Thursday, January 08, 2009

We Made National News, Again!!!

So, it appears that the interior of Alaska (Fairbanks actually being mentioned) made national news again. It was on the main Yahoo News page this morning. I'm glad that this time the article was about "Extreme Alaska Cold Grounds Planes, Disables Cars" instead of the couple of times recently when it's been attempted shootings or bomb threats that made the news.

Anyway, this morning it was -47 at my place when I let the dogs out at 8:20 am. *Looking on online calculator really quick* Tori, Toasty, -47 F equates to -43.88 Celcius. So, really not too terribly different numbers, where the two are concerned. Just for laughs, -30 Fahrenheit is equal to -34.44 Celcius. SO yeah, if y'all in Britian start having temps in the -30's, I'm willing to sympathize completely. *grin*

My car wouldn't start at all yesterday. One of the things that simply MUST be done with vehicals around here is to "winterize" them. That means we may adjust the antifreeze and lubrication oil for the colder temps. We also put all these little specially made heating pads in our cars, one for the battery, one for the oil pan, one for the engine.... And those are plugged into a main electic receptical under the hood of the car, which is then plugged in to an extension cord reaching out from the car to a home or business electricty outlet. These heatting pads stay warm while the car is plugged in, keeping the necessary components of the car somewhat warm. Then of course, we run the car for a little while before we ACTUALLY take off, in order to let the engine come up to real running temperatures. Anyway, we'd been having some problems this year with the battery on my car going dead. Scott went on Tuesday and got me a new (REALLY good quality!) car battery and installed it. THEN we found out yesterday that the battery pad was defunct on my car and needed replacing. So, yesterday I didn't make it to work because the BRAND NEW battery had frozen up because the battery pad didn't work. *sigh*

I did get some stuff done around the house, though. Besides getting a full lesson done for Tay's schooling (and catching up on the previous day's lessons which WEREN'T completed), I washed the dog's blankets and bathed Jenny. (She'd vomited on her blanket, then was laying on the blanket even so. So she and the blanket were both rather ripe.) It's the first time in maybe 2 years that Jenny has had a bath. She wasn't terribly pleased, but she actually did ok. (No, she didn't look filthy either!!!! Her fur, for all that it's white, was only slightly dingy and off-white colored. It has a tendency to shed dirt and such pretty quickly though. Which is why it took me so long to actually need to give her a bath.) If I wasn't going in to work today, I'd be giving Puck a bath.

(My next-door-neighbour offered to give me a ride to work, and as time-sheets have to be in today, I accepted.)

Along with bathing Jenny and schooling Tay, I also got a load of dishes run, and organized (or, BETTER organized) 3 boxes of yarn that are sitting here in the computer room. Scott's been after me for quite a while to do something with the four boxes of yarn. I got rid of one of them all-together by organizing them into "Works in progress", "Full skeins" and "bits & pieces". The bits & pieces bin is the largest, with the full skeins box being next in size and the works in progress the smallest box. (NOT all my WIPS are in that box, though. At least one of them is in a plastic "shoe box" in my "crafting cabinet" which is just outside Tay's bathroom. Another is in a literal shoe box (from an old pair of Scott's boots), sitting behind my rocking chair in the living room. A third is in a tote bag, as that's the one I'm currently working on. And the box containing my unused skeins of yarn doesn't contain ALL my unused skeins of yarn. A good lot more are in the German cabinet I've shown in other pictures here. And I've got a couple tins of cotton kitchen yarn in the living room, as well as a basket containing a couple balls of cotton thread and a couple of uncompleted thread projects. BUT, with all that, I at least freed up a BIT of room in my crafting cabinet and got rid of one extra box (not a cardboard box, but a wierd shaped white basket type box) of yarn here in the computer room. I've got hopes of soon getting some of the yarn in these remaining boxes stored into this same cabinet as my other yarn and my fabric stash.

So, that's what I did yesterday. I feel like I actually got a good bit accomplished.

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Just a small update on the baby. Scott talked to the Dad's Step-mom on Monday and she said that the little girl's name is Aliya (not sure how it's spelled). The baby was 1.6 pounds at birth. As of Monday, she was being taken off the ventilator/respirator thingy they had her on. Apparently (according to one of my coworkers who worked for years as a respritory therapist), the preemies are given some sort of drug/hormone that hopefully drastically speeds up the developement of their lungs. Once they've had all the dosages of the drug, if they respond well, they're taken off the ventilator/respirator. So, being taken off the thing on Monday was a good thing! (Also apparently, at birth the baby had been given a 10% chance of survival. That has increased considerably, from what I understand.) Last but not least, my coworker also said that the baby will not be sent back to Fairbanks before she reaches 4 pounds. Even then the Anchorage NeoNatal ICU may send her to the Fairbank's hospital's Pediatric's department for further care before she's actually released to go home. So, all in all some GOOD news, but she's obviously got a long road ahead of her. (Oh, and one OTHER "last bit". My coworker ALSO said that girl preemies have a lessened risk of prolonged medical issues as compared to boys. Boy preemies statistically have more medical problems through-out the course of their lives. So little Aliya appears to have some benefits on her side.)

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Another little quick-bit. Mom just called and told me that there were apparently two fatalities on the Richardson Highway this morning. That's the highway I drive to town for work every day. Yes, the ice-fog is THAT thick. I'm hoping to hear from Scott soon, as I haven't yet talked to him this morning. Hearing about that sort of thing scares the sh** out of me, when I haven't had a chance to talk to him to know he's ok. I'm sure I would have heard from the cops by now if Scott had been involved in that accident, but even so. The pins & needles feeling isn't a good one. And as for the two people that DID die, there's a reasonable enough chance that I knew one or both of them, that I'm worried in a more general sense as well. We have approximately 80,000 people in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, from up in Ester and Fox, to out in Salcha, and everywhere in between (including Ft. Weinwright and Eielson AFB). But even with 80,000 people, it's still a "small" town. And the fact that the accident and deaths occured on the Richardson Hwy at rush-hour this morning means that it was quite possibly somebody who lives in or around North Pole, increasing the odds that I knew one or both of the fatalities. So yeah..... It's not a comfortable thought to hear of 2 deaths like that.

Ok. Enough morbidity and worries for this morning. I've gotta get a move on with Tay's schooling for today.

Have a Blessed Day!!!!

9 comments:

Toriz said...

WOW! You really did get a lot done!

That's really good about the baby... Hope she continues to improve.

Sorry to hear about the two fatalities on the highway... My thoughts are with the family and friends of the people involved... Whoever they are!

peppylady (Dora) said...

I've heard how cold it been in Fairbanks I have some cousins living there now.
I know when the weather is a super cold it hard to start any thing mainly if there diseal (sp)

It amazing how far we have came medical.
My oldest son born preemie and had the same thing as President Kennedy son Patrick had and with all there money it couldn't save him.

Coffee is on

whimsical brainpan said...

Damn! Stay warm sweetie!

You did get a lot of stuff done.

I'm so glad that Aliya is improving.

That is very interesting about girl preemies. I didn't know that.

LadyStyx said...

Hoping the baby does well, gets big and is able to go home soon.

With all the gadgets for the car, I didnt see a heated dipstick listed. Although NY doesnt get nearly THAT cold, it still gets cold enough that it is troublesome to cars. We always put a thick blanket on the engine after replacing the dipstick with the heatable one. Then it and the trickle charger would get plugged in on the porch. As soon as I got up in the morning, I'd flip the switch for the porch outlet and it'd be warming up as we got ready.

Wendy said...

I saw the headline, and rushed right over to see what you had to say about it ;).

You had a busy day. I wish I could be so productive ;).

Slip said...

Time to move the brass monkey indoors. The little girl sounds like a fighter! This sure is a strange weather year all around the globe.

Rev. Peter Doodes said...

Great news about Aliya, I trust that her progress will carry on. Sorry to hear of the two fatalities, for some families life will never be the same again.

-47... GOOD GRIEF !!! It reached - 11 here in SE UK last night, and is 'only' - 5 now, 15:21hrs, I expect you would be outside in shorts and T shirts having a BBQ, but I am not that hardy.

Last year we had snow and I took a photo, it was so unusual. The year before that we didn't even have a frost.

Blessings to you all

MarmiteToasty said...

Well, the baby sounds like a fighter, but then she is a girl :).... hope she keeps improving....

And oh hush with your snide comments about the temps LOL.... to us soft bellied Brits -12c is bloody nippy lmfao.....

I did wonder today when I shut the chickens in at dusk and I nipped out in just a T-shirt, how on earth me maties in Alaska cope with such extreme cold temps...... maybe ya spend all ya time snuggled up in bed with each other LOL..... I should ring me matie Rich who lives in Valdez and see if he needs a snuggle partner :)....

safe warm, stay safe.....

x

Robin said...

Hope you're staying warm up there. I love snow and cold, but I don't think I could manage your extremes.

Glad you're back to posting a bit more. I've missed you. And I got your card....thank you so much and I'm sorry I didn't reciprocate. With the bum arm (which is much better) it was all I could do to get through the holiday.

Thanks for stopping by the Dreamtime and for all of the thought out comments.