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.