| Loose Animal Frustration |
[Jul. 4th, 2008|08:00 am] |
[UPDATE: The dog has run off and has not returned. I was unable to get the dogs information off its tags to pass along to Animal Control]
So, I called APD dispatch about 30 minutes ago to report about a loose dog that was harassing a moose with a calf in a dense patch of woods across the street from my house. A jogger had taken their sister's dog for a run and let the dog off the leash and SUPRISE (!) it bounded off to chase the moose. She was advised by the dog's owner via cell phone that you just have to let the dog run itself out. So, jogger leaves and says she will come back with the car. You may now envision me glaring at her and willing her to burst into flames.
APD advised me to call Animal Control. They were even kind enough to give me the number. So I called Animal Control and I got the voicemail, "Hi we're Animal Control. We're not open on this holiday, but leave a message." And I left a message with my contact information and I frankly don't expect a callback from our "no nights and weekends" animal enforcement. [Edit: Animal Control is indeed available nights, weekends and holidays for emergency situations - just make sure to punch the "animal attack" option when you reach the voicemail message and they will forward your call]
Great. I call APD dispatch back and let them know that Animal Control is closed and expressed my very real concern that this dog was creating a very real dangerous situtation, namely dog harasses the moose to the point where moose attacks anything, potentially any of the high number of children who walk and bike along John's Road every day - let alone a holiday weekend.
The dispatcher tells me that APD isn't equipped to corral loose dogs and that they only get involved when lethal force is required. So, basically nothing gets done unless the moose attacks somebody or the dog, vice versa.
Great.
So, let this be a warning: There is a harrassed moose on John's Road and Huffman. Please avoid the area like the plague unless you want to be the reason APD has to come out and use lethal force.
[Additional Edit: I am not angry with APD. I can completely see their end of things. Their job is corral people, not dogs. I've been frustrated with Anchorage's Animal Control system for years, but they have come through for me on a couple occassions where I had to report animal abuse. I guess I am frustrated that it took me and hour and half to figure out where to call to get to Animal Control's Emergancy dispatch number. After four years of working for the state, I'd like to think that I have a better than average understanding of how to navigate our sometimes complicated channels of government. I guess not.] |
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| Campsites? |
[Jul. 2nd, 2008|02:36 pm] |
Does anyone have any good recommendations for campsites? We're in Anchorage and don't want to go disturbingly far, maybe nothing really past Girdwood going south and nothing past Wasila going north? We're not looking for lotted campsites (like Eklutna), but not somewhere that we'd have to hike into. More like something you could drive to and park and camp. Does that make any sense? Haha! Thanks in advance for any info!
Edit: Also, we're using tents, not an RV or anything. Sorry, should've put that in earlier.. |
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[Jul. 2nd, 2008|12:07 am] |
i was almost just very honest to someone.
i think the honesty would have come across as mean.
that's probably the last thing she needs.
i think he's getting to me.
~
today while i was driving home from work I got stuck behind a pickup truck with a bumper sticker that read "I SUPPORT THE TROOPS AND THE PRESIDENT". while stopped at a red light, i seriously considered assaulting the driver. the consequences were the deterrent (the driver looked like a pussy).
i seriously considered visiting violence on another person because of his opinions.
~
sometimes i think that by the time i get my feet under me i'll be too old to do anything about it. |
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| Denali |
[Jul. 1st, 2008|07:04 am] |
Greetings all! I want to take three of my friends to Denali this summer (late August) and wanted some advice on good places to stay. I am looking for specific recommendations. I have never been there during tourist season. They don't want to do camping, but cabins are fine for them or on up to hotels. I think we may end up driving or might take the train. Not sure yet. Any tips on a Denali visit would be great. Oh..and I am in midtown Anchorage.
Thanks, all! |
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| Truth or just my coworkers scaring me? |
[Jun. 30th, 2008|11:13 pm] |
I heard today that the city of Anchorage does not recycle. And that soon, one of the trash companies will be offering a recycling option for an extra $6 a month.
When I asked if there are any recycling drop offs in the city, I was met with blank stares.
How is this possible? Perhaps this is my total Alaskan ignorance.... but I thought it would be a bit more progressive up here with environmental stuff...
So... fact or fiction? I'm hoping it is the latter! |
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| Home... |
[Jun. 30th, 2008|01:04 am] |
We made it home alive...zoned out and not really awake, but alive. We didn't do much other than settle in and get used to being at home Thursday though. Friday we went to see a matinée of Wall-E(very cute) and Ironman(again) and then went grocery shopping to restock the rather empty kitchen.
All in all the trip was ok. I saw some things I've never ever seen before in my life, and I think ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) angie_di might even forgive me someday for it all. She said the roller-coaster road coming off the Saddle, and the Jacaranda Inn and dinner at Merrimans the last night did alot towards improving her mood, so hopefully she'll end up with fond memorys of the trip. |
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| a confession that I wish I could be taken seriously. |
[Jun. 29th, 2008|09:54 pm] |
for someone who Shall Not Be Named: I am not a person prone to violent actions by nature, but the very thought of you kicks my imagination into deranged fantasies of brutality and physical harm.
for the friends list at large: do you feel the same way about anyone? |
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| Veeeery interesting.... |
[Jun. 28th, 2008|04:54 pm] |
So you guys know I barely post on here, nobody's suprised by it, but some things I hope you've heard about have happened recently. Some wonderful, lifechanging things for us Americans.
The Supreme Court has just ruled as of a few days ago that the D.C. Handgun Ban has been overruled, and for the first time in 70 years, made a ruling on the nature of the second amendment itself. It was stated, FINALLY, that it is our INDIVIDUAL RIGHT to own firearms, as framed by the constitution. This is huge. Everyone who knows my views on guns knows that I oppose gun control, mostly because it is a TOOL, whether used for crime or defense. Most importantly, I don't think everyone should carry a gun. Most are too incompetent or irresponsible to carry one without proper training, which even fewer get. However, the idea that ANY citizen might be armed could shake the crime world up a bit.
Also, something important as well, but not nearly as far reaching, is that the new G.I. Bill has been passed, and is retroactive for servicemembers in any service post-911. The amount has been increased to more than $80,000, whether you pushed the additional $600 in before the new one was approved (glad I didn't!), and members are also given a living allowance of equivelant E-5 rate with dependents, which makes it VERY worthwhile to actually go to school full-time and get that degree or cert done!
Every once and a while I get that little push from America that says "Hey, we're not ALWAYS douches to our own citizens!" |
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| on kissing girls |
[Jun. 27th, 2008|12:28 pm] |
1995:
2008:
there are no words. |
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| Last day |
[Jun. 26th, 2008|01:58 am] |
We left the Jacaranda inn at about 1030 or so to head to Hilo and our flights. We stopped at a greasy spoon for breakfast and also at Radio Shack in an attempt to find a headphone splitter so we could watch a movie while we waited in Lihue(4 hour layover). I was surprised at the Radio Shack...I skipped the MP3 section and headed for the audio section figuring the MP3 stuff would be overpriced and not what I needed. Turns out that was not the case, the audio section only had some mono to stereo y converters, and they cost more than the fancy audio splitter cable in the MP3 section. Color me surprised...the emp actually knew what she was talking about, so no "You've got questions, we've got blank stares" for the Radio Shack in Maimea. I have to admit that the best part of Waimea was the lack of humidity...it was the first time in the whole trip that I actually needed a blanket to sleep and was not sticky humid when I woke up.
We drove on though the rolling hills as we passed out of the drier grasslands and back into the greener tree'd areas of the eastern coast. I made a short detour to Wa'pio Valley just because(it was a 9 mile detour). The valley is impressive really, its a steep STEEP drive down the valley that we were not allowed to take. You have to have 4wd, 2wd or even AWD is not enough...its a 25%+ grade from the ridgeline to the bottom of the valley. Apparently the valley tends to stay green and damp and be excellent for growing even in the worst droughts, and its well protected where it sits with the steep canyon sidewalls. We stopped at the top to view it and take some photos, and then headed back. I think we were both pretty well traveled out, because neither of us really wanted to do much besides just get to Hilo. I kept thinking "I should stop for that...but I don't wanna" and she was just "nope, lets just get to the airport.
We got into Hilo with plenty of time to gas up the rental and rearrange our belongings into carryon vs checked and get to the gate. We got a fairly surly counter agent and I did not get a chance to see if they could check us all the way to Anch, so we had to pick up our bags in Lihue and recheck them(turns out we'd have had to anyway, because USDA does agriculture inspections to be sure you don't take any pests out of Hawaii and we couldn't do that in Hilo at that time). We also saw a rather odd bit of security theater when turning in the rental car...they made us pop the trunk so they could look inside it for security reasons, and I can't think of a logical reason for it.
We made our flight, and even made our fairly tight connecting flight from Oahu to Lihue(10 min between landing and theoretical start of boarding on the next fight...luckily it was delayed a and we had a chance to get something cold to drink). As we walked out of the terminal to get our bags in Lihue I turned to angie_di and said "I had a horrible thought...its 4 hours to departure, what if they won't let us check our bags yet?" We decided to fetch bags and go see...arriving on Hawaiian Air the bags were at baggage claim in 5 min, unlike when we flew in on Alaska and it took over an hour. We headed down to Agriculture and they told us that the Alaska Ticket counter didn't open til 730...crap, thats an hour away
We checked and sure enough, since Alaskan has only the one daily flight there is no one at the counter till 730. And to make matters even worse, the ticket counter area is open air...and it was hot and humid and nasty with no respite from it. We sat and read for awhile, then I went to see if USDA could inspect us now and ran our bags though(I don't see the point, its a simple xray, how do they see anything on it anyway?). As we waited there were more and more people there, and finaly about 715 someone showed up and started checking people in. We had left out bags in line to hold a place while we sat down(10 feet away, so we could watch them). We got unlucky here, as we got waved forward to a ticket agent that did not know what she was doing or had a computer issue and we ended up watching the entire line behind us disappear as they checked them in and we were still waiting. Ugh. They finally got everything straightened out and we headed off though security and into the terminal.
We got to the waiting lounge and first step was to find a seat next to a wall jack and use it to charge PDA's and my phone(I'd charged it this morning, but for some weird reason it burned though nearly all its battery in just a few hours). I also dug out my laptop and a movie and we attempted to watch it together, but angie_di was focused on her book, and the cheap earbuds she had from the trip out were so quiet that she could hardly hear. It didn't help that there is something broken on the audio with DVD playback where the voice track is nearly silent but the background track is LOUD(I need to troubleshoot this...its odd). I got my PDA charged and her's mostly charged and put away the laptop as it was nearing boarding time. We were going to take turns watching the gear while the other hit the restrooms before boarding, but when I got back just a few min later they'd already started and were nearly to us. ack...
Anyway...we're now over the Pacific somewhere, so I'll wrap up and grab some sleep before we land. Its a 5.5 hour flight, but the 3 hour time shift between Hawaii and Seattle means we don't land till 730am |
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| Circling the Big Island |
[Jun. 25th, 2008|02:34 am] |
We got up and finished packing this morning and managed to actually be checked out and on the road by 1030 or so...an impressively early start considering everything we needed to do this morning still. It was rainy all the way up to Volcano and beyond, so my hope of slipping back into the park and eyeballing the active vent in the caldera was dashed(too misty/cloudy to see anything). We pressed on and passed though the Kau Desert(I wonder if it got its years worth of rain in one day today :-) and made a short stop at a black sand beach just to see what it looked like. It was kinda cool, but the Green Turtles pulled out basking in the cloud was equally cool, and the turtle swimming in the tidepool eating alge was very cool.
We headed up the west coast after that, and started hunting up places to get real Kona coffee. The guidebook(Wizard Publishing's "Big Island Revealed" is highly recommended, it and its sister book "Kauai Revealed" have been godsends) mentioned several places they'd tried that had outstanding coffee but the only one that it gave more than just a phone number for was Greenwell Farms. We actually passed it and had to go back to find it. And damn am I glad I did. They have short tours of the coffee plantation they run(i was amazed to learn that while a coffee tree is usually retired and removed after about 40 years, the ones that they use to seed their farm on can be dated back to the original planting in 1900...thats 108 years old! All these trees do is create seeds for making new trees...they don't harvest beans for coffee from them any more because the yield is not the best), and airpots of freshbrewed coffee of all the varieties they sell. I sampled them, and was agog...Normally I drink my coffee loaded up with creamer and sugar to the point its hard to tell its coffee and am looking for something to rinse my mouth out with after I'm done. But not this stuff...I was drinking it black, and it was truly stellar coffee...just amazing stuff. I ended up getting a sampler pack for sionainn of 6 different kinds they sell, and some Peaberry and Private Reserve for myself. angie_di had to just about drag me away because I kept going back for more samples. Nummmmmy!!
We headed northward and passed out of the green area as we passed Kailua-Kona. I was surprised at how quickly the terrain changed on us, it went from steeply hilling sloping down to the sea and lush green, to flat with a gentle slope downward and bare lava rock abounding. Its mostly dark rock, with some red patchs, but the locals have come up with the most interesting way to graffiti it all. They take white rocks and arrange them on the black rock to say whatever they want to say...lots of X loves Y and peoples names and dates and what not. And this goes on for MILES...like 20 or 30 miles.
We bended eastward up iinto a grassy plain area between Mauna Kea(we could see the observatories we were at yesterday from here) and the Kohala Mountains up into Waimea. I'd intended to come up highway 190 into Waimea but we missed the turn and ended up coming up the coastal route on highway 19. I suspect that was probably prettier even if it is dry and barren. The area is mostly Parker Ranch land..its one of the largest private ranchs in the nation, and its total area is something like 9% of the Big Island.
We checked into the hotel and were stunned at the room we got. We're in the Begonia room at the Jakarinda Inn...its s suite with a front sitting room with 2 couchs and a tv/Armoir, a bedroom areay with a lovely kingsized bed and comfy chair, and the bathroom is monstrous with a doublesinked counter running the length, a walk in shower with room for 6, and a sunkin tub taking up the whole end of the bath. I think this room alone may have made up for the other hotel entirely.
We went to go find dinner and ended up learning that the restaurant we found in the guidebook had shut down months ago(serves us right for using the 4th Ed when the 5th Ed is out) and so we ended up at Merrimans for dinner. I was astounded..the waiter was a character and lots of fun, and the food was just sublime. the guidebook said that this used to be their favorite but another had surpassed it...I honestly don't see how it could, it was that good. Even as stuffed as I was after the meal, dessert sounded amazing so we got some, and it was just as good. I actually asked the waiter if there was anything there that was bad, because I hadn't sampled it yet(then left him a 35% tip). If you're in the Big Island area and looking for a very nice meal, try them. Not cheap but WELL worth it.
We got back to the room and vegged and watched a movie, then repacked all our bags to cope with the influx of new stuff. The one downside to the Inn is that it looks like they're trying to sell it, and the resturant and lounge are shut down and the place feels empty. Its partly by design..we're spread out across the property roomwise, but it still has an empty quiet feel to it(except when the wind shakes the bungalow we're in). Well, that and the wifi will connect, but the DHCP is borked and doesn't hand out addresses.
Its pushing on 1230am, so its time for bed and then the drive to Hilo and the flights home. Gonna be a long long day. |
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| urgh... |
[Jun. 24th, 2008|10:00 am] |
I'm still feeling the altitude effects a bit...its much better than when I was actually up there, but I'm loggy and headachy still. The sunset at 13,700 feet was worth it though, as was the stargazing at 9200 feet. :-)
We're off to Waimea now, and I don't believe I'll have net access till I get home Thursday but we'll see. |
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| Mauna Kea |
[Jun. 23rd, 2008|11:01 pm] |
Today we spent the morning wandering the mall looking for misc(I was looking for an adapter cable to hook either of the MP3 players into the car for the long trip tomorrow and she was just looking). We also checked a Hilo Hatties store just to see what it looked like, hit Borders where we had a run in with a creepy guy, and hit the Evil Place to buy an additional suitcase since we were sitting RIGHT at the 50lb limit on both bags. We also hit a Safeway for some containers for the pineapple we got(sorry, can't take it off the island or it'll be confiscated) and a few odds and ends. We dropped everything at the room and headed to Pescatori's for lunch(and a rather good Italian it was) before we took off.
We took a meandering tour of Rainbow Falls and the Boiling pot(with Pe'epe'e falls seen in the distance) but it was somewhat lackluster due to not a lot of water in the river. Its a rather rugged and jumbled area with lots of "Danger, this place can change in a flash, swim here only if you're an idiot with an up-to-date will" signs all over it.
We headed up the Saddle road after that, which is a twisty curvy "holy crap people drive this when they're NOT in need of a roller coaster?" road right up until you hit the construction and turns into some of the straightest road I've seen here. We had FUN on this road coming back down...even stopped, turned around, went back to redo a section...angie_di loved it and maybe I'm somewhat out of the doghouse now :-)
We hit the Visitor Center on Mauna Kea at about 2:30 or so. I hung out for awhile, watched the videos playing and read all the bulletin boards and then went and woke angie_di from her nap so she'd be awake at altitude and could adjust some(the VC is at 9200 feet and its STRONGLY recommended that you spend AT LEAST half an hour there acclimating). All total I think we were there about 2 hours, and I could feel the out of breath even there.
We headed up the last 10 miles(it goes from 9200 to 13500 feet in 10 miles of road) and it took about 45 minutes to do with a few stops for the car to cool off. I wanted to walk to Lake Wai-au(one of the highest lakes in the world at 13,020 feet, and is Permafrost fed) but I was a lot more out of breath and getting light headed just walking so we skipped the 15 minute hike. We drove around a bit up top and ended up at the Keck. Unfortunately its small VC closes at 4 and it was 530 by now so we did not go inside. We were both feeling the altitude at this point and getting a bit irritable and lightheaded. We had a Ranger check on us and see if we were ok, and tell us that you can't see the sunset though the building because its a big wall and we might want to go around, or go back up to the overview. I laughed and told him that we were here because it was cooler in the shade and sitting in the sun was still rather warm even though the air was cool.
We moved back up to the Observation point at about 630 or so and watched a truly amazing sunset dip down into the lower clouds and disappear. There were a lot of tour groups up there, but by the time we left they were almost all gone. The highest point we reached was 13,700 feet and even walking the 30 feet from the car to the outhouse would leave you out of breath and dizzy...I don't know how people work there for extended periods of time because it was kicking my butt.
angie_di showed off and SANG up there...several songs in fact. Showoff.
(she got dizzy when she sat down back at the car though :-)
We headed down at this point because it was dark and we'd been at altitude for 3 hours and the headaches were building. We made it back to the VC(at 9200 feet) and felt a bit better. As penance for dragging her up there I had to get her a glow in the dark Space Jacks set and a hot chocolate. The VC does star viewing every night from 6-10pm and its amazingly crisp and clear there. They had one of their bigger telescopes on a dim cluster and then on M104...neat stuff. The other one though, was on saturn...it was so cool I had to grab angie_di and drag her and her hot chocolate over to see it. It was awesome to see a tiny Saturn floating in the middle of the viewpiece.
We headed home after about 30 minutes of viewing..it was getting late and we have a long day tomorrow. Going to check out and head up to Waimea(Big Island Waimea, not Kauai Waimea) where we're staying our last night, but we're going via the south end of the island...3.5 hour drive, but I'm sure it'll take 5 or 6 for us. |
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[Jun. 23rd, 2008|11:31 pm] |
Just so my livejournal doesn't devolve into WoWBlog:
Kurt Vonnegut said that in writing a story, one should start as close to the end as possible.
I have devised an end, and I am working backwards. |
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| So far, so good.... |
[Jun. 23rd, 2008|10:37 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  amused | ] |
My husband and I have been in Anchorage for a solid week now. After our craigslist housing fell through (long story short--- nothing was done when we got there--- no doors on, floors not finished), we got our deposit back and found something new that was managed... at least for the time being. We signed a 6 month lease at The Legacy (which thus far is nice. I think I saw someone else on here lives here? One of the reasons why we green lighted it). In any case, we hiked Flattop mountain on the first day of summer (did not camp on the top as we had our dog with us), which was amazing to do at 7 p.m. My husband has been fishing at the Russian River a few times (going again tomorrow) and also is hunting out other good spots as well.
We have found a gym that we really love (World Gym-- worth the drive for us-- a very no frills 24/7 gym, which is what we were looking for), and are enjoying our last week of freedom before work starts on the 30th.
I am currently hunting around for Yoga studios in the area... any recommendations? I saw one by Organic Oasis and got a brochure... but wanted to know if anyone had an opinion. In L.A. I knew the ones to go to and to avoid... but word of mouth is best.
Thanks for all of your help with the transition!! We're looking forward to melding into the culture up here, slowly, but surely. At least we have our licenses/vehicles registered so that we don't stick out quite so much... :) |
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| vashj lollery |
[Jun. 23rd, 2008|09:55 pm] |
Vashj down. mage kiting striders. I sit corrected.
[edit] also, i was putting out over 1k tps when i wanted to. And when they were on me, they were pasted on me and weren't going anywhere. |
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| Posters |
[Jun. 23rd, 2008|08:04 pm] |
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Where in Anchorage can you have LARGE posters printed quickly? I assume Kinkos, but is there anywhere else? |
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| Teeth Update |
[Jun. 23rd, 2008|12:48 pm] |
Cleaning/Root Scaling @ 50% (final chunk of this procedure is scheduled for 7/3/08).
6/17/08 - realized I had an infection in my gumline, upper right (the 3/4" diameter pus ball was a good clue).
6/18/08 - visited my dentist. Doc Walther wasn't in, but Doc Keeler was, and I like his style.
"Yup, that's infected"
"yes, sir, that's why I'm here. Can I have an antibiotic perscription?"
"Oh yeah, definitely. Also, this is going to hurt."
"WHAT?"
*Stabbity*
"gloorrrrrrrg *hack hack hack*
So dude lanced me, scribed me some penicillin (which is working wonderfully, with accompanying minor nausea), and I'm back on my merry way.
Not bad.
Then comes Friday. 6/20/2008. Three Extractions, IV sedation.
they tell me they used Halcyon - a dissociative. Apparently, while this stuff works incredibly well for it's intended purpose, it turns me into the Tasmanian Dickhead.
My last memory from Friday Before is sitting down in the chair and the IV needle going in. Flash of red-fire-OMG-NOT-BLOOD-IN-BLOOD-SYSTEM, then cold, then.. nothing.
Not even fade to black. This is just, someone kicked the projector of my POV off the damn table and clear out the window. I'm _gone_.
I have some fuzzy memories of talking about the side effects of this drug with Raven, and playing City of Heroes. Apparently I tried to get in a fight and go 'walkies', also.
I'm not sure - I wasn't _there_, you see.
Saturday, I had solid food.
Sunday, I had steak.
I am _amazed_ at the speed of the recovery here. |
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| oh yeh... |
[Jun. 22nd, 2008|11:11 pm] |
And angie_di and I figured out how to describe the Coqui frog sound. Its just like the science consoles on Star Trek:TOS. The beepwhoop is almost exactly like it. |
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tired
contemplative