February 17, 2008

The weather has really changed from the cold and sunny pattern that lasted a couple weeks. Now we are snowy. It snowed quite a bit this week. I think we had about 8 inches here in Anchorage twice. The ski resort had a couple days over a foot.

We hoped this meant we would have great skiing this weekend. It hasn’t turned out that way. We went to Alpenglow yesterday. The road conditions up to the resort made getting there a challenge. The road hadn’t been plowed recently, but the traffic had packed and rutted up the road. The new car had no problem climbing, but it did slide around in the ruts. The ski resort parking lot wasn’t plowed and it was even worse. It was full of deep, loose, heavy wet snow. We tried to pull into a parking space, but the tires were spinning and the car wasn’t staying straight. Rather than getting stuck, I turned around to find a better space. The slope of the parking lot was proving problematic. The tail of the car started to slide toward parked vehicles. Someone gave me a little push and I was finally able to get to a better area for parking. I wasn’t sure if the problem was my new vehicle, the tires, or just the conditions. I felt better seeing other vehicles getting pushed and pulled. On the way back down the mountain, I got my final confirmation that the conditions were really bad and that I hadn’t made a foolish choice trading my Landrover. After rounding a curve, I watched a Landrover in my rearview mirror slide off the road and slam into the snow bank. I turned around to make sure they hadn’t gone through the snow bank and down the steep slope into the trees. They were able to back off the snow pile, leaving a few parts behind.

The skiing was harsh. The heavy snow was made heavier by the strong winds. The untracked areas were difficult, but quite fun. Crossing a track was like hitting a speedbump, Unfortunately when the conditions get difficult, many skiers begin taking long traverses between turns, leaving unavoidable speedbumps at far too great a frequency. The heavy snow already demands strong thighs, but trying to absorb the impact of the tracks was exhausting. We couldn’t ski very long and it wasn’t really that much fun.

Today was another adventure, this time going to Alyeska. The highway was a mix of ice and wet as the temperature hovered around the freezing mark along the water. In several locations, rocks had fallen off the cliffs and littered the roads. Precipitation fell throughout the drive, mostly as rain, but sometimes as big wet snowflakes. We waited until afternoon to head down as the road had been closed for avalanche control. We wondered how they did avalanche control along the road. I guessed that they had a gun mounted on a truck, but that proved to be wrong. It was a trailer mounted unit. It was strange to see a military type weapon parked at the rest area with a few DOT vehicles. I guess I never saw an ODOT truck towing a big gun in Ohio.

We took Kris’ car today to see if the studs make a big difference. I think I concluded that they do. The parking lot at Alyeska was ice with water on top, about as slippery a surface as you can get. The studs provide much more grip, although still very little, in those conditions.

The skiing was really fun today, but it was unbearable. It was raining at the lower elevations and snowing and blowing at midmountain. The top of the mountain wasn’t even open due to high winds. Riding the slow lift from calm, warm, rainy weather up into a blizzard was painful. It got worse as the water slowly found its way into our clothes. Kris has new ski pants that were extremely water resistant, but my old ones soaked through. Eventually we both had mittens full of water. I had water find its way into the gap between the two lenses of my goggles. The water slowly got deeper and deeper, putting a water level line across my vision. I could tip my head and moved the water from the right side to the left side, but it was annoying either way. Making matters worse, the wet snow put spots on my goggles, causing me to stop every few turns to wipe them. I tried skiing without the goggles, but the big snowflakes would just land in my eyes. We skied a couple hours, having great fun, until the chilling dampness ended our day early.

I gave my two weeks notice this week. I got the final approval from Chevron on Thursday around lunch and told my boss at the end of the day. My last day of work will be February 29. This means that almost 4 years to the day after leaving my job in Ohio, I will be starting a new job in the oil industry.

I spoke to my new boss briefly on Friday. He expressed concern about the starting schedule because benefits typically end at the end of the month of your last day of work and begin at the start of the month after your first day of work. Since my last day of work with the state is in February, my benefits will end in February. Since my first day of work with Chevron is in March, my benefits won’t begin until April. I knew this and am covered under Kris’ benefits anyway, but at least it is nice that my boss was concerned.

He also tried to talk me into working a 9/80 work schedule instead of a traditional 5/40. I knew Chevron offered such an option, but I hadn’t really contemplated it. I told him that I would think about it and added that another part of the decision would be assuring coverage for the department. He explained that it might actually be better for the department for me to be on a 9/80 schedule. So I am thinking about it. On one hand, getting every other weekend as a three day weekend is inviting. On the other hand, working an extra hour or so a day would cut into my evenings. I think last summer I noticed that the evenings have a problem anyway. When I get home at 4, I have this odd piece of time before dinner that is too short to do anything. I am always too hungry to put dinner off until late, so dinner cuts my evening into two smaller chunks. If I didn’t have the first smaller chunk, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. It is tempting.

Well, tomorrow may be my last government holiday. I guess I’d better enjoy it.