winter shower works just fine
1o above zero F at 12pm Alaska timeNor sure how long I'll be staying here this winter but couldn't leave it uninsulated or untied down in case I'm here when it hits 50 below and the big northern winds rip the place apart. Now that it has a separate bedroom and a compost toilet and a "bidet" along with hardwood floors in the kitchen and vinyl walls and flooring under burlap "rugs," it's looking very uptown. The wood storage area and the water jugs and sink are all exactly where they should have been all along. I can finally draw floor plans that I know make sense and will work comfortably.
Thought about maybe renting it out to adventurers who want to see if they can survive living in a gertee during an Alaskan winter. Hate to leave it sit empty all winter. It's very well organized now, finally, and I can see a certain type of person getting a real healthy experience out of it. Then I thought about the dangers, the brutal reality, and how some people are just too wimpy to do what needs to be done. I'd need to ask a lot of very invasive questions in order to determine the capacity level of the applicants... sounds too communitarian to me.
Our apologies go out to all the people who are finding 404 errors on every page at the ACL. We will be reformatting the site over the winter but it's going to take time and there are only two of us working on this project, since the beginning of it over TEN years ago. We cannot afford to work on it every second of every day like we used to... and almost every article and research paper was written by me. The only way I was able to produce so much was I went camping full time and lived on practically nothing. Along the way I built the best tents I could possibly afford and learned to cook all my food on a wood stove. I'm just not willing to die for the ACL anymore.
Thought about maybe renting it out to adventurers who want to see if they can survive living in a gertee during an Alaskan winter. Hate to leave it sit empty all winter. It's very well organized now, finally, and I can see a certain type of person getting a real healthy experience out of it. Then I thought about the dangers, the brutal reality, and how some people are just too wimpy to do what needs to be done. I'd need to ask a lot of very invasive questions in order to determine the capacity level of the applicants... sounds too communitarian to me.
Our apologies go out to all the people who are finding 404 errors on every page at the ACL. We will be reformatting the site over the winter but it's going to take time and there are only two of us working on this project, since the beginning of it over TEN years ago. We cannot afford to work on it every second of every day like we used to... and almost every article and research paper was written by me. The only way I was able to produce so much was I went camping full time and lived on practically nothing. Along the way I built the best tents I could possibly afford and learned to cook all my food on a wood stove. I'm just not willing to die for the ACL anymore.
I'm happy to hear that Nik, as proud as I am of you, Nordica, and your work, I can't help but worry about those cold winters. Your baby brother in Boise!
ReplyDeletethanks brother man. it's not the cold winters that kill a gal... it's not having money for heating fuel! :) I am more fortunate than some are though, at least I can burn wood even if it's a pain to find it. I bet there's people walking the train tracks like Hugh said he did in the 30s picking up coal that drops off the cars. hopefully it'll be a mild year.. it was 22 above today!
ReplyDeleteI hope it is a mild winter for you too, though the lead story on this website is ominous for very cold weather this year: http://www.iceagenow.com/ Seriously, you might want to consider the climate implications from the cycle we are in.
ReplyDeleteYour comment that you are not willing to die for the ACL anymore, is that frustration, burn out or what? I am still amazed that you have been researching this for 10 years and I had only recently heard of it. I am studying on it and trying to get my brain around it, but like you said before it is so big that it is hard to do. It is so big that it cannot be seen, maybe because this thinking has become "mainstream". I don't communicate on blogs much but when the opportunity presents itself I drop "communitarianism" into a discussion with maybe a link to your blog, just to see if I get a response. I have only gotten a response once, from "sadie". I saw that she asked you a question. I sent a link to a local radio host who is a conservative and he had never heard the term! Again surprised because he is on the air 2 hours/day/5 days and pretty well informed. He asked me why Sarah Palin and some other conservative were communitarians. I sent along his question to you because I don't think I can answer that question well enough yet but did not get a response. Thought maybe he might be interested enough to interview you or at least contact you but he asked the question of me.
I am going to vote this time. I keep getting suckered into it, then beat myself up after it is over and say 'why did I do such a stupid thing when I know better. But if we are going into a very cold and dry climate cycle, then this type of weather fosters individualism and any vestige of "social" thinking will disappear. Maybe this election event will actually morph into something more because of climate momentum.
I liked your 10/25 post where you talk to yourself. I am going to send it to the radio guy to see if this explanation will spark his interest.
Hi Stanley, it's been frustrating not being able to keep up with all the questions and comments I get, but it's happened more than once over the last decade where I don't have an accessible phone line. My comment about not being willing to die for the ACL means I'm done thinking I have to sacrifice my health, dinner and a warm bed for the "cause." Whatever debt I thought I owed America is pif.
ReplyDeleteBut, because it matters, I will say Sarah Palin introduced several communitarian based community development programs in Wasilla. Her family was the big push for community policing there and they started the first police force, which has since grown into one of the most aggressive militarized forces in Alaska, after Anchorage and Valdez. She also sent our AK state guard to co train with the Mongolian special forces; she supported all the military cross training of our forces with the Russian military/police too. It was interesting to see her say such a stupid thing about Russia when she could have gone into detail about how she shared policing with them.
From what I can tell many conservatives are the biggest supporters of communitarian programs and laws... that's why the American people can never be allowed to know en masse what it is. Like David Cameron in the UK, the US conservative crowd has embraced rebuilding community.