Hello Jackal I didn't realize you're a fellow Alaskan (although I now live in WA state I will always consider myself an Alaskan). We got a bit of Kotzebue weather here (I'm 60 mi NE of SEA) just before the holidays - 97 mph sustained winds, 4 ft of snow w/drifts to 8 ft - to be honest I was glad to be on my way to AZ on the Coast Starlight - even though we were 22.5 hrs late getting to LAUS. My gazebo bit the big one -at least my house in Spokane didn't lose it's roof like my favorite gardening store did! Then I came back to floods - again dodged the bullet water everywhere but not my house here. I'm very thankful.
Well, four days ago it was perfectly still and nearly -30 at my house. Yesterday it was +34 with freezing rain and wind gusts on upper Hillside approaching 100mph. What a change! All of the melting/refreezing snow and ice has made things durn near intolerable here--they actually closed the university, stopped running the city buses, and (I heard this third-hand) closed the Glenn Highway. Honestly, I didn't think the roads were
that bad, but in neighborhoods or on parts of roads with poor drainage, it was rather slick. (I just found it interesting because people are so used to inclement weather here that it takes a
severe issue to make them do something drastic like this, whereas when I was growing up in CA, they'd close every road in the county for 1/8" of snow.
It's neat to see other AK people in the discussions -- makes it seem almost like old home week, lol. Are you really a conductor, or is that a designation based on activity in the message boards (obviously I am still learning how to do message boards) Heck, we didn't even have email when I left Kotz -- am dating myself - and that shouldn't be a solo experience. Take care & I'd love to hear of you wide variety of travels TTFN, wanttoride
The "conductor" designation is just a function of the message board. Guess I can tell the engineers what to do!
I actually was a brakeman on the Alaska Railroad for a summer--had a blast, but trying to fit school in the seasonal unpredictability of work was rather difficult, so I chose to finish my studies. Once done, I wouldn't be opposed to a job on Amtrak, at least for a little while. (The ARR's nice, but I'd get sick of seeing the same 500 miles of track over and over and over.) But I also now have some very exciting job prospects that may line up for me in a few months, so we'll see what happens with that.
Whooz suggested a trip report on my recent escapades in NYC and France. School papers come first (yeah, right
), but we'll see about putting something up in a bit...
