Standing Desk Trial
I’m taking a trial run at a standing desk. If I like it I’ll see about something more nicer than a box of paper and an upside down recycling container.
Saturday at Science Museum
Tammy had her 2nd photography class today. Last week I went with the “Dad standby” and we went to the Zoo. Today we went to the Science Museum.
Multi Ping Pong
We had a Ping Pong Tournament at this years Olson Family weekend. I took video of a bunch of the matches and didn’t know what to do with it. So I took my new copy of Final Cut Pro X and put nine of them in one video.
Construction Excavation
I came home tonight and was excited to see the first significant work on the excavation around the house.
This digger was in the front yard getting its work done.
We have two really big holes that will have forms put in them for the concrete around the egress windows.
It isn’t often that you get to check out the exterior wall of your basement.
The toys are parked in the yard for the night.
I couldn’t help myself. 😀
Saving Plants
My Mom came to the rescue of more plants. This week the excavation starts on the remodel and the side of the house is going to get dug up. A lot of Hostas and others had to be moved or destroyed. Mazie helped loading the rescued plants into Grandma’s car.
Open Eye Backyard Puppet Show
Last week Mazie and I had a delightful evening sitting in Garrick Van Buren’s backyard watching a puppet show. This is the 3rd year that the Van Buren’s have hosted the Open Eye Figure Theatre and we’ve made it every year. This year Garrick commented to me that he had counted over 100 people. That’s great, and I hope that Open Eye continues to do this Driveway (or in this case Backyard) Tour.
Before the puppet show starts the puppeteers give a little introduction to the theatre and the puppets. They have a simple stage and are accompanied by an accordion player. Every year there is always some water moment where water will fly from the puppet area into the audience. It’s a lot of fun for everyone involved.
This years show was The Amazing Cow Boat
Taking a bath will never be the same for audiences after seeing the all-new The Amazing Cow Boat! Told through a giant pop-up book with puppets, songs, and surprises, the show is the story of Charlie who, while taking a bath, sails away in his imagination in search of treasure. Traveling in his boat that amazingly is also a cow, he encounters pirates, mermaids, a whale, and an orangutan.
While I was sitting there watching the puppet show with Mazie in my lap, I took a moment to look around at all the other families and their kids collected in this neighborhood enjoying the show. It all seemed so right and so good. We need more things like this.
Google Reminding People to Update
I got this email yesterday for a blog that I help my brother-in-law out with. I haven’t ever seen a notice like this:
Dear site owner or webmaster of
domain-name-removed. Your site appears to be running an older version of WordPress. Google recommends that you update to the latest release. Older or unpatched software may be vulnerable to hacking or malware that can hurt your users. To download the latest release, visit the WordPress download page. If you have any additional questions about why you are receiving this message, Google has provided more background information in a blog post about this subject. Best wishes, Google Search Quality Team
I didn’t know that Google would send a notice like this. Seems like a good thing to do to keep the web a better place.
I logged in and upgraded his site for him.
Update July 6th: This seems less cool than I hoped. Today I’ve gotten a number of emails on blogs that I upgraded on 7/4 to the newest WordPress saying I should upgrade them. Maybe Google is just seeing that the site is running WordPress and sending a note regardless of what version it is currently running?
Fun Day at Zoo
Yesterday Tammy had a photo workshop at the Minneapolis Photo Center. This was a class that we had gotten her for her birthday. Mazie, Tyler and I had the day and I went to the tried and true plan for a Dad left alone with the kids – to the Zoo we went!
We had a spectacular time. This was Tyler’s very first trip to the Zoo and he went crazy at every animal siting. He particularly loved anything swimming and was ecstatic when the Otters came by him. Mazie had a great time as well and brought her camera along. She took a lot of pictures and posted 100 of them on her website.
Our basic plan for visit revolved around the shark feeding and dolphin show. The shark feeding was packed so we didn’t see much of that. We got great seats for the dolphin show and both Mazie and Tyler sat in awe watching the dolphins perform.
After the dolphins finished we should have headed home for Tyler’s nap, but Mazie really wanted to go on the monorail and I’m a perpetual pushover so we each grabbed a soft pretzel and headed to the monorail. Both kids loved it.
It was a huge success and we all agreed we needed to return to the zoo more often.
Considering Mini Countryman All4
I’ve had my Mini Cooper S for two years now and I still like it a lot. It’s been a really good car and it’s a blast to drive, still. There are however some issues.
- There is no way that all four of us can fit into the Cooper. We could maybe squeeze into it if we were attempting to imitate a troop of clowns.
- The Mini is a stick (as a Mini should be) and Tammy can’t drive a stick. She was going to learn, and she tried one time and found it ridiculous. So she can’t drive it.
- The front wheel drive results in a lot of torque steering and while it does okay on the snow, it’s not great.
Those are actually bigger problems than they would seem since it means if Tammy does stuff on her own she needs to take the van and then I’m stuck at home with no car to take the kids anywhere.
I’ve eyed the new Countryman All4 and think we are going to take one for a test drive and see what we think. I’m hoping it maintains enough of the Mini spirit to still feel like a Mini while solving all the problems above.
Anybody drove one of these?
Windsource Savings
We have been enrolled in the Windsource program for years now, ever since it was first started. Windsource is a program that XcelEnergy provides that you can opt-in to buy renewable energy to offset your energy use. While the actual watts going to your house are not necessarily “wind watts”, XcelEnergy is then purchasing that much wind energy to offset your usage. It’s a good program, relatively cheap and allows me as a customer to express my wish for renewable energy without installing it myself, which isn’t really feasible.
I found this blog post on The Deets that highlighted a benefit I didn’t even realize though about Windsource. Since the energy I’m buying is renewable, I don’t have to pay the Fuel Cost Charge. I didn’t even realize there were credits you got if you opted into Windsource.
The first thing I noticed is that we sure use a lot more electricity then The Deets does. We paid $29.30 on our most recent bill for Windsource. So just $29.30 went to XcelEnergy to then go on the renewable energy market and buy 830 kWh of power. I would have paid $23.48 in Fuel Cost Charge, but wait, wind energy doesn’t have that. So I get a $23.48 credit for that. That nets out to $5.82 net increase in cost to use renewable energy. There were 32 days in the billing period, so it netted out to $0.18 per day.
Join me and The Deets and sign up now.
Tyler Learning to Sit in a Chair
Tyler is still very much constantly on the move. He has started to enjoy the novelty of sitting in the kids rocking chair that my Mom got Mazie a long time ago. It lasts for about five seconds at most.
Remodel Update Week 2
The I-beam is in place! This week the project has gotten dirty and more serious. I would say that the project has really started now with a decent amount of hammering, smashing and banging. Notable events this week include installation of the new furnace (not hooked up), the pouring of new footings for some central supports and pulling the central foundation support that has been in place since 1939 and replacing it with a super strong steel beam. Thank you for your 72 years of service large wooden beam.
Nothing much happened outside this week, but that will change this week. The excavation crew arrives Monday to start digging.
Bunch of guys are sliding an I-beam into our basement. #remodeling
Hunger Games Trilogy
Tammy had read The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins a few months ago and really like it. I had just finished reading my book club pick Never Let Me Go and I had put the Hunger Games trilogy on my Kindle application. While on the bus into work I decided to start The Hunger Games. A couple of weeks later now and I’ve read them all.
I’m a slow reader, typically. Every once in a while a book will catch me and I can’t put it down. Into Thin Air was like that, as was The Omnivore’s Dillema. I read the entire Dune series in a few weeks one summer as well. The Hunger Games was like that. The first book introduces you to this less than ideal vision of the future. The story arc is easy but very fun and enjoyable. Recommended reading, particularly for a summer vacation.
My only critique of the book is the ending of the last one. I was left wanting more, something more interesting to happen. It wasn’t that it was bad, I just wanted more story.
The King's Speech
We finally got around to watching The Kings Speech last night. Very good movie and incredible acting. Worthy of the awards.
The Wikipedia page for the movie is a good read too.
Spring 2011 Cyclones
Team photo of the Spring 2011 Cyclones after the last game today. They played a great spring season and will be back strong in Fall.
Remodel Update Week 1
The first week of the project really just focused on getting things ready for real work. The deck was tore apart so that the new mudroom foundation could be put in. The first part of the work on the support structure of the house started. We are removing a central support post in the basement to open the space up for the family room.
Tammy got two tickets to the Twins for her birthday from my Mom, with packages babysitting as well.
Mazie with her Spring 2011 Soccer trophy.
First Twins game for me of the 2011 season and first game for Tammy since Target Field opened. Beautiful day for a game!
