The Last 12 Months in Perspective

► 2007 (355)

Happy happy 2008 World Bloggers and readers!

Here is what NOT to do with your snow machine:

Case number: 07-108009

Type: MVC- Injury, off highway

Text: On 12-30-07 at approximately 1710 hours, Troopers responded to a cabin at mile 88 of the Parks Highway to investigate a collision between a snowmachine and a pedestrian. Investigation revealed that Kyra Peterson, age 28 of Anchorage, had wedged a glove into the throttle lever on her snowmachine so that the throttle would be open as she attempted to start it. Peterson started the snowmachine and the snowmachine accelerated without Peterson on it. The snowmachine traveled approximately 450 feet and struck Kyle Houghton, age 33 of Willow, at approximately 30 MPH. The snowmachine then struck a Ford Ranger and a Chevy Blazer that are both owned by Houghton. Houghton's vehicles sustained several thousand dollars in damage, as did the snowmachine. Houghton sustained multiple injuries and was transported to MSRMC. Author: SMC1 Received Sunday, December 30, 2007 7:30 PM and posted Sunday, December 30, 2007 7:52 PM

Heal fast Kyle!

Start your engines

Fresh snow falling on Valdez town today. Only a dusting of 6 inches or so. Made everything pretty. Come on SNOW!

UAA wins the Governor's Cup for another year

JOHN WAGNER

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

UAA's Brad McCabe, front left, works the puck toward the net and UAF goaltender Wylie Rogers on Friday at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks.

Full story here UAA is king of Alaska hockey

They play again tonight. Come on Nanooks! Beat the kings of Alaska Hockey!

Christmas Puppy

Yukon Patty sent me this picture of their new puppy. They've been waiting for a dog to find them for a long time. I'm glad they got a puppy and on Christmas. They think he's a girl so the name Bailey will work either way.

Merry Christmas Bailey! You found the right home.

Presents

THANK YOU!

Expect packages from me soon!

Christmas Ride

Plenty of snow in Valdez to take a leisurely snow machine ride on Christmas Day.

Merry Ho Ho

Tune into Whole Wheat Radio with me. They are playing Christmas music the next 48 hours.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Circum-cumulus Christmas Clouds

Wylie Rogers "In Play" Video

Check this out. Pretty cool!

'In Play' Video Features Alaska's GoalieThe latest installment of 'In Play' from CCHA Productions features a video profile of Alaska student-athlete Wylie Rogers. The Fairbanks native and senior goaltender has fashioned a 3-4-2 record this season with a 2.48 goals-against average and .918 saves percentage.

A Truck that runs on Propane

I had never heard of such a thing. I drove this truck when I worked for Man Camp cooking at the KeyStone Grill one summer. Every day, except Sunday, I would drive my Dodge Aries SW out to Man Camp and make clam chowder, baked potatos, corn on the cob and cut up rib eye steaks, salmon and halibut in their commercial kitchen. Then I would transport all this food down to the Keystone Grill, in downtown Valdez, in this truck.


My first day driving this truck to town full of food I looked at the gas tank and it was reading empty. So I pulled into Captain Blows gas station and put $2o in the gas tank. Not knowing the truck ran on propane. I turned the sales slip into the office for a refund with my time card. Thats when I found out this truck runs on propane. The propane tank is welded in behind the seat and the gas I put in the gas tank had to be siphoned out. Potential bomb and I smoked in that truck.


When I saw this propane truck today I took a picture with telephoto. Way far way!

Cool Days and Colder Nights

Makes a basket of lemons in some parts of the world.

whose up to fishing?

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

Had a nice social dinner at the Totem last night for the annual Christmas Party. Prime rib, shrimp, a bottle of Merlot and a decadent gourmet chocolate desert.

Good food, good people and lots of fun. My compliments to the Totem for putting on a fine show.

Jagged Ice

The winds have been whipping us for days. The snow is so hard packed no gusts are making snowdrifts. And winter doesn't start til Saturday.

Snow is predicted once it warms up.

Nanooks Prevail

The Alaska Nanooks took 3, out of the 4 points possible, from Ohio State this weekend in Fairbanks. The Nanooks won in overtime Friday Night and tied in overtime Saturday night. The Buckeyes get a point for the tie as they were the visiting team.

Wylie Rogers backstopped the Alaska Nanooks both nights doing a superb job.

Full story and stats at Alaska Ice Hockey

WAY TO GO ALASKA NANOOKS!!!

Ohio State Buckeyes on Alaska Home Ice this Weekend

GO NANOOKS!

KSUA COLLEGE RADIO LINK

Alaska Nanook Hockey Schedule/Results

Last Rays of Sun

Snapped this picture about 2 this afternoon. When the last rays of the sun went down, behind the mountains, a large crescent moon came up. Dug out my snow bibs and down coat today. There is no denying that the deep, dark winter is here, any longer. Its not bad if you dress for it. I'm a little gun shy after falling down on the ice 10 days ago. Now I'm walking around in full body armour. Got to get back up on that horse and ride!

Glistening Snow Show

Not much to report weather wise. Clear dark skies full of stars. By 4:20pm.

Meat Without Feet

Borrowed this ad from the New York Times (thank-you) to make my daily post count.

Caught my eye and hope it does yours. Fish is meat without feet. Got some fish to sell? This ad will do it. Feel free to borrow this logo.

Compliments of FishTaxi.

Latest Population

There must be 20 snow people in town! And one snow dog. So far.

Rogers Blanks Another #1 Team

Nanooks Blank No. 1 RedHawks, 3-0

Rogers backstops Alaska to 3-0 victory in seventh career shoutout

Dec. 9, 2007

Box Score

OXFORD, OH -- The last time the Alaska Nanooks visited Miami University, they earned a split of a two-game series and knocked the RedHawks from the top spot in the national polls.
The Nanooks might have done it again. Buoyed by a pair of power-play goals and the outstanding play of goaltender Wylie Rogers, Alaska stunned No. 1 Miami 3-0 Saturday night at Steve Cady Arena.

Toyota Player of the Game and the Perani Cup First Star, Rogers made 32 saves, and the Nanooks' defense clogged the shooting lanes all night long to send Miami (14-2-0, 10-2-0 Central College Hockey Association) to its first shutout loss at home in three seasons (4-0 loss to Michigan State on Jan. 7, 2005). It was also Alaska's first shutout since October 13, 2006, when they stonewalled Air Force 3-0.

"Goaltending was a big part of this game," Miami coach Enrico Blasi said. "Wylie Rogers played great tonight. I thought we played well, but we just couldn't get pucks through. Give them credit. They did a really good job and deserved to win."

Alaska, which knocked Miami from the No. 1 ranking with a 4-3 win in Oxford on Feb. 3, 2006, got power-play goals from junior defenseman Tyler Eckford (his second such goal of the weekend) and freshman winger Nathan Lawrence and an empty-netter from senior right wing Ryan Muspratt to improve to 2-9-1, 2-7-1 CCHA.

"It's good to see our guys rewarded for their efforts," first-year Alaska coach Doc DelCastillo said. "Wylie came up with some really big saves, especially early in the game. To be ahead 1-0 after the first period was really a tribute to him."

Miami dominated play in the opening 20 minutes, outshooting Alaska 10-4, but Eckford's (5-on-3) power-play goal was the period's only score. It was a sign of things to come for Miami, which struggled to get many point-blank chances, had 19 shots blocked and finished 0-of-7 on the power play.

"It was definitely a frustrating game for us," Miami senior defenseman Mitch Ganzak said. "They capitalized on their opportunities. We had (seven) power-play chances."

Lawrence made it 2-0 with 6:26 left, when he stole a pass from a RedHawk defenseman just outside their zone only moments after successfully killing the bulk of Alaska's second 5-on-3 power-play opportunity of the game. Muspratt's back-hander into the empty net came with 1:09 left to seal the deal for the Blue and Gold and send the RedHawk fans to the exits.

The Nanooks finished the night 2-of-7 on the power play and 3-of-11 on the weekend.

Alaska returns to Fairbanks next weekend to host Ohio State for a two-game CCHA series at the Carlson Center. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. Friday night.

When I grow up

I'm going to get my own radio station. I'm in the perfect spot. I have an old TV antenna attached to the roof already.

And I'm all grown up.

Trolley Song

One of my happy childhood memories growing up was "singing around mom playing the piano." Mom is from the era when you bought the sheet music to the latest hits. All the old songs like The Trolley Song from Meet Me in St. Louis were our favorites. We loved singing and pretended we were The Andrew Sisters. By now we would have been sharpening up on the Christmas music.


I've had The Trolley Song in my head all week.

On the Mend

I've been out of it lately recuperating from falling on my head. Apparantly my neck took the brunt and I am now experiencing the effects of whiplash. Luckily, I fell at work, so workmans comp paid for a visit to the doctor yesterday to get checked out. They did a cat scan of my bruised brain and wrenched neck. Sent me home with pain meds and a script for a couple massages.

Now I'm on the mend.

Snow Force Field Activated

Hard-Headed Woman

Today I got my wish. It warmed up and started snowing. Around noon snow was coming down pretty good covering the iced up ground. Which made for very slippery walking conditions. And me without my ice grippers on...

Suddenly

without even trying, I attempted a triple axel and landed on my head. Knocked me for a loop! Good thing I'm a Hard-Headed Woman. hah, we'll see how I feel tomorrow...

Too Cold to Snow

This John Deere is ready for some snow action. As well as the whole town of Valdez. Today was bitterly cold, in the single digits, with just enough wind to make you feel like you were wearing paper clothes. Brrrr


Come on SNOW!!!

Arctic Cat

I found this picture on the internet tracking bach a recent visitor to my blog from Google Images searching for "snow cat".


What a weekend. I feel like I played hockey instead of just being a fan. My Nanooks won Friday night but lost Saturday night in a matter of minutes. Can't win them all and was happy for the win Friday night.


Going to rest up this week at work for the hockey games this weekend!

Field Day

Alaska Nanook Hockey Tonight and Saturday Night

The Alaska Nanooks are looking for their first win tonight in Fairbanks against the Northern Michigan Wildcats from Marquette.

Tune in here: KSUA COLLEGE RADIO LINK . Pre-game show at 6:30pm with Bruce Cech and interviews with both coaches. The puck drops at the Carlson Center at 7pm Alaska Time. Took these pictures of the sunrise this morning about 8:30am. A great start to a great day that will only get better with a win tonight! GO NANOOKS!

Fasta Pasta

These pre-made packaged ravioli noodles are really good and easy if you have not yet tried them. I made a quick chicken soup tonight with canned chicken, carrots and onion. Dropped in the pasta and in 10 minutes the soup was ready.

Nothing like homemade chicken soup on a cold winters' night. My adopted teenagers gave me compliments like "even if I'm not hungry I'll eat FishTaxi's cooking" and "you cook better than my dad."

Boys are easy to please.

Bare Arms

Toosday Comics

I survived the day. After not starting my toy truck for five days he decided he needed a jump to gettee up and go. Poor thing was frozen solid. I barely could get the door open without resorting to the pitcher of warm water trick. Once he got going he was good to go all day. Unlike me who is still tired and achy. I'm almost bach to my old self.

Sick Day

Down with the flu. Called in sick and slept all day. I'm still tired and achy. Going to take a couple Excedrin PMs and hope I wake up back to normal. Whatever that is.

Key Notes

Misquito Sighting

The weather has been pretty much raining in Valdez since I got bach from Talkeetna. Its been warmer than usual in Alaska lately. Just talked to my sister in Fairbanks and the highs have been in the 40s in the interior. Buckets of rain falling on Anchorage, too. If all this rain had been snow we would have broke records.


Earlier today I spotted this misquito. Come on spring!

At Last

After the whirlwind week I had road tripping around Alaska, it is nice to kick back, eat leftovers and listen to a relaxing Alaska Nanook Hockey game.

The above pictured totally homemade pumpkin pie was made by my friend and reknowned chef Annie Young. It was topped and served with real whipped cream. Fabulous food, drink, folks and entertainment at her house last night.

Shawn Zuke was there and played her guitar and sang for us after dinner. She is one of the many independent musicians on my favorite internet radio station and has performed with Esther Golton from Whole Wheat Radio. Small world!

Gobble Gobble

Hope everyone is having a wonderful, fun-filled, warm and tasty Thanksgiving.

Get the Led Out

Got back to Valdez around 6pm last night. The roads were good. In fact I took this video from about Milepost 80 to Milepost 70 on the Richardson Highway.

Valdez Bound

Put off leaving Anchorage today due to a blizzard. We had great weather and fun at the Wheat Palace though. (I'll write more about that when I get back to Valdez.)

For current Alaska Driving Conditions I go here: http://511.alaska.gov/

This is what was posted tonight for Thompson Pass.

Driving Conditions Difficult

Richardson Highway: at Thompson Pass Milepost 26 difficult driving conditions, packed snow, drifting snow, blowing snow, snow, crosswinds, moderate winds, reduced visibility
Current temperature 25 °, Wind speed 35 MPH, 2.0 inches of snow reported on the roadway last updated today at 8:15 PM

FIVE different descriptions of Snow

I'm going to peel out in the morning.

Talkeetna Bound

On my way to Whole Wheat Radio via Anchorage for the Antje Duvekot House Concert. Going as far as Glennallen tonight and driving into Anchortown during daylight Tuesday. The weather is beautiful today but calling for snow tomorrow. I'll be happy to get over Thompson Pass tonight.

This will be my first trip to the Wheat Palace. If you don't know what I'm talking of, read all about it in this WWR newspaper article, in the Frontiersman.

I'll try and blog while I'm gone. I'm taking my desktop (no laptop) and as soon as I post this I'm taking her down and packing her up and going Talkeetna Bound!

Proud to be among Veterans

Proud to be among veterans but more proud to be a daughter of a veteran. I joined the Air Force while my dad was still in the Army. He served 27 years and retired as a Sgt. Major Sir, highest rank for an enlisted man. We talked on the old watts line for free while we were at work serving our country. This was during the tail end of the VietNam conflict. When asked why I joined the Air Force my joke answer was "cos my dad's in the army." Dad died in 2003.


Raised as an army brat I knew what I was in for. I joined at 18 in 1973. When I should have come up to Alaska and made a $1000 a week working on the pipeline instead of making $344 a month indentured for Uncle Sam.


Me and the Air Force didn't get along very well. In fact we got in a war. I got an Article 15 which is not as bad as a court martial. The papers said "The USAF vrs. FishTaxi". I was scared and I knew I wasn't going to win. I called my dad on the watts line and asked him if he ever got an Article 15. My dad answered "Which one?"


Right before he died we both got on the internet and "talked" on MSN Messenger. He asked me to write "over" when I was done with my paragragh. Just like the old watts line.


Miss you dad. Now you are with all your buddies.

Live Nanook Hockey on KSUA college radio

I added a link on the right to KSUA if you want to listen to the games via webcast from wherever the Alaska Nanooks are playing. Home games in Fairbanks or on the road Bruce Cech has it covered. Some lucky people even can get the games on TV for free (if your cable company can flip a switch), internet video feed for a price (if you have enough bandwidth) or you can do what I do and go to the KSUA COLLEGE RADIO LINK on Friday and Saturday nights.

GO ALASKA NANOOKS!!!

Cheery Morning

Valdez was greeted with this sunrise this morning. Today was a crunchy cold. No rain or snow.

Not too much planned this weekend except for packing for my visit to Whole Wheat Radio . oh yah, and butchering up a half of cow moose Mr. FishTaxi got with his brother on a cow permit in Delta. Lots of work but well worth it. He's frying up some backstrap now.

A Frayed Knot

Every winter I learn to drive all over again. This years been sorta fun. No studs on my Toy truck yet so I'm just driving around with sand bags over the back wheel wells. I can spin roadies!

I rented a 4wd Ford Escape with studs on all around to drive to Anchorage, then Talkeetna, for the Antje Duvekot House Concert.

I might as well rent a good vehicle here and not have to worry about getting a flight in/out of Valdez.

Plus I can shop and have room to bring stuff back!

Tuesday Comics

Snow is Stickin' Around

This was Sugarloaf this afternoon and it looks as though the snow is sticking around for a while in Valdez town.

I've been busy swimming, tanning, swimming, tanning, getting ready for my next adventure. You'd think I was going somewhere warm but I'm not. I'm heading north to Talkeetna. I'm meeting up with the folks at Whole Wheat Radio and friends I've been talking to on-line for years. Its about time I met up with them and I want to look my best.

Not that they won't recognize the real FishTaxi with a raccoon eye tan.