The Life of Sam

A little IKEA hacking

2012-02-06T20:51:00.000-08:00

I guess it's been a while since I've blogged. This means that either my life has been boring and unworthy of blogging, I spend too much time on facebook or I am just too lazy to make a blog post. You fill in the blank and I will just nod and say yes.

Anyway - the reasoning behind this post is because of a longtime project I have been wanting to do. Living in a small two bedroom place is nice and all...but having two goobers:

(one who weighs 25 pounds) makes it, well un-aesthetically pleasing to the eye with a cat box always being ever present. I don't have a basement to shun their daily duties to...so I decided to improvise. At first glance - this looks like any storage crate:

The view from one side of the room

Another angle

Like I said...at first glance it looks like any door'd box (save for the fact there is a bag of cat litter next to it). I know that gives it away - so I'll just spill the beans. The big ol' box is actually a glorified cat box that I built to hide all of the cat nastiness and keep the dust to a minimum:

I made a convenient compartment to hold the litter as well as a nice 2 foot walkway to trap their litter. Throw in a 'door' that keeps dust inside and an air filtration system (stemming from the filter to the left) and you'd never know there was a cat box in here. What you don't see is that I built a sliding tray that the cat box sits on - so it slides out with ease. Tonight I decided to take it a step farther and make it even less conspicuous. Behold phase two:

A bookshelf atop.

Now toss in a fraction of the books I have.

I don't mean to break my arm patting my own back but I think this is pretty slick - and the bookshelves were inexpensive IKEA shelves/cases that look pretty darn nice. Maybe I'll submit this to ikeahackers.net.

North Carolina Getaway

2010-12-21T10:31:00.000-08:00

Yikes...I guess it is time to play catchup with the blog. I know, I know... this just sounds like a repeat of the last year. I can promise that this time it isn't!! I am going to start out my' catchup posts' with a trip that I took to North Carolina to visit my buddy that I met in Alaska - Nate - who taught me gobs about fishing and is an all around great guy. I flew out of Chicago the morning of my birthday and landed in Raleigh a few hours later. It was great to see Nate again and we immediately headed south of town to meet up a longtime friend of his (I want to say lifelong?) who was living south in Washington, NC. After a quick stop for some NC BBQ we headed out to go fishing.

It was a beautiful day...lots of sun...some clouds and ones with virga in the distance and a brisk NE wind (I was warm - Nate and Tom were a little chilly)...but the best news was that the fish were biting like crazy. I don't remember the exact totals now - but I would gander that between the 3 of us a total of a few dozen or more were caught with a few more 'quick release' and ones that got off.

Tom ended up with the big catch of the day - a beautiful red drum. We put this one on ice and took it home to fillet up.

Tom and Nate

The next day we drove a few hours towards the Emerald Isle and the inner banks to do more fishing...but the fish were just not on like they were the day before. It was still a blast.

We eventually made our way back to Raleigh and went to the NC State fair...for the food...fun and people watching. The freakiest guy I saw stood a good 7 feet...with a vikings jersey, mullet and magnum PI mustache.

Thanks again for hosting me Nate. I had a blast and can't wait to get back. Now...when are you heading to Chicago??

Merry Christmas!!!

2010-12-04T01:04:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've blogged...but there are some posts in the works! In the interim...I wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday and Merry Christmas. The cats aren't fans of holiday celebration...and made the perfect card.

Semi quick update

2010-10-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

I figure that 2 weeks between posts is better than many, many months...right? Not too much has gone on since we all got back from South Dakota. It was great to see the farm again and to see Nikki. Work has been on the boring side these last few weeks. There has been NO weather going on and that makes for tough times when you work midnight shifts.

I did manage to get sweet talked into trading in and up...so I am now on Subaru number two. Was there anything wrong with that last car? No, but it did have a pricey maintenance coming up. I've been eying this type of car for a while:

Subaru Impreza WRX

The model I looked at and ogled over was the 2009 and 2010 WRX STI ....

Having a 2008 Outback Sport:

First glance...and I can hear you gripe... "That doesn't look any different" I can tell you that it is... aggressive body...aggressive stance...aggressive all over - including price. There was no way I was going to double my car payments (even though the car had about 200 more horsepower...a girthy turbo and gadgets up the wazoo). Then 2011 came around and Subaru listened to customers and redesigned the 2011 Impreza WRX. I was impressed but never really intent on buying - though I did my homework. I took the old silver bullet into the dealership to talk to them about the maintenance that was needed and got to talking about the new WRX (or Rex as it is called in the Subi world). Decided for grins to talk numbers - never really thinking it would happen...but #'s came out in my favor and I ended up driving away with a massive upgrade that is costing me about 30 more bucks a month... I absolutely love it. New 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX Limited.

So what is different? 4 Door sedan (or saloon as the brits would say) vs 5 door hatchback. HID headlights. 5 speed manual vs 4 speed auto (biiiiiig plus). Perky engine vs not so perky (this car isn't as nuts as the WRX STI is). Leather interior. Sunroof. Aggressive looks...wider body and blue color that you can almost swim in...I could keep going and going. The only downside is that my gas mileage will drop about 1-3 MPG now...at least the numbers say that...but I am averaging more than what the spec sheet says. Needless to say...the drive to and from work is quite enjoyable now. So often people drive slow by the car to check it out or other WRX or STI owners flash their lights or give a peace/thumbs up to me (I also do that in return). In the subaru world - that is called Subi love.

Next stop this weekend is a trip to North Carolina to visit with a buddy that I met in Anchorage at work. Expect another massive dosage of pictures forthcoming.

It's time for a return!!

2010-10-01T17:54:00.000-07:00

I've finally gotten around to the point of posting something...and something neat. Time here has gone by so fast and I have done a lot of things, met a lot of great people and experienced a lot of new things. Since I've been great (read that as bad) with posting... I thought I would get back into it with another video. This picks up from where the Goodbye Alaska video ends...following my last days up in Alaska with the Browns in March... all of the way to last weekend with the family in South Dakota. I hope you enjoy it...and I hope to be a lot better with blog posts in the future now!!

Next Step from Samuel Shea on Vimeo.
It's been about 7 months since I've posted any pictures or videos. A lot has gone on since the move...and like the 'Goodbye Alaska' video... this will take you from the final days in Alaska in March - up through the end of September in Illinois/South Dakota.

Well, hello there!

2010-04-16T17:20:00.000-07:00

Haven't been on the blogosphere for quiet a while...and having to pay 14 bucks a day for the internet at the hotel has limited my interneting to the phone only...so I've fallen really behind on all of the blogs I enjoy reading.

Anywho... I'll be keeping this short as I am sitting at Panera bread a few hours before a midnight shift (I really need to head back and try to sneak in a little nap). Everything has been going great here. I've found an awesome place to live...work training is going well...the people at work are great (even if some are cubs fans...) ....severe weather is a blast...I got my car already and my household goods should be arriving in a week! Things are on the up and up. I am really looking forward to sleeping in my bed and cooking my own food soon. One would think that free hotel living and per diem to eat out all of the time would be a blast...but it gets old.

That is all for now... for all of the Alaska friends out there... I miss y'all...but I am not missing the snow!!! For everyone else around here... call me so we can hang out! There are a lot of great places around my new digs!

Farewell Alaska

2010-03-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

What can I say? These last two years have been quite the ride. I've made a lot of great friends, learned who knows how much about mountain and marine meteorology and learned some tough lessons in life. I can't thank everyone enough for everything they have done and taught me....the list would be huge! But I do want to thank Andy and Lisa Brown for taking me in and being basically my second family up here. I'm going to really miss them and watching their kiddos grow up. I wasn't really sure how to close out my time here ... but thought that making a movie with a handful of the 16,000 pictures I've taken ... fitting. The movie is a chronological pictography (I can make words up... it's my blog!)...and all of the pictures are in order from my first days here....watching the 2008 Iditarod to early last week when I was out on snowmobile with Andy Dixon and Dave Stricklan.

I made the video over a week ago.. but wasn't able to add more to it because the movers took the computer away...so the true last moments were not able to make it into the video. Like the Australia video from last year... it is best viewed on the Vimeo website - with full HD and at fullscreen. I hope you enjoy it.

Goodbye Alaska from Samuel Shea on Vimeo.

This last part really isn't intended for folks to read or enjoy - more of a 'remember this' when I look back at this years from now:

Long summer days
Beautiful sunrises and sunsets
Mountains
Mountains
Mountains!!
Fishing
Fighting Red Salmon
Combat Fishing
Halibut
Planes landing 300 feet away on the lake infront of my bedroom window
Catching up on the entire Lost series before season 6 started
Evenings with the Browns
COD??!!!
Watching Katy & Alyssa grow up
The whit and humor of jim
The vast amount of knowledge from all of the forecasters
Shaun randomly breaking out in song or heated wine discussion.
Snowmachining with Dave in some of the most beautiful country in the world
Chatting about the latest ASOT with Dixon and music in general
Moose Tooth Pizza
Bear Tooth Grill
Midtown Brown microbrew
Studded tires in the winter
Knowing that my forecasts would either make the day of the deadliest catch fishermen... Or make them curse the earth.
No sales or state tax (Won't miss the 'Alaska surcharge on everything')
'Alaska Traffic' (where a jam is going 20mph)
Being able to be in the middle of nowhere in 30 minutes
Clean air
Watching out for Bears
Moose not being the brightest lightbulb out there
Hearing about the fishing suicide runs

Movin' On

2010-03-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

The moving day has finally come and gone. Two Samoan guys came to do all of the packing early Monday morning. First off... I am amazed at how fast they do their job (hopefully I will be equally amazed when everything gets to Illinois...unbroken!). Secondly... It is realllllllyyyyy nice having other people do your packing/crating/shipping. 7.5 hours later and filling 4 huge crates...my townhome was empty. I'll be losing my car on Friday...and then flying out on Monday. This week is going to fly! However, I am not looking forward to living out of a suitcase for a month or so... Ah well... such is life.

Blue skies and stunning sunsets

2010-03-14T01:13:00.000-08:00

I really need to get things organized for the upcoming move...but the will to do that is small. So....today started out as one of those lazy days. I decided to head out for a drive south of the city for some snow fall and mountain pictures instead of cleaning.... and it ended up being one of the most stunning sunsets I have ever seen!!! Nothing exciting... just breathtaking Alaska. Enjoy....

Somewhere along the Seward Highway - before Girdwood

Along the Seward Highway - before the turn west towards Turnagain Pass

Turnagain Pass. The center divider is snow that has fallen...and easily stands higher than me!!

Turnagain Pass - Back country skiers making their way up a mountain

Turnagain Pass - wider angle shot of above

Heading back to Anchorage

Heading back to Anchorage

Sunset as seen along the Seward highway - and me just holding the camera for a shot (which didn't turn out too shabby!!)

Sundog

Sunset at 650 LST - seen from Beluga Point (Redoubt on the left along the horizon)

Redoubt

Iditarod 2010

2010-03-12T16:13:00.000-08:00

This past weekend presented me with another one of those 'you may not see this again' moments. One of the first things that Cindy and I did up here was go see the start of the 2008 Iditarod....and now it is somewhat fitting that my time in Alaska basically closed with the 2010 Iditarod. I was able to switch my schedule around with work so I could go see the start of the ceremonial races. This year I went with Lisa Brown and the kiddos. They found a fantastic spot that is away from downtown... away from the crazy crowds... and where you can get right up to the sleds. It was awesome. Thank you Lisa for letting me tag along!! This ceremonial start is done in order to allow for better publicity and coverage for the mushers and the race, and it also allows each musher to give one lucky "Idita-Rider" a ride in his or her sled at the starting line. Idita-Riders bid in silent auction to ride in the sleds, and the money goes toward funding the race. The official start is on the following day.

Katy (left) and Alyssa (right) smiling for 'Mr Sam'

Alyssa and Lisa with the booties that had fallen off the dogs.

Locals and their fur. PETA would flip.

Dee Dee Jonrowe

A day on the sleds

2010-03-08T18:08:00.000-08:00

I am trying to soak up as much of Alaska as I can before my departure...and of course got excited when Dave mentioned another snowmachine trip (CONUS folk - read - snowmobile). We headed out to Eureka before hitting the trails. The morning started off a bit rough. I managed to get stuck in waist deep snow within the first 20 minutes. We drove through some snow on the drive in but it got progressively worse. About 2 hours into our sledding run to the north... we decided to turn around. Visibilities were awful. We had maybe 100 feet separating each of us (Dave in the front - Andrew in the middle and me bringing up the rear). It was bad enough that the snow pellets were working their way through a small sliver in the goggles and stinging my eyes. I rode part of the way back (at the higher elevations on the mountain) with my left eye closed! On the way back we found some areas to play around in and have some fun... the weather eased for a bit and we had a blast. We had lunch at the Eureka roadhouse and I could have easily gone for a nap after it. The next phase of the journey took us south and into more wooded section of the area.

There were too many awesome pictures taken that day. The pictures of me (yellow helmet - red coat) were taken by Dave (thankfully he wasn't intimidated by my camera). I would guess that he will be getting a Digital SLR soon after playing with mine....

Before the fun pictures... I have to share the not so fun ones. What is the common enemy to people riding snowmachines? Trees. Somehow... we all managed to find out way into at least one.

I was in deep snow and couldn't make a sharp enough turn... so it was me or the tree. The tree won... thankfully I slowed down to almost a stop before I hit it.

First of two for Andrew. The snow was deep (he sunk to his waist - and he can't weigh more than a box of Kleenex) and he slowed down too much to make a sharp turn... and some of the tree got caught in his front skis...stopping him in his tracks.

The second tree he found was at one point upright. He decided that he was committed to the track he was on and couldn't turn out of it...so instead of stopping like I did... he thought he would just motor over it. Obviously...you can't ride over a tree that isn't dead.

Dave managed to get stuck...roll his sled and then flood it...all in a tree that nearly claimed me in a little turnaround area...So we all had our issues...

----- Now for the fun pictures -----

Dave jumping a big boulder

Me enjoying the skis in the air

Dave plowing through some fresh snow

Another pass - this time a wider angle shot

Andrew motoring over a creek

Me doing the same

On the way back... I had to stop at this spot for a picture. It was beautiful when the wind stopped blowing and the snow stopped falling!!

Andrew getting some massive air back where the truck was parked.

Some guys with ridiculously expensive snowmachines came to play on the jump before they loaded up too.

Monster air....

Massive fail. He dumped his machine mid air (if you look close his left foot is already off of the seat and he is diving to the right). He bit it and the sled rolled right over him. I ran up after snapping this picture to see if he was alright. He got up and laughed saying this wasn't nearly as bad as what happened earlier in the day...

Snowboarding....or trying

2010-02-26T22:32:00.000-08:00

Andy and I headed down to snowy Alyeska in Girdwood today. It was the first time I have ever snowboarded...so I saw this as a good reason to have some 'professional' instructions from some guides there. It was a great class - but snowboarding isn't something that comes easily (to me at least). There were generally 5 people per instructor - so it was somewhat personal. We started with the basics... walking or sliding with one foot strapped in. It took about 20 minutes to get used to having this 7-10 pound board strapped to my right foot at all times (I ride with a goofy stance). Then we practiced going down really easy slopes to practice turning and stopping. As the afternoon progressed...as did the learning and techniques. It was fun... but the more I thought about everything and attempted to put all of the training into action...the more I managed to fail. I ended up saying enough was enough when I went to stop... just a bit too fast and at an odd angle.. and fell in an odd way - really hurting my left knee and right hip (this is after about 40 falls throughout the day). Now I can sleep on it and try again next time....hopefully with more success!!

Just starting out

Watching a kid completely bite it

At lunch... attempting to dry out my foggy goggles

Andy making it look easy.

End of the day. Enjoying the sights, sounds, outdoor fireplace and Alaskan Amber.

The Little Things

2010-02-13T22:37:00.000-08:00

I guess I've been bad about blogging lately...but not too much has been going on. The biggest news is that I am have potentially worked the last set of midnight shifts up in Alaska (rejoice!!). I only have day shifts until the move...which is still in progress. I have to clean up the town home this weekend for a 'showing' by the rental agency on Monday. I know. What better thing is there to do on a holiday weekend than clean??

I've been doing a lot of thinking this last week... thinking about all of the things I will miss from Alaska (including the things I WONT miss....*cough* *cough*). There are a lot of people here I am going to miss...including the Browns. They are basically an extension of family up here - and I can't begin to express how much it sucks to be leaving them!! All of the places in Alaska... the fishing... the mountains... the weather...all of those little things seem to be adding up. There was a sunset a few nights ago that made me reflect on what all has happened in life these last few years.

Changes

2010-02-03T12:31:00.000-08:00

I've been playing a waiting game for quite some time now...and I am happy to find out that I have been selected for a general forecaster position at the National Weather Service office in Chicago!! From what I've been able to tell...it was a really tough decision for the Chicago managers to make...and I know that I barely beat out countless talented meteorologists. So, here is to March - and Chicago - I'm comin' home!!

Snowmaching (snowmobiling)

2010-01-28T04:18:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to give people an idea of how wickedly fun going out on a snowmachine can be. This is not a video that Dave or I rode on last week... but it gives an idea of the freedom and the sense of adventure you can have while riding in some deep snow out in places that you could never hike to.

This guy also makes it look incredibly effortless...and I wish I could say that it is!!

Revisit to Australia - V.1

2010-01-24T13:24:00.000-08:00

This has been a pretty routine and boring week after the excitement from last Monday. That said...I think it would be fun to revisit and talk a little bit about my trip down under. I would like to start with a little snippet from December 21st. Nikki, Jim and I were in Melbourne (Pronounced MEL-BIN by Aussies) and visited the National Gallery of Victoria. There were a lot of different styles and periods of art shown...and a lot of it was beautiful. One thing that has puzzled me in the past and is still puzzling to me today is abstract art:

My brain just does not understand the beauty of modern/abstract art. I guess it is good that I'm not an artist! Many pictures were as simple as paint splatter... to a single (large) brush stroke on a white canvas. Sure...I could come up with and read all of these fancy descriptions...but it does nothing for me. What am I missing??

The evening prior - we wandered around downtown and 'snuck' in to a rooftop viewing of Breakfast Club. They show a lot of films (I don't remember if it is only classics or not) on the roof of a building downtown. It was a good hike up the stairs - but would have been worth it! In reality we just asked the people at the ticket counter if we could check out the venue. We assumed that this was very popular with the locals...as it was sold out. I can see why people enjoy going to something like this. It is such a beautiful area!

If you look at the dates on these images...they are all liars! My phone and camera were still set to Alaska time and all of my images are stamped 20 hours earlier than when they were taken!

Playin' in the snow

2010-01-19T19:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a first for me. Dave Stricklan was awesome and asked if I wanted to join him snowmachining (or snowmobiling to the lower 48 folk). I immediately said yes and really looked forward to heading out. The chance came up yesterday. I drove to Dave's place in the morning... about 2 hours before the sun came up (around 8am) and then we headed out for a 2 hour drive near Petersville, Alaska:

View Larger Map

We unloaded and got ready to head out. He suggested we come to Petersville because it is relatively flat and good for a first-timer to learn the ropes on. I'll tell you... it was a blast. We actually had to start three times...the first time we realized that we left the GPS back in the truck and headed back for it. The second time was because I managed to sink in the snow and dunk my right foot in a creek. Thankfully Dave had an extra set of wool socks and a really nice pair of boots (otherwise our day would have been done). We headed out for the third time (charmed!) around noon and rode in 15 miles or so to Kenny Creek Lodge for a burger and beer.

That is a phenomenal lunch when you are starving...and the neat thing is that you can only get in on snow machine. After that we headed out and played around in deep snow (many times we could sink in to our waists...and it was much deeper beyond that) and other fun areas. It was a real treat learning from Dave and just experimenting around with the snowmachine. I managed to get stuck about 6 times ... which I don't think is too terrible for a 6 hour ride. Well, I take that back. I managed to get stuck twice ... within 10 yards of each other on the way back... but that is beside the point! We came to a great clearing and that is where the majority of the pictures are from. Dave grabbed my camera as I was out messing around in the snow - and his pictures turned out awesome.

Dave getting ready out again after I managed to get stuck the first time....

The sled I was riding

It was an awesome time... and I simply cannot wait until I head back out again.

A blast from the past

2010-01-11T15:39:00.000-08:00

I really wanted to post about this prior to my flight to Sydney...but at that time I didn't want to post on the old blog (for obvious reason) and hadn't created a new one.

Around this point last month (December of 2009) fog had consumed the city for a good week or so. Visibilities stayed below 1/4 of a mile for almost an entire day here. Sure, freezing fog is beautiful as hoar frost covers everything:

But the lack of sunlight is not fun. Occasionally mother nature would tease us as blue skies would peek thought the clouds... but then as a ocean waves destroy sand castles... so to did the atmosphere ...as it smeared the clouds back over the city. On one of the days I decided to take one of our new interns up to my favorite spot to overlook Anchorage. Most of the drive up the hillside was covered in dense fog...and about a mile from the top we finally broke out of it.

This is an idea of how much of the city was covered in fog. I want to say that the fog was easily 2100' deep. Below is a similar vantage from the summer of 2008.

I will say that it was beautiful up there. We were able to catch the sunset and watch the shadow of the earth slowly creep over the sky. We still had a fair amount of light...and sunset was around 4:30 or so that evening.

This last picture is my favorite from that day. The distinct look to the mountains is called 'Fata Morgana.' For reference... the mountains are about 100 miles away from my vantage point. A fata morgana is caused by abrupt variances in air temperature; when air above the line of sight is warmer than the air below. Light traveling from the horizon is refracted towards the earth, away from the warmer air above. These are the conditions which cause a superior mirage - a Fata Morgana occurs only when light travels through multiple distinct temperature gradients. This results in an image which may be compressed in some sections and expanded in others. As air temperature changes over time so do the various angles of refraction, causing the image to expand or contract as the atmosphere returns to its standard temperature gradient.

A Fresh Start & A Journey Downunder!

2010-01-01T22:35:00.000-08:00

The latter half of 2009 was one of the darkest periods in my life. I am thankful for having a great family and friends who helped me though the hard times. I can't thank all of you enough and I am really touched at the support that I was shown.

So 2010 will come with a new attitude on life and I am really looking forward to it. I was lucky enough to head down to Australia to visit with Nikki, Jim, Emmalee and Andrew for Christmas. Mom and Dad were unable to come because of my grandmother's health and she sadly passed away on December 18th, 2009. It was good to visit with Nikki and the family. I hadn't seen them in over two years and it blew me away how much the kids have grown up. While my visit lasted a wonderful 10 days... it seemed to fly by. We managed to make it down to Melbourne for a few days...return to Sydney...head north to Terrigal and then return to Sydney. The days were filled with so much awesomeness... you could easily say this trip was full of WIN! With my nice Nikon and with the iPhone...I think I managed to take close to 1300 pictures. Yes ... I am aware that is a lot. I decided to make a video of the trip instead of a few HUGE blog posts. I would suggest clicking the HD button and going to the Vimeo site so you can view the full HD resolution. It should be 1280x720 (HD quality) and it has a great musical track that goes with it. Click the arrows next to the volume and make it go full screen....and be sure to sit back and relax!! These are about 150 of the best pictures - all in about 2 and a half minutes. Enjoy it!!

10 Days in Australia from Samuel Shea on Vimeo.