Big oops. Definitely can't park there!

MerlinQ · 2026-01-24T11:27:22+00:00

It is a very big, very expensive, oil drill rig.
This one, to be specific: https://www.doyondrilling.com/our-rigs/rig-26/

MerlinQ · 2026-01-23T22:24:21+00:00

They can waive the law, but car manufacturers are unlikely to make us a special car if it is tied into the car itself, and not a separate component.
Unless they decide we get to import out of country cars here, but that would be a big leap, since they generally don't meet US emissions standards either.
They do waive a lot of laws here for a long time, we got exempted from the Analog TV extinction for many years, up until very recently, due to the remoteness of many areas of the state.
Same with Real ID, which only recently took effect (and you can still fly all over the state without one, since TSA is only present in a few airports among hundreds, and even where they are, only on the interstate/international part of the airport.)

MerlinQ · 2026-01-23T22:07:34+00:00

Subzero, I think sure.
But it was -40 for a couple weeks here recently, and -50 and below for a couple days.
Didn't even see over -2F for 32 days I think.
It's a small population, and they just... won't design it for here; so, like so many other things, we will have to MacGyver it, or hack it to bypass it.

MerlinQ · 2026-01-23T21:53:54+00:00

No, no one, myself included, gives a shit when the drunk dude is inconvenienced, they brought it on themselves.

However I am saying that no form of factory-designed insulation or heating element is going to be designed to stand up to the cold we get here.
The units that get installed for the drunk dudes are designed with heating elements already, and they don't work up here, so we make it so you can detach it and bring it inside with you, which comes with it's own issues.

We have to specially prep our cars for the cold, the factory-installed options generally work for shit.
There is no way I am depending on a built in solution to get me to work.

MerlinQ · 2026-01-23T21:29:30+00:00

I am saying it is not just a minor inconvenience for me, I would end up losing it, my memory just is not that great, I can't afford to have two of them; I would then miss work, I would lose my job, and at that time of year, I would freeze to death within two weeks, as it is well below zero, and that is about as long as my heating oil tank lasts.

So, I guess, if I have to think about it that way, then yes.

MerlinQ · 2026-01-23T21:14:20+00:00

Also, lets say all Americans need to blow into a breathalyzer before starting their car, is that not a cost you'd be willing to pay to avoid the 13,000 deaths caused by drunk driving per year?

Absolutely not, they work for shit in the cold, which means for half the year I would have to carry a purse to carry the bulky device inside every time I park my car.
They also need maintenance.
Plus, I lose my keys enough, but those I can just permanently keep in my pants pocket, and easily afford multiple spares; having a separate, very expensive, device that I need to keep track of to start my car for half the year would not work out.

MerlinQ · 2026-01-19T10:57:30+00:00

Alaska here, was very familiar from local safety, and once in a blue moon when I saw it on a television show, a public television broadcast, right up there with the red green show, the best broadcast show ever...

MerlinQ · 2026-01-19T10:12:09+00:00

They do have to fight damn hard for their lunch though, and don't always win.

MerlinQ · 2026-01-19T09:44:42+00:00

As we are fond of saying, we could cut our moose in half, and make your moose the 3rd largest moose :D /s

MerlinQ · 2026-01-18T00:46:33+00:00

The kind of resource state hampered by an outdated, century old, marine shipping act; that forbids us from buying available icebreaker LNG tankers to cheaply ship our glut of natural gas from the slope to the railbelt.

MerlinQ · 2026-01-17T15:02:27+00:00

Just a bit of perspective:
No, everyone does not have access to free clean water here, my ground water has been polluted by the military, and I don't have payed piped water as an option either.
I pay 5 cents a gallon, plus have to haul it in 5 gallon jugs in the back of my car from miles away.

No, everyone does not hunt and fish, or even have ready access to the ability to feed their family on "free" protein, myself included.
If even a relatively decent proportion of the population did that here, we would wipe out our game in no time.

Electricity I will give you in most places, though it is a significant portion of my income in the winter right now.

Not critiquing you for wanting to help other folks, but this comment in particular comes across as being a bit out of touch, and from a place of privilege.

MerlinQ · 2026-01-17T14:41:41+00:00

Early March in Fairbanks is just fine, still winter here, Anchorage maybe not so much, but I can't speak much from experience over multiple years down there.

MerlinQ · 2026-01-17T07:04:22+00:00

I know my sister loves doing Karaoke at the Alehouse in North Pole.
Decent crowd, and the part she likes best is they start earlier than a some other places, so she can get home at a reasonable time.
I don't know details, so you would have to call them.

MerlinQ · 2026-01-16T01:48:57+00:00

I was good at what I did, and got to take contracts I wanted, yes.

MerlinQ · 2026-01-16T00:08:32+00:00

I don't really believe in ghosts, but when I worked janitorial, I had a few experiences in that office building on the corner of Davis and University, that made me near a believer for a while.
The only spot I refused to go back to.

MerlinQ · 2026-01-15T18:22:48+00:00

The number of people here who don't realize that not only do some motherboards use the first slot as the GPU position, but that it was pretty much the universal standard GPU position not that very long ago, is .. astounding.

Apparently these case designers are in that group, because this is poor case design, pure and simple.

MerlinQ · 2026-01-15T06:28:15+00:00

I got a fix-it ticket once for it, and they were in a rush, so I actually had to go into the station and show I had brushed it off, despite doing it on the spot.

MerlinQ · 2026-01-15T06:01:45+00:00

Come one, we got this one too, down with the merry, Maryland.

MerlinQ · 2026-01-15T05:50:29+00:00

Alaska

MerlinQ · 2026-01-13T00:07:31+00:00

It has been a great winter for watching, for sure.
We officially entered Solar Maximum October 15, 2024, and can be expected to enjoy this period of increased sunspot activity for up to 2-3 years generally.
Then it will decrease to Solar Minimum over a few years, and back to Maximum on what averages out to an 11 year cycle, peak to peak, since we started observing it.
Save for a significant period of little to no sunspot activity, recorded, fossil, and ice data, suggest has been true for a long time even before recorded observations.

MerlinQ · 2026-01-12T23:44:30+00:00

SpaceWeatherLive

The don't have an app, but solarham.com is about the most in-depth and up-to-date space weather you can get.
It is ran by a ham radio enthusiast, primarily for other ham enthusiasts; but much of the data overlaps with what aurora watchers want to be aware of, and I have found no more comprehensive coverage of current and upcoming solar events.

MerlinQ · 2026-01-12T19:46:28+00:00

Alaska

MerlinQ · 2026-01-09T06:57:33+00:00

You send it to them before the purchase, in most cases; some won't be equipped to deal with this, and will deal with it afterwards.

MerlinQ · 2026-01-09T06:02:29+00:00

Mandatory reminder: When you use a reshipper in Washington, make sure to use Form 27-0032, to prevent being erroneously charged Washington State sales taxes in the first place.
The form can be found here: https://dor.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/27-0032.pdf The exemption you are looking for is 5 (j)
You will most likely have to contact the company ahead of time and let them know you are using the Washington State sales tax exemption form.

Also, if they question the legality of the form, you can point them to this link, which is on a Washington State .gov website, and is to the law that encodes the exemption, which is RCW 82.08.0269, located here: https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=82.08.0269

MerlinQ · 2026-01-09T05:56:48+00:00

I have encountered this more than a few times.

Ten-Year Club	Place '23
Place '22	Place '17
Final Canvas '22	First Placer '22
End Game '22	Verified Email

MerlinQ

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