TC

6.29.2008

pride

Kassie and I went to Pride today. I forgot my camera, which made me unhappy for a few seconds. My phone filled in, not at all admirably.

We met a friend of Kassie's and her friend for the parade. I actually like parades, but not the ones at 7:00 in the morning. This one started at 11:00.

When the view didn't look like this,
we saw:
cowboys,
dogs,
Mike driving a bus (the stupid school bus!),
Doug handing out stickers,
Dana in a car (no picture),
many other people and things that won't go on my family-friendly blog, and
Al Franken running across the street to shake my hand.

On the way to catch a bus home, we saw
which is always nice.

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6.28.2008

mystery

Many, many thanks to the anonymous person who sent (?) me the Sprinkle Brigade's book, Sprinkle Brigade Volume 1. The package didn't even get properly postmarked, so I don't even know where it came from. Was it stamped, but not mailed? Who knows...

I can't really explain how delighted I am with what these folks have done with the simple dog dump, so maybe you should just poke around or buy the book and see for yourself.

update: Mr. Oblivious managed to miss that the book is from Dan and Teresa. Thanks!

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6.24.2008

turn it up and dig that groove, baby



honey bunches of oats is so good, you have to wear a hard hat!

ants

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6.15.2008

weekend getaway

After work on Friday, Kassie, Jeff and I drove to Savanna Portage State Park near McGregor, MN.

Here's our campsite:
And here's where Jeff wanted to be last evening:
The park ranger came by and told us there were severe storms headed our way. We decided that the cheap-ish tent I found wasn't going to cut it and opted to drive home last night. Jeff was pleased to leave, but we think he might be angry with us.

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6.05.2008

figures...

I started my bus for an eastbound trip on the 2 today.

Apply brake, start bus, put into gear. Put into gear. Put into...

The bus refused to go into gear. I noticed the CHECK TRANS light was on.

I shut the bus off to give it a couple minutes to think about what it had done.

Retry. Nope. It would not go into gear.

Call Control. They're sending a new bus, please let them know if I get mine moving.

I tried a few more times. I got a bite to eat. I tried a few more times. And I kept trying because I just knew that a mechanic was going to show up and it was going to go into gear. And I'd be some kind of idiot.

The mechanic showed up. He started the bus. He put the bus into gear.

DAMN IT! I knew that was going to happen.

I got a two-hour break out of the deal ,though.

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6.03.2008

mean as a bedbug

Today I saw a guy get pulled over by two cops on horseback. Is that embarrassing? I think I'd be too amused to be embarrassed or mad.
_____

Yesterday, a guy got on my 11. He was a bit drunk and his face looked like someone had dragged it across the sidewalk.

He told me his ex-wife sent him to get his card so he could get her cigarettes, and threatened to leave if he didn't. The 11 goes by Hennepin County Human Services.

I asked him why he cared if she left, since she was his ex-wife.

"She's five-foot-two and mean as hell! She told me that she wants cigs, drink... I have to take her to dinner and buy her tennis shoes!"

I laughed.

"She's mean as a bedbug! If I don't comply, this is what happens!" He pointed to his scabby nose.

Ouch.

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happy kid?

Recently, on my way home, I was stopped at a red light when I noticed a little kid, maybe four or five, carrying a bag of candy and singing. I'm guessing English is not the primary language spoken at his house, and I only say that to give him the benefit of the doubt. He was walking down the sidewalk toward me.

I turned off the stereo in the car and watched him. I was interested in what he was singing. As he got closer, I couldn't make out the tune or the words, until he looked at me, smiled, and sang, "F*** you!"

I gave him a look of mock horror. He smiled bashfully and put the candy in front of his face, then replied in song, "F*** you! F*** you! F*** you! F*** you! F*** you! F*** you!"

Fortunately, I got the green light so he didn't see me laughing...

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earworms

I couldn't get these out of my head the last couple days.

Twice as Much- "Hey Girl"


Twice as Much- "Step Out of Line"


The Three O'Clock, my favorite band for a very long time, covered "Step Out of Line." I don't have that mp3 on my computer yet, otherwise I'd demonstrate that the Three O'Clock did fairly faithful covers...

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egg vs. chicken

Kassie insisted that I tell this story. She loved it; I think she told her mom about it on the phone. I think it's OK.

I have purchased three games for my phone: Zuma (good), Dilbert Cubicle Chaos (OK) and Egg vs. Chicken (good). I'm not much a video game guy; I don't play them on my computer. But it's nice to have a way to kill time on my phone.

Egg vs. Chicken is a pretty amusing game in which the player needs to group eggs of the same color and fire them at the chickens. I especially enjoy the commie-egg back story. The worker eggs are fighting the Cluckocracy- the chickens. (Note: that Egg vs. Chicken download crashed my computer once and messed up the settings the second time I launched it.)

Egg vs. Chicken screenshot- it's simpler on my phone

Today I was playing Egg vs. Chicken on a layover. When it was time to go, I paused the game. I played it through the next layover, and paused the same game. When I got to my next layover, THERE WERE NO CHICKENS. I clumped all my eggs in groups and waited. I eventually fired them in hopes of drawing the chickens out of hiding, but no chickens attacked my fortress!

So I quit.

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6.01.2008

peach bitters

You may have noticed that I haven't been keeping up with Brew52. Part of the problem was my inability to find one of the beers at the handiest store that was supposed to carry it. Dumb, I know, but then it was easy to let it slide another week, then another week...

Another part of the problem is that I really haven't been too thirsty for beer this summer.

I've been making cocktails. It probably started when we bought our bar. We bought it for a reason- we had spirits that needed to be stored- but aside from Pimm's Cups and the occasional margarita or Kangaroo (tip o' the hat to Sparber), I didn't really drink too many spirits.

I'm not sure I'll ever get too crazy with the mixology, but I really enjoy making cocktails and mixed drinks. Learning to make drinks is a slow process, as I tend to have one or maybe two and I'm done for the night.

There isn't really any rhyme or reason to the way I've approached learning new drinks. I mostly come across things that sound interesting online or in Imbibe magazine. I recently acquired a couple of books that ought to help the process.

As the weather has warmed up, I've found that I'm moving out of the citrusy gin drinks and into the whiskeys. I have some simple syrup around, and I really like a basic cocktail- spirits, water, sugar, bitters. I used muscovado sugar for the most recent syrup I made. I've been drinking bourbon or rye with the simple syrup, water and peach bitters. It's simple, refreshing and delicious.

Anyway, Kassie and I went to a wedding yesterday. I knew that bourbon, water, sugar and peach bitters was going to sound good. I also knew that there was no way they'd have peach bitters. So I brought my own. The bartender was amused. I killed the bottle, so it looks like I'll be making a trip to Surdyk's.

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last weekend

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