Frozen Water

Saturday: turn on outside breaker to heat the above ground septic tank so come Monday, The Public Works dept can deliver water and remove my sewer.

Monday AM: drive away with the water guy pulling in.
Monday PM: get home from the gym only to find a door tag saying my overflow pipe was frozen.

This basically means that the pipe sitting at the top of the tank to drain water when they start putting in too much, had been frozen since last water-fill (2 weeks ago).

Monday PM cont: I find out the neighbor did not have this problem and so i wrapped a heating pad inside my arctic entry on the offending pipe and then went outside with a hair dryer to try and work on the exposed portion, hoping that if the metal edged warmed up enough, the ice block could just slide out - Then i tried to touch the outside exposed pipe and, well... if you've ever seen A Christmas Story where the kid gets his tongue stuck to the pole outside... it was warmer there. the finger that touched the pipe... it was so cold it burned. i pulled it away quite quickly and re-gloved but dude... it hurt.

My neighbor arrived home with what he called a weed burner. I did not know what a weed burner was. I mean really. That's not part of my avg arsenal.Needless to say, it torched my frozen pipe good and proper and now I just need to call the water company and have them redeliver some water to me.

'Baby, it's cold outside'

After becoming aware of the temp yesterday (-14 F with windchill of -39 F), I opted to FINALLY learn how to use my outdoor timer -I tried right after I got it a couple weeks ago and got fed up with not being able to figure out how to program the darn thing and came inside (yes, I was stupid enough to try doing it one morning while i was warming up the car) -only to find out last night that I really shoulda read the directions cause the thing had to charge for a couple hrs before it could retain the programming. Well, i plugged the whole thing in yesterday and cross my fingers that it would work since there was an overnight low of -24 F and a high today or -16 F and close to -40 F windchill. ...

I just started my car and it seems to have worked brilliantly.

Thanksgiving among decendents of some of our countries first inhabitants

I wasn't sure if Alaskan Natives would celebrate Thanksgiving, I mean, the whole Pilgrims and Indians thing, but most (that I've encountered) do. I supposed the idea of giving thanks for good things in your life is pretty universal and the personal slight of the pilgrims taking over isn't as big of a deal, at least up here.

"New in Town" (movie)

I just started watching "New in Town"... most amusing description of tinnitus I've ever heard or seen in the first 5 minutes of pushing play.

weather update

-9 with a windchill of -32

Sad

Listening to the radio on my way home from the gym, I was a little startled to hear that a local woman froze to death over the weekend after walking a couple friends home from a night of drinking. She was found 150 ft from her home. They do believe alcohol was involved but she was not so intoxicated she couldn't walk people home. I just can't imagine freezing like that. I suppose in some ways it would be somewhat peaceful. I've heard the extreme cold makes you VERY sleepy/lethargic. there's biting pain where the cold reaches you but it gets to be so cold there's numbness and even a warmth sensation.

Sunset

I just looked up from my perch on the couch (reading) and saw the most gorgeous sunset I've seen in a while. By the time i could grab my camera it had set too much for a decent picture. There's smearings of orange, pink and what looks to be lavender over the village-scape. I'll try to keep my eyes on the time so i can try for a pic again soon. I'm guessing they'll happen in the middle of the day pretty soon since it's happening now and it's not even 6pm.

Dry cold

Good news: dry cold is warmer than wet cold (at least to me it is - not sure if there's actual scientific evidence to support this though). For instance, I can walk outside with a fleece and my winter coat, but not have my winter coat zipped up at -5 degrees and -20 degrees windchill and still be OK (please note I would be wearing gloves, no hat though, that's always a last resort for me).

Bad news: I got my first nosebleed in a LOOOOONG time today. And I got it while for over the last week I've been drinking my full 64 oz (8 8oz glasses or 3 liters) of water a day (fitness challenge points awarded for this). So I started up my humidifier this afternoon. Hopefully this'll make things better.

Thermostat

I set my thermostat to turn down at night and while I'm at work. While I'm here after work and until around 11, it's at about 63 degrees and then at night and during the day, it's set to about 53. My place is small enough it warms up quickly. Hopefully I'll save some money on fuel costs. We'll see.

Fitness Challenge

The Fitness Challenge has begun. A 6 month long endeavor to avoid boredom and get into fighting shape (figuratively speaking). There are about 9 team and over 40 participants. May the best team win!

a little nippy

You know it's cold when your snot freezes inside your nose (BTW, it tickles).

Temp of -8 degrees at the moment. Windchill registering at -27.

My car almost wouldn't start (I didn't plug it in though. Trying to see how low it could be just in case.) Can't wait for my temperature controlled auto-starter.

Oil Change

After a $150 oil and filter change (I was warned ahead of time that was the norm), Brother Bear is going to teach me how to change my oil when I go home for Christmas. I figure I can buy the stuff here at NAPA and do the change (at least in the warm months) or order it online and it would still be cheaper.

Further North was bad...

(link in title)

Apparently, the national weather service was right to be nervous last night. The storm hit north of me but a hundred miles or so but we still got hit with LOTS of wind.

Smaller plans aren't running nearly as much as usual.

winds

39 mph winds with gusts up to 52mph currently. My apt is shaking a little. Could be worse, could be better.

Also, I got a text message prayer request from a number I don't know (not sure how they got my phone number honestly) in Kotlik, AK (North/Northwest of me by about 150 air-miles) asking for thoughts for all those in the area to be hit. I'm almost as far inland as the posted target area but there are many much smaller villages along the coast of the Bering Sea that will be hit much harder than us. I know weather is making phone traffic a little iffy. Not sure how the internet will hold up. We'll see how it ends up.

Blizzard # 5 is a doozy and heading my way.

National weather service is getting nervous... Big winds and some more snow. The bigger issue is definitely wind though. (link above)

Block Heaters...

My neighbor grew up in a different part of Alaska and told me how she plugged in her car previous winters.

I'd mentioned before I was told to plug in my car at night when I got home so it was ready the next morning and that I'd save more money in gas than it what I'd spend in electric. Well, here's a bonus to that... my neighbor said they used to use an auto-timer so it'd only use electricity for 1-2 hrs instead of 12-16 by having it in all night.

Amazon is my friend, because I found an outdoor auto-timer that can be set to turn on at whatever time IF the temp was below a certain temp. So there'll be some mornings there'll be no need at all to use it. Cheaper electric here I come.

Post 2 Blizzards in 1 Week

You read that correctly. We've had 2 blizzards in the last week.  Blizzard being defined as (per Encyclopedia Britannica):

blizzard
severe weather condition that is distinguished by low temperatures, strong winds, and large quantities of either falling or blowing snow. The U.S. Weather Service defines a blizzard as a storm with winds of more than 56 km (35 miles) per hour and enough snow to limit visibility to 150 m (500 feet) or less. A severe blizzard has winds of over 72 km (45 miles) per hour, visibility near zero, and temperatures of -12 C (10 F) or lower. A ground blizzard occurs when there is no falling snow, but snow is drifting and blowing near the ground

 I'm used to blizzards in the Upstate New York region that are virtually white-out conditions with accumulation of feet of snow. We only had inches like 6ish each time and more on the landings/stairs leading up to the door but not as much as I'm used to.

I shoveled briefly Sat (45 minutes) clearing my stairs and around my car, also cleaning off my car, and then yesterday, i went out excepting about 45-60 min and ended out there for somewhere between 2-3 hrs. My back was a mess when I came in. I basically had to stretch out on the couch with my heating pad for a couple hrs and take it easy the rest of the night. Can't slack off today though because I've got a field-trip of high school students coming to tour the booth tomorrow. Gotta get ready.

Oh, temp when I woke up: 9 degrees F and a high today of 13 degrees. Wind chill hovering around 0.

The price of Bleach

For a 3 quart container...

In Bethel: $19.99
Wal-Mart.com: $1.98

Take a guess... did I order it or buy it here?

Shovelling Snow

Heading out to the dumpster, I came quickly to the realization that the snow was just too damn high. So i carefully made my way down the stairs (each step.was packed with snow up to the next stair up) and cleared my stairs and the area around my car.
I also cleared off my car. I learned years ago that its better if you don't always wait till the end of the storm or the end of the weekend because then the pile is twice as big and it takes much more time and energy to clear off.
Did i mention how I'd forgotten about how much energy and back power shoveling snow takes?

Fitness Challenge!

We're starting a fitness challenge at work. We'll be in teams competing for the whole winter (the next 6 months) points awarded for healthy eating habits, times spent working out, miles walked/biked/jogged, etc. I'm hoping this keeps away the boredom.

First Blizzard of the Year!!!

I woke to howling winds and the telltale signs of a good snow. I opened my door to a foot on snow on the porch (more like a landing really) and about 4-6 inches on the ground. Luckily it was light fluffy stuff so getting it off the car was no problem at all. Visibility reduced.

First Blizzard of the Year. 8am- pointed at the truck across my driveway - obviously can't see it.

Jealous

It occurred to me to be jealous of guys. You can stand and pee!! I have to sit on a ridiculously freezing seat when the urge hits me. I want a seat warmer that won't fry me if something goes wrong. ::sigh::

Changing out the locks

I arrived home from the gym tonight to hear this from the stairs leading to my door... "Erin, You're going to hate me."

I don't hate much, if anything in this world (strongly dislike - like mornings or getting pooped on by a bird- but not hate).

It was the guy who is changing out the locks on my apartment (and the apartments of those connected to me). He got my inside door rekeyed Halloween night, he said he'd be back yesterday but wasn't. No biggie, I had both keys. Turns out he had an emergency call to one of the villages, a Halloween break-in/prank into a clinic. If that's the biggest thing that happened Halloween, we're doing good. At 7:30 when I pull in wearing gym clothes and a vest (luckily this included some Under Armor, he tells me he's been there since 6 trying to drill out the lock because even though he tried it with the key and from the inside, when he went outside to finish part of the door, the deadbolt became stuck. 30 more minutes of drilling, using a crowbar and some other tools and we were in.

Good thing- the door is super-hard to drill out. Hopefully at 20 degrees, someone would give up long before we had to. Also, my doors are now impossible to use a credit card to get open.

I offered my re-keying guy something warm to drink and he replied that he was already too hot. from working on the door. But I'm inside and getting toasty.

Fire

There was apparently a fire around lunchtime today. Not sure exactly what happened, but it was off the Main road (the one that's called "the Highway" here even though it has a maximum of 45 mph).

When I drove by it today, there was a lot of ice where they used water from the firetrucks and somehow the buildings around the burnt one really weren't touched. impressive firefighting.

Nov 1 - Weather & Daylight

10 degrees @ 9:00, Feels like -1degree with windchill. ---I've broken out the gloves and briefly a hat yesterday but no actual coats yet. Fleeces and vests.

Sunrise: 10:13am
Sunset: 6:47 pm