Old Chicago Uptown

Gang got together last night at the Old Chicago Uptown for Mom's last night in Minneapolis.

JT, Linda, Amy, Bunny and Rose joined Mom and me for a drink, some food, catching up and the Vikings game.

Thanks to all who wished Mom a safe journey home and healthy 2011.

We also found out that Rose's 10 World Beer Tours tankard was at the bar.  She got to enjoy her first tankard beer last night.

Minnehaha Falls -- frozen in time

 Mom at the frozen Minnehaha Falls on the day after Christmas.

Mom and me...our self-portrait from the other side of the frozen falls.

A beautiful crisp, sunny day!

Merry Christmas eve

 Christmas Eve and a new coating of snow.  Got another 4 or 5 inches overnight.

Christmas Eve breakfast at The Egg and I with Mom, Marlin, Andrea, Stella, and Jason.

It looks cold but not too bad for us actually....high 20's.

The famous cornflake wreaths...made by the pro....Gracie B.

Another snow emergency!!!

Minneapolis has announced another snow emergency.  That makes 5 snow emergencies and tomorrow is the first day of winter!.

The city declares a snow emergency when 4 or more inches have snow are scheduled or has already fallen.  Forecasts are 6-8 inches for this one.  But it is warmer for this storm....in the 20's....so more water content = heavier snow to shovel.

It wasn't Gertrude and it wasn't Elizabeth

Turns out the creepy cats in the kitchen staring at the refrigerator wasn't about some spirit like Elizabeth, the previous owner, or her sister, Gertrude, who passed away this year at the age of 91. As more than a couple of people said, it was a mouse. And I found it tonight!

Frankie and Uno were in the kitchen again tonight but this time Frankie was trying to get into the baseboard. I figured his favorite toy had rolled in. So I reached around but the heat was on and the pipes were really hot. Frankie was really insistent and I didn't want him to get hurt by the hot pipes.

I got the flashlight to see if I could see the toy and instead I saw the tail of the mouse. I screamed, of course. Now Frankie and Uno were really excited and the mouse was too. What to do? Obviously the cats weren't going to kill the damn thing. They'd had months to do so.

I figured it was up to me to catch it and what better than the same technique that worked with the bats all those years ago. With a spatula and cottage cheese tub standing by, I poked at the mouse. It ran between my legs. I screamed some more. Frankie chased and cornered it. I poked again with the spatula and thought it had run away. Turns out I injured it. I was able to get it in the cottage cheese container, put on the lid, and set it outside to freeze.

Now, where there's one....

Marching Band appreciation

Being an ex-marching band member, I find this college band (Boise State) show to be fantastic...

Kia Soul

In an attempt to rent a car I had never rented, I got the Kia Soul.  I described the Soul to my colleagues as "goofy" and everyone agreed.

It is a little box of a car with the wheels way out at the edges and my rental was a kind of puke green color which added to the goofy factor.  The car is easy to get in and out of which was greatly appreciated with my back not being in the best condition.

You would think with all the apparent glass from the outside the visibility would be good but it is not for tall drivers.  The pillars are in bad spots and the interior rear view mirror is so large that it blocks a good portion of the windshield directly in front of the car.  So bad is the blockage that I almost turned right into an oncoming car because I could not see it at all.  Thank goodness I had a passenger at the time who could see.  This blind-spot issue is a huge problem though once I realized it, I took extra precaution.

The Soul is fun to drive and can zip along though at highway speeds there is a good deal of road noise.  That isn't all the unexpected for such a little car.

I used the hands-free phone which worked very slick.  It is voice activated and very easy to setup.

Because of the problems with visibility, I cannot recommend this vehicle.

Time for crazy roads

Had to drive to Edina yesterday which is usually an easy 20 minute drive.  But the roads are still a mess in many places.  There is just so much snow and no place to put it.  Especially intersections where streets have been plowed pushing the snow into the intersection.  I had planned ahead and it took the entire 45 minutes.

Many streets have very narrow sections where two cars cannot pass so you have to hope there are is some courtesy and people take turns to let each way get through.  To help out the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis have called back-to-back snow emergencies.  However, I think the snow plow drivers must be exhausted.  My street is a snow emergency street and usually plowed first thing but the second plowing hasn't happened yet and the street is very narrow because they haven't been able to plow curb to curb and not sure they really can.

Now, this is crazy cold

Super cold today.  It was 2 degress this morning at 6:30am.  My temperature gauge shows 9 degrees now.

Compare this picture with yesterday's pic...now the snow has almost completely covered tha patio chairs.  I'm going to take my alley neighbor's offere to use his snowblower to clear the back walk and garage pad.  Someone has already cleared part of my garage pad....have no idea who.

 Example of car buried in plowed snow.  This guy has to get this moved though I don't know how even a tow truck could move this one.

I still made it to coffee shop this morning.  Many thanks to Uptown business association for keeping the sidewalks clear.

Not too many folks at cofffee this moring but steady stream of customers.

Now, this is crazy snow

Pictures just don't do this snow storm justice.  This was taken at about 1:50pm.  Forecasts are saying it should snow another 5 or 6 hours.  Then the wind is supposed to really pick up.

The wind is already fierce now.  I had shoveled a path from the back door to the garage at 11AM.  That path is pretty much gone already.

I'm not shoveling the front sidewalk until this thing is over.

Looking at the house from the garage, the "path" is center right.  You can just make out the drift on the right of what was the path.  The drift is nearly 3 feet tall at this time.

I did get the truck out and drove downtown for my workout at 11am.  I almost didn't make it through the alley at 1:30pm even with four wheel drive.  I had the pedal to the floor and plowed my way through and into the garage almost going through the back wall!!

I am not going out again...at least not driving.

Lots of folks helping push cars stuck in intersections.  I helped a neighbor try to get down the alley. He finally just gave up.

Helped another neighbor carry way too many groceries from the grocery store to home.  These snow events bring out the community spirit in nearly everyone.

Stark but beautiful

Driving to client site in the morning the sun is rising behind me.  The landscape is all greys, browns and tans.

The few trees are bare and fragile-looking. But the Rocky Moutains in distance are blazing white with snow.  The front range is still snowless and the trees look almost black from this distance making the snow-covered mid-range standout even more.

Denver...last business trip of the year?

Most likely this is the last business trip of the year...yeah!  Heading back to Denver where it is forecasted to be a lot warmer than in Minneapolis.

I am in a world of pain with the most excurciating lower right back spasms.  I don't think I've had this kind of agony since 1996 when I ended up in back therapy.

At the recommendations of my Mother and Christine, I've been applying heat.  It does give temporary relief.  I searched the airport for one of those sticky heat bandages that Shaquil O'Neal advertises but no luck.  I did find Bengay and tried applying that in the men's bathroom.

I must of gone to the smallest bathroom in the airport 'cause there really wasn't room for me, my roller-board and putting on the stuff....but I did anyway.  It turns into instant heat that lasts about 20 minutes.

I'm now on the plane...in a middle seat...with no hope of getting up.  I have a feeling I'm going to need to request a forklift and sedation to get me out of here.  As long as I make no attempt to move in any direction, I'm okay.  But the slightest budge sends shocking pain through my back.  At least I was able to snag a pillow from a flight attendant.  I put the pillow in the small of my back to provide support.  The Delta seats have absolutely no padding which to be honest I think is one of the reasons I'm in this condition.

Enough of my petty whining....there is free wifi onboard thanks to Google.

Hyundai Sonata

I wandered the National Car rental lot looking for a vehicle I had not already driven.  There were several trucks but have found a truck is not a good business trip vehicle. 

Finally saw a car with a good looking"dress pant crease" design.. First I thought it was a Chrysler then finally able to interpret the badge to see that it was a new Hyundai Sonata.  The nice impression did not continue on the inside unfortunately.

The interior comes across as cheap with lots of plastic.  Other vehicles may have the same amount but the Sonata's really looks like plastic.  The faux-chrome lines are just that...faux.  The color just doesn't work.  The center console display screen appeared to have a liquid crystal defect which only added to the "cheap" feeling.

The driver's seat was not well shaped and the steering wheel could use a telescoping option.  The Sonata does have auto-down and auto-up driver's window.  I like the auto-up feature.  There are a number of various electronic and analog controls.  I didn't realize the center display was changeable until the last day of rental.  I didn't get a chance to use the integrated bluetooth phone.  It seemed to be voice activated which would be a nice feature.

There appears to be plenty of power to get around town.  In ECO mode there is a tendency to downshift frequently even when going up slight inclines.  The Denver elevation may have something to do with that.

Overall I'm not very impressed.  The exterior metal folds are handsome but the interior doesn't follow through at all.

Yes, it snowed.

Minneapolis got hit with a pretty big snow.  Officially 7 1/2 inches at the airport where a plane taxied right off the runway.  No one was hurt.

It is a beautiful light, fluffy snow.  Easy to shovel unlike the first storm in November.  The trees and bushes all are blanketed in white.

The most exciting things have been the 1980's era Cadillac sedan fish-tailing up Park Avenue then turning left from two lanes over.  Quickly followed by the man walking down the little enbankment from his house instead of shoveling the steps.  He slipped, fell and slid down to the sidewalk.

It is relatively warm today in the 20's.  The forecast is for much colder weather starting tomorrow.  I go back to Denver on Monday where it will most likely be warmer than here.

He can fly!

The amazing James Harrington had the opportunity to teach some workshops in North Carolina...but he had not flown since before 9/11.

After some convincing from various parties, he agreed to go.  And I was lucky enough to get to take him to the airport.  I'm in Denver this week so we were able to go through security together and our gates were very close.

Everything at the Minneapolis end went ultra smoothly....hopefully the rest of his trip went the same.

Read carefully

Billboard located in Uptown

Its beginning to look a lot like Chr...rrr...Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from snowy Minnesota....

Sick as a dog...but I'm home

Home this week because of Thanksgiving holiday.  But I've got a cold to beat the band.

You may have heard on the news that we got a bad ice storm Saturday night.  We did.  I drove Christine, Tom and Christine's parents to see Harry Potter. We got back just as it all started...thank goodness it wasn't any later.  Just walking home from Christine's place was getting treacherous.  By Sunday morning the sidewalks were rediculous.  We don't get these ice storms very often.

Gonna stay in bed mostly today.

A missed photo opportunity

My nephew, Kevin, flew through Minneapolis yesterday evening.  I picked him up at the airport and we had drinks and dinner in my neighborhood.

He spent the night.  We went to Isles Bun & Coffee for coffee and a pecan roll. Then I took him to the airport.

We had great conversations.  I finally got to learn what he does as a geolgist at the University of Utah.  He is on something that could be big for our country's energy resources.

We only had a few hours together but I forgot to take a picture.  He is very handsome, too, ladies.

Roasting Frankie by the Fire

Frankie has been fascinated and enjoyed the new gas fire insert everytime it has been on.

Yes, it snowed.

I haven't heard what the official amount was but it was a lot and it was wet, wet, wet.

You can see how it is sticking to everything.

Chrysler 300 (Touring)

I decided to go with a big car this week which will come into play later.

I think the 300 is a big car.  It looks big from the outside. It has those thin, mysterious, sinister looking windows all around.  I thought it would be difficult to see all around with this type of window design.  But it isn't.  I didn't notice any more blind spots than in any other vehicle.

Chrysler has gone very analog in this "Touring" version of the 300.  There is an analog clock in the center of the dash similar to Cadillac.  Even the A/C-heating is analog...knobs to adjust the temperature even in auto setting.  I have not seen that on any other vehicle.

The 300 has very good acceleration from all speeds...complete stop to passing.  The leather seats are comfortable.  The one thing that bugged me was a wind noise from the rear driver side.  Apparently the window or door fit is not exact.  These little noise nuisances are a big deal for me because it shows problems with workmanship.

Now to the big car effect.  It snowed in Denver this week.  A big car means a lot of surface area for snow to pile up on.  National Car did supply a decent size snow brush...thank goodness.  It was placed on the dash, whether on purpose or not, which made it very easy to find though not easy to reach as the dash is nearly 2 feet deep.

And now a compliment to National Car Rental.  As you may remember I had a very bad time with them in Denver the last time.  This time the experience was completely the opposite.  My reservation ended up on the wrong credit card again...I still don't know how that is happening.  But this time the supervisor was out in the check-in.  He took me immediately to a convenient counter and processed the correction quickly....though he had to press about a million keys and cycle through a dozen screens.  I greatly appreciated the quick fix.

Better Business

As you know I purchased a new boiler and a ductless air-conditioning system from my gas company, Center Point Energy.  I could receive an additional $500.00 off if I paid with cash. I have an equity line that I can draw from so a wrote a check on that account and got the additional discount.

Flash ahead to yesterday...I got my gas bill from Center Point Energy...for a huge some of money!  Turns out the check apparently did not go through and the first I knew of it was that my gas bill reflected the entire purchase amount.  And a $10.00 returned check fee.

I called the gas company to ask what had happened.  The billings person, Adam, said the check was returned and I owed them the full amount plus the $10.00.  I said that wasn't possible because there was more than enough money available.  He said to call the bank and have them fax proof.

I called the bank.  The bank operator said that no attempt had been made to withdraw money from the equity line.  I would have to go to a branch to have the fax generated for Center Point.

I went to the bank today.  Michele at the Uptown Branch was very nice, very patient and very persistent.  She tracked down that the checks I had were for an old account that no longer existed.  Apparently I had done a refinance on the equity line in 2004 and that generated a new account number.  US Bank had not given me new checks though.

Michele typed up a letter explaining what had happened and faxed to Adam at Center Point.  I called him to let him know it was there.  He got it and said he would remove the $10.00 fee.

Meanwhile, I realized that the $500.00 cash discount was not included in my gas bill.  I contacted my salesman who gave me Nancy's name and number at Center Point billing.  I called her to explain what had happened and since I was planning on paying the bill in full, could I not still be qualified for the discount.  She said she would talk to her supervisor and get to me.

Nancy called me later in the day to say the supervisor had agreed and she would credit my billing with the $500.00!!

I am super super happy on how I was treated by US Bank and Center Point Energy.  It took some effort on my part but not really that much.  The way everyone handled the situation was fantastic and shows that some businesses do care.

Christmas music!? Really!?

Christmas music being piped into hotel lobby!?  It really is too early for that.

Of course, the shopping center was fully decked out in lights.  And the trees around the client's office were being draped in lights today.  And I did buy new outdoor lights for the house this past weekend.

It was 70 degrees today in Denver.  Expecting snow by Thursday if not even by tomorrow.

Denver bound

Back to Denver this week.  It was a study in crowd behaviour this morning at the airport.  The flight attendants were late so people gathered around the gate.  The group kept growing and were well out into the aisle way. 

Ours was gate F1, the first one and at the "top" of the concourse, therefore, everyone waiting in the concourse was blockng the rest of the 15 gates.  One guy in particular just parked himself right in the middle and was oblivious to all the people trying to get around him.  No one said anything to him.  A woman next to me kept shaking her head and I knew she was thinking the same thing as I was...."Why don't you move out of the way, sir?"

Minnesota AIDS Walk award

First coffee (first Saturday of the month) had a surprise element...Rosie's Art Ensemble team for the 2010 Minnesota AIDS Walk received their sixth place award!

That is an improvement up from seventh last year.  Congratulations to the team and all the donors.

A smile and a laugh

I was making my morning walk to the coffee shop.  It was cold and crisp and the sun was rising.  The maple tree in front of the church was a blaze of yellow.  Leaves were wafting down...floating...shining...making me smile.

Then a leaf crashed right in my face!  It made me laugh.

It was one of the best starts to a day ever.

And the annual ginko leaf drop as it finally got cold enough this morning.

Also, my Mom and I had an email discussion over whether the fruit of a ginko tree stinks...you have to have a female ginko tree to have fruit.  Most cities try not to plant femail ginko trees.  There happens to be one done the block from my house.

I had claimed that there was no smell.  Well, there definitely is.  The fruit is all over the sidewalk and I stepped all in it.  By the time I got home, I (my shoes) stunk up a bunch.  Avoid ginko fruit.

Before the freeze

Clipped these off before the A/C outdoor unit was installed and before the first big frost.  Thought they looked pretty.

Trail of Terror -- boo!

Christine, Kay and I made our annual trek to Shakopee for the "Trail of Terror" fun and scariness last Saturday...the night before Halloween.

It was a great night for a hay ride and scare.  We had a couple of small girls in front of us on the hay ride and they were genuinely frightened by the ghouls and goblins...lots of goblins.

This year's fright maze was particularly good.  Kay lead the way as we traveled through the long and very dark passageways.  Several frights had us all screaming but Kay took the prize when this very small clown had her flailing her arms and stamping her feet.  I laughed and laughed until a tall clown scared the you-know-what out of me.

Way, way fun!

A kind of delicate subject

I have mulled over blogging about my surgery today but think may be it might help someone. As I've discovered other people than my family and friends read this occasionally so I'm going to briefly talk about the surgery.

Last year as most of you know, for my 50th birthday, I entered a bodybuilding contest. I did a 12 week contest preparation program of restricting carbs in my diet and adding a lot more cardio work. By the day of the competition I had lost 20 lbs. In reality I probably lost a bit too much weight and lost some size.

But getting down that lean and completely shaving my chest for the contest, I noticed a large bump or lump under my right nipple. Having done bodybuilding workouts for years and being fascinated with bodybuilding, I knew what gynocomastia was. If you do an internet search on gynocomastia and bodybuilidng, you'll see that it is commonly caused by anabolic steroids. I have never taken steroids though I have used what were called hormone precursors in the 90's.

When I performed a self-examine of the lump, it felt hard and a little sore. I made an appointment to have my general practioner take a look. He concurred that it was hard or fibrous we scheduled a mammogram. Yes, a mammogram for a man. Men can get breast cancer and there is a history of cancer including breast cancer in my family.

I had the mammogram and a sonogram. The doctors reviewing the results concluded that the lump was not cancer and diagnosed as gynocomastia.

I have kept most of the weight off since the competition....have kept up the cardio...and have been more careful of what I eat. The gyno was not noticeable with my arm at my side but to me very pronounced with arm up. I also felt that having it on one side and not the other...being asymmetrical...just didn't seem right.

It was time to do something about this if only for my personal vanity. But also because it was so fibrous (hard) and was starting to bother me when I picked up Frankie. I visited two different cosmetic surgeons. Having decided on the one who treated me the most professionally and getting pre-approval from my insurance -- very, very important -- I had the surgery today.

The staff at the Abbott Surgery Center were wonderful. It took three tries and three techs to get my IV in...that was not fun. The operation itself took about 30 minutes. It as an excision -- cut me open and cut it out. I have not had any effects from the anesthesia which I have had before.

Many, many "THANK YOU's" to Jenny Batten for taking me and picking me up and to Christine Peters for sitting with me both at the hospital and at home.

A crowded house

At one point today there were at least 6 contractors in or around the house installing a new boiler and air conditioning.

Here is the old boiler being disconnected. This boiler was probably installed in the 1970's and was working fine. It's efficiency rating was also probably in the 70's.

Here is the new boiler installed and tested. It is a lot more complicated and has an efficiency rating of 93. It vents to the outdoors (one of those white pvc pipes) and has a temperature sensor outside the house so that it knows how hard to work.

The air-conditioning system is called a mini-split. There are two units indoors (pic below) and this unit outside which is actually a heat pump so can provide cooling or heating or simply dehumidifying. One great side benefit is the electrician installed an outside electrical outlet..which I've wanted since forever.

You can tell from this picture the size of this Fujitsu indoor unit. For testing the tech turned the unit on for heat. It is utterly silent. I didn't even know it was running except for feeling a slight, warm breeze when I walked by.

Back home from weekend in Virginia

Made a weekend trip to Virginia to vist Mom with my cousin, Deb, and her partner Linda. Here we are with my sister, Carol, at the Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport.

One of the many planes in the museum. There is a Concorde, Boeing 707 passenger plan, a very cool looking Lockheed super jet, a space shuttle, satellites, and more planes, gliders, helicopters and rockets than you could every imagine.

A quick turn-around

Got home late last night and flying to Virginia today for a weekend family visit.

Kind of a last minute trip to join my cousin, Deb, and her partner to see Mom and other family.

A second Fall

The Fall colors are peaking here in the Boston area so I'm getting to enjoy another Fall. 

The leaf colors in Minnesota are pretty much done but here, west of Boston, the colors are fantastic.  The drive from my hotel to the client's office passes a reservoir surrounded by trees in the most beautiful shades.  The sun was just up and there was mist on the water...wish I could have stopped to take it all in.

Heading home this evening then up in the air again tomorrow for a quick weekend trip back East to visit family.

Craziness at the airport

Early flight to Boston today.  I intended to leave the house at 5:30 for a 7:05am flight.  Didn't get out of the house until 5:45 but still thought it would be okay.

Got to the airport where long lines for parking garage but made it through quickly and found a parking spot right away.  My flight was departing from the bottom of G terminal so going to use the mid-terminal security entrance.  Got off the elevator and the security line was back to the car rental counters.  Crazy crazy long.

Okay, I'll go to the main terminal and get through quickly in the Elite status line. Ride the tram to the main terminal and take the escaltor up to gate level.  Chaos!  Lines of people snaking all over the place.  It is dangerous on the escaltor as there is no room for people to step off!  And this is a more than two-story escalator!

There is no way to determine which line is which.  I have never seen such a mess....I actually accidentally type crazi-mess in the title line which is the right description.

I walked around to the down escaltor and decided to take my chances at the mid-terminal security entrance.  Rode the tram back and the line had grown just a bit more.  I figured there was no way I way making my flight.  It was not base 6:30 and it had already started boarding.

Chatted with the other guys in the line.  No one was cranky or freaking out.  What are you to do anyway?  The line moved fairly well and I am typing this from the air on my originally scheduled flight.  There are several empty seats so I'm thinking not everyone was as lucky as I was.

A big wind?

Stepped out the back door yesterday afternoon to this sight.

The umbrella, table and umbrella base had been picked up and tossed against the gas grill.  The chair in the left of the picture was to the right of the table so it was blown about 6 feet!

One of the umbrella ribs broke...it had already been damaged so really was good it was the one that broke and not one of the good ones.

I used a dowel, my drill and a stove bolt to fix it today.  All is back to normal.

The woman who sold me my house in 1991 passed away

The cats have been acting strange so I thought maybe the previous owner, Elizabeth Poshek, was "visiting" again.  I searched the internet for Elizabeth's obituary but was not able to find it.  I did find her sister's, Gertrude, who sold me my house in 1991.

She passed away just the past May!  She was 101 years old.  I think her mass was at Rose's church!  She is buried in the cemetery down the street.


Gertrude Poshek
Age 101, of Los Angeles, CA Died May 27, 2010 At Huntington Memorial Hospital, Pasadena, CA. Gertrude, also known as Trudy, was born in Silver Lake, MN. She spent several years in the Mpls. area including working as a private secretary to Sears executives. She and a friend owned and operated PO's Restaurant on Lake St. in the early 1940s. Later, she moved to Los Angeles continuing her career as a private secretary and executive assistant in the aircraft industry. Trudy enjoyed traveling and visited many foreign countries. She also liked to sew and crochet and did much reading. She was one of 11 children, with one surviving sister, Eleanore Ashman, of Hemet, CA. Trudy was greatly admired and loved by many nieces, nephews and other family members and friends. She had a wonderful sense of humor and a perfect sense of timing in telling her many jokes and stories. Mass of Christian Burial Tuesday, (June 8), at 10:00 AM at Incarnation Catholic Church, 3817 Pleasant Ave. S., Mpls. Interment Lakewood. Visitation 9:00 - 10:00 AM Tuesday at the Church. Memorials to donor's choice. 

The usuals at Old Chicago Halloween beer tour kick-off

You guessed it.  Bunny, Rose, Amy and me at Old Chicago Uptown for the kick-off of the Halloween beer mini-tour.

The food was great.  The fun was better.

The Three Faces of Fall

The three ginko trees in front of the house.  The closest one is almost still all green.  The next in green with lots of yellow.  The third is blazing yellow.

When the sun is shining in the evening, the sight is so beautiful.

Highway Clean-up...the final

Huge "thank you" to the Women of Minnesota and JT.  We had a beautiful day for the highway clean-up.  Complete opposite of last year at this time when it had snowed! 

It was in the high 60's, though it felt warmer, and gorgeous Fall color.  The group of ladies to the right are the best.  JT had to leave before the picture taking but cannot thank him enough.

The Dairy Queen is are start and finish locale.  It is so nice to have an ice-cream after all the trash pickup.

At the opposite end of our two miles is a gas station and convenience store.  It also has a dinosaur in front but the poor guy has lost his tail this Fall.

From the road it looks like the dinosaur has taken a big dump!

Speaking of dumps... a vote was taken on whether to renew our committment to the Minnesota Department of Transportation Adop-a-Highway program.  The vote did not win (it was actually a tie), therefore, this was our last clean-up of Highway 10 outside of Elk River.

The last apple...a perfect one.

I had to pick the last apple before the squirrels got it.  It was part of a pair high up and out on the tree.

The other was being eaten from the bottom.  I can only assume the squirrels were jumping up and taking bites.

This one is pretty much unblemished and measures 3 inches in diameter!

My brother's birthday

My oldest brother would have been 61 today.

Happy Birthday, Bill.

Dodge Avenger

I just about forgot to do my auto review from last week's rental.  I guess this blog is read more widely than I thought.  Look at the comment posted to my rant about traveling back from Denver.

The Dodge Avenger...what a name.  It sounds like a superhero.  The experience didn't start out very well.  I hit my head on the roof pillar when I first got in.  I don't think I've done that before with any vehicle.  Granted my Ford Escape is taller and has larger door openings, but I was not happy about hitting my head.  I took extra care for the rest of the week.

The rental Avenger was a very basic model.  No extra buttons nor displays....adequate.  It took a little time to get in the groove of the transmission.  Once I understood where the sweet spot was, the car performed very adequately at highway and local speeds.

Unlike some Dodge vehicles, I did not have trouble seeing out in all directions.  There really isn't much good or bad to say.  The Avenger is an adequate vehicle.

bald-eagle sparrow update

No longer bald-eagle marking, our sparrow has gone almost entirely white and has been named "Marilyn" for Marilyn Monroe in 'Some Like It Hot'.

She is fairly fearless of people and still hangs out at Isles Bun & Coffee.  May be she should become there new logo?

Well, at least I was upgraded to first class

Getting to my flight yesterday was one aggravation after another.

Returning my car didn't go smoothly as usual. The checker-in guy asked if I wanted to keep it on my credit card...Discover. Of course, he had already pressed the end button before I could say "no." So I had to go inside to the desk where there was one person working.

The one National Car rental agent was helping one customer. They discussed travel options, how the toll pass works, how much the toll pass costs, how the toll pass works, how much the toll pass costs, over and over. Meanwhile another National Car employee was wandering around. That guy added coffee beans to the coffee machine and wandered around some more.

I flagged him down to see if he could help. Oh, no, he doesn't do that but he'll get someone. He didn't. Finally the one agent was available. He had to explain that the other guy didn't know how to do anything except the kiosk. The kiosk is self-service....SELF-SERVICE!!! -- you are not supposed to need a person to work with you!

I finally got to the airport. The security lines were long which is typical of Denver. I went to the secret terminal A entrance which was great because the premiere/first class line was empty so I walked right up to the TSA checker. And stood there....and stood there...as I waited for the TSA agent to gesture me forward as every other one has done. Instead he rather snidely says, "You'll have to work yourself in." Nice.

Got through that and got in line for baggage x-ray and scanning. Just as my stuff gets to the entrance to x-ray machine...it comes to a halt. The x-ray machine dies. The TSA agent that can't see anything says it will be five minutes. Five minutes? Really? And you know that because???

Turns out, of course, it is dead, caput, finished. Me and all the rest in line have to try to gather up our now spread out crap and move to another line. Thanks to the kindness of strangers, I made it through quickly.

In the scheme of things, these were all minor irritants and I should be happy they all happened in one trip. This is not the normal thing....thank goodness.

A moment in time

Walking on the second level of the client's four story atrium...looking out the four story glass wall toward the Rocky Mountains...three hot air balloons floating in the sky...very near.

It was beautiful. I tried taking a photo with my camera but it was too bright. The brief time the balloons were perfectly framed by the windows with the mountains in the backgroud, was awesome.

I found me a Popeye's

There are tons of shopping malls, shopping centers and restaurants near the client's office and to/from hotel.

Driving to a sushi place one evening, I passed a Popeye's. Most everyone knows I really like Popeye's fried chicken.

I wanted to get out of the office for a bit. The weather is gorgeous and I needed some air and sun. Turns out the Popeye's is part of a gas station/convenience store. I'm sure this food isn't all that healthy but I love it and I love finding sommething that makes me happy when I'm away from home.

Spring Green, Wisconsin

This weekend was the annual road trip to Spring Green, Wisconsin to see a show at American Players Theatre and generally have fun and relaxation.  It was a great trip.

This year were Dave, Me, Rose, Kathy, Meagan and Michael.

Meagan and Michael drove up from Iowa City.

You can't make a trip to Wisconsin without picking up some beers. We made a usual stop at Burnstad's in Tomah and made our own six pack with mostly Wisconsin beers...theSchell's Snowstorm is a Minnesota beer.

We saw "The Circle" by Somerset Maugham. It was a chilly night at the top of the hill.

During the day we went to House on the Rock. It takes a blog entry all on its own which will come when I get back from Denver this week.

Working from home...until Friday

Home this week until Friday when it is time for the annual road trip to The American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

The apples have turned red.  This picture is a bit Charlie Brown looking but in real life, I think it is beautiful.

Shared one with my neighbor Roxi as we chatted across the fence.  It was very very tasty.

Kia Soul

The return of auto reviews....Aunt Donna :-)

There just aren't that many different vehicles available but I'll try to find the ones I haven't had before.  So this week I saw this strange looking little car at the end of the row.  I really didn't know what it was until I got up to the front grill and saw the Kia badge.  The upholstery has "Soul" all over it...so a Kia Soul.

This thing is small on the outside but fairly roomy on the inside.  The Soul is square like the Honda Fit and not a silhouette I particularly care for.

The drive from the airport to the client site is high-speed toll way the whole way.  The Soul zips along just fine at tollway speed but there is a lot of road and wind noise.  The controls are easy to use and reach.

The Soul probably gets good gas mileage but there is not a readout to tell you.  The model I rented was pretty basic.  I think a manual transmission would be more fun to drive.

Back home...flying is dreadful

Got back home last night.  We even landed "early" according to the pilot.  Of course, when the times are padded, making an early landing is easier.

The flight was packed.  And I mean packed.  I had a window seat with what felt like three other people.  The rows are so close and the seats so narrow I don't know why they even bother putting in seats.  In addition there is virtually no padding in the seat bottom so almost immediately my butt check was screaming.

The airline is Delta and the plane is an MD-90.  Dreadful.

Very smoky

Monday driving from the airport to Broomfield, the mountains were incased in thick smoke and smog from the two fires.  The northern part of the mountains were completely obscured.

But as I got closer to the mountains, it appeared to clear up some.  And by the end of the day it was dramatically clearer.  The fire closests to Boulder was declared under control.  The more northern one was still being worked but higher humidity and lower temperatures were helping the fire fighters.

This morning the mountains were once again clear and beautiful.

Back to Denver area

It has been several weeks without business travel.  This week I go back to Broomfield, near Boulder where the devastating fire has destroyed several homes.  I hear on the radio this morning that another fire has started near another town in the same area.

Rabbit no more

Just a day after I caught my Mrs. Rabbit and one of the squirrels meeting to plan a possible assault on my apple tree, I found Mrs. Rabbit flattened by a car right in front of the house.

It was a gruesome sight.  I did not want her body to suffer anymore indignities so I picked her up with a shovel and have disposed of her remains.

While saddened by the death of any animal, I do believe she lead a very active and fruitful life.  I also would not put it past the squirrel gang to have lured Mrs. Rabbit into a death trap by possibly encouraging her to cross the road just as one of the many vehicles was barreling down upon her.

As if the weather knew...

What a difference a date makes.  When the calendar turned to September 1, our weather has been completely different.

We've gone from tank tops, shorts and sandles to light jacket, long-sleeved t-shirts, jeans and shoes from August 31 to September 1.  I'm not complaining.  It is just so odd.

As if to say "We cannot be defeated!"

Walked out to the backyard this morning to find the umbrella tie lying on the patio table.  The squirrels had eaten the shoestring with the mothball sock that I've used all summer to keep the umbrella closed tight.

Also, an apple had been picked from the tree and half eaten.  I am hoping that just the potency of the mothballs has decreased so I'm adding more mothballs to the socks.

Unexpected Travel

I found out this week that my employer no longer has a tech support office in Minneapolis.  My laptop has had problems for over a month and I finally got someone to take a look at it.

Turns out the closest place to get the laptop fixed is Rochester, Minnesota.  I could have mailed it in which would have meant at least 3 days without it and therefore no work.  So I drove to Rochester this morning.

The Rochester facility is enormous and blue and so much of it is empty.  It is an okay drive that takes exactly 1-1/2 hours each way.  It is frustrating that this is now the situation with support.

Home this week and next

With the Labor Day holiday coming up, I don't have to travel for work this week or next.  Yeah!

One drawback to not traveling so much is that I'll lose my high status with American Airlines and with it no more automatic upgrades.  I have been very spoiled getting to travel first class even on the short flights. 

I fly Delta more now because there are direct flights to Denver where American does not.  Delta did partially matched my AA status and Delta has a more liberal upgrade policy.  I have been upgraded to first class a number of times on Delta where if I had similar status on American, I would not have been.

I need some more miles to re-qualify for a decent status on American and I have a long way to go to re-qualify on Delta for my existing status.  American and Delta are in different frequent flyer programs though the requirements are pretty much the same.

There is more to having the status than just the first-class upgrades.  The higher your status the more matching points you can make and, therefore, the easier it is to qualify for the next year.  It is kind of a vicious game but with the amount of travel I do, airline status makes things more comfortable.

706 miles and 49 hours

We did it!  The Alspaugh kids and mom made a 706 mile roadtrip over 49 hours from Virginia to New Jersey to Deleware and back.  The six surviving children of Gracie and Loyd Alspaugh traveled and saw each other in the span of less than 12 hours.  While we weren't all in the same place at the same time, this was a close to a family reunion you could get.

Started the trip from Mom's apartment on Thursday morning.  Look how happy we were.  Six adults, all regular drivers and not regular passengers, in a seven passenger van.

We hit traffic and construction right off the get go but that is to be expected.  It took longer than we'd planned but we did make it to New Jersey to surprise John on his 55th birthday.

John was expecting me and Mom and was super suprized to see Carol, Betty, Spade (Loyd) and Bev pour through the door.

John's New Jersey family, Jennie and Charlie, had kept the secret and helped plan the surprise.  We all went out to dinner in Allentown.

Betty had the idea to take the Cape May ferry from New Jersey to Deleware for the roadtrip to see Lea.

We got an early start from New Jersey because we were afraid of running into more traffic or construction.  We didn't and made it to the ferry earlier than planned.

The ride across was great.  Time to relax, see dolphins, eat and not be in the car!

We met up with Lea and daughter Kathy at the Deleware State Fair Grounds in Harrington, DE.

Back in the car for another family dinner.  It was further than expected and nerves were getting frayed.

Being close to the ocean we went to a big seafood restaurant and had another big meal.

Saturday morning we headed back to Virginia. Everyone got up and ready and we headed out earlier than planned. With no construction or traffic, we made it back to Mom's by 11:00am.

It was truly a special occasion with stories that will last a lifetime.

Ahh, nothing in particular

Taking a day of vacation to do nothing in particular.  After several weeks of business travel and personal travel on the weekend, I'm looking forward to this day of basically nothing.

Flying back East to visit family tomorrow.  Might actually see all my brothers and sisters in almost the same time and place!  That hasn't happened in years.

More north cabin photos

view of lake from cabin

card game drop-in

the happy cabiners - me, Jenny, Michael

North cabin photos (one)

Only one photo uploaded because the connection at the hotel is not that good and I can't edit the pictures to be smaller.

This is Jenny and Andrew's cabin as seen from the lake. The lake is called Gust Lake.

Great weekend and now back to Denver

Quick note.  Got back from Jenny and Andrew's north Minnesota home.  Pictures and more when I have more time.

Back in Broomfield (Denver) this week for work.

I don't think I've seen this happen before

Delta flight from Denver to Minneapolis.  I was in seat 1B on McDonnell Douglas 90.  That is first row of first class...two seats on right and two seats on left.  1B is the seat that kind of sticks out into the aisle.

During the takeoff climb, the cockpit door flies open!  I can see the pilots clearly, the cockpit controls, and out the front windows.  The cockpit door was open for awhile before the lead flight attendant got up to try to close it.  The plane is at a pretty steep angle and she had difficulty pushing the door closed...let alone the danger of standing while the plane is taking off.

Not a word was said by anyone.  The flight attendant got the door closed and sat back down.

Gorgeous sunset

This picture hardly does it justice.  The sunset last night over the rockies as incredibly beautiful.

We drove into Boulder for dinner and once we got back to the client's office in Broomfield, the clouds were ablaze in color.  The client office is on top of the tallest hill in Broomfield so the view was spectacular.

Also, you can't see them in the photo but there were probably a dozen bunny rabbits in the grassy areas around the entrance to the building.  Someone had babies recently! :-)

A Minnesota weekend

What a busy, fun and hot weekend.  It acutally started on Thursday with Rose.

For Rose's birthday we went to the musical "Gospel at Colonus" at the Ordway in St. Paul.  We both had histories with this show from the 1980's.  I was a production assistant when it was at Arena Stage in 1985.  Rose was working at the Guthrie in the accounting office when the same show was done there in 1987.

There are several of the same cast still in the show!  It was quite astounding to be taken back 25 years.  I recall so much of the show and the people.

Friday night Rose and I again so yet another show.  This time it was at the Guthrie. The opening of "The Scotsboro Boys."  This was an astounding production....a musical about a very important event in American race history.  It is difficult to describe and telling the plot doesn't do it justice.  It was simply amazing.

JT

Saturday was first coffee at Java Jack's.  And JT and Linda Taylor invited a bunch of folks to their place on Crystal Lake for some fun on the lake.

The Taylor's are the best!  They are featured in the pictures to the left on JT's tree-top deck that overlooks the beautiful lake.

Linda

We boated around part of the lake in the pontoon boat while the kids were having a blast tubing in the speed boat. Both boats ended up in the center of the lake, were tied together, anchored and most of us jumped in to cool off, swim and float.

Chad cooked the best sweet corn on the grill. People brought food to share and grill.

We then waited for the neighbors incredibly illegal and awesome fireworks display. JT and Linda tooks back out on the pontoon so we could see the fireworks from the water. Definitely not disappointing.


Sunday was Art Fair day.  I met Christine at our coffee shop around 9:30am.  We finished the crossword puzzle and headed to catch the free shuttle bus to Powderhorn Park Art Fair.

I had already strolled through most of the Uptown Art Fair Saturday and today...and so had Christine.

I had never been to the Powderhorn Art Fair.  The bus was fantastic because it was air conditioned and fast.  It was hot and going to be getting hotter.

I had a mission to find the artist that had done my copper fish in the garden.  We didn't find him are anyting really similar but Christine did find two pair of earrings.

We then caught the shuttle to the Loring Art Fair.  There we found these great copper butterflies.  You can't tell from this photo but they kind of float above the ground on copper wire.  I also found two small painted copper fish to add to the one already in the garden.  A different artist so not exactly what I was looking for but sort of close.

It was now really really hot and humid.  We got some food and water at Loring.

We caught the shuttle bus back to Uptown and strolled through a part of the fair that neither had been into yet.  The heat and humidity were high, high, high....so a beer was our next stop.  It was good.

We headed down Hennepin....me to home and Christine to Lucia's to pick up a cake for Tom.

I turned on the A/C in my bedroom and passed out for a while.  About 6:45pm these realy dark clouds showed up and the temperature dropped from 96 to 82.  Relief!!!

Tomorrow I head to Denver for the week.