For the first time ever, no one on the season ticket list for the Wild were offered upper level tickets to buy–current season ticket holders took all of the open cheap seats. My aunt and uncle went earlier in the day and purchased lower level end tickets (the picture above is taken from their seats), so we went that evening just to explore and use the 30% discount at the hockey lodge.

Steve Griggs, one of the Wild execs, took my kids on a tour through the tunnel to sit on the Zamboni and pose in front of the goals (pictures in the private area of the photo section). We made good use of the hockey lodge discount and everyone in the family picked up something. I placed my bets on Demitra having a good season and bought a white number 38 replica jersey.

As for tickets, there were a lot of nice lower and club level seats available, but nothing we could afford this year. My relatives are selling a portion of their seats, so we bought five games:

• Tuesday, October 10 vs. Vancouver
• Wednesday, November 29 vs. San Jose
• Saturday, December 23 vs. Detroit
• Tuesday, January 16 vs. Edmonton
• Thursday, February 8 vs. Florida

I’d also like to get tickets to Washington (10/12), Anaheim (10/27), Chicago (12/5), Dallas (2/20), Colorado (3/11) and St. Louis (4/7). I’m hoping I can get some good upper level single game or season ticket holder turnbacks for those games. Time for some hockey…DK

The Minnesota Wild sent me this card saying “Your Time is Now.” I’ve only been on the season ticket waiting list for half a year, so I’d be really surprised if that’s true, but I get to go down to the Xcel Center next week to find out. They also have 30% off all merchandise at the Hockey Lodge and free pictures on the Zamboni, so I can’t lose either way.

Next season should be an exciting time to be a Wild fan. The moves they made in the off season were really shocking in my opinion, but I’m glad the owners finally opened up the checkbook and realized they needed to reward the fans for their support and patience. Re-signing Gaborik was a no-brainer, but the additions of Demitra, Johnsson, Parrish and Carney were inspired (assuming they all stay healthy). I’m also glad to see Rolston, Bouchard, Koivu and Boogaard re-signed…DK

Our house is closing in on its sixth anniversary this fall and we’ve been very happy with it overall. This month we needed to replace the first exterior items–the outside lights. The old style is pictured on the left; the new ones on the right.

The other house excitement this week: hornets in the soffit over the garage. There are a few new pictures of the house in the photos section, including shots of the freshly stained deck and the dining room that now houses the table from my grandparents where I grew up eating holiday dinners…DK

14, 22, 27, 30, 32, PB 31

Those are the numbers I need to appear for the Powerball drawing on July 15th so I can carry out my dream of buying Willinger’s Golf Club and the surrounding land. Rumor has it that they are planning to build houses on that course, along with converting the par-4 eleventh hole to a par-3 (creating a par 71 course). If it were my course, that’s not exactly what I’d do. (more…)

Based on Dara Moskowitz’s advice (my favorite local food critic), we decided to pay a lunch visit today to Pop’s Family Caf?© on the East Side of St. Paul. The onion rings were incredible and the fried chicken with homemade mashed potatoes and gravy were a delicious, guilty treat. Easy to get to off of I-94 in a beautiful older building with a great view of downtown St. Paul. Officially added to the lunch rotation…DK

Yesterday I was notified by our server colocation provider (the excellent digital.forest in Seattle) that one of our mail servers was being used to send junk mail. We currently use the mail server included with Mac OS X Server, which is based on Postfix. I have been testing an alternative solution called ECM on a different server and I was hoping it was this test setup that had been compromised. Unfortunately, it was our main production box. (more…)

Yesterday I had the pleasure of joining noted golf course architect Garrett Gill at his newest creation–The Meadows at Mystic Lake. Director of Golf Greg McKush and Course Superintendent Pete Nolan were scheduled to join us, but had to drop out before the round started (pictured above in center shot - McKush, Nolan and Gill).

I took along my camera and a selection of shots can be viewed by clicking the montage above. I noticed afterwards that my Nikon D70 is suffering from dust bunnies, so some of the shots have noticable artifacts in them that I need to correct in Photoshop.

Garrett has designed a number of my south metro favorites, including Willinger’s and Legends Club. He has another hit with The Meadows and I told him he needs to start a south metro “Garrett Gill Golf Trail” to promote these great courses. (more…)