Spring Is In The Air...Polar Plunge

There may still be snow and ice all over the place but it is definitely starting to feel and sound like Spring.

A pair of  sparrows were gathering twigs and birds were singing loudly all over the neighborhood.

The sun is melting the enormous piles of snow creating amazing sculptures.

And then there there are those who jump into freezing cold water to raise money for The Special Olympics.

Crystal Lake where JT and Linda live hosted this Polar Plunge event. Rose, Amy, Bunny, JT, Linda, Diego and Hudson, and I walked across the lake to watch. From our vantage point we saw a lot of rear ends.

The costumes were great and the spirits even greater.

Friends along the way

Traveled home last night and met old and new friends along the way.

A co-worker and friend is working in Bentonville, Arkansas.  She flies through Dallas to get home in Denver.  We met this and last week at the A24 Food Court to catch up on work stories.

While I was waiting for Mindy, I fellow IBMer that I worked with in Chicago walked by.  Hadn't seen Scott in a couple years.  We caught up on stuff for a few minutes.

On the plane I had a nice chat with my row-mate.  He travels a lot for work so we shared road warrior stories.  And also in first class was Rita who I've mentioned here before.  We walked up the terminal hallway together to exchange more road warrior stories. She had been able to get out of Dallas the day of the snow storm by catching an earlier flight.

It makes the travel so much more pleasant when meeting new and old friends.

Not much to report

Back to Dallas today.  At least I didn't have to work over the weekend like the last three.

Been treacherous getting around town.  Between icy sidewalks from the thaw then freeze cycle and the pot holes in the streets, it isn't safe to walk or drive.

Pot holes in Uptown are really bad this year.  I think we've been spared (pun intended) the last few years with few or smaller pot holes.  This year is making up for it.  There is a whopper of a hole where I turn in to my alley and I've managed to hit it most times.

I think I'm losing my mind

For most of the week I thought I was going to be working from home next week.  And not working for my current client.  Things haven't been going well on the project but my participation didn't seem necessary.

Then there was a meeting between my boss who is also the executive on the project and the client's director.  It did not go well.  I had been invited to their meeting so I was there to witness it first hand.  It seemed most definite that I wouldn't be traveling to Dallas again.

Then I was offered a training class in Charlotte, NC for next week.  My hopes for working from home were being dashed by the opportunity to go to training.  Training opportunities don't come along very often so it would not be wise to pass it up.

Late in the afternoon it started to sound like I might be going back to Dallas next week.  My trip was confirmed while I was at the airport waiting for my flight home.  So I'm home for another weekend then back to Dallas for another Monday to Thursday.  Another week of travel will mean that I've worked away from home every week this year so far.

King Cake

I never heard of King Cake before yesterday.  It is eaten on Fat Tuesday before Mardi Gras.  And it isn't really cake but more like a large round cinnamon pastry with frosting.  It is very sugary and very good.

Dallas week

Back in Dallas this week.  There was still some snow on the ground from the record breaking storm on Thursday when I flew home.

Several tree branches down around the airport.  And just talked to someone here at client's that had several large oaks and crepe mrytles damaged by the heavy snow.  The power company announced this morning that they got everyone's electricity back on just today.

Supposed to be in lower 50's this week but still cold at night.

We got another couple of inches Sunday night through Monday morning in Minneapolis.  It is getting harder to shovel because of having to throw the snow so high.

2010 Ford Taurus

Rented from National again.  This time I kind of "shopped" for a vehicle.  National lets you choose your car unlike Hertz that assigns one to you.  I wanted something new or different. 

Saw a new Mazda3.  The trunk wasn't open so I got the key.  No key remote operation so rejected.  Saw a Volkswagen Beettle which I've had before and wasn't really interested in.  Then saw a new Ford Taurus parked in the Premium lane.  Figured I'd take it and see if they said anything.

I saw a bunch of these new Taurus's when I was in Bentonville.  The new model has a masculine, angular design.  You can tell a Ford when you in one.  The driver and passenger seating is cockpit-like with the high center console and substantial door trim.  GM's are generally more open and airy inside.

The new Ford Taurus is very fun to drive.  Dallas had the biggest snow storm ever on Thursday.  A co-worker and I went out for lunch and the Taurus had not problem with the snow and slush.

Some techno-features are indoor ambient lighting that is not only adjustable in intensity but also color -- 2 shades of blue, orange, red and green.  There is also a back camera which in itself is getting more standard but the display is actually in the rear view mirror.  It takes a bit to get used to the rear view image because I'm so used to using all the mirrors.  There is also proximity alarms when backing up.

The nicest feature is the simpliest.  The windshield wiper control simply requires turning the signal stem.  Intermittent is the first few turns and just keep turning to get continuous swipe and fast swipe.  Simply and intuitive.

The indoor trunk button is over on the passenger side which is kind of odd but at least there is an interior release.  The gear shift is in the center console and too close to the dash and cup holders.  In Park the shifter is too close to the dash.  In Drive it is tricky to use the cup holder.

Overall this is a great vehicle.  I was the first person to drive it.  There were only 5.1 miles on the odometer.  The fuel filler is a new design that doesn't require a cap.  The "Check Fuel Filler" info came on.  I opened the gas hatch door and accidently removed what ever the funnel thing is that fits outside the filler pipe.  I could not get it back on.  I'm thinking this design might need more work.

Dallas snow storm = travel nightmare

I made it home.
This morning at 12:45am.

It had started snowing around 4 am and snowed all day long.  There really wasn't any let up at all during the day and evening.  I left client office about 4pm.  It took my regular 15 minutes to get to DFW though the snow was sticking to the roads.

My flight was still scheduled to fly and only 30 minutes delayed which meant 6:20 departure.  There were tons of flights being canceled and the airport itself wasn't all that bad.  There were long lines at the ticket counters but gates were not too bad.

I got upgraded to first class again and boarded the plane about 6pm.  Four passengers got on before a maintenance man showed up.  The pilot told us there was a leak in the front galley.  It wasn't just a drip like he has seen before but a real leak.  The maintenance man, Rick, walked on the plane and said, "Holy, shit!" -- Okay, that's not a good sign.

The water was streaming out of the coffee maker nozzle apparently.  A call went to the tower to have a maintenance truck sent over. Meanwhile a box of paper towels showed up and blankets were being gathered.

The truck showed up but only stayed a few minutes.  He had to go to an international flight.  Rick kept working on the leak though a few times he said into his radio that there might need to be an equipment change...which means getting off and finding another plane.

Rick got the leak under control then went down to check the black boxes in the avionics room below the cockpit.  If water got in there, then the plane would definitely have to be taken out of service.  He came back to report that no water had gotten in the avionics room.  However, water had gotten into the cockpit.

Another truck was paged over.  A wet vac was attached to the truck and water sucked up.  More blankets more paper towels.  Success.

Boarding started again and everyone got on by 7:20pm.  The pilot then announced that we had to wait for de-icing.  The DFW de-icing station was close to our gate so we would hang out at the gate until called over.  He estimated 1/2 hour.  Well, an hour later we pulled away from the gate to get in line.  And another hour later, we pulled into de-icing station and got de-iced.  It was still snowing.

So it is now 9:20 and we are de-iced.  And we wait.  and wait.  and wait.  At 10:10 we leave de-icing to get to runway.  So while we were sitting in the de-icing area, no other plane can be de-iced?!  I didn't understand that theory.

We got to the runway and took off at 10:20pm. I noticed that nothing had been plowed!  I can only assume that DFW doesn't have any snow removal equipment.  The runway had snow on it!

The temperature never got below freezing so the snow was slushy but there was still quite a bit of it.

We landed at 12:15am to a clear Minnesota winter morning.  I got home about 12:45am totally worn out and not feeling so great.

Dryer sheets

So what is it with dryer sheets appearing out of no where.

This morning I was packing my clothes for return trip home.  I get a shirt out of the closet.  The shirt has been on a hanger.  I've already worn the shirt.  I had packed the same shirt for flight down.  I had already hung up the shirt at home when it was clean.

After ALL the above, I find a dryer sheet stuck to the shirt tail!  There has to be some scientific purpose or reason for dryer sheet adhesion.

Dallas snow

Every tv channel this morning only covered the weather and the traffic because of the snow.  Forecast is for 2 -5 inches.  Yes, inches.  You would have thought it was feet by the news coverage.

It isn't even below freezing so while it is sticking, it is mostly slush on the roads.  Dallas has so many elevated roadways though it does cause problems when it snows because they have a tendency to freeze up even when it is above 32 degrees.

But really?  Only weather and traffic!?  Hopefully there aren't any nuclear warheads headed for Texas because we would have no idea.

Snowy Departure -- Rainy Arrival

It was snowing at a pretty good rate when we boarded the plane in Minneapolis. But we pulled away from the gate on time and got de-iced. We only had to wait a while before heading to the runway and taking off.

Fairly smooth flight other than when I spilled craberry-apple juice because of my own clumsiness.

We landed a few minutes late to a rainy cold Dallas day. Yes, I'm back in Dallas....don't ask!

City Of Lakes Loppet

The quintessential Minneapolis event...the City Of Lakes Loppet.
1) outdoors
2) athletics and arts
3) winter -- snow and ice
4) Uptown location

Christine and I made it to one of the biking events this year. I thought the bike races were speed ovals but turns out they are agility races on a complicated course with turns.  The bike races are on the lagoon between Lake of the Isles and Lake Calhoun.  Was kind of interesting to watch but not so much.

The loppet gets people out and on the frozen lakes.  It is such a neat thing to have thousands of people out and about on the snow covered lakes.

The highlight for me is the luminary loppet on Saturday night.  There are thousands of candle luminaries made from frozen water.  The luminaries light the course for the cross-country skiers and those of us who just walk it.

There were fire artists.

There was a mystical forest lit with ice sculptures illuminated with candles.  There were candles in the trees. It was so beautiful and not really photographical unfortunately.

There was free hot chocolate...real hot chocolate not the instant stuff.  There were warming fires along the way.  There were snow sculptures.

Tide-to go is a no go

I went out to lunch yesterday to have pho.  Pho is a vietnamese soup with noodles and meat and sprouts which is very good and perfect on a cold, damp day like it was yesterday.  I use chop sticks to get the big parts and a spoon to get the juicy parts.

As would be expected with me, my shirt got splashed on.  And since this was a beef pho, the splashes were greasy.  I had plans to go see a play later in the evening and wouldn't have time to change shirts so I purchased a Tide To-Go instant stain remover stick at the Kroger...which for you Minnesotas I usually refer to as Bylerly's.

According to the directions, you just push the stick on the stain to release the cleaner then rub with the stick's tip.  Well, I did that....and did that...and did that.

My orange red grease specks turned into blue-green and orange-red big blobs.  The Tide To-Go removed a little bit of the stain but created a much bigger stain with its own chemicals.

I must say that I would not ever use this thing again.

Ford Flex

Finally a new vehicle to rent.  Back at National Car Rental where you get to pick your vehicle.  I wouldn't normally pick a large rental like the Ford Flex but I've been wanting to test one and figured I wasn't driving very much.

From the outside, it looks quite large and is shaped like a shoe box.  The floor is low though so easy to get in and out of.  The front seats sit on a pedestal so you ride high like a truck.  The pedestal kind of makes it cramped for your feet though.

The ride is very smooth and being up high and with plenty of glass, it is very easy to see around.  There is an available third row of seats.  They were in the seat position when I picked up the vehicle and I tried to lower them for my suitcase but couldn't figure it out.  There was a Ford Flex commercial on tv during the week and the lady had her hands full of groceries and flipped the seats with one hand.  I was able to after seeing the commercial.

There was one big problem.  The merge ramps to get on the highways around Texas are not very long and Texas drivers are not good mergers.  I floored the gas pedal to get me in the traffic but the Flex had a really hard time finding a gear and the vehicle actually started to swerve as the engine over-reved.  It was more than a little scary but I let up on the gas and it calmed itself.

I cannot recommend the Ford Flex given the above reaction.