Our local IKEA store had the perfect bookshelf for our new office (see above). I generally like most things about IKEA, but this purchase was one of the most frustrating shopping experiences I’ve had in a long time.

On my first trip there, I bought a bunch of other things and decided to wait to get the bookshelf until I had more room in the car. When I went back the next day, there was no more stock on the floor. I saw two pallets loaded with units directly above the empty spot, though, so I went to ask a clerk to have one pulled down. That’s when the fun started. (more…)

On Tuesday, my daughter and I attended our first Wild game of the season. Despite trading arch-villian Todd Bertuzzi, Vancouver still has a strong team with a lot of great players. Roberto Luongo in goal was a wonderful addition and ex-Wild players Willie Mitchell and Marc Chouinard were familiar faces. Plus they still have the Sedin brothers, Markus Naslund, Mattias Ohlund and Matt Cooke.

The refs seemed to swallow their whistles the first two periods when it came to Canucks. When Pyatt got their first goal in the second period, I was really worried that the Wild would have trouble getting anything past Luongo. The Wild finally got a chance at a power play in the third and made the most of it. Manny had some great saves in the OT to get them to the shootout, which was a blast to watch.

This was also our first game in the new seats (section 123, right behind the goal). The view is unique and will be fun to have for a season. I still would like upper level on the sides eventually, but it’s fun to watch what the goalies see and watch the plays develop from a different angle.

I watched tonight’s game versus Washington on TV and can’t believe it went to another shootout. I knew the off season acquisitions would be good, but who would have predicted a 4-0 start? Our next game is 11/29 versus San Jose…DK

When I was growing up, there were two taboo topics: politics and religion. Both were considered private, personal decisions and talking about them in public was just not done. In some ways, I wish more people still felt this way, but then again, some issues are too important to keep quiet about.

With the elections rapidly approaching, it’s time to become informed about the choices we have on November 7th. Personally, I consider myself an independent voter (small “i”) that likes to look at each race or issue, do my research and be ready to make informed choices on election day. I’m not a fan of the party system and would really like to see all of the local and state offices be non-partisan, but that will never happen with the major parties in charge of making the rules.

Minnesota has always had high voter participation rates, but I was surprised to find how difficult it was to find information about the 2006 election. After a great deal of searching, I finally found the Secretary of State’s registered candidate search page. The big metro newspaper sites (Star Tribune and Pioneer Press) still have primary results featured and links to the candidates are hard to find. The League of Women Voters and MyBallot.net have decent information, but they are not comprehensive and don’t have all of the local items that will appear on the ballot. (more…)

See, Greedo’s gun didn’t even work–George broke it…DK

My aunt and uncle have been in the Wild Warming House for about three years and purchased lower level tickets this year. They sold me tickets for six games and have the following games left for sale:

• October 7, Saturday 7pm, Nashville Predators
• October 12, Thursday 7pm, Washington Capitals
• October 25, Wednesday 7pm, Los Angeles Kings
• November 2, Thursday 7pm, Vancouver Canucks
• December 19, Tuesday 7pm, Vancouver Canucks
• January 2, Tuesday 7pm, Atlanta Thrashers
• February 14, Wednesday 7pm, Vancouver Canucks
• March 6, Tuesday 7pm, San Jose Sharks
• March 20, Tuesday 7pm, Phoenix Coyotes
• March 22, Thursday 7pm, St. Louis Blues
• March 27, Tuesday 7pm, Calgary Flames
• April 5, Thursday 7pm, Edmonton Oilers

The seats are section 123, row 23, seats 5 and 6:

Each game is $108 for the two seats–please contact me via email if you are interested and I’ll get you hooked up…DK

It’s been two days since the run and this has been one of the easiest and pain-free recoveries yet. I feel great–the one blister I had on my heal is already calloused and my legs and knees are feeling good enough to play golf tomorrow at Hastings Country Club.

I still haven’t changed my mind about running more marathons anytime soon, but I would consider the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon or the TC10 next year.

City Pages listed me as the Minnesota Blog of the Day today, which was a nice surprise. I was listed there earlier this year and it’s nice they checked back to see how I did in the big race. I also had a nice comment from a complete stranger today. Web publishing is truly powerful…

Here are some additional notes from Sunday:

• Minnesota Supreme Court Judge Alan Page was playing his tuba again just north of Lake of the Isles. This is one of my favorite sights each year on the entire course (second only to the finish line). Thanks Judge!
• I missed just about everyone else on the course I usually see: Gregg Wong, my mother-in-law, my neighbors and my co-worker. I did see my parents and immediate family, though, and I thank all of the spectators who cheer and wave and yell out their support. It really makes a huge difference.
• The water stop just south of St. Thomas actually ran out of cups this year. This is the first time I’ve ever seen any operational slip-up in this otherwise perfect event.
• The death of the runner from Minneapolis was truly tragic and my thoughts go out to his family.
• In the last mile, I talked with a man who has run all 25 Twin City Marathons (and 20 Grandma’s too). He said he ran 7 minute miles twenty-five years ago (2:59), but he was 60 pounds heavier now and age was catching up with him. He said as long as he finished in under six hours, he’d keep coming back. Bravo!

I’d also like to congratulate my friend Susanne Miller of Burnsville, who finished her first marathon about 15 minutes ahead of me with a chip time of 04:56:05…DK

Our house was pelted with pea-sized hail tonight for a few minutes. Mother Nature sure has some amazing things up her sleeve…DK