Growin' Taters...

When we first got the dog Tatalina (Taters) about three months ago (Another dog run...4/8/15), we didn't realize how shy she was. And while she has warmed up quite a bit around Andy since then, she's still pretty wary of me. But we've found that dog biscuits rule, so no matter how shy she's acting, she'll still come to me for a treat. In fact, since Andy's taught her to sit and give paw, she'll almost immediately jump on her house, sit down and lilt her paw when she see's a biscuit. But the real interesting thing is how much she's grown in these last few months. While she seemed like big fuzzy puppy when we got her, she's grown into a long, sleek sled dog.

A note to Don...

About the same time as this article came out about how the Department of Labor and the Obama administration wanted to expand the fiduciary standard (the legal requirement that financial advisers and brokers put your best interests first) to cover retirement accounts, Congress decided to make your retirement worse by blocking the new regulations:

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_bills/2015/06/fiduciary_standard_for_retirement_accounts_republicans_don_t_want_to_expand.html

Then I got this interestting form letter from our lone congressman Don Young (original formatting was lost in transfer):

DON YOUNG Congress of the United States
Congressman for All Alaska House of Representatives
WASHINGTON OFFICE: Washington, DC
2314 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-5765

Dear Sir,

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) was designed to protect the beneficiaries of company pension plans in the private sector.  A major point in the legislation was outlining rules for fiduciaries, or providers, of pension plans. For example, fiduciaries were responsible for distributing plan rules to employees with pension plans.  Additionally, ERISA protects beneficiaries by giving them the legal rights to sue for benefits.

*******
Although the Department of Labor has the goal of protecting pension participants, the new definition of "fiduciary"(the fiduciary is the main person giving advice; the new definition would remove the stipulations "regular" and "primary basis), unnecessarily hurts all parties involved.  The providers newly classified as fiduciaries will have extra responsibilities and will be burdened by more clients than the provider can handle.  By overburdening providers, there will likely be a swath of errors in the private sector retirement system and massive destabilization.  Opponents point out that the fiduciary would be able to retroactively declare exemption from fiduciary liability if the fiduciary feels that he or she was not impartial when giving retirement advice.  In essence, should the participant's retirement plan not go as planned, the fiduciary can seek exemption from responsibility.  The employer also faces challenges as he or she has to disregard decades of regulations. Especially during these difficult economic times, it is unwise to destabilize the private sector's retirement plans.

Americans have a right to be concerned with the continued expansion of federal regulation over retirement fund policies.  I have often said that Congress passing regulation is not nearly as bad as giving unelected bureaucrats the power to create their own regulations.  The proposal gives the Executive Branch too much regulatory power. The new definition can easily become burdensome, even though it is only a small part of what it means to save for retirement.  This issue and other new requirements, that I believe will be overly burdensome on employers and the financial sector, are just a few of the reasons why I oppose bureaucrats who overstep their powers.  In conclusion, this legislation will upset business practices and hurt the American economy at a time when it cannot afford it. Please know that I will be watchful as the Department of Labor reviews ERISA.

If I can be of any assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,
(signed)
DON YOUNG
Congressman for All Alaska
DY/PM


Now I do understand that the Repugnants in Congress feel it's their sacred duty to disagree/defeat whatever their most hated adversary, the commie, socialist, fascist, muslim loving, american hating president does. But opposing increased regulation on an industry that had almost bankrupted our country? That's just too much.  I over-rode my normal aversion to politics, took him up on his offer and contacted him:

To: Rep. Don Young, Congressman for All Alaska
Re: From the Desk of Congressman Don Young: "burdensome fiduciary regulations"

Dear Don:

Moran (sp) noun: Conflated with moron; one with an opposing view, considered especially stupid or foolish. “Get a brain, moran!”
After the economic collapse of 2008 when the unregulated derivative markets made many retirement and investment funds worthless, it seems inconceivable that anyone with an once of perspective would consider the regulation of anyone who gives investment advice a bad idea. But there you go, keeping the world safe for the investment establishment while the individual investors are left to fend for themselves. Your justification is a gross oversimplification and postulates unlikely consequences. As the lone congressman for Alaska, you seem more concerned with the east coast financial community than with the retired citizens of your home state.
And congratulations on your recent wedding.

Sincerely,
BJ

Haven't got a reply yet, I suspect I won't be hearing too much from the lone congressman for a while.

Who's wiring?...

It all started out just as some simple wiring to finish a project that'd begun last fall. In the course of getting stuff together, I found a connector that belonged on the wiring cover (wire mold) going to the water pump. But when I tried to snap it in place, somehow it shorted out the hot (black) wire. When I moved the wire to see what happened, the hot wire to the water heater also shorted. So now we had no water and no clue why.
After shutting off all the breakers to the basement, I disconnected the wires and saw that a sharp edge of the metal wire mold covering had cut through the insulation and shorted it out. So decided to replace that section of wire mold with BX conduit (flexible armored pipe). I had some laying around, so was able to scab together a bypass for the shorted-out wires. The funny part was that after it was finished, it reminded me of the wiring hanging about in Dr Who's Tardis.

Summer's here...

The heat wave that started in April has continued into May. While the normal high temperatures for mid-May are barely sixty, it hit a record high of 86°F today and has been near 80 for the past week or so. Here's some photos taken in the last few days:

It's been over 100 in the sun most afternoons.

Andy's got the garden in already, while the choke cherry's a'bloomin'.

And it's just too hot for the cats.

Angst and the art of motorcycle maintenance...

With several old motorcycles in the garage awaiting various forms of repairs/rebuilds, my main feeling lately has been one of angst. According to the urban dictionary, angst is a transcendent emotion that is often confused with anxiety, but combines the anguish of life with the hopes of overcoming the seemingly impossible. Angst denotes the constant struggle that weighs the emotions of worry against hope. So now I'm starting to work on the old Moto Guzzi, worrying I won't get it done right, while still hoping for the best. To fix a leaking rear seal, you have to remove the complete engine/transmission unit by disconnecting and lifting the frame off of the engine, then separating the transmission from the engine to access the seals. So now the components are on the work bench while I try to carefully remove the main seals without damaging anything else. Then put it all back together again. Angst rules!

Here's the frame after lifting it off the engine/transmission unit:

As far as I know, Moto Guzzi is the only manufacturer that accesses the engine by removing the frame. Much easier than trying to lift the engine out of the frame.

Another dog run...

We've gotten another new dog. Bella didn't work out. She was severely shy when she arrived at our place, showed no improvement after several months, and in the end, wanted nothing to do with me. So we took her back to Tracyann and wound up taking a younger female, Tatalina, or Taters as I call her. I'd hoped to run her at least once this spring, but with the snow almost gone from the trails, it didn't look promising. But then we heard from our neighbors that it'd snowed several inches out near the Hot Springs, so figured we could get one more run in. Loaded up the truck with the dogs and sled, then headed up the road to the Chena Recreation Area. The trails there were still in good shape with the fresh snow and wound up having a decent dog run.

Headin' out on the winter trail.

Takin' a break on the way back.

Spuds coolin' off.

Taters, the new girl on the left, next to Easter, or little Missy as Andy calls her.

End of winter?

The warm spell that began in March is hanging on into April. The snow is melting fast and the dog trail's so bad I put the sleds away already. Just finished hauling in the last load of wood.

Might try to haul the dogs out to the White Mtns. if it cools off a bit, but the forecast is not promising. Here's the weather bureau's March summary and April forecast (slightly edited for brevity):

Monthly weather summary for March from the National Weather Service Fairbanks, Alaska:

March was a month of contrasts with both temperature and snowfall above seasonal averages. The month started off warm with the first week averaging well above normal; however a strong cold pushed through the interior on the 8th causing temperatures to plummet. Low temperatures dropped to 30 below and colder from the 10th to the 15th with the daily average nearly 25 degrees below normal. Then came a rapid warming, with temperatures rising above normal from the 17th to the end of the month.

The warmest temperature, which was a record high, was 52 degrees on the 26th and the coldest temperature was 37 below which occurred on the 15th. The average temperature was 15.5 degrees which was 4.1 degrees above the monthly normal. This ranked as the 23rd warmest March in 110 years of record.

March was a snowy month with 8.1 inches of snow falling at the Fairbanks airport. This was 3.2 inches above the average snowfall. This March ranked as the 28th snowiest of 102 years. Seasonal snowfall remains well below normal with only 41.7 inches, which is 19.5 inches below normal.
.
Looking forward to April the average daily high temperature
increases from 35 degrees on the 1st to 54 degrees on the
30th. The average daily low temperature increases from 8 degrees
on the 1st to 31 degrees on the 30th.

During April, possible sunshine increases by nearly 7 minutes per
day,  from 13 hours and 36 minuteson the 1st to 16 hours and 55 minutes on the 30th.

The forecast for the month of April from the climate prediction
center calls for near normal temperatures and precipitation.

http://pafg.arh.noaa.gov/wmofcst.php?wmo=NOAK49PAFG&type=public

Out to the Whites...

Finally got out for a quick trip to the White Mtns. Is spite of the shortened training season (New dog...2/11/15), the dogs ran great and Bill and I both had a good time. Barney and Spuds, my main leaders, are both eleven now, so this likely is their last trip. While I've had a few dogs still run in the team at twelve, they tend to age quickly and lose their desire to run when they get that old. They've been a great pair up front and I'll miss their leadership. Here's a few photos of the dogs:

Takin' a break on the way in. Bill's in the background checking on his dogs. Barney and Jabba, gettin' some leader training,  up front.

Headin' out from the cabin towards the ridge top trail. Spuds and Barney in lead.

Rest stop on the way home. Easter, in swing, ran great and was a real asset in the team.

More crazy weather...

Just like February, the weather in March has been crazy. It started off almost normal, then warmed up and snowed almost a foot, then turned cold and we had a week of -20 to -40 F. Now it's warmed up again and we've had near +40 for the past few days.

Here's a few photos of yesterdays dog run:

Crossing the pond on the way home.

Going over the bridge on Smallwood Creek.

Takin' a break on the way home.

Another warm spell...

After an up and down February, March is starting off warm, as it was near 40° F today. Here's the weather bureau's summary for February:

NWS MONTHLY WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 2015

"Much like January, February  was a month of contrasts with periods of much below normal temperatures and periods of much above normal temperatures. The average temperature for the month was 1.0 degree which was 2.3 degrees above the normal mean temperature of -1.3 degrees.

February 2015 started off with a cold snap that continued through the 10th. The coldest temperature was 43 below which occurred on the 7th. The temperature warmed dramatically after the 10th of the month, with the warmest temperature of 37 on the 16th.

A significant ice storm, one tenth of an inch of ice or more, began on the 21st and continued on the 22nd, when  0.23 inches of rain fell at the airport. This is the 4th out of the last 5 winters with a significant ice storm.

Looking forward to March, temperatures climb sharply as the sun angle and length of day light increases; the average daily high temperature increases from 18 degrees on the 1st to 34 degrees on the 31st, the average daily low temperature increase from 9 below on the 1st to 8 above on the 31st. Temperatures have ranged from 56 above in 1994 to 56 below in 1911. March is on average the driest month in Fairbanks, precipitation iaverages 0.25 inches while normal snow fall is 4.9 inches. Possible sunshine increases by nearly 7 minutes per day during March and increases from 10 hours and 7 minutes on the 1st to 13 hours and 29 minutes on the 31st."(http://www.arh.noaa.gov/wmofcst.php?wmo=NOAK49PAFG&type=public)

Finally remembered the camera so took a few photos of the dogs:

Heading for home after crossing the bridge.

Skirting the new gully that formed this past summer.

Another new dog and a blizzard on the way...

Waiting for the wind to arrive after it's snowed for the last few hours. According to the weather bureau:

The National Weather Service in Fairbanks, has issued a blizzard warning. which is in effect until 3 am Alaska Standard Time Sunday: blowing snow....reducing visibility to one quarter mile or less at times., winds northwest 25 to 35 mph gusting to 50 mph. (http://pafg.arh.noaa.gov/wmofcst.php?wmo=WWAK41PAFG&type=public)

Yesterday we picked up another dog. This one's named Bella and she's supposed to be the mother of Easter (Ester or Estella?). Should be interesting, working with some new dogs in the team while breaking trail after the big blizzard. Here's her picture (taken from Facebook).

New dog and a dog run...

Well it took a while, but finally got out on the trail with the dogs this year. Probably the latest ever, but the health issues rule, I guess. Got a new dog too. Unfortunately, a local musher  died and left a bunch of dogs that needed a place to go, so we brought one home. She's a young female, the first  we've had in quite a while, so it'll be interesting to see how the team dynamics change with a new dog. Other than that, it was a routine dog run and we made it around the new gully with no problems. Here's a photo of Easter, the new girl.  Though I've already started to call her Ester, who knows what her name will be, we almost always change the dogs name to fit their personality.

Here's another shot, find the hidden dog: