How long will this last?

I love this new trail

Better than I expected 🍔

Just up the hill from our plot @ Acacia

Found an easier way to Oakland Cemetery

Lasted longer than many, but still was hoping it wouldn’t happen

Still like my old Gooseberry pic the best

First rapid, home COVID test

December has really been something

Highly recommend having a lanai as part of your room

First full ride home on the green line since the pandemic started

I’ve turned into a marketing executive’s dream. Here are seven of my current favorite brands:

• Apple
• Descente
• Disney
• Johnston and Murphy
• Mizuno
• Polo Ralph Lauren
• Sony

Most of those have been on the list for years and years too…

Coming next month…

A little late on writing the follow-up story to my post about the end of the stadium chapter, but as many of you already know, I’ve decided to return to the hospitality industry. On October 25th, I joined the opening team at the new Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Minneapolis, which will be located in the RBC Gateway building at the intersection of Nicollet Mall and Washington Avenue in downtown Minneapolis.

The project is owned by the Pohlad family, so a tip of the hat to Twins technology guru John Avenson for telling me about this opportunity (and the history behind it). The tower will be mixed use: office space for several Pohlad companies and RBC Wealth Management, a new ground floor restaurant and coffee shop from Gavin Kaysen, event space (two ballrooms and multiple meeting rooms), an outdoor pool deck with restaurant, spa with indoor pool, exercise and yoga rooms, eight hotel floors and 34 private residences.

The Four Seasons brand and corporate culture is outstanding and will be a great addition to the Twin Cities market. I’m so impressed with the local team being assembled here, along with all the people that I’ve met from the home office in Toronto and at other locations around the world. The Director of IT from Houston was in Minneapolis last week and will help with our opening. Later this month, I will travel to Chicago for orientation (and my first stay at one of the properties).

From a technical perspective, this move will take me back to the world of Opera, along with all of the other systems that hotels need to operate: door locks and keys, IPTV, WiFi, telephones, security cameras and digital signage (among others). It’s also really nice to have a strong network of internal support, as well as a world-class corporate IT group that have well-defined standards and procedures. My office will have a window peering into the data center and it’ll be fun to have IDF rooms on multiple floors of a really tall building (along with brand-new equipment throughout).

Similar to my start at the stadium, we are in temporary offices down the street while construction continues (offices should be ready in February, with the hotel set to open in the summer). Great to be back in construction mode again with a hard hat and reflective vest: McGough is the general contractor and I get to work with Gephart again too. Other primary groups include Pohlad-owned United Properties as the site developer and JLL as the leasing agent.

It’s coming along nicely

Yesterday was my last official day working at U.S. Bank Stadium as the Director of IT. I was about a week shy of six years, but what a wild ride it has been:

• Five plus seasons of Vikings Football (including the Minneapolis Miracle)
• Super Bowl LII
• Men’s Final Four
• Summer X Games
• A.C. Milan vs. Chelsea
• Monster Jam and Super Cross dirt shows
• MSHSL Championships
• Metallica, Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Guns N’ Roses, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, U2 with Beck (and many other shows)

It’s been an honor to work in this building from pre-opening through today, partnering with outstanding organizations, working with truly amazing people and learning an awful lot about the sports and entertainment industry.

There are really too many people to thank for helping me succeed in this chapter of my life, but I’d like to call out a few:

• Armon Farrari, who I stole from Apple (h/t Pash) and who became one of the best technology managers I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with in any industry.
• Curtis Schmillen, Director of Operations, Leo Pidde (now retired) and Ed Kroics (who took Leo’s place): just an amazing group of coworkers inside the building and great people to be with outside of work – be it on a golf course or at a happy hour.
• Jim Farstad, executive director of the Minnesota Sports Facility Authority (and former technology consultant during construction): a true renaissance man in every way.
• Inaugural GM Patrick Talty (and HR manager Shelly Wynia) for picking me to join the opening team back in 2015.
• Current GM John Drum, who helped during my health emergency outside the stadium in 2018.
• The CTAC team at CenturyLink (now Lumen) that designed and built the original technology infrastructure: Andy Diment, Mark Olson and Evan Teisberg. Still helping to this day, extraordinary knowledge that always made my job “really pretty simple.”
• Bill Anderson and Wesley Terry at AmpThink: no one in the world knows more about WiFi than these two individuals.
• Mentor Doug Podolak: your continued support of my career (and friendship) means the world to me.
• My wife and daughters: zero percent chance I’d be here today without their love and support. You da best ❤️

Lastly, to everyone at the Vikings (past and present): you’ve been great partners and I can’t wait to see you bring home the Vince Lombardi trophy to the great state of Minnesota. Skol, Vikings!

My one real upgrade this time

Clean bill of health at Hennepin Healthcare (and breakfast in the cafeteria)

Turned out really nice – hopefully the move-in date is still a long ways out

Today marks the three year anniversary of my train platform event in downtown Minneapolis. The first anniversary was amazing, I was ultra grateful for my second anniversary and now things are running on all cylinders for year three. Colleen made my favorite bars to celebrate and we will be having dinner tonight at Saint Dinette to toast another splendid year around the sun.

On the health front, everything is great. I’m on my second pair of permanent prism lenses and they work perfectly. Still don’t need them for reading screens, but I do prefer them now for watching TV and movies, riding my bike, golfing and driving (even bought a pair of prism sunglasses). The move streak on my watch is now up to 540 days, I’m at 530 miles on the bike log for 2021 and have even signed up to try another half marathon in 2022.

As the pandemic continues to roll on, some things have returned to (semi) normal. While we had an entire football season without fans, this year has seen a return to no restrictions and four games with thousands of people through the doors. We took our first airplane trips to and from Las Vegas over Labor Day and will be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary this December on Kauai. We’ve also been building a new house that should be ready when we get back (after an extended construction period).

Lastly, I want to again thank the healthcare professionals who helped get me to year three, along with all of my family and friends who have provided love and support. There is one other big change coming soon, but I’ll leave that for another day…

And I’m in for the long run, wherever it goes. Ridin’ the river, wherever it goes. And I’m an honest man, work’s all I know…

Downtown has some great perspectives

Pre-drywall meeting was a success

A little more progress

See you next year!

Missed kid one and kid two

New = reopened three years ago

Can’t wait to move in

Had to move the car early for the garage painters

Not a tournament legit 9.6, but I’ll take it

This week I stopped during a bike ride at Acacia Park Cemetery to say hi to the family and check on my parent’s headstone (we’ve been waiting for my dad’s numbers to be updated for quite a while). As you can see in the photo, it now correctly says 1946 – 2020 (and is actually a completely new headstone). This sent me down two rabbit holes:

• Investigating headstone options for my plot
• The wondrous site that is findagrave.com

While we wait for the pricing options on the first one, I was amazed at how much personal information was available on our family on the second. I had no idea there were several other relatives buried at Acacia and I learned a bunch of things about the Kingsbury side of things too (more details after the jump).

In addition to my mom and dad, my maternal grandmother and grandfather are in the Cypress section of Acacia, along with my uncle Greg and my great uncle Warren and his wife Evelyn. Also on the Smith side of the family, Acacia is the final resting place for my great-grandparents Walter and Edna Smith, along with my great-great-grandparents John and Margaret Blaylock (who knew?). Also learned about the ties back to England (I already knew grandma Helen was “a beautiful Swedish Lady”).

On the Kingsbury side, I learned most of the family is buried in southern Minnesota, Iowa and Ohio (with one set of great-great-grandparents in Missouri and a New York connection too). I also learned about “Baby Kingsbury,” who died in 1944 and that I have a Norwegian relative named Ole Larsrud (not married to Lena). Also forgot that my paternal grandmother died on my wife’s birthday (in 2000).

For posterity, here is the data they listed for various relatives (down to fifth generation):

Karen Leslie Smith Kingsbury, mother
BIRTH 1 Sep 1944
Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA
DEATH 22 Dec 2017 (aged 73)
Edina, Hennepin County, Minnesota, USA
BURIAL
Acacia Park Cemetery
Mendota Heights, Dakota County, Minnesota, USA
PLOT Cypress, Block 5, Lot 3, Grave 12 HE

Michael Alvin Kingsbury, father
BIRTH 7 Sep 1946
Lanesboro, Fillmore County, Minnesota, USA
DEATH 10 Feb 2020 (aged 73)
Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA
BURIAL
Acacia Park Cemetery
Mendota Heights, Dakota County, Minnesota, USA
PLOT Cypress, Block 5, Lot 3, Grave 12 FE

Helen Margaret Elmquist Smith, maternal grandmother
BIRTH 14 Jun 1920
Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA
DEATH 26 Dec 2007 (aged 87)
West Saint Paul, Dakota County, Minnesota, USA
BURIAL
Acacia Park Cemetery
Mendota Heights, Dakota County, Minnesota, USA
PLOT Cypress, Block 5, Lot 3, Grave 11 FE

Donald Leslie Smith, maternal grandfather
BIRTH 24 Nov 1919
Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA
DEATH 30 Dec 2013 (aged 94)
Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA
BURIAL
Acacia Park Cemetery
Mendota Heights, Dakota County, Minnesota, USA
PLOT Cypress, Block 5, Lot 3, Grave 11HE

Greg Alan Smith, uncle
BIRTH 27 Dec 1946
Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA
DEATH 25 Dec 2018 (aged 71)
Spokane, Spokane County, Washington, USA
BURIAL
Acacia Park Cemetery
Mendota Heights, Dakota County, Minnesota, USA
PLOT Cypress, Block 5, Lot 3, Grave 9 HE

Warren Hewson Smith, great-uncle
BIRTH 16 Jan 1917
Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA
DEATH 14 May 1992 (aged 75)
Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA
BURIAL
Acacia Park Cemetery
Mendota Heights, Dakota County, Minnesota, USA
PLOT Cypress, Block 5, Lot 3, Grave 9

Evelyn Josephine Rigoni Smith, great-aunt
BIRTH 15 May 1918
Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA
DEATH 20 Nov 2011 (aged 93)
Eden Prairie, Hennepin County, Minnesota, USA
BURIAL
Acacia Park Cemetery
Mendota Heights, Dakota County, Minnesota, USA
PLOT Cypress, Block 5, Lot 3, Grave 10
Daughter of Antonio Rigoni and Rose Cella

Walter Ellsworth Smith, great-grandfather
BIRTH 27 Aug 1890
Pennsylvania, USA
DEATH 22 Mar 1946 (aged 55)
Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA
BURIAL
Acacia Park Cemetery
Mendota Heights, Dakota County, Minnesota, USA
PLOT Cypress, Block 5, Lot 3, Grave 5

Edna L Blaylock Smith, great-grandmother
BIRTH 8 Apr 1892
Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA
DEATH 25 Aug 1958 (aged 66)
Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA
BURIAL
Acacia Park Cemetery
Mendota Heights, Dakota County, Minnesota, USA
PLOT Cypress, Block 5, Lot 3, Grave 6

John Hewson Blaylock, great-great-grandfather
BIRTH 17 Sep 1848
England
DEATH 8 Aug 1936 (aged 87)
Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA
BURIAL
Acacia Park Cemetery
Mendota Heights, Dakota County, Minnesota, USA
PLOT Cypress, Block 5, Lot 3, Grave 13

Margaret Ann Tweddle Blaylock, great-great-grandmother
BIRTH 17 Jul 1856
England
DEATH 2 May 1940 (aged 83)
Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA
BURIAL
Acacia Park Cemetery
Mendota Heights, Dakota County, Minnesota, USA
PLOT Cypress, Block 5, Lot 3, Grave 14

Evalyn C. Campbell Kingsbury, paternal grandmother
BIRTH 20 Oct 1914
Stuart, Adair County, Iowa, USA
DEATH 23 Jun 2000 (aged 85)
Rushford, Fillmore County, Minnesota, USA
BURIAL
Henrytown Cemetery
Henrytown, Fillmore County, Minnesota, USA

Alvin Clifford Kingsbury, paternal grandfather
BIRTH 28 Nov 1908
Harmony, Fillmore County, Minnesota, USA
DEATH 29 Aug 1987 (aged 78)
Rushford Village, Fillmore County, Minnesota, USA
BURIAL
Henrytown Cemetery
Henrytown, Fillmore County, Minnesota, USA

Baby Kingsbury, aunt
BIRTH 1944
DEATH 13 Dec 1944 (aged less–than 1 year)
BURIAL
Henrytown Cemetery
Henrytown, Fillmore County, Minnesota, USA

Frances Mabel Arnold Campbell, great-grandmother
BIRTH 29 Oct 1887
Dexter, Dallas County, Iowa, USA
DEATH 4 Dec 1978 (aged 91)
Coon Rapids, Carroll County, Iowa, USA
BURIAL
Dexter Cemetery
Dexter, Dallas County, Iowa, USA

Clyde Marion Campbell, great-grandfather
BIRTH 2 Oct 1888
Sidney, Fremont County, Iowa, USA
DEATH 5 Apr 1977 (aged 88)
Coon Rapids, Carroll County, Iowa, USA
BURIAL
Dexter Cemetery
Dexter, Dallas County, Iowa, USA

Caroline Larsrud Kingsbury, great-grandmother
BIRTH 1 May 1876
DEATH 6 Dec 1933 (aged 57)
BURIAL
Henrytown Cemetery
Henrytown, Fillmore County, Minnesota, USA
Father’s Name: Ole Larsrud
Father’s Birthplace: Norway
Mother’s Name: Betsey Hilestad
Mother’s Birthplace: Norway

Charles Clarence Kingsbury, great-grandfather
BIRTH 8 Oct 1874
DEATH 14 Jan 1960 (aged 85)
BURIAL
Henrytown Cemetery
Henrytown, Fillmore County, Minnesota, USA
Father’s Name: John
Father’s Birthplace: Norway
Mother’s Name: Cordelia
Mother’s Birthplace: Norway

Cordelia Ann West Kingsbury, great-great-grandmother
BIRTH 13 Mar 1835
Michigan, USA
DEATH 17 May 1922 (aged 87)
BURIAL
Crown Hill Cemetery
Preston, Fillmore County, Minnesota, USA

John M. Kingsbury, great-great-grandfather
BIRTH 12 Jun 1828
Boonville, Oneida County, New York, USA
DEATH 8 Sep 1910 (aged 82)
Preston, Fillmore County, Minnesota, USA
BURIAL
Crown Hill Cemetery
Preston, Fillmore County, Minnesota, USA

Bertha “Betsy” Hilestad Larsrud, great-great-grandmother
BIRTH 16 Oct 1849
DEATH 12 Sep 1932 (aged 82)
BURIAL
Henrytown Cemetery
Henrytown, Fillmore County, Minnesota, USA
Father’s Name: Knud Hileslad
Father’s Birthplace: Norway
Mother’s Name: Sonneva
Mother’s Birthplace: Norway

Ole A. Larsrud, great-great-grandfather
BIRTH 15 Feb 1829
DEATH 11 Jun 1907 (aged 78)
BURIAL
Henrytown Cemetery
Henrytown, Fillmore County, Minnesota, USA

Nettie McCaffree Campbell, great-great-grandmother
BIRTH 3 Sep 1856
Illinois, USA
DEATH 18 Aug 1925 (aged 68)
Polk County, Missouri, USA
BURIAL
Humansville Cemetery
Humansville, Polk County, Missouri, USA

Harvey B Campbell, great-great-grandfather
BIRTH 8 Jul 1855
Fremont County, Iowa, USA
DEATH 23 Sep 1935 (aged 80)
Dexter, Dallas County, Iowa, USA
BURIAL
Humansville Cemetery
Humansville, Polk County, Missouri, USA

Elizabeth Row Arnold, great-great-grandmother
BIRTH 19 Dec 1844
Holmes County, Ohio, USA
DEATH 25 Dec 1929 (aged 85)
Dexter, Dallas County, Iowa, USA
BURIAL
Dexter Cemetery
Dexter, Dallas County, Iowa, USA

Jacob Arnold, great-great-grandfather
BIRTH 13 Mar 1850
Holmes County, Ohio, USA
DEATH 28 Jan 1930 (aged 79)
Dexter, Dallas County, Iowa, USA
BURIAL
Dexter Cemetery
Dexter, Dallas County, Iowa, USA

Margaret Van Slyke Kingsbury, great-great-great grandmother
BIRTH 1809
DEATH 1 Mar 1842 (aged 32–33)
Boonville, Oneida County, New York, USA
BURIAL
Boonville Cemetery
Boonville, Oneida County, New York, USA

Israel Kingsbury, great-great-great grandfather
BIRTH 8 Sep 1800
Boonville, Oneida County, New York, USA
DEATH 24 Jan 1889 (aged 88)
Boonville, Oneida County, New York, USA
BURIAL
Boonville Cemetery
Boonville, Oneida County, New York, USA

Anna West, great-great-great grandmother
BIRTH 13 Mar 1799
DEATH 13 Jan 1898 (aged 98)
BURIAL
Hesper Public Cemetery
Winneshiek County, Iowa, USA

Abram West, great-great-great grandfather
BIRTH 1787
DEATH 1864 (aged 76–77)
BURIAL
Hesper Public Cemetery
Winneshiek County, Iowa, USA

Sophia DeFreece Campbell, great-great-great-grandmother
BIRTH 7 Apr 1826
DEATH 28 Apr 1909 (aged 83)
BURIAL
Sidney Cemetery
Sidney, Fremont County, Iowa, USA
PLOT Sec 2 Row 17

Aaron Campbell, great-great-great-grandfather
BIRTH 25 Dec 1820
DEATH 5 Jul 1897 (aged 76)
BURIAL
Sidney Cemetery
Sidney, Fremont County, Iowa, USA
PLOT Sec 2 Row 17

Emily Jane Morgan McCaffree, great-great-great-grandmother
BIRTH 1 Apr 1830
Kentucky, USA
DEATH 14 Dec 1885 (aged 55)
Sidney, Fremont County, Iowa, USA
BURIAL
Sidney Cemetery
Sidney, Fremont County, Iowa, USA
PLOT Sec 4 Row 14

Simeon McCaffree, great-great-great-grandfather
BIRTH 13 Sep 1822
Kentucky, USA
DEATH 10 Jul 1890 (aged 67)
Sidney, Fremont County, Iowa, USA
BURIAL
Sidney Cemetery
Sidney, Fremont County, Iowa, USA

Mary Gardner Arnold, great-great-great grandmother
BIRTH 30 Mar 1817
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, USA
DEATH 9 Feb 1905 (aged 87)
Holmes County, Ohio, USA
BURIAL
Arnold Cemetery
Mount Hope, Holmes County, Ohio, USA

John Arnold, great-great-great grandfather
BIRTH 1 Jun 1817
Holmes County, Ohio, USA
DEATH 4 Jan 1894 (aged 76)
Mount Hope, Holmes County, Ohio, USA
BURIAL
Arnold Cemetery
Mount Hope, Holmes County, Ohio, USA

Susannah Sheneman Row, great-great-great grandmother
BIRTH 22 Sep 1812
Tuscarawas County, Ohio, USA
DEATH 4 Feb 1884 (aged 71)
BURIAL
Zion United Church of Christ Cemetery
New Bedford, Coshocton County, Ohio, USA

Andrew Row, great-great-great grandfather
BIRTH 1815
Pennsylvania, USA
DEATH 25 Mar 1863 (aged 47–48)
Coshocton County, Ohio, USA
BURIAL
Zion United Church of Christ Cemetery
New Bedford, Coshocton County, Ohio, USA

Remembering those who perished in service to this country:

• Civil War: 655,000
• World War I: 116,516
• World War II: 405,399
• Korean War: 36,516
• Vietnam War: 58,209

And as vaccines start to take hold, also thinking of these American lives lost:

• Flu Pandemic of 1918: 675,000
• COVID-19 Pandemic: 591,265

Rest in Peace 💜

Can’t believe the neighbor lot went from nothing to framed up in about 30 days

Happy 15th birthday, 7 Minute Miles! Current stats:

• 12,192 Posts
• 216 Pages

Skipping unique visitors or page counts this year, as my web server logs are all mixed up after the big move to AWS Lightsail. I do hope to get that cleaned up soon – want to learn how the new nginx logs differ from Apache (which I used for years). WordPress.com stats report 8,066 visitors in 2020, along with 20,522 views, but I don’t really know how they calculate that. They also report that the “Reflections on Spring Hill Golf Club” post continues to be one of my most visited stories of all time. Rather hoping this will be the year I actually play there…

Won’t get too much into the technical weeds this time, as I have a lot of things cooking right now that I’m sure I’ll cover in more detail soon. Aside from the move to virtual AWS servers, I’m still on WordPress (v5.7) with the same old custom theme and the same set of plugins I had last year. Hoping for a new look in 2021, but I don’t know the timing of that launch yet. No new functionality recently – just lots of under the hood things (including a fix for the weird SSL/emoji issue).

Thanks for visiting!

Grateful to everyone working on this

It was really, really nice to have an entire week off work (and someone else to cover on-call). It’s also great to see some movement in the fight against COVID-19, both on the vaccine front and in the sports and entertainment world. I really felt recharged and ready to move forward this morning, as there are a lot of things that need my attention right now:

• Find a vaccine – my tier is up now, so I’ve got tabs open in my browser for all the big providers. Also discovered vaccinespotter.org (above), which is a big help. Briefly thought I snagged one for this afternoon, only to be kicked out of the process at the end (just like a hot concert ticket). And as the new South ParQ Vaccination Special said, “There’s a place in town, very hard to get into, very exclusive. Walgreens.“
• Reconnect at work – continuation of the file server saga, spring cleaning on software licensing and backups, starting a new firewall upgrade project and generally preparing for the return of ticketed guests to the building. Sounds like I might even get to hire some help this summer, which would be super awesome.
• AWS servers – the $100 credit I received from the re:Invent survey is almost used up, so I need to get back to moving this site off of virtual server one and over to the new virtual server I started experimenting with. That way I can shut the first one down and start figuring out a bunch of things on Ubuntu Server 20.04, including virtual host management, transfer of Let’s Encrypt certs, log analysis and WordPress theme development. It’s already been (nerdy) fun switching from Apache to nginx and from MySQL to MariaDB and kicking the tires on PHP8. WordPress 5.7 is the first release in a long time that did something to my (admittedly) ancient theme: the spacing below quote and status posts on the front page is off. Since I use Masonry and jQuery for layout, I thought it had to do with the upgrade of core WP jQuery from 1.12.4 to the 3.5.x tree mentioned here. After testing with the Enable jQuery Migrate Helper plugin, however, I don’t think this is the root cause (my version of Masonry is also pretty old). Stayed tuned…
• Construction – the design center meeting for the new house last week lasted just under four hours and everything has now been finalized and signed. Next, we move on to the electrical meeting, which has been scheduled for early April. So excited!
• Baseball – the announcements last week about fans at CHS Field (2,700) and Target Field (10,000) mean both of our ticket groups are about to fire up again. The Saints begin their new Triple A life at home on May 11th, while the Twins welcome fans back to Minneapolis on April 8th. I don’t know yet how many games we will end up with, but I’m very excited to watch more outdoor baseball in 2021.
• Exercise – my Apple Watch move streak hit 333 days last night, so I’m getting very close to my goal of one full year. Also found out last week that there will be a limited, in-person field for the 2021 Get in Gear 10K, which will include multiple waves and a sidewalk-only course. I was able to snag one of the spots and look forward to running outside more in the coming weeks to prepare.
• Taxes – ugh, just don’t want to start this yet. Also need to do my dad’s taxes one last time too, so that’s a double bummer. Not too scared of the potential financial hit for 2020, just thinking it will be more complex than normal. Hopefully TaxAct is up to the task (as they usually are).

Now back to refreshing those vaccine screens…

Coming soon to Newport

Not better, but solid – will put in the rotation

Still not Rib Fest, but tasty

It’s been a little noisy (again) outside my office window

Girl Scout cookies are the best/worst

Today I needed to get from I-94 to Brake Bread on West 7th, so I exited at Snelling and headed over to the infamous Short Line. When I got to St. Clair, I thought, “why not swing by Lombard?” Lots of changes starting to appear at the two former family residences (more pics after the jump).

Mystic Lake is no smoke-free on the gaming floor (and all of the machines are turned on)

Still one of my all-time favorite Minnesota sammies

Not sure what was going on at the Grand location today

Might not stop after a year, but trying to at least that far

This year will fly by, right?

Haven’t really written much lately – both here or on Twitter (my last remaining social media account). The Banff trip from January 2020 seems like an eternity ago and while I’m very grateful for our health and stability, it’s been a mentally tough twelve months. There are so many things I miss right now: attending live concerts and sporting events, eating out, happy hours with co-workers, walking around the Great Minnesota Get-Together, traveling to Disneyland and Vegas. Luxuries, to be sure, but I still miss them.

So what else is going on? The kids are both doing well. Work for Colleen has been intense (as it is for everyone in healthcare these days). With football season complete, my job is all about planning, budgets and maintenance until the future of events becomes a little clearer. It’s stressful being a department of one (and the 24/7 on call), but I’m trying to balance things as best as I can. The days and nights really all blend together now, as do weekdays and weekends. I’ve noticed a shift lately of time seeming to pass by faster, which is definitely a different vibe from a few months ago. Looking forward to the new Boludo to open near the office.

We’re in house search mode and it’s been absolutely bonkers (that’s my nemesis website above). Everything you read about the real estate market right now is true – almost every new listing is receiving multiple offers on the first day. If it doesn’t, you wonder what’s wrong with the place. We’ve only made one offer so far and were outbid (by a lot). Many showings get canceled before we even get there because they sell so quickly. Hoping more inventory comes online as the weather gets better. We are being patient and prudent for now – it will happen when it happens.

Health-wise, I’ve been feeling pretty good. My move streak is closing in on 300 days, so I’m doing something every day. With the cold weather, that’s mainly been hill walking on the treadmill while I watch Netflix. MK and I did ski a few weekends ago at Spirit Mountain and SK wants to hit up Afton next weekend. Still need to read up on the new Nordic walking sticks and get them configured for my height – it hasn’t been *that* cold out so far (and it would be good to get outside on the sunny days that occasionally roll around). Mixed messages on my eyesight these days: still prefer no glasses with most computer work, but finding I need them more and more for reading and watching TV. Stress eating definitely still an issue.

Lastly, I’ve been spending a lot of my free time at night learning new cloud technology stuff on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Inspired by the free sessions and keynotes posted during the online re:Invent conference, I wanted to build on my experience with moving this site to a Lightsail instance a few months ago. After re:Invent, Amazon sent me a feedback survey and gave me a $100 account credit. About a week ago, I decided to use some of that credit to spin up a second virtual server and learn the LEMP stack on Ubuntu Server 20.04, building it from scratch (instead of using a Bitnami bundle). I’ll write more about that experience soon…

A+

What comes next, America?

The train in Snowpiercer, though

Walked to my latest COVID test

It’s already been eight months since the last one, so let’s do this:

• For my Christmas and birthday gift this year, I got new skis and bindings (returning to my classic Rossi/Marker combo). Had a mixed experience at The House – will probably go back to Joe’s next time.
• With the skis finally here, trying to figure out when I can break them in. Lutsen has some really appealing midweek flex pricing, so that is a leading contender. Might do an Afton or Welch day and still really want to hit Beaver Creek someday (as well as return to Schweitzer).
• I got all excited about responsive, mobile-friendly WordPress themes this week, but have hit a testing roadblock. MAMP worked out of the box with a plain vanilla WordPress install, but I haven’t been able to get this site transferred over successfully.
• Thought about tossing my current theme completely (instead of retro-fitting for mobile) and customizing a theme like this one, but now I’m not sure which direction I want to go.
• Also not entirely 100% behind WordPress these days: don’t like Gutenberg and complexity seems to be increasing overall. Don’t see any great alternatives on the horizon, though.
• I’ve been happier with my transition to AWS, but maintenance and upgrade issues with the Bitnami WordPress Stack are making me reconsider moving to a straight LAMP virtual server instead.
• Yes, I do keep my iPhone boxes (but I’m trying to get better about recycling them).
• We’re house shopping, but this market is crazy aggressive right now. If you know someone in the Twin Cities thinking about selling a good “old people” house, please hit me up.
• Adult ear infections are not for the faint of heart.
• My Apple Watch move streak is closing in on 270 days – shooting for a year, then it can restart whenever.
• I bought a pair of Exerstrider Nordic walking poles after reading the story in the Strib, but I haven’t read the setup and training instructions yet. Seems like it will be fun.
• OWC has agreed to refund the SSD purchase, thereby ending my iMac kernel panic trauma.
• I have temporary computer options in place, but do want to move to an M1 machine. At first I thought I would do a Mac mini with a large, third-party monitor, but the retina screens on the iMacs just look so much better to me. I’ll probably wait for the M1 iMac later this year (with lots of RAM and SSD storage).
• I’m craving a Fuddruckers burger so badly I would consider an eight hour round-trip drive to South Dakota to get one.
• Sad the Vikings season turned out the way it did, but at least we get the Dallas circus back in town later this year. It will be nice to have Wild hockey again soon (helps to be a night owl) and I’m cautiously optimistic about the Twins and the Saints (but don’t get the whole “we’ve invited” thing – is there a deal or not?).
• The first Sunday of the Charlie Parr online residency at First Avenue was so emotional – make sure and catch the rest of them (every Sunday in January at 8 p.m. on his YouTube page) and drop him some money via GoFundMe.
• Speaking of music, we really enjoyed the Bee Gees documentary on HBO – nice job by Frank Marshall (with lots of fun cameos).
• Long live Grogu!

Welcome 2021, nice to have you around…

The pandemic is only part of the problem

Scenes from a walk, part 396

…are very brief these days

Back in high school, I loved studying history. Richard Demers was my favorite teacher, leading such courses as Ancient Civilizations, Western Civilizations and American Experience as part of Central’s Quest program. As I mentioned on my biography page, I took eight semesters of history, along with one independent study about the history of classical music. His euphemism for tests, OTEs (“opportunities to excel”), is something most of my high school classmates will recall fondly. They were always very difficult, but I’m grateful that grading on a curve was a thing back then.

Another concept that Mr. Demers taught in “Ancient Civ” was the Greek notion “excellence of body, excellence of mind.” This resonated deeply with me, but Google has not located authoritative references for this saying that I clearly remember (perhaps the Mandela Effect is in play?). The closest I’ve found is the Greek term arete (not to be confused with mountaineering’s sharp ridge separating two cirques or glacial valleys in mountainous regions). This line in the arete Wikipedia page jumped out at me:

It was commonly believed that the mind, body, and soul each had to be developed and prepared for a man to live a life of arete.

While I don’t recall the word arete being used by Demers, I do remember him discussing the concepts of paideia and the education of the aristocracy. It seems there is much more to learn about these concepts from Aristotle and Plato – perhaps some light reading for the long Minnesota winter?

All by myself (thanks, Greg’s Meats)

Chicken sliders and the “too much space” onion rings

Three years ago, I did a “Top 7” post on my favorite foods, but that talked about food categories in general terms. Lots of people have asked me about my favorite specific food items, so here they are (in no particular order):

• Homemade bleu cheese @ Vermilion Club

Let’s start in the Northland at one of the premier dive bars in the country, the VC. Also known for it’s 24-inch Bamboozler pizza, the homemade bleu cheese is the best I’ve had anywhere. Wednesdays are wing night, so load up on buffalo sauce and dip away in that amazing bleu. I usually order some Poor Gary’s pizza too, but I never really have room for that in the end.

• Chocolate cake donuts @ World’s Best Donuts

Staying on the Northland theme, let’s take a trip to the little village on the big lake, Grand Marais. While there are many great food traditions in town (Sven and Ole’s, Angry Trout Cafe, Blue Water Cafe – hell, even the local DQ is bomb), the claim of “World’s Best Donuts” is 100% true. Given the chance, I could eat an entire bag of the chocolate cake donuts in one sitting. Pro tips: pre-order online to skip the line and pay extra for a box instead of a bag so the chocolate doesn’t stick to the side.

• Cheeseburger @ Saint Dinette

Closer to home, the cheeseburger at Saint Dinette is my favorite burger of all time (and I’ve tried way too many). The competition between Chef Adam’s masterpiece and Au Cheval in Chicago was anti-climatic (and definitely not worth a multi-hour pre-pandemic wait). I’ve long had a soft spot in my heart for the burger at Fuddruckers in Bloomington (RIP), but that was good in a different way. Lots of people in town love the Parlour burger (and I think it’s very, very solid), but I’ve got to give the nod to the St. Paul contender. Team Nive Man, all the way!

• Pronto Pups and Fresh French Fries @ Minnesota State Fair

Going to cheat with a two-fer of Minnesota State Fair classics: the Pronto Pup (NEVER CORN DOG SINCE 1947) and Fresh French Fries. Of course, the fair has an amazing assortment of excellent food options (corn roast, Blue Barn, Lulu’s), but I can eat Pronto Pups right when I get there in the morning and just before we leave after a late Grandstand concert (and usually several more times in between). I LOVE French fries (Barbette, the clown, many others), but this year’s pandemic Food Parade reminded me that the red and yellow booth serves up the best ones ever.

• Pepperoni pizza @ Carbone’s on Randolph

If you’ve been following this site at all the past few months, you probably saw that we’ve been making a habit lately of visiting Carbone’s on Randolph for pizza on Mondays. This is the pizza of my childhood, and only the original Randolph location is legitimate in my book (the other franchises try admirably, but they just aren’t the same). We had our concerns when they closed down briefly to remodel and expand, but the original ovens remained and the greasy flavor lives on. In a metro area full of great pizza options, Carbone’s on Randolph is the one for my list.

• 3 Finger Combo @ Raising Canes

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to have a fast food entry on my list, but the 3 Finger Combo at Raising Canes is something I could order every day and not get tired of it. The quality of the chicken is always top notch, they have great fries, the Texas toast is a nice extra and for someone who grew up wanting things plain, Cane’s sauce is the best. Also love the little ice cubes in the freshly made lemonade. Egg McMuffins from the clown are also something I could eat every day (and the quality never wavers no matter where you are in the world, which is an incredible feat). And of course, Arby’s has the meats.

• Steak @ Murray’s

I’ve handed down my love of steak to my eldest daughter, but I’ve yet to take her to the temple of Minneapolis beef, Murray’s. Now I know that many people consider Manny’s to be the temple of Minneapolis beef, but I went to Murray’s first, sharing a Silver Butter Knife steak with my mom way back when. I thought it was magical that they could cook such a thick steak so uniformly perfect and have it be *so* tender. These days, I usually get there for the luncheon filet, a 6 ounce tenderloin with au gratin potatoes that is an absolute steal at $32. Just like pizza, there are a lot of great steak places in town, but Murray’s is my fave.

After I came up with this list, Colleen asked me, “what about Cecil’s?” Their New York style hot pastrami & Swiss on egg white absolutely needs to be top 7, but I don’t know what I want to bump off the list. Let’s just go with eight for now…

UPDATE: I also forgot about mild chilitos with extra cheese at Zantigo.

This is getting tougher as it gets colder

My heart is full…

Today is the two year anniversary of what kid one has called my “big brain blowout” that I experienced on the train platform in downtown Minneapolis on October 8, 2018. Looking back on the post I wrote a year ago, it’s amazing how much has changed in the world since then. The pandemic has dramatically altered my industry and most of my hobbies, but there’s still nothing like three weeks in the ICU to change your outlook on life.

Health-wise, almost everything is back to normal. It appears that my previous 20/20 vision won’t return fully, but I now have permanent prism glasses that mostly do the trick. I don’t really like to wear them, though, so it’s nice I don’t need them to read screens. My brain can trick my eyes for longer distances if I tilt my head a certain way, but overall it’s safer to just wear the glasses for driving and biking. They are also technically bifocals, as my neuro optometrist says I’m just getting too old to read the small print now. Dammit, she’s right.

In other miscellaneous health notes, I successfully completed my colonoscopy back in February and started a move streak in April that still continues (yesterday was day 175). As a result, my weight is trending in the right direction (switching to the no sugar versions of Cherry Coke and Mountain Dew is probably helping too). I’ve played more golf this year than any other, walking almost every round. Bike miles this year are down compared to the last two years, but I should still hit 600 miles by the end of the year. My run log is trending in the right direction, but most of those miles were spent walking hills. Will 2021 mark the return of full-blown running? Time will tell, but I’m not quite ready to throw in the towel on that just yet.

The last year has truly been a roller-coaster of emotion. We got in all of the milestone birthday trips before everything shut down – Las Vegas for SK, Maui for CK and Banff for MK. We lost the last of the parents months apart: Jean in December and Mike in February. I still feel like we didn’t get to properly mourn them once COVID hit. The pandemic continues to hammer away at other parts of our lives that will unfortunately never come back again.

I can’t allow this doom and gloom to overshadow my gratitude to be here today, though. I continue to be inspired by people like Dr. Uzma Samadani, who helped me leave the ICU at Hennepin Healthcare two years ago. Reading about her research on Twitter gives me hope about my continued health and that science will find a way out of this mess. The free lectures I’ve been watching from MIT about the pandemic are also fascinating and inspiring. We need more leaders like this to guide us through these challenging times…

🇺🇸 VOTE 🇺🇸

Hello, doge

It’s the start of bonus week, so let’s kick off things with a new Top 7 list:

• Let those you love know
• Never read the comments
• Always keep learning
• Move every day
• Travel as much as possible
• Eat the good stuff
• Less talking, more thinking

More reflections coming soon…

Fit *and* obese

Now I can mute everything, right?

So long, Dacha Batinich

Move streak hit 150 days this week

Come and visit after I kick the bucket