Humans are funny

OK - just a little observation on "The Weird" from my travels through cyberspace...

Have you ever noticed the amount of people who are "anti-" that end up joining and posting on "pro-" forums and then just proceed to bitch and gripe and cast aspersions? What is up with that? You have this tiny little haven for "believers" to discuss things and share ideas; and then all the sudden some bully shows up and poisons the place with animosity. Don't these people have anything better to do than seek out people with differing views and attempt to humiliate them?  You'd think they'd find their own forum that shares their view point.....

This is something I absolutely cannot fathom.  If something thinks that "Green" is total bunk, why go to a "Green Living" forum? If something thinks that living in the city is awesome and people who live in the country are ignorant hicks who live in shacks, why go to a "Small Town Living" forum?  The list goes on, my friends, these are just two examples. Are these people just so intolerant of a differing opinion that they must actively seek out avenues to spread their bile and crush the "opposition"?

There are probably millions of forums catering to ideals that I personally don't believe in, or maybe even find distasteful, but I don't waste my time seeking them out and then take every opportunity to rail against them and make derisive comments. What do I care what they think and do? They can have their beliefs and their own little corner of cyberspace, it's no skin off my back. OK, maybe I'm just a little more tolerant, but seriously, I also just plain have better uses for my time.

People are funny.

Random weather and other woes

Freaky spring weather - one day the Low is 20 below and the next it's 20 above, some days there's only a 10 degree difference between High and Low and other days it's almost 40, some days it snows, other days it melts, and it's almost always windy. It's not officially Breakup since we haven't had any sustained melt yet, but I don't think it's too far off.  It's a little tough on the body to handle 40 degree shifts in temps from day to day, you're either freezing or roasting as you try to adjust.

We're both still battling the crud. Don't know whether this is the same cold that won't go away, several colds back to back, or if I picked up something entirely different in Fairbanks. I think this latest iteration is probably something new from Fairbanks since it's messing up my guts something horrible and making me really really tired all the time. The weather isn't helping either, I'm sure. Needless to say, G's been doing most of the firewood scavenging because everytime I go out to help I wind up in bed again. Frustrating!!! Doubt we'll get the rest of the trail cleared by next Sunday like we were hoping. Ultra-frustrating!!!

Also, it appears that Sonja didn't make it out of that run off the road entirely unscathed... we seem to have a slow leak in rear tire, which is now almost flat. Can't tell if it's a puncture of some sort, or if I just lost the seal when I plowed into the snow bank. Oh well, we'll have to run the compressor to fill it up and pray it doesn't need to be replaced immediately... which would mean another trip into Fairbanks if the tire holds out that long, because the tire and rim weight too much to take it on the mail plane into the city (ooops!). We do have replacement tires, but I don't think anyone in Manley has a way to get it on the rim... and I really don't want to mess with unmounting and mounting tires without the proper equipment since that can be really dangerous. We'll just have to do what we have to do. Luckily we're not in any desperate need for transportation at the moment.

I got 90% finished with the building plans and then realized I forgot something that is going to change the whole model. ARG!!!!  But at least I'm getting lots of practice using SketchUp, so redrafts aren't taking as long as they were before. And can I just say that building stairs is a major PITA!! Not just modeling stairs, but actually figuring out how to get a usable staircase to fit in your tiny house, within the major framing, and still be marginally close to code-compliant. We don't actually need to be code compliant, but I don't want to be falling down my stairs and breaking my a$$ all the time either... that's one of the reasons I'm trying to put stairs in instead of the typical loft ladder. I'm such an uncoordinated spaz that stairs and ladders can be very dangerous creations.  Ahhhh, the joys of doing everything yourself!  But at least I got all my engineering math done, so all I have to do is move the pieces around until every fits and is stable.

Awwww Sheeeeeeeyit!

That's what goes through your mind as you're flying off the road into a snow bank. It happens to everyone at least once at some point or another... some people are lucky enough not to have it happen often or in any dangerous spots.

Me? Well, I'm lucky -- both in a bad way and a good way.

On my way into Fairbanks at dawn yesterday, the roads were a bit slick because it has been a little warm and we had thaw/freeze ice in some parts. I was already driving slowly when I came around a blind curve and almost ran smack into a grizzly bear in the middle of the road. Luckily for both of us, there was a patch of ice right there and I skidded off into a ditch on the shoulder instead of plowing into Mr. Bear.  He took off into the woods and I managed to muscle my way out of the ditch with judicious use of 4WD and forward-reverse rocking.

The Weather Liars, well LIED, again, as usual. Those light intermittent snow flurries were neither light or intermittent; but I was already half-way to Fairbanks and we really needed to pick up G's asthma meds (I am really getting PO'd at the pharmacy right now!) so I continued onward. Ok, so the snow lightened up closer to town and it was pretty warm when I got there... so maybe there was hope.

Haha - NOPE. About an hour through my combat shopping it started to snow in Fairbanks... hard. So I powered through the rest of the mandatory shopping and beat it out of town. The plows were running on the main part of Elliott Hwy, so that looked promising. Unfortunately, the truckers going to and from the oil fields don't care about the plows, and one nearly creamed me since he'd swung out into the oncoming lane to plass the plow at a not-so-ideal stretch of the road. OK - no worries, crisis averted there.

But, the plows hadn't made it to the unpaved portion of the Elliott and it had evidentally been snowing all day... and it was starting to snow even harder. Great... this was going to be a long, slow trip. So, I'm tooling along at maybe 30 (tops), taking it nice and easy on the curves and hills, when all sudden, for no obvious reason whatsoever, Sonja decides that she just really wants to go left right now. So, wham, there we go right off the road, into the ditch with snow up past the runner boards. To make matters worse, there was a ledge about 3 feet away with a medium drop-off. I probably wouldn't die if I went off that ledge, but I definitely would roll the truck and then slide down the rest of the hill. So, I tried a little 4WD rocking... no dice, she was totally dug in and my efforts were making her creep slowly toward the ledge. All the trees that were strong enough for me to winch myself out with were down hill. Great, time to start shoveling and hope someone came by soon.

And, of course, guess what I'd taken out of the truck and forgotten to put back in... you guessed it, the shovel. Not to be paralyzed by such a monumental screw up, I started digging by hand with a tupperware bowl. About 30 minutes later some folks from Minto came past and we started digging her out properly with their shovels. About 10 minutes later, my neighbor's uncle and cousin came past and they decided to try and tug me out with our tug straps. So, we tried tugging me backward downhill. Ewwww... no dice! That just put me even closer to the ledge since the tires were dug in so deep I couldn't turn the wheel, and there was enough resistance that he was starting to skid all over the road behind me. So, back to digging.

And they wouldn't let me help :(  I don't know if it was because I was a girl, or that I appear so small and frail, or because I'm a Cheechako, or just because I was the one in trouble. Watching other people work on my behalf while refusing to let me help really makes me feel bad. But we did eventually get her dug out and back on the road. Since I'd just come from shopping, I offered them whatever groceries they might want from the bounty in thanks for their help... but only a couple accepted a drink. Gosh, now I really felt bad.

I made it home, driving even slower since it was snowing even harder. And that's when I fell apart for a few seconds... because even where I was, I could really have died going off the road like that. If I'd gone off just another half-mile up the road, I would have been where there was almost no shoulder and gone off down a very steep drop-off that would really have punched my ticket. Sometimes being able to remain totally calm and methodically detached during an emergency situation has it's drawbacks... total emotional and adrenal meltdown once you're safe and the crisis is over.

Needless to say, I'm not driving into Fairbanks again until after Breakup. I'll break the law and illegally mail order G's meds if I have to... I'm NOT going through that drive again!  And, next year, I'm just going to seriously stock up on everything, get his meds sorted out, and plan not to go into town at all between October and April (which was the original plan before getting the dog and having issues with the pharmacy).

Oh My Aching Head

It's definitely spring... Alaska spring.  That Chinook which brought us a week of warm weather blew itself out and the temps dropped, but now it's warming up again slightly and we got some more snow. Rapidly shifting weather is a sure sign of spring. Figure we'll start seeing some real melt in a few more weeks. We'll need to make a trip in Fairbanks to stock up for Mud Season before Breakup makes the roads horrible... lucky for me that it's Gungnir's turn to go mwuahahahaha.  Of course, I shouldn't gloat since I'm going to have to go in to get our taxes done before deadline... man, will I be glad when all that nonsense is settled and there isn't anything seriously complicated with our tax situation anymore so I can easily do them myself again without assistance! With any luck, 2009 & 2010 will be the last complicated returns we have to file and after that Uncle Sugar won't be reaching quite as deeply in our pockets anymore.

Of course, the wonky weather is playing hell with our sinuses and we got the obligatory spring head cold. True to form, G-man got it hard and early since he's more prone to sinus issues; and I've got it milder and longer since my problem area is my gut (I normally get knocked down in the fall with tummy bugs instead). We're not laid up, just seriously dragging and lacking motivation.  I kinda wish that I could just get it bad so it would go away, cuz this lingering nonsense just makes me feel craptastic but not really bad enough to justify not working and huddling up in bed instead. Nothing like cutting trail and hauling firewood in the cold and wind when it feels like someone is kicking you repeatedly in the face with golf cleats! Blech! I forgot about this part of Alaska spring ;)

Brings to mind an episode of "Northern Exposure" when everyone is telling Doc Joel that he's going to get Glacier Fever and he says it's utter nonsense because there is no such ailment. And then he gets laid up sick and has to take their advice. I seriously think there is something to that. I've moved around so many times I've almost lost count, and getting used to Alaska comes with way more "acclimation illness" than any other place I've been. I think there is something else to contend with here besides getting used to different bugs and beasties in a new location and climate... like the land itself is testing your mettle and constitution. If you can survive and thrive your first year, then you're pretty much set LOL.

A friend in the village reminded us again that the true definition of a "Sourdough" is someone who's sour on Alaska but doesn't have enough dough to leave.  Well, I guess that means that we're not sourdoughs, even if we did make it through our first winter in a wall tent, cuz we still aren't sour on Alaska and have no plans to leave. Gladys, the village matron, says we must have been born Alaskans at heart since we aren't crippled by the cold and didn't come running for the warmth and convenience of the rental cabin even when it got down to -47F.  And I gotta admit, it feels good to get a vote of confidence from an old-timer. Seems we surprised everyone by lasting out here like we did and not coming into the village or running off to Fairbanks... hope no one lost any significant money on the betting pool, and that at least one person bet we'd make it :)

Has Spring sprung?

Third day in a row that it's been above freezing, which is odd this time of the year. Maybe Spring is coming early, or maybe Mom Nature is just gearing up for a really nasty end-of-winter cold snap. Hard to tell, so we're just enjoying the warm temps and sunshine as long as it lasts.

We only need to keep the stove barely going, and just making meals is pretty much enough to keep the tent warm throughout the day... so we don't have to spend all our usable hours collecting deadites for firewood. We took another set of bearings and have cut another 100 or so yards of trail and will continue on that heading until we reach the center marker. Trail vs. driveway -- trail is wide enough that we can get the ATV down, and driveway is wide enough that we can get the truck down (without folding in the mirrors LOL).

Once we get the trail cut we can widen it and hopefully straighten it out a bit, cuz right now we're meandering a little as we lose sight our landmarks in the denser patches of trees and have to navigate around deadfalls and tussocks buried under the snow.

We did try to take the Billy Goat through, but only succeeded in snapping the starter pull cable. Figures! But I guess running a brush mower through snow banks might not be that effective anyway. So we'll get a new cable when we're in Fairbanks next, and just continue clearing the trees out of the way in the meantime. Once all the mud from Breakup dries up it'll be easy to take the Billy Goat through and munch up all the rest of the stuff. And while it's still muddy we can winch out the stumps we left behind and that'll make mowing even easier. Can't do much else here during mud season unless you want to get stuck!

Once we clear out the main trail we'll probably take more scouting trips into the rest of the property, see if we can find more cool and nifty locations. It's funny how deceptive 80 acres can be. On one hand it's a LOT of space, but on the other hand it can seem really small. I mean, when there's a clear trail of sorts, it hardly takes any time (comparatively) to walk the distance north to south (our short distance) or east to west (our long distance). Diagonal is the hard part since there isn't any survey trail cut in that direction... which, of course, is the path we're cutting in for the driveway!

Of course, we're not contending with understory and brush this time of year, just snow... maybe that makes a difference. Right now, it seems weird that we stopped to build the tent platform here instead of continuing just a few hundred yards to the sentinel tree; but I remember how horribly time-consuming and grueling cutting in this far was during the summer/fall with the tussocks and mosquitos. Kinda why I want to get the trail at least mostly cut in before it gets too warm!

Scouting

It was almost above freezing today, so after we did our daily deadite patrol we decided to go on a little scouting foray around the property.

Even with the GPS, hiking through the snowy woods was a bit of a challenge. It's amazing what a couple of feet of snow and bizarre sun angle can do for your sense of direction. It totally changes the landscape and makes you lose track of where you were when you saw something before, and some pathways are no longer obvious or navigable. Luckily I'd marker painted/taped a few trees this summer or we never would have found some of the things we wanted to check on (we remembered to add marker points on the GPS this time!). Of course, I did paint some of the path arrows on the ground like an idiot, those were totally useless buried under the snow.. DOH!

But we did manage to find our center marker again without getting too lost, and two of the major landmarks we wanted to check on.

The first one is what we call the "Sentinel Tree", it was pretty easy to find this one once we got close enough to see through the other trees. I'd estimate this baby is about 150' tall, and I can just barely wrap my arms around the trunk. It's the tallest & biggest (living) tree in this section and has a commanding view of the acres around it. One day, when I'm feeling frisky (and G-man isn't there to stop me with his safety concerns), I'll have to scamper up there to see what I can see.

There's a reasonable clearing of sorts right here, and the few larger trees we'd have to clear are the right size and straightness to make building logs for the main house. So, we might consider putting the Shanty here and spreading out the rest of the homestead from this point. It is a little closer to the northern and western boundaries than ideal; but we'd have plenty of room to expand to the south and east, which would keep any buildings from blocking the sunlight on the pastures/fields/garden..

But we somehow managed to lose the "Secret Garden" for a while and had to backtrack our trail a few times. It's a circular clearing right in the middle of some really big trees, with a large clearing of sorts just on the other side of them.  We were hoping that there was a spring here since it was really lush and almost boggy in the summer, but we couldn't see any surface water, ice or melted areas. One might still be a spring there, making it a little warmer, as the snow isn't as thick there. There has to be some reason such a large stand of trees popped up right in the middle a huge chunk of baby trees. At the very least, it does indicate that there isn't much/any permafrost right here... so we might be able to sink our pier footings if necessary. We'll have to come back and check it again after Breakup; maybe do some probing to see if test holes fill up with water. It would be excellent if we could drive a shallow well right here since it's located a convenient distance from our center marker which is pretty much a huge clearing just begging for pastures and buildings.

I also wouldn't feel too bad about cutting down some of the larger trees around the "Secret Garden" since they're weather bent.  Yeah, this is not an example of a prime building log! Although it could make a pretty neat set of (non-load bearing) porch posts and railings. I feel bad about cutting down larger trees that aren't large enough to use as house logs since it takes forever for trees to get big here; but these bent trees are going to break or fall down on their own soon enough, so cutting them down and making firewood or something decorative out of them doesn't bother me as much. I'm sure plenty of folks think I'm crazy (or a bleeding heart tree-hugger) for taking the extra effort and time to bend my driveway around or move where the house might be located just so I don't have to cut down a nice tree... but, hey, with 80 acres I'm positive that I can find a building site that doesn't require me to needlessly murder too many perfectly good trees just because they're "in my way" :D

Both these locations seem to be reasonably sound, and are apparently well-sheltered during the winter if the number of squirrel's nests we found are any indication. The number of squirrels nests, hare trails, and porcupine tracks we found also mean that the soil in this area might be decent enough to grow the garden in, or at least the pastures, since there is all sorts of munchy debris at the base of all the trees. Gotta figure that if the wildlife think a place is a good home, with good food and good shelter, it might just be a good place for your home, too.

Of course, that means you might have to contend with your place being overrun with squirrels... and we all know they're annoying and theiving little bastards! Porcupines and a big hyper dog with a high prey drive might be a bad combo though! Ripley is pretty good at keeping the hares at bay so far, so hopefully they wouldn't survive scavenging in the garden too well (but that's what electric polywire is for anyway!). At least we didn't see too many large animal tracks at either of these locations, so it looks like they aren't on any major migration or foraging paths... good to know!

If the weather holds out, we'll probably venture to the east or south sections that we really haven't explored much yet. Who knows?! We might find the ultra-perfect site right around the corner :)

Jeans and a T-Shirt

Ok so today we're still experiencing our February heatwave. It was about 30 degrees, nice weather not too cold, not too hot. Problem is when you've acclimatize to -20 or so, when you rapidly warm to these kinds of temperatures, you seriously feel it. Maybe it's just dressing inappropriately, your so used to sticking on sweaters, jackets long johns, three pairs of gloves and two hats that you routinely dress for cold, and when it's not, you suffer in the heat. I was out on deadite patrol, and when I came in I had sweat running down my nose.

Anyway... I noticed that we have 24 followers, which is about 20 more than I'd expected when we started this. Hello to those relative newcomers and welcome to our humble blog. So must be going dinner's a-cookin' on the stove, and I need to get used engine oil off after giving an oil change to our generator.