Tag: Alaska

Alaska

Waiting Impatiently

While watching the national election results I am torn between thoughts:

  1. The national networks (like CNN) sure are willing to stick their necks out on guessing who is winning elections where the entire vote count is unfinished. Sure, when you have 99% of the vote for one seat and one candidate is leading by 35%, yeah. But they were calling for Democratic control of the House when there were still 80 or so seats left undecided. Wha . . .?
  2. I want to know what is going on in Alaska, RIGHT NOW!!!! Yeah, the polls have been closed for over an hour and I want to know NOW. So does that make me just as guilty? Anyway, Alaska doesn’t release any poll results from any precincts until 9:00 PM (2 hours after the polls close)

Waiting . . .

Update 9:22 PM: First results have shown up on the State Elections website. So far they are disappointing.

Update 9:29 PM: Alaska results are starting to show up on CNN finally. So I can put my laptop to bed now.

We’ll see where it all goes by tomorrow morning I guess.

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Alaska

Open House

We are having an open house this weekend, which pretty much means that I spent 14 hours yesterday scrubbing everything top to bottom, rearranging closets and storage spaces, and heping my wife stage everything, and I will spend the better portion of today and tomorrow trying to occupy my time away from the house. It was pouring buckets the last couple days which means the lawn is a little shaggier than I would have liked, but it will have to do. Now if we could just get a buyer . . ..

We have decided how we are going to proceed – my wife is going to finish her Fine Arts degree at the University of Victoria after which it will be my turn. I have my sights set on the combined Physics/Computer Science degree, also at UVic. I will probably be the oldest freshman on campus when I start, but that also means I will probably be the most used to buckling down and working to get what I want. All in all, it is more than a little nerve-wracking.

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Alaska

Weekend in Seward

We spent a beautiful weekend in Seward where we lucked out on the best weather of the year so far, and calm seas, and we got to go before tourist season really gets rolling.

I would highly recommend that anyone planning on visiting Alaska go to Seward, or Whittier, or Homer, or well, you get it – anywhere that they can find a boat tour. It doesn’t matter whether it is a wildlife or glacier tour – you are going to see both anyway.

We went on the whale-watching tour. Although we were late in the season for the migration we did see one humpback, even if it was only briefly. We had Dall porpoises playing in the boat’s wake and saw tons of birds and (of course) Stellar sea lions hauled out on the rocks.

Perhaps the best bit, though, was that as we were on our way back in, we ended up right in the middle of an Orca pod.

The low point of the trip: the “lunch” – airline style – with a bagel, single-serving cream cheese, a single-serving (.5 oz) piece of cheddar, and a cookie. You don’t always get the best meals on the boats, and so far, Renown Tours seems to be on the low end of that.

Major Marine Tours, however, does a great 6 hour tour later in the season that includes all-you-can-eat baked salmon and prime rib. I believe we had halibut on the Prince William Sound tour we took last year, but I’m not sure.

Alaska

Speed vs. cool

I have been talking to my service provider, trying to get increased upstream bandwidth, but am shocked at the price. I find it unbelieveable that a carrier that doesn’t provide service in Anchorage can offer 768K up and down for much less than the carriers in Anchorage.

Anyhow, since it seems that upgrading my bandwidth isn’t likely to happen any time soon, I think I need to rework some elements of the site. The JS menus on the top bar and right-click currently use images for all of the elements. I will probably rework those to be text only. I would like to move away from JS menus and go to CSS menus, but they don’t work in Internet Explorer. Hmm.

So, for the short term, it looks like I need to pull some of the things that one of my co-workers describes as “way cool” and switch to something that will load faster for those who will notice it – which is anyone with a broadband connection. Of course, the provider says that 360K up is plenty, because I can keep 6 56K modems busy. I personally don’t know anyone who still connects to the internet via dial-up. I am sure there are some out there, and there are others who are on their cable or phone company’s “free” plan who get 56 or 128K cable or DSL connections, but I don’t personally know any of them either.

Alaska

Fickle weather

Over the past couple of days the temperature has shifted from hovering around 5°F (-15°C) for the high and -15°F (-26°C) for the low, to suddenly being in the high 30’s (2 to 3°C) with a very light drizzle. What that does to all the snowpack on the roadways is in no way pretty. (Think of how a zamboni prepares the ice for a skating rink.)

Anyhow, all the local schools are closed due to the icy road conditions. I wasn’t aware that the University would be closed, however, until after I got here, and got settled into my desk and ready to crack at another week. But, since I have just gotten the call from higher up I guess I can call it a day. Whew! I never thought I’d have to work a whole day in 12 minutes! And to think – I left early because I knew the roads were bad and spent almost 40 minutes getting here!

I think I may just stay for an hour or three and get some things done. At least the phone won’t be ringing off the hook today!

Alaska

I think I’ll take the cold. . .

With Augustine currently in a state of near constant ash eruption I think I am willing to live the cold from the high pressure system pushing out of Siberia. It is keeping the high wind pattern moving to the South-East, which means that, for now, we are spared any ashfall here in Anchorage.

Of course, just like any other weather pattern here, this is subject to change without notice. I just hope that if the low trying to move in from the South-West actually manages to push its way into South-Central that it brings enough moisture that the ashfall is contained in snow.

Black snow may be ugly, and heavy, but it doesn’t drift through all the cracks in the windows and doors and settle in your machinery.

Alaska

Ready for breakup too soon

It’s not even February and I am already looking forward to breakup. I know I still have another 6 weeks or so but I’m ready for it now. The cold is starting to frost my mood. At least we are on the increase for daylight, currently gaining about 2 minutes a day.

If you don’t know what breakup is then you aren’t from Alaska. Essentially breakup is our version of Spring. As the temperature rises above freezing the snow starts to melt, the ice on the rivers begins to thin and eventually the running water under the river ice breaks through and the rivers open up. That’s where the term comes from.

There’s more to it than that here in Anchorage, though. We get to look forward to some other special little extras. The trash that has been buried under the snow all winter. The mud that forms as the ground thaws and the ground water rises. And most special of all, the doggie piles that have been buried under the snow thaw out, while at the same time shading the snow underneath, leading to little tiny pedastals holding those little prizes aloft.

Alaska

(Yet Another) Augustine Update

Word just came over the radio that all flights into and out of Anchorage International Airport and the Kenai Peninsula have been
postponed until 3PM tomorrow due to the danger of ash above the 30,000 foot range.

CORRECTION: Listening to the rebroadcast (which was much more in-depth than the first announcement) it turns out that Era Aviation and
Alaska Airlines have suspended all flights between:
Anchorage and Fairbanks
Anchorage and Homer
Anchorage and Ninilchick
Anchorage and Seattle
and all flights in and out of Homer and Ninilchick, while all flights in and out of Kenai are expected to stopped at dark (because of the inability to see any ash clouds.)

Needless to say, we are currently on “alert” here at the university, getting ready to shut down and bag everything if the higher-level winds shift.

One of our coworkers who is currently involved in a cross-country ski competition in the lower 48 says there is no news of
the volcano down there.

Alaska

Augustine Updates

There have been three more eruptions so far today and the status has been moved back up from “orange” to “red”.

From the Alaska Volcano Observatory Augustine Eruption Page:

January 13, 2006
Level of Concern Color Code: RED

Several explosive events occurred at Augustine Volcano this morning: at approximately 3:55 AM AST (13:24 UTC); 8:47 AM AST (17:47); and 11:22 AM AST (20;22). Pilot reports and satellite imagery confirm ash clouds in excess of 30,000 ft above sea level moving eastward. Seismic data suggest that pyroclastic flows and lahars (volcanic mudflows) are occurring on the flanks of the island and possibly extending beyond.

Similar short-lived explosive activity is expected to continue over the next several days or weeks. Individual explosions are expected to produce ash plumes accompanied by pyroclastic flows and lahars (volcanic mudflows) on the flanks of the volcano.

More information is also available at National Weather Service, Anchorage Forecast Office – Augustine Coordination.

Alaska

Augustine Eruption

Mt. Augustine started spitting ash this morning, as we all knew it would. (Details available at The Alaska Volcano Observatory.)

Currently all the ash is staying East of Anchorage, but if the wind shifts we’ll get plenty. That may mean a long day or night for me and my co-workers as we power off every piece of equipment with a fan or moving parts, bag all the servers and PCs and seal the server rooms and wire closets with plastic sheeting.

In case you were unaware, volcanic ash is actually tiny pieces of glass and it can do serious damage to electronics, glass, cds, car paint jobs, your lungs, ad infinitum.