My Legislative Blogging Ban Is Over

I'm not sure if that is the best headline, but it's the most positive for this story.  I came to Juneau two weeks ago to be a volunteer staffer in Rep. Max Gruenberg's office.  When I got here I went to two days of staff training.  Then the legislature officially opened the next Tuesday.  It was during training that I learned that there was a problem with my approval as a volunteer.  But at Rep. G's encouragement I started working as a staffer.  People have been extremely welcoming and helpful.  I've been to meetings with my boss in various legislators' offices to discuss pending legislation.  I've also worked hard getting up to speed on bills I was to follow and the State Affairs Committee.  I've been learning how bills get packaged and delivered so they can be discussed in committee and also what the Legislative Research and the Legal Research offices do.  And I've been to a couple of receptions for legislators and staffers after hours.  A lot has happened since we arrived January 13.   

But there was also some significant conflict over the appointment.  The Rules Chair must approve all staff and volunteers and interns. I learned that the Chair had a problem with full time volunteers shortly after I got to Juneau.  Blogging was going to be tricky while working for a legislator in any case, but given the conflict I backed off of legislative blogging altogether until that was settled.  I knew that my position might not last.  Yesterday (Tuesday) I learned about the decision and the reason for the opposition. There was concern about fairness and liability. I was assured it wasn't about me personally.  The Rules Chair and I talked Tuesday afternoon.  It was cordial.  I understand the decision.  She has also suggested a committee that would include herself, Rep. G., and the House Minority Leader, and possibly others, and she invited me to sit on it, as a public member, to develop new policy on the use of volunteers in the House.

We also discussed that I'd planned to stay here for the session, that we've got an apartment for three months.  Since I won't be able to staff in Rep. G's office, I said I wanted to blog the legislature.  She said that would be no problem and I should feel free to do so. 

So it looks like I'm back to blogging and I hope I can give an interesting and informative peek into what it's like in Juneau during the legislative session.  Don't expect personal gossip.  I'll try to be as objective as possible reporting what's happening in and around the Capitol.  I'll write about legislation, procedures, about what legislators, staff, and the people around them do.  I'll try to post a picture of life in Juneau while the session is on.  I'm only one person, so this will just be the small portion I can cover.  But I'll do my best.

While I'm still transitioning from one identity to another, I want to thank everyone who was so nice and patient with me as I tried figure out what I was doing.  You were all so very understanding and kind.  And I want to thank Rep. Gruenberg for inviting me to Juneau in the first place.  Today I went in to hand off my projects to the other two staffers in the office.  And now I'm transforming into a legislative blogger.

Meanwhile, my wife is already busy volunteering as an English as a Second Language (ESL) tutor, getting involved with an after school homework club program, and taking Tai Chi class. 

Cottonwood Request

Since not too many of you are going to go back and read the old post on possible uses for cottonwood cotton, I'm posting the comment that was put on that post today by Tobin.

Does anyone have any cottonwood cotton saved up for some reason or another? I'm looking to use it in a study to protect cooling equipment from contamination via cotton.

Contact me at tomck at vestas.com

If this works, Alaska  would have another renewable harvestable resource.   Tobin, if you don't get what you need now, come next summer you can get more than you need just from my backyard.  

[UPDATE:  Tobin emailed me and I misread the intent of his research.  It won't use cottonwood, it's to prevent contamination from cottonwood.  So we're still lookiing for people to find a use for all the cottonwood cotton.]

Pocketmod - Cool, Clever Pocket Notepad

Pam at Grass Roots Science sent me a link to pocketmod a long time ago, and as we were getting ready for Juneau, I decided it was just what I needed.

Rather than write things down on a piece of scratch paper, I prefer to have a little notebook in my pocket and just keep everything in the same place.  And everyting stays in chronological order.  And I try to date things.  "Hmmm, I met him at the film festival, that was in December, so it should be around....here."

Pocketmod offers a tiny, but very handy way to make a little notebook out of one piece of paper.  It has a template and you can make different types of pages - lined, a calendar by week, by day, a to do list, etc.  You can even stick in a Sudoku.



It prints out on one page, and then you cut it - following their instructions (upper middle left) and then fold it into a little book.  I was even able to put a jpeg form map of Juneau on the back page.   And presto, you have a notebook for a week.

To see how easy it is to make your own customized pocket notebook click the link.

And since it only uses one side of the paper, it's a great way to use the back side of a paper you don't need.  And I would imagine that kids would love this too.

New Run Route - Eagles and Other Sights

Scrondahl commented on the Stay off the Flume post, that I should not rule out the Flume, but check the Juneau Avalanche Forecast. Here's Sunday's forecast:

The flume trail itself is pretty short, I'd really like to go further up Basin Road. But today, before getting to the avalanche forecast site, I took HarpboyAK's suggested and ran out Glacier Highway and back. It was not in the woods, but it was a nice run.

There are eagles in Anchorage from time to time.

But today I saw about ten in my hour run.  That

wouldn't happen in Anchorage.

 

 

 

 

Almost home now as I pass the Evergreen cemetery.

That's the name, not my description.

When I got home I was able to take a quick shower before Juneau friends arrived.  We haven't seen them since Zoe was born in Anchorage (she was early).  So we went down to Capitol Park.  We saw this bumper sticker on the way. 

Here's Sky, the older brother,  moving much faster than

I can easily catch him with the camera.

Ring Around the Moon

Saturday night there was a ring around the moon.  I tried to capture it with my camera, but I just got the moon and black.  But playing around with it in iPhoto I got this white shadow of the trees and in the upper right hand corner it could be some of the ring.  (I used the shadow button to boost whatever was in the shadows.)  To the naked eye it was easy to see, but my camera had more trouble. A ring around the sun is easier to catch on camera. The moon ring was all the way around. I should mention that Juneau's night sky is definitely darker than Anchorage's.  

Home Hiwaay has a page describing rings around the moon and other interesting moon effects.

A Ring Around The Moon

The ring around the Moon is caused by the refraction of Moonlight (which of course is reflected sunlight) from ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. The shape of the ice crystals results in a focusing of the light into a ring. Since the ice crystals typically have the same shape, namely a hexagonal shape, the Moon ring is almost always the same size.
Less typical are the halos that may be produced by different angles in the crystals. They can create halos with an angle of 46 degrees.
Moon Ring Weather Folklore
Folklore has it that a ring around the moon signifies bad weather is coming, and in many cases this may be true. So how can rings around the moon be a predictor of weather to come? The ice crystals that cover the halo signify high altitude, thin cirrus clouds that normally precede a warm front by one or two days. Typically, a warm front will be associated with a low pressure system which is commonly referred to as a storm. It is believed that the number of stars within a moon halo indicate the number days before bad weather will arrive. Give it a try the next time you observe a moon halo.

We'll see if there is a storm in the next few days.

STAY OFF THE FLUME

That was the subject line on an email from a Juneau reader after last week's post about the Flume Trail.  I thought others ought to hear his message too.  With his permission I’m posting an edited version of the email.

Steve, a serious warning:

STAY OFF THE FLUME.  It's at the bottom of the biggest avalanche chute on Mt. Juneau, and the chute is loaded.

I don’t know who gave you the advice, but they haven't lived here long enough to know...  See the maps and photos at

http://www.juneau.org/manager/documents/Juneau_urban_avalanche_photos_part2.pdf

where Page 11-12-13 is the result of a big avalanche coming down that chute.  I was in the Capitol Building at the time, and it was like an eclipse as the snow cloud enveloped downtown.  The runout filled the canyon and came up above the road where the trees are still missing.

I've lived here all my life, and I won't go up Basin Road after any significant snow build up on the top of Mt. Juneau.  I certainly would not now go past the Gold Creek bridge, nor on the flume side of the canyon.

I also wouldn't go running out Thane Road, which is a beautiful run/bike ride when it's not avalanche season.  Once there is significant snow buildup on Mt. Roberts, Thane Road is an avalanche zone once you pass the GCI earth station and the Thane Campground, which are right on the edge of the avalanche runout.  See

http://arcticglass.blogspot.com/2007/03/more-avalanche-photos.html

[avalanche photo from the link]

The best running alternative this time of year is Old Glacier Highway past the high school to Twin Lakes.  The highway is relatively low traffic and has wide shoulders and good sidewalks.

But please, if you value your life, stay off the flume until April.  Just look at the avalanche runout above the flume from the Basin road side as you go around the corner to the causeway.

BTW, one of my ancestors built that flume.  The water goes to a power house below the Gov's mansion, across the parking lot from the Federal Building.  It's been generating power since the early  1920s.

HarpboyAK

So, despite the fact that these trails are steps from our house, I guess I'll be exploring other running paths.

Capitol Art and History 1

The Juneau Capitol Building, which houses the Legislature and the Governor's Office, is also a gallery of Alaskan art and history.  The walls are lined with old photographs, paintings, and carvings. 

The main halls appear to be of historical significance.  The stairwells have more current art - some by school children and some appears to be available to buy through art galleries.

This post has a number of historical photos that are on the wall around the office I'm in on the east wing of the first floor.  The building is on a hill.  There is a side door on the first floor that goes out to the street.  But the columns entrance leads to the ground floor.

I've merged the titles onto the photos so they pretty much speak for themselves.  These are most of the photos in our wing, though a couple had so much reflection on the glass I left them out.  Double click to enlarge them.

 

 

 

 

 

Another Way to Make (not much) Money from My Blog

Here's an email I got yesterday.

Hi,

My name is XXX XXXX and I run a WWWW business in Alaska.
Since you run a blog in Alaska, I'd like to ask if you'd be interested
in working out an advertising relationship with me.

It's pretty simple. All I'd ask for is a blogroll link pointing to my
website, ZZZZZZ.org, or a blog post with a link to my
website from your blog. And after the links up, I'll send you $5 with Paypal. Easy as that.

And I'll also throw in free WWWWWWWW quotes for you! ;o)

Thanks for your time, and let me know if you're interested!

-XXX

Rest assured, I'm not likely to endorse a product or 

put up a link because someone is willing to pay me for it. 

If I will make sure readers know the relationship. 

And mostly I'll do it, like this post, just to let people 

know ways people surreptitiously advertise on blogs.

If I write about something or someplace, it's because I

think it's interesting. If I endorse it, it's because I think it's good.
 

That's not to say that XXXXX doesn't run a legitimate business 

and he is just being creative about ways to advertise.  

Skepticism is always healthy.  

Saturday and More Sun

Our basement apartment has most of its windows facing south. There are a couple other versions of this view of our yard and street up on this blog. I guess I better find out what that mountain is because it's in a number of pictures here.

And this is looking out the side window up the street to Mt. Juneau.

And here's the sun streaming into the windows of our entry way. 

More Blue Sky and Sun in Juneau

Blue sky over the capitol building on Wednesday

Blue sky Thursday morning walking to work.

Clear sky ahead and sun walking to work on Friday

Sun shines on anti-abortion demonstration

in front of Capitol Building Friday.