Alaska Living Today

Well, I may not want to be here after over 30 years, but I can't say life in Anchorage is boring. (Okay, yes, I CAN say that because it often is, but...)

Woke up this morning to the news that schools are closed because of the icy roads. That almost NEVER happens here. It is Alaska, after all - all we've got for most of the year is icy roads. So you know it has to be a nice mess for things to shut down.

We had days and days and days of below zero temps. When it warmed up yesterday to around 18 degrees, we damn near celebrated with patio parties... Then at some point, the temps shot up to the high 20's. THEN... freezing rain.

So, yeah, I guess the roads are bound to be a little bit icy. I'm hearing news updates about certain roads being shut completely down. One of my nieces - who has problems with her nerves when driving on SNOW - is talking about taking a taxi to work. My sister is missing dialysis this morning because she can't transfer from her wheelchair to the SUV and we don't want to risk getting in a wreck in the car we use. Such a mess.

I hate this damn place.

And even better (or worse), for the lucky souls who would be eligible for those famous Permanent Fund Dividends - well, turns out that the Fund is bleeding money. Rumors yesterday were that there may be no payout to the citizens this year. Doesn't bother me. I screwed up my eligibility by moving. Now, I was bothered as hell about this when those high-paying checks came out last time. I was so depressed then that I couldn't bear going into WalMart and Costco, watching people throwing that money around when I could have been paying off bills with it!

So, life in Alaska today...sucks. Sucks, blows chunks, stinks like a sulfur wind, and just plain makes me bitter. Couldn't even write a decent post!

Peace
--Free