Whirlwind - Day Three, Experience & Roller Derby

The girls have some really nice views where they live. Greg went running in the mornings to continue his marathon training. Since my camera is easier to carry when you're running, I have the shots he took. Unfortunately, my camera is not as good as his, so most are pretty blurry. There are a couple that turned out good. This is one:

Sheri had a morning work meeting, so Jeannea (great sport that she is) and Greg took her so Sara & I could get a little more sleep. We met for a late breakfast before heading into Seattle. Off to see another floating bridge, a troll, and The Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. Long name, cool place! Check out the site here. The troll under the bridge was a geocache (of course), but it was much cooler than I expected. Actually, I'm not sure what I expected, but not a 20' tall stone sculpture hidden under a bridge close to downtown Seattle. If you look closely, it has a car under it's left hand (the one Sheri is standing on), and a hubcap for an eye. On the way back to the car, we saw several of those pretty pink trees that are in bloom everywhere (in contrast to back home, where everything is still covered in snow and not even *thinking* about blooming yet).

From there, it was just a matter of maybe 10 minutes to downtown Seattle, where we were meeting Holly & the boys at The Experience Music Project & Science Fiction Museum. I need to go again, with more time. At least a day. If I get done sooner, I can wander downtown for fun places to eat or sights to see, but I need that time. I took in the visual aspects, but there was lots of reading or listening that I skipped, in the interest of time. Places to be this evening. We did the whole SciFi section (quickly), but didn't make it through the entire music section. Plenty of cool things to see, but there was lots I missed too. Next time. It was great to get to spend some time with Holly and the boys - I really appreciate that they made the effort and braved the traffic to meet us there.

The guitar scuplture is actually programmed to play music. They have listening stations set up so you can hear what's playing. There's also a basement or lower floor that we didn't even get to - Greg and his tag-along buddy found that we'd missed the entire first floor. And Holly, Sheri, and I (and our tag-along buddy) didn't even finish the second floor (that I thought was the first floor) before we headed up to the next level. All in all, a great time - but I need to go back and see/hear/experience more. There's even an el (train, monorail, elevated bus on a track, whatever) that goes through the upper part of the building - I want to try that!

Holly & me =)

Greg & the boyos

We had to cut the afternoon short, since we had to journey to Lynnwood (Edmonds Community College) for... ROLLER DERBY!!!! Wahoo!! Our Anchorage team (Rage City Roller Girls) had an "away game", and so Greg & I introduced Jeannea, Sara, & Sheri to their first game of roller derby. It was an absolute blast!! Although I do have to say that I think we do things better in Alaska. The crowd in general, that is. We're more energetic, enthusiastic, and excited. And we have a beer garden. Wahoo!! ;) Our girls didn't win, but they played hard and did exceptionally well - seeing as this was their 4th bout ever and they were playing the regional champions. I'm excited for the next bout (April 11th), but a little bummed that Sara will be gone already and Jeannea won't be here yet - so neither will get to experience roller derby Alaska Style. Oh well. There'll be more chances... Greg was photographing the event, so my pictures are courtesy of him.

After the bout, we went to the "after party" for the teams. Didn't do much socializing (the girls and I didn't - Greg wandered here & there to visit with lots of people, as is his style) because it was hard to find a seat, and then really loud so conversation wasn't really feasible. We did get to chat with Mr. & Mrs. Furious (the first time I've actually met Mrs. Furious, although I've heard about her several times from Greg) for a bit, and spent the rest of the evening doing our own renditions of the karaoke songs being played... Overall, it was an enjoyable end to the evening. I've been having a blast spending time with the girls!!

The Girls
(picture courtesy of Greg)

On tap for tomorrow: domestic chores (moving a couch, packing), visit Holly & Corey in Puyallup, time to go home...

Volcano Interruption

We now interrupt the posts about our trip to Seattle for a Volcano Update...

Mt. Redoubt has finally erupted. We made it home okay, but I found out that several flights due to arrive after ours were sent back. We were home by around midnight, and I received a call shortly thereafter from work. Seems our emergency contingency plan had been activated. Off to work I go!

The computers are covered and we're ready for ash fall, but it looks like Anchorage may dodge that bullet - the cloud is headed north of us, to the MatSu Valley and beyond. But in case winds change, we're ready.

Time for bed...

Whirlwind - Day Two, Sara's Birthday

Today was a busy, busy day - but *loads* of fun! We broke fast together at Sara's favorite breakfast joint, Black Bear Diner. The food was good, and they have some of the biggest biscuits I've ever seen!

We made reservations for dinner - three times, since I set one up for only 4 and we actually have 5 people. I called back to adjust the number in the party, but there wasn't a table to accommodate 5 until much later, so I canceled. Called back one more time because we decided the later time would actually work just fine for all of us. With that worked out, our group split up. Greg & Jeannea went caching and Sara & I went shopping. I found a milk vending machine at the mall - and they have leather couches for weary shoppers to rest on! Way more fancy that the wooden benches I'm used to.

From there, we hooked up with Sheri - she got off work early so she could spend a little more time with us while we were visiting. Yay! She's been in her new position for just a few weeks, so I got to see her new store and we went to a late lunch at one of the places within walking distance. The area she works in has lots of options for dining and a cool skyline. I took some pictures of some of the interesting looking buildings - I'll be updating my Flikr site with the extra pictures that I don't post here.

I also like that there are sculptures decorating the plazas and open areas. It's a very aesthetically pleasing area. Sher - I hope things go well for you in the new position and that you enjoy it! =)

We spent a few hours at the Rock Bottom Brewery, where we had lunch and visited. The three of us spent lots of time laughing... I don't even remember what we were laughing about, just that at one point Sheri was laughing so hard she was silent (and crying). Ahhh, fun times!

I like the cool architecture of the area and that there's so many things to go do and see. But you really have to plan for traveling. When I plan for things here, if I've got an extra hour I can go home - there, it would take almost an hour to get home, then you'd be late for wherever you were intending to go. And traffic. Here rush hour traffic can be a pain. But there? Rush hour traffic makes a 35 minute commute into almost two hours. Man, that's harsh! Definitely pays to live in the area you work in - but sometimes that's not feasible, so you're forced to spend more of your precious free time traveling in a car.

Those are some pretty big drawbacks, but I also noticed some pretty cool things too. Already mentioned the architecture and the soccer games at 11pm in March (previous post). I was also watching the world green up and bloom. In just the few days we were there, I saw leaves pop out and flowers bloom. In contrast to the cold and snow back home, it was extremely nice to enjoy wearing jackets. Even the rain wasn't that bad, since it was warm and changed to sunshine often enough that I was glad I brought sunglasses.

So we headed downtown to meet Greg & Jeannea for dinner. Sara took the route over the floating bridge - pretty cool. (I guess they've got more than one floating bridge, since we went over a different one on Saturday. Not something I would've thought of, since all our big water is tidal, so you can't build the bridges on the water. But floating bridges apparently work just fine over enclosed lake waters.) Got to park at Sara's work (and Jeannea's - they work for the same company) and walk a few blocks to the Space Needle. The Seattle skyline is another really cool view. We finished out the evening at the Space Needle. We arrived early enough that we could check out the view before the sun went down, and again after dinner when it was dark. An amazing view. Of the 1 to 2 dozen pictures I took, only four turned out because I just have the cheesy point-and-shoot camera (but it suits me, and I can fit it in my pocket instead of carrying a whole bag devoted to a camera and camera accessories - looks like I'm not getting into advanced photography anytime soon). The ones that turned out are pretty cool.

On tap for tomorrow: The Experience (Music Project and Science Fiction Museum) in downtown Seattle - Holly and boys are meeting us there; then roller derby - yeah, baby!

The Whirlwind Begins (Thursday)

I meant to get up earlier today, so I could get some stuff done before we left. I meant to leave work by 4pm, so I could be home, packed, and we could be at the airport by 5pm. I meant to eat dinner before we left the airport. The best laid plans of mice and men...

From the airplane

I got the last of my laundry in the dryer before I left for work. Then, after balancing meetings and last minute projects, and the daily minutia I left work by 4:20pm. (I really should tell myself to leave at least a half hour before I need to - that way maybe I'd be on time. Even though I know the "real" time I have to leave, if I'm aiming for earlier, maybe it would help me get out when I should instead of 20-30 minutes late... Can I trick myself? Can I tell myself one thing and know that I really mean something else and have it work out? Who knows, but maybe I should give it a shot next time...) Anyhow, now we're not so far behind, but not where I wanted to be either. James was at the house to pick us up before I even got home.

Dinner is served!

Packing went quickly, but since I didn't write things down we left things home. Meant to bring Jeannea's mail to her. We'll have to ship it. Meant to bring the sausage Greg picked up for someone. It's still in the freezer. Meant to have the last glass of apple beer from the growler. Will have to dump it out when we get home. Oh well. We made the flight. Yay!

Interesting airport finds

The flight went smoothly, and I got to read ~100 pages in a book that's been sitting on my desk for almost a year. That'll teach people to loan me books! =) Found a new vending machine in the Seattle airport - an equipment charger. Hmmm. That's new - but I can *totally* see how it might be handy. And we found the Alaska Lodge. Looks like it's a little food/bar joint. Had some neat pictures on the wall, but I wonder how "Alaskan" it really is. =)

Weather here is cloudy and rainy - but at 11pm it was 50 degrees. I'll take warm rain!! On the way to the apartment, we also passed people playing soccer. Won't see that back home. We won't even see soccer during the middle of the day for quite a while - since the fields have to thaw and dry out - let alone 11pm... Anyhow, we've settled in and made plans for tomorrow, so it's time to hit the sack.

Nice view from the apartment.

On tap for tomorrow: Breakfast for sustenance and then the split. Jeannea & Greg are geocaching all day; Sara & I are shopping then hooking up with Sheri for more fun. We all convene for dinner at the Space Needle to celebrate Sara's birthday. Yay!!

Spring Dreams

I keep thinking that March means it's supposed to get warmer. Last week was not an example of that. Blue skies and sunshine - I was hoping that would mean a severe reduction in snow. But nope. Oh well. Maybe this week the thaw will start...

To my disappointment, it was snowing this morning. Not only did I lose an hour of sleep for Daylight Savings Time, but it's been cold and now it's snowing. I mean, COME ON ALREADY!! For goodness sake, it's March - time for melting and a little more warmth, not more snow! Anyhow, as I was checking out the flakes through the sliding glass door, I noticed we had a visitor in the back yard.

We've had evidence of visitors earlier (darn moose poop!), but I didn't see the culprit. I was a little late for work because I decided I needed to get the shot instead of dash off to work. Turns out that was okay, since roads were super slick and it was nice to have fewer cars on the road. I really will be glad when it starts getting warmer, but it's fun to see the wildlife in the midst of my suburbia.

Picture in Picture

Greg submitted several of his pictures to the Fur Rondy Photo Contest. Since yesterday was the last day on display, I figured I'd better head down to check them out. He won second in the color/sports, and three of his photos were Selected For Exhibition. I took pictures of his pictures to post on my blog.

They aren't nearly as nice as looking at the real deal. Mostly because they're shrink-wrapped, so when I took the shot the flash is reflected in the picture. Or if I didn't have the flash on, they're a bit grainy (in some of them I could see my reflection).

I tried to make sure to get the label that has his name on it. And I didn't compress the pictures, so if you click on them you'll get the full size. I'm going to see if I can get the prize winning picture in digital form to post, so you can see more than my flash and a pale echo.

Side note: We might be officially crazy up here. Maybe something to do with the cold and dark? I mean, people dress in costume to run a 5k, they run with reindeer, they race outhouses, they plunge into frigid water for fun, and there's a fur bikini contest. Don't believe me? Check out the photos (courtesy of the Anchorage Daily News) here.

Derby Madness

Last night was another derby night - wahoo! I took my camera, but the little point & shoot just doesn't cut it. I've attached one that I took, just because I finally got a shot that I was trying for. The shutter takes a bit, so when there's action I have to start taking the picture before the subject is even in the frame. This was the third try at getting Mr. Furious doing his warm up laps. Dark and he's almost out of the shot already. (In the first two, he's nowhere in the shot at all.)

So the rest of the photos are courtesy of Greg, who was taking pictures for the bout again. While he was wandering around the arena trying to get good shots, I was sitting in the bleachers rooting for whomever was making a move at the time. I'm primarily rooting for the Dirty Pollis, but the Sockeye Sallys can put on some good moves too. And most times it doesn't matter who's doing what, it's just so darn exciting that I have to cheer! =) My last post about roller derby (here) has some basics.

We went early again. If you try to show up 10-15 minutes before it starts, you won't find anywhere to sit. It's amazing how many people show up for roller derby. I'm not sure how other people found out about it, but I'm glad we did. Since Greg works with Mr. Furious during his day job (and they're both training for a marathon), we get our information from him. I'm impressed that Mr. Furious made it through the entire day. It can't be easy to start the day with a 5k run, and end it reffing the roller derby. Lots of work, that.

We're going to be in Seattle for the next bout - but so will the Rage City Roller Girls. Yay! They're travelling Outside for the March bout, back in Anchorage for April. We taking the Seattle fam with us, to introduce them to the fun.

Frostbite Footrace Funtime

It's Rondy Time again! The Fur Rendezvous festival is every February. There're dog races, people races, and even outhouse races; ice bowling and ice sculptures (not at the same venue); a parade, fireworks, and more. Greg participated in the outhouse races last year (see here). I wasn't really planning on going downtown this year. Parking is nuts because there's lots of people there and they've closed roads; parades are great, but they're similar year-to-year and it's cold; Greg isn't doing the outhouse race this year. Little did I know...

For those that don't know, Greg is training to run a marathon this summer. He & his buddy (Mr. Furious, of roller derby fame), have been training together. They decided to enter the Frostbite Footrace - a 5k run during Rondy. As with the Running of the Reindeer, a huge portion of this race is the creative costumes that people wear. There were clowns, longjohns & bunny boots, fairies, tigger & eyeore (sp?), a sunny couple (she wore a bikini over her running outfit & he had a hawaiian shirt & shorts), bumblebees, and loads more.

And there was a roller derby girl with her ref. I heard that Mr. Furious couldn't get his costume to work properly. More specifically, he couldn't get his hooters to stay put - a problem many women have, but not quite the same... many find the uni-boob (sports bra) helpful when they're doing strenuous activities like running - which is what Greg used to keep his melons in place (thank goodness they're stretchy!! (I meant the uni-boob, not his tatas...)) =) So instead of a roller derby girl, Mr. Furious came as a ref. We'll see him again shortly in his official capacity, since there's a bout tonight. Wahoo!

After the race, we headed to Snow City Cafe for food and conversation. All-in-all a nice morning, even if I did have to roll out of bed tons earlier than I like to on a Saturday. The guys did great, and now they have a benchmark for progress. Summer isn't really that far away (altho I feel like we're having a setback: it's been snowing all day - we've got at least six inches of new snow and it doesn't look like it's going to quit anytime soon). And 26 miles is a fair bit farther than three.

As my prize for getting out of bed early, I promised myself a new pair of shoes. I get my Danscos from a shop downtown, but hardly ever go there - since the shoes are expensive and the shop's downtown... I know the ones I want - I even have a pair in brown already, I just want the black ones now. They don't have my size - so I put them on order, yay! And as a consolation prize I got some cool "smart" socks - they're supposed to cool my feet when it's warm, warm them when it's cold, and keep everything dry. How great is that?!?

Status Update

It's hard to believe that it's mid-February already. It's noticeably lighter in the mornings & evenings - I get at least some dusk light for the trip home, altho it's still dark enough to need headlights. But it's one of my Portends of Spring. This is how it goes:

1. December 21 - Winter Solstice marks the beginning of the return of light
2. In February, the increasing amount of light becomes noticeable
3. Seemingly related to the increased light, I expect temperatures to get start getting warmer
4. March is Spring Equinox and eventually an end to snow (probably after a huge dump)
   
5. April is dirty, but drying
6. May is the start of green
   

I know it's going to be a while before everything warms significantly and even longer before things green up, but we're almost halfway through my Portends. Yay!

As for the rest of my update: We're still on Orange Alert for the volcano watch - but fewer & fewer people think it's really going to go. Scientists are still saying that based on it's current activity, it's may blow - but it also could subside. Way to cover the bases! We're off the hook at work - don't have to cover the equipment anymore. If the volcano erupts, we have people who are responsible for coming in and getting everything squared away. This saves lots of time - not only the time saved every morning & evening, but we've had lots of computer issues (slow boot up, problems with updates, computers dying, etc.) that are tapering off. Whew!

I've also been spending a lot of my free time on Facebook. I finally set up an account, and I've been customizing it and adding pictures. Haven't figured out how to link my Flickr account to it, but I've still got some learning yet. Yesterday, I took a break from my computer to do some shopping with my friend Jennifer and then take in the movie Taken (with Liam Neeson) - a *great* way to spend the evening! And today was spent in my pj's helping Greg to re-organize the miscellanea that has migrated into the office. I've enjoyed the three-day weekend, and am going to spend the evening watching Chuck & Heroes (and avoiding thinking of work - which will be here all too soon).

Sleeping Lady
with ice chunks in the inlet

(photo coutesy of Greg)

Monitoring "Minute by Minuet"

The same site that tells me to drive with a tarp over my car says that the observatory is going to be monitoring this situation "minute by minuet". It's good that their on-air show is better than the articles on the web site. (Well, I suppose the articles are fine, they're just not very clear...)

We're still at the Orange Alert for volcanic eruption of Mount Redoubt. The last time this one went was 20 years ago. Apparently then they got about 23 hours of notice before it started. So far, we're finishing up day 2 without the "big" action. So we shut down and covered the equipment at work again. I took pictures today. Note the Christmas tree, don't mind the mess. My desks are always in some state of chaos - sometimes they're just more organized than other times, but they're always chaotic.

So on the way home I went to the store. We've got plenty of food at home - non-perishable and in the freezer. Greg is going to pick up more propane - we can use it for the grill and we have a couple propane heaters (from camping), in case the power goes out. We've got candles & batteries. Greg is going to pick up air filters for the cars. I got water tonight, and filled my tank with gas - not sure why on the gas, it just sounded good. I think we're just about ready.

If it does blow, my main concern is driving. I don't want to damage the car, but I know I'm going to have to go into work for at least a bit. Or if I'm at work, I'm going to have to get home. Wonder if auto insurance covers damage due to volcanic ash being sucked into the engine? I might have to check. According to the news, if you have to drive it shouldn't be over 30 mph and you should change your oil every 50-100 miles. Damn!

To top it off, we're slated for more snow over the next few days. They say we can have snow & ash fall at the same time. Greg says that's concrete. =) We'll see how it goes...

Volcano Watch - Orange Alert

We're on Orange Alert (Watch) for volcanic eruption from Mount Redoubt (pronounced reed-out). It's all over the news, and there are all kinds of tips for emergency preparedness: three days of non-perishable food & bottled water; face masks; bring your pets inside (The ash can get into the water supply, and remember this for your animals. There are no masks for them, so keep them inside and have their food and water supply ready as well.); if possible, don't drive. Seems that stores are having a rush on respirator masks. Volcanic ash is nasty stuff.

At work, we put plastic bags over all the computer equipment before leaving (after turning it all off, of course). I didn't think to get a picture before I left, but it looks like I'll have another chance. According to the Alaska Volcano Observatory, "we would expect such an eruption to begin within the next few days or weeks". My desk and workbench have been hermetically sealed (mostly). I didn't cover the power strip (because I didn't want to crawl around in the dust under the far side of my desk). If we do get ash fallout, I'll just deal with it then. But my phone, computers, monitors, mice, & keyboards (as well as the toys that sit on my monitor, the fiber optic Christmas tree that I haven't put away yet, and the paper airplane-a-day calendar) are protected. Whew!

One of the news articles has a great tip: When it comes to driving cover your car with a tarp. If the ash fall is severe do not drive at all. I know that it'll be hard for me to drive with a tarp over my car, not to mention dealing with the potentially severe ash fall, but I'll manage somehow.

Roller Derby, Yeah!

We made our second trip to see the Rage City Roller Girls last night. Let me tell you... watching roller derby bouts is *Fun*!! This is a relatively new sport here in Anchorage, but it seems to be catching on quite well. We have two teams: the Dirty Polli's (black & white) and the Sockeye Sallys (black & red). The crowds are really energetic, and it's easy to cheer for a team... any team.

How did we find out about this, you might ask? Well, it seems that Greg works with Mr. Furious, a referee at the bouts. How did we pick a team to root for? Mr. Furious's wife (Mrs. Furious) skates for the Dirty Polli's, so that sounded like a good enough connection to start. The basic rules are relatively easy to learn, so right away you can start cheering - and there's plenty to cheer about!

Dirty Polli's Mascot: Ken B. Bribed

Here's the basics:

• Each team has five members in play: the jammer (star on helmet), the pivot (stripe on helmet), and three blockers
• The pivots lead the pack and also act as blockers
• The pack starts at the whistle, the jammers wait until the pack has gone 20' then they start
• The jammers skate through the pack, lap them and try to skate through again, gaining a point for each opposing team member passed (so they have to pass through once for no points and start scoring on the second go)

Lead jammer

• The first jammer to break through the pack without penalties the first time becomes the lead jammer (not sure what the bonus of this is, except that only the lead jammer can call off a jam)
• Jams last for up to two minutes or until the lead jammer calls it off

Jammer for Sockeye Sallys out front;
Pivot for Dirty Polli's is down;
Pivot for Sockeye Sallys is behind the jammer

There's an animated video on YouTube for rules here. Right away, there's plenty to cheer about and people to root for; lots of pushing and bumping (but no fighting allowed); plenty of spills and thrills. The energy from the crowd is contagious and fills the air. We went early to get seats and because Greg was taking pictures as part of the event. (Pictures here are courtesy of Greg, as none of mine turned out and he was given free run of the place with his press pass.) The Polli's won this time, but lost in December so I'm looking forward to the next match: February 28th.

Heading Home - Day Two (01/06)

For the last bit of our vacation, we arranged a long layover in Seattle so we could visit some friends. Holly met us at the airport with Zane, who's grown immensely since the last time we saw them (see post here). We went back to the house to collect everyone, including Stephanie, whom I haven't seen in positively *ages*! Our second trip to an Olive Garden, where I gorged on bread sticks & salad. I really do wish we'd get one here... and it really was like I was with family! =)

After lunch, we went back to the house to visit some before hooking up with Sheri & Jeannea for dinner. No sight seeing or rushing around, just spending time with old friends that I haven't seen for way too long. I really do wish we were closer - or that it wasn't so expensive to get Outside to visit people. An afternoon every few years doesn't really give me the time I'd like to spend with mis amigas. But I suppose it's better than nothing (especially since I don't write or call like I should).

The Girls

The Boys

Thanks to Jeannea's help, we made it to the restaurant (I forget the name, but was excited because I could throw peanut shells on the floor - yay!). We were actually on the right road, but just a bit confused.

And now we're home. The fun is just about over - I took the rest of the week off work so I could recuperate and get housework done, but I'm also fighting off the cold that Greg passed to me. I avoided it the whole trip, only to succumb when we get home. I have to say that it's good to be home in some ways: my own king-size bed, the cats; but in other ways, I'm not at all happy: it's been below zero for quite a while now. It looks like it might start warming up - at least to above zero during the daytime - but I'm really not a fan of the cold. =( Oh well. I have a heating blanket, and the cats help keep me warm (oh, and the hubby too!)...