20 November 2015

Three Days

Three days ago, it was -6° F. at this hour. Today it's 38 above. That's 44 degrees warmer than on Tuesday.

The three inches of snow that fell overnight is wet, and slides off the cars with only a little urging.

The frozen roadways, mostly bare during the week of sub-zero temps, are now doing their best impression of a skating rink. The melty snow and sprinkles of rain are turning to icy patches on contact.

The drive to work this morning was sketchy, at best. Later, when the traffic is sufficiently heavy, it could get ugly. Makes me very glad I work such an early shift.


* * * * *

Here's an update on the "Alaskan Bush People" story from yesterday:
A Juneau Superior Court judge has rejected a plea deal that would have allowed stars of the "Alaskan Bush People" series to avoid jail time for Permanent Fund dividend fraud.
[snip] “I don’t think the Browns should be treated more harshly because they have a TV show. … but they certainly shouldn’t be treated more leniently because of that either,” the judge said.

 * * * * *

Today's local newspaper/fishwrapper feature an editorial about Republican lawmakers who are sounding the alarm about letting Syrian refugees into the country. The tone of the op-ed is predictable:

There must be seven or eight Republican politicians in Alaska who haven't shared panic-stricken statements about the Syrian refugee crisis, pretending to know what's really going on.

What's wrong with these slackers? They aren't doing their part to create hysteria or display the depth of their understanding of world events.
 But wait! There's a flag on the play:


10 comments:

PioneerPreppy said...

Not that I have any experience with living in a cabin in Alaska, I doubt my feet would let me stay passed September to be honest, but the few times I have watched that show it struck me as being waaaaaay off. No way anyone with any Alaskan Winter experience would be living in that drafty box they had. I was also wary about the time they went dump crawling and seemed to get there in next to no time.

Rev. Paul said...

Preppy, your instinct is spot on. It's just as fake as those "House Hunter" shows on HGTV.

drjim said...

Hey Rev....what kind of winter tires do you use?

Since we'll be moving to Colorado in the next ~18 months, I figured it's time to start thinking about stuff like that!

Rev. Paul said...

Jim, I have a set of Mastercraft studded snow tires on my Explorer, but I'm not crazy about them. Goodyear & BF Goodrich snow tires work well; I've always run studded tires here, because the snow gets packed down to the consistency of ice on the roads, after a couple of deep snowfalls.

I don't know if Colorado permits studded tires. If not, here's something: we just put some Michelin Latitude X-Ice XI2 studless winter tires on my wife's SUV. So far, they grip like glue. Blizzak makes good studless tires, too.

It mostly depends on what type of vehicle you drive, and if you spend time on plowed roads or not.

drjim said...

It's a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee with full-time 4 wheel drive.

Car and Driver just did a comparison test on winter tires, and I think the Michelin came out #2, bested by a Scandinavian tire I've never heard of.

I'm planning on buying a set of steel rims and just swapping them in the winter so my alloy wheels don't get so much abuse from mounting/dismounting the tires twice a year.

Colorado does allow studded tires, but I'm not so sure I want those.

And even with 4WD and winter tires, there are still times when chains are required, so I have to look into those, too.

Rev. Paul said...

The #1 tire in the test (which was pretty close, actually) was Blizzak. A LOT of drivers here use them.

The best snow tires I've used here were Snowtrackers from Sam's Club, but they don't sell them anymore.

drjim said...

Yep, that's the one.

I was just pricing them at Tire Rack, and they're not too expensive.

BUT....steel rimes are $70 each.

Geez, I remember when they were like $25 each.....

Rev. Paul said...

Ah yes, inflation rears its ugly head again. Steel rims are roughly $100 apiece here. Be grateful you don't have to pay shipping to Alaska.

Guffaw in AZ said...

Ad hominem?

Isn't that their second go-to, after the race card?

gfa

Rev. Paul said...

I think so, Guffaw - you've been paying attention. :)