Only in Alaska can a guy with 5 years experience not only be in charge of a felony prosecuting unit but also get an amazing view. This truly is the land of opportunity (still not thinking this is the land of milk and honey but batting 1 out of 3 makes a hall of famer in baseball) that so many other young professionals are simply missing-out on by focusing on money and big-city life. For all of its downsides (crime, traffic, high land prices, and UGLY buildings – actually a complete absence of architecture) there are several upsides (20 mins to a world-class ski resort, really good local breweries, LOW property taxes (and no sales or income tax), best hiking in a city in the world – period, only 15 minutes to “Alaska”, and a great airport that makes leaving the state easy as 1-2-3) to Anchorage.
The view from my new CORNER office has got to be one of the best in the country. Views of Cook Inlet (that’s the Pacific Ocean), Denali (Mt McKinley to those living Outside), Mt Foraker (17,400 feet!), the Chugach Range, Mt Susitna (aka Sleeping Lady), and the Alaska Range all from the comfort of my office chair. It’s pretty freaking fantastic – even on a very cloudy day like today (taken with a 2 megapixel cell phone camera!). I can’t wait for a clear sunny winter afternoon when I’ll see more mountain ranges from my office than most people see in an entire lifetime.
Boarded the plane at 8am and am sitting in first class. It’s a beautiful morning flight to Seattle. I’ve never seen California from the sky during daylight hours. It’s so dry and brown punctuated with crisp deep blue of ocean and lakes.
I’m listening to the new Metallica album, Death Magnetic. It’s quite good and a good return to their late 80′s sound. Not too thrashy though with 10 songs that take-up the entire 80 minutes of the cd. There’s a simple puff piece on Metallica in the current Rolling Stone. Very basic examination of a couple days this May with the band while on a short tour in Europe. Nothing too enlightening about the band and basically zero on the new album. It’s a shame really because the article describes at length their private planes and traveling through-out Europe but nothing substantive about the recording. Oh well.
Last night went to Street Scene last night outside Petco Park. It’s an annual big music/food party here in San Diego. It hasn’t been downtown or on a street in some time. Saw Spoon, Justice and Beck.
Spoon was pretty good but because the time alotted each band, they were only on for 1 hour. We watched Justice by sitting on the ground and looking at the big video screens. They were at a nearby stage so there wasn’t any reason to move after watching Spoon. Justice is a French elektro band. Pretty good.
Beck was good. The audio wasn’t working at times and that got to be very annoying. The show ended at 12:00am sharp due to the fact that we were in a quasi-residential area.
85 and sunny. That’s the weather in Escondido today. Visiting Anna’s grandparents at their assisted living facility. They’re the only people staying here right now so we’ve come over and made dinner last night and tonight.
Yummy Filipino food made with grandma’s love. Can’t beat that.
Flying to San Diego now. It’s nice to have wireless Internet at the airport. It let’s me check my email + flight info all from my phone. I’m worried about KD but I’m sure Paul will take great care of her. I won’t miss work at all.
alaska, anchorage, work | operator101 | 
Monday 22 September 2008 11:39 am | 
Comments (3) 
