| Grex > Agora56 > #41: Life in Ketchikan, Winter 2006. |
| response 56 of 95: | 
Feb 5 20:07 UTC 2006 |
Looks like a nice retirment place.
| response 57 of 95: |
Feb 5 21:35 UTC 2006 |
re #56: > Looks like a nice retir[e]ment place. Not so much, I'd think, for most people, though retirees who can afford to do so seem to enjoy spending summers in Ketchikan and winters somewhere drier.
| response 58 of 95: |
Feb 5 22:38 UTC 2006 |
Very nice pictures Mike, you make it seem like I was just there on a tour of your town! =^o.o^=
| response 59 of 95: |
Feb 6 17:23 UTC 2006 |
re #57 Well, yea. I was thinking when we're not at our chalet in Nice, France. ;)
| response 60 of 95: |
Feb 6 18:10 UTC 2006 |
I was sort of picturing you as a mountaintop-castle high in the Carpathians type..
| response 61 of 95: |
Feb 6 18:24 UTC 2006 |
re #60 Speaking of the hounds of baskerville, did you hear about the japanese businessman that got killed by the stray dogs in Romania?
| response 62 of 95: |
Feb 6 19:04 UTC 2006 |
No. One of the creepiest places I've ever camped was a campground in Canyon de Chelly (on the Navajo reservation in east-central Arizona.) There was a pack of dogs roaming the campground and I really didn't feel safe going to sleep there. I love dogs, but feral dogs roaming in packs are definitely *NOT* a good thing..
| response 63 of 95: |
Feb 6 19:17 UTC 2006 |
Yea, that's the Carpathians for you. Plenty of fog and dog. A real "retreat"! I wouldn't wish that place on any retiree.
| response 64 of 95: |
Feb 22 23:34 UTC 2006 |
In a strong early move to cement the coveted "Moronic Legislator of
the Year" award, a Soldotna, AK, state representative has begun
agitating to end ferry service between southeast Alaska and the
southern terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway System in Bellingham,
WA.
From the 02/20/06 Ketchikan Daily News:
"A state representative has sponsored a resolution to
terminate ferry service between Washington and Alaska.
Rep. Kurt Olson, R-Soldotna, says he hopes to put some
pressure on Washington's congressional delegation, which
opposes opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to
oil drilling.
'Certainly we're not going to hold the state of Washington
hostage,' until its delegation members support drilling,
Olson said, The resolution is more of an 'exercise born
in frustration,' he added.
I love the part about not holding the state of Washington hostage.
| response 65 of 95: |
Feb 22 23:44 UTC 2006 |
THINK GREEN
| response 66 of 95: |
Feb 22 23:49 UTC 2006 |
My friends in Bellingham are quaking their boots. Maybe we can get somebody in Olympia to deny Alaskans emergency medical treatment at Harborview in an effort to refrain from holding the state of Alaska hostage.
| response 67 of 95: |
Feb 22 23:58 UTC 2006 |
Put a tariff on all LORAN and REI exports to Alaska! <slams starbucks caramel macciato soy sugarfree hazelnut with room on table>
| response 68 of 95: |
Feb 23 02:18 UTC 2006 |
clam down plesco you'll only make things worse.
| response 69 of 95: |
Feb 23 06:51 UTC 2006 |
But its MY ferry!
| response 70 of 95: |
Feb 23 06:54 UTC 2006 |
Re resp:64: I just saw that in the Seattle Times, today. It seems like a move that's more likely to hurt Alaska than Washington, unless I'm missing something. Does it have any chance of passing?
| response 71 of 95: |
Feb 23 07:01 UTC 2006 |
Victoria Clipper will fly the Exxon flag while shipping Mexicans north for oil rig detail.
| response 72 of 95: |
Feb 23 07:36 UTC 2006 |
re #70: No, there's no way it will pass. He's a laughingstock for proposing it.
| response 73 of 95: |
Mar 14 18:08 UTC 2006 |
I woke up this morning to muffled scraping sounds coming from the direction of my next-door neighbors' driveway and realized (after a few more minutes of lounging in bed) that that meant there must have been significant snowfall overnight. Where I lived it only turned out to be a few inches but it's remarkable how pretty this town looks under a coat of fresh-fallen snow. Roofs look white and clean and in a landscape bleached of color weatherbeaten houses look vivid again and everywhere the towering trees, which in normal weather have a tendency to visually blend into each other on the hillsides, stand starkly highlighted in pristine white. And I think I've remarked before on how much I enjoy watching the snow from the house I moved into this past year. I really like being perched on the hillside where I can watch the flakes spiral down and settle on the town and trees below. Lest I make it sound too idyllic, however, I ought to point out that it took me about 10 minutes to force my car doors open this morning; they were iced up pretty thoroughly, and it doesn't help that they've got these flimsy recessed handles that don't allow you to exert any amount of real force on the door without fearing that you're going to snap the latch off completely. And furthermore I'm suffering some small pangs of regret this morning, inspired by the fact that I'm too old to benefit from the local school district's snow day and too conscientious to simply call in sick or play hooky to go out and enjoy the snow..
| response 74 of 95: |
Mar 17 07:34 UTC 2006 |
For photo fans, 12 recent photos of my house and neighborhood in the recent snow: http://www.dfred.net/~mcnally/Winter.html
| response 75 of 95: |
Mar 17 07:56 UTC 2006 |
i wish my house was on stilts. :(
| response 76 of 95: |
Mar 17 14:26 UTC 2006 |
Man, you sure have one heck of a view from that house.
| response 77 of 95: |
Mar 17 17:50 UTC 2006 |
What slynne said - what a picturesque place you live in!
| response 78 of 95: |
Mar 17 18:06 UTC 2006 |
re #74 My toes got cold just looking at that.
| response 79 of 95: |
Mar 17 18:07 UTC 2006 |
Lovely place. The winters would deter me though.
| response 80 of 95: |
Mar 17 18:27 UTC 2006 |
There's no doubt that the view is one of the things I love about the house. I should take some pictures from the empty third-floor apartment sometime; the views are even better from up there. (The apartment, however, is a real mess, and is in need of total renovation..) What I've really been appreciating lately, though, is how nice my neighborhood is. It's been snowing all week and one of my nearby neighbors, who lives down on the street where my car is parked, has been sweeping my car off in the mornings when he comes out to clear his steps. And yesterday someone shovelled a path to my stairs -- I think it may have been that the teacher next door, who had a snow day and was shovelling in front of her own place, just decided to continue on a few more feet and do mine, but it might also have been the other next-door neighbors. They stopped at my house during the day, while I was at work, to use my shower (at my invitation) because their pipes have frozen and they won't have running water until they can get them thawed.. It's all very neighborly and congenial.. It's not that I've *never* lived in a neighborhood that was as active and friendly as this one but it's been a long time -- in Ann Arbor I mostly lived in pretty transient student-oriented neighborhoods and when I moved to Washington I found Bellevue to be cold and suburban, with little interaction with the neighbors. I lived there for three years and I'm afraid I probably wouldn't recognize the people who lived next door..