Happy New Year!

It's  -8 degrees.  What.The.F#$%.  "Oh, it never gets below 0 in Kodiak." Liars.  All of you, liars.

That said, I lived.  And it warmed up. To 6 degrees.  Hurray!  At least there is no ice or snow.  Small miracle I guess at this point.  The bigger miracle is that I've lived somehow.  I don't know how I did it, mind you.  The thermometers on the "thermostats" say it's less than 50, and you can see your breath sometimes.  So, it's cold inside too.  They have the a/c running nonstop.  And apparently this isn't an issue that can be fixed.  I'm sure it can, people are just lazy.  Soon though, I will have my own place and I will warm!  I can't wait.

Thank rant being out of the way (one I have shared with everyone who will listen - sometimes by force), I must say 2011 was a great year and I'm sad to see it go.  I joined the Coast Guard, got hurt pretty badly but I recovered, bought my first new car, met an amazing guy, met some great people, finished "A" school, moved to California and Alaska, and now am planning a wedding!  Woah, that's a lot.  Maybe 2012 will be a bit slower paced?  I doubt it.

Resolutions for 2012:
Make the next rank (well, that could take until March of 2013, even if I pass this fall)
Get orders to somewhere with seasons
Get back into volunteering


Anyone else have any resolutions for the coming year?
 

Black ice and slush

I'd like to take a few moments and talk about two weather conditions I have experienced in Kodiak so far and have not discussed - black ice and slush.

I know black ice.  In Florida.  It's what happens when it hasn't rained in a while so oil collects on the roads and when it rains just a bit, well, oil floats and then so does your car.  It isn't pretty.  But the stuff I am talking about is actual ice.  It's a very thin layer of ice that forms and can be hard if not impossible to see on the road.  Lucky for me, driving on this black ice is the same as the stuff I am used to, so no problems there.

Walking is another story.  I slip and slide but thankfully have not fallen due to it yet.  In fact, I almost ate it walking to my car this morning.  But I think I'm starting to master this walking stuff.  And by master I mean I walk on the grass because there is no thin sheet of ice there.  Just crunchy frost.  HA! I win!  On a side note, the ground does freeze.  I pointed this out to the fiancé while he was here and said something along the lines of "Well, at least it's not the tundra."  He kindly pointed out that frozen ground was the definition of tundra, even if its not that way all year.  So I live in the tundra now.  Great.
 

The next item is slush.  Like, when the snow melts or it snowed that morning but is now raining.  So you get 3 or 4 inches of what looks like a slush puppie on the ground.  Not even the good quality slurpee stuff, but the other kind.
 

At least I don't slip and slid on that, but getting around becomes a challenge because you need boots high enough.  Hey look my snow boots work well for that!  Alright I'm in business.  But seriously.  This stuff is usually pretty dirty and nasty.  It has killed all appeal for drinks of the semi-frozen sort.  At least its good for the diet.