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!!!!