A Day in Nome
 

I have a mild fascination with our 49th state. I definitely want to visit there before I pass on.

This is what it looked like on Front Street in Nome, Alaska at 7:15 AST (11:15 EST) this morning. It is a brisk -6 degrees F there. Normally, at 7:15am in our part of the world right now, it is getting light and the sun is coming up. Image courtesy of the Nomecam.

Sunrise in Nome today is at 11:32am AST.

My uncle lives there. But he's a douchebag, so I won't be staying with him.

However, I *will* get there before the end of me life, if only to see the amazing, the fantasical, the wonderful aurora borealis. Ah.

My sister lives in Anchorage with her family. Anchorage is three degrees of latitude south of Nome. This is about 180 n.mi. as the crow flies, assuming it doesn't freeze to death. Maybe it should be as the Canada goose flies. It's also less than the difference in latitude between San Francisco and L.A.

And my sister -can't wait- for her husband's tour in Anchorage to be over. They hate it. You can't sleep without blackout shutters in the summer, and you can't wake up when it's dark all day long except for a mid-day Reduction of the Gloom. And getting anywhere in the winter, which lasts seven or eight months, is a chore. They also get moose in their back yard (a moose is like a Clydesdale with a hangover, stupid, ill-tempered and powerful) and bears where they go fishing half an hour's drive from their house.

Going to Alaska sounds like a good plan if you can go on a nice warm passenger ship with plenty of whisky aboard. If you don't like that idea, Stockholm's latitude is 59N, and Stockholm's full of nice Swedish girls and akvavit.

Ah. Nice swedish girls. And Volvos.

Heaven.

[Edit @ 1:02 PM 12-03-2001]

Dammit, now I'm thinking about nice Swedish girls. I need to stop reading the Cellar at work. aRRRR!

And later in the day...
 

This is the view at 10:45 am AST, about 45 minutes before sunrise. I wish I would have been home about an hour earlier...I bet it would have made a really nice pic.

Re: And later in the day...
 

There's always tomorrow :)

Re: Re: And later in the day...
 

Unfortunately, not for me. I have to go back to the Fascist Regime (my job) tomorrow. But I do have an interview on Friday...one can hope.

Where you interviewing at?

What kinda job you looking for?

Probably shouldn't be in this thread but I'm just interested :)

It's with a company in Old City Philadelphia, doing customer service work (order processing, talking to customers)...something I have been doing for 10 years now (and happen to do well). I've had pretty bad luck in finding and staying with a job here...probably b/c I'm at the point in my life where I want real satisfaction in my job. All I feel I do now is feed people's cell phone addiction...very unfulfilling. My true calling is writing, but that doesn't pay very well at this point. :rolleyes:

Syc- good luck with the interview! :) sending positives your way.

Heh. My true calling has always been writing. That's probably why my grammar ain't too shabby and my spelling is pretty tight. Right now I'm fascinated with computers now. I have 2 loves - expression and computers (that's if you don't count certain females). So... I figure, the best bet for me eventually will be a tech journalist. Just waiting for the chance :)

Good luck though. Both in getting a shot at writing and with your interview. It's only worth it if you're happy...

Last Nome pic of the day
 

This pic was at 5:10pm AST. Sunset was at 4:10pm.

I've heard good and bad about Alaska. I just find the state to be fascinating. You have this little town of 8,000 people, sitting along the Bering Sea, your only access to it by sea or air.

I tried to find a live pic from Barrow, where they will not see the sun again until sometime next month, but nothing available.

Re: Last Nome pic of the day
 

shitty webcams don't do too well with no light :)

it's cool to see a nome cam. i remember the mount fuji cam from way back in the day - one of the first webcams around. now it's as if every girl in the entire world has one on their monitor, and every guy has one on their desk, about crotch-level. :)

though i enjoy cams of cute females and the like, i really do enjoy *places* more. it's been a while since i saw one of a *place* rather than a person. so thanks for posting it :)

I keep toying with the idea of transferring to the University of Alaska at Anchorage just because I really want to spend some time up there. I'm also pretty impressed by the fact that the state has no taxes and every years you get a check that I've heard is on the order of $3000 just for being a resident.

And this is why my slacker-ass uncle lives up there.

Must be nice though. Must be really nice. I pay so much in taxes now, and it's only going to increase as my pay does. Would be nice to hold on to even just a little bit more of it...

Wouldn't it be nice if the check came on like November 1? Christmas money. :)

The only problem (besides lack of sunlight in the winter) is that the cost of living is higher there. Granted, given that Anchorage is a good-sized city (over 200,000 people), I would think the prices there aren't so bad. You always see the ads for the pizza chains on TV that say, "Prices may be higher in Alaska and Hawaii." But in looking at grocery prices from Carr's (which is owned by Safeway), the prices there don't look bad at all. Plus, they sell beer in their grocery stores...just like Missouri and Virginia. :) $14.49 for a case of Miller Lite w/your Carr's Card (Safeway Card)...that's about what you'd pay for it here in PA. $3.99 for a 12-pack of Coke w/card...now that's a tad high. But all in all, fairly comparable. I was reading about Barrow last night (which is the northernmost city in the US), and the prices for some items there WERE higher, but understandably so.

Plus, I would figure you make more up there. I remember when I got a job offer for $22,800 in DC and I thought that was great...until I tried to find an apartment. :rolleyes:

Now, I want everyone to look at the last two pics again. You'll notice that there is a little Geo Metro parked on the street. Nome is only accessible by air and sea. 4-wheel drive cars are the norm. Yet, there is that little Metro, probably tooling around town. I've driven a Metro in the snow...I will this winter as well...and that is just TOO funny!

$14.49??! that still seems like a rip-off (especially for meeler lite). I think I saw an ad in the paper for an 18-pack at ~$9 today. Then again, this *is* Texas :)
Along a similar note, I bought some Old Stock Ale the other day (11.4% alc -- whew!) and loaded up on the xmas time brews. Man, this is what I love about the holidays!

I was stationed at Shemya Air Station, at pretty much the tip of the Aleutian island chain, in 1982.

It's nothing like the most of Alaska, there are no trees to speak of... there are ropes suspended between the buildings, so you've got something to hold onto while walking between buildings (the wind gets a mite strong).

The ocean is visible when the weather permits.. the island is tiny!

I kinda miss it though, something about the harshness of the land calls to me. Must be Nordic blood flowing in my veins eh?

beer = gross.

but to each their own, i suppose.

Oh, like totally! I only buy it as a barometer of the local economy...I swear!:D

uh huh, likely story... :)

i stick to water, thanks... its not scary. :)

I fear no beer! :p

Ok, I'll stop now.