i'm in the fog...

 at least my sinuses are.  i have managed dog walks every day.  tired and lazy much of my days off though.  such a bother. the first day i was walking but i felt like my brain was napping the whole time. not sure if it will get worse or go away.  usually anything i get turns into bronchitis. we shall see. today we walked down to the beach.

 there was a bit of a wind so we didn't stay long.  the dogs had fun since we saw hardly a soul out there so they could run to their hearts content.

 squirrel chasing!!  no moose spotted while we were in Kincaid. 

 i drove past Lake Hood to check out the planes then drove to the back of main airstrip for more moose spotting.  i did spot a few moose by the road.  by the airstrip i didn't see any moose but there were a few short eared owls hunting near the airstrip.

 didn't get any pictures of them really but it was fun watching them hunt out there.  it is a place to watch for owls.  maybe they will hang out for a bit. 

 on the road there was a guy who's car had gone into the snow.  he couldn't get out.  i decided i should add some coins to my good karma bank so i stopped to try and help.  my car was only moving towards getting stuck as well so i failed to get him out.  i did leave him my little tow line. i'll have to replace that.  he did volunteer to return it but i just told him to use it the next time he saw someone ditched.  pass it along.

 have had hopes of hitting the pool but those have been dashed as soon as i snuggle in the covers to get warm post walk.

 i have immersed myself in the Wings series.  an old series.  i only discovered it when i lived in South Dakota.  the re-runs came on as i was getting ready for work so i'd watch those as i got ready. fun to watch it in order finally.

 feel like i haven't accomplished much else.  i did write to the REI store about scheduling our lecture.  i'll have to select some dates and see who that works for and if we can get that slot...also find a speaker.

 need to draw a mock up of the next sticker art and see if my ex-ranger from out there will be willing to do more art for us. 

 the bed gets kind of crowded, but it is great for the reheating process after a walk outside.

 i have managed to get the house stuff done, bills, dishes and laundry...so i'm not a total lazy person.

 got into a bit of a internet discussion. the one chick started to get a bit roughed up but i told her to simmer down and in the end we had a pleasant conversation i think.  it was in an article about the Quest, which Sass just won.  but a team had come in without the musher who had fallen asleep and fallen off the sled.  this happens on occasion.

 i just mentioned that i felt that like driving a car if they are getting too drowsy they should be pulling their dog team over and taking a nap.  they should not be asleep on the runners.  the health of their dog team depends on them.  i felt they should be punished for being spotted asleep out there.  it would be difficult to monitor i do realize.

 this girl has done some mushing i guess.  her name did sound familiar as it's an unusual name i think.  i don't know.  in the end she did give me the impression that this happens fairly regularly, which i had figured.  she mentioned that getting in the sled bag and sleeping would be wrong...i can't imagine anyone does that...but the fact that she mentioned it makes me wonder if they do?

 my argument is that the mushing world should discourage sleeping on the runners/dozing off as it were because it looks bad.  Peta and others do not like dog mushing.  all they need is more videos of mushers asleep on the runners, it looks bad.  these races are already losing the battle.  sponsors are exiting these races. they need to at least give the appearance of doing everything they can for the dogs.

 i argued that the musher should be awake to watch for signs of illness or injury.  a small illness/injury could be made worse or deadly because a musher is sleeping and the dog is forced to keep running.  they are on a team.  those dogs are born to run. it's a selling point but it can also be deadly.  wolves and other wild animals do not run just to run.  sled dogs do.  most wild animals will tend to avoid that sort of activity unless it's required because all the energy they expend they must find food to refuel.

 i have labradoodles, before that i had labs.  they are tennis ball obsessed.  i can't say that they would not jump off a cliff going after a tennis ball. the musher i was in the discussion with was saying the dogs would not go through the ice in a river.  i was saying if a team was running loose it was feasible that they could fall into a hole in the ice on  the river, get tangled in a mass of rope and more injuries happen.  she didn't think they would do that. hell humans on snowmachines go in to those rivers and are killed it seems every year.  sometimes you can't see the hole in the ice...or an ice bridge collapses.

 the bottom line is the human is ultimately responsible for the team and if those animals are injured while they are sleeping or after they fall off the sled...that is not good for mushing.  every death of a dog makes me cringe....and i love watching the teams.  i just know it's a sport that is always under the eye of others.

 the rest of these are in Valdez. 

 she also said they cut the risk of aspiration pneumonia by resting after they feed. i have no idea how long they rest but dog gastric emptying can be anywhere from 4-10 hours. i've had dogs puke up hours after they've eaten and been surprised how little digested it was.  aside from accidents or trauma in the races it seems like aspiration pneumonia's and gastric ulcers are commonly the culprits of dog deaths in these long races.

 sent my brother a little text with a picture of the meme that is on his page.  we aren't friends but i do swing by their pages from time to time.  i'm not blocked and in general now when i pop by i only see things they've tagged their kids in...so family photo's.  rarely other stuff pops up, not sure how that all works.  but this time a pretty offensive meme popped up. a friend of his had tagged him with it.  he wrote me that he'd never seen it ( he had clicked like on it) but said he would delete it.  (he hasn't)

 just makes me wonder just how far off the rails you have to be to not see how offensive certain things are.  this is social media.  it's one thing to send memes in messages or texts to individuals but to leave things that are offensive on your public page.  then i have to wonder, don't you have friends or other family who will let you know, even if you don't know, that things are offensive.  just very disappointing how far the hate flies out there. 

 the pups discovered the salmon running up this little creek.  it was super funny watching the pups flip out as the fish swam wildly around them.

 we were up creek a bit later and there were way more fish and the dogs really flipped out up there.  hilarious.

 he's watching fish below. 

 tag teaming the fish. 

 anyway....the meme was offensive, crude. i guess it's clear that Romney is now on the enemy list in the family.  they probably voted for him before.  can't speak ill of the Fuhrer. he is their king now.  he can do no wrong.  anything he says or does cannot be used against him.

 he is free to use his power to go after his enemies, real or imagined.  he is free to use his power to fire those who followed subpoena's and testify.  he fired Vindman...and his brother for no reason.  the excuses fly all around.  the crazy judge on fox was screaming that Romney was stupid and the right have been calling for him to be kicked out of the party. 

 i'm not sure they have so many voters on their side that they can afford to keep alienating voters.  i can't believe the military is too pleased with him. he's talked crap about the leadership in the military. lied about the injuries in the Iran attack in Iraq, belittled the injuries of the over 100 at this time...claiming those were just mild headaches, no big deal.  he pardoned the seal that the military determined behaved immorally. 

 as long as he is talking shit about liberals and hitting the conservative talking points he can do anything.  as i said months ago, there are similarities in my mind between the radicalizing of these evangelicals and the radicalization of Islam.  at first they all clump together with a specific goal. eventually the mainstream are not seen as radical enough and are ditched and trashed and in Islam killed.  the same will happen with the Christians.  the evangelicals are more radical.  the others lump themselves with them because on the surface they believe they all have the same goals.  i already heard evangelicals post Romney saying Mormons aren't Christians...the old is new again. 

 that is something the Mormons have been trying to correct for years. i've watched them become more and more mainstream...which is odd to me since Joseph Smith had gotten inspired that none of the churches had the truth.  he then created a church that was very different in doctrine than the mainstream churches.  the differences seem less and less though.  are they the first the evangelicals will peel off? Did Romney standing up and speaking truth impact the views of his chosen church?

 the primaries are happening.  i think the one guy running against trump even got like 10% of the vote..not sure he's even on the ballot.  i suspect many who will ultimately vote trump won't bother with the GOP primaries.

 Sanders, Buttegeg and Kloboshar.  i'm sure i spelled those wrong. were 1,2, 3.  i suspect Sanders and Warren would be a tough sell for some moderate republicans who don't like trump.  would butteigeg lose votes because he's gay...if they can't stand a black guy in office i suspect a gay guy would be a tough sell too.  i like him.  he does lack experience but so did Obama and Trump. the difference being Obama surrounded himself with good people and actually listened to them.  trump has done neither of those things since he's a total narcissist who believes he knows more about everything than everyone. haha....sadly, he says just that about everything.  even more sad, his loyal sheep believe him.

 i like Kloboshar as well. she and Buttegeg are both fairly moderate which i like.  seem reasonable, intelligent...it would be so nice to have intelligence in the high office again.

 Binden hasn't done well in the first few primaries.  we shall see.  it will be more lock her up the entire election process as Guiliani and trumps personal lawyer Barr will make sure of that. plus he seems to have this attitude that he can duke it out.  not that trump will even participate in any debates, but i could see it turning into a fist fight with those two old men.  that ain't good for anyone.

 salmon piled up on each other heading upstream.

 whoever ends up on the Dem ticket had better pick a good running mate...no Sarah Palins please.  i suspect McCain regretted that selection to his dying day. 

 the seagulls fly around eating the dead salmon, plucking the eyes out of the barely alive ones. they love the eyeballs.  pretty brutal life cycle.

 sometimes the seagulls just enjoy the tides.

 this day they were riding the creek down, then lifting off and flying back to the top to ride back down again.  pretty funny to watch.

 all the dark areas are salmon.

 there are also a few bald eagles who feast on occasion and seals and sea lions as well. 

 those salmon are the feast for many.  they suffer in those final days of life.  wonder what they did in a previous life to deserve such a fate...were they all politicians? fated to run upstream forever more to make up for the corrupt and greedy behavior in life. 

 of course, 6 years in the senate and you are taken care of for life i think.  some days i think...i could do that.  those yo yo's are no better than me. 

 funky looking sea gull.

 not sure of my specific sea gull names. well, i guess i shall finish paying bills and head to bed.  the sinuses drain whenever i move...so fun.  spell check seems to have disappeared.  so sorry....

thankful for: A. fresh ice water.  my favorite drink  B. silly tv shows that entertain me C. cute puppies that warm me up, make me laugh and keep me company. 

Where to start....?

 so i'll work my way in...got the Skelly crew up and ready for Valentines. i'll be working but there will be no Valentines for me anyway.  my skeletons get more action than i do. 

 the stretch is finished.  ICU-ER and PICU this last week.  at least i think so...it does all blend together. a few moments tested my patience....not that i am the most patient person. i do say a little prayer on the way to work...praying for patience, kindness and that i don't kill anyone.  that is the sort of stress that is in you as a nurse.  not the sort of stress the average person has going to work i suppose.

 do no harm....it's always the whole we are not perfect but we are in a job that expects you to never make a mistake.  that is not possible....so you just hope and pray that the errors you make are not fatal or damaging.  there are always those who i guess convince themselves that they have never made an error.  they would be lying.  most of us catch our own mistakes and most of them are meds late or missed rather than huge medication errors. the times you forgot to unclamp for a piggyback.  so annoying.

 i am currently cooking a meatloaf.  my mom always did a nice meatloaf. not sure how many eat meatloaf anymore but i do enjoy one on the rare occasion.  working night shift it's not strange to be cooking at 10:30. i did hit the dog park again today but then i returned to nap.  a bit of a lost day that turn around day at times.

 the state of our union.  the iitoo read his teleprompter speech.  he had a few great for tv moments, he told a crap ton of lies.  he trashed Obama. he claimed that everything right in the nation was 100% his doing and everything wrong he blamed on others. i'm sure those on the right ate it all right up.  he is their cult leader. 

 his power at this time appears to be unfettered. i feel like the Dems did all they could to bring the truth to light...the truth so many of the GOP members in DC know but are too afraid to act on.  the Dems had road blocks up every where they turned but they still had enough information and evidence to  have many on the right admit that they had proved their case.  we all knew trump would not be removed by his party.  they have made their bed i think.  this is now all on the GOP, all on the propaganda machine media of the right and sadly, all on each person in this nation who continues to blindly support him.  who refuse to look beyond the rosy picture painted by the right wing media.  who refuse to step back from each and every conspiracy theory that is thrown at them. 

 i'm not sure how you fall down the well so deeply that you buy into story after story.  that you are willing to go along with each trashing of even once respected GOP members who have spoken out against this potus.

 the pattern is so clear and yet they seem to just fall in line each time.  someone dares speak ill of the fuhrer, the iitoo begins his tweet tirades, the right wing media begins it's smear campaign.  the person from the right is deemed a never trumper or part of the deep state.  they are maligned.  new conspiracy theories start to be tossed about involving  them.  for some reason the right are sucked into each and every conspiracy theory. 

 they want to believe i guess. they choose to look away because the agenda they have been orgasmic for seems to be playing out.  of course, they don't even hear all the crap that is being done in their name as long as their key agenda points are being taken care of.  seems fine except that the stuff they are ignoring are incredibly destructive to our nation. at work i am often forced into the fox zone.  it's like nirvana for the right...so rosy.  so much is just barely touched on or never mentioned at all.  they take clips from the good bits of his speeches (which is a miracle in itself) and they completely ignore all the crazy ranting he does.  the bizarre times when he just rambles on spouting total nonsense.

 they become indignant that Pelosi has done the most egregious act by tearing up trumps bull speech while ignoring or cheering all the nasty, cruel things their man of the hour screams on the tv or in tweets. they are just happy to see the left yelled at. their hatred is so complete, they have been made to feel victims of the left.  we are the enemy. 

 Romney was the only GOP member to actually vote to have him removed from office.  his head is on a stake at this time.  the right is busy creating conspiracy theories to degrade him.  they won't listen to why he did what he did.  many other Senate members on the right believed the case against him but were too afraid to break with party lines.  he and the right wing media have a hold on all of them.  fear is powerful.

 a few believed he would have learned his lesson by going through this process and being impeached.  clearly, as most rational people predicted, he has learned nothing but has instead become emboldened. 

 he is in full rant and rage mode. he has begun firing anyone who dared speak out, who obeyed their subpoena's.  Vindman and his brother (not sure why he needed to be fired as well) have been demeaned by this administration and the right wing media.  now to the right cult followers he is a demon and deserves to be punished. Sondland was also fired today. a trump supporter who, of course has also become a victim of the right.  one wonders how many they can afford to alienate and make enemies of.  will he run out of people willing to stay silent for him.

 he is surrounded by the yes folks, the last who remain are full cult followers at this point.  i really don't see the appeal to this clumsy, narcissistic man...except that he says all the vile things they want to say.  of course, this is how history works.  humans are often just controlled by social norms.  as soon as some one comes along that breaks with social norms, that tells them they are free to break with social norms....all hell breaks loose.

 in extreme cases even murder becomes acceptable.  it doesn't require too much investigation into history to realize that we are surrounded by people who would like nothing more than to actually kill those around them who do not fit into their world views.  once they have a leader or group that give them the okay...that tells them these person's or that group is the cause of all their troubles.  the right is amp'd up and actually in a good position for such an event. 

 they believe their lives are under attack (even though they aren't). no Christian in America is hindered from practicing their religion.  we have separation of church and state...that is very different. they use abortions as their mantle.  the baby killer Dems do not deserve to exist...it's not a leap to see all hell breaking loose. so many on the right have embraced the victimhood, embraced the extreme views and have been bought into all the conspiracy theories that seem to prove their point.  they believe they have God on their side, that they must do Gods work by destroying the Democrats.  while they all say we are a Democracy and that they are patriots they believe that only their way of thinking is acceptable.  at their heart they want the Dems wiped out...what they don't get is that also wipes out the Democracy they claim to be patriots for.  it wipes out the constitution they claim to love.

 maybe we will just have to go through it.  i have no idea how to break the spell he has on them. it's all on the GOP now.  they have created this mess of lies, conspiracies and hatred and only they can break it up.  will they?  i doubt it. 

 not until lives are lost and the idiocy of it all becomes clear to the more rational ones out there. the ones that are capable of being pulled back from the extreme.  right now, rationality is lost.  the right, in many ways, has been radicalized.  it's been building for years.  we used to laugh at the televangelists.  we even laughed at people like Rush Limbaugh.  now he was just handed a high honor. 

 he has perpetrated hate and division for decades.  he has been crass and rude.  he is a hero to the right though.  all these shock jocks are.  what does that say for those who follow, who cheer them on, who are happy to see a guy like this get such an award. 

 what does it say for those who have for years wrapped themselves in the hate speech of shock jocks on the right. they can no longer hide and make excuses.  this is what they love..the hatred.  they smile and cheer as a man like Vindman is driven out of the government.  a man who fought for this nation.   what does it say about them as they turn from each person...who they once admired or liked, who now must be demonized because they dare speak out.

 the truth is they are pawns in this game. in the end.  when the crap hits the fan, it's not the Hitlers who actually kill, they get their loyal surrogates to do the dirty work. 

 i have kept hoping and waiting for this or that to wake up those on the right.  to make them stop getting sucked into lies and conspiracy theories, but i finally realized a bit ago that this will not change,that history will have to play out and that lives will have to be lost before we see an end to the division and hate in this nation.  that is what history has shown us over and over.  those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.  i have no idea what the US repeat will look like but the radicalized right are not going to just wake up one day and see that the fools they have been cheering are nothing more than greedy, power hungry humans who ultimately don't give a crap about them. 

 the white house is working to block Boltons book, they are looking into how he can be held criminally liable.  they are demonizing anyone who has taken part in the impeachment or Rus investigations. they continue to demonize Obama and laud Trump.  they have chosen to believe the lies over the facts.

 having nearly 100% support from his party, the iitoo is now free to do whatever he wants unfettered.  Barr even came out and said that any investigations into trump must go through him...he is in total control at this time.  we have lost, they have won.  what they do with their victory....i think it will destroy them in the end. will the election be able to put some of a challenge to their rule? 

 it remains to be seen.  he's counted on the support of other nations, especially Russia in the past and now he has the freedom to do more of this.  the lessons he learned were not the lessons a normal person would learn.  the lessons he learned were how much he could get away with.  who he could count on to stand up and fight his battles..to their own detriment. he learned that no matter what he does or says his base will not falter.  he has total control over them.  there is nothing he can do to turn them off.  he has done and said horrible things and yet they will vote for him again, they will fight for him and i know there are many who would kill for him. 

 if he does lose the election he will not step down without screaming that it was rigged.  it will, for the first time in our history, not be a peaceful exchange of power. there are many on the right who believe he is here to save them and that God is with them.  that will mean that they will believe God is with them in destroying their fellow citizens, whom they now see as their enemies.

 what will happen between now and the election?  i have no idea. more facts arise it seems daily if not weekly.  if he continues on this path of attacking and trying to destroy each person he sees as his "enemy" will he finally push too far or will his loyal followers push too far.  quite frankly, with his rhetoric i am surprised that none of these "enemies" have been taken out by rogue cult followers.  there are powerful emotions that have been brought to the top, boiling, festering and waiting to explode.  it really won't be long, especially now that he has been given full support and backing.

 these are all at the Matanuska Glacier by the way.  back in August.

 fox news barely covered any of the impeachment proceedings.  they did play his sotu speech over and over again. 

 the view on the right is that if this president believes his election is good for the nation, he can use what ever means possible to win..no consequences and no accountability.  that is what their lawyers argued. they didn't even try to argue the facts of the case. they concede all of them.  the founders put the impeachment in there to protect against a rogue potus...sadly, they did not envision a rogue Senate leader and a rogue attorney general.  they did not envision an entire party going off the rails to protect the rogue potus. now how do we get back to where we started, how do we make enough changes to cover these possibilities for future administrations.

 for all the "winning" the US farms are going bankrupt at a high rate.  farmer suicides are up. the bail outs often went to large corporate farms over small family farms. bit surprise there.

 one positive so far...it may change if trump and/or miller have anything to say about it...i mean trump needs the White supremacists and neo nazi groups to vote for him.  they are part of the base...that alone should give his loyal followers pause...that they are in the same loyal following as neo nazi's and white supremacists.  anyway.  Wray has put them at the same box as other radical groups.  they have seemingly always been protected. the whatabouters will scream about black lives matter...but if they actually check their facts they will be confronted with the long and violent history of the one and the shorter and less violent history of the other.  they will also be confronted by the difference in sheer numbers of the two groups or of that other very small group of radical left, antifa, they love to proclaim is somehow on the same level.  any and all radicalized groups should be watched, but in our nation the white nationalists/neo nazi's have been given a pass in many cases....even at the highest levels of our government...the good old boys clubs.  i would hope those clubs are getting smaller but who really knows.

 the treasury department has handed over Hunter Bidens tax information while still preventing any financials of trumps to be released.  they don't care about trumps many financial woes and entanglements but they are all nuts about the son of a former vice president...and by the way they didn't care about any of the Biden stuff until it looked like he may be getting read to run against trump. 

 trump wants his impeachment records expunged.  there are already gop congressmen who have expressed that they will attempt to do this if they win back the house. lets hope that norm holds...that there can be not backsies on impeachment. 

 i still suspect that in the end he may actually be taken out by his own.  it's really the only way.  how will that happen.  rage? someone loses it and actually takes him physically out?  he may win re-election but unfettered trump will eventually be too much for someone there.  he will piss off the wrong person. 

 the other day i was digging in the closet to get my sewing machine out...i did eventually get the machine out but that turned into cleaning out the closet.  that is how my mind tends to work. 

 guns and ammo were found in a students car in Anchorage.  an after school fight was planned.  thankful it was intervened on.  a plane crashed outside of Bethel yesterday.  all 5 on board were killed.  two folks in their 70's and possibly their son as well, who was 42 were found dead in their home. the older two had been shot...not sure what killed the younger one.  no doubt a murder/suicide.  i always think of something i used to hear often....that i had to have kids because who was going to take care of me as i aged.  i always see these stories and think, yep, their kid sure took care of them in their old age.  it's no guarantee. 

 the rest of these are in Valdez.

 got paid today i think.  i'll have to sit down and pay bills tomorrow.  also want to venture out more this week.  we shall see what the weather does.  warming and snow expected.

 flights get diverted to Alaska for many reasons.  medical is common.  we are a big hub between Asia and North America.  a flight was diverted the other day between Ca and Japan as a passenger went after a flight attendant, threatening to kill the attendant. as is often the case.....the passenger had been drinking....too much and the flight attendants cut him off.

 out in the village Numan Iqua (i've never heard of it) but a group of 4 kids headed out to the dump on snow machines. they did not return. they were out for over 24 hours without shelter. thankfully, they were found alive.  the boys were aged 14, 8, 7 and 2.  they had dug a hole and put the youngest in the hold and lay on top of him to keep him as warm as possible.  digging in frozen land not easy, probably just a hole in the snow.  those kids were doing all they could to protect the baby of the group.  they were in rough shape when they were found.  so cold. they weren't really dressed for the weather.  some missing gloves.

 my friend Libby was on this little trek.  we'd changed plans due to the many fires we had up here this summer.

 spawning fish.

 at least 138 people deported back to El Salvador have been killed after they arrived.

 asked a patient about dog racing, she then said she's only been watching fox basically.  she then stated that we have, "a wonderful President".  i then asked her about her grandkids....only by watching fox could anyone believe that nut job is wonderful.

 oyster catchers on the beach

 it is funny too that the right scream about Hunter Biden but seem completely blind about how trumps kids are using their connections to profit...for trump, who has made it his business as potus to fill his own coffers. 

 a few cruise ships have been put on quarantine as the Corona Virus has been found on them.  that is big talk in the news. this virus.  we have seen all our usual bugs this winter here.  they are deadly on their own.  we don't need any help.  no doubt China has lied about how many have been impacted or killed at their end.  i better go...i didn't get all my thoughts in here but it is getting late. 

thankful for: A.  that the slugs and kicks of that patient did not make sufficient contact with anyone.  B.  silly sitcoms to clear your head with and make you laugh  C.  a cleaned out space.  always great to throw crap out