Anchorage

Trying to find a good rental unit in Wasilla, Alaska is one of the more difficult things I've ever attempted. I suppose if you're willing to pay $1,500 or more per month things are a little easier, but the under-$1,000/month rental market is an extremely competitive battle.

While I'm posting information about businesses, I might as well include a link to my "Anchorage, Alaska Programmer/Analyst resume" on my devdaily.com website. While I have plenty of work for the time being, it never hurts to have information like this out there, especially when a particularly interesting new project comes along that I just can't resist.

The Alaska Renewable Energy Fair is coming up very soon, August 7th, 2010, to be specific. The fair includes demonstrations, workshops, fun stuff for kids, and plenty of music as well.

The fair is put together by the Renewable Energy Alaska Project (REAP). For more information, please check out the Alaska Renewable Energy Fair web page.

If you happen to be in Anchorage, Alaska this weekend, you have a chance to watch the Arctic Thunder Air Show on both Saturday and Sunday (July 31 and August 1, 2010). Here's a little bit of information on the air show from the Anchorage Daily News:

I ran across this photo of two polar bears "dancing" today while walking through a building in Anchorage. This is one of the great things about living in Alaska, you'll often see great photos of wildlife in regular business buildings. This photo of the two polar bears was hanging in a hospital corridor.

I happened to be at same spot in Anchorage, Alaska twice in a 16-hour period (the 7th floor of a local building), and with a great view of the Chugach Mountains, I thought I'd take a couple of photos of the mountain range.

This first photo was taken in the afternoon on Monday, July 12, probably around 5 or 6pm. :

I'm not sure what happened to all the ravens in Alaska -- specifically the ravens that were in Wasilla, Alaska -- but they have all gone ... somewhere.

I was reminded of this yesterday when I saw a few ravens in Talkeetna. (Talkeetna is about 75 minutes north of Wasilla.) There were a few there, but not many, maybe three. This is in stark contrast to ravens being everywhere when I first moved back to Alaska in March and April. Several times I walked out of stores or restaurants only to be greeted by ravens looking for a handout.

If you've ever wondered what the sunset in Alaska looks like on the summer solstice (June 21), I think I can help you out.

Last Sunday evening I met a friend in Anchorage, and when I drove back north to Wasilla, I took several pictures with my iPhone. I took most of the pictures from 2:30 a.m. through 3:30 a.m., but they turned out darker than the actual environment, as the iPhone is not good at taking pictures in relatively low sunlight. But the following picture I took at 3:40 a.m. on June 21, 2010 worked out very well:

Aww, a heart-warming story about man's best friend, a dog who leads the police through some wooded streets to find a shed that is on fire. The story comes with a link to the video of the police following the dog down a few streets.

I'm not sure why yet, but Cooper tires seem to be the preferred brand here in Alaska. For instance, as I've been traveling along, I've seen ads for several tire businesses that claim to have the "lowest prices on Cooper tires" in town.