Cold weather lesson #1

Ugh!! We are always learning from our mistakes. Moreso than from our successes. Today was lesson numero uno. Cars and the cold don't play well together. Everyone, I mean everyone, has their car winterized with some things to keep the onld engine warmed up and the battery toasty and happy. I bought a car not ready for the interior of Alaska (apparantly fine for wussy Anchorage especially if you have a garage) and thought I'd have time to get it set-up because the forecast has us no lower than the teens this week, HA!!! I weighed the liquor in the bar for inventory today at noon with the full sun blazing. It took maybe an hour, when I hit the remote start on my truck as I headed back to the office, no go!! I figured I'd hop in and start it right up. Nope!! Battery is now too weak to turn taco over. Ick!! Luckily I planned ahead and brought hat, gloves, warm coat. I had to hoof it back to the room for my Parka and fattie gloves though. The wind is howling through the area that I parked and according to my iphone the temp is down around -10 because of the wind. Get a battery blanket asap, lesson learned and maybe an Optima Redtop to go with it. Ugh!!!

Quartz Lake Morning

This morning I planned on tagging along the safety course for snowmachines, I ran into trailers loaded up with snowmachines and leaving post, so I followed them. It ended up being the Volksmarr Lake ice Fishing trip which is a trip that heads 30 miles out into the wilderness on snowmachines for some ice fishing. It was okay that I couldn't go because I got to see Quartz lake State Park which is 10 miles from town, is 2 miles wide and has great fishing summer and winter. It is also the gateway to about 2 million acres of wilderness. And I mean wildass wilderness, at the turn off for the oil pipeline I saw hare, wolf and moose prints fresh in the snow. Don't get much more wild than that.

Here we are driving on the lake around to the parking area on the ice. The shoreline is full of cabins that are only car accessible in the winter after freezeup otherwise its a boat all summer long. Lots of hottubs and saunas and ice fishing cabins on the edge. Anyone need a summer home?! I'm offering free caretaker services when you're not there :)

Beautiful Alaska morning at 0830. Sunrise not for another hour.

The crew was fired up and ready to hit the trail. Carhartt makes a killing up here and Mouse boots are pretty ubiquitous. I may have to get a pair of white ones. Pretty styling with tight jeans and a wifebeater to match.

Ah, the MWR paperwork, it states that if it quits working on the trail, its your fault and you are willing to walk back to post the 40 miles because no self respecting man is going to ride bitch on a motorcycle, atv or snowmachine. No way. No how!!!

The sled is full of important ice fishing stuff like a heater and beer, whiskey and vodka. Actually, There was an auger, ax, chainsaw, ice shelter, thermos of coffee, heater and beer, whiskey and vodka. Just kidding Connie (the boss lady).

More paperwork.

Ready to hit the trail at last. Carhartt coordination.

Onward to Volksmarr.

You can see the ice itself here. I caught air over a pressure ridge. That's where the ice is expanding against another piece and pokes up like a little mountain chain. Makes a terrific ramp.

Here's a well winterized Caolina Skiff. Johnny, did you put the boats up for winter out at the lake house? Yep.

The pipeline runs along the highway through the park. I saw a moose 50 feet away but as soon as I stopped the truck, he bolted. I chased after him for a minute then thought, 'what if he decides to kick my ass rather than run away. I'm a bit alone here and not even a decent sized tree between him and me.' Back to the truck for this kid.

Welcome to the 'Yota family Taco

When I called my dad on Saturday and told him I bought a new tacoma, his response was 'another Toyota!'

I say don't knock it until you try it. This is my third 'yota. My other two were great. I only stupidly got rid of my first taco to buy a jeep which was fun but 12mpg won't hunt. The 4runner has 140K on it and isn't tired in the slightest (the wife is loving it back in SC). This girl has 90K on her, so I figure she has a lot of life left for a taco, probably another 200K easy :) 

She has a tiny fender blemish, but a rubber mallet should fix that up lickity split.

I'm not fond of the side rails, a bit too 90's for me, so I'll probably lose them pretty quickly.

The deer sticker will also be going replaced by an olde grey sticker if I can dig one up.

She came with a second set of tires. These are Grabber  MTs with studs in them for running low air on ice, good winter tires even though I prefer siped tires to studs. The other tires are on standard toyota cast rims and will be replaced by some 33 muds or ATs for summer use.

The suspension is standard sag for a later model taco. Nothing new there. New springs and she'll sit an inch higher. I figure I'll probably wait until summertime and maybe even upgrade to long travel for more clearance for the 33s that are on my birthday list.

The topper is actually black but fools the eye a bit because the green color is so dark.

I'm looking forward to getting her into Autocrafts for a full once over.

She's got autostart, warm cabs are nice when the mercury takes a dip.

I ran her through the carwash today to knock the snow and ice out of the nooks and crannies I shoved it in yesterday with my impression of a merry go round.

Anchorage to Delta on the Richardson Highway

The drive was to be a 7 hour chill drive up through one pountain pass, along a long snowy plateau, down another mountain valley, take a left after GlenAllen, across a wide flat plateau, up a mountain pass, down the other side and home. Not too much in 350 miles. I was never out of sight of mountains. There are three pretty sections that stick out in my mind. The first was at the top of the Matanusk Susitna (MatSu) valley past Palmer, Alaska. It was the MatSu Glacier. I could only see it from a distance, so the photos aren't very impressive but I could make out the front of the glacier and the giant crevasses along its face hundreds of feet tall.

MatSu glacier face in the distance.

Looking back down the valley.



The second spot that was amazing was at the top of the plateau. The entire area was covered in 3 feet of snow, I mean everything. the Ground, trees, houses, cabins, poles, even the signs were covered. This area is on the south side of the Alaska range so the snow is much wetter and makes good snowballs. It also seems to stick to everything. I smiled a big smile and hummed white Christmas as I drove along. This part of the road had a lot of snowmachiners (snowmobilers) and even some guys playing on ice on ATVs. Lots of cabins and houses, but still a remote feeling. Then I hit the third type of terrain on the drive. From GlenAllen to Delta over the Alaska Range is very remote, the spruce and pine grow right up to the road and the shoulders are 4 foot thick with snow the entire way, the mountains sit off in the distant background.

I passed maybe 5 cars in over 100 miles. Luckily too, as I forgot a valuable icy road tip. I had been cruising along at 60 without a care in the world in cruise control. I went down this dip and over a small bridge and started uphill, when the cruise kicked in at full throttle, I was in 2 wheel drive so in an instant I was sliding sideways up the highway. I steered into the skid and gently pressed the brakes but was vectoring across the oncoming lane, straight into one of those 4 foot thick shoulders. I decided to try to spin it at the last second and just clipped the nose before being spun 270 and ending up 5 feet off the road backwards up to my windows in a snowbank of powdery fluff.  I checked my drawers to see if they needed a change. fortune smiled, no traffic coming the other direction. I threw Taco in 4high and gunned out of the snowbank back up into my lane. Before I could get out and look the truck over and Ford came from the oncoming direction. A few seconds from total disaster. Whatever angel in heaven is assigned to my safe keeping, I say 'thank you' once again and I hope you get your wings. Rign a bell. I did a walk around and other than snow stuffed in every crook and cranny, no dents, no harm, no foul. 4high and 45mph for the last 50 miles, no reason to hurry.

Anchorage Adventure

Friday went without a hitch. At about noon, Richard and I headed for Fairbanks and my awaiting plane. The 100 mile drive was leisurely with lots of conversation about anything and everything as is my usual. We hit up Asiana, a korean, japanese, chinese, sushi joint in Fairbanks. I had a Chirashi bowl (raw everything in a bowl over rice and seaweed salad), pretty good overall. I was a bit taken back by the lack of tax again. I'm so used to working it into the bill automatically, but $9.95 is $9.95. Period. Cool. Afterwards we wanted to kill a little time so I wasn't at the airport forever since my flight was at 7:10 p.m., so we headed over to Barnes and Noble. Barnes and Noble is pretty much Barnes and noble anywhere in the States. True still in Alaska with the exception of the giant gas fireplace for reading around.

Warm your tootsies while reading books you'll never buy.

I snuck next door to Sportsmans to look at some camo wool pants I saw last week.

Giant bronze in front. Unlike SC which has elk out front, the animals out front in alaska are really the animals that live here. No offense, but the Elk at the Sportsmans in Cola always made me laugh a little.

Bronze Moose.

After maybe a 1/2 hour Richard dropped me off at the airport. I had waited too long to get Alaska Airline tickets and take one of the big planes, the price doubled on Thursday so I ended up taking Eras Aviation, which are smaller commuter planes. They moved my fly time up to 4:10 pm and before I knew it we were loading up.

Here's my twin turboprop. Like 30 seats total but with full drink and snack service. Mmmmm. Chocolate chip cookies. All for under $100 bucks. Cheaper than driving one way.

Halfway to Fairbanks I realized I forgot the camera on the couch, so these shots are iphoners. I didn't want to flag my phone battery in case I needed it later,I forgot to mention, I also forgot my charging cord. Doh!! So I didn't take a lot of picutres of the Millenium Hotel I stayed in. It was full of artificats and lithos and pictures of animals and aviation history. I grabbed dinner in the bar, had a couple glasses of 'daddy's medicine' and went to bed. I slept in and got up shortly before Rufo called saying he and my soon to be truck were in the parking lot. I ran down, kicked the tires, popped the hood and gave it a thorough looking over. Not bad at all. We headed to the bank, sorted out the paperwork, transferred some funds and I became the new owner of a 1997 Tacoma. Now for the long drive back to Delta, 350 miles distant.

Weekend Adventure

A vehicle. you really don't realize how much we rely on our cars until you live for a time without one. When hollie's car went kaputz earlier this year, we decided not to get one right away. We shared my (hers now) 4runner. Things worked out fairly well minus a bit of freedom for extracurricular activities. No more running to the store on a whim.
For me this trend has continued up here. What I've learned is that without a car your world tends to shrink or in the words of Ghandi, 'friends give a lot so you can go without' (poor paraphrase of course). Relying on other people when I shouldn't really need to makes me feel like a burden and a bit of a mooch. So even before I moved up here, I started looking for a car, well a truck really. I want a truck for a multitude of reasons, primary among them is an outdoor bed space to haul firewood and dead animals outside the cab. Since we have an enclosed vehicle in the 4runner a 2 door pickup can fill the bill nicely. We are planning on having children soon , but since Hollie plans on staying home if at all posible for hte first few years, two crumb snatcher haulers isn't necessary. I owned a 4 door tacoma previously and really liked it, but alas I let it go for a big toy when I got a raise years ago. (stupid dan) Anyway, back to a tacoma for me. I looked and searched and called and looked some more. I finally found what i was looking for; late 90's early 2000s, less than 10000 miles, clear title, 4x4, V6 automatic under $10K. Problem is I found it 360 miles away in Anchorage. I found a 1997 V6 Automatic 4x4 extracab Tacoma with 93000 miles for under $8000 plus it is winterized, has autostart, a topper, spray in bedliner and a second set of wheels with winter tires (awesome). I've been talking to the owner and the bank and have everything worked out. Now for the fun part, getting to Anchorage and back. This weekend will be an adventure, let's just hope not too much of one. tonight i catch a Beaver turbo twin prop out of Fairbanks to Anchorage, hold up in a hotel by the airport and meet with the car owner tomorrow. I'll look the tacoma over, kick the tires, drive it around and if it's what I want head to Wells Fargo Bank to cut a counter check for the guy. Once the paper is finished I'll fill up and drive the 350 lonely frozen highway miles back to Delta Junction over hill and dale. Wish me luck and remember me in your prayers this evening.

It's a small world after all

Six degrees of separation, small world, serendipity, whatever you want to attribute it to, random strange connections are around us all the time. Every now and then, it stands up and smacks you right upside the head. Today was that day for me. When Hollie and I started dating she talked about her good friend Tripp who was a deployed Blackhawk pilot. They used to be running partners. While he was deployed, we had dinner with Tripp's wife Whitney and their daughter Caitlin. It was nice to meet more of Hollie's friends. Once Tripp got back form the sandbox, we hung out a few times and he and I get along pretty damn well (likely dur to military backgrounds and daddy's medicine- Crown and Coke.) So when the opportunity to tailgate with them presented itself, we jumped at the chance. During one of these tailgates it came up that Whitney had lived in Fairbanks during High School. She and Hollie sat and talked about everything Alaska. Some great tips came out of it, like don't put your key in your mouth while you take your gloves off at 40 below zero. Good advice.
Fairbanks is close to Delta Junction but not close enough that I really thought I'd meet someone that knew Whitney here, Fairbanks is still a good size city and 100 miles away. But, that's exactly what happened today.
I've been working on a truck loan with a local bank, so around lunch today I ran in to sign some paperwork today. While I was talking to my loan officer Allison, I asked how she ended up in Delta. Her husband is military and they met in Fairbanks where she went to High School. I politely asked what year she graduated and she said 2000, which is right around when Whitney graduated. I asked how many high schools there were in Fairbanks. maybe 3 or so. I went out on a limb and asked if she might now a Whitney but I couldn't remember Whitney's maiden name. She said a few names and one sounded kind of right, so I facebooked a picture of Whit on Tripp's page, and sure enough, Allison went to school with Whitney. 4000 miles away and we know the same person, 1 degree of separation, small world, indeed.

My February Out of Doors

The main point of moving to Alaska was to experience the serene beauty that is the Far North. So far, very little of that has happened thus far. now with the arrival of my extra outdoor clothes and especially my cold weather footwear, I can start to partake in some outdoor pursuits.
Looking at the February calendar, I started to get a bit giddy yesterday. Of course, every trip costs money so I have to pick and choose and keep an eye on my budget, but really, I've been spending almost none of my money thus far. For the first 60-90 days Uncle Sam is paying for my lodging and I get a stipend for food which I am staying well under. So I can treat myself a bit.
Here are a few of the trips I'm hoping to get to go on in February.
-Lunchtime cross country skiing (two times)
-Snowmachine trail rides (4 times)
-Sourdough making and baking (num num num- flapjacks) (1 class)
-Predator calling and hunting (One step closer to my coyote fur pillow case) ( 1 class)
-Moonlight cross country under a full moon (1 trip)
-Nightime snowmachine ride to a tent cabin for hot totties and the Aurora Borealis. (1 trip)
-Maclaren Snowmachine Ride- An overnighter in the Denali National Park area. (1 trip)
-Ice fishing Volkmar Lake including snowmaching ride in, it's off the beaten path.

That's twelve events in February, so something almost every other day. I doubt i'll do that many, but just having that kind of access to playing in the wilderness puts a big old smile on my face. Now, who wants to come visit?!

Meese sighting

I failed to mention yesterday's Meese (plural of moose:) sighting. On our way to the CAC we picked up Ashley at the Child Development Center. As we were leaving, Connie blurts out ' Oh look, a moose.' Sure enough, about 100' away stood a big brown monster moose with spottled snowy white legs. Then another emerged from the camoflauge of the pines. Then another and a fourth stood behind a mound of snow just out of sight until the suburban moved far enough forward to open up the line of sight. Four moose just browsing among the trees on the edge of post. Ashley pointed out a garden plot in the open field apparantly this plot draws the moose in year round. She quickly called Linda, the other Greely newbie, to let her know meese were milling around her building. Linda didn't have any moose sightings for her first few weeks in Alaska, so now they've become a treasured experience. I had my camera, but since we were late for our appointment, I wasn't able to fire off any shots. I went back a few hours later but the meese had all moved on.

Fun crew

The 'fun office' crew got to take the tour also. They were pretty fired up.

Here they are doing their best to look serious.

The fire department did a walk through just as we were leaving, they left the trucks running to keep them warm, we thought about snagging them for a joy ride but self control got the better of us.

My Community Activity Center

We got into the CAC today. It's still in the first stages of construction. the projected finish date is September, barring any major problems.

Here we are with our protective gear on and receiving our safety briefing.

Headed in through the backdoor from the job trailer.

Loading dock for the catering kitchen area and the restaurant/bar. 

Back hallway. On the left are 2 main rooms totalling roughly 3000 sq ft for dance studio, aerobics, yoga, etc. At the end of the hallway is the 3500 sq ft ballroom.

This is the view from the front entryway. There will be a giant stone propane fireplace from floor to ceiling made out of smooth riverstone about where they are standing. At the end are both a game room and an arcade. To the left is the bowling center, to the right the bar and restaurant with about 5000 sq ft of sitting space in the middle.

Through the future 'fun office' to my little office (200 sq ft). It does have a killer west facing window though.

The bowling lanes will go in this sunken area. You can barely see the drop wall at the back that represents the forward portion fo the pin setting mechanisms.

The building is enclosed and already maintaining heat at 60 degrees without doors, drywall, windows or interior finished in. They are on schedule if not actually slightly ahead. I will try to get more photos as it evolves.

Squeeky Wheel, Karmic Greasing

Yesterday's blog was a bit whiny, maybe even a bit bitchy. It apparantly worked. Karma smiled. a flurry of activity ensued. First, I called the ops desk to see if I could get my ID card. She said not yet. So I called HR to complain and they said I was good to go. I called ops again and had them call HR. They worked it out. I hopped in the truck and drove to ops to get my card and get set up on my computer. While getting my picture taken, the phone rings. 'Mr. Cain, you're box of stuff has arrived in Fairbanks, we were going to deliver it next week, but is today okay.?' Uh, of course. Blam. Both issues I'd been whining about started improving instantly. After I finished getting my card, I headed to information security and ran into Robert, the guy that helped with my phone the day before (its still broken but at least someone started the process). He got my paperwork started. I needed the signature of the security staff member on Greely. I ran to her office and she was in, I caught her just before lunch. Lucky break. I shot back to info sec and turned in the paper. Robert asked me to restart my computer and call him, it popped up on his network and within an hour or so, I had full computer access. #1- resolved.
The moving van company called me at about 330. I threw on my parka and briskly walked the 1/4 mile back to my room. They had already unloaded the box from the truck. We headed upstairs and in 15 minutes everything was unpacked and they were gone, box and packing material and all. Now I have my blanket, my pillow, more winter clothes, my heavy wool coat, my boots, my xbox 360 nd some good books to read. Yoohoo.  Of course, I woke up with the first snuffy nose I've had since I've been here, I guess I need to wash all that SC pollen out of my stuff asap. Not a bad deal overall.

More of the world of Fort Greely

Post Headquarters.

That way to the main gate.

Main directional sign. Everything resides on 2 main streets.

Entrance to the Theater. 2 movies total. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

A real good old fashioned Wood shop. band saws, table saws, clamps, sanders. Wood shops have been disappearing across the Army, very glad to have one. I plan on building some stuff once I can get ahold of some wood.

The sports bar, open Friday and Saturday nights from 5-8pm. Why so early, the time difference has most sports happening much earlier than on East Coast or Central Time. Monday night football starts at 4. No joke.

Billets. Soldier housing for singles. Also the dfac and sports bar as well as some other general services for soldiers.

The Warrior Zone. A place for soldiers to hang out, play pool, video games and get on computers. Most soldiers can do this from their room, so it doesn't get used much.

Family housing.

The Chapel.

Government in flux

When people used to think of government, they often envisioned the slow bureaucratic beast lumbering along, unchanging and unwaivering. What a romantic vision, all that predictability. For those paying attention, the writing is clearly on the wall, the only unchanging certainty (as JFK pointed out) is that everything changes and nothing is certain. I'm sure nearly any conversation anyone has been involved in for the last few years has eventually narrowed down to a political, social or economic diatribe from one end of the spectrum or the other about the rapid changes we tend to face on a daily basis. Can I get an amen from the lunch crew. The Executive Branch of government, for which I work, is no different when it comes to change, the advent of computers has helped create efficiency but has also created reliance. Sometimes change seems to be just for change's sake. Much of what happens in the Armed Services these days, gets funnelled through a computer. Unfortunately for me, this fact does not help me achieve my immediate goal of employee autonomy and general personal comfort. I am at the whims of the silicon chip and the person entering the information, GIGO, garbage in, garbage out. Perfect example, I cannot access my computer in my office. 'Why?', you say. Because the software update taking place (more change) makes it impossible for them to type in my name and hit enter which would unlock my world to computer freedom. Another example: Unaccompanied Goods, this is a shipment of stuff up to 300 lbs total that I sent out to arrive faster than the rest of my furniture, etc. It still hasn't shown up, so I called the appropriate person in transportation. He said he'd look in computer and let me know what he could find. Using my name and social, the hallmarks of identity, he found- NOTHING. My stuff didn't exist. I eventually found it by calling the van line directly that packed my box.I gave them the contract number, they gave me the UPS tracking number and I located my 'fast' shipment sitting in Anchorage for  a week. Hell, I could have shipped the crap UPS faster myself. Why was I not in the system again? System updates (more change), please bear with us. It seems like some change or update is happening on a nearly daily basis at work. By the time you learn a process, it's time for it to change again, apparantly even this remote corner of Alaska is not immune to the whims and will of good old change. C'est la vie.

The bane of my existence (For Nerdbinski)

I've had several people comment on my blogs about food. I guess I talk about it a lot. Probably because my schedule is dictated by the hours the DFAC is open. Kind of like the Cafeteria in college or at least when I went, oh so many years ago. My friend Scott 'Moonglow' Sherbinski requested that I have more pictures of my meals and the dfac, so this post is for him.

Here is the front entrance to the DFAC. Fancy huh.

And this is the interior entrance. They lock the doors between feedings.

Aw shucks, I wanted a late night snack.

Check out these prices.

This is the griddle. that's my fat salad sitting there, of course the hot beef on the grill is mine as well.

Little Piggy!

Here's the Hot and Brown option for the day.

'Jenny and I were like peas and carrots again.'

Endless salad bar with sneeze guard. Important piece of Personal Protective Equipment.

What a happy little salad bar.

Juice, Milk and sodas on tap. Vitamins C, D and HFCS.

Yes, of course there is coffee. I'm sure its hot and brown as well.

Dessert anyone?

I didn't get a shot of the lazy susan with cake options nor the bagel and toast bar.

The only thing a growing boy needs that never seems to end up on the menu is fruit. Not even a banana at breakfast, so that's what I have in my room for snacking.

Bananas, blueberries, and grapes.

Everyone say 'thanks Scott' for being the inspiration for this post :)