Last Saturday, I participated in the 2008 Team Ortho Monster races in Minneapolis. Distances this year included the half marathon, a new 10 miler, a 5K and a 5K-K9.

I picked the half marathon as a nice follow-up to TCM. The weather was great and the size of the field (1200) made for an uncrowded morning. Until the end, that is. The race starts were staggered, but it seemed like everyone finished at the same time. The line for water and food afterward was dangerously long – glad no one passed out.

I also encountered lines at Marathon Sports on Friday during packet pick-up and the organizers ran out of hats, which they said will be mailed. A friend of mine said there were issues with shirt availability on Thursday too, which seems weird for a group that has been doing this for quite a while.

This was my first time running this 13.1-mile course, which started and finished near the Lake Harriet band shell. The course wrapped around both Harriet and Calhoun, with an out-and-back stretch along Minnehaha Creek thrown in between. Several sections of the TCM course were covered, although often in the opposite direction. Very nice layout overall that helped me set a new half marathon PR with a chip time of 1:51:20 (8:30 pace).

Next up: the Walt Disney World Marathon in Orlando – 6 a.m. on January 11, 2009.

Finally got to watch my first regular season game in person this year. I didn’t buy the single season ticket next to my relatives seats this year, so unless Bill Robertson comes through for me (or any of the channel 45 connections), I’ll only get to about five games at the X this season.

My bullet points from tonight’s outing:

• The Wild were extremely fortunate to be where they were after two periods.
• I don’t buy the consecutive sell-out streak any more and wish they would just announce the true attendance.
• There are now two wireless networks in the building and both are password protected (MSE_Public and MSE_Media). Really hate that – AT&T is your wireless sponsor, right? Make them pay extra so we can have free wireless in the stands…
• Speaking of sponsors, the ads are getting to be a little much, in my opinion. I guess I should just get up and walk around more between periods and it wouldn’t seem so bad. I think the Best Buy ads for “all your HD hockey needs” pushed me over the edge, seeing as how there are what, five HD games on this year? And this was one of them…
• Programs are still $3 this year, with proceeds still going to youth hockey.
• They played the cool Andrew Brunette video with him and the equipment trainer, then said they were auctioning off the prop “17,615″ jersey. Nicely done.
• Some photographer dude came by our section before the third period taking pictures of people and giving them cards to look up the shots and order prints (just like at amusement parks!). http://www.wild.com/truefans
• “Mittens” is the worst hockey nickname ever and I refuse to use it.
• Why does the URL for Russo’s Rants keep changing? Same for the wild.com in-game commentary…

I have a few enhancements planned for this site that I hope to have online very soon – stay tuned!

As part of my effort to “de-clutter” my life (and combat current economic forces), I’ve decided to get rid of many of the compact discs we’ve collected over the past 25+ years.

For full albums, I’m looking at this service I read about in Newsweek. Before I contact them, I thought it would be wise to have Cheapo’s give me a quote to see if they are a better deal. I’ll update this post with the results.

UPDATE: Cheapo’s offered me about the same as the iPod place (~$1/CD), so I just decided to take that offer.

As for CD singles, my wife and I have been collecting these from around the world for many years. Some are worth next to nothing, while others may be diamonds in the rough. I used to list on eBay to sell things like this, as that usually provides the best chance to see what an item is really worth. The problem is that it’s a major hassle to take photos and create multiple listings (to say nothing of the costs involved).

So I’m trying something new – today I created a database-backed page on this site that lists the artist, title, catalog number, number of tracks and a brief description of the item. If you see something you like, shoot me an email and I’ll give you more information about it.

It will take me several days to get all of the singles entered, so check back often…

Lame:

New autograph policy: A total of 150 autograph tickets will be distributed for Andrew Brunette and another 150 for Marian Gaborik. Those tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 2 p.m.

Now you get to wait in line twice in one day…

As I do for every election, here are the people and issues on my ballot this year (as far as I can tell), along with links to various web sites. I don’t make public endorsements on this site – I just encourage everyone to get informed before election day, then get out there on November 4th and fill out your ballot as an intelligent, knowledgeable voter.

President/Vice-President

• Barr/Root, Libertarian
• Baldwin/Castle, Constitution
• Calero/Kennedy, Socialist Workers
• McCain/Palin, Republican
• McKinney/Clement, Green
• Nader/Gonzalez, Independent
• Obama/Biden, Democrat

U.S. Senator

• Charles Aldrich, Libertarian
• Dean Barkley, Independence
• Norm Coleman, Republican – Incumbent
• Al Franken, Democrat
• James Niemackl, Constitution

U.S. Representative – District 2

• John Kline, Republican – Incumbent
• Steve Sarvi, Democrat

State Representative – District 38A

• Diane Anderson, Republican
• Sandra Masin, Democrat – Incumbent

County Commissioner – District 3

• Thomas Egan – Incumbent
• Scott Holm

Soil and Water Supervisor Supervisor District 2

• Marian Brown – Incumbent
• Victoria Dvorak
• Scott Norstad

Soil and Water Supervisor Supervisor District 4

• Chris Nielsen – Incumbent
• Peter Thomas Schaffer

Soil and Water Supervisor Supervisor District 5

• Michael Carr
• Joe Meyers – Incumbent

Minnesota Supreme Court – Seat 3

• Paul H. Anderson – Incumbent
• Tim Tingelstad

Minnesota Supreme Court – Seat 4

• Lorie Skjerven Gildea – Incumbent
• Deborah Hedlund

Judge – Minnesota Court of Appeals – Seat 16

• Dan Griffith
• Terri J. Stoneburner – Incumbent

Judge – District Court – Seat 32

• Joseph Carter – Incumbent
• Nathaniel J. Reitz

Eagan City Council – 2 seats

• Cyndee Fields – Incumbent
• Meg Tilley – Incumbent

Eagan City Council – 1 seat (to fill vacancy)

• Buzz Anderson
• Gary Hansen

State Constitutional Amendment

• Shall the Minnesota constitution be amended to dedicate funding to protect our drinking water sources; to protect, enhance, and restore our wetlands, prairies, forests, and fish, game, and wildlife habitat; to preserve our arts and cultural heritage; to support our parks and trails; and to protect, enhance, and restore our lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater by increasing the sales and use tax rate beginning July 1, 2009, by three-eighths of one percent on taxable sales until the year 2034?
• Vote Yes Supporters – Vote Yes Minnesota
• Vote No Supporters – No Sales Tax Increase

City of Eagan Carriage Hills Referendum

• Shall the City of Eagan be authorized to issue and sell its general obligation bonds in a principal amount not to exceed $10,250,000 for the purpose of acquiring approximately 120 acres of land formerly known as the Carriage Hills Golf Course for public facilities, recreation, and open space uses?
• Questions and Answers (City of Eagan)

NOTE: Uncontested races not listed.

Screw the Slovak Mafia – Mikko to Antti all season, baby! Maybe we should have half the team be sick every night, eh? Or ask to play Eastern teams all year…