Hey folks,

Again, I'm finding it harder and harder to remind myself to get in here and update all of you! ;)

I was in Fargo this past Friday night to see Green Day in concert! I've been a long time fan of theirs but had never seen these guys live.

The show was freakin' awesome and after a 2.5 hour set, my voice was just about shot!

Here's a sample video from the phone... I apologize ahead of time, the video isn't the best quality. Again, it was from the phone and we were quite a ways from the stage - a far cry from where we usually are for concerts. We're usually on the floor!

Anyhow, hopefully, it work for you all. You'll probably need Real Player for it to work.

They are performing 21 Guns, here:



I have several vids, so I may post more later...

Hello there fellow readers...

Checking back in, to let you all know I finally got the route entered in at USATF's site tonight from my bike-ride on Saturday the 13th. The ride on Saturday wasn't anywhere near the trek I took on Sunday, but it was another long ride. I wasn't gone on the ride for over 3 hours on Saturday, so I knew the distance wasn't as great. If I hadn't been messaged about going down to the Art-Fest that was going on downtown, I probably would have ridden much more. Ultimately, I wanted to get on the bike trails out on the south end of town, south of 32nd Avenue!

That would have been another very long ride - just as, or perhaps, longer than the ride was on Sunday!

As you can see, the trek on Saturday went a grand total of 9.08 miles!
http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=299513

So, my grand total for the weekend was a whopping 27.64 miles! Impressive, I'd have to say - especially, given I haven't ridden my bike much at all over the past couple of years I've had it up here.

In other news, our first couple of days after that beautiful weekend we had, have been slightly gloomy. Cooler and much cloudier, for sure. But, not too bad, really. We had some rain this evening, but it wasn't anything that caused too many problems. I was over at Victor's place tonight for a little grilling and hanging out with friends. The rain pushed back the scheduled grilling a bit, but it was still sufficient so that most of us were able to get something to snack on.

Unfortunately, due to some recent lifestyle changes, I had to resist the urge for anything grilled. As some, perhaps, many of you know already, I've made the decision to cut back on the meat intake. It's something I've thought about before in the past and if anything, it's mostly just something I want to see if I can do, at all. I could see some people looking at this as me succumbing to peer-pressure (3 of the 4 people I'm gardening with ARE vegetarians!), and it may be to some extent, but really it's more of just a little kick in the pants to something I've actually wanted to try for a couple of years.

If you asked my family, they could probably tell you that I grew up eating a lot of veggies and fruit. I remember eating strawberries when I was younger until I'd get stomach-aches and would eat radishes until I stunk everyone out of the house! Hah! Actually, when I put it that way, it isn't all that much different today. Tee-hee...

Anyhow, so yes, it's a big commitment and a major lifestyle change, but it is something I am going to try. I began a few weeks ago and have slowly cut back the intake. I was down to maybe 3-4 meals that had meat in it a couple of weeks ago, last week, I may have splurged on a couple of meals, but so far, this week, I haven't ate a thing with meat in it. I've consulted with Tim, Kalli, and Justin and they've helped me quite a bit... On things I can try, what to get, what not to get, and they all have helped me find vegetarian recipes that are well-balanced. I'm not sure exactly if vegetarianism is really what I'm after... I guess that is something I'm really going to have to think about. I've found out that people that do decide to go that route that decide later to go back to meat after years and years, their bodies can reject the meat, and can actually cause problems. So, I'm not exactly sure what I want to accomplish quite yet. Right now, I just want to see how long I can go. From there, I'll see what happens. Either way, I'll keep you all updated. ;)

Other rumblings, since the last time I really updated all of you? Not much else, really... The new position at work is going fairly well. We haven't had a lot to do up until recently. The traveling between Grand Forks and Crookston has slowed down considerably over the past few weeks and actually, with the Minnesota contract now shut down for the summer, I will mainly be working on developing training modules for the MDSS application. This week, I'm hoping to get many of them done.

My fantasy sports teams are both performing poorly... Much like my Chicago Cubbies. They have disappointed me this year - and I'll just leave it at that. Maybe sometime in the near future, I can elaborate a little further - I just don't feel like it tonight. ;) In fact, I don't really feel like writing much more, anyway.

It's getting late and I want to get a little snack before I hit the sack.

Anyway, so there's a little bit of an update on my life the past couple of months. I'll have a couple of chase reports to post to the Chase/Wx-Blog here soon, so stay tuned there, as well.

Take care, folks! Have a great week!

Hello folks,

It's been a long while since I last posted anything in here and I apologize for that! There are several new developments, but I'll wait to share that with you tomorrow.

It's late and I should be getting to bed, but I was severely curious how far I rode my bike today. This weekend was so beautiful and warm, I had to spend some time outdoors this weekend... and I got the bike out for the first time Saturday. Sunday, I hopped on the bike around 6:20 PM and didn't make it back until 9:43 PM! Yes, that's right, over 3 hours on my bike!

I rode all around town and really wanted to make it down to the Greenway, finally, to ride my bike on it. I've run on the Greenway a few times over the past few years, but in the last 2 years I've had my bike up here, I haven't rode on it at all.

I had no clue on the total distance, but after realizing I had been all over the place and even into East Grand Forks, I had to calculate and map this thing.

While this site, is mainly used for running routes, its the best at plotting routes of your own, and plus, you can save the routes for viewing.

So, without further ado, here's my route from last evening:
http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=298938

I can't believe I rode 18.5 miles on my bike today! My knees, while a little sore, don't feel quite as bad as I would think. It was mainly my ass, bothering me the most! Hah! From riding on that seat!

I took another long ride on Saturday afternoon, as well, so I'll try to get it plotted later.

I made back into Grand Forks this evening, from a weekend of fun in Minocqua, Wisconsin.

Why was I there?

My parents, Grandma and Grandpa Grimm, would take my sister and I up there almost every year when we were kids. We have friends of the family (from long ago!) that have lived in these parts for years and years. I have precious memories there, but not many I can remember very vividly. I recall the long, hilly roads with nothing to surround us but forests and small lakes. I remember the small cabins we used to stay in. I remember that big-ass Loon in Mercer, Wisconsin. The latter, mainly, because I still have the picture my mom sent me a couple of years ago in a card, up on my 'fridge.

It's been years ago, since I've been there.

My mom, my Aunt Sue, Uncle John, and my younger cousin, Andrew all left Indiana last Thursday to make it up to Minocqua on Friday afternoon. All met our friends (The Meade's) at the Concord Inn. I didn't get there until late Friday evening, since I had to work. I was able duck out of the office early (at 2pm Friday), so I was able to pull into town around 9:30pm.

We hung out in the hotel lobby most of the evening, catching up on each other, especially between myself and Mike Meade! I hadn't seen that old fart in years! Hah! He was a crazy guy to be around all weekend and a lot of fun to just hang out with and listen to. This guy has so many stories, it's unbelievable.

Saturday morning we woke up, had our continental breakfast, then split up for the afternoon. Andrew, mom and Sue all walked downtown to do some shopping, while I jumped in Mike's truck with John to take a tour of the area. Mike took us all over, telling us stories, showing us where things have changed, took us back to his property to show us his house and the 50 acres he owns. Or so... I can't remember exactly how much land he owns out on 70, west of Minocqua, but it's a lot! He drove us around the property, mainly to show me where the eagles roost. I wanted to try to get a picture or two of some Bald Eagles, and he knows right where they are. He has a river in the back of his property so he drove us back there. We saw a couple back there, but they were young enough so that they didn't have that white crown on their head yet. I tried to take some pictures, but I'm not sure if they turned out that great. I'll have to transfer them over the computer tomorrow night, to see.

We eventually made it to "Handsome Bill's" place. This guy, apparently, a friend of Mike's is a nutcase. And I'm trying to describe this guy in the nicest way possible. Hahah! He's definitely a new breed of man - one that doesn't have a care in the world, doesn't take anything serious, and, in general, is just plain crazy. He's an entertaining guy, that's for sure. Mike and John, specifically stopped at this guy's place, just so I could meet him. ;)

Anyhow, after all that, Mike, John and I met the rest at Perkins for lunch. I then rode with mom, Sue and Andrew to Wal-Mart to pick up some stuff for the party later Saturday evening, while John and Mike went back to the hotel. Along the way, of course, I had to stop by the local liquor store to see if they had the Fat Squirrel. I just HAD to try it. The bar in the hotel had Spotted Cow, so I had enjoyed that the night before!

When we got back to the hotel, Joe had gotten there, another older guy that knew the rest of the clan. The guys got on the subject of "Darlings" (an adult store) down the road and whimsically decided to drive down and check it out. I decided, "what the hell," and rode along. It was interesting, to say the least, but fun as all crap. I love going in those stores, they're just fun to look through - and always bring out the giggles. Hah!

We weren't there very long, I swear... ;)

By the time we arrived back at the hotel, the Meade and Trapp clan had already started to arrive. The kids were all there, in the pool, and the rest were getting food and snacks setup in the dining area. The "beverages" we had to keep in the rooms, since the hotel didn't want them in the common dining area. Which was fine, but a little inconvenient - having to walk back and forth between the room, the lobby, the food, and the pools. ;) After eating the snacks, the pizza, drinking nearly all my Fat Squirrels and chatting/visiting with the Meade's and Trapp's, I decided to jump in the Hot Tub. Most of the family friends were in the process of leaving and/or saying their goodbye's, so it was a good time to jump in. I'm still set on owning one of those things, someday. Man, did it feel great! I slept pretty good Saturday night.

Mother's Day, we didn't end up doing a whole lot. We woke up, went to the Lac Du Flambeau Casino for Brunch and did a little gambling. It was pretty awesome they had fried walleye on the buffet. I think I ate a pound of it! The gambling went pretty good, as well... I came out ahead, but not by much - only two dollars worth! ;)

After the casino, Mike took us all on another tour of the area, with more stories... I distracted myself for a little while by calling my stepmom, Chris, to wish her a Happy Mother's Day. By the time I finished up on the phone, we had decided to drop by Paul Bunyan's to look around there. It's a sort of gift shop along 51. We weren't in there long and after, we filled up the gas tank, picked up some different Wisconsin beer, for myself, then went back to the hotel to relax. We caught a couple movies on TV in the guy's room, then crashed for the night. I will tell you, the Island Wheat Ale from Washington Island (Door Co.) Wisconsin is mighty tasty! The gas station didn't have any Fat Squirrel or Spotted Cow.

This morning, we woke up, cleaned up, and headed for breakfast at Tula's. It's a nice little hole-in-the-wall cafe off of SR-70 on the northwest side of the town. The food wasn't bad at all... We convened once again back at the hotel to say our goodbye's, then headed in different directions. Mom, Sue, John and Andrew went south, I went north.

The drive back and forth wasn't bad at all. The distance wasn't bad and the time went by fairly quickly, as well. It took all but 7.5 hours (from 2:05pm, Friday afternoon to around 9:30pm that evening) to get there, and just over 8 hours to get back (from 11:30am this morning to 7:45pm this evening). The longer trip back to GF was mainly because I made a few stops along the way. Namely, in Mercer to get a picture of that gigantic Loon, at a scenic overlook near Saxon, WI, in Ashland, at the public beach near downtown and on the west side of the city to get some pictures of Lake Superior, at a rest area near Cass Lake to get some pictures of developing storms... then along the Truck Bypass around Crookston to get more pictures of storms.

It was a great weekend trip and one I'll have to repeat sometime in the future, if and when the family comes up again. It was a blast.

I'll have to log the total mileage tomorrow. I forgot to check the odometer before I got out of the car earlier tonight!

Toodles for now...

I was quite surprised to have received my federal tax refund yesterday in the mail... It came a little quicker than I had anticipated!

Initially, I was planning on using the check, along with my state refund, to purchase a new couch, but had to get a new laptop a couple of weeks ago. As a result, most of the funds will likely go into paying the Credit Card off.

Or never, know, I may just change my mind and get the couch. It's desperately needed, that's for sure. ;)