Microblog

On my chilly Downtown walk: bicycle racks were safe from bicycles behind a double row of temporary security fencing.

Posted Beyond the Hogwarts House.

Created 18 listings on eBay to get rid of stuff we don’t use. All proceeds will go to Direct Relief, a charity that improves the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies.

Replaced my 35 liter backpack with a 30 liter backpack. It has plenty room for everything I need for unlimited travel, including hiking boots. I have yet to reduce my needs to 24 liters, the volume of a paper grocery bag.

Wandered around Downtown with a friend. Peered into buildings, including the Art Deco Rand Tower built in 1929.

Walked across two interstates (94 and 35W), as I do most Wednesdays.

Performed an annual ritual: The Replacement of Spices We’ve Had More Than a Year. Total cost: $3.01.

On my walk, snow was falling on Gold Medal Park.

On my walk, a re-lit Grain Belt Beer sign added warmth against a grey sky. The sign had been dark for twenty-one years.

Posted Freakin’ Cheap: How to Fly with Your Pet Without Paying Fees.

Mailed leftover New Zealand currency at the main post office, downtown Minneapolis.

Breakfast at Open Book: coffee, crumb cake, mittens. Ready for a Minnesota winter.

San Francisco SFO heading for UA 5932 to MSP.

A 7-hour hike around San Francisco was our antidote for jet lag. At the Pacific Ocean, fog probably rendered this camera obscura ineffective.

On board, AKL—SFO UA916. 12 hours 20 minutes.

On our Waiheke Island hike: a geodetic marker, with Auckland visible in the distance. We’re spending our last two nights in New Zealand on this island, a 35-minute ferry ride from downtown Auckland.