not an alaska thing...

I've been having a real hard time finding the motivation to clean sometimes. My apartment is so little it's both really easy to get messy and really easy to clean up so i tend to get lazy about it. Most of the mess is clothes and paperwork that I need to file or shred to be really honest (I HATE folding laundry). So I've created a little schedule- cross your fingers that I can actually stick to it. I figure even if I miss a day I can do 2 on one day. But essentially, each day of the week is devoted to a different room. There aren't as many room as days of the week so Maybe I'll actually be able to do this. We'll see.

Disappearing into the abyss

So I dropped off the face of the earth again. Sorry. Partially cause there hasn't been much going on. Partially cause I've been out of town on a few trips lately. First it was New Mexico for an Indian Health Services Audiology conference. Then a few weeks ago it was to anchorage just for fun (and I apparently needed it cause I'd been getting pretty difficult to deal with I've been told) and most recently, right now actually, to Portland for a training workshop called Dangerous Decibels. My goal is to get the program up and running in my region.

My hope is to start locally at the schools and health fairs- way more entertaining to have some of this set up than having literature out about hearing aids and hearing protection. I wanna get the ball rolling and hopefully get some involvement from maybe kids from the high school or a sympathetic elder/community leader to help get people interested and get my foot/feet/booty in the door. Ultimately the class was designed as about an hour long program for 4th-5th graders but is very easily adopted to all age groups- including adults. Feel free to google Dangerous Decibels and check out their online program.

I've been collecting the parts to make a manikin who will help test the kids iPod (or other media player) and see how loud it actually is (ease parental fears) and see how long someone can listen at that volume and be 'safe'. Ultimately it's a really cool tool that will be able to travel with me to schools/sports venues/health fairs and be a real hands on and informative tool. And mom is collecting clothes for it so he's not sitting in the back of my office all naked and stuff.

So that's the poop. If you get a hankering for more info and I'm not delivering... Get ahold of me (email, comments, grapevine) and fuss at me.

Ohhhhh.... I almost forgot. My days ARE getting shorter. And by that I mean it's dawn as I'm waking up and the sun goes down by about 11/midnight. It's still in the 50s so pretty comfortable most of the time. Unfortunately, it's also been raining so the road near my house is super muddy. Ok. Till next time...

Chilly summer

We've had a few days in the high 60s or low 70s but mostly it's been in the 50s. And even worse it's been rainy. This weekend it's also quite windy. My apt is creaking and moaning and the tall bushes are whipping around all over the place.

Last weekend I was in Anchorage just relaxing though and it was great to have my first real vacation weekend since I've been up here. I've gotten out of town before but not really a vacation. We were able to get manicures and pedicures, massages, shaan was able to get her hair done, I got a piercing and then we drove out to Kenai for a day and watched dip-net fishing- which can be brutal since some people club the fish they pull out. It was nice to just be in a car and drive again. 3/4 a tank of gas cost me less than $40- mind blowing.

Now it's the Olympics and relaxing. Hope you all enjoy the games.

Taco Bell visits Bethel after local prank... resulting commercial

This commercial is property of Taco Bell and posted through YouTube. I don't own any part of this commercial. I'm simply posting it to show some of the latest happenings in the town I currently reside.

Note: It's said that it's a 3-4 hour trip into Anchorage. This is not entirely correct. The flight from Bethel (flying is the ONLY option for travel) takes just over an hour to get there. IF flights were offered more than 2-3 times a day it could possibly be a 3-4 hour round trip for a fast-food meal.

IPHONE!

So you may or may not remember my iPhone debacle when i got up here. I had a 4 on AT&Ts network and moved up here and essentially got a really expensive and glorified ipod out of the deal. Well my android was acting up on the crap network here so i opted to go back to an iphone, and bought an unlocked 8gb 3gs from apple only to realize i was completely spoiled by both my 4 and the android and the 3gs with hardly any space and crap resolution, just pissed me of more.

BUT... I found out last night that AT&T is factory unlocking (remotely at that) iphones for qualified individuals whose phones are no longer on contract. So, I called this morning and there's an order in for my phone to be unlocked. I've been told it will be done no later than 6/29. Then I get my final instructions and can swap out my 3gs for my 4 and be a much happier girl again. :-D

Taco Bell Hoax

Taco Bell Hoax

Never saw the fliers around town... either I'm not observant or they just weren't around all that long. Subway does pretty well for itself as far as I can see, but honestly, we don't need a fast food joint up here. Diabetes is a big problem here in a land where everyone used to eat practically organically back before there really was no such thing.

Tonight's Sunset

12:30 am sunset, view from my front window in Bethel, AK  (Canon T1i &55-250mm lens)

warm with a (big) chance of bug-bites :(

it's been warm this weekend. in the 70s. and today it was muggy. not my ideal, especially since we dont' have AC here. But this week will be cooler- in the 60's. Bad part... mosquitos are out again. I've killed a bunch in my house this weekend and have the really annoying bites on my toes and ankles and ear when they got to me before i could kill em. totally sucks. i have a couple vents in my house i think they came in through unfortunately. i need to get sticky traps or something. not sure what the best way to do indoor trapping/killing though. lots of traps and such say for use in non-living spaces but i don't want to need a mosquito net in my house. but i don't like chasing them. they're super distracting and now i have black smudges on the walls above my bed cause i smooshed them there. lol... oops.

Break-up -> Flooding

Pictures from my porch on the worst evening of flooding. Not too bad this year. I was still parked in the driveway, just much closer to the road.

Recap (cause I've been bad)

So mostly life has been uneventful. Mom and Dad came for a visit and they were able to see what Bethel was like (maybe if you ask sweetly enough, they'll comment and fill us all in ;-) ). We had an eventful weekend while they they were here and found some unwelcome critters that took time to deal with. But we were able do a mini tour of the hospital- though there's not tons to see. And we were able to go to a dinner hosted by the college in support from my assistant's completion of a rural health services program. We checked out a lot of local stapes. Stores, museums, library and really just chilled at my apartment a bunch dealing with things. I ended up getting dad fairly addicted to True Blood, which in and of itself was amusing. Mom and I had read the books and mom had seen the first couple episodes but if you've ever seen the very first episode of True Blood it's actually almost painful to watch. the acting is pretty campy and we're already dealing with vampires in the wake of sparkly G-rated bloodsuckers. But once you get past the first episode or so, it gets much better.

After parents left, i headed to New Mexico for a conference and found that I'm NOT cut our for warm-weather climates anymore. It was about 80 degrees and dry heat with sun. I was overcome with the sweat and need to find shade. Now I will give dry-heat this... you can find shade and it's MUCH better. I'm used to humid head of Southeast and unless you have AC, you're gonna be pretty miserable.

Upon arriving back to Alaska, I found more of the snow melted. And the end of last week was the end of the Ice Classic (the giant pool to bet on what day breakup (river/ice breakup) happens and the huge triangle moves past a certain point. The peak of breakup was last Thurs/Fri. I wasn't able to park my car all the way next to my house like I normally do but out near the street and watched water level. It ended up only being about 4-6 inches deep at its worst. i had to bring out the boggs, but it wasn't bad at all. I have a few images from my porch but I'll post those as soon as I can.

It is definitely spring though. river is melted, fishing has begun. dust clouds are blowing across the street instead of snow drifts and softball season is ramping up again (just got an email this morning). Nice to be above 0 degrees though.

Feel free to bug me if I'm not updating. I get caught up in things sometimes and forget things. :(

SUN

If you haven't lived in a snowy climate before, you probably don't know that it's sunnier in the winter than it is in the summer. This is all because of the reflection off the snow/ice. It can be worse than reflection off the water because it's solid and dangerous when icy. The bummer is that I misplaced mine when it was dark over winter. I'll find em this weekend when i do my mass spring cleaning.

Bunny Boots!!!

I ordered Bunny boots last week after my ice fishing trip when I realized that my toes were cramped in my "big boots" and thus losing circulation and warmth. Freezing toes on tundra is BAD.

Bunny Boots (Mickey Mouse Boots) Black- Rated waterproof and warm to about -50 (or -80 depending on who you talk to)

Bunny Boot, White- Good for anything colder than the Black ones

Story goes... Bunny Boots (black ones are sometimes called Mickey Mouse Boots)  were originally a US military issue boot meant for cold weather. They are rated to ridiculously cold weather. Waterproof because they are made from a single piece of rubber. From images, it almost looks like it's a single piece that they somehow molded around the insulation.

Layers

Cut in half

There is a layer of insulation and a valve that you use to keep warm air inside (haven't quite figured out how that works. I think you have to leave valve open on flights). 

I found boots in my size on ebay for $45 brand new. After having the coldest winter in 30 years here in Alaska, I opted to go ahead and get the white ones just to make sure I got to keep my toes no matter what. Only downside is that it's spring-time now really (no coats at 25 degrees ;))

(looks sheepish)

I've neglected you guys for so long. I'm sorry. Since my last update though, I've now ridden a snow machine, I've driven a snow machine, I've drilled a set a holes in about 4 feet of ice with an auger, I've gone ice-fishing (but didn't catch anything), snow machined to another town and saw 2 cases of frostbite, and saw my first Camai festival (Dance Festival, pronounced Ja-My). I do have pictures but still have to go through things and post them. so they're COMING SOON!

On another hand, it's about 35 degrees and everybody around here is in t-shirts or long-sleeve t-shirts. No jackets. The break-up is probably coming soon. I'm hoping my place doesn't flood much. We'll find out.

after a long break...

Iditarod

Here's whats been going on in Alaska...

It's still cold, but we've got about 12 hrs of daylight now. Roughly 9am-9pm.

Sorry for the delay. I had a rash of Migraines followed by some recovery. And then a new facebook game addiction (medieval war game).

cold again

-9 with and feels like -35  after adding 22mph winds. Some frozen car doors and whatnot around town, including my house locks (i really don't like our new doors)