1+6+2+2....

=SKI SEASON!!!!!!!!

Sunday, most of Anchorage got almost 6 inches of snow, causing lots of accidents. Strangely, here we got about two inches of snow, and a lot of freezing rain.

On the way to Yoga on the west side of town I felt very adventurous and "hearty". No, Anchorage does not stop moving when it snows six inches unexpectedly! As "Safety Girl", I had my entire snow ensemble on (hat, gloves, ski jacket, snow boots) just in case my car found the ditch. I drove very slowly, attempting to divine the tracks of other motorists by subtle variations in the snow white cover on the road, since the plows apparently had not gotten to these roads yet. As I wiped off the two inches that fell while I was in Yoga, it came to me how far I'd come since my winter accident in Ohio -- I was still nervous about driving, but, there I was, driving along in what the midwest would call treacherous conditions.

The other part of snow season in Anchorage that is important is the obsession with keeping the snow off the driveway. You can't let it go even one day! Last year, we started to be lazy, which made our driveway an ice rink. Because someone had to get at the snow Sunday before the freezing rain (we'll not have an ice rink again!), I hopped out to shovel the driveway. Scooting along, throwing snow as far as I could, I got to thinking how much I like snow shoveling. It's probably what other allergy-free people like about mowing the lawn. I like it because it's repetitive hard work, allows me to engage face to face with the snow, and I'm pretty good at it (good back + good "knee-bending" technique). I got the entire three-car driveway done in thirty minutes!

Either way, things look good for XC skiing tonight!

Snow!

Galileo hopped into his first dark and snowy morning today. Looks like we have just about a half inch here. If the sun ever decides to come up, I'll get a picture up :)

Update:
Anchorage drivers were apparently suprised by the snow. One more reason it's good to telecommute!

From FallWinter Pictures

"If I were them, I would hide the fact that I was from Fairbanks too"

UAF sheds their Fairbanks moniker and attempts to become THE University of Alaska, like THE Ohio State University or THE University of Michigan by renaming their sports teams. Considering University of Alaska Anchorage has twice the number of students and is located in the state's biggest city, it's a pretty sad marketing scheme.

I have nothing against Fairbanks or the University of Alaska (...Fairbanks), and certainly city and university extension rivalries are old stories. But I do think the changing of team names to promote your university while ignoring the community you are in is pretty dumb. Fairbanks should be proud to have a university, and wouldn't it be more positive to promote yourself instead of continuing a pointless town feud?

Aurora Forecasting

It's Aurora time again! Are you thinking about staying up late to see it?

UAF has revamped its' aurora site so that you can get pretty accurate daily forecasts, even for the midwest.

10 Dumbest on the Hill

Thought this was an interesting article on our congressmen.

And Ted Stevens didn't even make it onto the list with his "series of tubes" internet speech!

And Mom says listen to AK, a local show about life in Alaska. It was pulled off the air due to lack of funds, but luckily it's back on the air (due to Ted Stevens, by the way).

Earthquake!

So this morning, I had just sat down to my inbox to prepare for a meeting when the house started to shake for about 15 seconds. Although I know we've had more extensive earthquakes, I was really suprised at how much shaking there was this time and how long it took to quit. I had enough time to find a doorway and watch the stuff on the wall shake around.

Frank slept right through it :)

Beautiful Things

I just passed by this website on an origami artist that's just incredible!

First Frost, First Win

While other towns in the North are dealing with unexpected snow, we woke up with our first real frost of the season here:There's something quite magical about frost on a sunny day, and in particular the pastel hues it brings out in nature.

Last night was also our first Seawolf Hockey game of the season versus the Merrimack Warriors. Our favorite mythical sea creatures that play hockey had a pretty awful season last year, dropping 15 straight games to end it, so we are all hopeful that they can only improve this season.

It all started with the general spectacle of the Sullivan Arena, which is my favorite part of going to a hockey game in the first place. While Frank was getting our cappucino and breve (our usual hockey-watching drinks), I snuck by and got myself a clapper--a plastic hand contraption that you wave in the air to make a very obnoxious sound.

It got much use during the pre-game spectacle where we learned that the Ford GT does not work very well on ice and that Spirit the Seawolf can be lowered down from the ceiling for dramatic effect. Then came the traditional American flag waving and the UAA flag waving for a while.

As for the team itself, a great omen was that exhibition uniforms look very snazzy this year with the accent color being a lovely army green color. This is certainly ten times better than the awful silver of last year (yuck). They looked very impressive doing their warmups, which is always important.

Then after the hoo-hah, we finally got to the game. We first had to get the obligatory "blocking in the back" penalty on UAA out of the way, which Kevin Clark helped us out on 11 seconds into the game. Talk about an enthusiasm killer!

At the point that Kevin Clark got thrown out, Jason the ugly fan was in full ugly swing, raging against the machine and the refs. We sat close to Jason the ugly fan (wears a hockey mask and yells nasty things at the players who can't see them), Sock Puppet Joe (taunts the other team's penalty box with sock puppets) and Elvis (mid-age guy who likes to drink, dance and always is looking to see if the camera is on him or not).

So, UAA starts the game with a 5 min penalty that they had to kill, which is nice because traditionally we are a bit better with less people on the ice. We wound up killing that penalty and getting two (!) goals in the first period.

The Seawolves were on fire, which was great to see. Merrimack made a weak attempt at getting back into it with a goal in period 2, but we answered with three additional goals (!) in the second period, despite getting pretty much all the penalties for the first and second period.

By the time we left, the score was 6-2 Seawolves, which was a great start to the season.

Tonight though, the Seawolves will need all the help they can get in order to beat Nebraska-Omaha for the Classic championship! 

October comes in like a lion, and out like a...?

Today, it is very windy. How windy was it? Well, the latest readings I saw had gusts up to 76mph on Upper Hillside. If that was continuous we would be in a hurricane!

To make it more confusing, it is up to 67(!) degrees outside. Yikes! My allergies are completely freaked out.

Seward is in much worse shape with six inches of rain a state of emergency.

CSKA beats LA Clippers

When I lived in Moscow, I got the chance to see CSKA (sometimes called Red Army) play twice, in hockey and basketball. I remember how excited they were to have a member from the University of Alabama ("He's like Michael Jordan!" our director gushed).

Well, CSKA has come a long way! CSKA actually beat the LA Clippers in Moscow this year. It appears that the NBA has a run for its' money in the race to be the premier league of basketball in the world now.

Cook Salmon in a Dishwasher

Hey, here's one way to do the dishes.

Random Saturday

--This guy totally has tenure.
--Cool Tips shows you how to recognize a stroke quickly. Need more good tips? Try Men's Health
--Videos! How about Let's Paint, Exercise, and Eat Pie!.

No snow yet, but we are working on it...