Future Poltergeist

Tomorrow is the last game at the Metrodome.  In a month or so, they're going to tear the whole thing down and build a new stadium ( which looks pretty nice ).  I wanted to see it one more time so I took the older kids down there for a semi-pro football game today.  (For the record, it was some kind of all star game and I have no clue whatsoever what league was being represented.) We got there in time for kickoff, just the three of us and about 200 other people. We were in time for the national anthems of Canada and America.  I got them to stand still with their hands on their hearts.  Then we watched the football.  They were amazed that the yellow and blue lines from TV weren't actually there on the field.  What impressed them the most?  The kicking and punting.  After some time we got in some bathroom breaks and started to move around a bit.  We met a nice lady from Green Bay who was filming the game for her boyfriend who was one ...

DF picked this out.  I think he wishes he was an elephant. 

DF helped me pick this out.

The days of the Metrodome are winding down.  IIRC, they're scheduled to deflate it on Jan 18th and then tear it down.  I don't have many memories of the Vikings before they moved inside.  I know that we had them on the TV but I just don't remember them playing outdoors.  The same is true of the Twins, but I'm not sure that they we ever watched any of their games at all. My first memory of the dome was going to a Twins game as part of a reward for being a patrol at Sumner.  They played the Tigers and they lost in the tenth inning.  I can't tell you with any certainty what year that was but I would guess it was 1985.  I did also go to a Vikings game sometime around then but I barely remember that at all.  For the past few days, KFAN has been listing the top 25 moments of the dome.  Part one is here .  Part two here and the final five are here .  I was actually in attendance for a couple of them, most notably the 1998 Championship g...

Our icy door adventure continues.  Every day this week we've ventured out to try and figure out which doors will open.  It's a game that I've come to call 'Kia Roulette'.  You see, there is some risk involved.  If you try the door and it opens, you can get the kids in the easy way.  If it won't open, then you have to load them in the front and then climb through and buckle them up.  As you're picturing this, make sure to include all of the bulky winter clothes needed to get through this ridiculous cold snap that we're having.  Loading them in the front had been something of the default. So what's the risk?  Well, if the door opens just a bit, then you have the door sensor go 'bong, bong, bong' for your entire drive.  Pounding on the door might get it to reclose and turn it off but there is no guarantee.  (Pound anyway.  You'll need the outlet.) Worst of all is that the door might open but then not close again.  That would be...

We are only nine days into December and I'm already done with winter.  Until last week, temps were around freezing or so.  We'd had snow, but not a terrible amount.  Then it changed.  We got some significant snow on Tuesday and Wednesday but it wasn't that cold.  That meant lots of moisture on the cars and roads. By Thursday morning the temperature had fallen to just above zero.  I decided to take the boys out to the mall so they could run (or at least walk) around.  We got all bundled up and went out to the porch.  I had the boys wait there while I turned on the car and cleared off the snow.  I did my scrapping duty but there was a problem.  The side doors to the van were frozen shut.  So we stayed home. When the FP Gal got home I told her what happened and she told me that I should have gotten them in through the front door and then buckled them up.  On Friday I decided to do just that.  It was a pain, especially becau...

On this cold, cold day, I think this should be my next house.  (Which reminds me, I need to buy a Powerball ticket today...)

An interesting article on Toronto's decision to bid on the 2024 Olympic games.  It's widely believed that the U.S. will have a leg up on the bidding simply because we haven't hosted an Olympics since Salt Lake City in 2002.  The United States is the biggest sponsor of the games and brings in the biggest audience dollars.  We haven't been shut out from hosting for more than 20 years since 1960.  Many people think that we're simply due. But not everyone: “The way IOC does it, the games go to Europe, the Americas and then somewhere else,” Paul Henderson , former International Olympic Committee member and the Toronto 1996 bid chief, told the Toronto Sun . “And what most people don’t realize is that the IOC considers North and South America the same continent. Now there are always funny things once in a while that change that, but normally that’s the thought process.” So Mr Henderson believes that the pattern is a) Europe, b) Americas and c) somewhere else. ...

An interesting list from a reader poll.  The slideshow is here and the pictures are purty.  The top ten: 1. Riga, 2. Bergen, 3. Innsbruck 4. Dubrovnik 5. Chester 6. Prague 7. Budapest 8. Santorini 9. Venice 10. Bruges In the commentary, many cities are compared to Paris but Paris itself didn't make the list.  It does make the list of runners up, but you'll have to click through to see those.  The list is very heavy on medieval cities and nicely colored waterfronts.  Makes sense to me. I have been to a grand total of zero of these cities.  They all look very nice!  I'd gladly be in Santorini Greece today, especially with 3 to 7 inches of the white stuff due to hit us. 

DF looked at our fun world map today and asked about one of the buildings on there.  (The map has a bunch of world landmarks on it, in case they get lost.)  I told him he had pointed at Spain and the building was the Sagrada Familia.  I told him that the FP Gal has been there and then we went online to look for pictures.  I found this fun little video of what it will look like when construction is done in 2026.  They've been building for more than 130 years so another 13 isn't a big deal I guess.  It's on my 'someday' list and with any luck it will be on DF's as well.

The FP Gal covered our trip to Austin well here.  Today we celebrated with our family in the Cities.  We hosted, which is often easier with our children.  It was low key, but that's a nice thing when it comes to traditional foods like stuffing and corn.  In the past few days I've gotten to see tons of cousins, both parents and my lovely wife's family.  All that I've missed are my brother and sister and their families.  (And I have missed them!)  It's been very nice.

Check out this video: Late last night word came out that comet ISON was snuffed out by the sun.  Word this morning was that the comet may have survived.  You can see it approach in this video and then, it there's a big poof!  Watch the top and you see it reappear. This comet is the most hyped that I can remember.  It would be an enormous shame if it just disappeared.  I don't know what this means in terms of future visibility but I hope that it's still spectacular. 

It may be trite to say, but this year I'm most thankful for my family.  The kids sometimes drive me crazy but they also make me laugh and laugh and laugh.  Relia has a book of Christmas carols and this morning she is walking around singing 'Deck the halls with broads of holly'.  I love that!

Tomorrow, Comet ISON is due to swing around the sun.  This is the first trip the comet has made to the inner solar system and no one knows how well formed it is.  It could break up into pieces or it could come through unfazed.  Or even something in between. Comets have been doing this for literally millions of years but we've got some new things in line that make this one special.  The big thing is that we have satellites that do nothing but look at the sun all day to monitor the solar weather.  They can see the comet approaching and will be able to tell how it comes through.  You can go to the SOHO site tomorrow to follow along. If it passes without too much damage, we could be in for some special sights over the next few weeks!

One of the few good things to come out of last year's awful winter was the decision from the Weather Channel to name the various storms.  At first, I was against it, but it turned out to be useful to have a name that travelers and airlines could use when talking about the horrid things.  Well, I'm late to this, but here is the list that the Weather Channel has picked for this year.  Atlas Boreas Cleon Dion Electra Falco Gemini Hercules Ion Janus Kronos Leon Maximilian Nika Orion Pax Quintus Rex Seneca Titan Ulysees Vulcan Wiley Xenia Yona Zephyr The list was developed by a high school Latin class.  I've got some favorites.  It will almost be a joy to 'rocked' by Falco in a few weeks.  I have hopes that Ion will be a very small storm.  And let's all hope that Pax isn't too powerful of a storm, right?  

The past few days have been very cold up here in the north woods.  The wind is mostly to blame.  It's been strong and cutting.  We don't have any snow on the ground.  The few dustings we've had have not lasted very long.  But oh, this cold!  Makes me want to move elsewhere.  Tomorrow.

I decided that after I've turned 40, I'm going to try and live a little bit better.  The first step is trading out coffee for pop.  This morning I bought a coffee maker and made my very own first cup.  It worked and nothing broke. I looked at various flavors and decided that I'm just going to go with something regular for now.  I'm not a cream and/or sugar guy so black works for me.  It will take some time to get used to the idea of planning a drink instead of going to the fridge and opening one, but that's not that big of a deal.  And now we can offer guests coffee! Now I just need to figure out how to order something else when I go out to eat...

(Well, crap, I missed a day yesterday!  I'll do two posts tonight and we'll call it even.) The FP Gal and I finally got around to celebrating our birthdays yesterday.  On her birthday, my work schedule got in the way and on my birthday, her work schedule got in the way.  Both of us ended up having supper alone with the kids.  Oh well! So we gathered the whole gang and met up at Fridays for lunch.  We've been going out there for years and it's kind of 'our' place.  It was the site of our second date so it has some nostalgia for us.  And the kids like their menu so it all works out. Or almost works out.  By the time we were done eating, the kids were showing signs of rioting so we fled to the FP Gal's parents house and opened up gifts there.  I got a matchbox car from DF and a lego motorcycle from Relia.  Both of those gifts have been taken over by the kids, of course.  The FP Gal got me an automatic car starter so that I'll be sa...

Today I turn 40 years old.  I'm moving into a new decade.  I want to look back at how much has changed since I turned 30.  Back then I was living in Burnsville in a one bedroom apartment.  I lived with Roxane and Calypso.  I spent some weekends all alone.  Now I'm in a big house with a wonderful wife and three wonderful children.  I've got two different cats and my weekends are very full.  (Sometimes I wish I could vacation back in that apartment for a day or two!)  I've created a family.  And that's a pretty good way to spend a decade.