Microblog

On my Downtown walk, a pile of balloons beckoned. Couldn’t resist a selfie.

Took a snapshot of our cloud data, almost filling an encrypted 256GB thumb drive. If all goes well I’ll never use the $20 thumb drive again.

Dwight drove to Burnsville (a suburb) to catch up with a friend at Red Lobster. Meanwhile I walked to Thailand for a solo pad thai at Sawatdee in an old (1856) building. Japan was closed today.

It’s Tip-The-Fridge Week, which preempts our traditional Sausage Saturday. Tonight we’re having carnitas from the freezer with polenta and a substantial salad. We’re still having ice cream: an intriguing small-batch pint from a local store.

On my walk, crossed a frozen Mississippi. The University of Minnesota East and West Bank campuses are directly behind me.

Looked out at our apartment (among many apartments) through a mirror-framed window at the Guthrie Theater while sipping a pre-show glass of wine. We then stepped into a world of Harlem apartments in the 1930’s: Blues for an Alabama Sky, finding family, fulfilling dreams.

My trekking pole came in handy as I clambered over an icy mound while the bus driver waited patiently.

These drugs are becoming less effective against my prostate cancer. Today I was randomized to a study drug on a phase 3 clinical trial. I’ll be injected 4 times with a drug that selectively sticks to tumor. A radioactive metal stuck to the drug may “stick it” to the tumor. I’m grateful and hopeful.

Emerged from The Gopher Way, a system of tunnels and skyways at the University of Minnesota.

Towards the end of our Sunday walk, stopped to take in the hodgepodge of structures of Mill City Museum. A modern museum rises out of the carefully stabilized ruins of what was once the world’s largest flour mill.

When we leave our home we tell Google to turn off all the lights. In recent times, Google has decided to play cool jazz once the lights are out. This morning I reviewed the settings and concluded this is a bug. We’ll now avoid Google’s attempts at romance by using a different voice command.

This is an unusual viewpoint for me: drove our car for the first time this winter. I always walk to my Friday gig, but today was frostbite weather. The car was a comfortable 64°F when I started out.

Dwight showed a friend and me around the University of Minnesota teaching and research greenhouse where he volunteers. This gorgeous space has four rooms, each with a different climate, including this desert room. The rainforest room smelled and felt wonderful on this frigid day.

Walked with friends towards donuts.

On this chilly day, steam from a district heating plant periodically obscures the 1929 Foshay Tower. A crane lifts materials for a new apartment tower that will permanently block our view of the Foshay. I’ll miss the company of the old-fashioned Foshay name signs when I wake in the night.

After three days sheltering from the Arctic blast, screwed up the will to walk one block to our local bar for Reubens and beer.