The ***OFFICIAL*** Weekend Singles' Thread -- "Alaska Singles Thread (January 05 - 07, 2007,)

various | 5th January 2007 | Proud_yank

[snugs]

The 49th State - The Last Frontier
by proud_yank

Having recently moved here, I thought an Alaskan Singles Thread would be pretty fun.

Alaska is the largest state in America, roughly twice the size of Texas (sorry Texas!).

Putting Alaska into perspective. The Aleutian Islands over California, and South-eastern Alaska over Georgia.

An interesting fact I learned the other day is that in addition to being the Western and Northern-most state, Alaska is also the Eastern-most state too. The Western tip of the Aleutian Islands is just West of the International Dateline.

Alaska can be separated into five regions. The Far North (Also known as the 'North Slope') extends from the Brooks Range (the Northern-most extension of the Rocky Mountains) to the Arctic Ocean. Here are some photos of the Brooks Range, and the North Slope region. Barrow is the most Northern city in America. For fun, here is Barrow's weather.

Most people in Alaska live in Southcentral Alaska (Anchorage), and then the Interior (Fairbanks). Temperatures in the interior are sometimes colder than in the Arctic. Western Alaska is famous for the finish of the Iditarod dog-sled race in Nome. Southeastern, and the Interior, are famous for the Klondike gold rush.

Juneau, the state capitol is located in Southeastern Alaska. As a staunch conservative, it makes me smile that the govt. is located somewhere that can only be reached by boat or plane :-).

The Regions of Alaska

There are lots of moose here, and you really have to be careful driving. In the winter moose will come down from the mountains, and casually stroll through downtown Anchorage. We had one right outside the front door of our main office today! Other animals here include caribou, grizzly, polar, and black bears, muskoxen, beaver, otters, wolves, wolverines, tons of birds, and lots of delicious fish!

Some other interesting info about Alaska....

At 20,320 ft., Alaska has North America's highest peak, Denali.
State bird - Willow Ptarmigan.
State fish - King Salmon.
State tree - Sitka Spruce.
State spore - Dog mushing.
State animal - Moose.
State flower - Wild Native Forget-me-Not.
State song - 'Alaska's Flag'.

Eight stars of gold on a field of blue -
Alaska's flag. May it mean to you
The blue of the sea, the evening sky,
The mountain lakes, and the flow'rs nearby;
The gold of the early sourdough's dreams,
The precious gold of the hills and streams;
The brilliant stars in the northern sky,
The "Bear" - the "Dipper" - and, shining high,
The great North Star with its steady light,
Over land and sea a beacon bright.
Alaska's flag - to Alaskans dear,
The simple flag of a last frontier.

Here are some of my photos that I've put online so far

[Dmitry Vukicevich]

My sister has told me that all men are dogs, but only some can be trained. lol I guess I am trainable.

[ilovew]

Lol! I like the way your sister thinks...I think we'd get along well.

[Dmitry Vukicevich]

women they always stick together. lol

[Dmitry Vukicevich]

Good Night all.

[ilovew]

Yes, that's true. :) So do Southerners. Especially Southern women. Wait, what were we talking about again?

[ilovew]

Darn, I was too slow. :P Good night.

[Kate of Spice Island]

I am the walking information superhighway of the brain and have had the frustration of having no way of dealing with the legal aspects of things, so I am thinking that the focus will be on the law degree and I will be vomit learning stuff that I already learned in my bachelor's and master's degrees.

Thanks for the compliment. :D

[Kate of Spice Island]

Ya mean ASU got knocked of its throne?

It is just as well. I am too old to party.

Meanwhile, it is number one for total enrollment and that puts me in the position of having to get over fear of crowds.

[proud_yank]

The history of the Copper Country (Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan's Upper Peninsula) is fascinating and something you might enjoy too. I believe it was the most profitable mining boom in North American history.

History of the Copper Country was a course I took in college, and one of my favorites. Dr. Larry Lankton was an incredible prof, and his books 'Cradle to the Grave' and 'Beyond the Boundaries' were very good. You might enjoy them. Very much a frontier.

If you like that sort of history I'd HIGHLY reccomend visiting the Keweenaw. Houghton (Where I went to school) is an awesome town. Calumet is really neat too, and Painesdale still looks like it did 100 years ago. There are tons of old mines, and the sandstone architecture is beautiful. I've got some photos of an old smelter in Houghton on my profile.

The photos on http://www.pasty.com/ are mainly from that region.

Living in Alaska reminds me a lot of living in Upper Michigan, only we have mountains here. I absolutely love Alaska, but it is definitely a place people either love or hate. I imagine that lots of big dreams have been shattered here, and people broken down to nothing.

I haven't been to McCarthy/Kennecott, AK to visit the Kennecott Copper mine yet but I plan to. Kennecott, and the Keweenaw, MI mines I believe are the only ones in N. America where pure, metallic copper was mined.

McCarthy, AK: http://www.steliasguides.com/mccarthy.htm

[WFTR]

Now you see exactly WHY I thought of you? :) This is you in forty years, Bill... ;)

I hope I have the good health to be doing exactly that in forty years.

Supposedly, I'm already on a list to handle nuisance snakes in this parish. No one has ever called, but my name and number are supposed to be listed somewhere with Fish and Wildlife. If the police were to call Fish and Wildlife and they didn't have one of their people nearby, they'd call me. What I do with anything I catch is up to me. The guy who sets up the program through the herpetological society said that I can do anything that I'd like with the snakes. He said that most of other folks who've had calls have gotten there to find snakes that are common in the area and not particularly exciting for a collection. In that case, they take the animal about a mile down the road and turn it loose. I'd probably do the same with most common snakes in this area. If I found a non-native snake, I'd likely keep it or give it to a friend. I still don't have time to have a big collection, but when I retire, I'd like to get a few more.

Bill

[krunkygirl]

Best of luck, Bill, with your snakes and your pension issue...'member: don't let 'em deny you what's rightfully yours.

[krunkygirl]

...that's your mouse money ;)

[WFTR]

Thanks! Technically, they control the rules, so they can say that I don't meet the rules to get what I thought I was going to get. They can shake their heads, say that they're very sorry, and tell me that there's nothing that I can do. The question is whether I'll look for work elsewhere and whether I'll try to negotiate them into something to keep me from looking elsewhere.

[Rca2000]

Well....after more than FIVE weeks....I have my van back, and fixed.

It set me back over $1700 to get the tranny replaced and a couple of leaking hoses near it too.

But it is fixed now. Running VERY well. Now, I can stop driving the old car, that has no drivers window or mirror, get the paperwork filled out, and send it in to get my insurance money for the accident.

I went to see "Pursuit of Happyness" W/Will Smith tonight. . I HIGHLY recommend it!! CLEAN, and Quite touching!!

[Rca2000]

Was this wrong of me, or out of place??

One of my coworkers at my second job is a 25 YO kid. He is a road tech, who probably will become a good electronics technician in the near future. I get along with him pretty well, although he does make fun of me for my morals and my decision regarding my social life.

Anyhoo, Friday afternoon, he was saying"I'm gonna' go out tonight and get slammed", referring to going to a bar and getting drunk, and such. Then, he started talking about "Finding a whore for the weekend", and asked Chuck if he knew where some girl was.

I just responded with "Did you ever think of going out and doing something other than getting drunk and getting bedded down for the night? After all, don't you think it it time to start growing up?"

He responded with the usual jokes about me and such. I responded with "Well, hopefully you will grow up sometime. Everyone has to. Maybe then you will want a girl for more than just a night or two, and instead as a friend and companion, for something lasting."

Chuck then told him to "go out and have fun now, while he can". I just repeated my line about "growing up sometime". He responded "maybe someday, but not tonight", and left to go out to a bar and probably more.

Was I out of place in suggesting what I did??

[rzeznikj at stout]

Not one bit.

[Mama_Bear]

Thanks for your reply and the links. I have traveled over most of the U.S. and spent some time in southern Michigan, but have never been to the Upper Peninsula. I know nothing about the Copper industry, except what I learned from the copper baron, Francisco d'Anconia (I know, that was fiction, LOL).

Seriously, I will look into the books you've mentioned. I'm always looking for interesting reading material and it's nice to have personal recommendations.

[DollyCali]

Hi till.. sorry I missed you. I was out last night. When were you stationed there? I thought you might enjoy all the great pix at this thread

[DollyCali]

Have a great Lord's day all!

.. Thanks to FReeper Thackney for the use of his photo
of Mt McKinley for this morning's inspirational offering.

[DollyCali]

glad you enjoyed the pix & thought you would have fun here on this thread. I am like you ...love warmth &: the sun & think I would be VERY depressed most of time if I lived in Alaska.. but would really enjoy a LONG visit there (with my dogs).. exploring the various areas & of course taking pix!!!