Compared notes about our day over tonkotsu ramen at the bar counter at Zen Box Izakaya. They do serve Asahi Super Dry and Sapporo on draft, but I prefer a local Minneapolis brew, Surly Furious. In Japan, interesting local craft brews are starting to appear, displacing national brands.
Category: Living
Riding the Orange Line BRT
Tried something new as I went about my day today: rode the Orange Line bus rapid transit, mainly along HOV lanes on Interstate 35W. You can just make out the Downtown skyline in the distance. Getting from there to here was, indeed, rapid.
Our annual petal pedal
I swore up and down we were still early for our annual tree blossom cycle ride today. It was slim pickings: if there were petals, they were usually on the ground. Over lunch at Longfellow Grill, a quick photo search for last year’s blossom cycle ride showed us to be about five days too late.
Not your grandmother’s park
Cycled through the newest park in Minneapolis, Graco Park. This building, The River Hub, is net-zero with rooftop solar panels and geothermal heating and cooling. It houses high-tech equipment for a variety of activities including media arts and makers. I wanted to poke around, but it’s not open on Mondays. The area in front is for storm water runoff.
Temple plumbing 2025: the tradition continues
I’ve often posted about the Shikoku 88 pilgrimage, a 700-mile circular route around Shikoku, one of Japan’s main islands. Over the years, I’ve hiked to 31 of its 88 temples, some multiple times. Today I continued my tradition of posting one photo of a purification station from each temple I visited this year. Click through for the post.
Temple plumbing 2025
I’ve often posted about the Shikoku 88 pilgrimage, a 700-mile circular route around Shikoku, one of Japan’s main islands. Over the years, I’ve hiked to 31 of its 88 temples, some multiple times. This year, I visited temples 71 through 75 for the first time.
I’m orchid-sitting
Dwight’s in Fargo for Mother’s Day, so while he’s gone, it’s my job to hand-mist his orchids. We have misters on this rack, but it has currently been rolled away from the water supply and high-pressure pump.
Tech upgrade: new Dell tower
My tweaking project for the next few days involves setting up this Dell tower that arrived today. It’s replacing a 15-year-old Windows system, which will lose Microsoft support this fall and isn’t safely upgradable. Here, the new computer is tucked away behind a partition wall. The 19-year-old monitor and the 10-year-old Brother networked laser printer/scanner continue to meet our needs.
It’s our community
Today I was back in the classroom and found a card waiting, signed by my students. It’s a two-way street; I get so much out of it. Meanwhile, Dwight was at the University greenhouse today and has recently added a gig at Hennepin County Medical Center assembling kits (needles, condoms, etc.) for people with substance use disorder. I’ve also just added a gig: tutoring an adult learner in reading comprehension.
At least they didn’t forget the baby
I had to go check there wasn’t a baby in this stroller left in our building’s basement. It seems a parent moved the baby to a car seat and drove off, forgetting the stroller. Once, while in line at Honolulu HNL, the people ahead of us checked their bags then walked off into the crowds, leaving their baby. The check-in agent quickly noticed, climbed over the scales, and ran after them.