Going out on a limb

under constructionEither going out on a limb or jinxing the weather....I think we've reached the maximum snow height.  I'm not saying we aren't going to get more snow but I do think we'll have more melting than accumulation.  I just hope I'm correct.

note the fish

compare with backyard under construction 2 years ago....
under construction

Old Chicago St. Patrick's Mini-Tour

 Bunny enjoying the not-so-appetizing-sounding mutton stew pizza.

Chef Tim at the Uptown Old Chicago often makes a pizza to fit the mini-tour kick-off party.  This year he made mutton stew pizza with lamb, carrots and a brown sauce on pizza dough.  It doesn't sound like it would be very good but it was excellent!

 Christy, our ever present server, kept us going forward on the mini-tour.  Let's just say Bunny and I are almost halfway through already.  Neither of us were driving.

Loretta heading for the free food...followed by Bunny and me.

Uptown Old Chicago is the best!  Lots of free food and giveaways.  Loretta and I won t-shirts and even though Christy REALLY tired to help Bunny, Bunny was stumped and didn't win anything.

I gave her the t-shirt I won.

Unbelievable

I can't believe it but I just caught another mouse!  I looked through the blog entries to find when the first one was...December 19th.

And there hasn't been a peep from the cats or odd behavior.  The cats and I were in the sun room.  I heard a noise from the kitchen.  Uno raised her head and looked in the direction of the kitchen but didn't make any moves to go look.  I did and the supposed sanitary -- you don't have to touch the captured thing -- trap had a mouse caught by its tail!. 

I don't know how it got caught and seemed barely captured.  The mouse started squealing so I thought the cats would come check it out.  Nope.  No one stirred...except the mouse and me.

I used a broom to get the supposed trap and mouse out from between the refrigerator and stove.  Then used my tub and lid technique to get the mouse out of the house.  This one is quite a live and well but we'll see how the it does in the cold of the back porch.

Oh, and by the way, the cats are still sleeping in the sun room!

What melts doth fall again from the sky

We got back all that melted and more.  The official number from the airport was 12.3 inches of snow from Sunday, 20th, snow storm.

At times it was coming down so hard, blowing so much, and so foggy, that you couldn't see to the end of the block.

But many "thanks" to a kind neighbor who snow-blowed my front sidewalk.  Don't know who it was but I paid it forward and helped a woman get her car out of the snow and down the road.

Nissan Maxima

For my last week in Denver (last week) I nabbed a new Nissan Maxima.  I was wishing the National Car Rental greeter a Happy Valentines Day just as the Maxima was being brought into the lot.  She smiled and gestured me to the car.

This was a new vehicle with just 4,000 miles and the new model version.  This version of the Maxima has much more bent medal than the older models.  The hood has folds in from the fenders and a fold at the center.  From inside the car it looks like a sexy wave.  And the rear has hips.

The interior is very roomy and comfortable.  One co-worked had a truck and the other a Toyota Yarris so it was up to me to drive to all our outings.  So roomy and comfortable that at least one person fell asleep as the Maxima cruised quietly and smoothly on the highway.

There is plenty of power at all speeds...from the stop light controlled highway entrance to passing at 60 miles per hour. The gauges are simple and large.  The tachometer indicator starts at the bottom of its large display and sweeps way to the top.  The redline is above 6,000 rpms.

This model was equipped with automatic HVAC temperature controls.  It really makes things easy not having to fiddle with the fan and temperature controls.  The seats are comfortable and have multi-way power control.

I think you can tell I really liked the Nissan Maxima.

National Car Rental really did step up to my complaint about having a supervisor in the return lane.  But the Maxima was put in the rental lanes having had the windshield wiped with a very dirty cloth.  It makes it difficult to see especially when the sun hits the smeared glass.  And it is impossible to remove without special rags or cleaning fluid.

Big Melt Down

A dramatic decrease in snow level from when I left Monday morning.  The sidewalks are even clear and you can see the ground in some places.

And this big ice sheet must of slid off the roof and spiked itself in the middle of the front yard!

A social week

view of Rockies from hotel

view of Rockies from hotel

Theoretically this is my last week in Denver.  Monday we went a National Hockey League game at the Pepsi Center in downtown Denver.  It was the Colardo Avalanche versus Calgary Flames.  The Pepsi Center is nicknamed "The Can."  And speaking of cans...the Flames opened a can of whoop-ass on the Avalanche.  Flames won 9 to 1!  Nine is a really high score in hockey.

Last night we went to the gym together.  And tonight we are going to Boulder to watch IBM's Watson take on Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter on Jeopardy.  If you haven't been following Jeopardy, an Artificial Intelligence computer built by IBM is taking on two Jeopardy champions.  Ken Jennings has won the most Jeopardy matches of anyone and Brad Rutter has won the most money.

Significant melting

It stayed above freezing overnight.  Amazing that it was as warm as it was Saturday and Sunday but to be 36 degrees at 6am was even more incredible.  The walk from the house to the garage was made easier by the amount of melting that occurred yesterday and during the night.

It would appear the ground under the snow is not frozen because there aren't that many puddles of water and the over 2 feet of accumulation is down at least 6 or more inches.  And the best news is that my efforts to get rid of the ice damn on the roof seem to have paid off.

There was no dripping into the downstairs bathroom and a glance up at the roof this morning showed no snow or ice on the backside of the sunroom roof.  I was concerned with the front side but....fingers crossed...no seepaage into the house. I'll still need to open up the ceiling this Spring and check for mold or damage.

Australia (87 photos), by Jeffery Alspaugh

Australia photos on SnapFish.
Click here to view photos

Chevy HHR

Well, there's a reason I have never rented an HHR....it is bad.

Easily mistaken for a Chrysler PT Cruiser...but not in a good way...I haven't liked the look has been one reason.  Right of the get-go, I should have rejected the thing right away because I couldn't get the seat adjusted to my liking.  The seats sit up high which I generally like but the windshield is very small so I needed the seat to go down and there was no such adjustment.

Because the driver is seating up high and the windshield is small and the review mirror is attached low on the windshield, there is a HUGE blindspot right in front of the vehicle.  This blindspot is even worse than a similar problem with the Kia Soul I described earlier.

In addition to the rear view mirror blindspot, the front AND rear pillars block the view AND the rear seat headrests are oversized AND block the view.  I'm not the only one to complain.  One of my passengers who is not tall made the same comment based on his rental of the HHR.

Let the complaints continue....the gauges are rediculous.  What's with the tachometer popping out in an odd 3-D way?  The venting (HVAC) controls are too low in the center console.  The driver is required to take their eyes off the road to make adjustments.  And with the varied weather in Colorado and now auto-setting for the heat/AC, a lot of fiddling with the controls was needed.

Speaking of Colorado weather, it snowed several inches one day.  While I've been spoiled with my own all-wheel drive, the HHR has front wheel-drive so I was not expecting too much trouble...WRONG!  I almost didn't make up a little hill because apparently there is very little weight over the tires and the traction control was simply telling me it was "low traction"  -- duh!

To be fair, after getting to the client site and the snow being a bit cleared, the HHR handled the roads in fine fashion.  That and my adapting to front-wheel drive only.

Like many quirky things, it starts to grow on you so someone who's had an HHR for a while probably doesn't mind its "problems."  But the extremely hazard blindspots situation is simply not acceptable.

They weren't kidding

Watching tv in my hotel room, I can hear the wind outside.  A message scrolls across the bottom of the screen that a severe snow storm is rolling into the viewing area. 

The wind sounds louder.  I look out and there is practically a blizzard going on.  The moon and stars were shining when I got in from dinner an hour ago!

Winter Like and Dislike

Like...

Another year and another City of Lakes Loppet and another Luminary Loppet on Lake of the Isles.

Such a beautiful event and such a great way to celebrate the winter...walking on a frozen lake with thousands of others...all being lit by candles in ice.

And beautiful snow sculptures.  If it is going to be cold and snowy, make the most of it....Minneapolis and St. Paul do just that.

It was also the closing weekend for the St. Paul Winter Carnival.

Dislike...
 The biggest ice damn in 3112 Emerson Ave history.  After so many big snows and only one little thaw, I have an enormous ice damn over the downstairs bathroom.

I've already had leaking into the bathroom.

 Here's how tall the snow is...I'd say that's a good foot and half deep.

And here's about as much as I could get.  This is from Saturday.  Today I discovered more leaking into the bathroom and got more snow and ice off.

I can't reach anymore from the ladder and I'm not about to step onto the roof itself.

Next weekend I'm going to have to open the ceiling in the bathroom and see what damage there is.  May be there'll be a way to add insulation.

In Memory...

My cousin Deb Adkins passed away yesterday. She was far too young and too much fun to be gone already. I'll miss you, Deb.

So close yet so far...or The Long And Winding Road

Stuck at LAX!  Sydney flight to Nadi, Fiji left a bit late and landed a bit late but that was okay because I had a long layover in the Nadi airport.  Couldn't do anything or go anywhere in Fiji unfortunately and it got dark soon after I landed.

Nadi, Fiji is 2 hours ahead of Sydney and still on the far side of the International Dateline.

Flight from Fiji to LAX left pretty much on time.  I was in business class on a Boeing 747.  Air Pacific does not have first class so business is the top of line but it isn't that top.  There are only 23 seats and they do almost recline fully but there are no other amenities to speak of.  I think the coach passengers actually got a better meal.

But I'm not going to complain too much.  I was able to sleep some even though it was probably the bumpiest flight I have ever had!  Pretty much continuously rocking and rolling...fortunately no stomach in your throat drops.

Got to LAX a little bit earlier than scheduled.  I had planned on trying to change my flight to Minneapolis via Chicago to an earlier flight through Dallas.  My checked bag was nearly the last one down to the carousel.  By the time I got my bag it was going to be a close call to get the earlier flight.

I called American Airlines to see if I could change the booking over the phone.  That's when I found out the flight to Chicago was canceled and so were any flights to Chicago OR Dallas for the entire day!!!

I am now in the American Airlines First Class lounge hanging out, getting some work done and making phone calls.  I was able to take a shower, shave and change clothes -- super yeah!

And I'm going to meet up with Jenny's friend Michael for dinner at the LA Experience restaurant here at the airport.  If Dallas re-opens, I'm scheduled for a 12:20AM red-eye then a 7:25am DFW to MSP on Wednesday.