Personal | Youseph Tanha

Pictures From Around Juneau

Just thought I would share some more pictures from around Juneau.

I Found My Footing In Juneau With Yaktrax

This whole winter I have been slipping on ice. Ice on my drive way, Ice on the steps up to my office, Ice on side walks, and everywhere else it hides. I don’t know what makes this winter so much more special then all the other past winters, but this year it seems whenever I am walking outside I am sure to slip. I have fallen more times then I want to admit since December.

I knew that their are products you could put on your shows to help keep one from slipping and falling outside. I just had not tried to figure out what these products where.

While Hannah’s folks where staying with me, I noticed that they where waring things on their shoes. It kept them from slipping and falling during our visit to the Mendenhall Glacier. What they where wearing was called “Yaktrax“. I was so impressed with how well they where working that the next day we went out and I picked up a pair of Yaktrax to strap on to my own shoes. These things are pretty awesome. Whenever I am about to go out side I strap them on. I have not slipped for fallen since.

The idea here is pretty simple and makes sense. A rubber mesh wraps around the bottom and sides of your shoes or boots, and is secured with a velcro strap that fixes it’s self across the top of your feet. The messh on the bottom is wrapped with stainless steel coils that give you traction on ice. They are life savers.

Juneau Is Off Generator Power

For everyone who has been wondering about our power shortage here in juneau, The Juneau Empire is reporting:

Alaska Electric Light & Power Co. reported power restored at about 5:05 p.m., and the diesel generators keeping the city lit during the past three weeks were shut down shortly after.Engineers bypassed tower No. 3-5 – the lone casualty during the Jan. 12 slide – to another tower less vulnerable to avalanches, AEL&P Vice President Scott Willis said.

“Engineers … determined that the standing towers on either side … could handle the (power) load,” he said.

The Juneau Empire goes on to say:

The most recent energy crisis lasted just half the time of last year’s, and will cost a fraction of the $6 million in damage caused by last spring’s avalanche. Willis estimated repairs this time around would be in the neighborhood of $1 million.

Though final numbers won’t be available until later today, Willis said roughly 1.6 million gallons of diesel – or $3.6 million worth of fuel – were burned during the city’s three weeks without hydro power.

For residential users, that will mean just one month of paying for a 15-cent Emergency Cost of Power Adjustment, which Willis said AEL&P will ask the state’s Regulatory Commission for later this week. Energy costs during the current billing cycle will be about 25 cents per kilowatt hour.

Willis warned residents to continue conserving energy because the more expensive billing cycle is still in effect. The end of the billing cycle varies from person to person. Details about residential billing can be found at www.aelp.com.

Mendenhall Glacier

Sunday, Hannah left Juneau for Anchorage to take some nursing classes. Her folks came into town the day before she left. The nice thing was that the day she left for the north it as very sunny. Cold, but sunny. We were able to get some morning pictures taken before she left. After her folks and I dropped her off at the airport we took a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier. Mendenhall Lake was frozen over and we where able to walk across it to the actual glacier. It was really cool.

Get Psyched!

Those of you who are fans of the show “How I Met Your Mother” know about Barney’s “Get Psyched Mix”. The Get Psyched Mix is an audio CD that the character Barney on the show made with the idea that a good music mix dose not have to have highs and lows. But can be all rise! As he stated on the show, his Get Psyched Mix is nothing less then an audio journey to the white hot center of adrenalin.

This has inspired me to create my own Get Psyched Mix that is nothing less then all rise it’s self.