Bank Next to My House Robbed

Okay, so I've been ignoring my blog for several months. Actually most of the winter... I suppose I just needed something shocking or exciting enough to get me back into writing.

Well, yesterday that thing finally happened. The branch bank in the Fred Meyer department store just a few blocks from my house was robbed at gunpoint and the suspect chased down and shot by the police. The fact that a bank got robbed wasn't that shocking, as Anchorage has several bank robberies each year (These aren't the smartest bank robbers; it's not like they can just hop in their cars and flee across the state line...). The shocking part was that it happened in my neighborhood.

We live in what is arguably one of the nicer parts of Anchorage. It's usually very quiet and is considered one of the best parts of town for raising children. However, the world has a certain number of idiots with guns and cars and we occasionally have things like this happen. I'm just glad I didn't stop by Fred Meyer yesterday. I'm in that store about every other day, so this is a little discomforting. I'll survive, I'm just glad they caught the idiot.

Portable Electric Fences and Bears

For the past few years, I've been telling folks about portable electric fences to keep bears away from tents and food here in Alaska. I'm no great Alaskan hunting guide or anything, but I had heard Tom Smith, a USGS bear researcher promoting them when I first moved here. I also grew up on a farm and have lots of experience with electric fences and livestock. Most Alaskans are surprised to learn of small, portable electric fences and, even when told, often say that they wouldn't be worth the hassle. I'll go with the advice of the bear researchers and use an electric fence if I ever camp out in any of the really busy bear areas in the state.

I'm not sure about the timing of this article (shouldn't this be published in the spring?), but the Anchorage Daily News recently published this excellent article on electric fences and bears. The only thing they left out was this link to Tom Smith's homepage, this link to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and this link to one of the manufacturers from New Zealand. For folks living in Anchorage, I know that mid-town Lowe's carries this brand of portable electric fence (look for model SS-2D under the pet fencing products). Tom Smith also recommends "Polywire/Polytape" for the fence because it's lightweight and flexible as opposed to traditional fencing wire that is stiff and heavy.

To their credit, the ADN story does include this link to the bear/electric fence research by the National Outdoor Leadership Schools. They've got a really interesting video of bears getting shocked by these small electric fences. Tom Smith says that, even though the bears are large and strong, a small nip to their sensitive noses or mouths is all that's needed to send them running and a "pet fence" is enough to do the job. The video shows this in detail.

I'll try to put this together in a better organized post in the future, but until then refer to links above. They'll get you pointed in the right direction.

First Snow

Woke up Sunday morning to our first real dusting of snow for the season. Got about 1/2 inch around town. Not enough to fully cover the grass, but enough to make the roofs and streets look white. It's been cold enough for the past several weeks that it looks like this snow is gonna stay with us. Too bad we didn't get more. All this dusting does is make the streets slick, but we can't ski, sled, or make snowmen. I suppose it will come in time, but I'm a little impatient right now.

Windy Again

Since the last post, the wind died down, but has now picked up again. It's blowing pretty hard, but not as bad as the other night. Because the wind is out of the south, the weather is relatively warm right now, well above average for this time of the year.

It was so warm that I went for a bike ride this evening. I haven't done much riding lately and it was good to get out and work these stiff legs a little. I went out against a stiff headwind, but I really flew on the way back home. If only I'd had a sail...

The snow is slowly moving down the mountains and when this storm passes, the weather should cool off with a chance of snow. Our normal first snowfall is in late October so we're about on schedule. I'll try to get a few photos up when the snow actually falls. I just hope that when the snow comes, we get plenty and it stays cold. That will allow us to get out and ski!

Hurricane Anchorage

Although I lived through several "real" huricanes when I lived in Florida, we still get a taste of hurricane weather here in Anchorage. About twice per year, we have a huge windstorm with tropical storm or even hurricane force winds.

Tonight, we're having gusts that I estimate at 50 mph and this is forecast to go on all night. I've already seen several shingles in front yards on my street. I haven't lost any shigles yet tonight, but I lost quite a few when we had another storm like this last spring. About two years ago, we had a severe wind storm that destroyed thousands of roofs and trees around Anchorage. After that storm, I had to replace about 50 shingles, but had far less damage than many homes.

We dont' usually get much rain with these wind storms, so flooding isn't a problem. However, the wind is still strong enough to keep us on our toes and remind me of the real hurricanes in Florida.

Starting to Feel Like Winter

Well, I took most of the summer off from this blog, but I guess I've got to get back to it now. Two nights ago, I saw the first few snowflakes on my windshield as I drove across town. Not enough to stick to anything, but it was definitely snow.

The days have gotten a lot shorter, too. It's fairly dark when I drive to work at 8 am. It's still light when I head home at about 6 pm, but that's changing quickly too. The end of daylight savings time will get rid of whatever evening light is left.

I also went out and bought a pair of skis recently. I got them cheap at a ski swap, but they will work fine for working out and I can use them as "rock skis" if necessary. Now, I've just got to find some boots. There are two more ski swaps coming up that I'll probably check out to see what I can find.

October is the most difficult time of the year for me. It's dark, cold, there's no snow, and summer is still a fond memory. If we're gonna have winter, let's get on with it.

Still Alive (In Spite of the Moose)

Yes, I'm still alive. I was too busy having fun this summer to spend any time with the blog. I apologize if any of my readers thought that I'd finally met one moose too many. Not so. I expertly avoided them all summer... Well, I avoided them mostly by luck.

In addition to the moose incident described below, I must have gotten within 20 feet of an additional 5 or 6 moose this summer. The usual scenario was that I was zipping along on my bike and would fly right by a moose before I realized the moose was there. I'll provide these moose stories as winter goes along. I've also got some stories from last spring that I never got typed up before the summer hiatus. I'll get those added here soon, too. Lots of summer photos taken before mid-August and I will explain why there are no photos available after mid-August. It's a long (but funny) story.

Anyway, I'm back.