One Dollar Bill, Serial# C1257---8A Series: 2003A
This bill has travelled 4,431 Miles in 2 Yrs, 1 Day, 22 Hrs, 43 Mins at an average of 6.1 Miles per day.
It is now 1,453 Miles from its starting location

This list is in reverse-chronological order
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08-May-08 09:10 PM Des Moines, IA 3 Days, 14 Mins 716 238
User's Note traveled from Charlotte, nc to des moines and stopped in a small bus station near tennessee. dont know the name of the town.
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05-May-08 09:55 PM Clyde, NC 135 Days, 18 Hrs, 55 Mins 2,799 21
User's Note This is bill # 9,557 that I have entered.
Hits: #291
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21-Dec-07 10:00 PM Juneau, AK 315 Days, 10 Hrs, 40 Mins 0.0 n/a
User's Note Used to pay juneau billiards league weekly dues. Will be deposited tomorrow or Monday. Crease down the middle, still looks strong!
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09-Feb-07 11:20 AM Juneau, AK 188 Days, 17 Hrs, 29 Mins 7.5 0.04
User's Note Got this one at the Credit Union and gave it away there. It is in good condition. I can see that the serial numbers and series had been high lighted, it is fading a little bit, but still noticable. Cool stamps... :) See ya George!
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04-Aug-06 06:51 PM Douglas, AK 88 Days, 23 Hrs, 24 Mins 908 10
User's Note Juneau, Alaska condition good
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07-May-06 08:26 PM Auburn, WA
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Bears slower than usual
Juneau's black bears seem to be sleeping in.

That's the read of Area Management Biologist Neil Barten of State Fish and Game who says it seems like the bears are slow to wake up.

"I think all of us would agree it's a pretty cold Spring and I think the bears are following suit."

He says they haven't heard of anything at this point, but he expects bear activity will pick up any day now. When they do wake up, Barten says they're going to be real hungry. He went out Tuesday in the Lemon Creek area and didn't like the look of it in some places where he saw garbage cans out next to homes. Local law only allows cans to go out on garbage pick up day. "People need to sharpen up this time of year," Barten says.

Spring King Derby leader at nearly 33 pounds
It's official. The new Spring King Derby leader tops out at nearly 33 pounds.

Norman Zura turned in his 32.9 pound King to Jerry's Meats about six Monday evening.

The other leading fish were also turned in to that weigh in station:

Noel Algarbre also turned in a 29.7 pound King Monday.
Thomas Aberle turned in a 29.36 pounder yesterday morning, (Tuesday)
Phillip Selleck turned in a 24.3 pounder Monday.
Chris Baldwin entered a 24.05 fish Tuesday.

Twenty-eight fish are on the list at last report.

The other check points are DeHarts and the Alaska Seafood Cannery.

The fishing continues until the end of the month. Entered fish must be gutted and gilled.
The tickets are $40 and are available at outlets all around town.
A complete list or prizes, rules and the latest standings among other information is on the web

AEL&P submits new proposal...new electric rate hike to apply after April 16 avalanches
Alaska Electric Light and Power is delaying sending out the month of May's bills until the Regulatory Commission of Alaska decides on the utility's latest filing.

AEL&P today (Tuesday) submitted an amended filing with the RCA to postpone implementation of the increased tariff so it applies only for power consumed after the April 16th avalanches.

In a written statement released tonight, AEL&P president Tim McLeod said the utility is taking the action to respond to the concerns of Juneau residents.

He said "Juneau consumers are rewriting the history books when it comes to energy conservation and it's only fair that they not pay the higher tariff for electricity consumed before the avalanche".

The filing requests RCA approval of the change by today. (Wednesday)

The emergency cost of power adjustment rate will be the same as previously approved, only the implementation date will change.

The avalanches knocked down two transmission towers and damaged several others interrupting the flow of power from the Snettisham hydroelectric dam.

Juneau delegation asks Palin to override decision of disaster cabinet
Juneau's legislative delegation is asking Governor Palin to reconsider the decision of her disaster cabinet that the Snettisham avalanche electricity crises does not qualify as a disaster.

In the letter sent to the governor yesterday (Monday), the delegation states that the cabinet's decision limits the definition of disaster too narrowly and precludes Palin from exercising the same latitude as previous governors and does not take into account any future decisions made by the federal government.

The delegation also notes that there were no written findings outlining what criteria the disaster cabinet used to make it's determination.

They say the failure to declare a state disaster limits the state's congressional delegation's ability to request federal aid.

The delegation is inviting Palin to meet with Juneau residents to find out first hand how the huge hike in electrical bills is effecting them.

The delegation notes that in 1997 Governor Tony Knowles declared a state disaster as a result of the Bristol Bay salmon run collapse.

Knowles declared the disaster based on a temporary economic setback for Bristol Bay fishermen and associated workers and businesses.

State assistance totaled more than 2 million dollars.

Draft report on Juneau Icefield landings to come out at public hearing Thursday
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The Forest Service plans to release a draft report governing helicopters on the Juneau Icefield.

The draft will be released during a public hearing Thursday night.

Last year, the icefield had about 17,000 landings, even though 22,000 had been approved in a 2002 decision.

The agency is reviewing whether the data from 2002 is still valid.

The hearing is scheduled from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the downtown public library.

NEW - Tripod tips in Nenana Ice Classic
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The tripod in the Nenana Ice Classic - Alaska's version of a lottery - has tipped over.

Contest officials say the tripod tipped at 10:53 p.m. Tuesday. Ice Classic manager Cherrie Forness says contest officials are still trying to determine how many winners there are - those people that down to the minute chose the correct time for when the ice on the Tanana River went out this year.

Once that is known, Forness says those people will be contacted with the good news.

This year's jackpot is over $303,000. It is slightly bigger than last year's - despite the pinch people are feeling from higher fuel and grocery prices.

Thousands of people pay $2.50 a ticket to guess what date and time to the minute a tripod set up on the Tanana River ice at Nenana, 55 miles south of Fairbanks, will move downstream and trip a clock that is wired to shore.

The Ice Classic is in its 92nd year.

Current mood: confused

Okay, so I've been hanging out with a *gasp* nice guy and have really been enjoying his company. He asked me last night what we call this that we have going on and I asked him if it really needs a name and he just squeezed my hand and said no, it doesn't.

I deserve to have a nice guy in my life. But now I know why the 12 step programs require a 12 month waiting time between relationships. The last few days since wanting to spend time with him has increased proportionately to his wanting to spend time with me I have had so much turmoil inside of myself. And I know it stems from past relationships and distrust that I'm going to have the same results. And what is strange is that we aren't at the level of committing to each other at all. We are still finding out who each other is and what we are about. So why are all these ugly fears springing forward for me to take a good hard look at? And more importantly, do I have the strength to face them?

“Desire is half of life; indifference is half of death.”
-Kahlil Gibran

“Between whatever happens to me and my response to it is a space. In that space is my freedom and power to choose my response. And in my response lay my growth and happiness.” - Stephen Covey

One of our Good Morning readers Kyrsti, wrote this quote on an index card after reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and she reads it every day. She writes “It has had a big impact on my life. I knew that if I could cultivate the habit of being patient within this ’space’ after an event or words spoken to me, I would be able to get to a response that would promote less stress and more happiness.”

This concept is one that we need to live on a daily basis. While we can’t control everything going on around us (nor is it worth our energy to try!) we can control how we react in that “space.” And how we react will directly impact our day, our week, our month–our life.

When we choose anger, gossip, negativity, or getting defensive - we build walls in our lives that keep out the “bad”–but those same walls also keep out the good and the wonder of life.

Your Turn:
Today, notice the “space” where you have the choice to respond. Think about how your choice will influence your life. Respond in a way that promotes understanding and caring and personal peace. You’ll feel much better about the situation at hand –and your life will reflect it.

Today’s Affirmation:
I choose to respond to external events in a caring, understanding and peaceful way.

Record low temp
A low temperature record was set early Saturday morning.

A temperature of 17 degrees was recorded at the National Weather Service office station at the airport.

The previous low was 24 degrees recorded in 1963.

Saturday was the third day in a row that record low temperatures were set for the date.

Auke Bay turbine trips off causing outage
Pockets of the community were without power late Saturday afternoon.

Gayle Wood of Alaska Electric, Light and Power says the trouble started at 4:06 when they lost the main turbine at Auke Bay.

When it tripped off line, she explained that it sent a load shed scheme into play and 10, 400 customers lost service for between a half hour and 40 minutes.

During that time, generation was added from Lemon Creek, so the load could be picked up again, she says.

The turbine normally isn't operating full time, but it has been since the Snettisham line was wiped out last week by an avalanche.

Before that time, Wood said it had been operating to make up for the hydro deficit the utility was experiencing. The turbine acts as a standby unit if Snettisham is operating normally.

She says they lost pockets up town in this latest outage as they determined what kind of load they could maintain with the remaining generation that was still on line.

So that explains why some Valley, Douglas and downtown residents were impacted.

Swope talks about disaster declaration on Capital Chat
The Assembly will take public comment during its meeting Monday night on the resolution approved during a special meeting Thursday evening on the City Manager's Declaration of Emergency.

It's estimated that the damage done this week by avalanches to the line from the Snettisham hydroelectric dam could cost consumers 20 to 25 million dollars

City Manager Rod Swope has submitted a declaration of a local disaster emergency to the state requesting $25 Million.

City Manager Rod Swope talked about his declaration of emergency while a guest on Capital Chat Friday.

He said something similar was done about four years ago following flooding and mud slides that caused damage throughout the community.

The next step in the process calls for state officials to take the declaration under advisement and collect information about the emergency.

A panel then meets to come up with a recommendation for the Governor.

Swope was scheduled to meet today with State Division of Emergency Services' officials from Anchorage.

He's also heard from Senator Ted Stevens office who has offered to help in any way it can.

Swope says there's not a whole lot that office can do now since there must first be a state declaration prior to requesting federal assistance.

Swope figures the state process will take anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks at best. "We may not qualify. We may not very well meet the criteria that's needed to qualify for this assistance," he said.

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Swope called another meeting for Friday afternoon that involves his department heads, the hospital administrator, the directors of the airport and Docks and Harbors Department, and the superintendent of schools.

He said the goal is to do some brainstorming to come up with things that might significantly reduce operational costs. He said that would have the dual effect of taking some pressure off the utility to provide service to other customers.

Swope says he's not looking for the normal "turn out the lights, turn down the heat, turn off your computer" ideas.

One idea he cited, for example, might involve closing the Treadwell Arena earlier since it takes a lot of power to produce ice there.

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Two avalanches destroyed three transmission towers, damaged two others and took out about a mile and a half of transmission line early Wednesday morning.

Tim McLeod, A-E-L and P President and General Manager told reporters during a press conference Thursday that it could take two to three months to replace and repair the towers at an estimated cost of 5 to 10 million dollars.

He says the towers are not insured because insurance is not available for electrical transmission lines.

Over the next eight to twelve weeks, the vast majority of the power generated by the utility will be done with diesel generators at about 100,000 gallons a day.

Residential rates were at 11 cents per kilowatt hour.

The utility estimates it will it jump to 50 cents per kilowatt hour.

Gail Wood of Alaska Electric, Light and Power said the utility has already seen evidence that Juneau residents are curtailing use of electricity.

She says they saw a drastic reduction in lighting used Wednesday night.

Wood said the electrical load dropped compared to what the utility would expect in normal weather conditions.

Be careful with alternative heating and lighting sources
If you have electric heat you may be exploring alternative heating and lighting sources to save on electricity cost.

These include using candles, kerosene heaters and other heating devices inside their homes.

One fire has already occurred from use of a kerosene heater.

No one was hurt in that incident, although a family had to leave their home.

Capital City Fire Rescue offers this advice-

Candles: Never leave a candle burning unattended or where children can reach them. All candles need to be in a candle holder with a solid base to prevent them from tipping over. Keep the candles away from curtains or other things that can ignite and never have combustible decorations around the base of the candle.

Kerosene heaters: no unvented kerosene heater is designed or approved for use inside a residence. They all will produce carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide gas, tasteless, odorless gases that can kill you. They also can present a fire hazard if they are old, have an improper fuel or are located too close to combustibles.

Underwriters Lab tested, vented liquid fuel heaters, properly installed, are safe and tested for use inside buildings.

Use of charcoal cooking devices inside residents are a sure method of producing enormous quantities of deadly carbon monoxide gas. Don't ever use them inside.

Make sure that after a long winter, that your wood stove chimney is clear and clean of creosote before use.

Capital City Fire/Rescue has responded to several chimney fires, fortunately none which caused significant damage. During this difficult time, use your best defense against tragic fires... your common sense.

Juneau's snowfall record for April 17 was buried under more than a half-foot of snow Thursday.

The National Weather Service recorded 7.5 inches of snow Thursday at its Juneau International Airport weather station. The record had been only 1.1 inches, received on April 17 in 1948.

The storm that started Wednesday night dropped a total of 10.5 inches at the airport, 12.5 inches at the service's Juneau office on Mendenhall Loop Road, and 9 inches downtown.

Early Thursday morning, 10 inches of new snow was reported at the base of Eaglecrest Ski Area, which is closed for the season.

Juneau has seen double the average amount of precipitation so far this month, according to meteorologist Brian Bezenek. Through Thursday morning, 3.39 inches of precipitation had fallen in April, and the historical average is an inch and a half. Temperatures also have been cooler than average, Bezenek said.

Dry weather was predicted through this weekend and potentially into next week. A high pressure system centered south of Kodiak Island is expected to dominate the weather, but a marine stratus layer could build and create partly to mostly cloudy skies by early next week. Precipitation is not forecast, however, until possibly next weekend, Bezenek said.

While he called this week's storm "a little odd" for this time of year, Bezenek said such weather is not that unusual during springtime in Juneau. In 1963, for example, a storm dropped nearly 40 inches of snow at the airport during the first few days of April.

The service's long-range forecasts show slightly below normal temperatures through May and June, with normal precipitation. Spring is typically the driest time of year in Southeast Alaska.

Coco's father died on Saturday. Johanna's mother died unexpectedly Saturday. Now Jen and David's two year gets medivaced to Seattle with a fractured skull. Ick ick ick.

Juneau homeowners' and some renters' electricity rates will likely quintuple next month. The city's electric utility will resort to running on diesel as the result of an avalanche Wednesday morning that cut hydroelectric power to the area.

"All of a sudden, we'll have rates that look like rural communities across the state," said Gayle Wood, director of consumer affairs at Juneau's power utility, Alaska Electric Light & Power Co.

The transmission line to Juneau from the Snettisham Power House, about 40 miles south of town, went down at 3:54 a.m., Wood said. The avalanche started three miles from the power house. It was 1.5 miles across.

AEL&P sent a helicopter out in the morning to check its seven transmission towers over the steep terrain. One of the tall metal structures was down completely and four were damaged. Bad weather prevented a complete assessment of the damage, though.

After the helicopter left, Wood said another avalanche took out additional towers.

"It's just a terrible place to have a transmission line," AEL&P General Manager Tim McLeod said. "Those are straight-up-and-down cliffs."

The Snettisham hydroelectric plant accounts for 85 to 90 percent of the power AEL&P supplies to Juneau.

Outages were limited to just the Thane area yesterday morning because the power load transferred to the diesel generators that were already running.

AEL&P plans to begin adjusting for the cost of power in about 15 days, Wood said.

This will be the biggest rate hike in AEL&P's 115-year history, according to McLeod.

The new rate will be right up there with the 54 cents per kilowatt-hour the Inside Passage Electric Cooperative currently charges in its rural service area of Angoon, Hoonah, Chilkat Valley, Kake and Klukwan.

Businesses and residents will share the added costs, possibly for several months.

Residential electricity will rise to at least 50 cents per kilowatt-hour or higher from a current average of 11 cents per kilowatt-hour, Wood said. That number is not firm yet.

Alaska regulations allow utilities to pass on the cost of power to its consumers in what's known as a cost-of-power adjustment, or COPA. Utility companies must file COPA requests with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. These do not require a public comment and are generally approved, said Grace Salazar at RCA.

Juneau's rates rose 14 percent last fall. Electricity demand increased at a time when water flow into the Snettisham lakes was less than normal, McLeod said. AEL&P has supplemented the hydro power with about 10 percent diesel since Dec. 10 last year.

Wood said the avalanche came just as AEL&P was planning to hike rates 2 cents a kilowatt-hour anyway for the summer, because the fall rate hike didn't totally cover the winter cost of diesel.

"This is an extremely bad time to need diesel fuel generation, given the costs," Wood said.

It will take about 100,000 gallons of fuel a day to carry the town on diesel, Wood estimated, with a possible cost of $375,000 to $400,000 a day just for the fuel.

"We receive absolutely no profit from this," Wood said.

Wood estimated workers could safely fly in to start repairing the line in two to three weeks. She also said hydro power wouldn't be restored for at least two to three months.

One tower was damaged in 2000, but otherwise the seven towers have been sound since they were built in the early 1970s.

The Snettisham line is inspected visually each year. Each tower is climbed and given a more thorough inspection once every 10 years, Wood said.

Wood said people should switch to other fuels when possible.

"Oil is the better deal now," she said.

Also, energy conservation will become mandatory for many.

Juneau Mayor Bruce Botelho said he was working on instructions to city staff on how to use less energy and on tips for the city Web site to help individuals and businesses.

"It's a disaster," said Cathie Roemmich, Chief Executive Officer of the Juneau Chamber of Commerce. "This is when we need to pull together."

She was particularly worried about young people and small businesses, she said, who might not be able to handle their higher electric bills. But everyone should use less energy.

"The more you and I conserve, the less we all end up paying," she said Wednesday afternoon. "In fact, I'm going to turn the lights off right now."

Tuesday was Denden's 47th birthday - Happy birthday adopted Bro!!!

And Tuesday I got my haircut!!! It's off my face again, I LOVE it!!

It was a wonderful and busy weekend from Friday night which started off busy on the phone. Bob called me, talk about another voice from the past! Been about 3 years? Just as much a shock as it was hearing from Dean! And Max on the phone, and Richie on the phone. Was busy talking and back forth between them as they all got calls and called me back and I got calls and called them back. I even called Lil Jen, but it was hard to talk to her over the top of the Chilton kids. And Blain and Jess text messaging, too.

Rob and mom went to the boxing matches. I'm so glad Rob stepped forward and gave mom a reason to start going to them again. It was something she treasured doing with Stan. You make a difference, son.

So watched movies over at the Chilton's - Hitman and the 3 Kings. Kids watched Alvin and the Chipmunks and the Epic Movie. Then home - gosh, I think I was home just after 2am Saturday morning.

Saturday - busy busy day. Worked for couple hours... felt good getting that done. I hate to leave stuff left out half done. I hadn't completed everything when Rob texted me that he was ready. So after finishing that I went home to find out Mom had gone baby shower shopping without calling me. Shame on her! So helped her wrap everything when she returned. Drove out and picked up Boo.

Off to Tanya's baby shower. She is so beautiful, her skin is really a soft glow. Lots of her friends were there. Some of those games were pretty fun. The prayer circle before we left was very powerful.

Oh my goodness, I just realized that Paula is going to be having a baby shower here pretty quick, isn't she?

Whew!! Oh, and happy birthday on Friday, Travis. Was nice to see you while you were in town. You looked very nice dressed up to do your lobbying. Always knew you would get into politics when you got older, Lol.


And Gene and Jennifer's kids is where sometimes I am grateful to have been an only child. No fighting over toys, clothes, chairs, food, bikes, attention from mom or dad. No one to tell on you, but then again no one else to blame.

Okay, then Sunday I slept in. I had fallen alseep Saturday about 11 and slept a good 9 to ten hours. Took a shower and then ran out to meet Jess. Bought some new clothes from Boo's work cause my favorite black jeans finally wore a hole in the seam - and I mean wore as in worn out. So got the new clothes and went over to Ken's to process the score sheets. He does a lot of data entry with that. Posted everything while I was there. Couldn't get my laptop to connect with his service. I should go look and see if he posted anything about turning in the raffle tickets this week.

Then a pleasant evening with Blain. He is best friends with Chris McDowell, what a surprise. He was telling me about his freezer full of fish from his fishing buddy and something told me I would know who his fishing buddy was, and sure enough!!! LOL. Knows Erik. Was Mark's roommate and then Chris's roommate all those years ago. I must have brushed shoulders with him at Mark's services. Wow. I didn't mention that though. We went to shoot pool after eating. Jermain was there and agreed to shoot with Boo on sundays until we leave for vegas. i still can't believe we're going. Wow again.

Okay, bedtime. Hugs and love my friends.

"Once you make a friend, a friend never leaves you, even to death. So a friend is really hard to find."
--Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
Once, an Elder told me he made a decision to be my friend. He said this friendship wasn't based on my behavior or how I acted; he said the friendship was based on his decision. He decided to be my friend. This friendship has happened like he said. Even if I don't see him for a long time, or if I get mad at him, he has never changed his decision. This is true friendship.

Great Spirit, I'm glad you are this kind of Friend.

NEW - Bush administration proposes drilling in whale's critical habitat
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The Bush administration has issued a formal proposal to allow oil and gas leasing in an area of the Bering Sea designated as critical habitat for the world's most endangered whale.

The administration proposal was published today (Tuesday) in the Federal Register by the Minerals Management Service. It would allow oil development in an area north of the Aleutian Islands near Bristol Bay.

The Center for Biological Diversity, which is fighting the proposal, says the problem is that part of the area is critical habitat for the North Pacific right whale - long believed to be on the road to extinction.

There are fewer than 100 of the whales, perhaps fewer than 50.

"The very dust under your feet responds more lovingly to our footsteps than to yours, because it is the ashes of our ancestors, and our bare feet are conscious of the sympathetic touch, for the soil is rich with the life of our kindred."
--Chief Seattle, SUQUAMISH

If you respect something, it will respect you back. If your ancestors respected something, the future generations will be respected back. The Indian ancestors always showed great respect for the Earth. That's why the Earth is so respectful to Indians today. Every Indian naturally feels connectedness to the Earth. We know the Earth holds our ancestors. If we continue to respect Mother Earth, our children will benefit and so will our grand- children. Today, we should think about and pray for our Mother Earth.

Grandmother, let me have strong feelings for our Earth today.

We don’t need to increase our goods nearly as much as we need to scale down our wants. Not wanting something is as good as possessing it. ~Donald Horban

Good morning! How much time and energy do you spend trying to attain something, whether emotionally or physically, which you believe you need in order to be happier, more fulfilled or make life easier? Common examples of where we get caught up in the “chase” include:

Believing we need someone’s approval
Believing the next “planner” will organize our lives (instead of organizing it ourselves)
Believing that some better-than-botox cream will make us beautiful
Believing that our child needs a specific brand item or toy to be happy
Believing that we are responsible for “fixing” problems beyond our control
Believing that we are responsible for someone else’s happiness
If I were to stockpile all the time and energy I have put into endeavors like these in the past, surely I could take the month of April off — and maybe May, too. How freeing it can be to realize that maybe we don’t “need” everything we think we do–instead, what we need to do is scale back on perceived needs.

Your Turn:
Create a list of things you have spent time and energy on that you felt you “needed.” What needs can you scale back on so that you can enjoy today more?

Today’s Affirmation: I hold onto healthy wants and beliefs and let the rest go.

Recovery is a lot slower than I want it to be. Just when I think all is good in my life, some little comment or song or kind word from an acquaintance will send me into a tailspin. Fortunately the tailspins don't hurt as much. It's only been since December 3rd that the truth came out and dissipated the doubt that started back on 5-7-07 when she told me she was pregnant. Thank you, Kitty, for being there for me that horrible day when the doubt started. Wow, almost 4 months. I guess i might be expecting too much of myself, huh?

"In our modern world today, we may seem like drowning men because of the loss of much of our spiritual tradition."
--Thomas Yellowtail, CROW
Our spiritual tradition shows us the way to live in harmony, balance and respect. The tradition taught us how to behave and how to conduct ourselves. The spiritual way taught us to pray and to purify ourselves. Handed down from generation to generation were the teachings about a way of life. Our relationship to Mother Earth and to each other was very clear. The Modern World does not relate to spirituality but to materialism. If we do not allow spirituality to guide our lives, we will be lost, unhappy and without direction. We are spiritual beings trying to be human, not human beings trying to be spiritual. It is said, Know thyself.

Grandfather, lead me to spirituality.

Record snow and thunder and lightening storm recorded Easter Sunday
Only in Juneau it seems could you have a record snowfall for the date as well as a thunder and lightening storm.

Meteorologist Andy M in the Forecast Office says there was 1 point 6 inches of snow recorded at the airport Sunday. The previous record for the date was 1 point 5 inches on in 1995.

One listener called to say they saw three flashes of lightening and heard a huge clap of thunder that woke everyone in her household shortly after five Sunday morning.

Meteorologist Paul S tells us that people who work there heard it as well. He says they initially thought it was an avalanche on Thunder Mountain.

He says an observer at the airport reported the thunder and lightening at about 12 minutes pass five.

The storm packed wind gusts to about 38 miles per hour at the airport. S says there were also reports of rain squalls mixing with snow at times.

He called it a "busy event" until about 5:45 Sunday morning.

"Isn't it just easier to be nice?" Tracy

Good morning! Tracy sent in this email along with her quote and it is a wonderful one to share with you. Tracy writes, " I work for a large bank where I am the branch manager. I am fortunate that I have a great staff and we have wonderful customers! So for the most part, I don't deal with too many complaints or angry people. BUT- on occasion I do and I always say to my staff, 'Isn't it just easier to be nice?' Obviously this goes for the people I work with, work for, customers I deal with and people I see out at other places.

"I never understand why people don't say thank you or smile at other people. I don't get why people are rude or mean or negative. I love nice people and I don't care if it's my boss, my kids or the drive through guy at McDonalds! I have found in my "all-knowing" 31 years that life is easier when you're a nice person."

I agree wholeheartedly with Tracy. In order to maintain personal happiness, we have to be nice, even when others aren't following the golden rule. The quickest way to diffuse a difficult situation is to handle it with genuine kindness and care. Often when people get upset or angry or grumpy, all they want is to be "heard." Instead of hearing, many people lash back. Then you have two people trying to be heard. You can guess the result--no one is heard because no one is listening.

Your Turn:
Today, don't miss an opportunity to be "nice." Smile at others, be genuine when you say "hello," and greet everyone with kindness.

Your Affirmation:
I maximize every opportunity to be genuine and caring