Have made a large number of trips to the atrium windows today to see if there is any activity occurring on Mt. Redoubt. Although, the camera is not yet it place, it can be assembled on the tripod within seconds in the event of an eruption. Mt. Redoubt or Redoubt if you prefer is 10,197 feet in elevation. As of 2200 this evening, it is still being listed as Code Orange. One step below eruption or Code Red.
Speaking of color codes, do we still have the color codes in effect for the potential of having a terrorists attack?
Seismic activity continues at a much higher level than normal with earthquakes occurring every few minutes. At sunset this evening, there was no sign of smoke or steam escaping the mountain. At the last update, wind currents indicate that in the event of any eruption, any ash dispersed will spread over the Anchorage area.

It appears that I may have a little snow to play with and push around with the "ole" plow truck. Currently the prognosticators are giving those of us living on the lower Kenai Peninsula a 60% chance of snow over the next thirty six hours. If the forecast is accurate, we can expect 6 to 8 inches of new snow which would be our heaviest snowfall of this season. Current temperature in Anchor Point is 26 degrees and -4 degrees in Lincoln, Nebraska.

A couple of news items pertaining to the "825 Billion Dollar Stimulus Package" that our elected officials are trying to pass within the next thirty days. The Budget Office released the fact today, that if this package is passed at the current level, the total cost would be 1.1 Trillion Dollars. Why does that not surprise me? There is one item in the "Stimulus Package" that made me laugh. In the entire package, there is only one person mentioned by name in the entire bill. A small paragraph that reads in part; no funds will be disbursed to the State of Illinois unless one of two provisions are met prior to the disbursement of funds. (1) All funds for the State of Illinois must have state legislative approval prior to disbursement or (2) Rod Blagoevich (D) cannot be serving as the Governor. Now we know why the Illinois politicians are rushing to have him impeached.

In the economic news. I would suggest that all CEO's of the banking industries, automotive manufacturers, insurance companies, and anyone else that are asking out for "bailout out" money for the mistakes and sloppy management be required to attend a full course at "McDonald's University". Yes, there is such a school that middle and upper management personnel at McDonald's attend. The reason for this is because McDonald's released their financial statements today. The retail sales of McDonald's increased 80% this past year in comparison to 2007. Other good economic news, if you are not in the store front video rental business, Netflix increased their customer base to 9,000,000 customers this past year and recorded an increase in retail sales by 45% in 2008 in comparison to 2007. Now, if you want to get into the video rental or video to sale business, I just happen to have an excess of 20,000 DVD's and VHS videos that I will sell for a quarter (.25) per unit. They are boxed up in waterproof boxes ready for shipment, show me the cash, bring a good size truck, and they are yours. Yard sale them out at just a buck and your net profit would be $15,000!

In the "ugly fish" contest, this is my latest entry, although I do want to automatically disqualify on two merits. (1) I think this same picture appeared on a blog site of my primary competition in the contest several years ago so I do not want to be accused of plagiarism. (2) He is just to cute to be "ugly". His / Her eyes and downward smile looks so sad. I bet all of the other fish make fun of his ears.