General Discussion, Thursday, March 17, 2022

Posted on March 17, 2022 by Stella

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37 Responses to General Discussion, Thursday, March 17, 2022

  1. Pa Hermit says:
    March 17, 2022 at 2:10 am

    First thought that came to mind when I opened this? Irish Spring soap!

    Liked by 4 people

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  2. Pa Hermit says:
    March 17, 2022 at 2:14 am

    Morning all! Wet forecast today with temps in the mid fifties going to mid 60’s.

    Liked by 5 people

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  3. WeeWeed says:
    March 17, 2022 at 8:11 am

    Happy St. Patrick’s day, y’all!

    Liked by 5 people

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  5. auscitizenmom says:
    March 17, 2022 at 10:46 am

    Mornin’ All. Never did have a t-storm last night. It was overcast this morning, but now the sun is out hot and bright and the temp is going up. It is probably in the high 70’s. I think the surf is back to normal, just high and rough. We saw a lot of surfers out yesterday. Not so much this morning, but it is still pretty early. People have just started coming out on the beach a while ago.

    We went shopping at an outlet mall yesterday. We both got sunburned because it is all outdoors between shops. It is really a nice place, but the prices are still too high. There is a Vera outlet. All the prices shown were the regular ones, but then we got 70% off, then another 25% off, and another 15% off for my friend’s birthday. So I bought a pill case for a reasonable price. LOL. My friend gets most of her Vera purses at garage sales for a dollar or two. She has a whole collection.

    Anyway, hope you all have a nice day.

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  6. czarina33 says:
    March 17, 2022 at 11:08 am

    Regarding “Ukraine used to be part of our territory”:

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    • czarina33 says:
      March 17, 2022 at 11:10 am

      And just for historical perspective about borders in Eurasia. Please turn up the sound for musical accompaniment.

      [video src="https://i.imgur.com/mlPFKyD.mp4" /]

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  7. stella says:
    March 17, 2022 at 11:42 am

    Liked by 4 people

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  8. stella says:
    March 17, 2022 at 2:52 pm

    Liked by 4 people

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  9. The Tundra PA says:
    March 17, 2022 at 4:13 pm

    IDITAROD UPDATE

    Good morning race fans (Alaska time, anyway)! Teams continue to slide in off the icy trail to the finish line in Nome, and 24 have now completed the grueling thousand miles from Anchorage. Two more teams are expected within the hour, and then there will be a several-hour gap. Of the teams I have particularly followed during this race, only Bridgett Watkins is still on the trail. She is currently in Elim, the checkpoint before White Mountain; if she continues the run/rest pattern she has been following the last few hundred miles, she will likely finish sometime on Saturday. She did a long Insider interview from Koyuk yesterday, and is well-rested and upbeat. Her team of 11 dogs is strong and healthy and she is enjoying the trip to Nome without pushing herself or her team to race hard. As this is her rookie year, her only goal is to finish in Nome. She is on track for that.

    The disappointing news this morning is that the Siberian Husky team driven by Lisbet Norris has scratched at Unalakleet. I can’t find any info as to why, but I have watched the last two days as she fell further and further behind the four teams ahead of her, with very long stops at each checkpoint. I suspect her dogs have contracted a stomach bug or some other ailment. The photo above (by Dave Poyzner) is Lisbet and her gorgeous Siberians way back at McGrath.

    The Red Lantern is now carried by one of the last four teams who are traveling together as a pack. They have about 200 miles of trail left and will likely get to Nome sometime Monday or Tuesday. It ain’t over till the last team comes off the trail.

    A word about running at the back of a big race like Iditarod, and why my first thought about the Siberian team having to scratch so late in the race. (If you have delicate sensibilities, you might want to stop reading here.)

    Long distance sled dogs quickly learn the rhythm of a race. Come into a checkpoint, eat everything put down for you, sleep as long as you can, get up and leave. The dogs know that leaving a checkpoint or other long rest means a long run is in front you. So the dogs almost immediately do what any high-performance athlete wants to do before a long workout: lighten the load from the meal just digested. For all but the first couple of teams, the first mile out of a checkpoint soon becomes a sea of dog poop. Forty plus teams times 10-14 dogs per team equals…a whole LOT of dog poop. And the team does not stop for each dog to poop in a nice tidy pile. The team keeps moving and the pooping dog has to hunch back on its hind legs and sort of hop along, dropping turds over some distance. On a frozen river or other wide-open space, the brown sea can be skirted around for awhile, but on a narrow trail the only way to the other side is through it. This can lead to dogs contracting stomach bugs from each other’s poop. A musher is always watching and assessing the quality of each dog’s output to monitor the state of their digestive systems. It is very true that “an army marches on its stomach”, whether that army is human or canine. Poop matters.

    GO DOGS! MUSH ON!

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    • The Tundra PA says:
      March 17, 2022 at 4:19 pm

      I should clarify that Red Lantern is a position, not a physical item, and it is “carried” by whomever is in last place. The final finisher of the race will be given an actual red lantern at the Musher’s Banquet in Nome to commemorate their closing of the race and the extinguishing of the Widow’s Lamp, which burns in Nome from the start of the race until the last team is off the trail. Iditarod celebrates many traditions.

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      • weather257 says:
        March 17, 2022 at 7:47 pm

        I was wondering if there’s a bell or siren to announce the arrival of teams; certainly, everyone doesn’t stand outside for hours/days in the weather.
        Also, do the dogs that don’t finish know this and feel let down somehow? That would be tough for them. I figure the sick or injured dogs get dropped off at checkpoints?
        Thanks Tundra!

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        • The Tundra PA says:
          March 17, 2022 at 9:30 pm

          Weather, yes indeed, there is a siren mounted on top of a telephone pole at the point below town where the teams come off the sea ice, about a mile from the finish line. When you hear the siren, you’ve got about 10 minutes to get down to Front Street to see the team come in. Race volunteers staff the finish line 24/7 from the time the first team leaves the last checkpoint at Safety, 22 miles away, until the last team arrives in Nome. The whole town is one giant party for about a week. Bars stay open all night on Front Street so people don’t have to go home.

          Dogs that are sick or injured, or just not running well for whatever reason, can be dropped at any checkpoint, usually the next one after the musher notices a problem. There are vets at every checkpoint to examine the dogs and direct medical care. Volunteers take care of them there until one of the volunteer pilots loads them into his plane and flies them back to Anchorage. They are then housed and cared for at the local jail by prisoners who volunteer for the duty until the mushers or their handlers can come and pick them up and take them home.

          A dropped dog can have a minor problem–a sore shoulder, a torn toenail–and still want badly to head out with his team. That dog will be pretty down-in-the-dumps when his team leaves without him. But a significantly ill or injured dog is just glad to stop and rest. Iditarod is a very long trail, and dogs who have done it before know that.

          The competitive teams are comprised of mostly veteran dogs with a few youngsters doing it for the first time. The professional mushers often have a handler running a puppy team (2- and 3-year olds) with a couple of older dogs to show them the ropes. The only goal for these young teams is to get to Nome and to have fun doing it.

          Thanks for asking, weather! There’s tons of info I just don’t think to mention unless someone asks.

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