Opinion
Paddy Waggin'
By Paddy Notar
Photo courtesy of Evan Alaska
Alyeska crews worked to clear the Daylodge parking lot of snow left over from an avalanche that tumbled down Max's mountain Tuesday, March 9 around 7 a.m. The avalanche was triggered by avalanche mitigation crews shooting the mountain. The large slide took down a ski shack, carried a Connex owned by Granit Construction down a level towards the parking lot, and covered an automobile before coming to a halt in front of some condos adjacent to the backside of the Daylodge parking lot. The mountain was closed until 1 p.m.
So, we had an avalanche or two this past week.
Like the genius that I am, I tried to drive to work in two feet of unplowed snow at 8 a.m., Tuesday, March 9. I had no idea that the highway was closed at the time. I think McKenna Brothers were just getting out of bed to see if the side roads were good to go. They weren't. Anyway, I floored my car into reverse, made it into the street and was completely excited that I could ride down the hill to something that resembled a plowed road. Nope. Don't think so. I got stuck immediately, wondered what the hell I was thinking, and relied on someone else to get me out.
After all that, I finally made it to Alyeska Highway and turned onto it thinking I had it made. I thought to myself, ‘I'll stop at Tesoro, grab a 5000 calorie, microwavable breakfast burrito, and drive into town.' I got to high-price gasville and saw about 10 cars parked on the highway. Of course, I asked what happened and five people all had a different story.
The answers: Two cars were thrown into the Arm by an avalanche, there was avalanche control going on, there was an avalanche but no cars were involved, they were waiting for an avalanche to occur, or they closed off the road for a block party and I wasn't invited.
I was forced to go home but now couldn't get on my road or in my driveway. The McKenna boys were busy re-plowing the main roads and the side roads would have to wait just a little bit longer. Eventually, the roads all got plowed but the driveways took a lot longer. Unless you're a female U.S. Senator, then you were first on the list. My two neighbors had to call in sick to work because they couldn't get their cars out, and I saw four cars parked on the street because their driveways were three feet high.
Ken Smith/Turnagain Times
Cars parked by the dozens in the Essential gas station parking lot in Bird Tuesday, March 9 when two avalanches at mile 97 and 86 closed the highway in the morning. The first avalanche struck at 7 a.m. At mile 97 and the second one came down at around 9 a.m. At mile 86. The highway reopened at around 6 p.m. Dept. of Transportation spokesman, Rick Feller, said two vehicles collided with each of the avalanches after they came down, but nobody was believed to be injured.
By the way, why do those front loaders come by your driveway and plow the snow up and then take off. As if they're helping you in some half-assed way. Just leave it. Packing up another two feet on top of what I already have isn't a good solution. There was nothing to do but go look at the avalanche damage by the Daylodge, which was quite the sight. I don't know if those new condos are in such a good location after viewing the carnage the avalanche on Max's Mountain created as it slid down the mountain into the parking lot, and down into the front of the condos. Nothing like drinking a cup of coffee in the morning and staring out of your 10 foot high window to see all hell coming at you…right after you just heard a cannon start it all.
“Bob, I'm just gonna go to the shed and get some gear before we start up the lifts and open up for business…Hey, where the hell did the shed go? Oh my Gosh, its 50 feet from where I last saw it. Better shoot off another shell and see if we can't get it to go back to where it was.”
The average salary for an Alaska State Legislator is $24,436 base salary, per diem expenses of $31,671, office expenses of $8,814, long-term per diem pay of $9,771. That's a grand total of $74,692. That's a lot of money for only a 90, that's right, 90 day session. Now, they want lobbyists to be able to buy them meals of up to $50 without having to show a receipt. Right now the threshold is $15. So, what's the big deal about having to show a receipt for anything over $15? Hmmmm.
The U.S. Senate voted 62-36 to spend another $130 billion that we don't have. Democrats and six republicans say it's necessary to help Americans who are hurting. That money is added to our national debt of $12.5 trillion and our national deficit of $1.6 trillion. Deficit is the amount by which a government's expenditures exceed its tax revenues. The difference is made up for by borrowing from the public through the issuance of debt, also called Federal Debt. And it's strangling our economy. China has $894 billion of our treasury securities, Japan has $766 billion, and a host of other foreign nations have another $2 trillion.
$59 billion of that will go towards giving people extended unemployment benefits of up to 99 weeks. The government has already extended them for the past year and a half and now they're adding on another two years. Are you kidding me!? Is our Senate out to lunch at one of their five star restaurants that we flip the bill for? Of course, Sen. Mark Begich was all too happy to spend the money and voted for the bill.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski also voted for it, which is surprising considering her fiscally conservative position with government spending. Nothing encourages people to get off their butts and take a job, any job, than giving them more free money. Expect bars and video game makers to reap the benefits of this brilliant legislation. Senator Begich, Murkowski, and the other 6 Senators said that this will help to lift the economy. How? By borrowing more money to pay for non work? Better start learning languages and customs from the Far East.
