each day an adventure in alaska: sitting by the phone...

got put on call again for tonight. don't expect it will last. there were units trying to get me and i had been assigned/re-assigned several times before it all worked out and i wasn't needed. that tends to mean staffing is tight. doubt I'll sleep well but some days resting feels great.

so between cat litter duties and laundry i figured I'd toss in a little blog. lots of fun photos this week. these are all on the beach at Kincaid. liked the ice cracking over other ice that water had flowed over. looks so odd. beach in Alaska in the winter is an odd thing. we never had this in Southeast Alaska. it was beautiful but temperatures rarely went below 25F or above 60 year round.

my knee has been getting sore. no injury noted. I'm beginning to believe that as I'm aging i now have one of those arthritic knees that i recall elderly folks talking about when the weather was changing. it's fine and i can walk no problem. just feels swollen and tender. icing at intervals which helps. i tend to forget that there are meds like ibuprofen so haven't taken that. probably best i figure. less is always best.

i was feeling incredibly lazy today anyway...which is funny as it now seems that on those lazy days that i skip a walk before work i get put on call....thus i kick myself for being so lazy. it's pretty icy out there and we have walked a lot these days off. the pups really got a work out yesterday so they did not seem to mind. by this evening i could tell their energy level was getting back to normal though. we have done some tennis ball tossing.

so a great day to rest, read, catch up, doze. watched a few episodes of driving in cars with comedians getting coffee. can't remember the real name. Sienfeld. humorous and not requiring much intellect.

lots of ice on the beaches, though oddly, not much ice seen floating around the arm this year again. we've had that I'd say 3 of the past 4 years. never noticed that before. there was always ice out there.

every day is a strange news day anymore. it's true, crap that would have been a big deal in any other administration gets brushed to the side here. some of it odd as we are talking religious right support for this guy and the latest stories are that there were at least 2, maybe more, females paid off to keep quiet about sexual relationships with iitoo right before the election. one porn star seems to have been working out a deal with his people while also fielding possible deals with various magazines...as we all know iitoo reputation regarding payment. i suspect that is not just in regular business but in irregular business as well. i do laugh because nothing can scream louder than a lover scorned...so Melania may have a limit if too much comes to light...she no doubt has a pretty serious pre-nup complete with gag orders. though, who knows perhaps she would ditch that and write a tell all and do the interview rounds. she would do fine on her own. anyway, who paid, when did they pay, what really happened....if you are GOP religious right...suddenly, who cares, right?

the big Bannon refused to answer questions for the house i think it was...suddenly Nunes joined in and subpoenaed him..though others have also refused to answer questions and he and the others gave the others a pass. Lewindowski stated on Fox apparently he would answer all questions and then today refused. when asked if he'd spoken to iitoo or his people last night or today, he refused to answer. Bannon also got subpoenaed by Mueller though i guess he worked out a deal so he can go in and speak with his lawyer i think? oddly it seems like the same lawyer works with iitoo ? or close? the thought is that iitoo people are more anxious about what Bannon will say. he didn't seem to keep many secrets from that author so i can't see how he can now pretend to be required to not speak.

far too many secrets...far too many refusals to answer questions.

was thinking today another thing...immigration. it's odd to me that so many Christians send their missionaries/preaches across the globe to bring people to Christianity. seems like every other person on earth is good enough to join their religion but perhaps not good enough to become a citizen.

seems to me that my Grandmother and her family were sponsored through church connections to come to this nation.

maybe if they convert to Christianity then immigration is more welcome? i don't know, just struck me...crossed my mind.

anyway. it's a strange world right now. i hope it all gets sorted out at some point and right prevails, kindness prevails, truth prevails. none of these things seem present in the GOP or oval office right now.

the GOP seems mostly quiet...even if they dare to have an opinion it seems fleeting and they get back in line right after. nice of Flake to speak out but we need action, not just words. we need courage to take it to the next level.

Tusker got on this larger ice berg...liked his pose below. looks like kind of the ice.

family for me is strange in some ways. i feel very disconnected to several. i do appreciate those who have continued to involve themselves with me and seem to accept me. especially as a few of them see things politically very different. i appreciate that they will have intelligent conversations.

there are a few i really just don't even feel like are family anymore, especially in the current political situation. though when i look at at least one, i really have little positive memories from our childhood at all. it is funny to me that you could grow up in a family and have so little contact. when you are little though 10 years really is a huge gap. it takes effort to maintain relationships especially when you move on with your life and have little in common with the other kids in the family i guess. some people can just make every thing a battle. maybe i am that person in my family...always ready for battle.

i certainly have never been one to back down from a fight. i was always a scrapper i guess. being the youngest in a bigger family you do learn that i think.

a few others on the beach with us. everyone was nice out there.

the investigation into the mass shooting in Las Vegas has never seemed to figure out the why question. he covered his tracks. i did see some ridiculous story being passed around about him having accomplices and it being some attempt to murder some Saudi prince ? i can't remember, it was ridiculous. the comments were that of course, we knew there were shots fired from the air and the ground as well. of course, this is not the case.

a young woman who literally ran to escape female mutilation as a child now goes around Kenya trying to change the mores of this custom. her work has apparently helped some 50,000 girls not have this brutal practice done on them. great job. love stories of individuals making a difference. we all have that in us.