September in Alaska

It's my birthday month and it has been another couple of weeks in Alaska. Summer is now gone, but apparently this was the 3rd or 4th worst summer on record. It has rained most days and it is getting colder. But it makes for some pretty rainbows. The high each day is between 45 and 50. There have been fewer clear days for outdoors activities and even sightseeing. I went to Barnes & Noble one rainy night and it was so absolutely packed that I could not find a parking space AT ALL. I had to wait for someone to leave to get a park.

Sidebar – I started reading this new book, Anathem by Neal Stephenson. Basically, the author is writing from the premise that the internet is dumbing us all down because we use far less mental effort to solve problems, etc.. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Anathem/Neal-Stephenson/e/9780061474095/?tabname=custreview

Okay, so the few days when it was not raining or raining less I did get to see more of the area. Chugach Nat'l Forest, Glaciers on Portage Glacier Road and View from Flattop Mountain

I was surprised at the amount of restaurant chains here. Yes McDonald's is everywhere, but Outback, TGI Friday, Chili's. But there are lots of little local places that have lots of character. Harley's is a country kitchen, KOBE Teppayaki, local Japanese steakhouse, and Moose Tooth pizza are just a few. But so far I think my favorite two places may be Glacier Brewery in downtown Anchorage and Beartooth Pub, which shows movies and serves good food.

Random pics -

Oh and I finally moved to my new place and its completely renovated, appliances and all!

View from old balcony vs new balcony :-)

Gotta run...more later...

Alaskan Women Reject Palin Rally Media Coverage

So here is some local media coverage talking about the threats to the rally organizers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8pewzwBybc

Alaskan Scenery, Housing and Obama Supporters

I arrived here about 2 ½ weeks ago and it has been an interesting 2 ½ weeks. The weather the 1st week or so was around 60 degrees each day. Since then, the high has been around 55 degrees and rainy each day. Most times, the further south I drive, the harder it rains and the harder the wind blows. I took a daily drive each evening after work down Turnagain Arm exploring stops along the way. Unfortunately the rain and clouds made for not so hot pictures but here we go:
Family of bears crossing Portage Glacier Road and Moose in Earthquake Park

Sunset in Anchorage

Here is my corp housing which was less than ready when I arrived and its NOT in a good area (a couple of blocks from the local liquor store and mental hospital). Thankfully I am finally moving next week:

Bathroom after their "upgrade" - still not great

So I explore Alaska so I won't have to stay here as much, LOL!

So last week I stopped by one of the Obama campaign offices to see if they needed volunteers and of course they put me right to work. I was surprised at how many Obama supporters are in Alaska. This morning we worked a session to train people to be registrars and authorized to register voters. At the session I got people to volunteer to work the registration at the Peabo Bryson concert next week. Someone there told be about the Alaskan Women Reject Palin Rally. Apparently they had planned a rally for today at noon, but a local radio talk show host who’s a republican heard about it and gave the phone numbers of the organizers of the rally to his listeners. The organizers began receiving hostile calls and death threats and many urged them to cancel the rally but they did not. In speaking with many of the people there, most people said there has NEVER been a rally like this in Anchorage EVER! The energy created by the crowd was amazing. When we arrived, there were almost 1,000 people on the side of the road with Anti-Palin signs and chanting “Obama, Obama!” and “Go Tell Your Mama to vote for Obama!”

The people in attendance were anti-palin obama AND hillary supporters. There was one sign that said, Palin is no Hilary. Other people held signs but admitted that they were hesitant to support Obama openly in fear for retaliation by local officials supporting McCain Palin. Here are some of the signs:

By the time we left there were between 1500 and 2000 people in attendance. The official Obama campaign (paid staffers) were not in attendance because it was not a Obama sponsored rally. They did not want to sponsor an Anti Palin rally. But many people left the rally and went to the office and signed up to volunteer and buy t-shirts. As a matter of fact, the local campaign offices said they completely sold out of all of their tshirts and buttons, etc.

Today standing in the crowd I definitely felt like I was in the midst of a movement.