Saturday Shopping at -7°

Black Friday means tens of thousands of shoppers all heading toward Anchorage on the lone highway.

We avoid it like the plague.

Today, however, we needed a few things, so off we went at 09:30, before the Reavers and zombies hit the stores. Gas in the truck, renewed membership at Sam's, a few more decorative trinkets for the living room, and some odds & ends at Wally World.

-6 at the house, -7 along the river, -1 at the stores. If it gets much colder, I'll have to zip up my coat.

Have You Ever Had That Feeling

... that someone's looking over your shoulder? Blogger's stats reveal that I have somewhat more than double the number of hits I've normally received by this hour of the day.

 

And half of them are from China.

 

在这里，一个中国读者没有兴趣。

 

* * * * *

 

There's more fog rolling in, this morning, and the Nat'l Weather Service says that warmer, moist air - which will produce light snow this afternoon - is causing the temps to rise* and frost to form on the roads.

 

So not only are we unable to see on the highway, but we can't stop, either. The moral of this story is "SLOW DOWN".

 

* * * * *

 

And then there's this:

 

On a 100,000-mile mission, family of 7 sailed Northwest Passage in an unheated boat

 

Read the story and draw your own conclusions. :)

 

 

 

* Above the 9° F. we have at the moment, anyway.

Frosty Mornings, Frosty Reception, and Unhappy Endings

Yesterday morning it was -5° F. when I drove to work, and -6 when I went home. This morning it was only -4, which isn't much different.

 

But there's a dense fog advisory in Anchorage which has left quite a coating of frost on the roads, especially bad on turns. The highway's not in bad shape at all, until you reach Anchorage. But visibility is limited, and I'm glad that the morning commute allows my truck to be fully warmed up and windows cleared, before I get into the population center. It's tricky enough to avoid accidents even when you can see where you're going.

 

* * * * *

The local newspaper-cum-birdcage liner is having fits over President-elect Trump's Cabinet selections. It's quite funny watching trying to turn themselves inside out, to come up with new ways to complain.

 

It seems they've used up most of the their invective on Sarah Palin over the last eight years, and are a bit weary. The zing is gone from their insults. :)

 

* * * * *

Speaking of the weather, it might reach double digits here in the big city today, although not in my town. But AccuHunch is predicting quite a bit of snow over the next several days. We'll see if that actually happens, as their track record is less than stellar.

 

* * * * *

And one sad bit of news to report:

 

The National Park Service has suspended search efforts on Lake Clark for a crashed plane carrying four Port Alsworth residents, after debris from the aircraft and items owned by the occupants were found on the lake.

... An extensive air search for the plane ended Thursday afternoon, when belongings of those on board were found on Lake Clark north and east of Port Alsworth. The Cherokee's copilot seat and all three of its wheels were found floating Friday.

 

A photo taken Friday, Dec. 9, 2016 shows typical conditions on Lake Clark during an unsuccessful search for a plane carrying four Port Alsworth residents that crashed on the lake Wednesday. (National Park Service photo)

 

Another Frosty Morning

It's 24° here at the new homestead, and everything in the open is frost-covered again. While I know we're not immune to it, there are so many trees here that the car windows have stayed unfrosted, thus far.

AccuHunch is still calling for the white, fluffy stuff by the middle of the upcoming week, although no one can agree on exactly when, nor how much. Estimates range from "snow showers" to "1 - 3 inches", depending on with which source you choose to roll the weather dice.

But it's sunny, now that the sun is up, and the skies are blue. I won't say "clear" simply because they've been growing ever-more hazy over the last several days. The mountains across the Knik Arm are no longer visible, and even those around us are hazy at about 6 to 8 miles away. That will change when the next system blows in, of course.

I've been to the gas station and ducked briefly into Wally World for new head/blade assembly for my electric razor. It's way to early for the Reavers, of course, and I'd rather not get et.

Me, shopping at Wal-Mart. Okay, I exaggerate. A little.

Saturday: A.M. Potpourri

Yesterday morning, it was 26°, today it's 29. AccuHunch says it will be warmer today, going all the way up to 49. Heat wave!

* * * * *

I'm not sure what our agenda is this morning, 'cause my wife hasn't told me yet. Heh. But it will include a trip to Sportsman's Warehouse and Cabela's, so there's that. Any trip that involves those two stores makes it a good one. :)

Let's see ... I'm going to mount a new, motion-activated/dusk-to-dawn light above the man-door on the garage.

We're going to blow more leaves out of the driveway. I'm convinced this round of ground cover comes from the neighbor's yards, because we certainly cleaned up ours, last week. Amirite?

There have been six car/moose collisions in the last week, and a few bears crossing the roads as well, all within a few miles of us. It's looking more and more like we'll finally have a decent (read snowy) winter this year.

Older Daughter is at a local oil-change place, and they apparently have free Wi-Fi while she waits. She's blowing up my phone with funny pictures and jokes while I'm trying to type.

The sun will be coming up behind the mountains any minute now, and melt some of the frost. I doubt the roads are slick, though; we haven't had enough sub-freezing weather to get the ground cold. Yet.

And now I hear footy-steps in the other room, so our departure is imminent.

All y'all stay safe out there, hear? Thanks for stopping by.

Yep, Still Winter

It's 14 degrees with a wind chill of 4, this morning. Heavy frost, from the looks of things, with nary a cloud in sight.

We'll be heading out across this frosty land soon, gathering foodstuffs for the coldest months of winter.


Naw. Don't believe everything you read. It is cold and frosty today, but "the coldest months" probably won't be.

According to the weatherguess forecast, El Nino will keep us warmer than normal through May, but with increasing precipitation. As long as we get lots of moisture into the ground, maybe this year won't be a record season for forest fires ... like last year.

Meanwhile, looks like the Iditarod's official start will be moved to Fairbanks, where there's plenty of snow. In fact, the whole course should be snowy this year. That's a good thing; last year, there was an awful lot of rocky trail they had to cover. Hard on the dogs, the mushers, and the sleds.


That's all I've got for now. Be careful out there, stay alert, and thanks for stopping by. :)

It's Going to Be a Nice Day

Good morning! It's 12 degrees F. here at Chez Paul. AccuHunch opines that we probably won't get much warmer today. There was a dense fog overnight, so everything but my windshield is covered in an icy frost.

My windshield? Helped partially by the overhang above the garage door, and mostly by the block heater.

We had pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Then I showered, took my truck to the gas station and topped off the tank. We try to keep the tanks no less than 3/4 filled in really cold weather, to prevent moisture build-up in said tanks. We also keep a six-pack of Heet in the garage, but haven't had to use the stuff often.

Then I fixed the electric plug on Younger Daughter's block heater (looked like it got yanked out of the outlet too hard) and cleaned her headlights and fog lights. Due to the road grime from the rain on frozen streets a week ago, they were nearly opaque.

Back inside I changed into flannels, and am thinking I may just stay in for the rest of the day. But it looks like a nice day out there, with clear skies. It's only 10:00, so the sun hasn't come up yet, but it's plenty bright already.

Yep, it's gonna be a nice day.

Some Mornings ...

... you should just stay in bed.

It's -4°, last time I looked, and there was a two-day buildup of heavy frost on the trucks this morning. Thank God for block heaters! My SUV required some scraping, but only minimal.

My wife's new vehicle doesn't have a block heater yet, but I suspect that will be addressed soon. Her windows were solidly covered, and I cleared her windshield (more or less) while waiting on my back window defroster to have an effect. I'm certain that she'll grow tired of repeating scraping, long before this winter draws to a close in March or April. Or May. Depends on the year, don'tcha know.

AccuHunch opines that we'll have rising temps and a few inches of new snow by Thursday. That's okay, now. This arctic front will have had several days to freeze the road surfaces before the snow arrives, so it won't be overly slick by then.

On a side note, we installed some of the new-fangled "studless" winter tires on her crossover, and - so far - they grab the ice like the tires are clamped to the road. She's quite pleased, and so am I.

* * * * *

I installed a check reader on my work PC this morning, and it will be interesting to see how it works. The idea is two-fold: it will limit the number of trips to the bank each month, and (apparently) the-powers-that-be assume I have several acres of unused real estate on my desk.

But the wires, cables, power supplies, and phone lines are now appropriately redistributed and arranged, and a VP of something-or-other from the bank is supposed to call, tomorrow, to walk me through a "how to use it" session over the phone.

Old dogs, new tricks ... sigh ...

Back to Normal

Normal temps, that is.  It was 27° at our place this morning, but is supposed to rocket upward into the low 40s today. For the record, 27 is the average low for this time of year; we've been some 10 degrees warmer because of all the rain clouds which prevent the heat from radiating overnight. Either way, there was frost on the car windows.

Many of the leaves, mostly fallen from the trees now, are plastered to paved surfaces from all the rain. It's been dry for the last couple of days, and is supposed to be so today as well. That's the first time in a month we've had more a single day without rain. And of course, it's to be rainy - changing into a rain/snow mix by the beginning of next week - for the foreseeable future, as temps continue to slide.

* * * * *

The Anchorage mayor, under pressure to increase revenue due to the statewide shortfall - which is in turn due to the low, low price of oil - has proposed raising municipal fees on everything. 

Well, practically everything. He is floating a plan to increase the fees by proposing "structure changes and inflation-based increases to several hundred city fines and fees."

Let's see what's affected:

• animal shelters
• cemetery plots 
• speeding tickets
• fines for parking in a handicapped space to double from $250 to $500
• fees for animal boarding, licensing and vaccination
• fines for texting while driving
• fines for running over an animal with a motorcycle
• food facility operating fees and plan review permits
• the cost of a child care center license 
• a new $25 fee, so that residents would be able to rent “humane” animal traps for cats and dogs 
• a surcharge for using a new electronic plan review service [for building permits - Ed.] that is set to launch early next year
• from Parks and Recreation, a proposal to rent hand-pulled golf carts at $5 for three hours, and golf clubs at $7 for three hours
• the parks department also wants to change punch card systems and special hours for facilities in favor of daily admission rates and seasonal passes

The list goes on and on. The only things certain is that everything is going to cost more, and that the Assembly will rubber-stamp the increases.

A fee for breathing isn't on the published list, but it's only a matter of time. 

If you drive a car I'll tax the street
If you try to sit I'll tax your seat
If you get too cold I'll tax the heat
If you take a walk I'll tax your feet

 (Lyrics from Tax Man, by the Beatles)

 The only thing unexpected in the linked article about the fee increase proposal is a statement from the Mayor that cost of "doing business" in Anchorage has increased by 46% since 2001. He doesn't explain (of course) how that could be possible while the Consumer Price Index shows an annual increase of only 1.7 percent or so.

What was it Disraeli said?  Oh, yes:

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

Another Frosty Morn

Today is the third consecutive day of frost on the windshields, and temps around 28° at 04:30 when we get up. The weather lady on local TV assures us all the snow in the mountains was here about 10 days early, too. Seems cool weather's in a hurry, this year.

The readers have spoken ... or rather, have withheld comment. But I'll wait a bit longer before I decide what to do with the MHI Alaska series.

And now, work has reared its ugly head. Dang it.

At 7:28 A.M.

It's 30 degrees this morning, with frost on the cars, and a healthy dose of snow on the mountains.

My wife is in the kitchen, making pancakes from the local flour mill's mix that we like so much. Then it's out to the farmers' market, and on to the usual stores.

Again

-2° at the ol' homestead, and most of the way to work, too. Some low-lying clouds kept us from getting as cold as predicted, but I see some -10 and -12 readings on the east side of town. And it's dropped to -4 now, in the pre-dawn chill that begins a couple of hours before sunrise.

And that doesn't include the dense fog I drove through, part of the way here. It's always fun when the headlights frost over, mid-drive. At least with the block heater and the blast furnace under the dash, there's no problem keeping the windows clear from the get-go.

This truck was originally sold in Fairbanks, and the heater will drive you out, if you don't turn the temp cooler after a couple of miles. The Expedition had a great heater, but it took forever to get warmed up all the way. This one is much faster.

And in Alaska, a quick source of heat comes in pretty handy. :)

It's a Quiet Day

The temp is hanging right at 32°, but the clouds are intermittent with some peeks of sunshine from time to time. It was frosty when we first went out this morning ... or rather, the streets had frosty patches, and cornering was an adventure.

But it's clearing now, and the forecast formerly containing hints of snow now calls only for scattered bouts of freezing rain and/or ice pellets.

Whatever.

We did the weekly shopping, had lunch at the hotel's cafe' where Younger Daughter is serving as hostess (it's slow season in the pastry kitchen), and picked up a couple of movies with which we hope to divert ourselves this afternoon.

Which movies?  Left Behind and How to Train Your Dragon 2. Like I said, we hope they're diversionary; in the case of the second one, we hope it's funny. The first one was (very) light entertainment.

Yeah, I know, but there's nothing else available right now.  At least, nothing else we haven't already seen.

And we've seen each of the DVDs and Blu-Ray movies we already have so many times that we can watch them with the sound turned off, and recite the dialogue from memory.

* * * * *

On a happy note, gas has dropped to an average of $2.66/gallon here. Makes my wallet happy. :)

4° and Frosty

The long-anticipated January cold snap has arrived, but still no snow. After several days of upper 30s, and one day well into the 40s last week, most of what we had is gone.

It's been a typical winter weekend here, and I won't bore anyone with thrilling tales of chores, OR the lack thereof. Tales, not chores. There are always PLENTY of chores.

On the bright side, neither is there anything negative to report. Life goes on, rather smoothly.

Gas is down to $2.85, and will probably drop again tomorrow. One year ago, we were paying $3.99, and I'm in no hurry for a repeat. And for those of you who caught my post about gas at or near $7/gallon in the Bush, it was at $10 in those same places, last year.

Thanks for dropping by, folks; have a wonderful day!

Another Frosty Morn

It was 18° F. at the ol' homestead this morning, and the roofs of the cars were frosty. Fortunately, the windows were not. The block heaters were plugged in, in anticipation of a chilly night, so warming up the truck takes 2 minutes instead of 15.

I'm glad the solstice is near. With so little snow here, there's not much reflected light at night, and the dark mornings (and early evenings) make things a bit dreary. We set off for the stores at 09:00, but it felt like 6 am anywhere else.

The sun didn't brighten the southeastern sky until well after 10:00. This was taken at 10:25:

click for enlargification  :)

But we were back home by 10:45, having beaten the reavers to the big box stores, and all is well. We'll probably go out after lunch, but the places we have yet to visit aren't subject to the ravenous hordes elsewhere in town.

Besides, I don't want to get et.