Microblog

Cycled to the football stadium to see what the X-Games are all about. Just about everybody was inside on this hot day, presumably cheering along skateboarding and other “extreme sports.” The large blue foam construction blocks waited for a different demographic.

Made jerk chicken marinade. For something so simple, there’s a surprising number of ingredients. A coffee grinder we keep for spices and an immersion blender brought all this together in short order. I froze half for another day.

It’s a little too convenient living one block from an excellent ice cream store. “Existential Crunch” (dark brown sugar, Jameson whiskey, creme fraiche, praline pecan, and cashew brittle) topped with a small scoop of “Umeshu Chocolate” (dark chocolate and Japanese plum wine).

Prototyped a drip irrigation system for about fifty plants on our balcony. I’ll create IFTTT applets to control the pump based on reports from the moisture sensor. Next on my shopping list: a 30-gallon tank.

Sat in a room with hard-working Somalis in the basement of a Carnegie library. One hundred years ago I would have been sitting with Swedes in this same room.

Cycled with a friend past eight former St. Paul fire stations, and a monument in Oakland Cemetery to firefighters who lost their lives while on duty. This fire station, built in 1872, was St. Paul’s first.

Made a special trip across the Mississippi to stock up on Spam at Lunds. For some inexplicable reason, the stores where I usually shop don’t carry Spam. We use this fine Minnesotan product to make musubi.

Steel figures became diaphanous as I pushed my bicycle past the Physics and Nanotechnology Building at the University of Minnesota.

Waited on our balcony for the Aquatennial fireworks to start.

Spotted this in the basement of a college friend of Dwight. Immediately recognized it as a Remington typewriter case. Inside was the same model my mother used when I was a kid. When I moved to America, the first company I worked for had once made these typewriters.

Rode shared bikes six times. They’re great for running errands around town.

Taught a citizenship class for former refugees.

Continued searching for former fire stations. We couldn’t find Station 29, but, found a currently operating Station 15. Discovered this building was originally Station 29, but it closed in 1944. Station 15 then relocated to the building. The number change is evident in the photo.

Walked my bicycle beside a single rail track that became a double track that became a quadruple track. Stopped trespassing before I would be in a large, active rail yard.

Washed our tires as we cycled alongside the channel between Lake of the Isles and Bde Maka Ska.

Bacon brats from the farmers market for dinner. Ice cream from Izzy’s later. Local splurge-eats.