Tundratantrum

My Boy

2012-02-19T11:06:00.000-09:00

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12 AND A HALF years old...

He's getting so grown up.

2012 Kotzebue-Kiana Snowmachine Race Part 2

2012-02-18T09:03:00.000-09:00

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Some more race photos.

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2012 Kotzebue-Kiana Snowmachine Race

2012-02-17T14:58:00.002-09:00

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Here are some shots from the 2012 2012 Kotzebue-Kiana Snowmachine Race held last weekend. As the name suggests, the races goes from Kotzebue to Kiana and back.

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Blustery Day

2012-01-21T22:21:00.003-09:00

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Today was a cold and blustery day. Tonight is more of the same. Next week it will be colder. We have definately had out fair share of really cold weather this January. It warmed up a bit for a few days which was nice, but out break is over. Next week is supposed to be -30 to -40 again all week.

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2012-01-16T19:18:00.002-09:00

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Here are some photos from around town. This time of year isn't that great for taking photos. mThe light is not very good. Add an overcast sky to the mix and the photos are pretty blaaaah.

Here is a shot of our new and improved Shore Ave (Front St).

Of course the seawall serves a purpose but I will always miss the old view.

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2011-11-23T14:48:00.002-09:00

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I sure like these three photos of Uyaana. I took them in September. Part of the many photos I neglected to post....but here they are now, lol.

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Storm Conversations

2011-11-09T15:51:00.002-09:00

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Superstorm

2011-11-08T20:25:00.004-09:00

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That's what the National weather service is calling it. You can see the text of the storm warning **here**. We get quite a few gnarly storms here in the winter, but they are saying that this is the biggest storm in this region since 1974. It's just now starting to some into Kotzebue. The winds are picking up and are 41-54mph now. They are expecting winds to 70mph or more. Time will tell.

The storm has made the news all over. You can read the following articles if you like...

http://www.adn.com/2011/11/08/2160346/powerful-storm-aims-at-western.html

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/officials-urge-western-alaska-residents-hunker-down-their-villages

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/officials-urge-western-alaska-residents-hunker-down-their-villages

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/alaska-super-storm-sparks-false-alarm-teller-then-real-evacuation

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/historic-alaska-storm-to-produce-hurricane-conditions/2011/11/08/gIQAaiqy0M_blog.html

I will try and take some photos and video during the storm but I won't be able to post the videos until later. My internet at home is too slow for uploading video. My plans for this storm are to read my book, watch some tv, sleep in, and bake some banana bread.

BALDWIN PENINSULA AND SELAWIK VALLEY-
INCLUDING...KOTZEBUE...SELAWIK...NOORVIK
328 PM AKST TUE NOV 8 2011

...BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO 9 PM AKST
WEDNESDAY...
.TONIGHT...BLIZZARD CONDITIONS DEVELOPING. SNOW ACCUMULATION
AROUND 1 INCH. TEMPERATURES IN THE TEENS INCREASING THROUGH THE NIGHT.
EAST WINDS 20 TO 35 MPH INCREASING TO 40 TO 60 MPH WITH GUSTS TO
70 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT.
.WEDNESDAY...BLIZZARD CONDITIONS. VISIBILITY ONE QUARTER MILE OR
LESS AT TIMES. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 3 TO 6 INCHES. HIGHS MID 20S
TO LOWER 30S. SOUTHEAST WINDS 40 TO 60 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 70 MPH.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW. LOWS IN THE
TEENS. SOUTH WINDS 50 MPH DECREASING TO 25 TO 40 MPH AFTER
MIDNIGHT.
.THURSDAY...CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS. HIGHS 15 TO 20.
EAST WINDS 15 TO 30 MPH BECOMING SOUTHWEST IN THE AFTERNOON.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW. LOWS 5 TO 15.
SOUTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 20 MPH.
.VETERANS DAY...CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW. HIGHS NEAR 25.

Price Comparison

2011-10-23T19:33:00.003-08:00

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Ok, here it is. Sorry it took so long. I was in Anchorage for for a few days and then I spent the last few days in bed with the plague taking nourishment through a straw. Lotsa fun.

In the end we did not have enough time to go to both Walmat and Carrs/Safeway while we were in Anchorage so we just went to Walmart and then I had him calculate the difference between the two. It will give you a good idea of the difference in price in the two regions.

And to asnwer the question about baggage.....when you origin and destination are both within the state of Alaska, Alaska Airlines lets you have three 50lb checked bags for free.

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Cost of Living

2011-10-15T14:16:00.006-08:00

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It is a well known fact that Kotzebue is the most expensive hub community in Alaska.

"The Alaska Geographic Differential
Study contains cost information
from 18 sample blocks throughout
Alaska and covers housing, food,
transportation, clothing, and medical
care. The study lists cost differentials
for expenditure categories in
all locations. Kotzebue was the most
expensive community, with costs 61
percent higher than in Anchorage,
the base community."
http://laborstats.alaska.gov/col/col.pdf

There are a number of reasons for this. One of them is that you cannot drive from here to anywhere else with a car or truck. Everything we have here is either flown in or barged in. Everything. We only get a few barges a year because our shipping season is short. Kotzebue Sound is very shallow, so the big barges have to park 14 miles out and the cargo is lightered into Kotzebue by tugs pushing shallow draft barges. It takes many loads and a lot of gas to bring a huge barge worth of stuff into Kotzebue.

As far as groceries are concerned there are other reasons they are so expensive. We have two grocery stores. One is called Rotman's. It is a small locally owned store that has a limited selection of groceries and other goods. And while Rotman's is also fairly expensive it doesn't burn your but so much when you consider that they are locally owned and fairly small which usually means things are not gonna be cheap.

The largest store is Alaska Commercial Company (AC) which is a Canadian owned company with many stores across bush Alaska. They offer large variety of groceries and "fresh" produce as well as dry goods, clothing etc. AC is the most convenient place to go when you want to get everything you need in one place right now. It is also amazingly expensive. Most things are double the cost of the same item in Anchorage....and some things are triple.

There are a number of reasons AC is so expensive. One reason is the price of freight. It cost a lot of money to get stuff here. Another is the fact that AC pays an obscene amount of money to Kikitagruk Inupait COrporation (KIC). I don't remember the exact amount I was told but I think it might have been around $30,000 a month. KIC is the largest apartment rental as well with a notorious reputation of being VERY expensive. They can be, they own many of the available rentals here in Kotzebue. And then you have to HEAT that big old building with stove oil that costs almost $7 a gallon.

Another reason why AC charges such high prices, and the reason I believe pisses people off the most, is because AC knows they can. They know that no matter how much they charge, enough people will continue to buy stuff there. They are available and convenient and people will buy that expensive stuff for that reason alone.

I try to do as much shopping as possible outside of Kotzebue. I shop as much as I can when I am in ANC, or other places, especially for frozen foods, and bring it back as baggage. No matter where I go, I go grocery shopping and bring back as much stuff as possible. I fill every nook and cranny of my baggage with stuff we need and want. When flying to Kotzebue from Anchorage you can have three 50lb checked bags for free and two carry ons. Sometimes my carry on suitcase weighs 50lbs. Seriously. I am going to be really depressed of Alaska airlines puts a weight limit on carry ons.

I order dry and canned groceries and laundry soap from Amazon.com and take advantage of their super saver shipping. You can find some really good deals there. I make Span Alaska barge orders once a year, and we eat a lot of locally caught meat and fish. I haven't bought stuff like certain non perishable groceries, toilet paper, laundry soap, shampoo/conditioner, or dog food in Kotzebue for years. If you are careful and plan ahead it is possible to greatly reduce the amount of money you have to pay for food and other necessary items. That's not to say that you never see me in AC...but I do not do most of my shopping there.

Anyway, the whole reason I started writing about this was because of Uyaana's math project. He has to do a comparison chart. Since we are heading to Anchorage for a few days on Monday he decided he wanted to to a price comparison on groceries and other necessities. So today we went to AC and made a list of 40 common items and their prices. Right now he is typing them into a chart. When we go to Anchorage we will go to Walmart and Carrs/Safeway and write the prices of the exact same items from each store. When he is done with the project I will take a photo of the chart and post it here so you can see the results. Until then here are a few photos of the prices at AC.

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The Old Days

2011-10-11T07:05:00.000-08:00

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Part 2, The View From on Top of Napaqtuq

2011-10-10T19:58:00.002-08:00

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The View From on Top of Napaqtuq

2011-10-09T20:45:00.002-08:00

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Napaqtuq is a hill across the sound from Kotzebue. Last weekend we went to the top and took some photos. From the top you can see for miles in every direction.

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Swans

2011-10-04T07:47:00.000-08:00

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Photos from 10/1/11 along the Noatak river.

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Northern lights Last Night

2011-10-02T08:19:00.002-08:00

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Gone for the Weekend

2011-09-30T20:09:00.002-08:00

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Heading to camp for the weekend. Going boating while we still can. It's going to start freezing up soon. These photos were taken 9/25/11.

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Boating Around

2011-09-28T07:26:00.003-08:00

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It is 34F degrees this morning. Fall is almost over here. Winter is just around the corner. These photos were taken 9/25/11.

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Bald Eagles

2011-09-26T07:41:00.003-08:00

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We took a quick ride up the Noatak River to our camp yesterday. In the mouth of the river I saw these two bald eagles sitting on a log. They where just out of good camera range but I took a bunch of photos anyway. I have seen bald eagles on the Noatak before, but they are not very common and it is still a special treat to see them, especially two of them together.

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Fall on the Noatak River, Part 2

2011-09-25T08:52:00.002-08:00

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Here are a few more photos I took along the Noatak River on September 17th.

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Fall on the Noatak River

2011-09-24T08:32:00.001-08:00

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These photos were all taken along the Noatak River on 9/17/11. Fall time is short but beautiful in the arctic.

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So....I Filled My Truck Today....

2011-09-23T12:30:00.001-08:00

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Osprey

2011-09-21T05:26:00.002-08:00

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I have been seeing a lot of Osprey on the Noatak River and other areas of northwest Alaska in the last couple years. I remember there was a time when I don't remember ever seeing them. Now it seems I see them every time I venture out in the country.
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/education/wns/osprey.pdf

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Name That Bird

2011-09-19T21:50:00.002-08:00

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Ok you birders, what kind of bird is this? This is an easy one :) Taken on the Noatak River 9/15/11

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Shake Shake Shake

2011-09-18T07:33:00.000-08:00

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Wolfsbane

2011-09-16T08:27:00.000-08:00

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This is Monkshood. It is also known as Wolfsbane.

It grows wild in the northwest arctic region of Alaska.

It is very beautiful....and very poisonous.

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Sunrise

2011-09-15T08:23:00.000-08:00

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We have been having some beautiful sunrises the last couple of days. Please excuse the iPhone photos....it was the only camera I had with me at the time.

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Happy Birthday Uyaana!

2011-09-14T16:06:00.001-08:00

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On September 7th Uyaana turned 12!!

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Drying Caribou

2011-09-14T15:59:00.003-08:00

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Last winter I had some caribou quarters that I had stored outside in the shop because I did not have room in the freezer. During May when the days were getting warmer and that meat started to thaw out I decided to make panaqtak, aka dried caribou.

I cut the caribou into thin slices, put lots of salt and pepper on it and hung it out on the back porch to dry.

It takes about 3 or 4 days for it to dry enough to be ready, depending on the weather. May is a great time of year to do this because the days are cool and sunny and the flies haven't quite woken up yet so you don't have to worry about them laying eggs on your meat.

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The Error of My Ways

2011-09-14T14:24:00.003-08:00

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Forgive me readers for I have sinned. It has been 40 days since my last blog post. I have a hundred excuses and no excuses at the same time. It is what it is. I received a comment on a post the other day that said...

Anonymous said...

so is the blog officially dead?
September 9, 2011 12:01 AM

I have mixed feelings on this comment. Part of me sees it as a valid question, part of me is aggravated by it, and part of me is hurt by it. Over the years that I have done this blog I have put thousands of hours into it. Thousands of FREE hours...well free for my readers. It definitely wasn't free for me. I pay for time, gas, camera equipment, photo hosting etc.

I'm not sure that a lot of people, except other photo bloggers who post regularly and have a lot of readers, understand what that is like. I got to the point where I was stressed out if I did not post every day because I knew that hundreds of people came to this blog everyday to read a new post. I was probably spending roughly three hours a day doing something related to this blog...taking photos, editing photos, writing posts, etc. That's while also working eight or more hours a day, doing subsistence activities, parenting, housework, volunteering etc. That's A LOT of work. It's not surprising that I burnt out. I even burnt out on reading blogs.

Do I miss blogging? Sure, there are times when I miss posting every day...mostly because I loved reading comments and interacting with people who read the blog.

So is this blog officially dead? It ain't over til the fat lady sings and I don't hear any singing. When you come to this URL and you find nothing there then you will know it is dead. Until then it will move along at it's own varied pace, here and there, now and then, in fits and starts, as my time allows. That's all I can promise.

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2011-08-05T17:44:00.001-08:00

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These photos were taken 7/22/11 at around 2am.

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2011-08-03T15:21:00.002-08:00

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We are in New Hampshire visiting my family until the 16th. This is the most free time I have had in a long time. Here's some more fishing pics....

In Kotzebue we fish for chum (Keta) salmon with set net.

These photos were taken in Sisualik, about 12 miles north of Kotzebue.

There are about 290 fish in the boat in this photo.

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2011-08-02T21:17:00.002-08:00

Vic and I spent a couple weeks commercial fishing. I would work from 9am to 3pm at my regular job, go home and take a two hour nap, get up and get ready and then fish from 8pm to 2am or 4 am depending on the period, go home and get a couple hours sleep and do it all over again. It was an exhausting two weeks. Here are some photos....

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Calm Before the Storm

2011-07-08T09:59:00.002-08:00

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Here are some photos I took last night of the clouds just before a rare thunderstorm hit Kotzebue. All I had was my cell phone so I took the photos with that. Thunderstorms in the arctic are not all that rare, but they usually occur farther inland where it gets hotter. This storm was a doozy by coastal standards, lots of thunder, lightening and buckets of rain.

This particular cloud was pretty freaky looking. My son asked me if it was a tornado. There was no visible rotation that I could see, so I didn't figure it was going to become anything serious.

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Tundra Swans

2011-06-24T22:54:00.002-08:00

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A few photos of some tundra swans taken in Paul's Slough on the Noatak River.

Glaucus Gulls

2011-06-21T20:55:00.001-08:00

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Running along the Shore

2011-06-20T17:00:00.003-08:00

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Took a Father's Day boat ride yesterday. The weather was beautiful. Here are some photos of Kaija running along the shore of Paul's Slough on the Noatak River.

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Blog Layout Change

2011-06-20T12:26:00.003-08:00

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For the last three years my blog has pretty much looked the same. I have decided I am tired of it and need a new look. The problem with this is I have no template design talents. You will have to deal with some awkward layout issues til I get it figured out. Bear with me, I'll get it straightened out eventually....hopefully without deleting anything on accident.

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Herring

2011-06-14T20:20:00.002-08:00

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These are photos from June 3rd. Better late than never. I have been out of town since the 7th so not much of a chance for posting.

Springtime is time to hook herring.

They swim by the Kotzebue along the shore.

When the herring are running Shore Ave is lines with people snagging them with fishing poles.

People fill buckets, totes, and bags with Herring.

Most of us around here like making pickled herring....so much so that this time of year the store totally runs out of vinegar.

It took me and Ahna Lena hours to take car of these fish.

She took the scales off.....

...and I headed, gutted, tailed and finned them.

Then I layered them in a two gallon bucket...salt, fish, salt, fish...

They will keep in salt brine like this for a long time until you are ready to pickle them.

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Ice Videos

2011-06-06T09:19:00.002-08:00

Some videos of the ice going out that I took last week. The ice is still running and will be for a few more days.

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Ice

2011-06-02T22:26:00.002-08:00

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Here is some video someone took of the ice on May 30th.

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Breakup

2011-06-02T21:32:00.002-08:00

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The last week has been breakup. The time when the ice, weakened and rotted from warm weather, breaks up and starts to float out to see on the current. Sometimes this can cause some dramitic ice piling.

Here you can see where a sheet of ice has pushed up our boat onto the shore.

We stood around and waited to see if that particular sheet of ice would keep moving in out direction and smoosh our boat but it didn't.

The movement of the ice was attracting lots of attention.

Huge blocks of ice were being pushed up on shore.

Another sheet of ice was more rotten and crumbly and made a big mountain of smaller chunks.

Kids were having fun climbing on the ice.

Instead of a jungle gym it's an arctic gym.

Some of these sheets of ice are still over 2 feet thick.

The ice can cause a lot of damage if it starts to come ashore near houses or vehivles so the city of Kotzeb ue had a loader nearby to try and push the ice out of the way if necessary.

Here are some people watching the ice on Crowley Marine dock.

I didn't get a chance to upload any video of the ice. I will try and do that sometime tomorrow.

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Wooley Lousewort

2011-06-01T21:46:00.002-08:00

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My annual wooley lousewort photos.

They are the first tundra flower to come out in spring.

Tomorrow I should have photos and video of break up ice.

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Digging

2011-05-27T16:12:00.001-08:00

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What Kinda Bird........

2011-05-25T13:07:00.002-08:00

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Ok all you birders out there....are these two birds Common Snipe or Long-Billed Dowitchers>

I think this is a different kind of bird....but what is it?

It's hard for me to take photos of birds because this always happens.

I suppose I could leave her home but that wouldn't be any fun.

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Busy Bees

2011-05-24T18:13:00.002-08:00

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Pounce!

2011-05-22T20:38:00.003-08:00

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Kaija has some serious pouncing skills.

Gotcha!

Snacktime.

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I Don't Think This is What They Had in Mind When They Said...

2011-05-21T20:02:00.002-08:00

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.....Federal regulations limit a passenger to one carry-on bag and one personal item.

Add this to the long list o things that you can get away with in Alaska that you can't get away with in the lower 48.

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Here I Am.....

2011-05-19T22:53:00.002-08:00

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...until Friday evening.

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Panoramic Video of Kotzebue

2011-05-18T12:39:00.002-08:00

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Since I have some time before my next flight I figured I would take advantage of the zippy, free internet here at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and upload another video. I took this one yesterday from Cemetery Hill behind Kotzebue. Please excuse the quality, I'm not much of a videographer.

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On the Road Again.....

2011-05-18T11:45:00.001-08:00

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I'm on the "road" again. You'll find out where later. In the meantime here is a video I took while landing in Nome this morning.

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My Very Own Bridge Over Troubled Waters

2011-05-17T19:42:00.000-08:00

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Dear City of Kotzebue,

2011-05-16T11:10:00.000-08:00

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please have the Puddle Sucker Truck come suck up the lake that has formed on my street.

I will soon need a kayak to get to my truck.

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Spring Views

2011-05-16T08:07:00.000-08:00

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These photos were taken on Saturday evening.

Kaija and I went for a ride with the 4 wheeler across the tundra and I took a bunch of photos....just before I got myself seriously stuck in deep snow.

I was trying to cut back to town across the tundra and there was a big patch of snow. I figured that I would take the chance and try and blast through it.

Haha....not. I got stuck 3/4 of the way through. I was high centered with all four wheels spinning. Of course I didn't have my cell phone with me so if I couldn't get out I would have to walk a couple miles back to town.

I had to dig with my hands and rock the four wheeler back and forth for about an hour before I could get unstuck.

And then I realized that I had to go back the way I came because there was too much snow ahead of me. So I turned around and went thought were I got stuck before as fast as I could.

I alllllllmost got stuck again but made it through.

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One Dog

2011-05-15T08:03:00.000-08:00

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Well, we are down to one dog.

My mom moved to Eagle River and took Rush with her.

Kaija has been kinda bummed out by herself.

I took her out on the tundra so she could look for mice.

She did a lot of sniffing and digging but I don't think she caught any.

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Name that Bird

2011-05-14T22:23:00.001-08:00

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And no...it's name isn't Raplh. What kind of bird is this? Sorry it's so blurry but it's markings should be distinct enough.

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Hello....Anybody Out There.....?

2011-05-14T21:57:00.003-08:00

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I wouldn't blame you if were all gone. Maybe some of you have survived my mid-blog crisis and are still around.

We went fishing today. Caught super nothing.

It was a bummer because other people around us were catching.It was a beautiful day outside though even if the fish were playing hard to get.

It was about 45F degrees, a bit windy though at about 15-20 mph.

It was a good day even if all I caught was a sunburned face.

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Update :)

2011-04-13T08:17:00.002-08:00

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Yes, I am still here. Life has been pretty crazy this last month. I had a week of work travel and then a week of work catch up. And then my honey decided that it could be a great idea, after not racing for 20 years, to enter a snowmachine race. Turns out that wasn't such a good idea. He ended up crashing and breaking both his tibia and fibula and had to be medivaced to Anchorage for surgery. We were down there for a week. And NOW is the time for the Kobuk 440, which starts tomorrow.

I have been busy with the organization and logistics of that for the past 5 days. I will be following the race through all the villages on snowmachine so I will also be unable to get to the blog for through the weekend. So hand in there. I hope to start posting at least a couple times a week when things slow down a bit.

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Welcome Home to Kotzebue's Conquering Hero!

2011-03-21T21:50:00.002-08:00

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Lots of people were at the airport to meet 2011 Iditarod Champion, John Baker, as he got off the jet this afternoon.

Then a parade of vehicles followed him the school where there was a reception with coffee and cookies.

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Spring Portraits

2011-03-11T20:09:00.000-09:00

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Dogs Playing Out

2011-03-10T21:13:00.002-09:00

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We have had quite a run of beautiful days. Big blue skies with bright sunshine, and about 10 degrees. Perfect early spring weather. The dogs love this weather too.

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My Little Hunter

2011-03-07T08:30:00.004-09:00

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My mighty Eskimo hunter and his first catch! Uyaana spent the afternoon on Saturday vanquishing bunnies and honing his killer instinct.

He got all these rabbits with the high powered pellet rifle he got for Christmas. Looks like we will be eating a lot of rabbit.

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Batten Down the Hatches

2011-02-17T08:59:00.001-09:00

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Blizzard is raging, snow plows have given up, everything in town has shut down and I am enjoying a nice morning drinking coffee listening to the wind howl.

AKZ209-180615-
BALDWIN PENINSULA AND SELAWIK VALLEY-
INCLUDING...KOTZEBUE...SELAWIK...NOORVIK
500 AM AKST THU FEB 17 2011

...BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM AKST FRIDAY...
.TODAY...BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WITH SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW. SNOW
ACCUMULATION 2 TO 4 INCHES. HIGHS 5 TO 15 ABOVE. EAST WINDS 35 TO
50 MPH. GUSTS TO 60 MPH.
.TONIGHT...BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WITH SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW. SNOW
ACCUMULATION 2 TO 4 INCHES. LOWS ZERO TO 5 ABOVE. SOUTHEAST WINDS
35 TO 50 MPH BECOMING SOUTHWEST 30 TO 40 MPH BY MIDNIGHT.
.FRIDAY...CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW. AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW.
HIGHS ZERO TO 5 ABOVE. SOUTHWEST WINDS 20 TO 35 MPH DIMINISHING
TO 10 TO 20 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW. LOWS 10 BELOW TO
15 BELOW ZERO. NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 25 MPH.
.SATURDAY...CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE MORNING. HIGHS AROUND
10 BELOW. WEST WINDS 10 TO 25 MPH.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW. LOWS NEAR
15 BELOW.

Juneau

2011-02-07T21:15:00.003-09:00

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I worked a 12 hour day today and I have some serious brain drain. This post has been put off for several days, but here it is now.

Last week I was in Juneau, if you were wondering where I was.

I got to drive around on the crazy steep streets.

It rained the whole week. I think I came home moldy.

This house look familiar Anj??

I went to the Governor's mansion.

Had coffee with Alaska's First Lady :)

And had my crotch sniffed by the First Dog, Annie. It was a great trip. See you next year Juneau.

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What Happens in Vegas.....

2011-01-30T17:48:00.003-09:00

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...can, as far as I'm concerned, stay in Vegas.

I apologize for my lengthy absence. I have been pretty busy with my new job and travel and playing catch up in between and then last week I had to travel to Vegas for the first time for a training. Now, those of you who know me know that I am a pretty simple person. I'm not big on rowdy parties and big crowds. So really Vegas is not high on my list of sought after destinations. In fact, if I wasn't being paid to go I probably would have never set foot there ever....but hey it was free, right? However, the internet WAS NOT free and there was NO WAY I was paying $14 a day for internet so no blog for you guys.

So, of all the places I could have stayed in all of Las Vegas we stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel. It was where the conference was being held. Go figure. When we went to check in it was about midnight on Saturday night. I was definitely over dressed. If you took a black tube sock, cut the end off and then squeezed it over your body and completed the ensemble with 6 inch heels and a total absence of underwear you woulda fit right in. Good grief. I saw more hootchie mamas in 10 minutes than I have my entire life.

So we all went back to our rooms and went to bed. The next morning we woke up, went to breakfast and then went to Target. Well....you gotta have priorities, right? Isn't Target the first stop for everyone in Vegas?

So after Target we took a ride down the strip. I have never been anywhere where there were palm trees that weren't growing out of a planter.

I saw the Belagio....

I saw the Statue of Liberty.....and at least 5,000 more hootchie mamas.

All kidding aside, I did have fun. I went to a show.....

...I won Zillions of dollars on slots at the Venetian....

...and saw the biggest display of duct tape I have ever seen at the Wal-Mart in Henderson. Amazing!

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Snow Blasted

2011-01-30T17:45:00.002-09:00

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When it storms the wind whips the snow around and everything looks like it has been sprayed with a think layer of white paint.

I Bought My Mile, How About You?

2011-01-15T11:40:00.002-09:00

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As many of you who have been reading my blog for a while may know, there is a sled dog race held in this region every April called the Kobuk 440. This race is run, for the most part, by volunteers. The Kobuk 440 Racing Association is given some money from the Kotzebue Dog Musher's Association (KDMA), but this is not nearly enough to cover our operating expenses and purse. To run this race we need sponsors.

This year, to help support the Kobuk 440 Dogsled Race we have come up with the Buy a Mile program. You can become a sponsor by buying a mile of the race for $44. The funds from the Buy-A-Mile program help with race costs, which increase every year. In addition to assisting with race costs, the funds from the program go to sweeten the purse for the dedicated hard working mushers and the dogs that love to run for them.

Buy your mile to have your name listed on the Kobuk 440 website and printed on race headquarters thank you poster. You can use the paypal button located on the sidebar of my blog. If you don't want to use the paypal button you can send a check to
Kobuk 440
c/o Michael Oliver
PO Box 1141
Kotzebue, AK 99752

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That New Baby Smell

2011-01-09T22:23:00.003-09:00

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My BFF Bree had a new baby on the 6th. Here are a couple photos I took of her this evening. Isn't she sweet?

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Letter From the Kobuk 440 Racing Association

2011-01-02T13:09:00.009-09:00

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The Kobuk 440 Sled Dog Race is a middle distance sled dog race that is held annually during the second weekend in April. It has been in existence for the past 25 years. It is the ultimate challenge for a dog musher. It is also a qualifying race for both the Iditarod sled dog race and the Yukon Quest. The K440 goes through 7 of the NANA Region villages. It involves bringing a lot of people together throughout the region during its course. The race starts on a Thursday afternoon and is usually over by Sunday morning.

We at the Kobuk 440 Racing Association are always trying to find methods of keeping the spark alive during the months before the race begins. This is to ensure that the countless volunteers that are needed during the race are ready when the time comes for the race to come through the village. One of the methods used is our Easter basket distributions to kids in the communities. We have a volunteer in each village collect names of children in the respective village. When a musher arrives he or she is required to take the time to pick a name out of the hat for a child to win an Easter basket. It is a great hit!

It also gets the musher to interact with the children within the community. The Association usually paid for the 200 Easter baskets needed for this incentive. Fortunately this year we were able to get a sponsor for this important part of our race. Another thing we do is give the local Search and Rescue Organizations within the villages a stipend of $ 750.00.This stipend is to ensure that the checkpoint is set up and manned. This is very important to these communities basically because of the price of fuel which in some of these villages, reach’s $10 to $15.00 a gallon. I would say that every village in this Region is involved with a major search at some point during the year. So that money does definitely is put to good use.
The villages of Noorvik, Kiana, Ambler, Shungnak, Kobuk and Selawik are awesome. They go out of their way to ensure that the race is successful. Some provide prizes to mushers such as, the first female musher to the village or maybe just the first musher to the village. It might be to the last musher to the village. We kind of leave that up to the village as to how they want to distribute the prize. These prizes are usually local made crafts such as marten or beaver hats, mitts etc. They also provide a community type potlatch at community halls or the Native village buildings for the mushers, trail crew and the community itself. It is quite the gathering! They also provide resting accommodations for the mushers and a parking area for the teams. We could not have the race without the village participation.
The Kotzebue checkpoint has recently put together the Arctic Circle Spring Festival. This will be a week-long event that is held the week of the Kobuk 440. We at the Association believe that it will be a huge boost for the Kobuk 440 as it will involve a lot more folks in Kotzebue to get a bit more involved with the race. That event is being put on by volunteers of the community. All of this effort does involve a bunch of funding. We at the Kobuk 440 Racing Association receive a major portion of our purse from the Kotzebue Dog Mushers Association. Our other source is sponsorship donations locally. Unfortunately, the Kotzebue Dog Mushers Association is experiencing management problems and hasn’t recovered as of date. For 2010 we managed to put on the race plus expenses for about $40,000.00. This is half of what we’ve been able to operate within the past. We did have a lot more volunteers this year and were able to cut some operating expenses because of that. Our annual budget has been about $75,000.00 in normal years.
We are looking for more funding this year and would actually like to find a major player to get involved with the race. Of course as much as we would like to see someone come up with a big dollar figure we are open to any donations for the 2011 Kobuk 440. We are willing to provide a major player ($30,000.00) or more a chance at a golden opportunity. And that is to share the name of the race. Other than that we can provide as much exposure via newspaper, radio and internet coverage as possible. Also attempt in any way possible, someone from your firm to check out the race in person and attend some of the festivities directly related to the race. There are a couple of sponsors that did make our race a huge success last year and one of those was SKW Eskimos Inc. They are a subsidiary of ASRC. They gave the Kobuk 440 $5,000.00 plus promotional items such as musher hats and some other items. Imagine that! The North Slope Corporation being such a huge contributor to the K440. Our other major sponsor was Frontier Airlines who do a massive air support contribution.
I want stress the fact that dog mushing was and is a big part of our cultural heritage. Races of this nature would have never evolved without our people’s major role in the evolution of the sport. Before the snow machine all that was used was the dogteam. It was the means of survival. It meant the difference between living and starvation.
This particular document gives you a brief summary of what’s involved in the race itself, location and villages involved and the funding it takes to make it successful. My dream is to see that at some point in my lifetime we might have a $100,000.00 purse. Please help us achieve our goal. We, with all the financial avenues available we can make it happen! All responses and interests can go to chucktraceyschaeffer@gmail.com or mfbx@otz.net or call Marcia Fairbanks @ 907-442-3702. Thank you very much, Chuck Schaeffer President Kobuk 440 Racing Association

Kobuk 440 Needs:
Straw, about 45 bales plus freight
Easter Baskets, about 200 plus freight
Boxes of food for villages checkpoints (bread, mayonnaise, coffee, tea, creamer, cold cuts, bottled water, peanut butter, pilot bread crackers, cookies)
Artwork for prizes; first, second, third prizes and the humanitarian award
Money for the purse
Search and rescue donations, $750 per village (6 villages)
Snow machine rental, 3 snow machines at $125/day, $1875
Fuel and oil, about $1500
Heet about 5 cases
Veterinarian plane ticket, round trip from Anchorage to Kotzebue
Headlamps, 12
VOLUNTEERS! For the planning committee, the trail crew, trail breaker, banquet help, musher housing coordinator, radio support, PR person, etc!

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Happy New Year

2011-01-01T22:12:00.002-09:00

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City Moose

2010-12-30T01:03:00.002-09:00

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Here are a few photos I took of cow moose in the vacant lot between the Homewood Suites Hotel and the Motel 6 in Anchorage. It's much easier to take photos of moose in the city than it is in the country. She had an audience and couldn't care less.

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I wonder.....

2010-12-26T18:23:00.002-09:00

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...if reindeer can fit through a full body scanner.

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Hallelujah Chorus -Quinhagak, Alaska

2010-12-23T17:54:00.002-09:00

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Here is a great video made by the 5th grade class in the village of Quinhagak, Alaska. Quinhagak is a village of around 680 people located 71 miles southwest of Bethel in southwest Alaska.

If you would like to read more about Quinhagak or any other Alaskan village you can go to the State of Alaska's Community Database page.

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Stormy

2010-12-18T22:03:00.002-09:00

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It's stormy and windy and snowy outside but it is warm and cozy inside. I had a nice day at the last Christmas Bazaar. Sold some prints and had a good time with good people. I had to get a new cell phone today. My Blackberry was beginning to freeze up all the time for some reason. I got a new Samsung Galaxy S (i9000) and the learning curve is steep. I struggled for a long time trying to figure out the calendar. I hope I grow to like that dang phone because right now it is not my friend.

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I'm Still Here

2010-12-14T21:00:00.003-09:00

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Nope, I haven't dropped off the face of the Earth, but hoo boy has it been busy. I just got back from traveling and today I started a new job. So I haven't forgotten you all. Hopefully I will have a chance to post some new stuff soon. Until then you can always go back and re-read some of the old stuff.

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Sunrises and Sunsets....

2010-12-08T21:32:00.001-09:00

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....the sun rises and he sun sets and there is not much in between around these parts this time of year.

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The Days Are Short....

2010-12-05T20:17:00.001-09:00

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...and getting shorter.

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Did You Know....

2010-12-02T22:35:00.002-09:00

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...that you can fit six 50 lb totes, two 40lb bags of dog food, two cases of milk, one multi pack of wrapping paper, three backpacks, one rolling suitcase, two adults and one kid in a Ford Taurus?

We even managed to get the trunk closed.

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LRRS Sunset

2010-12-01T20:20:00.002-09:00

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Sunset behind the Kotzebue Long Range Radar Station dome. This used to be the site of a small airforce base but the radar inside the dome is now fully automated.

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The Dogs Play Out

2010-11-26T22:00:00.002-09:00

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Exciting stuff I tell ya.

They are wishing I would quit taking pictures and hurry up and let them out.

Pleeeeeeeeeease!

Thank you :)

Rush is a handsome boy. He almost looks intelligent in this photo...

...but this is more true to his character.

All frosted up and ready to head home.

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Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T21:54:00.002-09:00

I love Thanksgiving. I enjoyed the day with family and friends and ate entirely too much apple pie.

I have much to be thankful for. I have a great job, a great family, a roof over my head, and I live in the most beautiful part of the most beautiful state in the most beautiful country. I am mindful everyday, not just today, of the blessings I have in my life. I hope all of you had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

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More Trail Staking

2010-11-19T19:15:00.001-09:00

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Here are some photos I took while we were staking trail last weekend. This was two trails that were in the mouth of the Noatak River and Kotzebue Sound.

This is one of the places we cut willows for stakes.

Loading up willows onto the sleds.

Drilling a hole into the ice.

Then you stick the willow in the hole and put reflective tape on the willow.

Then move down the trail a bit and repeat. Over and over and over. Mile after mile.

Riding back alont the trail a bit to make sure it is straight.

Both trails were very straight.

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Storm Coming....

2010-11-16T21:13:00.000-09:00

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Kotzebue FAQ

2010-11-12T09:39:00.003-09:00

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I have been doing this blog for about three and a half years now. In that time I have received many emails from people who want to, are considering, or who are moving to Kotzebue. I have been asked a variety of questions but most of the questions are similar. I started collection some of the most common questions and my answers into digest of sorts that I can email to people when they have questions. I thought I would post it here.

Please note that these answers are purely my own opinion and that there are other people who, I am sure, have a different opinion than me.

Over the past year or so I’ve enjoyed reading your blog and viewing your pictures describing life in Alaska. One thing concerns me though and that is what opportunities exist in Kotzebue and the surrounding villages for the young folks when they finish school. Other than going off to college it seems like the opportunities to get a job and make a decent living are few and far between. You hear so much about the problem of alcoholism and other dependencies that it seems the young folks don't have much of a chance for successful careers unless they leave the area entirely and migrate to large cities both in and outside of Alaska. I would be interested in hearing more about this. Thanks and keep up the good work.

And there you have hit the nail on the head...one of the major problems that we have in this region. It concerns many people. It is not as much an issue in Kotzebue as there are several careers that one could have here.....but for youth in the villages it is a different story. If an individual wants to live in the village there are not that many jobs to choose from and certainly not enough good paying jobs to go around.

I love Alaska, especially bush Alaska....but while there are many cultural reasons for the existence of rural Alaskan villages, there are almost no economic reasons for the existence of most bush Alaskan villages. If you made it a requirement for there to be an economic viability for a community in this state there would almost no villages in rural Alaska. Kotzebue (economically speaking) exists solely to support itself and it's satellite villages. There really is not reason (economically speaking) for places like Selawik, Kivalina, Kobuk, Shungnak or Deering (to name a few) to exist. So Kotzebue exists to support these villages that exist basically only for cultural reasons.

In the "old days" each community was relatively self sufficient and traded with other nearby villages for things that they needed that they couldn’t produce themselves. Now they exist almost entirely by federal and state subsidies. Doesn't create a lot of hope does it? I think it creates a sort of cognitive dissonance that contributes to our high rates of alcoholism and suicide. It's a very sad situation to which there are no easy answers.

How open are people in Alaska to newbies, in the more rural areas?

Sometimes it depends on the person and sometimes it depends on the area. There are always going to be some people who have a problem with new people. That is how it is anywhere you go in life. Here in Kotzebue people are pretty good about it but it often depends on the attitude of the new person. If people move here and they are actively a part of the community people notice. If someone comes here just to make their money and run, griping all the while, people notice. If you don't was to be treated like an outsider don't act like one. It has worked for me.

Are people open to just roam about or are there "no trespassing" areas? Because from what I've been hearing it sounds like its all pretty much open, but I could be wrong.

Yes, for the most part you are free to roam. Most of the land in this region is either owned by the Native Corporations or the US Government. The rest is privately owned. If you take care with your use most people do not mind where you go. On native corporation land you must be a shareholder to hunt on that land. I pretty much roam (respectfully) wherever and have never had a problem.

Now this is going to sound really stupid, but how is the internet connections in some of the more rural areas? Is it really slow? Or decent?

Not a stupid question. The internet is MUCH faster in the lower 48. It has improved up here but the local internet provider is still sub par. It is low grade DSL. There is large disparity between what we pay for and what we actually get. If you are a big fan of complicated online games such as World of Warcraft the quality of our internet will put you at a disadvantage…or so I am told.

I know school there starts in August. Do you have to pay for book rental or anything?

All the books and everything at school are free. Really. You don't have to buy crayons or pencils or notebooks or anything.....but you can of course if that is what you and your children would like to do. They usually provide a folder or a binder of some sort depending on the teacher. Uyaana often likes to use one of his own that he likes better instead.

How much are school lunches?

School lunches are $2. Lunch is not ala cart. You just get whatever they are serving that day. Same with breakfast. I'm not sure how much breakfast is, but I am pretty sure it is less than lunch.

I couldn't find this info on the website. Do they have band at school? My son plays the saxophone.

I am not sure if there is band in the middle school. I think that in the past there has been a band. I think it depends on whether or not there is a teacher capable of teaching band. There is no band in the elementary school....except the fifth graders always learn to play the recorder for some reason.

Do they have any after school activities/clubs? He will be going into the eighth grade.

Yes, there are activities and clubs. For middle school I am not sure what they are. I know that for Uyaana the clubs available to him after school are homework, science, drama, reading. There is also wrestling and basketball for the elementary school. There are sports for middle school like cross country, basketball, wrestling, volleyball.

I see from your blog they have community baseball, do they have this for older boys as well?

It is actually community softball. There is adult and youth minor and majors. It is during the summer and not thru school. School sports are wrestling, volleyball, basketball and cross country.

I have learned that Kotzebue is a "damp" city. If you want get alcohol how do you go about doing that? I see that you can't send it through the post office, and you can't order it through like Sam's club so what option does that leave? I don't want mass quantities or anything but every once in a while it would be nice to have a wine cooler or beer

You can do it in a few ways. You can belong to a "wine club" and have wine sent to you thru UPS. You can bring specific allowed quantities back to Kotzebue with you. If you have over a certain amount it must be marked "alcoholic beverages" on the outside of the container in four inch letters. OR you can order it from one of several liquor stores in anchorage who will package it up and drop it off at the airport to be sent by cargo plane. **FYI Kotzebue is now "wet" and we have a liquor store.

Also I have been told numerous times that you do not need a vehicle there but I see that lots of people have them.

Technically no, you do not NEED a car.

How limited would someone be by not having a vehicle?

As far as I am concerned, you are not that limited without a car. However, I would consider a person to be VERY limited without a snowmachine, 4 wheeler and boat.

Can you actually drive out of town? If you can how far can you go?

With a car you can drive out of town about 7 miles to the beach. Then you run out of road. But it is nice to be able to drive down there. There is also a back road that loops about 8 miles round trip. With a four wheeler/atv you can drive much further down the beach.

What about if you want to go camping?

If you don't have a vehicle I guess you would be walking a LONG WAY.

Where can you go and do that?

If you don't have a vehicle I guess you could find a place to camp close to town but that wouldn't be very fun.

I see you recently went camping, how far away from Kotzebue did you go?

We go camping a lot...but we also have a boat and snomachines. We also have a camp on the Noatak River that is about 15 miles from town.

What kind of winter clothing do you suggest? I know it can get to around -50 before the wind chill but how often is it really that cold? Would you suggest jackets rated to -40, or would jackets rated to -25 be just fine. I grew up with winter days that frequently went to -15 - -20 before the wind chill, every once in a while it could get to be -27 or so, but nothing in the -40 range.

Well first, you all need skipants. And you need good boots. I suggest Baffin boots or Sorel boots rated to at least -100.. Don't get anything that says -25 or -40. It's just not warm enough. I have a pair of transalaska boots from cabelas that I LOVE....but that may be too much boot for you. I usually have two sets of everything, but I travel a lot in the country...so I usually have a warm jacket and a REALLY warm jacket. Same with skipants, hats, mits boots. I suggest cabalas or LLBean. If llbean rates it to -30 they are probably telling the truth. My advice, although everyone has their own taste......don't buy anything that fits perfectly. Jackets nowadays are often snug for women because that is what is in style. But if it is snug you cannot fit another layer under it and what good is that. same this with boots. If you are a size 8 get a size 9. Tight boots are cold feet for sure. Same with gloves or mitts. I prefer mist but that’s me. If you do not have a vehicle you will need all this anyway because there will be times when you will be walking to work in blowing snow with a windchill of - 30 and that is no picnic without a facemask and goggles.

This is my response to someone who wrote to me saying that they had a list of “must have’s” in regards to moving to Kotzebue....

A list of "Must Haves" and bush Alaska almost never go hand in hand. Bush Alaska consists of a lot of "Will Settle Fors", "Can Work Withs", and "It Would Be Nice Ifs".

There are very few 4 bedroom apartments here. Most places with that many bedrooms are privately owned. The rentals here tend to be two and three bedrooms. If you were lucky enough to find a four bedroom it would be very expensive, you’re looking at over $2000 a month.

Kotzebue has no movie theatre, no bowling alley, no indoor pool. There's no walmart, no costco, no roads in or out. We have a public library, several churches of various denominations, and a Boys and Girl Club. One of the things I tell people is that Kotzebue is a place where you need to make your own fun. If a person is dependent upon certain types of entertainment they are not going to make it here. Most of us do a lot of outdoor kind of stuff...boating, riding snowmachines, hunting, swimming, fishing, riding bicycles, camping, berry picking, having cookouts/campfires on the beach, stuff like that. We rent movies, play city league basketball, take our kids to kindergym twice a week, read, have hobbies.

As for medical care we do have a clinic here. It can do simple medical procedures such as simple broken bones, uncomplicated child birth, prescribing antibiotics both oral and IV, check ups, things like that. No surgical procedures such as appendectomies or things like that. Serious illnesses and injuries are medivaced to Anchorage. We have a specialty clinic of sorts here. Each specialty comes, I think, twice a year...such as neurology, nephrology, OBGYN, Pediatrics, etc.

This is not Middle America and you cannot bring Middle America expectations here and expect them to be fulfilled. A person really needs to come here with an open mind and leave there expectations behind. The weather is different, the people are different. The land is different. You either go with the flow or you wash out.

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November Sunset at Cemetery Hill

2010-11-11T18:27:00.001-09:00

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Staking Trail

2010-11-10T10:21:00.006-09:00

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This past Saturday we spent about 8 hours staking trail. This was mostly a portage trail on land with some of the trail crossing frozen lakes.

The land portions of the trail are marked with pole tripods that have reflective tape stapled to them. We had to follow along the trail standing up tripods that may have fallen down (if we could find them) replacing tripods if needed, and replacing reflectors if needed.

Uyaana was pretty much just along for the ride.

Every now and then the trail will cross a tundra lake like this one.

To stake the lakes we cut willows from nearby.

We need to get willows of basically the same diameter.

Then using a cordless drill with a 1.5" diameter blade you drill a hole into the ice.

Put the willow into the hole.

Put the reflective tape onto the willow.

On one of the lakes we saw some bear tracks.

The section of trail that we were staking was a total of 19 miles long.

We were only able to get about 12 miles of trail done on this day. It took us 8 hours to do that much.

Here is a screen shot from Google Earth that shows the approximate location of the section of trail we staked Saturday on the Baldwin Peninsula.

According to the Northwest Arctic Borough there are over 1,000 miles of maintained trails in the borough. This is just one of them. There are several other trails that we need to stake and we are just waiting for the ice conditions to be right before we start.

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Tracks in the Snow

2010-11-08T22:49:00.002-09:00

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Fox

Bear

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Winter Portraits

2010-11-03T08:33:00.000-08:00

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I Voted Today. Did You?

2010-11-02T13:23:00.001-08:00

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First Snogo Ride of the Season

2010-10-31T10:24:00.005-08:00

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Yesterday we took a ride out behind Kotzebue on the snogos.

There is barely enough snow, but we didn't care.

We were just glad to get out.

The sky was overcast but it wasn't too cold out so it was a nice day for riding around.

I came up over a hill and look what I saw....

...caribou!

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Halloween Parade

2010-10-29T20:24:00.003-08:00

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Every year the school has a halloween parade.

All the kids pre-K through 5th grade march around the gym in their costumes.

This year Uyaana was a werewolf.

Tonight was also the school Halloween Carnival. The classes have games or sell candy or slushies or have cakewalks...stuff like that. It's always crowded, noisy and hot. So this year I convinced Uyaana's dad to take him and I got to stay home. That was nice:)

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Pumpkin Carving

2010-10-27T11:14:00.003-08:00

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Last night Uyaana carved his pumpkin. I had my friend bring it up on her way back from Anchorage. It cost $6 in anchorage. If I had bought it here at the AC Store it would have cost at least $25. I forgot my camera at work so I had to take these photos with my Blackberry.

We are starting our first storm of the winter season.

Here is the current weather.

Here is our forecast

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2010-10-23T23:35:00.000-08:00

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Snow

2010-10-22T18:01:00.002-08:00

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Bikes on Ice

2010-10-21T07:12:00.000-08:00

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Hooking for Tomcods

2010-10-20T07:58:00.003-08:00

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People have been hooking for tomcods for several days now, but this is the first time I have has a chance to get out there.

As soon as the ice is barely think enough to support a person's weight there are people out there hooking.

I prefer to wait until the ice is a bit thicker than that...like at least 4 inches.

Uyaana did more playing than hooking which is usually the case.

Vic chopped us a couple holes wit the ice pick. This time of year the ice is thin enough that you don't need to use and auger.

Vic caught more fish than me. I'd like to say that he was humble about it and didn't rub it is but....not.

Uyaana stuck his fish in the water for about two minutes and then lost interest. Here he is holding up one of the tomcods I caught so I could take a pohoto of it.

Kinda ugly huh? But they are lots of fun to catch and they are usually easy to catch so you don't have to wait long before another comes. They are tasty too.

You can eat them any way you want but mostly we boil them whole, guts and all, or we freeze them and eat them raw and frozen dipped in seal oil.

I also caught one smelt. Just one.

I was hoping that I would get at least ten of them so I would have enough to put in a pan and fry but that wasn't the case. Anyway it was a fun evening out on the ice.

Blog Funk

2010-10-18T22:17:00.005-08:00

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It's official.....I am in a blog funk. I suppose it happens to the best of us for any number of reasons. Anyone who has a blog with daily content and photos will tell you it's A LOT OF WORK. You have to go out and take the photos, edit them, upload them, arrange the order of the photos and write the word content and then post it. That can easily take a couple hours a day. That is quite a lot of time for what is essentially a free service. There is no monetary compensation with this blog regardless of the couple ads on the sidebar. That was more of an experiment.

So what do I blame the funk on?? Well I would say that it is 80% academic and 20% lazy. That 20% lazy has always been there when it comes to blogging.....but this math class is killing me. It pisses me off that I am paying the University of Alaska hundreds of dollars to teach me algebra and then I have to find other people to actually teach me algebra because the University of Alaska sure as hell isn't. The class is online with elive. You wear a headset and you can talk and hear others talk and see the instructor write on the white board. Here are a couple screen shots to give you an idea of what it looks like during the class.....

This is a shot of most of the screen. The writing on that white board is live while the professor is talking. There are about 16 people in the class and a limited amount of time to cover certain amount of info so there is really no time to assist students like me who just aren't getting it. Basically I am on my own to find help to figure this stuff out.

This is a screenshot of one of the problems from tonight's class. Now maybe some of you can decipher this nonsense, but as far as I am concerned the professor might as well just speak Swahili. That's about how understandable this stuff is for me. VERY frustrating....and I have to PASS THIS CLASS WITH A B!!!!!!!

I think another problem I'm having that is contributing to my blog funk is the internet here in Kotzebue. Something has happened. It used to be that you could, for example, click on a youtube video and watch it and not have to let it download before you watch it. Not anymore. The internet has slowed down so much that you have to let the videos download several minutes before you can watch them uninterrupted. You might think it's because there is something wrong with my computer but I have noticed it on OTHER PEOPLE"S computers. Chime in here people of Kotz if you have noticed this as well within the last, ummm, maybe 5 months or so (not sure the exact date). So now I can only upload one photo at a time, which is very tedious and frustrating.

AND I guess another problem I have is that I'm really not much of a writer...meaning I CAN write, I just don't much like it so really I often just want to post photos with no narration. I sometimes feel like I am always just posting the same old photos and that's kinda cheap. Or that maybe people are getting tired of the same old thing. I guess this is where I need to remind myself that I do all this for free and should just post whatever the heck I want whenever I want and get over it.....but I really do care that there are three to four hundred people (amazing) that come to this blog every day and I feel bad when there is nothing new for them to see. So on top of being frustrated and lazy I now feel guilty as well.

So what I'm trying to say folks is I'm still here. I'm not throwing in the blog towel, but I just can't keep up the pace like I used to. Instead of new content 5-7 times a week you may only end up with two or three posts a week, unless I can motivate myself to pick up the pace a it.

But anyway, I just wanted to get all that off my chest.

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Belated Birthday

2010-10-14T20:31:00.002-08:00

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My birthday was on the 12th. I turned....ummm.......32. No Seriously. What do you mean you don't believe me? Anyway.....

....this is my belated birthday present from my hunny. He made me a computer desk :)

Here is the "birthday card" that went along with it.

The "card" had this song playing in the background. Who is this romantic guy and what did he do with Vic???

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Couch Potato

2010-10-13T20:22:00.001-08:00

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Doesn't Everyone.......

2010-10-09T12:04:00.002-08:00

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...butcher seals on their kitchen floor??

We went over to see my friend Karmen who was cutting up and ugrukchaiq, which means "young ugruk" (bearded seal).

We were really laughing becasue she skinned it head and all. She didn't know that you usually start cutting just behind the ear holes. She had to suffer some good natured teasing.

She took it in good stride and even cooked us some.

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Ice

2010-10-08T17:29:00.002-08:00

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Well as you can see it is getting colder. There is ice starting to form on the Swan Lake boat lagoon. The main part of the lagoon isn't frozen yet.

Here is a photo that was taken on October 7th of 2008. It was much more frozen that year than it is this year.

Most people I talk to seem ready for it to just hurry up and freeze so we can all get busy at the business of winter. People are dusting off their snogos and are looking forward to riding them.
I know that Uyaana is excited because this will be the first year he gets to ride his own snogo when we go somewhere.

Here is a photo of his 370 Arctic Cat. He had it last winter but I didn't let him drive it very much by himself. I figure that he is old enough to be able to drive his own as long as he is careful.

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