One Year Anniversary

So Wednesday was my one year anniversary of joining the USCG!  How did I spend it, you ask?  Stuck in Anchorage, where the temperature was a whopping -24 degrees.  Oh yeah.  It seemed oddly appropriate knowing that day last year I was leaving my nice, warm home in Florida for this.  Sitting in an airport terminal, eating cold pizza from the night before, wondering if we would get back to base or not.  Because, you know, after being stuck for a couple of days, I was wanting some clean clothes and some basic toiletries.

I did take some things away from my experience in Anchorage though.  -24, when it isn't windy, isn't that bad.  It feels like it does when it's in the teens here.  I think after a certain point, cold is just cold.  But, your breath freezes in your nose instantly, as well as the back of your throat.  It's an unusual feeling, that's for sure, but nothing some coffee won't fix.  Do you remember that experiment you probably did in grade school, the one where you put your hand in cold water, then in hot water?  That tingling, HOLY CRAP MY HAND IS ON FIRE feeling, even though it was just lukewarm?  Well, that's what happens to your fingers and toes when you come inside after being outside for a while.

We were delayed because of the snow storm on Kodiak. By the time we got back, my car was in knee deep snow.  Which, for the record, when it's powdery, you can just drive right over.  I looked really stupid asking for a shovel.  But it did lead me to take some really great pics though.  Enjoy!

Oh, and I finally found out why Kodiak-ians call bald eagles dumpster chickens.

Yes, that is our nations most majestic bird, in a landfill.  There were at least a hundred of them.  To be fair, there were some hawks too.  But I did have to laugh at the irony of the scene.

Winter in Florida

So, winter has finally hit my old state.  Now, there is a common misconception that we don't have winter in Florida.  We do.  It's just two weeks longs, and comes a couple days at a time.  Florida winter would be any morning you wake up and the temperature is less than 40 degrees.  It only gets this way when we have a cold front, so we get a very windy, often times damp, 30 some odd degree morning.  Yeah, its not really a fun situation to be sure.  To complicate matters, by afternoon, it'll be 60-something and sunny.  How do you dress for that?  Layers.  But the colds never really around enough to figure out what layers.  No one wants to be carrying around all these layers either by mid afternoon.  So you go home from work, its cool and sunny.  You leave for work and its like "Holy crap, when did this happen?"  This happens for a few days a few times a year.  You never get the chance to adjust.  After 22 years, I admit I never got the hang of it either.

But the first cold front of the year has hit Florida. I can tell by people on my Facebook page saying things like, "It's 35 degrees?!?  This is Florida!" and posting links to newspaper articles talking about heavy frost and how we won't have any citrus crop and ITS THE BEGINNING OF THE APOCALYPSE!!! The Mayans meant Jan 4, 2012, not Dec 21.  Keep pets and children indoors!  Don't burn down your house with a space heater.  Only, this happens every year.  More than once.  And this is what happens every.single.time.

Yes, apparently cold is 50 degrees for a low. (Mom is somewhere right now saying "Well it's cold to me!"  Aren't you?)

I mean, if it snowed, which is has, I think people would faint.  This is out of our area of knowledge.  Sure, we know summer.  Oh boy, do we know summer. I we know those of you who do not.  Yes, I am looking at you, sunburned, spandex wearing British tourist on International Drive.  You and your tomato red clan. It's called sunblock. And no, you can't just keep drinking beer like you do at home.  Because after 2 or 3 on the beach, we will have to call an ambulance because you didn't want to be a sissy and drink any water with that.

So, since I fully believe I am the most winterized native Floridian that has ever existed, I will say this: That is not a cold snap, that's a heat wave.

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?
 

The male-half

 Ok, so now that I'm caught up, I'd like to take a minute to tell you about my boyfriend.  Not in a disgusting lovey-dovey way (because even though I could, you don't want to read it), just more of an appreciative way.  See, he's the only person in this whole mess that hasn't laughed at me or tell me I was going to die up here (I already knew that, I didn't need everyone telling me).  He is from Minnesota (insert obligatory "Go Twins!" here because he loves baseball and doesn't give a damn if you think they suck - he's no fairweather fan) so he's been around this winter thing many times.  In fact, mid-west winters may be some of the worst in the US so I trust his judgement.  Mostly because I have none of my own.  I stand there looking lost and confused 95% of the time.  Add in cold and I am lost 150% of the time. Yes, I am perfectly aware that you can't have 150% of the time, it's called a hyperbole and I use them for dramatic effect.  Or as my mom would say, because I am a drama queen.  I am not a drama queen, I just am very expressive of my feelings. 

Anyway, back to the topic at hand.  I figured I would be proactive before I got up here, so I went online shopping for a winter coat. After about 3 days I decided I was hopelessly lost and asked said-named-bf to help me.  He knew exactly what I should get, a jacket with a removable fleece shell.  He even picked out the color because clearly I was on brain overload at the time and was unable to think for myself.

As soon as I got here, he also informed me I needed a flashlight, an emergency blanket, some kitty litter and some toilet paper. Someone else told me, I think his dad, that I needed a metal cup. Here is about how our conversation went:

"What's the kitty litter for?"
"So when you get stuck in the snow you can get out.  Put some under your tires and it gives some traction."

Refer to "Part 4" to see how well I heeded this advice.  More on this later...

"What is the cup for?"
"Because you have to melt the snow first before you drink it because if you just eat it, your body somethingsomethingsomthing."

I don't remember but I got the drift.

"What's the flashlight for"
"When it gets dark."

That should have been obvious but again, lost and confused 150% of the time when it comes to this subject. 

Well, I knew what the TP and blanket were for so I stopped the stupid questions.  At least for that day.  But since then I have literally turned to him for everything.  I mean, my mother is also a Floridian who thinks anything below 70 is freezing cold and my dad has lived in Florida since around 1970.  Clearly I was not getting any practical help from either of them.  So from which snow cleets should I get to do I really need those $16 wool socks that lady sold me? I asked the bf.  He's been helpful and wonderful and I wouldn't have gotten this far without him. But then came the day I got stuck on the ice.  He's not in Alaska at the moment, so I could only recount my story afterwards.

Him: "You used salt?"
Me: "Yeah, the black stuff in the barrels on base.  That's what they told me to use and it worked!"
"Why didn't you use kitty litter?"
"I didn't have any"
"I told you to get some."
"Yeah, but the salt totally worked just fine and now I have a whole bag in my car so I'm good to go."
"Babe, salt is going to corrode your car.  And it doesn't work when it gets really cold out.  You should put some kitty litter in your car."
"Yeah, but the salt..."
"I know what I'm talking about here"

This went on for a few more minutes before one of us changed the subject.  Honestly, who wants to fight about kitty litter?  Not me.

Which is why I now have some in my car.

Part 4 - The storm

Bering Sea storms are common in the winter.  It’s a part of living in the region.  But forecasters were saying this storm was going to be bad.  It was still too early in the season they said, and that was why this one was going to be so bad.  So bad in fact, some coastal regions of Western Alaska were being evacuated because of storm surge.  I was mentally prepared for my job to get more difficult, maybe some distress calls, some difficulty communicating, but I never thought about what would happen when that storm hit Kodiak.  At first, it just was snowing.  And it kept snowing for days.  I had to go shovel it a couple of times, but nothing we did could keep up.  It just kept coming down.  Plows couldn’t keep up, and the piles that they had cleared from the roads were much taller than I was.  We had maybe a foot a snow fall in the first few days.  Not much by anyone else’s standards, but then the wind hit.

50 mile per hour winds.  This was a hurricane in Alaska.  I had been warned these winds would get bad, but what I wasn't expecting was for them to blow all the snow away overnight.  Drifts of snow that were much higher, it was all just gone.  And it was in the teens.  Even the pilots wouldn’t fly in this weather.  And if there’s one thing I’ve learned about Coast Guard pilots is those people are crazy.  So if they refuse to go out, I know it must be bad.  But it got sunny again, and warmed up a few degrees and I thought the worst was over.  No, apparently that was just a break in the storm.

Then it snowed for days a second time.  Not so much wind this time, so it wasn’t so bad.  It was in the high twenties, so it would have been a nice time to go play in the snow, only I was working.  Of course. Then I came home after a long weekend and I saw what I knew would be bad.  My car’s thermometer said it was 34 degrees out.  This lesson I did learn in Cape May.  Snow melts then refreezes into ice.  Never in my life did I pray that it would get colder, and fast.  Before this got worse.  But pray I did. 

The next day, it was sunny and in the low twenties.  Sure enough, I was right. Ice everywhere.  I had yet to find a pair of ice cleats in my size so I was just going to have learn to navigate this stuff the hard way.  Sometime around noon, I realized I was starving and I decided to brave the roads and go get some sushi.  This should have been a simple task.  Only as soon as I tried to back out of my parking spot, I realized I was not going anywhere anytime soon.  I was stuck.  I got out, no snow behind me keeping me in, so I kept looking.  Sure enough, my front tires were sitting on ice.  And I have a front-wheel drive only vehicle.   After about 45 minutes of trying to get my car to move, I knew I was truly stuck and I needed some help.  Thank God for salt and being stuck on a CG base because I was out in no time.

Only I forgot the sushi place was closed on Monday.  So I settled for pho and pad thai instead.  I now also have ice and a small shovel in my car.  You know, just in case.  And it was a good thing too, because the next day we had white out conditions and it was 4 degrees, wind chill of -25.  But I wasn’t dumb enough to go out in this.  I knew one thing for sure: the snow was kicking my Florida ass.

My first 10 weeks, part 3 - snow

It's November 1st.  I had just gotten qualified as a watchstander.  I had gone into work for a short day.  Imagine my surprise when I look at the security cameras (there are no windows) and see snow!  Real, fluffy snow!  When I leave, it's stopped but over everything is an inch thick blanket of untouched lovely snow.  I could hardly contain my excitement.  I drove back to base as fast as I dared.  Once I got back, I parked, threw open the door and just started some odd combination of dancing and kicking snow up off the ground.  I made a snowball.  I threw handfuls in the air.  SNOW!  This was FUN!
 
Seeing as how I had been up for about 36 hours at that point, I decided I would sleep first, then go play.  I was very surprised when I woke up and saw that this lovely white fluffy was now all brown and dirty.  The plow had cleared it all away!  No more playing in the snow today, but I knew there would be more days to come.  I also needed snow boots, so I took care of that the next day.
 
Then it happened.  Lots of snow.  And by lots I mean 3 inches.  And I had to drive to work in it while it was still coming down.  Alright, it was now or never.  My car was covered in snow though.  But I had my handy dandy broom ice scraper thing so I knew it was going to be ok!
 
Note to self: wipe the snow off the door first or a giant pile of it will fall in your car.
 
But I got the snow off and was off to work.  I drove slow, I was doing good.  This snow thing wasn't all that bad.
 
Second note to self: your car does not turn as well in the snow.
 
That should have been obvious looking back, but it wasn't.
 
I hit a snow bank.
 
Clearly I am ok because I'm still here.  I didn't even damage my car.  But I learned a very important lesson.
 
I also learned that when a car drives in the snow, it compresses it and makes ice.
 
Ice is slippery.
 
I fell on my ass.
 
For those of you keeping track: Snow 3, Amanda 0.  And on its way was what forecasters had been calling "the storm of the century."

My first 10 weeks in Kodiak - part 1

Just to get everyone caught up, I thought I would do a little recap as to what my first 10 weeks in Kodiak have been like.  When I first got here, it was in the 50’s and raining.  I was freezing and I knew instantly I was going to die.  DIE.  I was going to freeze to death in the next two weeks.  I mean, the first stage of freezing to death sucks because your limbs are so cold.  But then the second stage comes and blood stops flowing there and you just feel…peaceful. You stop being cold.  Then eventually you just fall asleep and never wake up.  I have been told that freezing to death (once you get past the first stage) is a rather pleasant way to go because for whatever reason, your body thinks its funny to make you feel happy.  So, I decide even if I’m going to freeze to death, it will be an ok way to go.  I resign myself to this fate and continue the check in process at base, although I have no idea why anyone wants to get me “squared away” since I will be dead soon.  There are a lot of tears, because I know I didn’t want to be here, far away from my family, my boyfriend, warmth and civilization. I mean, if I’m going to die, I at least want to be able to get something nice to wear when I go, you know?  But all I have is a Walmart and all they have is a “Got Crabs” t-shirt.  Welcome to fishing HELL.

So, I get checked in, I get told a lot about bears and that it gets icy here (GASP!  It does?!  I never would have thought Alaska as being cold!).  But I didn’t know so much about these bears that will apparently come along and eat my body once I die from hypothermia.  Biggest brown bears in the world. There are 16 Kodiak bears per square mile up here.  So, even if I don’t die of cold, I am going to be eaten by a bear.  I have no idea why people like it here so much.

Once I get to my watch section and start to settle in, learn my way around, and get some food chocolate in my fridge, I start to feel better.  The rain let up and for the first time, I could see it was actually kinda pretty here.  It was 40 degrees, and I was already adjusting to the cold because it wasn’t so bad after about a week.  Maybe I wasn't going to die after all.  And there are definitely a lot of good photo taking opportunities. But I still had other problems to tackle – snow gear.