Minnesota & Wisconsin Trip

I am finally home from a long week of travel in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Missouri.  It was a business trip and I was traveling with others on this adventure. Therefore I was not able to get out on my own much and do sightseeing and take many pictures. I will share what few things I did experience.

On Sunday we traveled up through Iowa and South Dakota to arrive in Willmar, Minnesota, the fastest growing non-metropolitan city in the state. Willmar, a regional center for West Central Minnesota, is located 100 miles west of the Twin Cities. It is the Kandiyohi County Seat with a population of 19,000. Surrounded by lakes, rolling hills, and rich farmland, Willmar combines the friendly neighborliness of a small town with the opportunities of a large metropolitan area.  Agricultural expansion and the establishment of Willmar as a division point on the Great Northern Railway determined the growth of the community.  Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad has a large rail yard in Willmar.  The town impressed me a lot as being very clean and having extremely friendly people. 

Wednesday found me traveling to Superior, Wisconsin.  Known as the twin ports (Superior and Duluth, MN), the town is located on the western tip of Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world.  The sheer enormity of Lake Superior brings tranquility to your soul and awakens the adventurer within.  Unfortunately I was not there long enough to get to explore much of this beauty.  This is a town that I hope to someday get to go back to and spend more time there. 

Thursday was a very long day for me.  Traveling from Superior to southern Missouri, I drove over a thousand miles on this day. Needless to say I don’t remember much of it now. Lol I left WI early in the morning, so I do remember braking for suicide deer on the road many times.  That “deer in the headlight” look I have witnessed not only in deer but in a few people that I know as well.  (Just kidding)

One quick story that was shared by a person I was traveling with.  It seems he once had this male Pomeranian dog.  The poor thing did not know that a male dog was supposed to lift its leg to do its thing, but rather would squat like a female dog does.  One day another male dog wandered by and my friend witnessed something I found to be very funny. The male visiting dog found a bush and promptly lifted its leg and watered it.  The Pomeranian just looked at this with much amazement. After the visiting dog was gone the Pomeranian went over to the same bush and lifted its leg for the first time.  The poor dog promptly fell over. With more practice however it finally mastered this act for male dogs. Just goes to show you I guess that even the most basic of instincts at times has to be learned. 

Oh, one more thing.   As per a recommendation from one of the blogs I visited last week I ate at a Red Robin in Sioux City, Iowa.  Excellent!!  I had the “heart attack” special.  Huge hamburger, with fried egg, bacon strips, cheese and other things I was not sure of.  Also served with steak fries well soaked in grease.  It was wonderful, as are many foods that are not really that good for you. What the heck, once in awhile is not bad I guess? 

I hope this entry finds you all well and ready for a great weekend. Working 10-16 hour days most of the week has me ready for some long naps this weekend.

Enjoy,

Ed

The Comic Strips

Do you read the comic strips?  Some people call them “the funnies”.  I always thought that phrase a bit strange for me. “The funnies”; it is like you have some sort of infliction: “The Flu”, “The Plague”, “The Giggles”, and “The Funnies”.   Whatever you call them what do you read?   Here is my list.

     Blondie:  Dagwood sandwiches are my favorite.

     Garfield:  One ornery cat!

     Dennis The Menace:  Reminds me of my childhood.

     Family Circus:  What is good about family life.

     Marmaduke:  I want to see Garfield and Marmaduke have it out!

     Ziggy:  Always looking up and wondering, “Why Me”?  

I will be out of town the next few days starting on Father’s Day. While I could write a book about my Dad, and all the words in the world could never explain what he means to me.    Here is a simple letter that says it all. 

Dear Dad,

You are my hero.  I love you.

Your son,

Eddy

Everyone enjoy your weekend and the week to come.

Two Shorts a Long and a Short

Do you have to turn the radio down when driving so you can see where you are going?  How about putting on your glasses to hear someone talking?  Well, if you answered yes to these questions, then you are probably of the age to know what “Two Shorts a Long and a Short” means.  That was my phone number back when I was growing up on the farm.  My earliest memory of our phone was this huge contraption hanging on the wall. (No, I did not know Alexander Graham Bell personally, lol) It had a speaker you talked into, a receiver that was separate that you held up to your ear, and a hand crank to call out.  We were on a party line. What that meant was 4-5 different houses used the same number.  If we wanted to call a neighbor that was on our party line then we just cranked out their ring, perhaps a short and two longs, or two shorts and two longs.  Calling anyone else beyond our party line neighbors meant one long crank to get the operator.  The phone itself was huge compared to today’s phones. Heck, the battery alone was bigger than most modern telephones. 

Why am I talking about my old phone?  Do you have a cell phone? I imagine so, almost everyone does. Each member of our family here has one. We call each other if we are in different rooms of the house.  Is that pitiful or what?  How many do you have for your family?   Kids of course use these phones for all sorts of things. The new feature that I just heard about is the “mosquito ring tone”.  It is a high-pitched ring that only “young” ears can hear.  As we grow older we cannot hear this high of a frequency.  So, your kids phone could be ringing and you would never know it, the sound only audible to young people.  Oh my, as a parent I don’t really care for this. As a former teacher I would hate it.  Keeping kids off the phone in the classroom was a constant problem.  They were so sneaky about using them.  Of course I confiscated a lot of them, but I am sure I did not catch them all. This high frequency ring would only make it worse. 

I do have one solution.  Keep your dog close to you.  When the dog starts to bark, your kids cell phone must be ringing.  Just some rambling thoughts I had today.

Enjoy,

Brand Me With What???

Just when I had “almost” gotten used to body piercing and all over tattoos, along comes something called “body ‘branding” I know I am behind the times and by some terms very conservative. Why someone would want to pierce various parts of his or her body other than the ear is beyond me.  Yes, I know it is self-expression, sexually appealing to some, and for still others an act of defiance.  Is that what I am doing when I work out in my shorts, non-matching shirt and long white tube socks with my tennis shoes?  Heck, I thought I just didn’t care about what I looked like when working out. Maybe it is my way of acting out my anger.  You think? 

Anyway, this body-branding thing has me quivering.  It seems one way to do it is the old fashion way. Yes, I am talking about the “branding iron”.  A newer form for this 3-D art  is with laser tools. Actually killing the skin cells to form ones body art.  An example that I saw looked like a long scar from this man’s neck, down his side, and ending at his ankle.  That’s gotta hurt.  If you want to check this form of artistry out go to www.stevehaworth.com . 

As for me, I will keep my skin, as it is thank you.  For those of you that care, I have no piercing, no tattoos and for sure no body art “anywhere” on my body.  How about you?  Where is your art? Lol Feel free to share if you want. 

Oh yes, and just for the record.  I never inhaled!!!!!

Enjoy,

Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. Go out this weekend and enjoy laughter with friends, family and all that you meet. 

Enjoy 

The Dentist

Oh what joy!  Going to the dentist is so much fun.  On Monday I woke up thrilled knowing that I was going to get to spend time with the “drill”.  Each time I have to have dental work done I always ask myself, “How much are dentures?”  

It seems every time my dentist gets a new piece of equipment he is able to find something new that is wrong with my teeth.  Last year it was the “sand blaster” machine, cavity filling with no drill.  I wondered during the entire operation, did I really have a cavity? 

This time my dentist had moved to a new office. It seems now that I needed a $1,000 crown done.  For that price I should wear the “crown” on my head and be called king. At any rate, there I was 8:00 am sharp on a Monday morning ready to subject myself to whatever torture lay ahead.  Soon after I was seated in my custom built chair I found out why my crown would cost $1,000.  It seems not only did my dentist have a new office; he had a new machine as well.  MOVIES!!!!  Yes, you read that right.  I was to pick a movie to watch while my mouth was being violated.  I watched “Sahara”.  Well, sort of.  He kept knocking the earphones off my ears as he positioned himself for ultimate drilling. I could not hear any of his instructions.  It was also difficult to know when I was supposed to close my mouth to suck up all the “stuff”.  We finally worked out a system where the assistant would pinch my lips closed, that was my clue to suck. It was really annoying when he finally reached the end of the drilling session and something big popped out of my mouth. I hope it was the right tooth. 

The whole process took about 2 hours. When I went to pay the bill the secretary looked at my chart and said, “I am so sorry, you don’t have insurance.”   I told her, somewhat sarcastically, I know I don’t have insurance.   I paid the bill, made the appointment to get the real “crown” put in three weeks from now and left. 

Actually I need to confess. My dentist really is a very nice guy.  And the movie thing was a nice distraction from all the drilling.  I still wonder though why my teeth develop problems only when he gets new equipment? 

Enjoy.

A Strange Affair

After living in a remote wilderness all his life, an old codger decided it was time to visit the big city.  In one of the stores he picks up a mirror and looks in it.   Not knowing what it was, he remarked, “How about that!   Here’s a picture of my daddy.”

He bought the ‘picture’, but on the way home he remembered his wife, Lizzy, didn’t like his father.   So he hung it in the barn, and every morning before leaving for the fields, he would go there and look at it.

Lizzy began to get suspicious of these many trips the barn. One day after her husband left, she searched the barn and found the mirror.

As she looked into the glass, she fumed, “So that’s the old gal he’s ‘runnin’ after!  I’ll kill him!”

Enjoy Tuesday (6/6/06)

State Capital

Do you know all of the state capitals?  For my Canadian friends, the capitals of all the provinces and territories?   Ok, here is a quiz.  What is the capital of Missouri?   ( …………Jeopardy song playing…………..) The answer is:  Jefferson City!   I was able to make a day trip to our fair capital city yesterday.   A quick story about one of my adventures there. 

I wanted to see the governor’s mansion.  The gate was open, as there was a tour about to begin. So, I just walked in and tried to tag along with the tour.  Who knew that they would want reservations and proof of identification that you were on the tour?  I was promptly escorted off the property.  I asked to take the guards picture but he declined. Oh well, his loss.  

Enjoy the pictures of the Capital grounds.  I will explain each photo in the description.