Life in Nebraska

Sunday, December 11, 2022

X-Mas Lights

JP Lives for X-Mas decorating. All throughout the year it's on her mind.

She was able to find some really cool sticks with lights to put in the pots out front.

Our new Christmas tradition is getting our tree. We walk the dog down to the old church, pick out a tree, and haul it back. This year we had GP meet us with the truck rather than carrying it up the hill.

A few hours later and JP had it all decorated and lit.

Illinois Thanksgiving

We hit Nana's house for Thanksgiving. It's such a nice drive now that we don't have to take I-80 the whole way.

High Bridge Dog Park

We set off and tried out a new dog park in St. Paul. Dog parks are hit & miss; sometimes they are awesome and sometimes they are nothing more than a fenced-in vacant lot.

This time we hit a jackpot at High Bridge dog park. It's on the river under the Smith Ave. bridge.

The area around the park is being built up with nice condos. The park is next to the riverwalk that leads to downtown St. Paul. Definitely a place to go when it warms up and the riverside cafes open.

Wild Brothers

CP's work had a catered event at a Minnesota Wild game. He took GP and the two had a great time. CP is now the cities' biggest hockey fan.

New Twins Uniforms

The Twins had a big ceremony at the Mall of America to present their new uniforms for 2023. It was at lunchtime, so I ran over to be a part of it. I was not expecting 500 others to do the same thing! There was more than a bit of excitement in the air.

I was concerned that we would have new colors or something (because we have a ton of jerseys, hats, etc.). Instead, it's just new fonts, logos, and shades of the same colors. We won't have to pitch out all our Twins gear.

Snowscene

This is the view outside my office. Snow days are particularly beautiful.

Amp Project

I found this tube amp on Facebook. I've been looking for something like this to use as a box for the amp I'm building from scratch. The price was right: $0.00.

The guys said that it started blowing fuses and after sinking a few hundred dollars into it with no results, he was throwing in the towel.

It weighs 52 pounds! There are seven preamp tubes, four big power tubes, and another for the rectifier. It has every feature one could want in a tube amp: three channels, nice clean sounds, reverb, and two great distortion channels. The only thing it doesn't have is being able to turn on and work.

No problem. Hold my beer. I got this! I nothing else, I will have a bunch of new tubes for my other amp.

Winter Pots

JP Got the front pots changed over for the winter season.

MN Advanced Manufacturing Show

GP & I spent a day at the Minnesota Advanced Manufacturing Show. It filled the convention center with all sorts of advanced manufacturing. We saw all sorts of 3D printers. The U of M had one that they were using to print living tissue. Need a new ear? They can print one for you.

This is a sample of the types of things that can be 3D printed. In the bottom row there is a giant mosquito embedded in amber. This was entirely printed on a 3D printer.

We hit Brit's for lunch. It was G's first time there.

Halloween

This year for Halloween we had beautiful weather for trick or treating. The Ks next door had their annual Halloween party and everyone showed up in costume.

Halloween is a big deal here and there are some people put effort into their decorations. This house had a movie set filming the blood bucket scene from Carrie with skeletons doing everything.

Saturday, November 19, 2022

Campfire

With our new firepit, we burned thru our old stack in no time. It goes thru wood like a full size pickup goes thru gas.

D & MN came up from Chicago to claim their dogs. We had a quiet evening by the backyard campfire.

Edina Theatre Reopening

We finally made it to the newly reopened Edina Theatre to see The Shining on the big screen. The lobby bar is a tribute to the Gold Room in the movie. The walls and ceiling are tiled in shiny gold and the cocktails are all themed on the movie.

There are scenes from the movie on the walls and props, too. There's a smashed thru door with a fake axe so that you can get your photo with head poking thru.

My favorite prop is the typewriter with sheaves typed up "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

Work Cafe

One of the things that I love about work is our cafe. The food is all made fresh daily and there's a good variety. And they serve breakfast. And it's subsidized so that it's reasonable.

The chef that runs the deli tries out new ideas all the time. This was a flatbread with squash spread and covered with craisins, blue cheess, candied walnuts, and pumpkin seeds. It was incredible!

Pike Island

The Gs came up for a weekend to see the fall colors. Most of the maples were already done, but trees along the rivers were going strong with their yellows.

We walked the 3-mile loop around Pike Island and then up the bluff to Fort Snelling. It was recently remodeled and it looks great. We need to return with the boys.

Cooking with Gas

52nd Street was torn up for almost two months while the gas company installed a new 24" gas main. They pulled a quarter mile section under Minnehaha Creek.