Happy New Year everyone!!!
Last night Vivek and I decided that we couldn't spend our first New Years in Minneapolis at home, playing video games (Vivek just got a new one - Medal of Honor 2 for the Wii, which, despite his claims, is very violent). So, we had dinner at a place called "The Duplex" and then drove around for about 30 minutes before we finally decided on a place to spend the last two hours of 2007. It's true that we did not have plans ahead of time. I've been recovering from a cold, so our typical New Years celebration, dancing, was out of the question, and we still have no Minneapolis friends to bug on nights like these. Anyway, we eventually ended up at a peanut bar where we found a couple stools at the bar and marveled at all the 80's music that someone had queued up on the jukebox. It wasn't a bad place, and I'd probably go back with a group of friends to chat with over a beer (in fact, their draft beer is served in giant mugs, something I'm finding to be a recurring theme here).
Anyway, besides the 80's music, there were other great things to listen to at this place. Here are a couple phrases that I overheard last night. They're not funny on their own, but imagine they're being spoken by Frances McDormand's character in Fargo (but with a man's voice), and you'll get why Vivek and I were chuckling through the night.
"Jonas! Jonas! .... He's gonna get schnockered!"
"The housing market is still way down?" "Jah"
"Who cares? I gotta seat!"
"Oh! You know goddamn well whose coat that is!"
There's something about the Minnesota accent that just delights me whenever I encounter it. It's so much more interesting than the Missouri and Utah accents. The Minnesota accent, when encountered, is a great thing. And, I swear I didn't hear it, not even once, until it started snowing up here. Maybe the snow brings it out in people, or maybe I'm just looking for it more, but I hope that it doesn't go away when the snow starts melting.
Anyway, that's as interesting as our night got. It was definitely better than watching Vivek shoot at people at home (on the Wii, of course) but may not make for an interesting post. But honestly, if you didn't chuckle at this one, you really need to watch Fargo again.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Preoccupying Fritz (& Khena)
Vivek and I are going to Salt Lake City for the holidays, and for the first time ever, I have to leave Fritz in the care of strangers. In the past I always relied on friends to check in on Fritz while I was away. But now we have no local friends to take advantage of. It's sad, but true that in 3 months of living in Minneapolis, we haven't met anyone that we would feel comfortable asking to check in on Mr. Fritz while we're away. Oh well, there are always people who are happy to come by if you pay 'em.
To help assuage our guilt over leaving Fritz in the care of a perfect stranger, whom he only briefly met the other day, we gave him his Christmas gift early. I'm willing to say that he loved it, and if he doesn't forget about it while we're away, he probably won't even notice that we're gone. Why? Well...
In a way, I've also been in need of some preoccupation over the last couple weeks. I've been plenty busy, but when I come home my company is limited to Fritz and the TV. Vivek is now on a project that requires him to travel to Connecticut for four days of every work week. It's supposed to last until July, so I need to get used to our new "part-time" long distance relationship (thanks A, for helping me get the terminology right!). It's pretty funny how old habits return quickly, as in Vivek's absence I've taken to working through the evening and even into the early morning hours again. All of this is of course done with the TV on - it's like caffeine for me, but without the lasting effects.
I bring this up because we don't have cable so I've been playing old episodes of the X-Files. I got through season 2 in about a week and a half! I had forgotten how much I used to love! Love! the X-Files. I still think it's good, and better than a lot of shows out there, but watching all the episodes back to back really makes it clear how recycled the plots of each show are. I mean...it's almost always the case that Scully gets kidnapped and would die except for sheer luck. And if it's not Scully that nearly dies, it's Mulder. It's good that I ran out of DVD's to watch, because I think that if I watched many more I'd start hating the show.
To help assuage our guilt over leaving Fritz in the care of a perfect stranger, whom he only briefly met the other day, we gave him his Christmas gift early. I'm willing to say that he loved it, and if he doesn't forget about it while we're away, he probably won't even notice that we're gone. Why? Well...
In a way, I've also been in need of some preoccupation over the last couple weeks. I've been plenty busy, but when I come home my company is limited to Fritz and the TV. Vivek is now on a project that requires him to travel to Connecticut for four days of every work week. It's supposed to last until July, so I need to get used to our new "part-time" long distance relationship (thanks A, for helping me get the terminology right!). It's pretty funny how old habits return quickly, as in Vivek's absence I've taken to working through the evening and even into the early morning hours again. All of this is of course done with the TV on - it's like caffeine for me, but without the lasting effects.
I bring this up because we don't have cable so I've been playing old episodes of the X-Files. I got through season 2 in about a week and a half! I had forgotten how much I used to love! Love! the X-Files. I still think it's good, and better than a lot of shows out there, but watching all the episodes back to back really makes it clear how recycled the plots of each show are. I mean...it's almost always the case that Scully gets kidnapped and would die except for sheer luck. And if it's not Scully that nearly dies, it's Mulder. It's good that I ran out of DVD's to watch, because I think that if I watched many more I'd start hating the show.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Fun in the snow
Vivek's already posted about all the fun we had with the snow last Sunday, but since then we've had two more snow storms come through our area. Thankfully today's storm was just a dusting. The one last Tuesday, however, wreaked havoc on traffic in the Twin Cities. It wasn't a big storm, but somehow it shut this great northern city down for a couple hours. Click here for an article on it from the local paper.
The basic point of the article seems to be that there were two problems: the missing bridge and misplaced priorities of the traffic cops. Apparently, they were too busy issuing parking tickets and getting cars towed to bother with directing traffic through the first major rush-hour snowstorm without the I-35W bridge. Hmm...I wonder what motivated that decision.
Ok, I can guess. (It's rant time.) For those of you who don't know, Vivek and I have learned the hard way that Minneapolis is a tow-happy city. Early in October we noticed that Vivek's car was missing, and we eventually located it in the city's impound lot. That's when we learned that if you leave your car in the same parking spot for more than three days (and a friendly neighbor complains), they can tow it away. And the cost to you? ~$200. Then, early in November we learned that the city will also happily tow your car if you leave it on the street during street cleaning season. It would be hard to argue with that if it wasn't for the fact that they don't post ANY notices about street cleaning until 24 hours before they clean the streets. So if you don't drive your car to work, and don't walk by your car on your way to the bus stop and back, they'll tow it. Cost to you? ~$200
No wonder there were no traffic cops around to do their job - they had to go make a lot of money for the city and tow companies. Apparently they towed about 1400 cars in the first two days after Saturday's snow storm.
Since I don't drive this meant that I had to wait for the bus for a very, very long time Tuesday. One of the things that I like about this city is that tons of people take the bus. It's great! On Tuesday though it was a bit problematic, because when my bus showed up so many people got on it that there was no room for me (I should have been pushier). This is remarkable because the bus was a double bus - the kind that bends in the middle and has about twice as many seats as a standard bus. By the time the bus left our stop it was packed with people. People were even (gasp!) standing in front of the white line! Anyway, there was no room for me, so I waited another 40 minutes to catch a bus that could get me within a couple miles of home.
When I got to the bus stop there were so many people there that I had to take a picture (thanks cell phone!) I wasn't able to get all of the bus stop, so this should just give you a taste of what it was like. The other pictures are of the crazy gridlock on the other side of the street, and no traffic on my side of the street.
The basic point of the article seems to be that there were two problems: the missing bridge and misplaced priorities of the traffic cops. Apparently, they were too busy issuing parking tickets and getting cars towed to bother with directing traffic through the first major rush-hour snowstorm without the I-35W bridge. Hmm...I wonder what motivated that decision.
Ok, I can guess. (It's rant time.) For those of you who don't know, Vivek and I have learned the hard way that Minneapolis is a tow-happy city. Early in October we noticed that Vivek's car was missing, and we eventually located it in the city's impound lot. That's when we learned that if you leave your car in the same parking spot for more than three days (and a friendly neighbor complains), they can tow it away. And the cost to you? ~$200. Then, early in November we learned that the city will also happily tow your car if you leave it on the street during street cleaning season. It would be hard to argue with that if it wasn't for the fact that they don't post ANY notices about street cleaning until 24 hours before they clean the streets. So if you don't drive your car to work, and don't walk by your car on your way to the bus stop and back, they'll tow it. Cost to you? ~$200
No wonder there were no traffic cops around to do their job - they had to go make a lot of money for the city and tow companies. Apparently they towed about 1400 cars in the first two days after Saturday's snow storm.
Since I don't drive this meant that I had to wait for the bus for a very, very long time Tuesday. One of the things that I like about this city is that tons of people take the bus. It's great! On Tuesday though it was a bit problematic, because when my bus showed up so many people got on it that there was no room for me (I should have been pushier). This is remarkable because the bus was a double bus - the kind that bends in the middle and has about twice as many seats as a standard bus. By the time the bus left our stop it was packed with people. People were even (gasp!) standing in front of the white line! Anyway, there was no room for me, so I waited another 40 minutes to catch a bus that could get me within a couple miles of home.
When I got to the bus stop there were so many people there that I had to take a picture (thanks cell phone!) I wasn't able to get all of the bus stop, so this should just give you a taste of what it was like. The other pictures are of the crazy gridlock on the other side of the street, and no traffic on my side of the street.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Land of the Free(ze)
It is a delightful 9°F outside, which feels like -6°F with wind chill. I have seen these temperatures in the past when I lived in Iowa -- but we've had quite the cold snap here for the past week or so. The recent lowest temperature I think was somewhere around -5, which felt like -15. Anyway.
Khena and I spent a few hours today shoveling snow. We live on a designated snow emergency route, and the City of Minneapolis declared a snow emergency today. (A snow emergency means that there are special parking rules.) First, we dug out our cars so that we could get them off the main street. And after that, we cleared 2 spots on a side street so that we could park there overnight.
All in all, it was good exercise. I am starting to feel like a hardy Minnesotan already. I will soon be ready for ice hockey on Lake Calhoun.
Khena and I spent a few hours today shoveling snow. We live on a designated snow emergency route, and the City of Minneapolis declared a snow emergency today. (A snow emergency means that there are special parking rules.) First, we dug out our cars so that we could get them off the main street. And after that, we cleared 2 spots on a side street so that we could park there overnight.
All in all, it was good exercise. I am starting to feel like a hardy Minnesotan already. I will soon be ready for ice hockey on Lake Calhoun.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Life in Minnesota, Part 1
Since we've got most of the wedding stuff out of the way I've decided to post stuff about what it's like for us up here in Minneapolis. Most people know about the bridge that collapsed here in Minneapolis last August and before we even moved here we were getting questions about how it might effect us. It's of course hard to answer that since we don't know what life would have been if the bridge were still around, but at most the absence of the 35W bridge just makes some of our travel times a little longer. I take the bus into school and even though I have to cross the river to get to my building, the bus takes a bridge that's about a mile south of the bridge that collapsed. In fact, the collapse didn't seem real to me until I drove by where it once was and realized that there was a huge hole where a road should be. It's hard to imagine what it was like for the people who were there during the collapse.
Anyway, several weeks ago I was eating lunch outside and realized that it would probably be my last opportunity to comfortably take some pictures of the area around my building. The psychology building on the East bank of the Mississippi river and is fairly close to the 35W bridge. I thought I'd take some pictures of the remaining bridges over the river and the last vestiges of the 35W bridge. So, I started with the view from my lunch spot. In this picture you can see downtown Minneapolis in the background. You can also see a pedestrian bridge, which is about a two minute walk away from the psychology building.
To get some pictures of where the 35W bridge once was, I walked to the pedestrian bridge and took some pictures from there. If the 35 W bridge were still around, it would be just behind the one that's still standing in this next picture. If you look closely you can see some of the foundation for the old bridge, and construction equipment along the river banks (it's easiest to see on the right side). You can also see Saint Anthony Falls in the background.
By the time I took these pictures the cleanup was complete, and they were about a week away from starting construction on a new bridge. One of the eeriest things about the missing bridge, however, is that it's not really missing - it's just downstream. In the next picture you can see the twisted steel girders that have been pulled out from the river and lined up on the west bank. Although you can't see it in this picture, it looks like the NTSB is making good on their promise to put the bridge back together to figure out why it fell apart. My bus takes the bridge in the back of the picture to cross the river, and from there you can see that some of the girders have been arranged into what appears to be their original configuration.
Anyway, several weeks ago I was eating lunch outside and realized that it would probably be my last opportunity to comfortably take some pictures of the area around my building. The psychology building on the East bank of the Mississippi river and is fairly close to the 35W bridge. I thought I'd take some pictures of the remaining bridges over the river and the last vestiges of the 35W bridge. So, I started with the view from my lunch spot. In this picture you can see downtown Minneapolis in the background. You can also see a pedestrian bridge, which is about a two minute walk away from the psychology building.
To get some pictures of where the 35W bridge once was, I walked to the pedestrian bridge and took some pictures from there. If the 35 W bridge were still around, it would be just behind the one that's still standing in this next picture. If you look closely you can see some of the foundation for the old bridge, and construction equipment along the river banks (it's easiest to see on the right side). You can also see Saint Anthony Falls in the background.
By the time I took these pictures the cleanup was complete, and they were about a week away from starting construction on a new bridge. One of the eeriest things about the missing bridge, however, is that it's not really missing - it's just downstream. In the next picture you can see the twisted steel girders that have been pulled out from the river and lined up on the west bank. Although you can't see it in this picture, it looks like the NTSB is making good on their promise to put the bridge back together to figure out why it fell apart. My bus takes the bridge in the back of the picture to cross the river, and from there you can see that some of the girders have been arranged into what appears to be their original configuration.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
More pictures on their way! (Soon! Very soon!!)
It turns out that it's going to be really hard for us to scan pictures from our print album and post them online. Therefore, I have asked my Dad to get in touch with the photo lab and send us a digital pictures on a CD or DVD. Once we get those, we will create an online photo album and post them online. Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long!
We are also trying to start the planning process for our Round #2 wedding in Utah next year. Due to a complicated mix of reasons, we have not been able to get going on it.
We are also trying to start the planning process for our Round #2 wedding in Utah next year. Due to a complicated mix of reasons, we have not been able to get going on it.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
O!
hello again,
Vivek and I got our Indian wedding and reception albums last week (these aren't from my Uncle Bill - those are still months away) and I couldn't resist scanning a picture from our reception and posting it here.
And...here's a close-up:
Heheh :)...or should I say :o
Vivek and I got our Indian wedding and reception albums last week (these aren't from my Uncle Bill - those are still months away) and I couldn't resist scanning a picture from our reception and posting it here.
And...here's a close-up:
Heheh :)...or should I say :o
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
