N.L. MVP

It shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone. Albert Pujols won the N.L. MVP today. The shocking part is that Ryan Howard came in second and got 37.5% of the first place votes. How can anyone justify giving a first place vote to a guy that struck out 199 times, batted a paltry .251 and had an OPS of only .882? Nope. Sorry. That doesn't even make my top 10.

MY TOP TEN [actual voting in ()]

1) Albert Pujols St Louis (1)
2) Geovanny Soto Chicago (13)
3) Ryan Braun Milwaukee (3)
4) Tim Lincecum San Francisco (23)
5) Manny Ramirez Los Angeles (4)
6) David Wright New York (7)
7) Larry "Chipper" Jones Atlanta (12)
8) Lance Berkman Houston (5)
9) Brad Lidge Philadelphia (8)
10) Ryan Ludwick St Louis (16)

I'll post my a.l. MVP info tomorrow.

W. S. '08

Ok, so I bombed on the a.l. and N.L. C.S.'s. I said LA and the Bosox and we ended up with the Phillies and Tampa.

Philadelphia over the Tampa Rays in six games. Pat Burrell wins the MVP.

Where Is Brent Moss When You Need Him?

When is the last time we saw the Badgers sitting here at this point in the season?

Big Ten Standings
TEAM	CONF. W-L	OVERALL W-L
*-Penn State	3-0	7-0
*-Ohio State	3-0	6-1
*-Michigan State	3-0	6-1
*-Minnesota	2-1	6-1
Northwestern	1-1	5-1
Michigan	1-1	2-4
Iowa	1-2	4-3
Illinois	1-2	3-3
Purdue	0-2	2-4
Wisconsin	0-3	3-3
Indiana	0-3	2-4

Ouch!

(as i'm typing this, UW is losing at halftime to Iowa 14-3)

Did you know that Iowa is actually an acronym? Idiots Out Wandering Around.

Fact And Fiction

If an elephant never forgets, how could Republicans say such things?

Fiction: "(Palin) took the luxury jet that was acquired by her predecessor and sold it on eBay. And made a profit!" - John McCain
FACT: No one bought the jet online. It was eventually sold through an aircraft broker at a loss of nearly $600,000.

Fiction: "I told the Congress 'Thanks, but no thanks' on that Bridge to Nowhere." - Sarah Palin
FACT: Supported the infamous pork project in her '06 run for governor of Alaska; derided it's opponents as "spinmeisters". Reversed her stance one year later, but keep the money. Roughly $223m.

Fiction: "We...championed reform to end the abuses of earmmark spending by Congress." - Sarah Palin
FACT: As mayor of Wasilla, she employed a lobbyist who also worked for Jack Abramoff to secure $27m in pork spending for Wasilla. Or more than $4000/resident. In her two years as governor, requested $453m in earmarks. Alaska ranks first in the nation for pork, taking in over seven times the national average.

Fiction: "I found...someone who stopped government from wasting taxpayer's money." - John McCain
FACT: Palin's signature accomplishment as mayor was building a $15m hockey arena that plunged the town into debt. Broke ground on the project w/out finalizing the town's purchase of the land. The resulting fiasco cost Wasilla $1.3m.

Fiction: "Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems. As if we didn't know that already." - Sarah Palin in her '08 convention speech
FACT: "I beg to disagree with any candidate who would say we can't drill our way out of our problems." - Sarah Palin in July '08

Fiction: "We began a nearly $40b natural-gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence." - Sarah Palin in her '08 convention speech
FACT: With federal approval years away, not a single section of the pipeline has been worked on. Alaska could end up paying the pipeline's contractor $500m, even if it never breaks ground on the project.

Fiction: "She's from a small town with small-town values." - Fred Thompson
FACT: Wasilla and the surrounding valley was recently named the meth capitol of Alaska, with 42 meth labs busted in a single year.

Fiction: Palin has "taken on the political establishment in the largest state in the union." - Fred Thompson
FACT: Until '05, served as director of a fundraising group associated with indicted senator Ted Stevens.

Fiction: "She fought oil companies." - John McCain
FACT: Collected $13,000 in campain contributions from oil and gas lobbyists, including Exxon, British Petrolium, shell, and Chevron. BP was a sponser of her inaugural ball.

Fiction: "She's been to Kuwait. She's been over there. She has been with her troops. The National Guard that she commands, who have been over there and have experience." - John McCain, touting Palin's national-security credentials
FACT: She never had a passport before 2007, when she made a brief photo-op trip to visit troops in Germany and Kuwait. Has never been to Iraq. Has never met a single foreign head of state.

Fiction: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending." - Sarah Palin in her '08 convention speech
FACT: As governor, sought travel reimbursement for 312 nights she spent in her own home.

Jesse or Lena? II

Time has expired.

The polls have closed.

The ballot boxes have been emptied.

The votes have been tallied.

With a huge thank you to everyone that voted, I will now announce the puppy's name.

(ahem)

The puppy's name, winning by a two vote margin, is.....









JESSE!

Puppy Pictures

Here are a few more pics of the yet-to-be-named puppy.

For more info. on the naming process, scroll down to "Jesse or Lena?".

Real Alaskans

The following is a great veiwpoint on the press and Alaskans. It was written by Casey, a fella that I used to work with at Frontier.

Well, I have to say, politics aside, Alaskans very excited about how the Press,

since Sarah Palin's V.P. nomination, have taken it upon themselves to educate

the rest of the country about what real Alaskans are like. They've really hit it right

on the nail.

As soon as I finish this mooseburger, I'm going to do some drinking before I drive

my snowmachine to the rally to get Creationism taught in science class. Then, on

the way home, I have this road sign I'm going shoot full of holes, then take down

to give as a wedding gift next week. A buddy of mine and his cousin are getting

married. They are very excited about the upcoming ceremony, and so are their

kids. I'm not crazy about the timing, because now I'm going to bathe nearly a

month ahead of schedule. It'll probably be worth it though, because Jonni has

promised to wear her matching wolf fur bra-and-panty set for the occasion. The

nuptials will take place at our local roadhouse, and the minister is also the only

bartender. This has gotten some of the guests-to-be a little stirred up, as you

won't be able to get a drink during the ceremony. Oh, well, what are ya gonna

do, eh? Their dogs will of course be allowed inside for the festivities, and then

friends and family will volunteer to look after the dogs and kids while the couple

honeymoon out on St. Lawrence Island. Their plan is to use their empty whiskey

bottles to write taunting messages to the Russians and throw them into the

ocean. You can see Russia from Alaska, you know. Eh?

Eh?

Jesse or Lena?

Well, it happened again. We got another puppy. A cute little girl that we got from Sunnifa's parents. She is a Siberian Husky. Eleven weeks old. Nineteen pounds.

The problem is that we can't decide on a name. We've narrowed it down to either Jesse or Lena. Now we need your help.

We've decided to let you pick her name. Just click on "comments" below and let us know what you think her name should be. Voting is open until 10pm ADT on Tuesday, October 14.

A little history as to why Jesse or Lena.

Jesse. All of my (our) dogs get named after baseball players. If I get a puppy, I look up a list of ballplayers that share the same DOB as the pup. In this case, it is Jesse Stovall.

Lena. This morning, Sunn found herself calling the puppy "Lena". For no real reason. After the fourth or fifth time, we thought that maybe we should reconsider the pup's name. Plus, the pup's mother's name is Kikkan. A good Scandinavian name. As is Lena. BTW, she would be named after William "Lena" Styles.

So again, please vote. Help this poor little puppy in the picture get a name.

Thank you.

PS ~~ she is Sasha's great-granddaughter.

Punk Band?

http://www.236.com/video/2008/get_your_war_on_sarah_palin_an_9028.php

Cy Young

The first round of the playoffs is complete. So far I'm 4-0. :-)

I will now reveal my choices for the Cy Young Award.

I won't give away my methods, but I will say that my ranking is based on IP, ER, K, Sv, BS, Hld, WHIP, IBB, W, L, W and Sv %, CG, ShO, and ERA.

[actual voting is in ()]

american league
1: Cliff Lee, Cleveland (1)
*
2: Roy Halladay, Toronto (2)
3: Mariano Rivera, New York (5)
4: Frankie Rodriguez, Los Angeles/Anaheim/California/whatever (3)
5: Jonathan Papelbon, Boston
6: Joe Nathan, Minnesota
7: Joakim Soria, Kansas City
8: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Boston (4)
9: Jon Lester, Boston
10: Ervin Santana, Los Angeles/Anaheim/California/whatever (t6)
* people say what a great record-breaking season F. Rodriguez had. this is where Bobby Thigpen's 1990 season would rank.

National League
1: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco (1)
2: Brad Lidge, Philadelphia (4)
3: Johan Santana, New York (3)
4: Brandon Webb, Arizona (2)
5: Carlos Marmol, Chicago
6: Ryan Dempster, Chicago (6)
7: José Valverde, Arizona
8: Edinson Volquez, Cincinnati
9: Cole Hamels, Philadelphia
10: CC Sabathia, Milwaukee (5)

The MVPs should appear prior to the start of the World Series.

edit Nov 7, 2008: things have been busy around the homested. i'll try to get the MVPs post sometime during the week of Monday, Nov10.

Chicago sCrubs

Dodgers win series, 3-0
Game	Matchup	Day	Date	Time ET	TV
Gm 1	LAD 7 @ CHC 2	Wed	Oct. 1
Gm 2	LAD 10 @ CHC 3	Thu	Oct. 2
Gm 3	CHC 1 @ LAD 3	Sat	Oct. 4

To quote Nelson from "The Simpsons", I would like to take a moment to point at the Cubbies and say, "HA! HA!".

:-)

WAP & WASP

http://womenagainstpalin.com/

And then there is this t-shirt...

MLB Postseason

The playoffs started today. Here's my picks on how things will shake out.

american league

Boston over Los Angeles / Anaheim / California / whatevertheycallthemselvesthisyear
Tampa over Chicago

Boston Red Sox over Tampa Rays in five games.

National League

Philadelphia over Milwaukee
Los Angeles over Chicago

Los Angeles Dodgers over Philadelphia Phillies in six games.

And in the World Series...

The LA Dodgers over the Bosox in seven games.

Joe Torre will win the MVP award. Manny Ramirez will be a close second in the voting.

Oops

Boy, I'm really going to school for the wrong thing!

http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/topstocks/?fpn=the%20best%20temp%20gig%20in%20history&GT1=33009

First Snowfall

More photos. Taken this morning.

As The Clock Prepared To Strike Midnite...

... I arose from my bed. I had been listening to the sound of car tires on wet pavement, so I went to the window to see how heavy of a rain had fallen.

Much to my surprise, and delight, I saw that it wasn't rain that had fallen. It was snow! Beautiful, pure, white Alaskan snow! Heavy like a midwestern snowfall. More like a white slush falling to the ground. A lovely white slush.

I guess it's time to get those Blizzak tires on MacKenzie.

Current temp: +1ºC.

Now I'm Depressed

The following information was taken without permission from http://theceliachusband.blogspot.com/.

I hope he doesn't mind.

We all know that eating organic food is more expensive than eating regular food. Smaller farms with lower yields per acre, sustainable farming, organic fertilizers, etc., etc. All fair and valid reasons why healthy foods are more expensive.



What tops that difference in price however, is living gluten free. A recent study at the Dalhousie Medical School & University by a couple of researchers, has produced a maybe shocking, but not surprising result. The average cost of buying gluten free foods compared to regular fare is 242% higher.

242%

A staggering percentage. A number that is even more shocking when you think of it that eating organic is a choice more so than a necessity. Eating Gluten Free for Celiacs is not. No choice. It is a must. Do or get sick.

Consistency

I was just looking at some old posts while I'm waiting for my yummy gluten-free mac & cheese to cook, and I just realized that the first frost (that I saw) last year was on 9-18 and this year it was on 9-17. Mother Nature is right on schedule. Altho it would be nice if she was a bit ahead of schedule this winter.

I wouldn't mind an end result like this picture either.

Finally!

As I sit at the computer sipping coffee and reading Paul Newman's obit, I glance out the window and see it. At first, I'm not sure what it is. Rain? It would have to be a very light rainfall. A very light rainfall with large drops. Large, lightweight drops that fall from the sky as if riding on feathers.

But rain doesn't fall like this. Snow does. Snow! A very light snowfall. Falling straight down. One could almost go out in it and run between the falling flakes without getting hit by any. Kind of like "Space Invaders", but without the shields.

Will it last? Are the dogs enjoying this first snowfall as much as I am? Does Movie Gallery have a copy of "The Hustler" in stock?

Elvis

Before anyone did anything, Elvis did everything.

1st to create fan hysteria.
1st to be censored.
1st to have a private jet.
1st to go "unplugged" for an audience.
1st to perform an entire concert televised globally.
1st to have his own "crib".

But Will It Get Much Better?

Too Easy

It's getting too easy to find anti-palin stuff.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

The Hammer And Sickle Are Alive And Well In The USA

A smidge over the top, but pretty funny nonetheless.

So True. So, So True.

Stop voting for people you want to have a beer with.
Stop voting for folksy.
Stop voting for people who remind you of your neighbor.
Stop voting for the ideologically intransigent, the staggeringly ignorant, and the blazingly incompetent.


Vote for someone smarter than you.
Vote for someone who inspires you.
Vote for someone who has not only traveled the world but who has also shown a deep understanding and compassion for it.
The stakes are real and they're terrifyingly high.
This election matters.
It really matters.
Let me say that one more time.

This.
Really.
Matters.


-- Michael Seitzman

Great News

Great news! Sunnifa just got off the phone with one of her sisters. Inge said that if the mccain/palin ticket wins the election in November, we can move there and build a cabin on their property outside of Whitehorse!

Now I'm torn. I want Obama/Biden to win, but I really want to get out of this gawdawful country. Hmm... Who to vote for. Who to vote for...

Mid-afternoon

Currently mostly cloudy and 9.2ºC.

Noon

Currently 4.2ºC and cloudy.

The leaves continue to fall to the ground.

Compare

Fort Atkinson is approximately 5.5 square miles w/a population density of 2,155 people / sq mi.
Population: 11,621.

Watertown is approximately 11.3 square miles w/a population density of 1,974 people / sq mi.
Population: 21,598.

Fairbanks is approximately 32.7 square miles w/a population density of 949 people / sq mi.
Population: 30,224.

These figures do not include the surrounding areas. All figures based on 2000 census. Information pulled from Wikipedia. If this info. is wrong, don't blame me!

edited 21:51 on 9-22-08

Whitehorse is approximately 160.8 square miles (416.4 sq km) w/a population density of 119 people / sq mi. (no, that isn't a typo)
Population (2006): 20,461.

Sunrise

Ohhh. Currently 6:18 and -2.7ºC.

Summer is soooo over!

No snow yet. :-(

3.50

Well, one semester down, two (or possibly five) more to go.

Four classes.

Three A's (including an A+ in "Mathematics for the Trades") .

One C.

Twelve credits.

3.50 GPA.

Semester two is comprised of four classes / fourteen credits.

Link

Here's another good link that I came across...

http://blogs4sense.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/two-rallies-one-clear-winner/

The first picture is priceless!

The Checklist

1) In 1992, become a city council member for a town of a little over 5,000 people. √

2) In 1996, be elected mayor of a town of roughly 6,000 people. √

3) In 2006, get elected governor of an isolated state with a population of barely 600,000 people. (there are eighteen cities in the U.S. that have a larger population!) √

4) In 2008, after only 21 months as governor, get chosen to possibly be only one (faint) heartbeat away from becoming the leader of the most powerful country IN THE WORLD! √

Oh yeah. She's qualified!

I'm not asking people to vote for Obama/Biden because I believe in them. I'm asking people to vote for Obama/Biden because it's a vote against mccain/palin.

NHL '08 picks

I know. I know. It's pretty early to be making predictions. Well, here they are anyways. Conference rank in ( ).

EASTERN CONFERENCE

East
New York Rangers (3)
Philadelphia Flyers (5)
Pittsburgh Penguins (6)
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
Northeast
Montréal Canadians (1)
Buffalo Sabers (8)
Ottawa Senators
Boston Bruins
Toronto Maple Leafs
Southeast
Washington Capitols (2)
Carolina Hurricanes (4)
Tampa Lightning (7)
Florida Panthers
Atlanta Thrashers

ROUND 1:
Mont. over Buff.
Tampa over Wash.
Pitt. over N.Y.R.
Phil. over Car.

ROUND 2:
Mont. over Tampa
Pitt. over Phil.

ROUND 3:
Pittsburgh over Montréal in 7.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Central
Detroit Red Wings (1)
Chicago Blackhawks (5)
Columbus Blue Jackets (8)
St. Louis Blues
Nashville Predators

Northeast
Minnesota Wild (3)
Edmonton Oilers (7)
Calgary Flames
Vancouver Canucks
Colorado Avalanche

Pacific
Dallas Stars (2)
Anaheim Ducks (4)
San José Sharks (6)
Phoenix Coyotes
Los Angeles Kings

ROUND 1:
Det. over Colu.
Dal. over Edm.
S.J. over Minn.
Chi. over Ana.

ROUND 2:
Det. over S.J.
Dal. over Chi.

ROUND 3:
Dallas over Detroit in 7.

STANLEY CUP FINALS...

The DALLAS STARS over the PENGUINS of PITTSBURGH in six games.


(you read it here first!)

More Palin stuff

More proof that not all Alaskans are voting for McCain / Palin.

Go to my friend Laura's blog titled "Adventures in AK". http://laurainak.blogspot.com. Palin was in Anchorage (aka Anchoragua, Los Anchorage, North Seattle) and was greeted by some people holding signs. Nice pictures.

Welcome home Sarah!

R.I.P.

Hi. Sad day here at the homestead. We put Sasha to sleep today.

When I went down to feed the dogs this morning, I found her lying on her belly in amongst the trees. Very out of character for Sasha. When I finally coaxed her to stand up, she only walked about twenty feet before she laid back down. Well, this went on for a little bit until she made it to her doghouse. By the time Sunnifa got home, I had already contacted the vet and was trying to get Sasha up to the driveway. She was staggering left and right and her hind end wasn't co-operating. I carried her to the car and off we went.

After a check-up by Dr. Eastman [UW alum :-)], the three of us talked and it was decided that fifteen years was a good life and that it was time. Sasha was stubborn to the end, as a good Siberian should be, as it took a couple of tries to get the needle to stick in her leg. She kept kicking it out!

Sasha passed away at around 4:45pm ADT.

After talking to us and looking at some x-rays from last year, Dr. Eastman thinks that Sasha had Cushing's syndrome and it finally started taking over within the last 24 hours or so.

Rest in peace Snarla.

b. November 1993 d. September 2008

[in case you are wondering about the upper left photo, that is Sasha hard at work guarding a pile of mittens!]

Absolute torture

I'm on day two of my first ever attempt at dieting. Holy crappers! This ain't easy.

Have you ever heard of the "lemonade diet"? That's what I'm trying. It's supposed to cleanse out your system of toxins and crap (literally). Sunnifa did this about a month or so ago and got good results from it. I'm just lucky I'm unemployed right now. I barely have the strength to go outside and do yard work. There's no way I could have handled lifting 50, 60, 70+ pound boxes into airplanes.

I'm hoping that I can make it until next weekend. This morning I was 5'11" (180cm), 188# (85kg), and 24% body fat. I doubt that my height is going to change, but the weight and bf% should drop. We'll see what happens.

Palin?!?

I'm curious what others think of this.

In my opinion, this is a joke. People talk about Obama being inexperienced. Palin makes Obama look like a wise old sage!

I don't really like Obama or McCain. I was going to vote for the Green Party ticket of Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente, but now with Palin on the republican ticket, I'll be casting my vote for Obama/Biden.

Let me know what you think of all thats shaking down in the political world. Come back often. Leave messages. Respond to others. Just click on the "comments" below. Let's have some fun!

Would you...

... trust this man with your belongings?

Time flies...

WOW!! I didn't realize that it's been over four months since my last post. Summer is short up here, so people tend to get out and take advantage of it.
Let's see... Mom and Rich came up in mid-June. That was fun. They were here for about ten days or so.
I started school on a full-time basis. That wasn't so fun. I got an A+, an A, and a C in my three classes this summer. I'll be carrying 14 credits this fall. Anything below a B- is unacceptable.
I gave my two-weeks notice at work! :-) My last day is tomorrow. Knowing that I've got only a few days left, it's been getting really hard for me to get up at 3:30am. I don't mind a 5am start time, but when you dread going in to work, it gets that much harder. As for employment, I have to go over to campus later today and fill out some paperwork. Hopefully I'll be an employee of UAF by this time next week. It'll approx. be a 72% pay cut, but I think it'll be worth it.
That's about it. I'm doing well. Sunnifa is doing well. Well, about as well as a middle school teacher can be. ;-0 The dogs are doing fine. We're all ready for the snow to start falling. Anyone know a good snow dance that we can do?
Oh yeah. We can be found on Facebook. Log in and look up "Sunnifa Chris". Without the quote marks.

Ha det!

P.S. ~~ currently 13:45 and +19ºC.

The post-season

It's NHL awards time. Here's my picks. Any arguments?

Calder (rookie of the year) ~ Patrick Kane / Chicago Blackhawks
Hart (MVP) ~ Alexander Ovechkin / Washington Capitols
Jack Adams (coach of the year) ~ Bruce Boudreau / Washington Capitols
Norris (best defenceman) ~ Niklas Lidstrom / Detroit Red Wings
Vezina (best goalie) ~ Martin Brodeur (mar-TAN bro-DOOER) / New Jersey Devils

Playoff hockey

Playoff time is upon us. Here are my picks.

EAST
Montreal over Boston in 5.
Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 5.
Washington over Philadelphia in 6.
NY Rangers over New Jersey in 7.

NY over Mont in 6.
Wash over Pitt in 7.

NY over Wash in 7.

WEST
Detroit over Nashville in 4.
San Jose over Calgary in 6.
Minnesota over Colorado in 7.
Anaheim over Dallas in 5.

Det over Ana in 7.
SJ over Minn in 5.

SJ over Det in 6.

FINALS
San Jose Sharks over the New York Rangers in seven.

Race pic

This is my favourite picture from this winter. Sunnifa's dad took it at one of the races. It's of me and my team leaving the start line. Lucky (by himself in the 'swing' position) is my best puller and it shows here. Ears back, tail in a low curl...he's all business. The 'wheel' dogs (Tavarez and Lew) are actually raring to go. Lew has that glint in her eyes and Tavarez is wearing a big smile. They look good here. I think that the leaders make the photo. The yearling, Bert, is all about going out and running while "old man Joh" takes a second to make sure the pup isn't screwing anything up.

We came in third place that day. 5.9 miles in 27 minutes 4.3 seconds. A whopping 4.59 mph.

Sparky

Greetings y'all! What's shakin'? Things are OK here. Spring is here, I'm taking a class to get ready for going back to school full-time, Sunnifa is more than ready for summer break to get here, and the dogs are sick.

The mushing season is d-u-n done! All last week we had temperatures in the 50s. The snow is melting fast and what is left is slushy muck. Time to pull out the break-up boots so we can go sloshing thru the puddles and mud and gunk. Right now it's 10:22am and there is a mix of rain and snow coming down with a good breeze and 33F. A nice day to stay inside.

We got a new dog a couple of weeks ago. A two-year-old boy that we named Sparky. Sparky is going to be Sunnifa’s skijor dog. We got him from the pound. He is out of a sprint musher’s kennel and was dropped off because he dips for snow too much while he is running. I think he was just too dehydrated. His gums weren’t a bright pink like they should be. I took him out on a 4.5 mile run on the Monday that we got him and he dipped a little bit but when Sunnifa took him skijoring on Tuesday, they went about 1.5 miles and he didn’t dip at all. When we got home on Tuesday we let him inside the pen so he could sniff around and introduce himself to the other dogs on his terms. Well, about a half hour later he was standing in the middle of the driveway! The little bugger worked at a corner of the chain link gate door and wormed his way out, chipping a tooth in the process. It’s chipped to the point that the root is exposed. So now we (Sunnifa) have to decide if we want to have an upper canine tooth extracted from a two-year-old dog ($500) or have him get a root canal ($650). Oh yeah. He also has kennel cough. Good boy Sparky! Good boy! The kennel cough has spread to Tavarez. When we went for a run, she was running next to Sparky. That's probably when she contracted it.

Kennel cough (Bordetella) is a highly contagious respiratory virus. The best thing that we can do is keep all the dogs on their chains for about two months and hope that Sunnifa and I don't somehow carry it around between the dogs. It is very rare for a human to contract it, so hopefully it won't go any farther than Tavarez.

GPS in the Iditarod

In case you haven't heard, the Iditarod is being run right now. It is the other 1,000 mile long dog sled race. The Iditarod stays in Alaska, going from Willow to Nome.

They are trying something new this year. Twenty of the top mushers are carrying little 2-pound GPS devices. If you go to www.iditarod.com and click on where it says "Live GPS Musher Tracking", you can see where the mushers are, their speed, elevation, all sorts of stuff. This gives you a better idea of what's actually happening out there.

As an example, the way the leader board stands as I type this, it says that four-time Yukon Quest and defending Iditarod champ Lance Mackey was out of Kaltag almost six hours ahead of four-time Iditarod winner Jeff King. Sounds like he has a pretty good lead, right? Well, if you look at the GPS Tracker, you find you that King has overtaken Mackey and is six miles in front of him and only nine miles away from the next checkpoint. Personal favourites Kjetil Backen of Norway and 2000 Yukon Quest winner Aily Zirkle are 36 miles and 70 miles behind King. JK is traveling at 9mph, LM at 6mph, KB at 9mph and AZ at 8mph. The temperature at JK's location is +19F and he is 22 feet above sea level, LM has +24F at 69 feet, KB has +23F at 466 feet, and AZ is out in +27F at 72 feet above sea level.

Pretty cool, eh?

Caption Contest

Alrighty now. Put your creativity caps on. It's time for a contest!

This is a picture of Lew. She is wearing a tiara.

Your job is to come up w/a witty caption. Don't send the caption to my e-mail! Post it here under the "comments" for all the world to see.

Be witty. Have fun. Remember, there is a naughty-work blocker on this site, so keep it clean. Or do like they do in the #@$*&$@ comics.

(you can click on the pic to get a better look)

School

Hey, has anybody checked? Has Hell frozen over?

Yep, I'm going back to school!

I've been accepted into a program through the Tanana Vallay Campus (TVC) of the Univ. Alaska - Fairbanks (UAF). They have what they call a "Fast Track" program (bottom). In and out in one year and into the work force. I will be getting a certificate in Power Generation. If I want to, I could stay in for another year and get my Associate's Degree in Process Technology from UAF. A description of the Process Technology program is posted here (bottom half of top page).

Classes start on May 19th but I may have to take a refresher course or two in math. It's been a while since I've used any of the stuff I slept through in algebra class. If this is the case, classes start on the 29th of this month.

(clicking on the images will enlarge them)

And by the way, yes, Hell does freeze over. I've been to Hell (Norway) and there was snow on the ground. ;-)

Red

Well, we just heard back from the vet that did the necropsy. Red died from a ruptured spleen. After doing a little bit of research and talking to a couple of vets, we thought he may have died from hemangiosarcoma. This is an aggressive form of cancer that has no known cure, but the vet that did the necropsy said that it didn't look like that at all. She believes that Red suffered some form of blunt trauma. She said that half of his spleen was fine, but the other half was engorged with blood and had a complete fracture through it up near his backbone. Sunnifa and I have been racking our brains trying to think of anything that could have caused this. He wasn't hit by a car. Wasn't kicked by a moose. Wasn't run into by the sled or a ski. We're totally flummoxed by this.


Rest in peace Red. I'm sorry that this happened. You were a good boy.

R.I.P.

Yes, I know it's been a while since I've been on here. I'll try to be better about it.

Red passed away last night. He hasn't been himself for the past few days and we were going to call the vet on Monday to bring him in. Now we're going to call to make an appt. for an necropsy.

Attached is a picture of Red and Sunnifa at the start of a race a couple of weeks ago. He was a really good dog and a very good skijor dog. He had been doing some running in the fall w/a four-wheeler before we got him, but with us he logged 166 miles in harness.

b. 27 September 2004, d. 24 February 2008.