storm alert!

it has been said before that the local twin cities news stations love to over sensationalize upcoming weather events. it happens in the summer with tornado warnings and in the winter with winter storm warnings. the local weather forcasters were forecasting this storm a week in advance. "folks, this is REALLY it". terms were being thrown around like "worst winter storm in years", "up to 18" of snow likely", yadda yadda yadda. having been burned countless times before in similar situations such as this, i took this news with a bit of skepticism. still, i thought, maybe they are right this time. maybe this IS the big one?? i imagined a last minute run to the grocery store, rationing food & water, filling the tub with water to boil, etc. it was more like the peanuts episodes where lucy talks charlie brown into kicking the football while she holds it in place. burned again. now, true, we did get a fairly sizable dose of snow, somewhere between 8"-12" but for God's sake people! so what? it snowed! It's winter time in minnesota and it should not be this big a deal. occasionally it has been know to snow in minnesota in the winter. not often, but occasionally. it did snow enough for a huge snowplow to completely wipeout my mailbox on the corner. saw it all happen from my living room window about midnight saturday night. so..except for getting the chance to use my snowblower for the first time this winter, and letting the city of new brighton replace my mailbox, it was a downright uneventful storm. more later...

mental health...

burning my first PTO of the year tomorrow and monday. hope to get to afton alps tomorrow for my annual ski outing. ironically, our first real winter storm of the season is scheduled this weekend. last i heard a round later friday and again on sunday. ski trips should never be postponed due to "snow"? we'll see. have some odd jobs to complete around the house as well. it will feel good to not have to answer a cell phone for a couple of days. more soon...

Happy Birthday KJF!...

the card may be late but the post is on-time! hope you have a great birthday. while you're pampering yourself, don't forget to "pamper" danny too...or at least give him a "huggie". have fun, eat cake, and enjoy your day. and now, that that's over..who is next? oh yeah...ME.

february 14th...

happy hall-mark holiday, singles awareness day, valentines day!
more soon...

how to save $16...

(not my car)...as an added bonus to the afore mentioned streak of ungodly cold weather your car accumulates several layers of salt. salt is public enemy #1 when it comes to cars and you have plenty of it all over minnesota roads in the winter. it's a problem that compounds itself because the longer you go without washing it, the dirtier and saltier it becomes. the car washes generally shutdown when the temperature approaches zero so you can't wash it anyway. yesterday the temp made it to 23 degrees...it actually felt like light jacket weather. of course the car washes opened and lines of 10-12 cars could be seen, waiting in queue outside of every gas station in the metro area. multiply $8 x's 2 cars plus about 5-7 minutes for every car in line ahead of you and it's just not a very attractive scenario. your options are as follows: simply ignore the salty car and reason that it will most likely rain in the spring (wife's first choice), suck it up, get in line, and pony up for an overpriced mediocre rinse at the car wash, or my do-it-yourself option. i discovered that you can take a bucket of hot water, and a sponge (no soap) and scrub your car from bumper to bumper (or at least where the worst of the salt accumulates) and have it come out pretty clean. give it a rigourous towel down (to prevent freezing and smudges) and it's almost as good as a real wash. sure, it takes a little time and some elbow grease but it beats letting your car rot, AND it looks 95% better.
i realize this isn't a real "discovery", like discovering north america or something, but it can get you by until the next "real wash". this tip has been brought to you by thirdthoughts.com.

when it's cold i'd like to die...

no, not really. the 10 consecutive days of sub-zero temps have not driven me to suicidal thoughts. merely quoting the title of a moby song from his 1995 release "everything is wrong". the truth is humans and inanimate objects hate the extreme cold. sure, they'll function begrudgingly for awhile, but sooner or later they will start to break down. feet and hands become numb in minutes, cars make noises that you normally never hear, there is zero humidity in your house (unless you have a humidifier) so you get a blue bolt of electricity every time you touch something metal. case in point, my garage door opener. it's something i use everyday and i take for granted the fact that i expect it to go up and down on command. earlier this week it stopped working. it just decided it was done with this cold weather. "why couldn't i have been installed in a warmer climate?...i never asked for minnesota" it no doubt thought to itself before it died.
at any rate, a technician came to the house yesterday and said a part could be replaced and it could be repaired. another option would be to replace the entire unit all-together, which of course is a more expensive solution. we don't know the exact age of the opener but we do know that it is probably approaching it's advertised end-of-life. patch it up for a couple of more years or go new? hmmmm....decision time.
they are talking about 20 degrees by middle of next week, which sadly will seem quite mild.
c'mon spring...we are ready.

the end is near...

it seems wierd to be talking about the end of winter while it is still below zero outside. it has been a mild one by most standards. we are currently experiencing the annual winter cold snap of several sub-zero days in a row. happens every year. however, i have only started up my snow-blower once and that was in the fall to make sure it would start. in a week or two we will be beyond the really cold weather and probably get a couple of rounds of the heavy wet snow which doesn't tend to stick around as long. there are signs that we are turning the corner. days are longer, cookie sales are over, roger clemens is starting to consider if he will pitch next year and if so for whom. we're getting there. slowly, but it's happening.
in other news, i'm selling a bunch of cd's on ebay to go towards an xbox 360. still waiting to collect, but all signs are pointing towards a new console in my near future. i could lie, and say it's for he kids, but who would i be kidding? i may let the kids play with it..occasionally.
oh, and it's the one year anniversary of my getting high-speed internet access from home. happy anniversary to me and comcast. how did i get by with dial-up all of those years?
more soon...