Friday Potpourri

It's the end of another week, and as the winter winds down, the usual suspects and relatives are lining up to come visit us this summer.

One of the mixed blessings (don't take that the wrong way, Mom!) of living in a tourist destination like Alaska is that everyone with whom you've maintained a decent relationship decides - when Alaska beckons - that your house is their new dream vacation spot. I can't say as I blame them, since getting here is rather spendy. Accommodations can be expensive, too, if one doesn't do some comparison shopping. Deals are available, but you must search them out - or ask a local.

So summer is coming, and so are the guests. But it's okay; we didn't have any visitors at all, last year, and didn't vacation, as my wife & I both started new jobs.

It's going to be a busy summer, but I'm looking forward to it.

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Life-in-Alaska Dept:

The Seward Highway reopened to traffic in both directions about 6:35 p.m. Thursday, according to the Department of Transportation, after an avalanche between Girdwood and Portage closed the road for more than seven hours.

Transportation Department spokesman Roger Wetherell says the 400-foot avalanche fell between mile markers 85.5 and 86 on the Seward Highway, choking off access from the Kenai to Anchorage

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Life-in-Alaska Dept, part 2:

A 23-year-old Anchorage man operating a Hydro-Ax tree-clearing machine died Wednesday after the machine fell through ice while it was clearing foliage near power lines north of Houston, Mat-Su Emergency Service personnel said.

~ snip ~

Bill Gamble, an area fire chief at the staging area, said two equipment operators were working at the site when both machines fell through the ice in a known swampy area. One fell in a shallow spot and the operator got free. The second machine fell in deeper water and all but about six inches of the cab was submerged, Gamble said.

The operator ... was stuck inside, unable to open the door, Alaska State Troopers said.

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Alaskan Frontier Justice:

Two armed citizens have captured a young Anchor Point couple suspected in more than a dozen cabin burglaries in the area since December. It was "a scene more like the Old West than the Last Frontier," the [Homer] News reports. After catching the couple, the men handcuffed them with zip ties and called troopers, who say they recovered stolen property and charged them with felony burglaries. Chaunce Hoxie, 20, also was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor; the female charged with him was a 15-year-old runaway.

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And finally, just for fun:

"As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday, and employees will receive their cards in two weeks."
-Fred Dales, Microsoft Corp.

"What I need is an exact list of specific unknown problems we might encounter."
-Lykes Lines Shipping

"E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business."
-Accounting manager, Electric Boat Company

And you thought your job is confusing!

h/t MoBro for the company memos & Sandi-with-an-i for the cartoon