Microblog

Today’s the day for my monthly drug run (meds). Metro Transit does a remarkable job keeping the buses running in all kinds of weather.

Cycled to nowhere. Outside it’s colder than the inside of our freezer and a substantial snowstorm is coming in. A good day to stay inside and think about maybe decorating the tree.

With temperatures hovering around 0°F it was a day to minimize outdoor activity. Rode the light rail to St. Paul with a friend. Warmed up in the Landmark Center where we peered into rooms, including the Chief Justice Room.

Watched daytime television. Grateful for the rule of law.

Retrieved Christmas decorations from the “basement”—a storage cage two floors down.

The Dyson has been stopping after 3 or 4 minutes. Today I took it apart and gave it a good clean. It didn’t fix the problem, but it did need the cleaning. Next I’ll replace the battery with an overpriced OEM rather than an aftermarket battery to minimize the risk of fire.

School’s out for the Holidays! Walked home from my Friday gig past a melting snowman with a face mask.

On my Minneapolis Skyway walk: an example of designing out antisocial behavior. Target recently redesigned this lobby to eliminate disruptive loitering. It seems to be working. The mural in my Monday post is another example: it’s discouraging graffiti.

Congratulations to my nemesis, Ch*ga, on being permanently banned from Truth Social for posting a Vanity Fair cartoon implying the former president’s winery produces subpar products. Click through, the plot thickens.

I love walking into buildings to satisfy my curiosity and to take a break from the cold. Today, on the University of Minnesota East Bank campus, I walked past these students studying medical history. Later I was offered a free donut.

Today was the day for my quarterly labs. The tumor marker is slowly rising, so I’ll be discussing this with my oncologist this week. The longer I can keep this somewhat at bay with medications, the more new treatment options will become available to me.

Booked hotels for a 5-day hike with friends next September. We’ll walk part of The Reivers Way in Northumberland, England, in the footsteps of Border Reivers who terrorized communities from the 13th to the 17th century. We trust the sight of four old geezers won’t terrorize today’s populace.

On my walk, stopped to take in this $49 million development. Two crumbling buildings I’d thought were beyond hope were being incorporated into new construction. Last summer I noticed the white building had been temporarily moved to the road to make way for construction of underground parking.

Tonight at Orchestra Hall: A “bilingual Spanish-English cross-cultural combination” of Handel’s Messiah and Navidad Nuestra, a cantata by Argentinian composer Ariel Ramírez. We’re reminded the Holy Family were refugees. “Pretty child don’t cry my love / we will arrive at a better land.”

Mailed Christmas cards: a good reason to walk through the lovely Art Deco lobby of the downtown Post Office.

Explored featureless tunnels under downtown Minneapolis connecting buildings across several blocks. Eventually I was glad to return to the frozen world above.