Christmas, New Years and Such

[Joe S (AK)]

Merry Christmas Everyone.

If you haven't started planning for the next mining season - well - NOW's the time!

Never too early to start some light maintenance on that equipment of yours - while the year's young.

All the best to all!

- Joe -

[Jim_Alaska]

Shoot, and I was just planning on a long winter's nap.

[chickenminer]

Yes... Merry Christmas !

The shortest day is past so Spring is coming

Hope Santa brought everyone a new mining toy ... like a new dredge, excavator or rock truck !

[Lanny]

Happy new year to all of you, and thanks for the reminder to maintain that equipment Joe. Just remembered I need to do a little work on one of my dredges.

As for the shortest day of the year being gone, I'm always ready to celebrate that day's passing, no lover of long nights and short days.

All the best,

Lanny

[Lanny]

Posted to the wrong thread, my apologies.

[Jim_Alaska]

Hmmmm, it figures, just when you think you are alone. I had no idea you were watching.

Signed: the dope.

[Geowizard]

Solstice 2022 in Ruby;

Another year has passed!

Here's a view of the Sun at 6 minutes prior to official winter Solstice as viewed from the FAA weathercam at Ruby!



Stick around! There's more!

- Geowizard

[chickenminer]

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone !

[Jim_Alaska]

Although at times I miss Alaska, I sure don't miss those temperatures Dick.

[Joe S (AK)]

My first winter in Alaska - 1966 - I spent mostly at Mendeltna Lodge, mile 153 of the Glenn. It was cold, especially for this new 20 year old Chechocko. On the porch of the lodge there was a red alcohol thermometer that was marked down to -60 and it was a thing of great interest to me (never having seen 0F. in Eastern Pennsylvania). There were 2 barrel stoves in that lodge (since burned down) and during one cold snap they both were roaring away when I decided to check the temperature. Since the thermometer only was calibrated to -60 I took a very fine pointed pencil and marked the exact level of the red alcohol. The next morning, in the daylight, the new mark was extrapolated and from meticulous measurements we were able to determine that the observed temperature had gone down to -81 F. It was a very, very cold night and for the next week we meticulously kept a log of the temperatures during the days and nights. For a week, in the "heat of the day" and on the warmest day it got up to a balmy high of -50. Everything froze solid and everything came to a quiet standstill. It gave me a new standard for real cold and I saw things like Propane freezing, steel wrenches snapping and mixed antifreeze also getting as slushy as you could believe. Of course I got through it unscathed, with a new, profound respect for what real cold was like and how dangerous it could be.

Years later, in Saudi Arabia, during Desert Storm, I saw +150 F. (at 10:00 AM) and how that, also, was a fearsome thing, demanding absolute respect.

So, hunker down, be very careful to treat cold with great respect and wait for warmer times.

And, of course, Merry Christmas to All, and to all a Good Night!

Joe