The War of 1812 started 200 years ago today with the U.S. declaring war against the British Empire.
Monthly Archives: June 2012
Happy Bunker Hill Day! Say what?
On this day in 1775, The Battle of Breed’s Hill took place, and Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) wants a federal holiday to remind everyone. I think this is part of the restructuring of the USPS… add more federal holidays so that mail delivery does not have to take place…
I digress.
As a history nut, I applaud the light given to a significant event in the Nation’s history. That said, I don’t think a Federal Holiday is the way to go. My apologies to Rep. Capuano, but the stretch between Memorial Day & July 4th isn’t too long to go without another holiday added to the calendar. Just my opinion, of course. Let’s face it, everyone should be celebrating Seward’s Day too, but I don’t expect the Powers to Be to make it a Federal Holiday to force people to celebrate it.
The British suffered 1054 casualties during the battle, including 100 commissioned officers. The Americans suffered casualties numbering around 450, with 140 of those being KIA.
Enjoy the remainder of the weekend, and remember: Don’t open the beer for your guests until you can see the whites of their eyes.
This is more like it
The view from the roof of the house I am siding.
A beautiful day here in The Interior: Sunny skies, temps in the mid 70’s, even a light breeze to keep the mosquitos away. And NO rain. This is the way it’s suppose to be here in June. We’ve had enough of the Anchorage weather!
Smokey did not make an appearance today.
We are also only 10 days from the Solstice. How depressing is that?
Only You Can Prevent A Siding Job
I went in to work today to try to catch up on the siding installation after all the rain interruptions this past week. As I walked to the back of the house with my compressor, I heard a noise coming from behind the house, but it only registered in a very superficial way, and I continued on anyway. When I rounded the corner, I found myself looking into the coal-black eyes of a black bear that was tearing into a rotting spruce log. I’m not sure which of us was more surprised, but we both quickly backed away from the other. We must have both been curious too, because I stopped at the corner of the building to watch & the bruin stopped in the forest to peer at me through the leaves.
That will get one’s blood pumping in the morning.
Eventually, the bear wandered off & I went to work with only the occasional look over my shoulder.
A Very Wet Summer
How much rain have we had up here in The North? Well, the picture above is of The Alaska Highway gone River. All roads leading to Alaska from the Yukon Territory have been blocked by washouts after more heavy rain and still melting snow.
Holy shit! The tourists were right all along… Alaska IS an island!
The Alaska Highway is closed from Destruction Bay to Haines Junction, and from Teslin to Junction 37. That’s roughly 220 miles of highway. The Klondike Highway is also closed due to washouts. It’s expected to take days to reopen The Alcan. One washout between Teslin & 37 is over 200′ wide and 20′ deep. That is a bit of a gully.
When asked when the roads were expected to open, The Yukon Territory’s Highways and Public Works spokeswoman Aisha Montgomery said, “We’re hesitant to give specific times.” Especially when the salmon are running…
To the 100 travelers who are stuck between a mudslide and a washout near the Rancheria Lodge I say: “Welcome to the Yukon!”
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“I went to bed and woke in the middle of the night thinking I heard someone cry, thinking I myself was weeping, and I felt my face and it was dry.
Then I looked at the window and thought: Why, yes, it's just the rain, the rain, always the rain, and turned over, sadder still, and fumbled about for my dripping sleep and tried to slip it back on.”
— Ray Bradbury from “Green Shadows, White Whale…”
Pete Cosey
Sadly, I heard that Pete Cosey, the innovative guitar great who played with the likes of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf & Miles Davis, died at the end of May. He was 68.
What made Milwaukee famous…
I think this has been sitting here for quite a long time. When did steel cans & pop-tops go out of style?










