Microblog

Woke up this mornin’, expecting a day of hygge as the cold spell winds down. Then friends on the mend from COVID passed on tickets to us for blues artist Keb’ Mo’ at the Dakota Jazz Club. This eight-time Grammy award winner was new to us but not to the sold-out audience.

Bitterly cold outside, Dwight baking banana bread and cornbread, me curled up with a murder mystery novel set in Osaka.

The LEGO gantry crane is no more; all its constituent parts are now carefully stowed, awaiting the takeoff of a yet-to-be-determined new project.

A bicycle commuter seemed unfazed it was 2°F (-17°C) as I waited for the bus this morning.

Finished editing a two-minute video about my LEGO MINDSTORMS autonomous gantry crane. Click through to view it on YouTube.

Another subzero day. Rode the exercise bike to nowhere while watching my soapie, and shot video of my LEGO gantry crane prior to dismantling it. With the camera running, the crane sometimes took this as an opportunity to act up.

Nodded to the hostess as I sat at The News Room bar where Dwight would join me after his Y laps. Surly Furious in hand, I noticed the hostess hadn’t budged. Ah, a mermaid, should’ve worn glasses. Lunch, then down to the heated garage and home.

 “Burn the House Down,” a Japanese revenge thriller series (with subtitles), fueled my pedal strokes on the exercise bike to nowhere as steam continued to rise off Saint Anthony Falls, a sure sign it’s best to stay indoors.

With windchills in negative territory, it’s a day for staying in. While Dwight planned rehanging pictures, I went downstairs for a workout. On the way back up, I shared the elevator with a family laden with groceries. Their little girl announced that the drinking straw she was waving was a magic wand. When I asked her about it, she declared it could turn a person into a fairy.

Built a project box for wirelessly controlling lights on our mobile green wall via our Zigbee mesh network and Hubitat hub. Now, these lights seamlessly join lighting scenes controlled by voice, app, or household events.

Thursdays are my ELL (English Language Learning) days. I support three classes: Intermediate, Advanced, and Writing For Advanced Learners. This week, metaphors were the main attraction. The Intermediate class delved into powerful lines from MLK’s speeches, like the “same boat” analogy. Later, in the Writing class we explored Frost’s “Road Less Traveled.”

Dwight drove to a suburban Red Lobster for lunch with a friend. Meanwhile, I took the opportunity to walk over to Dong Hae, a neighborhood Korean restaurant, for bibimbap, perfect comfort food on a wintry day.

It may look like a fast food restaurant and it’s not in the prettiest part of St. Paul but Trung Nam French Bakery, operated by immigrants from Vietnam, bakes the best almond croissants. So that’s where I got with a friend for coffee and flakey perfection this morning.

Three blocks from our home, on a snowy walk, paused at Sherwin Williams’ Applied Science and Technology building. Built in 1905 as the headquarters of the Minnesota Linseed Oil Paint Company, the company later merged with Valspar. The combined company remained headquartered in Minneapolis. Finally, it was acquired by Sherwin Williams.

Realized storing empty electronics boxes was no longer serving us. We’ve been storing the elaborate boxes in our “basement”—a storage cage two floors down. Since we hold onto electronics long past their prime resale value, keeping the boxes serves little practical purpose.

Over the years, our stash of dental freebies from hygienist appointments has grown. Today, Dwight announced he’s found a new use for them: cleaning between the spines of cacti at the greenhouse where he volunteers. I couldn’t resist speculating if he’d be talking to the cacti during his prickly procedures.