Sunday October Eight 2017

[t-bob]

Good morning
I really I don’t like mornings
Going to Mexico in 8 days
I have many stuff to do
But I’m excited
G’day brethrens!
This is my old nickname tequila-bob!

[Doug]

I'z here

Breakfast with friends

Bridge this evening

Some football between

I got Tuttled last night.  Was gonna watch one Molly Tuttle youtube and finish a cigarette before going to bed. An hour later I finally quit and went to bed. 

[brucemacneill]

Good morning.

Trying to handle plywood by myself yesterday didn't turn out well. I got one sheet up and partially nailed only to find out something moved and the next sheet didn't line up with the studs. An hour with a Dremel tool wore the heads off the nails so I could get that the first sheet back down without ruining it. I have the kid next door lined up to help me today but I still don't know if we'll be able to hold the sheets aligned long enough to get a few nails in. We'll see. Meanwhile every muscle in my body is still reminding me that I screwed up yesterday. Where are the anti-gravs when you need them?

Have a good Sunday. Hope LJ's Barb is better.

[jdd2]

Riding lots.

It was cooler for a couple days but has warmed back up. Still no heat on.

Got my contacts sync'd from my mac to new android phone, next step is to get mail going there, too. It looks very do-able, I just move slow. (Bookmarks, too, but that'll be an easy one.) As an android/google device it's kind of appealing--the google ecosystem. I've had various iPads and iPod touches over the years, but haven't used them much, always having access to a mac laptop or desktop. Never have had an iphone, so I don't have to unlearn anything.

This G5 plus seems completely fine--a few quirks that have sent me off on searches, but probably not too different than learning an iphone. (and less than half the price) The SIM tray has a couple extra spots, and for travel to SE asia you can apparently buy an extra SIM on arrival for use there.

[Tamarack]

Stunned by horrible news from a former roommate. We were roommates for a couple of years post-college and pre-marriage for both of us. T. eventually became an English professor. Last week he announced the publication of his first novel. Late last night he reported the death of his youngest son. No other information, joining a far-flung group of friends in grieving with a large gap in space and time.

[paleo]

Sunshine today, forecast is for 70 degrees today. Guess I'll get the motorcycle out, there won't be many more days like this in October. Might do the open Mic at Stone City this evening, or maybe not.

[billhammond]

Babzi and I are off on a perfect autumn day for breakfast at a bike shop/cafe in Stillwater, then back roads up to Taylors Falls, then a nice foliage tour boat ride on the St. Croix.

Evan, happy birthday, and I hope the storm spares you!

[Deleted]

Oct 8, 2017 7:47:09 GMT -5 Tamarack said:

Stunned by horrible news from a former roommate. We were roommates for a couple of years post-college and pre-marriage for both of us. T. eventually became an English professor. Last week he announced the publication of his first novel. Late last night he reported the death of his youngest son. No other information, joining a far-flung group of friends in grieving with a large gap in space and time.

Sorry to read this, Don. I know people who have lost adult children. It must be the most horrible thing that can happen in one's life—we all expect our kids to bury us.

[mnhermit]

cool days, if the sun comes out it's warmer, maybe some water from the sky. More work in the garden, retrieve my car from the far side, maybe some football watching then bridge this evening.

better days y'all

[millring]

Trying to make a living but it's pouring in Louisville.

[Marty]

Morning

70F/21C Mostly sunny.

Usual Sunday except that now DaWife has her new car I will have my truck to use while she visits her mom. Now what to do with my newly gained Sunday freedom? Guess I'll go down to my shop and think about it while I work.

[millring]

HER: "At least it's pottery and you can just dry it off."

ME: "Shut up"

[TKennedy]

It's a good fall for Maples. Best I think I've ever seen.

[paleo]

Oct 8, 2017 9:50:29 GMT -5 TKennedy said:

It's a good fall for Maples. Best I think I've ever seen.

[paleo]

Grew up in central Minnesota, went to high school in Browerville. Usually had some spectacular color in the fall.

[Village Idiot]

I'm sorry to hear that, Tamarack. My parents went through that, and still anguish.

Enjoy that bike ride, Daryll. You're right, it's a great day for it.

Bruce, get a screw gun.

[brucemacneill]

Oct 8, 2017 14:20:27 GMT -5 Village Idiot said:

I'm sorry to hear that, Tamarack. My parents went through that, and still anguish.

Enjoy that bike ride, Daryll. You're right, it's a great day for it.

Bruce, get a screw gun.

Got one or two and when I figured out I had screwed up yesterday I was wishing I had used screws but nails should be OK for this job. Incidentally, while grinding the heads off the nails with the Dremel I apparently started my left sleeve on fire though I didn't notice at the time. I noticed when I got in the shower and the water hit the big burn on my upper arm. I went back and checked the shirt, yup there's a burn mark. I must have been so pissed at the problem that I didn't notice the sparks starting the sleeve on fire. Anyway, the plywood is up, thanks to my new neighbor's son's help this morning. The nails are in where they belong and the corner boards have been replaced. The shed still needs some caulking and paint but that will wait for another day. Then I'll get to play with the Wagner paint sprayer I got. This shed is my practice building. I have 4 other outbuildings that need paint so I started small.

[theevan]

Oct 8, 2017 8:57:16 GMT -5 @stormntwang said:

Oct 8, 2017 7:47:09 GMT -5 Tamarack said:

Stunned by horrible news from a former roommate. We were roommates for a couple of years post-college and pre-marriage for both of us. T. eventually became an English professor. Last week he announced the publication of his first novel. Late last night he reported the death of his youngest son. No other information, joining a far-flung group of friends in grieving with a large gap in space and time.

Sorry to read this, Don. I know people who have lost adult children. It must be the most horrible thing that can happen in one's life—we all expect our kids to bury us.

It is, Howard.

There's actually several of us on this board, as I learned in the wake of losing Andrew.
The pain is great, yes, and nothing could have prepared me for it. But there is also the potential for great beauty in the pain and loss. I sincerely pray that all who experience that pain also find the beauty.

[Village Idiot]

Perfectly stated, Evan.

[billhammond]

Back from a glorious day on and along the St. Croix River. Here is the dock and the boat we were on, the St. Croix Queen, a 50-ton true paddlewheeler that only draws 22 inches thanks to its flat bottom. Holds about 150 people.



It was an incredibly peaceful and enlightening cruise, thanks to a well informed captain and his judicious use of the mike. The weather was ideal, and although the colors have not quite peaked they were at an interesting stage where there was a beautiful mix of light green, darker greens and yellows and reds and oranges. The basalt outcroppings had both orange and green lichen clinging to them; many eagles were seen soaring overhead. A dozen or more canoeists and kayakers glided past -- we saw only one powered boat, a fishing craft, not a fast-boat party vessel.

This fall's rains have been record-setting. The captain told us that it's been 100 years since there was an Oct. 8 level as high as today's. Just upstream from our dock, the river is as deep as it gets for its entire length -- 100 feet. For most of our trip, we were in 30- to 50-foot depths.

The St. Croix is a federally protected river, and one of the cleanest in the nation, thanks to that designation, and the fact that there are few farms along it because of its high bluffs and scarcity of communities, or even houses. For virtually all of its duration, the only houses are those grandfathered in from pre-protected days. You virtually cannot buy land and build anything along its route.

Experiencing the river from its surface level today was a balm for the soul, a multi-sensory joy that I really needed. (The Vitamin D was welcome, too.)

Our cruise departed at noon and while there were enough people aboard to fill the upper, un-roofed deck, the lower, covered deck was empty, so it was not at all crowded/touristy. No live or piped-in music, just maybe a 3-knot idle downstream and quietude. Barb and I spent most of the cruise standing on the astro-turfed lower bow area, soaking up every eddy, every birdsong, every waving canoeist, every scent of pine.

When we got back to Taylors Falls, the place was crawling with people and we were so glad we snagged an earlier voyage. 

On the way home, I took some back roads that I know well and we passed a winery I was unfamiliar with, so we pulled in to check it out. It was quite populated with patrons -- perfect weather day and no Vikings game to preclude natives from venturing out. As we approached the patio outside the tasting room, who do I see but a newsroom colleague who literally works 20 feet from me, and his wife, dottir, and dottir's mother-in-law. There was such a line for tastings that we did not indulge, but we had a ball chit-chatting and exploring the vineyard's highland rows on such a perfect day.