Photo of the Day 8/29/06

Huey seems to like his new bed. I kept finding him lying on my gym bag, and he kept leaving behind hair and cat litter crumbs (ew!). So it was time for a bed. $6 at the dollar store! Shoot, at Walmart, the cheapest one is $12-something.

Photo of the Day 8/28/06

Game "souvenirs" from the county fair. This is from the game where you shoot bb's at the target, trying to eliminate all of a red star. I think the ones on the bottom are mine (the worse ones) and the top are the boyfriend's. I don't have enough patience with this game. I figure out which way the "gun" is off, and then proceed to go fully postal, firing all the bb's like I'm under siege in a ganster movie. I can't help it. Patience isn't something I have. The boyfriend, on the other hand, can just carefully shoot a few bb's at a time, carefully planning his next shot.

So yeah, we did the "fair thing". It was okay...though I feel a little sorry for the fair organizers. We had rain on and off Friday morning, most of the day Saturday (torrential!), and then rain loomed all day Sunday until about 6 o'clock (the same time we were headed home). It was very warm on Friday, so I closed all the windows and turned on the a/c...completely drowing out the country music concert that was going on. So I didn't sulk. We did however pass a booth that was selling BOTH the deep fried Twinkies and deep fried Snickers I'd raved about, but since we had just eaten Subway and I'd downed a sugary large iced tea, I passed on the opportunity. I know, I said I couldn't pass that up, but well...I need the scale #s to go down, not up, and I'd had my quota of "junk" for the weekend. Next year, I will plan ahead partake!

Photo of the Day 8/25/06

"MySpace"
This is the place I call home for a good 40+ hours a week. So cluttered, you would think I am too swamped to clean it. The truth is, too lazy. I find it puzzling how one can sit at a desk for 8 hours a day, yet not have the energy to sort a few papers, get up and file them away/go make copies. My coworkers completely relate, though. It gets to the point where you plan the trips you make away from your desk with an "errands list" - as heaven forbid you have to get up and walk around too many times per day. There must be some sort of "office fatigue" that sets in. Or boredom.

Photo of the Day 8/24/06

The view approaching and outside of the county fairgrounds on Thursday night. I live a block from here (on the approaching photo side). The fair opened on Wednesday, and the sweet aroma of fair food has been wafting it's way in through my windows at night. Mmmm...funnel cakes! And corn dogs. And elephant ears. And philly steak sandwiches. And uber-greasy curly fries that leave your hands smothered in ketchup. And...I'd better stop there.
Actually, I'm not sure if I am going to the fair. I don't go on the rides. I don't have tickets to any of the events *(see below), and I don't want to be tempted with all the food. Although, there are a couple delicacies I would actually GO to the fair just to eat if our fair actuallt served them. One being the the deep fried Twinkie that was all the rage in the fair circuit last year and the other being a deep fried Snickers on a stick, featured in this article. I've never had either of these, but I'd be willing to sacrifice a week's worth of fat loss to try them! (Sigh) It's a good thing our fair is pretty primitive.

*A country band whose namesake is a partial pseudonym for the state of Texas will be in town tonight, and sadly I don't have tickets. At the time they went on sale, I had a $20 bill and $3 in my checking account (I was in the middle of an unplanned residence change). I've seen this band here before. I don't particularly care for them as much these days, but I'd still like to see them. So, I'll open up my windows this evening to hear the residuals and sulk while I clean house. Bummer.

Photo of the Day 8/23/06

The county fair is a-happenin' this week. This gas station is right next door to the fairgrounds. Am I really going to use that much gas driving around looking for a parking spot that I have to stop there twice? Haha. I just thought it was an odd thing to put on the sign, regardless of what meaning you take it as (stop in the day before it starts/when it's all over, directly before/directly after a one-night trip...). And looky that gas price! I was literally startled when the gas pump shut off shy of $40.

Photo of the Day 8/22/06

I never did finish my series of home redecoration photos. The previous photos can be found here, here, and here. There!
This is another living room view, before (when previous person--the boyfriend--lived there) and after my feminine touch.

The throw pillows have since been moved to the closet, as they aren't used anyway and just collect dirt and dust. The couch is loveseat is covered until I can give it a good cleaning (cat hair!).

Photo of the Day 8/21/06

Me and my food oddities again.
Cottage cheese, basil pesto (store bought again, shame on me), and grape tomaotes.

Photo of the Day 8/17/06

A squirrel, burying a nut down in a pothole in the parkng lot at work.
I guess he likes crushed nuts.

This is one reason to always just grab the camera when I go somewhere -- you never know what you're going to see. I took this whilst sitting in my truck, doing some leisurely lunch time reading.

Photo of the Day 8/16/06

Ok, so I am still on a "views from the Hennepin Canal" kick.
This is the same farm/barns from the post here. Now the wheat has been cut and baled. I could have sworn I posted a "2nd phase" photo, where the wheat rows were cut and drying, but evidently not.

Photo of the Day 8/15/06

Geese ahead on the bike path.
Run little goosies!

Run little goosies! Or fly! Whatever! Just git!

Scraaaaam!

I had the camera hanging around my neck on the return trip, as you never know what you're going to see. A lot of things tend to disappear before I can dig out the camera (deer, blue heron, wild turkeys, etc). The geese ended up all belly-flopping in the water (water's on the left --they hadn't mowed in a while) at the last second. Usually they are long into the water by the time you get near them --although on occasion a "mother goose" will have a nest nearby and try to stand guard. Being hissed at by an angry goose is kind of scary, even if you are on a bicycle!

Photo of the Day 8/14/06

Soaking up some rays on a Sunday afternoon. Very rarely does this cat actually get the center window seat. My big orange guy, Huey, is usually the window hog. No wonder he looks to be enjoying his nap so much.

Photo of the Day 8/11/06

Aha! A little bit better photo of a concrete canalway telephone pole along the Hennepin Canal. This is the original one I had posted. After doing a little digging, I've found that these poles that line the canalway were used to carry only telephone wires (not electricity as I had wondered) . They used the phones to communicate between the different locktender's houses that used to be along the locks - warning of barges on the way downstream or relaying general problems and status. Only a few of those houses still stand (one is along my usual route, as a matter of fact). The poles evidently weigh 75lbs each. What I wonder is...were the poles molded first, the buried in the ground? Or were concrete forms driven into the ground and the height of the pole, then the forms removed for the above-ground portion? I have no understanding these sorts of things at all!

Photo of the Day 8/10/06

Another mystery structure on the local canalway (Hennepin Canal).
I don't know why I am so curious and interested in these things. But I want to know what this building was. Was it a locktender's shop? What kind of roof did it have? What did the windows look like? Why was everything built of concrete? And why didn't it get preserved at all?

Photo of the Day 8/9/06

More from the Hennepin Canal.
I can't help it -- I love this place. It combines history with exercise and the outdoors...
some of my favorite things. This particular photo is of a small area I call "Stonehenge" because of the lineup of concrete mini-walls. I am guessing that back in "the day", these little lineups were used to separate boat-docking drives. But I could be wrong. Hopefully later this week I can get over to the visitor center and ask a bunch of historical questions I have about sites on the canalway. If I could figure out how the get to the other side where this is, I think I could find the answer myself. I believe there are little information stands across there that may tell just what the heck that used to be. For now, it's a boat-docking station to me.

Photo of the Day 8/8/06

Awwww.
Little Sammie Grace and that tongue of hers. She does this quite often,
as she doesn't have teeth to hold her tongue back.
She looks at me like, "What? What'd I do? Why are you laughing at me?"

Photo of the Day 8/7/06

Another yellow flower (but different from the previous).
It kind of reminds me of those butter cookies that you can fit around your pinkie.
These kind:

Okay, so they only very very slightly (edges) resemble each other...I must be terribly hungry. Anyhoo...this was one of few colorful things found on a long hike at the semi-local state park. This time of year it's mostly just boring green foliage, unless the waterfalls are runnning (which they were not). Though we did get extremely close to a little fawn, just munching away on some plants. We stopped and watched until some other hikers (families with small kids) thundered down the trail and scared it off. Oh -- and we saw some GIANT carp and other fish off a bridge at one of the remote river inlets. The boyfriend and I just stood there in the peace and quiet, watching in amazement these giant (probably severely polluted) fish, just lumbering along in the backwaters. It was definitely one rare time in summer that we were pretty much completely alone on the trails. We started out around 7:30am that day, and ran into maybe 4 or 5 people until we were on our way out. The very odd thing was this: We got caught in the rain. It had been thundering off in the distance for some time, but we really weren't too concerned about getting wet. I just didn't want to get caught in the woods in a storm. At any rate, as we were getting closer to the main entrance/parking lot, we started passing swarms of people -- all going IN to the woods! I mean, by the time we were very near the main trail's end (beginning), it was nearly pouring rain -- and here are several families headed out on hikes...no rain coats, gear, or anything. We were more than puzzled at that!

Photo of the Day 8/4/06

Ouch.

Granted, this is less than a lot of big cities.
One of the local gas stations had to start selling gas by the half-gallon.
Why? Because their pumps don't go over $2.99 a gallon!
They are of the old rotary-dial type, evidently that were designed
20 years ago when the concept of $3.00 gas was absurd.
The front page of the local paper had a shot of one station's sign,
however I didn't download the picture in time. (They take things down quickly)

Either way...for a gal that drives ~60 miles/day for work and gets ~15mpg.
60/15=4 gallons
$4 x $3.04= $12.16 per day for gasoline!!

Thankfully, my boyfriend has been letting me use his car.
But really...how long can that go on? Grrr.....

Photo of the Day 8/3/06

Hmm...another canalway scene not done justice by photography.
This was such a cool scene in real life. A turn of the century farm house,
a red barn, and grazing cattle. It was beautiful.
More of the "Americana" that I love so much.

OK, that's the last canalway photo for now!

Photo of the Day 8/2/06

An "old time" telephone pole. I guess it is hard to tell that from this
photograph. The entire "pole" is made of cement, and it is considerably
shorter than the ones we have these days. The wires ran along the top
just the same, and were only protected by glass insulators (a much
sought-after antique item) - though some of the harder to get to poles still have them attached.
This pole is situated along the local canalway. It just interests me.
Riding along, seeing pole after ancient pole, I start to imagine what it was
like "back then" and how far (to some detriment) we have come.
The power lines used to run alongside the canal, and train tracks in
use still do. Oh how I would love to just go back for a day, sit, and observe.

Photo of the Day 8/1/06

A happy yellow flower decorating the canalway landscape.