Did you know that Alaska has earthquakes? I didn't until we found out that we were moving here and started studying the state more in depth.
I was just sitting in the living room watching TV this morning at 6:00AM (AT) and felt the room shake and heard the ceiling fan pull strings move. It felt a little like the room was vibrating, but very little. Just enough to not be normal. I doubted it at first, but then I pulled it up on the Internet. We just experienced a 5.3 magnitude 81 miles from the center of Anchorage and parts of Anchorage felt the quake. This is the information from the HSGS site.
Earthquake Details
Magnitude 5.3
Date-Time Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 14:00:00 UTC
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 06:00:00 AM at epicenter
Location 62.074°N, 151.390°W
Depth 89.7 km (55.7 miles)
Region CENTRAL ALASKA
Distances 23 km (14 miles) NNW (343°) from Skwentna, AK
47 km (29 miles) SW (225°) from Petersville, AK
60 km (37 miles) WSW (245°) from Trapper Creek, AK
130 km (81 miles) NW (319°) from Anchorage, AK
The disappointing thing is that Jordan who is still asleep; missed our first earthquake. by the way did i mention that this daylight thing is a bit of an adjustment. The sun rises somewhere around 5AM and sets around 10:45PM so that is usually when I am awake. We do have really heavy curtains in our bedroom and throughout the apartment for that matter so we draw all of those before going to bed, but my internal clock still wakes me up. Its great when you have things to do because there is more daylight to do them. Its only the first week so hopefully i will adapt to the new schedule.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Jordan Buying Uniforms
They have changed the pattern of the AF uniforms so we had to buy all new ABU's and insignia when we arrived.
Another Day at Elmendorf
It's day three in our Temporary Living Quarters on base. The accommodations are nice and roomy. Much better than we expected. So far its been good, but slow getting settled.
July 24th - The End of A Reallllly Long Road Trip
arrived and unloaded and chill out
July 25th- First Day to Report for Active Duty
Got our IDs which allowed us access to everything we need. We headed to the hospital where Jordan was taken around to a ton of offices and accomplished a lot of stuff on a checklist. They also scheduled him for more orientation dates for different departments. He will be doing orientation classes off and on between now and August 18th. it's good and bad...there are a lot of things we haven't any clue about so maybe in some of these classes they will fill him in on that stuff.
July 26th - Day 2 of Finding Answers
Jordan attended AWOC this morning and this afternoon while I researched home buying and homes for sale near the base. The AF gave us 8 days beginning today for Jordan and I to house hunt before Jordan starts reporting for work. Today marked the first day of his house hunting days and he is sitting in orientation :( and getting immunizations. When Jordan finally got home we rode around to do drive bys of several homes I found online. None were to impressive, except one that is less than 3 miles from the base. We are still going back and forth on whether to rent or buy. The convenience of renting is getting in quicker and not having to worry with selling when we are reassigned somewhere else. The bonus to buying is to be able to have our own place where we can make changes when we want and we own it. The negative of buying is having to sell or rent after we are gone. With the uncertainty of our location in the next 3 years the decision is difficult.
July 27th- The Silver Bullet Arrives
Jordan's car arrived today so we went to the transport office off base and picked it up. He was really hoping that it would get lost in the transport so that he could get a new car. HA! The housing saga continues. We researched a lot today and found some really beautiful properties but at the end of the day we are leaning toward renting for a year to allow us time to adapt to Alaska and get to know the areas better. We have contacted rental companies about some properties we have seen online. Hopefully we will get to see some tomorrow. It would be excellent if we could move in by mid August if we decide to rent.
Other than attending orientations and house hunting; I have enjoyed being at home and being able to prepare meals for Jordan and go walking in the evenings and watching the sunset out of our living room window. We also get to watch it rise over the mountains in the morning from our bedroom windows. It's amazing!!!
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