Racist Or Just Insensitive Juvenile Prank? (Those Aren't Mutually Exclusive)

 Coming back from Denali last week, we stopped at Kashwitna Lake.  Not a terribly scenic spot that day, but good for a quick break from driving.    

The bulletin board on the other hand, offered a little MatSu humor.  Even though the announcements have State of Alaska Fish and Game seals, I somehow think they aren't from the State.  And I decided not to check with the State.

This is in the most conservative borough in Alaska and I'm not sure whether there's some hidden right wing propaganda or whether this is just non-political, teen humor.  I don't think they info sheets had  been up long.  They showed no signs of rain and the staples hadn't started to bleed rust.  

Given that [the Alaska Guide says] Kashwitna comes from a Tainana Indian name, this is probably more than a little disrespectful.  

I found this about the Fukawi Indian tribe on Reddit:

Go to Jokes

r/Jokes•10 yr. ago

noccusJohnstein

"The story of the Fukawi Indian Tribe 

Our tribe has rich and long-standing history. Long time ago, our tribe wander the wilderness. For many years, we wander looking for land to call our own. Our chief led our people through mountains, valleys, seashores and plains.

People were born wandering. People died wandering. After an entire generation of wanderers were born and died, our chief, then very old, led us to top of great mountain. He stood atop mountain summit and faced his people. He looked around. He looked far and wide. He then shouted to the gods,

"We're the Fukawi! We're the Fukawi! WHERE THE FUCK ARE WE?!"

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•10 yr. ago

This was originally told by the chief in the 60s show "FTroop". But it was "Hekawee' then.

Is this really worth a post?  I guess I consider it a form a graffiti and worth noting.  Though the more I think about this, I'm getting heavy racist vibes. Should I even leave it up?  Maybe just to alert folks.  

Denali Was Out In Full Glory

Here was the view from the mile 135 Denali Lookout point last Tuesday afternoon.  The mountain was magnificent.  The tallest mountain in North America.  All 20,310 feet (6,190.5 m) were showing, just about.  Aconcagua in Argentina is 22,831 feet (6,959 m).  But Aconcagua is one of many peaks in the Andes range.  The whole of Denali can be seen from 3000 feet and up.  And Tuesday it was all out and clear.  

After about four years in Alaska, I wanted to make a post card of clouds, labeled "Denali as most tourists see it."   There was a couple from Toronto there taking in the sight and I wanted to let them know how lucky they were to see this great view.  And we became friends for the next couple of days, enjoying the park together.  

Below is that same view on Thursday afternoon on our return to Anchorage.  My postcard view.  You'd never know North America's highest mountain was hiding behind those clouds.  You can also see that a lot of snow melted in those two days.  

And below is a picture of Denali from the North (on the right), on the road in the National Park.  Still clear.  

Our Canadian friends got great views of the mountain.  Below it resembles a full moon just rising.  

But as lucky as they were with the Mountain, they were unlucky with animals.  I don't remember a trip to Denali when we saw so few big animals.  The few we saw were not particularly close. There were plenty of ptarmigan, gulls, and ground squirrels.  

First we hiked along the Savage River trail.  We've learned from past experience that this early in the season, the trail on the east side is still full of snow and ice in parts, so we hike to the bridge along the west side (right side in the photo) and returned the same way.  

As you get closer to the bridge (about one mile each way) you start to see these Tolkien rocks.  

And excuse me for putting all these photos up extra large.  Denali National Park is extra large and even this effort doesn't do it justice.  

We stopped at Sanctuary campground for lunch, where we saw this giant head in the rocky mountain across the way.  Anyone else see it?  Two of us did.

Just before Teklanika campground, there is a pair of small lakes, ponds really.  One had buffleheads and pintails and a kingfisher.  The other had northern shovelers.  

We parked at the Teklanika overview - which is as far as you are allowed to drive - and walked down to the bridge below.  You can drive in the first 30 miles only until May 20 when the tour busses start.  (Well, they already had some tour busses for the benefit of cruise line passengers, but not too many.)  Beginning May 20 you can only drive as far as Savage River (12 miles in.)  The road is still closed at mile 40 due a a huge avalanche a few years back.  So 20 miles further to Eilson, and then the next 30 to Wonder Lake aren't accessible. An Anchorage Daily News article say it won't be done until 2026.

It was only as we were headed back after a long day, that we saw the first large animal - a caribou.  There were two moose after that.  Denali - being far north with a short growing season and a long winter, is no Serengeti.  There just isn't enough food for the large herds in Africa.  But three large animal sightings is pitiful.   It was a VERY windy day, and perhaps that kept the animals hunkered down.  

Our new friends headed to their hotel outside the park and we got back to our campground.  I'd brought a bunch of the broken tree limbs from the back yard post winter clean up and some nice dry pieces of firewood and we quickly had a dinner cooked in foil.  First on the grill while the flames were high, and then on the coals a little longer.  

Wordle's Limited Shelflife

[For those without a lot of time or patience, the gist of this post is: WORDLE is running out of valid words.  A problem exacerbated because they let people play already used words, even though they can't 'win.']

I've been through different phases of WORDLE playing.  I started with random words, then moved to starting with words that had high frequency letters.  The idea of starting with the same word everyday, in hopes that one day I'd get the word on the first round, didn't hold me for long.  It got boring.  Even  WORDLE has switched the word it starts with several times.  

For a few months now, my first word has been coming from Spelling Bee.  I pick one of the five letter words, with preference for the ones that have the most frequently used letters.  I skip the words with double letters - that seems like a waste.  Yes, they do use words with double letters now and then, but it would be really lucky to the the right double letter on the right day.  Sometimes there are no words that have five different letters.  Then I pick a four-letter word I can make a new word by adding a letter.  Often I'm stuck with a word that has one or two low probability letters.  And sometimes one of them is in the word and I get a leg up.  

My goal in the last few months has been to have more games I complete with three words than with fours.  I was going after having my total count of 3s higher than my total count of 4s.  I reached that goal a few days ago.  But it's getting easier to do that.  

Let me explain.  Yesterday was the 1054th WORDLE.  (Each WORDLE is numbered)

WORDS THAT DON'T WORK

There are some rules about the words they pick.  

1. No profanity.  But I was surprised the day they used PRICK.  Yes, it has normal meanings, and I guess that was their logic. 
2. They also don't seem to choose words that are demeaning to various people.  
3. No proper names (unless it has another meaning as well)  DAVID and SUSAN won't work.  RANDY will.  

In all three cases, when you type in such a word, it's rejected altogether.  You won't lose a turn if you type in one of these invalid words.

Then there's another class of words that aren't used 

1. Past tense words that end -ed.  You can play these words, but they won't win.   Irregular past tense words like WROTE are ok.  
2.  Regular plurals that end with an 's'. 
3. Words that have already been the winning word in past WORDLE games.  

These #3 words can be used, but words that have already been used, aren't eligible to win again.      On the one hand, such words can be useful when you are trying to choose a word that will eliminate help you find or eliminate letters, The -ed words and the previous winner words  are even used in their analysis section when they show the words still possible after each round. (This only happens after you are done and choose 'Analyze.")

I'm not sure how I know these things.  Partly by trial and error.  Maybe I found a website with tips like this.  I just don't remember.  I did just look at WORDLE's help page, but it only says it has to be a valid word.  

1054 - Why is this important.  

While English has lots of words, the number of five letter English words, as I've explained above, a that are valid and that can win is smaller.  In the ANALYSIS section (after you finish for the day)  WORDLE tells you how many VALID words are left.  I don't recall there being much more than 1000 ever shown after my first word.  That would mean that the five letters I just used in the first word, would raise the total, if they were still in play.  But by that much.

Are you getting my drift ye?.  WORDLE is going to run out of words.  

With over 1000 games already played, there are already over 1000 words that are no long valid.  That is, you can play them, but they can't be the winning word.  

In my eyes, that's somewhat unfair.  Well, not somewhat unfair.  Just unfair.  People new to WORDLE have no idea of what words have already been winners.  Even long time players can't remember all those words.  

But they internet knows.  There are websites that list the already used words - in alphabetical order and in chronological order.  I use Five Forks.   And since those words cannot be winners again, I've decided it's ok for me to look up the possible words on my list for the next round, so I don't waste guesses on words that can't win.  

Do I feel guilty?  Sure, there is something about this that doesn't feel quite right.  But the idea that perfectly legitimate words (not proper names, not plurals ending in 's', not slurs) simply cannot win because they've won already, seems even less fair. It's ok that WORDLE doesn't allow repeats, but that they don't disqualify them as invalid (since they can't win they should accept them on the list.)

And that's why I say WORDLE has a limited shellfire.  It's going to run out of words,  And by using the lists of past WORDLE words, it's easier now to get a 3 than in the beginning.  

That doesn't mean I'll always get a 3.  But I now have more 3s than 4s.  OK, There's a lot more 5s than 2s and more 6s than 1s.  

Not sure how many more of these I'm going to do.  

A Ride Down The Road

 Gave the car a spin this afternoon.  It's good to get out of town a bit.  

Looking across Turnagain Arm from the Seward Highway.  Can you see the tracks where rocks have slid down over the snow?

Same mountain, a little closer view.

McHugh Creek

Looking across Turnagain Arm from McHugh Creek

A muskrat at Potter Marsh

Sometimes A Car Repair Shop Is A Community - Ralfy At Culmination Motorsports

I got my 1971 VW Westphalia serviced by Kurt Schreiber in Wasilla for nearly 20 years until he retired.  Around that time our 25 year old van had holes in the floor and we got wet when we went through puddles.  I worried we might lose a passenger if we hit a bad bump.  Kurt said, "Steve, you've gotten your money's worth.  Time to let it go."

Sticker shock kept us from replacing the old van.  The new one was ten times what we paid for the first one new.  But since I wanted to be in a tent and my wife wanted to be in a hotel, the camper was the compromise that we needed.  It took two years to take the leap.  

Our kids were Outside.  M, at school in Boston said the dealers laughed at her when she inquired about VW campers.  They didn't sell them.  J, in Seattle, found a new one for $5,000 less than the Anchorage price.  He drove it up to Vancouver and we flew down for a family week there, then drove it back to Anchorage.  

Since then,  getting maintenance was more like a business deal than dropping it off with a friend who knew how to fix my car and I knew I could trust.  

But when I called Arctic Imports to schedule a maintenance this year, they said they no longer

worked on VW vans.  But when I asked, they gave me the name to two places who would.  Arctic is a little funkier than most businesses, but at Culmination it seems like everyone cares about you and your car.  

Culmination Motorsports sounded a bit ominous, but their website said they specialized in German cars and did everything from general maintenance to restoration.  Perfect.  

I think this is going to be more of a community than a business relationship.  Listen to owner Ralfy talk about his business in the video below.  Why the name Culmination?   The difference between 'new', 'classic', and 'vintage.'  Who his customers are.  The 'cult' of Culmination.  Why repair shops no longer have brand names in their names.   Toward the end he explains that Eurovans are sort of like the neglected step-child of VW. 

I'd note that I haven't done much video in the last few years (and YouTube has lots more options and requirements than it used to) and I don't often blog about businesses.  Only when I'm impressed.  And, of course, there's no payment from the business in return.  

Can you find the 'bright golden 160' Ralfy mentions in the video?  For people who know where the Fire Island Bakery South Anchorage location was - that's now Rafelito's and Culmination Motorsports.  I couldn't find addresses on any of the businesses on the short stretch of 91st west of King Street when I first went there.  The street turns right and dead ends.  It was the VW vans in the parking lot that told me I was at the right place.  

So, now I'm waiting for other VW vans to honk and wave.  (Well, that sort of happens anyway.)

Biking In Anchorage In Full Swing

 First off, I should say that for the fat tire and studded tire bikers, Anchorage is a year round biking town.  For folks like me, biking doesn't really start until most of the snow is off the bike paths.  The paths along the main roads have been clear since April 1 at least.  Here's Dowling on one of my early April rides.  

But as of the past weekend, the trails I've tried - and from reports of others - the bike trails along the greenbelts are now snow and ice free.  This was the trail from Goose Lake along Northern Lights and then over the the Alaska Native Medical Center last Friday.  The shiny stuff on the trail is melt water from the snow on the edge of the trail.  

Goose Lake, last Friday was still covered with ice as have been other small lakes I've been by.  

I still can't imagine the folks that designed these bike paths on the roads that bulge into the street at the corners.  The biker has to move left into traffic.  What were they thinking?  OK, you can have space marked off from the cars, but only most of the way.  Then we push you into the roadway.  I'm guessing this wasn't a biker.  Or even worse, an engineer who hates being forced to add bike lines, so he (a she wouldn't have done this) does the trail part way and then gets revenge at the corners.  (Any engineers reading this - I'm just being playful, like the person who designed this.)

On Bainbridge Island, where they have a similar design, they have curb cuts so bikes go on the sidewalk instead of the street.  

But this is a fairly recent improvement for the bike lanes on Bainbridge Island.  

Saturday I explored the Campbell Creek trail going south.  It was mostly clear, but there were still a few stretches with ice/snow.  So coming back I decided to explore along Old Seward Highway.  I didn't realize how grimy some of the streets between Old and New Seward are.  This was 66th I believe.  There was a fire in the old barrel in the middle.  

And not all the paths along main streets are great. This is one of the worst.  36th Avenue west of the Old Seward Highway on the south side of the street.  The big gravel lot north of New Sagaya feeds rocks and gravel onto the sidewalk.  There are big holes in the sidewalk.  This is just east of the little mall that has ACS and the Pita Pit.  The sidewalk has disappeared under rock and broken asphalt.  

And here's a picture in Spenard.  I can't quite believe this was the first moose I've seen since we got back into Anchorage early March.  It paid no attention to me.  I was biking back from the Providence branch in the old REI space.  No one had bothered to tell me that my doctor had recently moved from their to Building S over on the main Providence campus.  But, I got to see the moose.