Alaska Trivia (Anchorage, Wasilla, Wrangell: maintenance, jobs, house)

[BudinAk]

"Alaska Waddle"

Definition: A type of slow, shuffeling, waddling walk, like a penguin. (If you live in the northern climes, you soon learn to walk like this...) This is done in the winter when the ground is covered with ice. By use of this careful walk, the chances of slipping and falling are reduced. Ice that is covered with a thin layer of dry powdery snow is particularly bad.

Bud

[mal_flisk]

"Duct Tape"

Sometimes called hundred mile an hour tape, is carried in every vehicle in Alaska and has an actual ball dedicated to it and its use in Anchorage every social season. The store selling the most duct tape in the world is located in Wasilla. It is the repair item of choice, in areas as diverse as bush and urban, and is found in windshields across the state. It can hold bumpers to cars and has been glorified on the Red Green show (as is only proper, given its importance in the world of maintenance.

Duct tape: the world's premier repair item.

[Las Vegan Cajun]

Don't leave home on your Harley without it. Along with bailing wire, diagonal cutters, pliers and a knife you'll have all the tools you need to keep your HOG running long enough to make it to the next bar or filling station.

[Alaskagrl]

AKA Sitka Slippers, Wrangell sneakers, etc etc...

The brown rubber boots that almost all SE AK residents own due to the spongy nature of the ground and almost constant rain. Used widely in the rest of Alaska, as well, they are featured on such glitzy shows as "Deadliest Catch...Alaskan Crab Fishing" and "Dirty Jobs...Geoducks"

[BudinAk]

"Blue Roofer"

Definition: A reference to run-down, dilapidated old trailers, homes, and cabins with their roofs covered by cheap plastic tarps to stop leaks. The tarps are typically colored blue...

Bud

[Alaskagrl]

Wannigan..."mud room" type addition to those dilapidated trailers and shacks. Often not built according to OSHA and hence develops crazy leans, floor sags, and is even subject to collapse!

[BudinAk]

What you REALLY don't wanna know about (and used as a last resort...): "Honey Bucket". Getting rarer these days, but in some extreme northern villages, the ground is perpetually frozen year-round by permafrost. This makes digging a hole for an outhouse, or a septic system, etc, very difficult. So....when nature calls and 'ya just GOTTA go....there is this...uh...er...5-gal plastic bucket, kinda sitting over in the corner of the room...

Bud

[Alaskagrl]

A second, smaller horsepower motor mounted beside the main outboard on a boat in Alaska. Used to get safely to shore in case your brand new 200 HP Suzuki decides not to start in the middle of a squall. I have another, more personal name for this motor--I call it the "oh sh**" motor. Cause you are already at risk if the big one doesn't run; if the kicker won't start...that's what comes out of your mouth!

[BudinAk]

Contrary to common belief; there are NO penguins in Alaska! You'll probably find more of them in Atlanta, than Alaska. (try their zoo...) These birds are residents of the SOUTH pole, not the north.
I have lived in Alaska almost 60 years, and have NEVER seen anyone live in an igloo. I have seen kids build them, for fun, but that is the extent of it. I think they were a temporary shelter, used by hunters up north, but are quickly fading into history.
We have lots of Eskimoes. In fact, I AM part eskimo, but I don't live in an igloo either. There are LOTS of American-indians here too: Haida, Aleut, Athabaskan, etc.
Puffins? Yep...lots of them. Pretty-colored sea bird common along the ocean coasts...they live in "colonies" of dozens to several hundred.
Arctic Terns: This is a gull-like bird that shows up every summer. They say that artic terns migrate EVERY spring and fall from the tip of South America...they fly all the way to Alaska, a distance of 11,000+ miles, to nest and raise their young in Alaska. Then they fly all the way back to the tip of S.A. for the winter. Why? Why not just stay, conserve all that energy, and nest down there in Argentina?...Who knows....it's one of life's mysteries!

Bud

[Alaskagrl]

As a rule, if you live in Alaska, you must drive a pickup truck of some kind, and in the back of that truck must be at least one scruffy looking husky-mix dog. 2 is preferable. The rustier the truck and the more dogs = longer residency.