Second half of the year

Happy January to everybody out there. We are back in the saddle here in Ruby, working on the second half of the school year. I can't believe its January already. This year is just flying by.
Some updates from Ruby include the following: The new housing is nearing completion. I might be able to move in next weekend, but we'll see. I'm not going to hold my breath, seeing as it was supposed to be finished during the summer of 2009.
I got a new snowmachine out here. Its a 2010 Ski Doo Skandic Tundra 550 Long Track. I'm still breaking it in but its going great so far. It has been called a "mechanical snowshoe" and I think that its a very accurate description. The other day I was trying to get it stuck and I almost couldn't get it stuck. Between having a 156 inch track with 1.5 inch lugs and push button reverse, the deep powder better watch out for me and my sled. They can't stop us, they can only slow us down.
Seriously, the push button reverse is very handy. Take this example. I was hot dogging it on my sled near my outhouse. I lost control of my sled for a moment. (Yes, even expert riders like me lose control once in a while. :) ) I was about to pile into my outhouse, when I luckily was able to grab the brake. My front skis barely skidded into the outhouse, about as hard as my girlfriend or sister punches me when I annoy them. So not hard at all. All I had to do was push a button, and reverse out of the situation. On most other sleds, getting out would have entailed jumping into the waist deep snow and pulling the skis in one direction, then lifting and pushing the back end of the sled in the other direction so you can drive out. You end up sweating a lot and its just overall a not very fun situation.
Its also even more fun when you are standing in waist deep water pulling a sled out, right Bryzo?! Luckily for us, it was only a mile or so from home, so we didn't suffer frostbite or any other serious ailment. RB decided to drive through a ditch with slushy water in it, and his POS Polaris couldn't make it through. So we had to wade into the ditch and lift that thing out. It was one of my most memorable snowmobiling experiences.
Also, we have started basketball practice. We are going to have a coed team this year, teaming up with Alakaket again. It should be pretty fun.
In other news, the Calumet girls basketball team is 7-1. Keep it up girls! With the wonders of technology, I can keep track of their progress on the Gazette website.
Its pretty cold here right now, about 25 below, and I have my fingers crossed. Why? Because I haven't run out of oil yet this second semester. My cabin is a toasty warm 62 degrees. I get used to that temperature. When I was home for Christmas I begged my girlfriend to turn her heat down in her apartment, because I was sweating like a pig. It was a roasting 72 degrees in there. She compromised and turned it down to 70 degrees for me.
I'm having problems with my computer, so I don't know if I'll be able to post pictures on here. I'm working on it though, so keep your fingers crossed. Until next week, have a good week and look forward to Victory Friday!