over a month since solstice and the sun was still out at 4 when I got there.

UAA spent between $7-9 million to build this pedestrian walkway, but they couldn't afford to keep the childcare center on campus.  This money, plus tuition parents paid, would have supported the child care center far into the future.  I wonder how much each passage through this walk way cost?  When will it get down to $100 per crossing?  But it was beautiful today in the sun and snow.

The folks in LA swearing at the traffic on the freeway, can't understand why I prefer this mode of transportation.

Been Busy - New Kitchen Floor, Not Yet Winter, Fog

It's November 11, 2019.  We haven't had any snow in town.   Friday when I went to my OLÉ Homeless class, it was sunny and comfy and the snow was disappearing on the mountains.

And this yarrow flower is hanging in there outside in the yard.

A few times things have gotten frosty,

like Saturday when I rode over to UAA for the Citizens Climate Lobby meeting.







It was also foggy that day.

Our delayed winter has me not wanting to stop biking and Saturday didn't offer any problems, but I decided to break down and get studded tires for my old mountain bike that I've used for winters.
 I didn't realize how speedy [spendy] studded tires are.  It cost more than the old bike, which I'd gotten at a YMCA auction maybe ten years ago.  But if they keep me from breaking an arm, they'll be worth it.  This bike's old wheels were perfectly fine in packed snow, but as winters have gotten warmer, there are a lot more icy days.  We'll see how often I actually use the bike and how well the studs work.

This morning was probably the coldest this fall - about 27˚F outside.












Meanwhile, inside has been rather chaotic.  Our old carpet is wearing out, very noticeably in spots.
And the linoleum in the kitchen was getting yellow, so we went for a new floor there too.  But they said to do the kitche/dining area first.  And that had to be shipped up from Outside.  We've been waiting for a few months now,  It looked pretty bad from time to time as TK determined that the old floor had to go so the kitchen wouldn't be higher than the carpet with the new bamboo panels.  

But he cleaned everything up pretty well each evening.  But there are tools all over the place.









But we're almost done.  This was actually Saturday night when we put up a temporary folding table up.

This side was finished today, but there's a little more on the kitchen side where a wire to two outlets got cut.  Fortunately, the electrician is scheduled for Wednesday to do some work on our old fixtures and putting in LED fixtures and other trickier jobs.

So we've juggling things a bit this last week.  And I'm working on more film festival posts.  The documentaries look great.  I'm just going through the features and they look interesting too.  My enthusiasm has been renewed and I'm looking forward to the festival which begins Dec. 6.  There's a new AIFF 2019 tab under the header.  Good night.

Deicing As We Leave Seattle's Snow For San Francisco's Rain

There was about 6 or 7 inches of snow this morning when we headed to Seatac.  Someone had plowed a snowy/icy path along the sidewalk and the walk back to the airport wasn't too bad.

A lot of flights had been cancelled, but our was scheduled to leave on time.  But then they had to deice.  I had a pretty good view.  So here's a minimally edited video of part of the process happening outside my window.  (As I was editing, I realized that often my purpose is not to just cut to the most dramatic few seconds here and there.  Rather I figure someone who knows a lot more than I about deicing (that would be anyone who knows anything at all about deicing) might get more out of my leaving most of the footage in.)





From Wikipedia:

On the ground, when there are freezing conditions and precipitation, de-icing an aircraft is crucial. Frozen contaminants cause critical control surfaces to be rough and uneven, disrupting smooth air flow and greatly degrading the ability of the wing to generate lift, and increasing drag. This situation can cause a crash. If large pieces of ice separate when the aircraft is in motion, they can be ingested in engines or hit propellers and cause catastrophic failure. Frozen contaminants can jam control surfaces, preventing them from moving properly. Because of this potentially severe consequence, de-icing is performed at airports where temperatures are likely to be around 0 °C (32 °F). 

In flight, droplets of supercooled water often exist in stratiform and cumulus clouds. They form into ice when they are struck by the wings of passing airplanes and abruptly crystallize. This disrupts airflow over the wing, reducing lift, so aircraft that are expected to fly in such conditions are equipped with a de-icing system.
De-icing techniques are also employed to ensure that engine inlets and various sensors on the outside of the aircraft are clear of ice or snow. 

Chemical de-icing[edit]
De-icing fluids consisting of propylene glycol (PG) and additives are widely used by airlines for de-icing aircraft.[2]:43 Ethylene glycol (EG) fluids are still in use for aircraft de-icing in some parts of the world because it has a lower operational use temperature (LOUT) than PG. However, PG is more common because it is less toxic than ethylene glycol.[3]:2–29

Alaska Airlines' blog also has a post on deicing.  

When we took off, the wing was green.  It was its normal color when we landed in San Francisco where the sun was out as we landed.  But when we got out the BART station downtown, it was raining.  But when i'm with my grandkids, the sun is always shining.




I'd also like to point to an article in the Alaska Airlines Magazine for February 2019.  It was about how CEO Brad Tilden spent a week shadowing employees in Alaska.  Yes, putting it in the magazine is hype, but the fact that he was on the ground (and in the air) with employees doing their jobs with them says good things about him and the airline.  He wasn't just in Anchorage, he also flew out to Dutch Harbor on PenAir.  And in Anchorage he did a night shift.  You can see the piece here.

Seattle Basking In Cold Sunshine and Soccer

The clouds and rain took a break for the last few days and we've had sun, since Friday I think.  It's a very different look.

The weekend consisted of three soccer games for me.  I drove the youngest of the three step-grandsons to Olympia for his game on Saturday.  Sunday there were two championship games at Starfire soccer complex near SEATAC.  It was mostly sunny, but being outside in the low 40s˚F weather with a constant breeze was bracing.  But the oldest's team won the US Youth Soccer Championship for Washington.  The game was tied 2-2 at the end, so it went into a scoreless 30 minute overtime. So it was decided on penalty kicks.  Here's a bit of the ballet of the last game.

A very exciting, if chilly day.

The sun continued Monday.  After dropping Z off, I did my walk through the park then drove off the island to get a headlight bulb, picked Z up in the afternoon and took her to theater camp, then home to check out a kindergarten school for next fall.  It's an alternative school in the regular school district, but it's small and students are chosen by lottery.

Today was sunny again, but colder.  Right around freezing.  There was frost on the lawn.

And ice in part of the pond.

And the puddles were more seriously iced up.

My granddaughter's life is pretty full.  There was an astronomy activity at the planetarium Saturday when we got back from the soccer game.  But all the activities give her opportunities to learn through playing and she enjoys them.  And she helped me change the headlight bulb yesterday.  And keeping up with her is cutting into my blogging.  But I'm sure it's much more worthwhile.

What A Beautiful Morning

I'm hesitant to write posts like this.  I worry people will do to Alaska what they did to Washington and Oregon - move there.  But after our last trip Outside, I realize that the stories people have in their minds about permanent ice, polar and grizzly bears walking through town, and all the hardships of living in a cold wilderness have such a strong grip on people's mental pictures of Alaska, that I don't have to worry.  People's response is a sympathetic smile, a subtle rolling of eyes, and a condescending, "I'm so glad you like it there."

We got home Wednesday night to a nicely cleared driveway.  My car started up right away in the 7˚F (-14˚C) cold.  But after 10 days in mostly rainy Seattle with temps generally  in the 40s(F), it just didn't seem terribly cold in Anchorage.  It's drier for one thing, and not windy.  It snowed that night and I got up and cleared the inch or so out of the driveway before J pressed it down with her tires when she left.  (We have a south facing, sloping driveway.  If I don't keep it as clear as possible, it gets packed down.  Then when it warms up, it thaws and runs down the driveway only to freeze up into an icy sheet when it cools back below freezing.  So I try to keep it as close to the asphalt as I can.  And our house sitter did a great job while we were gone.)

It had snowed again yesterday evening,  So I got up, showered, did my leg stretches and lifted my barbell a few times, then bundled up and went out.

It was so beautiful.  It's about 4˚F (-16˚F) now.  But just my face feels any cold and it feels invigorating.  There are stars out even as the sky is starting to get light over the mountains.  There's not much snow and I just sweep it, but being out there and moving my muscles reminds me why I live here.

The picture gives a hint of the velvet dark blue sky.  But I can't reproduce how bracing the cold feels. I think about long ago when J and I drove through Mexico and Guatemala one summer.  We had to keep getting blocks of ice for the ice box in the VW camper.  The temperatures were in the 80s and 90s F and the humidity was the same.  We'd find the ice factory in a town and it was a pleasure to walk into the 10˚F ice room in our shorts and T shirts.  Though not for too long.  The cold reminds me that I'm still very much alive.

And I can't share with you the freshness and sparkle of the air as it massages my face and fills my lungs.

I wouldn't want it always to be cold with short days, but part of the year is just fine. It's over a month since the solstice in December, the shortest day, and less than two months until the equinox, when every part of the globe has the same amount of daylight.   And with grandchildren beckoning from the south, it's true we spend much of this season Outside.  But it's still a magical time.

Snow Jobs - Literal and Figurative (Or How Much Did Murkowski, Sullivan, And Young Get To Give Away Internet Privacy?)

The Literal Snow Job

There were about 10 inches of fresh snow yesterday in Anchorage.  Here's our backyard.

And here's our mountain ash tree in front after a gust of wind.

The Figurative Snow Job

The Verge compiled a table of contributions from telecom companies to US senators and representatives who voted 'yes' yesterday to grant them the right to sell people's internet browsing information without permission and without anonymizing it.    The got the data from Follow the Money.

You can see the whole list at the Verge link.  I'm just looking at our Alaskan senators and member of congress.


Senators
Murkowski, Lisa Republican AK $66,250

Sullivan, Daniel Republican AK $10,550

Member of Congress
Young, Don Republican AK 1st $28,650

The Joint Resolution 34 passed in the senate 50 (all Republicans) to 48 (all Democrats) with two Republicans absent.  Going through the contributions, Sen. Murkowski was the 21st highest recipient among the Republicans.  (They didn't list how much Democrats got from these companies.)  Sen. Sullivan received the 3rd lowest amount, which could indicate his lack of influence or that they know his vote is locked anyway.  I'd note that one senator received $0 - the newly appointed Sen. Strange from Alabama taking Sen. Sessions seat after his appointment to Attorney General.

Rep. Young got the 65th highest amount among the Republicans who voted for the bill, which puts him in the top 30%.   There were 215 Republicans who voted for the bill, 15 Republicans who voted against it, and 205 Democrats who voted against it.  Six Republicans and three Democrats did not vote.  

The 15 Republicans who voted against the bill are the interesting group.  Here's the list (From GovTrack):

Vote	Party	Representative	District
Nay	R	Brooks, Mo	AL 5th
Nay	R	McClintock, Tom	CA 4th
Nay	R	Coffman, Mike	CO 6th
Nay	R	Yoder, Kevin	KS 3rd
Nay	R	Graves, Garret	LA 6th

Vote	Party	Representative	District
Nay	R	Amash, Justin	MI 3rd
Nay	R	Zeldin, Lee	NY 1st
Nay	R	Faso, John	NY 19th
Nay	R	Stefanik, Elise	NY 21st
Nay	R	Jones, Walter	NC 3rd

Vote	Party	Representative	District
Nay	R	Davidson, Warren	OH 8th
Nay	R	Sanford, Mark	SC 1st
Nay	R	Duncan, John	TN 2nd
Nay	R	Herrera Beutler, Jaime	WA 3rd
Nay	R	Reichert, David	WA 8th

Note:  I did NOT go back and double check the amounts each candidate received.  I did spend a little time on the Follow The Money website, but I wasn't sure how to duplicate the search they did.  There are a number of variables that could probably change the amounts.  Thus, I also couldn't check to see how much the Republicans and Democrats who voted against the resolution received from the same groups.

Additional more:  Several people have started lucrative crowdsourcing pages to get and publish the private browsing of all the members of the US Congress.  But Techcruncher and others say this isn't likely to happen.  They say that non-anonymized data is NOT available, plus private purchaser can't just come in and buy the data unless the ISP agrees.  The Freedom of Information Act only covers the federal government, not private companies.  And after giving millions to members of congress to get this done, they aren't likely to turn around and stab them in the back.

Waiting For Spring

Someone pushed the pause button around the beginning of March here in Anchorage.  It should have slowly been getting warmer.  Some snowy days, but a progression toward warmer.

Since March 1 we've had blue skies, bright sun, and temperatures that ranged between a little under zero (F) and under 30˚ (F).  This is a time when it's finally ok for the days to start getting above freezing to help move the snow along.  But it hasn't happened.  But I don't remember so many days in a row with nothing but bright sun, certainly not in March.

Here's the ice crust on the snow in our front yard.  The sun melts it a bit in the day, then it freezes solid at night.

No, this dirty ice isn't in our front yard.  It's part of the berm on a much busier street.

Even the birds are getting impatient.

But the sun is much higher in the sky and we're getting nearly 6 more minutes of sunlight each day.  It will warm up!

First Snow And First Seminar Presentation By ISER's New Director

It's October 21, 2016.  Anchorage is getting its first snow.

The average first snowfall, according to weather.com is October 15, so this isn't particularly late.  But it's warm out (30˚F - -1˚C) and they're calling for sun later today.  So it probably won't last.  But it's beautiful while it's here.

I'm headed over to a talk at the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at noon, so I need to boogie.  It should be interesting - it's the new director's first seminar presentation.  Here are the details.  I know most people can't get there on such short notice, but at the bottom it tells you how to listen online.

Here's the announcement.

Knowledge Accumulation in the Social Sciences 

Ralph Townsend, ISER Director and Professor of Economics

This is the first seminar presentation by ISER’s new director, Ralph Townsend. He will be discussing knowledge accumulation in the social sciences, and why thinking about that topic is important for ISER and other research organizations that study social problems. He describes his topic this way:

The epistemology of social sciences affects the ability of the social sciences to contribute to the resolution of “wicked” social problems. However useful epistemology based on falsification may be for the hard sciences, its limitations for the social sciences are clear. The enduring problem of replication of social science results is indicative of the problems.
 
Understanding the sociology of social science disciplines and the philosophy of knowledge accumulation in social sciences is relevant to the day-to-day work of organizations like ISER and also suggests unique research opportunities that extend into methodology.

 

When: Friday, October 21, 12 to 1
Where: ISER Conference Room,
Third Floor, 1901 Bragaw Street, Suite 301

 

1901 Bragaw Street is on Bragaw between Northern Lights and Debarr.
Parking is free.
Call 907-786-7710 if you need directions.

 

Note: Those who can’t attend in person can stream the talk live at:
http://stream.iseralaska.org

After Cloudy, Snowy Days, Sun's Out

As I pulled into the Costco parking lot, the clouds parted, and the skinny trees' shadows blossomed on the wall.

And off beyond the parking lot, the mountains reappeared with fresh snow.

Nature's Reminder That Our Winter Isn't Over Yet

Our mild temperatures and all the bare pavement we've been enjoying have lulled a lot of folks into thinking spring was almost here.  I've even been thinking about planting some sweetpeas in the flower box on the deck at the beginning of April.   

But this week the temps have dropped, and this morning it was 2˚F (-16˚C) on our indoor/outdoor thermometer.  And after almost two weeks of sunshine, it's grey, and there was the thinnest possible dusting of snow on the deck.

Blue skies still reigned last night.  Here's the O'Malley trailhead about 6pm with an anemic snow covering. 

And a view of Flat Top from the trail. 











But it is The Ides of March, so while today we take a hit, my computer weather forecast suggests this is just a blip on the way to spring and summer.  (In Anchorage spring tends to happen pretty quick though there are subtle signs to indicate different stages of summer.) 

On closer look, it says our range for today should be 19˚F to 23˚F,  yet it still says we're at 1˚F.  So keep those coats handy just in case. 

Potter Marsh And Beyond - Gettin' Out

For one reason or another, we haven't gotten out much this winter.  Partly because we've been traveling so much and other poor excuses.  Yesterday I took advantage of the ice free pavement and sidewalks to take a bike ride.  Today we drove down to McHugh Creek and back via Potter Marsh.

Clouds covered the sun as we meandered south of town.

  Above we're looking south from Potter Marsh. 

The base of the Alaska range.

Bubbles in the ice.

 The McHugh Creek lower parking lot was full, with cars waiting for people to leave.  The upper level was gated off.  You'd think we'd be smart enough to figure out a way to keep the area open when people want to use it.