DLST

Sunday morning set the tone for the week. We went on day light savings time (DLST). Yippee!! This is the stupidest thing ever seen in the land of the midnight sun. What am I saving, nothing. Even without DLST we can still golf here 24 hours a day in June and July.

So what did it do here? It stays lighter the same amount but now it doesn’t get dark till after 8 pm. And it doesn’t get light till after 8 am. So all those people getting up in the light to go to work now get up in the dark and go to bed when it is still light. All DLST does it throw turmoil into everyday lives here.

So why do we do it. Appears our government, state, wants to keep us in sync with the rest of the lower 48, w/e of Arizona and Hawaii who have enough sense to say that it is a stupid idea. . However the Navajo Nation in Northeast Arizona does observe DLST. Now that ought to stir the pot in Arizona.

DLST was started in WW1 to save on energy. Then it was stopped in 1920 but reintroduced during WW 11. It was stopped again but made into law in 1966. Who was in control of congress then, hmm, democrats. Going on DLST here does not meet the original intent of the law. We are not saving energy, it is going to be light 24 hrs a day anyway, so where are the savings

There is a bill in the state government to do away with DLST in Alaska. This was in the Daily News Miner (DNM) last week. Those of you who view the Arctic Cam need to ensure you read the internet version of the DNM. You can get some good insights into Alaskan attitudes by reading selected articles. It takes awhile but after a few you can determine which articles are going to have choice comments by the viewers.

For example this article had some excellent comments. The article went on to say a survey of 364 residents found that 264 favored doing away with DLST while 68 were opposed to it and 12 didn’t care. Now the article also went on to say those in the southeast of Alaska favored keeping it. I wonder where those 68 came from.

Some comments were:

1. Oh Boy! Another ambitious piece of legislation…………

2 . Just end it already. …

3. The only reason DST is used is for the government trying to tell us that they are in charge…..

4. PLEASE – Make it go away

5. Stop the madness!

There was one comment in favor which argued that we need it so we can do business with the east coast and not be 5 hours removed. Well that is that person’s opinion. Hey they can always get up earlier.

Time Zones

Alaska used to have four time zones: Pacific, Yukon, Alaska, and Bering. As of October 30, 1983, this was changed to the two existing time zones, Alaska and Hawaii-Aleutian.

Tomorrow is Chatanika Days. Time for the outhouse races. I will talk about that with pictures next week. My wife and I had to reserve rooms there almost a full year ago.

Snow

With all the snow in the lower 48 and what we got here, I thought I would explain some of the differences that I found surprising. Having lived in Omaha for 13 years I went through a few snow storms there. If it snowed 2 inches, you would get drifts of 5 feet due to the wind. Plus the snow is very wet and makes for good snow balls and snow people (need to be politically correct here).

It has been said that, generally speaking, 10 inches of snow is equal to 1 inch of rain. Well that is not necessarily true. A good web page to read up on snow is at the National Snow and Ice Data Center. (bet this place got lots of money in the stimulus plan)

Why do I mention this, well last Saturday we got about about 6 to 8 inches of snow, yesterday we got 8 to 12 inches and we expect 2 inches today.(plus we have a slight breeze blowing the snow out of the trees for another inch). No wind, so no drifts, snow is very dry, can't even make a decent snow ball much less a snow person. So our snow is about 16 to 20 inches for one inch of water.

The problem we get here is near white out conditions when you drive down the road and with no wind. So how does this happen.

Well, when you travel down a 4 lane road, two lanes for each direction, you will generally have one lane in each direction almost clear of snow because of the constant use. Vehicles traveling over the road blow the snow off the road plus whip it up so you need to travel a good distance from the car ahead of you to be able to see. The lane that is not traveled much, tends to accumulate snow.

As you drive down the clear lane to meet driving conditions, there will always be someone who is going faster than you and passes you in the left lane. When this person passes, he/she ( mainly she, bet I hear a lot on this), kicks up the snow on the road causing white out conditions. This is caused by the snow not sticking to the road surface due to the cold and dryness of the snow.

So far this winter we must have close to 60 inches of snow on the ground. The picture I have attached here is our front room facing the river. Can you find the picnic table?

A funny thing happened as we entered Fred Myers last Saturday. My wife paused to stomp the snow from her boots. As she was stomping a large amount of snow fell off the roof right on her head. The other customers, and I had a good laugh. My wife laughed too.

One other thing, all winter I have been feeding Chickadees. They are light eaters and I usually fill the feeder once a month. This Monday my feeders were attacked by Redpolls, hundreds, well more than thirty. So I emailed my resident bird expert at the Alaska Bird Observatory here in Fairbanks. She said that means spring is coming. Plus she always gives me more good information on their habitats.

Well my wife went to lunch with our neighbor across the street this week and she told her of all the Redpolls we have. The neighbor said she stopped feeding hers so they were probalbly from her place. Thanks Janet!!!