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The Daily Doings of Steph

Last night’s FBI Citizen’s Academy was a total blast. After a tres interesting lecture on laws and FBI policies regarding use of deadly force, we split into two groups and headed off for actual “training”.

First up for my small group of eight (I was the only girl) was SWAT Team training. We learned several methods for looking around a corner: using a very handy mirror at the end of long pole, “Slicing the Pie” (as opposed to “Cutting the Cheese”); and the “Quick Peek”. Slicing the Pie involves utilizing the projected angle of a corner to get a good view of hallway without the “Bad Guy” being able to see you. You also have a special stance for holding your pistol so you can have a sight line for a shot but not be a target yourself. A “Quick Peek” is exactly what it says with a minimal amount of head exposure.

Oh - regarding the phrase “Bad Guy”. That is the operative phrase. It’s always “The Bad Guy”. I think “Bad Guy” is now a part of my lexicon.

After we learned how to peek around corners, we suited up in SWAT gear, grabbed our deactivated SIG Sauer handgun and proceeded to learn how to enter and clear a series of rooms as a team. My body armor vest was made for a guy about twice my size and filled with ceramic plates. So it weighed a ton and was a bit unwieldy, but I could still maneuver with my team. I just had to slide the vest over to my left shoulder so I could extend my shooting arm.

It took a bit of instruction, but we sort of figured out how to clear the room - which by the way, was the Men’s Restroom and Locker Room. Then one of our instructors hid and we got to go in after him. What fun! It took us about ten minutes to get to him - we were pretty slow. I was running dual point with one of my teammates and so when we found the “Bad Guy”, I was the one who called him out. So, said, “FBI. Come out with your hands up!”

Well, he came out and then told me I had to be THE ALPHA. You gotta show you’re top dog and that you’re in charge with overwhelming force. I replied that I could do Alpha. He went back in and I called him out again:

FBI! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE WITH YOUR HANDS UP! NOW!!!!!!

That impressed everyone. In fact it became a joke amongst several of the agents there last night. One of my teammates said it was his favorite moment of the night.

Next up was FATS the Fire Arms Training Simulator. Basically the several live action scenarios are projected on a screen. You’re armed with a wired up Glock handgun and you participate in the scenarios. It’s sort of like a old fashioned video game with real people projected on a big screen. I didn’t do so well on mine. I sort of killed my on-screen video partner. It was some consolation that the agents said that I had one of the toughest scenarios. And some of my instincts were actually spot on. For example, the bad guy charged my partner and they were wrestling on the floor. I wanted run up and shoot the bad guy at point blank range but I didn’t know how to do that in the video game. I do now - just run up to the screen and fire directly into it.

Anyhoo, all in all it was a great night. Just a ton of fun and very very instructive. And we got more fun SWAG - an FBI Citizen’s Academy pen and and Alaska FBI trading card!

Read: SWAT Team Member Slat Rat! »

I’m doing the coolest thing ever - I’m spending the next six Thursday nights at Anchorage FBI headquarters attending the FBI’s Citizen’s Academy. The Citizen’s Academy is an FBI program geared towards, “business, civic, and religious leaders”. One is nominated to the academy by an FBI employee or alumn of the Academy. My good buddy, Pete, nominated me. And amazingly, I passed the background check!

Our class consists of 30 folks who a real cross section of Anchorage and Alaska: editor of Anchorage Daily News, editor of the Anchorage Press, head of Alaska Airlines in Alaska, folks from BP, Chevron, Denali Gas, and folks active in the community - one of whom is a good buddy of mine at Alaska Aids Assistance Association.

Last week was our first session - we covered the history of the FBI. The presentation included a this no holds barred video bio of J. Edgar Hoover:

We also met many of the special agents in the Anchorage Office and discussed their various assignments and took a tour of the building. The garage is particularly impressive.

The curriculum will alternate between classroom and field sessions. Tonight is a field session: SWAT Team training! I can’t wait!!!! I’m going to learn how to break down doors and clear rooms. Oh boy!!!!

Read: Slat Rat as Junior G-Man »

One of our neighbor moose spent some time with us this morning. This big guy is a an old man. Last night, we saw him walking across Spenard Road from Sunrise Bread to the pizza palor and he was moving very slowly. I told Peter that we should take him in to the vet. Peter thought we’d have a tough time fitting him in the back of Satchel - particularly with Tyge and Echo already in the back.

This morning, he was a tad more spry. He moved around pretty well in the yard and he really is quite large. Although the pictures below don’t him real justice.

Munching his cud. The big white spot below his right ear that looks like red eye gone wild is actually where his antlers were. They were dropped just a week or two ago.

From the back. With our lawn ornament moose strutting his stuff.

Read: A Very Old Bullwinkle Stops by for a Visit »

Tuesdays are my work from home day. I do like the mix of one to two days per week of working home and the remainder of time in the office.

The big plus of working from home is more poochie time. Of course, the dogs mainly sleep. But they’re still great company.

Here’s a shot I took this morning of Tyge and Echo hard at work:

Read: Joys of Working From Home »

Yesterday, da Ski Boy, Tyge, Echo, and I embarked on a little expedition across the Lagoon. Our plan had been to walk the mile across - West to East - and then walk the bike trail up to West High School and through the neighborhood and back home. However, the snow on the lagoon was deep, and the going was tough, even for the poochies. So, half way across we veered right and headed up the steep hill that occasionally serves as a secret neighborhood sledding hill. As we walked up the hill, the snow just looked so perfect. My sledding memories came flooding back. I was a very serious sledder as a kid and teenager. Our homestead was a mile up a serious of very steep hills. I would sled to the bus stop and then stash my sled in the ditch and pick it up in the afternoon. I loved to sled. And at age fifty one, I haven’t sledded in thirty years.

You can see where this is headed.

This morning Peter and I picked up a plastic sled from Fred Meyer. This afternoon during the halftime of the Jets-Chargers game, Peter put the game on TiVo and we and the poochies again made our way across the Lagoon to the hill.

And GREAT FUN ensued.

I think I look like a big 5 year old.
Echo is having a grand time and you can
see Tyge’s feet at the very back of the picture.

The run.
Peter was official photographer. However, I couldn’t
convince him to take a run. Maybe next time. He took
this shot as Echo and I climbed up after our final trip down.

Flying Echo with Tyge in the background:

Careering towards the edge:

From the top. Tygey has not yet committed to
running down.

Tygey and Echoing zooming down:

Read: Sledding!!!!! »

I am so late in getting these photos posted!!!! But, in early January, almost the entire Partnow Clan and various hangers-on (me) converged on St. Petersburg, Florida for Mike and Rachael’s wedding. We had a fantastic time - even though Florida was in the midst of a deep freeze. The ceremony was outside in the Tea Garden at the Vinoy Hotel. I think the Alaskans in the crowd were the only ones who didn’t freeze to death.

Here, without further ado are the photos. There’s a bunch of ‘em!

Rachael (on the right) and the Maid of Honor, Sarah, at the manicurist:

Bruce, Sethy, and Maia at the Rehearsal Dinner:

Bruce and Andrea snuggling up:

Mike and Rachael:

Muby (Peter’s Mom and Grandmother of the Bride) arriving for the ceremony:

Maia meeting Muby. It went well!

Seth and Maia:

Family Grouping at the Reception:

Seth and Maia. Again.

A pretty great picture of Muby!

Another family grouping. And I have to say, that I think Alix looks particularly fantastic.

The Official Family Portrait(?) (although I do need to photoshop the glare off my glasses):

Peter doing the funky chicken (not really) with Alix and Maia:

Read: Mike and Rachael’s Wedding!!! »

Via Eat Media and Fast Company, this wonderful graphic that surely seems to model the slatrat geek brain (well except for the games and cars).

As a proof of the great geek fit, here’s a picture of my desk at home
stacked up with all my goodies from last week’s trip to Disney World.
Note the Legos and WALL-E.

And then, here’s a picture of me with the Lego Indiana Jones at Legoland in Downtown Disney.

Read: I am Such a Geek »

Mom has moved her blog over to Wordpress and I have to say that it looks really nice. She selected a very handsome design. She’s also totally fallen in love with the Wordpress interface. Clean, easy to use, and really facilitates frequent blogging.

Mom just read Paul Johnson’s excellent biography of Winston Churchill, Churchill. The book reminded her of a wonderful family story that I’d never heard before involving Churchill and my great grandfather:

My grandfather loved to read and often sent his copy of a favorite book to the author to be autographed. This he did with Churchill’s The Unknown War—one of the books from Churchill’s Five volume history of the First World War. Grandfather didn’t hear and didn’t hear from Churchill but didn’t think too much about it because after all Churchill was a busy man. Then much later, Grandfather received his book autographed by Churchill with a note of apology and explanation that he had been carrying the book when he has hit crossing a street in New York City.

The entire post is well worth the read. Plus, you have to check out Mom’s new blog!

Speaking of Churchill, don’t you think the baby Slatrat is a dead ringer for Winnie? The only thing missing is the cigar!

Read: Mom’s New Redesigned Blog and Churchhill! »

Sliding in a bit late for “My Best of 2009″ which will focus on books and tech. I’ve been doing the Kesler Awards, very informally, for the past 18 years. I keep thinking that I ought to come up with a little goodie for each year’s winners. Maybe a small piece of Alaska Native artwork - perhaps an ivory carving….

First up, the books:

Kesler Awards 2009 - Books

2009 was the 50th anniversary of Alaska Statehood. And somewhat on purpose and somewhat serendipitously, two of my top six books were authored by Alaskans and have an Alaskan theme.

Note: The Kesler Book Awards are based on the year I read the book as opposed to the year the book was published. For example, one of last year’s winners was Paradise Lost by John Milton published in 1667.

Fiction

Favorite Book of the Year: Ordinary Wolves by Seth Kantner.
Over the years, I’ve read a bazillion fiction and non-fiction Alaska books. Most, somehow, miss the mark of what makes Alaska Alaska. But this book absolutely nails the essence of Alaska. It’s a marvelous story set in Bush Alaska. It has tinges of magical realism, but it is also straight up and brutally honest. No sugar coating. The Bush is a harsh place: both environmentally and culturally. This book captures it all. I absolutely loved it.

Best Written Book of the Year: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout.
Olive Kitteridge is a very quiet tour de force of writing. Twelve short stories linked together by one common character. Each story is a stand alone gem. Linked together, they become a critical mass of devasting emotion and life. In the twenty plus of years of our bookclub, this book was the catalyst for perhaps our most intense discussion of all.

Best Fiction Book Not Really Categorizable: LogicComix: An Epic Search for Truth by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou.
LogiComix is a lush full color graphic novel that tells the story of Bertrand Russell, his pursuit of the logical basis of mathematics, and the story of the explosion of logic and mathematics at the start of the 20th century. All the big guys are there: Wittgenstein, Godel, Von Neuman, and Turing. I will reread this book multiple time. A big time winner.

Just Because I Loved it and had to List it: The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen
What a treat! This book comprised a wonderful quirky coming of age story with a classic road trip (hoboing on a train), maps, navigation, science, the Smithsonian, spectacular drawings and maps, and another touch of magical realism. I adored this book.

Non Fiction

As you can see by my fiction choices, I have a real soft spot for science. As a result, my two non-fiction awards go to:
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes.
The New York Times agreed with me on this one - it was their number one non-fiction book of the year. A tremendous account of the science and art from the mid-1700s to the early 1800s. If you don’t want to be an astronomer, a poet, or both after reading this book, then your heart isn’t beating. Plus, if you haven’t read Frankenstein, then you need to rush right out and get a copy and read away.

Cold: Adventures in the World’s Frozen Places by Bill Streever
Bill Streever is an Anchorage based scientist with a gift for really understanding “cold” and relating that understanding. Another marvelous book that made the NY Times top 100 of 2009. As someone who grew up in Alaska, I both love and respect the cold. To be truly truly cold is an amazing, on the edge of life, experience. Streever’s account of his year long exploration of what it means to be cold, animal and plant adaptation to cold, and the role of cold in the earth’s environment is engrossing, entertaining, and eye opening. Even to an old hand at cold like me.

Kesler Awards 2009 - Tech

Another fabulous year on the tech front. And you’ll notice that two out of three winners are products of one specific company. A company that really gets the total user experience.

Hands Down, The Best Computer I’ve Ever Had: Macbook Pro 13″
Let me just ask, is there a better laptop in existence than the Macbook Pro 13″??? It has an elegant form factor - a sleek titanium unibody with a knock ‘em dead screen. It’s the perfect size for travel - small and light. But still extremely powerful. Fast and rock solid - I never have to reboot it - even when I run a full blown Windows 7 VM on top of Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard). I LOVE this laptop. Love it. Love it. Love it!!!!

Hands Down, The Best Phone I’ve Ever Had: iPhone 3Gs
My iPhone 3Gs is a thing of sleekness and beauty. It is rock solid, fast, and never has to be rebooted. Sound familiar? .
I jaibroke and unlocked my phone so that I can run it on the GCI cellular network. And even with that, it is always spot on perfect. And I suppose I could do a whole ‘nuther tech entry just waxing rhapsodic about the App Store.

Hands Down, The Best Toothbrush I’ve Ever Had: Phillips Sonic Care
The Phillips Sonic Care is a toothbrush of sleekness and beauty that is rock solid, never has to be rebooted and makes my teeth very very happy.
I know, how could I include of all things, a toothbrush, on my list? But this toothbrush is phenomenal. My dental hygienist strongly recommended it and so on a whim I decided to get one. Me and my teeth haven’t been the same since. I’m hooked. And I’m not the only one. A few of my co-workers have brought theirs into work and you can hear the toothbrushes humming away after lunch. The whole tooth brushing process has never gripped me with excitement. But now, my teeth jump up and down with joy when it’s tooth brushing time.

Finally, on the Slat Rat, Ski Boy, Tyge, and Echo non-tech, non-book front, it’s been a truly wonderful year. Particularly for Echo since she showed up on Planet Earth in 2009.

Read: The Kesler Awards for 2009 »

We’re in the midst of a real live winter - a la Chronicles of Narnia or A Winter’s Tale. Last week, a heavy ice fog settled in for seven days. It lifted and then a big storm moved in - over three days we got twenty inches of snow. Valdez got sixty inches. Today, the clouds have lifted and it’s clear and very cold. Below zero. The trees are laden with frost and snow. It’s unreal. It’s special effects-like. Think Dr. Zhivago, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Chronicles of Narnia, etc.

Last week during the foggy seven days, everything was an intense grey - heavy ice fog and hoar frost encrusted trees. But it wasn’t gloomy. More science fiction or fantasy. Some sort of otherworldy thing a la Lord of the Rings. I took a ton of pictures and here are some of the best. I really would have liked a wide angle lens.

Trees along the Park Strip Rose Garden.

I just love this pair of trees. Talk about an extreme case of the splits.

Someone sprayed this little tree with blue food coloring to great effect.

Chester Creek.

Hoar frost crystals on the ice.

Read: Astounding Winter Scenes »