Willow Alaska,Then & Now
Willow Alaska started as a tent city
when gold was discovered on Willow
Creek in 1897.
A 25 mile road was constructed to access
a mine and is what is now Willow Fishook Rd.
The Talkeetna trail was established
going North to Talkeetna which
was the early version of the George Parks
Highway we have today.
The size and scope of the Willow Airport
is from WW2 as an alternate airfield
in case Anchorage came under Japanese
bombardment or invasion.
One old guy here told me when i was in
my mid twenties that he worked on
P-51 mustangs as a mechanic when
he was 18.
He said theyre crap planes liquid cooled
and losed the cooling to enemy fire and the
carft goes down.But as long as theyre not
under fire the 8 50 caliber guns reign
down HELL on the enemy.
Ive flown this plane in IL2-Sturmovik 1946
a WW2 flight sim i still enjoy to this day
from the Windows XP era and that mustang
is fast sleek and powerful til the flak cannons
get you....There are 120 flyable planes.
DX9c graphics.
In 1976 Alaskans voted to move the State
Capital to Willow which caused many to
speculate on land but in 1982 funding
ran dry to a lost election.
The first post office was established
in 1948 and the original building still
stands on Willow Station road..
Willow is now the Official Restart
for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
which draws thousands of people and
the big open field is a parking lot.
Willow residents and I myself
just take a snowmachine or Sled
as we call it to the restart.
I dont attend anymore....too many people.
Willow has the Winter Carnival
the last weekend of January and the
first weekend of Februaury and many
crafters get booths and I used to sell
my handmade beeswax candles as
a vendor.
Finally The Pie Auction.....Man i used
to buy pies and cakes and clear my
table and just give it away a slice a
person....before Cancer in 2004 took
my pie money...
I will say in 2005 i still had candles to
sell and the cancer survivors came to
my table and each one introduced
themselves,told me their story and
each man shook my hand and said,
Welcome to Willow,I was really
honored and humbled by that day.
Willow come May 12 2024 will have
been my home for 30 years.
Ive come a long way from
Brother Francis and Beans Cafe.
Next summer Im getting out my
slab melters and my final 100 pounds
of beeswax and making candles
once again,I want a newer car with
lower miles as mine is 30 years old
come the first of the year and yeah,
maybe i will buy a pie again.
Peace BigT
The History Of The Toilet
The John,Sir John Harrington invented
the forerunner of the first flushing toilet.
The first patent was in 1775 that belongs
to Alexander Cummings.
In England Thomas Crapper had his
logo on his toilets during WW2 and
U.S. soldiers brought the name back
home to the states,so hence;
The Crapper is a venerable namesake.
The earliest toilets date to 2800 BC
in India and Pakistan but the indoor
toilet was still a few thousand years
away so there were chutes that emptied
into cesspools or ended up in the streets.
Pirates back in the day called toilets
"head" which is why on boats and ships
it is call a "head".
In Medievel Europe chamber pots
were used and emptied from windows
onto the street below and was called
a "Loo".
In Africa,Sudan wipes with the left
hand and eats with the right.
The "posh" way to say toilet is
"Latrine".
The fancy way to say bathroom
is Lavatory.
The word Toilet was created in the
1950's and was adapted from the
French word toilette meaning
your appearance,hence toiletries
bag.
In polite conversation Loo is
more accepable.
Loo is an Anglicisation in speech of
French l'eau (water). The term was
originally an euphemistic allusion
to the chamberpot.
Whats the difference between
washroom and bathroom?
the first is public,the latter
bathroom is the small privie
you have in your home.
On my property the john is
actually called the Outhouse
and the one inside is a
Honey Bucket.
In Alaska,Half of the state has
indoor plumbing while the
other half such as I dont have
plumbing at all and out in the
Alaskan Bush Communities
they have honey bucket wagons
and collect the 5 gallon plastic
buckets and take them to
the "pond"....
On a hot windy day you can
smell it from miles away.
Peace, BigT
Bloodgood
Bloodgood was formed in 1983 in
Seattle,Washington by Michael Bloodgood
alongside Les Carlson and David Zaffiro
Bass,Vocls and Guitar.
Their first album was self titled,then
came Detonation,Rock in a Hard Place
then All Stand Together.
In 2023 I had seen their music video on
You Tube then downloaded it from Amazon.
Dangerously close featured Les & Michael
along with others and was even heavier
but also straight to the point.
They are in fact "Metal Missionaries"
I went to their concert in Juneau in 1988
and by then David had left the band
but their new guitarist was having a blast
jumping all over the place.
Michael wanted to be different while
getting the message of the music out
so they Formed Bloodgood Rock Theater.
I have the twin CD set right here and watch
it on my Mac Pro.
They definately put on a show like no other.
Once they were asked if Stryper influenced
their music,No said Michael,we were a band
before Stryper so they had no influence
plus they play a different type of Metal.
Without a doubt,Bloodgood is one of my
favorite bands and offers No Compramise
Christian Heavy Metal.
Peace,BigT
Stryper,The 1st Xian Metal Band
As a young man living at home there
was a christian radio station that i
could barely recieve on the FM dial
north of Seattle Washington.
They were playing Stryper and
although information about them was
a bit scarce it was Metal Music.
First off that sort of thing was not
allowed at home so off into the Abyss
of America I went on April 2 1985.
I went to Juneau Alaska first day
out on my own then found myself
some days later at a Christian Book
Store in the Mendenhall Mall.
I asked for stryper and got their
1st album The Yellow & Black Attack
then in May I bought Soldiers Under
Command.
This was my first taste of freedom to
listen to what "I" wanted to now that
Im independent.
Stryper was a breath of fresh air and
I became obsessed with buying cassettes
in this genre.
Stryper is an acronym for
Salvation Through Redemption
Yielding Peace Encouragment and
Righteousness.
Michael Sweet first founded the
band as Roxx Regime in the early
1980's.
After Against The Law the band
took a 15 year hiatuss then released
Reborn in 2015,which by my standards
was a blast then off to the races
they went putting out more music.
Their album covers are controversial
at best and have rereleased albums
with alternative toned down covers
I mean some stalwart christians
are real snooty.
Their albums are as follows
The yellow and black attack 1984
Soldiers under command 1985
To Hell with the devil 1986
In god we trust 1988
Against the law 1990
Reborn 2005
Murder by pride 2009
The covering 2011
Second Coming 2013 Compilation
No more hell to pay 2013
Fallen 2015
God damn evil 2018
Even the devil believes 2020
The final battle 2023
I have all but second coming
and enjoy listening on occaision.
I began buying then collecting
christian music in 1985 although
i dont buy anymore as i have at
last count 650 albums of all genres
I have to list what genres i have so
you can get a better feel for what i
listen to.
Contemporary,Rock,Hard Rock
Blues,Blues oriented Rock,Metal
Speed Metal,Punk,Thrash and
Death Metal,yeah the last one might
confuse you but Veangeance Rising
Did it first then Mortification.
I first started digitizing my music
first all my casettes then cd's
and some records.
Back in 2013 i call NorthStar
Bible Camp up the pass and gave
my giant collection to them as a gift.
He had to make 2 trips to get it all.
I was very happy about it as it
benefited children and teens.
So whatever nonesense they play
on christian radio i have music
that will blow your socks off.
Peace,BigT
Worcestershire Sauce
Worcestershire Sauce is a 100 year old
family recipe from England and is
named after the town Worcestershire.
It is created by John Wheeley
Lea Williams and Henry Perrins.
Main ingredients:Malt,vinegar spirit,
vinegar,anchovies,tamarind extract,
fermented garlic and onion,molasses,
sugar,salt,spices and flavorings.
Use Worcestershire for beek,pork,poultry,
as it infuses the meat when used as a
marinade and it also adds depth and
complexity to any dish.
Anchovies are the secret in the sauce
and are fermented in vinegar for
18 months.
Use Worcestershire in spaghetti sauce
and tomato recipes as it provides depth.
Worcestershire can be stored in the
pantry for 2 years or on the shelf.
When using beef,Worcestershire
sauce adds a "Umami" flavor
and can be used to baste or
marinate.
As I found in cooking as I was
creating my very first chili,
Worcestershire was used in the
browning of the stew meat then
afterwards i added the meat,juices
and the Worcestershire into the pot.
It gave the chili a sweet taste even
though no sugar was added.
I also used Worcestershire in a
cast iron skillet to cook pork
tenderloin cut into pieces and
it cooked up perfectly adding
a bit of "Ooomph" to my meal.
Adding Worcestershire to burger
or meatloaf will enhance your dish.
Worcestershire made me a true
believer.
Peace, BigT
Cacao vs Cocoa 2
The Theobroma Cacao Tree can
grow anywhere in rich environments
and is mainly produced in
West Africa and is responsible
for 70% of the Worlds cocoa supply.
The tree grows a pod like fruit
which bears up to 50 legumes
not seeds.
100% Cacao is 99.75% by volume.
-Cacao is not roasted
-Cocoa is roasted and is processed
at a higher temperature.
-Chocolate is made from fermented
cacao beans.
Cocoa can be consumed like in
hot chocolate and daily consumption
can reduce blood pressure and help
with inflamation.
A Simple Recipe
4c milk (powdered)
1 tbsp. Cocoa
3 spoons sugar
Its also rich in antioxidants
and flavanoids and has less caffeine
than a cup of coffee and when
consumed before bedtime can
aid in restfull sleep.
Everyone thinks of Oreos.
They are not chocolate but
instead made of cocoa.
You can use cocoa in lots
of recipes,or blend some
chocolate milk.
Peace, BigT
Spam, Specially Processed American Meat
Hormel introduced Spam on July 5 1937
and entered modern markets.
Spam consists of Pork shoulder,Ham
salt,water,potato starch,sugar and
sodium nittrrate.
Shoulder of pork never sold well so
the inception of a canned meat was
created and used thru all conflicts
WW2 Korea Vietnam and Persian Gulf
wars and even the Cold War.
Due to the high salt content SPAM should
not be consumed regularly as it can
lead to health problems such as
high blood pressure and cardiovascular
disease.
SPAM can be left on the pantry shelf
for up to 5 years but once opened
it needs to be eaten within 4 days
and can be kept fresh in an
airtight container for a week.
Spam is not the same as corned beef
as that contains Beef Brisket.
Spam can be used all sorts of ways
and in Japan it used to be only
available in Import stores and can
now be found as in Spam rice balls
and is a regular food in that country.
Spam is a staple food since WW2
and Hawaii consumes 7,000,000
cans of the meat averaging 5 cans
per person a year.
Hormel has made 9,000,000,000
cans of Spam and the USA eats
more Spam followed by Korea.
I like to make Hawaiin Pizza with
Spam and frying with eggs to make
a sammie is good too.
Peace,BigT
Toilet Paper And The Coming Apocalypse
Back in AD 600 in China toilet paper
came with writing ones thoughts on.
Pioneers used corn cobs and husks
to wipe with but hay,grass and sand
did the trick.
Fast forward to 1857 in New York
Joseph Gayetty invented the first
modern TP with medicated paper
with Aloe and 500 sheets sold for 50cents.
70% of the world does not use toilet
paper but instead uses Bidet showers
also known as bum guns.
Early man used what was around at
the time but Romans used sponges
on sticks called Tensorium or
wiping thing.
During the Pandemic due to panic
buying the industry couldnt keep
up and pulp mills closed due to costs
which resulted in a shortage and
increase of cost.
90% of all the TP in the world is
made in America and pulp mills
are running around the clock to keep up.
One tree makes 1500 rolls of the white
stuff and depending on how fluffy you
like it it could cost more.
Scott Toilet paper is 1000 sheets per
roll and an average is 48 rolls of it
per year here at the cabin.
If its fluffy or extra fluffy youll
pay more and use more.
Remember trees take time to grow
and one day we will run out of
trees then its down to making it
from scrap lumber.
Peace, BigT
Smoking & The End
It all started when i was very young.
People all around me smoked like
dragons and it was very common to
see people of all ages smoking cigarettes.
Some of my popular brands were
Vantage,L&M,True,Viceroy.
The unfiltered: Pall Mall,Camel
Lucky Strike and Chesterfield.
Chesterfield is what my grandpa
Young smoked until he quit due
to throat cancer and underwent
radiation.
My uncle says once he found out
he went cold turkey right then.
I can tell you from my experience
it sounds nice and fluffy but the truth
may be a bit different.
I personally admired my grandpa
he being a carpenter and a master
of figuring out weird angles to install
things in his motorhome that nobody
else can do,he was smarter than anyone.
As of today,its day four for being without
even a lozenge and the daily struggle
of trying to not go down to the
General Store to charge more smokes.
Its a battle between my mind and the
physical addiction that ive been treated
to being a loyal consumer of tobacco
goods.
Snuff from the U.K. is by far the best
and aromatic pipe tobaccos are
the bomb,here i will name a few
P.Stockabeyes Peaches & Cream.
Chocolate Mouse with 6 different
kinds of chocolate and Chocolate
Espresso Bean.
Then theres Latakia but be warned
to keep your aromatic pipe away from
this mountainous tobacco cuz it
will never be the same as it will
stink up your pipe and youll
never get the smell out of it.
So here I go talking about all the
wonderful joys of using tobacco.
But heres the catch,one in three
die from using tobacco,its a
killer for sure.
Back a few years ago there were
notices inside the cellophane
of cigarette packs telling the user
of the dangers of using the product.
The paper,tobacco and filter
are all designed to be as addictive
as heck,i mean really addictive.
I personally have been avoiding
places because as of this writing
I only have one thing I want
more than coffee,yep you guessed
it,its a damn cigarette.
So Before you run out and buy a
pack just consider for a moment
what Im saying here and just
because you finally quit,that
gnawing feeling isnt going
away anytime soon.
Peace,BigT
Noctua Thermal Paste
Noctua NT-H1 is a thermal paste
best suited for enthusiasts and
over clockers alike.
The 3.5 g tube is for occaisional use.
According to Company Literature
Noctua should be reapplyed every
3 to 5 years.
Ive been using Noctua Paste since
2017 when I got my first radiator
and fan for my AMD 8350 FX.
It was a NH-U12s 120 mm rad
and 120 mm fan.....
Mechwarrior 5 was cooking my CPU
to the point my cpu fan ramped
up to 6000 rpm on the stock cooler.
My Noctua setup came with their
famous paste and Ive been a true
beliver since then.
I checked at the 3 year mark on my
3rd gen Ryzen gaming rig and
surprisingly it was still good.
So i know this stuff works.
Noctua has excellent
thermal conductivity and is
#1 on the global market.
Noctua is non conductive so if
you get a bit elsewhere it wont
short curcuit your electronics.
Nobody likes a sloppy job and
there are many variations like
just globbing it on and hoping
for the best.
First apply a pea size blob on
your cpu/gpu the using a straight
razor,apply across the cpu lid.
if you need more then apply
little blobs until you get a thin
even coating.
The cpu lid and heatsink have
microscopic pits and grooves
on both and the thermal compound
fills these in making the heat
transfer evenly.
The general rule using inferior
pastes is to monitor your cpu
idle temp which should not
exceed 65 celcius otherwise
indicating you need to replace
the paste you're using.
Peace,BigT
The Woes of the Power Button
So youve decided on which kind
of computer you want and have talked
extensively to friends,family,co workers
computer shops and watched oodles of
tech tubers and their videos showing the
hilarity of pre built computer companies
and the nonsense even a skilled computer
tech being wrung thru the wringer.
Heres a couple channels that i believe
can show you the way.
Linus Tech Tips & Dawid Does Tech Stuff
Ok,so youre still unsure where to buy
your parts, Theres Amazon but the
technical data you need to make an
informed decision is not on their site
but for the informed person,Prime
is great and i built a Win 7 32 bit Retro
Offline Gaming PC from their site and
even got a 2 disc set of all versions of
Windows 7 both 32 bit and 64 bit.
My build was just shy of the date in
which MS killed it off so its Genuine.
I will point out that Newegg is the
Premiere site to make informed
decisions about your project at
hand.
All the technical data is there and
they ship UPS to Alaska so it comes
to your front door.
If you live out where I do,in the
toolies its 5 day but to Los Anchorage
its 2nd day.
Now you have your delivery in hand
and unboxed it all being diligent to
save your boxes for your parts in
case of the need to return.
Motherboard,CPU,Memory,M.2 drives
fan kit,Power supply,case and desktop
speakers,gaming monitor and webcam.
Youve assembled it and have all the
cables from the power supply right
where theyre supposed to be.
Cable management is a must.
Youve remembered to set it up
on top of the mobo box to see
if it even posts before the assembly.
Everything is all set to go then the
moment youve so gleefully waited for
you push the button and ......nothing.
I personally have made this mistake
myself.
Either you didnt plug in the power
and reset switch or you read the manual
wrong and put it on the wrong pins.
This is a classic mistake even Pros make.
My particular board is a Biostar
mini ATX motherboard and the
documentation on their site really
crappola as its so old its unsupported.
I had to get out my bifocals and a
magnifying glass and look on the
board itself.
And there it was,On/Off two pins over.
Yep you guessed it I screwed up.
I should know these things but in
the excitement of it all even the best
of us make this mistake.
Always check your manual,Manufacturers
website and physically look at the board.
I hope this all helps you.
Peace, BigT
Jayz Mishap
Many years ago namely 2020
I watched Jayz2cents on You Tube
and this guy Jay had a Gigabyte
X570 Godlike motherboard and
as I understand it that FLASHING
the board will give it maximum overclock.
Well he had all the boards details
and put the bios file on a USB flash
drive then he proceeded to flash
the board then it wouldnt POST
so he hit the BIOS Flashback and
nothing,the board was bricked
meaning it was toast.
Jay put out a rant video lashing
out at Gigabyte but they politely
informed him he had flashed the
wrong BIOS to the board.
Gigabyte had sent him a Pre
Production board and he had
flashed it incorrectly.
Jay,showing his Mettle posted
an apology video stating why.
Ive seen a lot of tech channels
and Jay didnt try and hide it.
My Hats off to you, Jay
So if you think you cant possibly
screw it up,just remember even
Proffessionals can hose it.
I have an MSI x570 Unify and I
could flash the board to use
a 5th Gen Ryzen 5900x 12 core.
But temptation will get me
nowhere....Ive had some
good mistakes in my time....
its like playing Russian Roulette
in a six shooter with 5 bullets.
Now Im actually certain that
flashing can go well so just
make sure you have everything
correct and download the
correct BIOS and put it on
a USB drive,wave it in the air
and blow on it and wave it
again and you should be
good to go and maybe some
primal grunting while waving
it should ward off the spirits.
Peace,BigT
Noctua NH-U12s & Paste
First off use non conductive thermal
paste such as Noctua and its good for
3 to 5 years inbetween changes.
Noctua NT-H1 is a good thermal
paste as Ive been using it since 2017.
The proper way to apply thermal paste
is to use a straight razor.
Just apply pea size blobs and apply
across the cpu lid to make thin.
The reason is there are microscopic
pits and grooves on the cpu and heatsink
and the paste fills them in allowing for
thermal transfer to your heatsink.
I went 3 years on my gaming computer
and 5 years on my Retro Gamer.
My heatsink and fan are NH-U12S
120 mm heatsink and fan.
5 heatpipes that keep it cool.
When tightening your heatsink
dont torque it or youll flex
the motherboard and cut off your
traces from your memory banks..
Tightening your heatsink til the
screws are snug is all you do.
There are many brands offering
heatsink and fans but Noctua is
the superior solution for 95% of
CPU's then there is AIO.
All In One are for those CPU's
who run real hot or are overclocked.
I personally use fan cooled as
the pump is the mean point of
failure and you can dissapate
your coolant over time to get
a bubbling sound.
Air cooling is simple and the
fan is your only point of failure.
Peace, BigT
PC Buyers Beware
Ok so you want a gaming PC
but dont know hoot about it.
Theres around 30 Pre-Built
PC companies in the U.S.A.
Ive seen about a dozen videos
on You Tube on channels who
deliberately buy from seemingly
stalwart companies that you
can easily Google and thats
where things get real ugly and
often hilarious....
One such channel is:
Dawid Does Tech Stuff
The way PC builders screw you
is off brand parts,cheesey power
supplies and micro atx boards
with no upgrade path for
hardware and a 2.5 in SSD
instead of an M.2 NVME.
Whats the difference? Do
the math. 2.5 in SSD @560 mbps
or an M.2 NVME gen 4 @ speeds
up to 7300 mbps.
Even a gen 3 M.2 is 3400 mbps.
Ahhh I see the gears in your
head starting to turn.
Then theres the crappy low
end video card you'll get
sucked into,sure it will play
the game but at much lower
visual quality.
Never go low end on the video
instead go mid range if your budget
is tight or high end for visual
thrills and never ultra Enthusiast
Youll pay the premium for that.
Unless your use case requires it.
Then theres the warranty,
tech support and shipping.
I will tell you this,Build it
yourself.
The BEST site for computer parts
is: Newegg.com as it is my
Go To site for all my computer needs.
Do all your own research on
the web first.
Get aquainted with AMD/Intel
and the various boards and tech
you can get yourself.
If youre still in the dark ask
a friend or just visit a computer
shop that sells the hardware
and ask questions.It doesnt hurt.
Newegg.com is the preffered choice for
buying harware and there are Technical
Specifications for anything they sell.
Always read the Overview &
Customers Reviews as there are tips
and tricks that have been trouble shot.
Newegg ships UPS so it comes to
your front door.
Pre Build co. cheese out on just
about everything then charge
the heck out of you for their
unscrupulous behaviour.
If you want Quality then be a
do it yourselfer.
Remember,its the world wide web
and its here to stay.
Use it to gain wisdom and to have
a wonderful computer experience.
Youre Welcome, BigT