Still Here in Alaska

I have not posted a blog in a while but the past couple of months here have been interesting.

november
After election week, it was a while before Alaska's race was finally decided. Ted Stevens was found guilty in his corruption trial. Absentee ballots counted Begich beat Stevens for the Senate seat. Reaction among local residents ranged from nostalgia at the end of an era with Uncle Ted to estactic joy for a fresh voice for the state.

I went home to NC for Thanksgiving and it was good to see family again after so many months. Okay so for the short version of my "Charlie Brown" trip back to Alaska:he short version: Saturday - Greensboro to Charlotte. 1 1/2 hr Mech delays out of Charlotte... missed Phoenix connection. Spent the night in Phoenix. Sunday - Breakfast at the hotel then spent day in Phoenix airport. Able to catch flight to Seattle. Bad weather in Seattle, not enough fuel to make it to another airport, had to land in local Boeing test field. After 1 1/2 hrs, US Air FINALLY sent buses to take us to the airport. It was around 10:30. Monday - After mech issues AGAIN, in the wee hours of morning, flight finally leaves Seattle for Anchorage.

Pics from breakfast in Phoenix:



december
When I got back, my rental was a Dodge Ram truck...check out my excellent parking skills... and yes I backed into that spot in a parking garage.
December rolled in with colder temps in the teens and single digits and more darkness. Now I understand why alcoholism and depression is so high in Alaska during the winter. Anchorage is further south so the days were not as cold or short as they were further north. Yet, I can say that when you drive into work at 9 am and it is still dark and when by the time you leave work, it has already been dark for a few hours, it can be boring, frustrating and depressing. The key is to stay active as much as possible...or to leave to go home as much as possible, ha!

Anchorage is prettty when it snows. They also have what freezing fog when it is so cold that the fog "frosts" the trees and it looks like a winter wonderland.

More to come soon.....

I could see NC turning blue all the way in Alaska!

Soooo it was 7pm here on November 4 and I had just gotten off work and was on my way to the store on the phone with my sister. California polls in CA closed and they called the election for Barack Obama. I rushed through the store and headed straight to the Egan Center downtown. On the way there I had called my parents and talking to my dad on the phone when McCain gave his concession speech on the radio. Concessions in the past few elections have definitely not come that soon, that easy and certainly not that graceful.

By the time I got downtown to park, I was talking to my mom and as she told me Barack had reach the stage, my friend from work and I were rushing to find a park and got into the Egan Center right as he took the stage. The victory celebration was sponsored by the local Obama campaign office and the local Democratic party. I saw grown men and women, black and white, young and old crying like babies and screaming with excitement and jumping up and down......we were all friends that night and all took part in the victory...even though it would be a while for AK polls were closed and the race between Stevens and Beigich was yet to be decided.

North Carolina was on my mind that night as it was yet to be decided as well, but first here are some pictures from the Celebration in Anchorage on election night:

Now North Carolina was finally called for Barack a couple of days later. He won the state by 14,053 votes. I will preface my next few comments by saying I am an Independent voter who has previously voted both Democrat and Republican...

North Carolina voted for Obama and it was the first time since Jimmy Carter in 1976 that NC voted for a democratic president.

I am proud of North Carolina not just because people are accepting change and voting for Barack and even Kay Hagan but because so many people registered to vote and voted for the first time....this allowed the country to hear the REAL voice of North Carolina.

And why did people vote? They voted because people began to have hope... actually believe that their voice could be heard, would make a difference and should drive change NOW... And not just change but a shift It is a shift to a time when people realize that we are all US citizens, we are all people have common human values & we all have to stand before GOD one day.

More pics from the celebration:

Sharing My Story

For the past couple of months I’ve shared stories and pictures of the beautiful and fun sites here in Alaska as well as political experiences and ideas here in Anchorage that are particularly interesting given the unique dynamics of this current election. For the last several months, I have taken an introspective look at why I vote, how I have voted previously and how I should vote this time. Now it's time for me to share a portion of my story:

I VOTE BECAUSE this is my country. As a citizen of the United States of America, my right to vote is guaranteed and protected by the 15th, 19th, 24th and 26th Amendments of the Constitution of the United State of America. I have a right and a responsibility. I have a voice and a choice. I am personally compelled to vote.

MY VOTE THEN in 1996, I voted as a Gen X-er. In 2000, I voted as a Christian. In 2004, I voted as an Independent and did not make my decision until I was literally standing in the voting booth.

MY VOTE NOW is a holistic vote based on who I am as a total person. I am not just an African-American or just a woman or just a Christian or just an entrepreneur. I am all of that and more.

• I am an entrepreneur who wants an economic policy that best supports my small business.
• I am a middle class family that embraces a tax plan that effectively and responsibly maximizes my income.
• I am an educated professional who would love to see an intellectual in the White House for a change. Heck, what is wrong with being smart and being an expert in constitutional law and knowing how to effectively communicate and use words in a sentence that actually belong together?
• I am a Gen X-er and would love to have a President who can not only inspire but translationally lead this country into greatness in the world and humbleness before God.
• I am an African-American who wants a President who understands the need to embrace diversity of ethnic background, diversity of religion and most importantly diversity of thought in this country.
• I am a woman who wants a President who displays respect, support and advocacy for women as smart, intelligent and equal citizens of this country.
• I am a Christian who really wants to have a Christian in office who is compassionate and understands you are not effectively showing the love of Christ to this generation by throwing a Bible at them and condemning them all to hell.
• I am an American who wants a President whose top priority is protecting America then restoring America in the eyes of itself and the world, making us the example that the world is compelled to follow.

All of these separate demographics together make up who I am, but most importantly, I am an individual. I am Christina and I chose to vote for Barack Obama. I encourage you to vote now.
To read the full exposition, you can email me at cgayle126@gmail.com.

I just got off the phone with my mom, as I'm posting this and she said she is on a "voting" date with my dad right now....how sweet! They are in line at a early voting location in NC and my sister was on the way there to vote too.

After 50 Years of Statehood, finally the national spotlight...and did I mention its c-c-cold outside?

So the temp for the drive to work this morning was 7 degrees. Not seventy but SEVEN degrees! Ok, so me not wearing a hat is no longer an option. It's on now! Hat, gloves, scarf and more layers...it's ALL on! Hahahaha!

As Alaska celebrates 50 years of statehood this year, it has definitely found itself in the national spotlight. John McCain announced Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska as his running mate. With only 10 weeks until election, there was a media frenzy to learn about Governer Palin. But as the weeks have pressed on, she has struggled portray herself as a viable candidate as she fumbled countless interviews, became the focus of an ethics investigation and hosted rallies with such divisive undertones that it publicly resurfaced some of the most dangerous groups in the history of America. The biggest rallies in the history of Anchorage have occured in the past 4-6 weeks as concerned Alaskans have held Anti-Palin rallies to show the rest of the country, she does not represent all Alaskans.

As if the governor issue was not enough, there was Ted Stevens who was running against local democrat and mayor of Anchorage, Mark Beigich. Well, Stevens also was under investigation and was found guilty today. Instead of resigning from office, his party is urging him on to continue to run, hoping that he will win, and not get expelled from the Senate and get pardoned from President Bush...oh and if that does not work, at least the seat will be open for another republican.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/27/stevens.jurors/index.html



Let me just say that many of the people I have worked with and met here in Alaska have been warm and inviting...It's a shame that the national spotlight can't see those people.

Anchorage Daily News Endorses Obama

Yesterday's Obama rally coincided with the Anchorage Daily Newspaper's endorsement of Barack Obama. The Anchorage Daily Newspaper is the largest newspaper in Alaska. Here is an excerpt from Saturday's paper:

"Yet despite her formidable gifts, few who have worked closely with the governor would argue she is truly ready to assume command of the most important, powerful nation on earth. To step in and juggle the demands of an economic meltdown, two deadly wars and a deteriorating climate crisis would stretch the governor beyond her range. Like picking Sen. McCain for president, putting her one 72-year-old heartbeat from the leadership of the free world is just too risky at this time."

Read the entire endorsement here: http://www.adn.com/opinion/view/story/567867.html

Hockey and Homer

I'm going on a Glacier cruise tomorrow and realized I had not blogged about last weekend yet, but let me take a step back first....


A couple of weeks ago I finally went back to CA for the weekend and warmer weather, but the week before I left it was snowing and 30 degrees:


When I took off in Alaska it was around 30 degrees with snow on the ground.


Cali was a nice break from the cold - Pond across from my CA apt and a sunny California day.


When I got back to Alaska early Tuesday morning it was snowing STILL! I had to get a car with AWD this time.

Now it is soooo cold, 20 degrees during the day. We're also losing 6 minutes of daylight each day. So it doesn't get fully light until around 9 am and gets dark around 7. They say the key to deal with the "darkness" is to stay busy and always go out during the day. We'll see.

Last week, our client gave us all tickets to the Alaska Aces hockey game last Friday night. I did get to see one fight before leaving early but it looked staged. Guess I gotta go to a San Jose Sharks game to see a real fight, huh? :-)

Saturday morning we started off on our road trip to Homer.

It was a beautiful 4 hour drive (most of the way at least) to Homer. Along the way, we stopped along the Kenai River. The water is a aquamarine color because the river is catching water from the glaciers.

We got there to find that many of the shops were closed so we drove out all the way to the end of Homer spit

Jackpot Halibut Derby - closed for the winter

Me taking pictures at Homer Spit

Beach at Homer Spit, I slipped and fell on my butt on this doggone seawead. Valerie said she looked up and all she saw was my feet in the air one second and me on the ground the next. LOL! No comment.

Alaska Welcomes Target

Something wonderful happened to Alaskans today.....they got their very first Target store in Achorage! While this may seem like a small thing to us from the lower 48, it was a really BIG deal here in Alaska. Apparently, Alaskans have wanted Target here for years. Today was just the soft opening so I thought I’d go and check out the opening....and I have also been Target-deprived for the past month.

Now I expected it to be crowded, but this was like the holiday shopping season, like the day after Thanksgiving or better yet...Christmas Eve. Seriously. Not only was there a long, slow line going into the parking lot, but there were at least 5 security guards directing traffic once you got into the parking lot. The traffic pattern led you past 10 full rows of parked cars before you arrive at the entrance. Even then you had to drive past at least 6 more rows to get to open parking spaces. While I was waiting to park, I stopped a lady walking out of target with a full shopping cart to ask her about the checkout lines in the store. She told me that parking was worse than the checkout lines. But I thought to myself, all of these cars are going to equal a very crowded store and loooong lines.

I was absolutely right. It was just as crowded inside as the mall on Christmas Eve. Seriously. Some of the prices seemed higher than Target in the lower 48, but most seemed about the same. The sales clerk that checked me out said they had a VIP opening for Target card customers the night before and it was even more crowded but fun and they had servers walking around the store serving customers with platters of food.

But anyways I ended up buying Superman Returns, Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers DVD for $5 each. I also bought a travel pillow for my flight back to CA this weekend. Yay! I need a break from AK and this weekend is just that. :-)