Microblog

Used up some items in the fridge and freezer, cooked up multiple meals: Braised radish and turnip greens with baby turnips, apple, …and ham shank; Kidney beans, mirepoix, …and ham shank, with (to-be-revived) polenta. There’s still more ham shank in the freezer.

Saved our files to two thumb drives. All our data is continuously backed up off-site, but about once a year I save an encrypted snapshot of the data to be retained indefinitely. At about $24 for 256GB, thumb drives are inexpensive insurance.

Thanked a cutting board for its long service then tossed it. I should’ve done this a long time ago when the cracks appeared, but we have a history together going back 50+ years. Two replacement boards, one plastic, one teak, maintained a respectful distance.

It’s National Donut Day, but I don’t need an excuse to enjoy an old-fashioned with my morning coffee. In the bag: two rhubarb fritters for Dwight and me to mark our 35th anniversary this evening.

Meandered through Minneapolis on my bike. Got a sneak preview of a new Prince mural that “will be unveiled at a Purple Block Party” tonight.

Dropped off a package in the lovely, but incongruous, Art Deco lobby of the main Downtown post office. We need some smart people to figure out how to repurpose this space for the 21st century.

A freight train slowly creaked across our path. Google Lens identified these as “coil cars” for carrying large rolls of sheet metal. A Google Search for CNW 19221 brought up photographs of the actual freight car and confirmed its purpose.

Flags were flying today over 3rd Avenue Bridge, Minneapolis: Memorial Day, 2022.  Posted Reminders of War.

A surprise on our Sunday morning walk: Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam was open to the public. We peered into massive spaces normally hidden from us, and experienced the calm of the lock chamber contrasting with an unusually turbulent Mississippi.

Added a 4th misting zone (M4) to our apartment garden. All the tech in the photo sits in a large, slide-out disaster pan. Normally it’s out-of-sight. Misting keeps plants happy and greatly reduces the population of spider mites. You can see how the garden has evolved in a new post: As the Apartment Garden Evolves.

Tonight we’ll walk over to the Guthrie for ”A Raisin In The Sun” where a Black family buys a house in a whites-only neighborhood. The playwright based the story on her own experience of growing up in 1930’s Chicago; it was first performed on Broadway in 1959. 1930’s Minneapolis was no better as this 2020… Continue reading A Raisin In The Sun

In a part of town where there’s small businesses with names like “Ruff Love” (dog daycare) and “Eat My Words” (used books), took my bike to “Behind Bars.” Splashed out on “the most puncture-resistant pneumatic tires on the market.” I’m cycling hopefully, while not expecting miracles.

Initially, I felt my pot pie was being disrespected when Dwight suggested I could toss in some carrots “going limp” in the fridge. The carrots turned out to be OK, so in they went. I have to admit, bakes are convenient for using up ingredients that may not look their best, solo, on the plate.

Today’s cycle ride included a section I’ve never cycled before. This US Highway 61 bridge took us out of Hastings, Minnesota, and across the Mississippi. We then took the pretty Point Douglas Trail along the Mississippi to Prescott, Wisconsin.

Purchased the final tickets for a family trip this summer with our nephews and their parents. Portuguese train tickets opened up this week for our day of travel. By buying them now, we paid less than half the price closer to the day of travel. We’ve now reserved our complete journey from Minneapolis, back to… Continue reading Planes, Trains, Buses

Dwight and I have become the “Drip Irrigation Mavens” for our building’s gardening club. We built dripper harnesses (6 drippers per planter, tubing, manifold) for two planters as a demonstration, and plan to roll out to six more planters this week.