Christmas in the Barren Wastes

Pic from the road between Crookston and Grand Forks.

It was a relatively balmy 11 degrees when we left the Twin Cities Wednesday morning. When we pulled into the inlaw's driveway 288 miles later it was 17 below zero. Fortunately it warmed up after that-it managed to reach the twenties the rest of the time we were there.

Despite being up in the tundra, a good time was had by all-even with scenery devoid of detail of any kind.

This sure is different than the last couple of Decembers

Two years ago Q and I were biking on dirt in mid December. Last December was cold and wet, but not super snowy. This year we have already had well over 12 inches in December and it seems there is snow in the forecast every other day.

My next door neighbor was kind enough to let us use his snow thrower. I cleared our driveway in ten minutes-otherwise it would have taken the wife and I at least 45 minutes. I need to get me one of those!

On the bright side, both dogs love playing in the snow, so they are loving life.

We have plans for a long weekend in Arizona in February. That can't come soon enough.

UPDATE: Went to run a few errands and noticed a burning rubber smell coming from my car after we went just a couple of blocks. I got out to see what was up and discovered that one of my tires was flat and almost off of the rim. Got out the jack but I could not get the lug nuts to release. I actually bent the damn wrench trying to get them lose. No choice but to slowly drive it to the nearest auto shop. Most likely destroying my rim in the process. Fun note-the nearest auto shop is closed until Monday. Good times.

How do Iraqi's feel about Bush?

Vikes spank the Cards

Ummm, wow! Pretty much the opposite of what I had expected as far as the Vikings offense goes.

Tarvaris Jackson, benched after game two for shoddy play, started for an injured Frerotte and had touchdown passes of 41, 6, 11 and 59 yards. The last Vikes QB with that many TD passes in a game is currently playing for Detroit. Adrian Peterson was his regular spectacular self rushing for 165 yards. And the defense led by Jared Allen and Chad Greenway shut down the Arizona offense. Allen had two sacks and Greenway was all over the place.

James over at Heavy Lift With Caution said Polamalu is the best defensive player in the NFL right now. IMO it is the mullet wielding giant redneck Jared Allen. He is unstoppable.

Nice seeing the Vikes totally dominate a game against a worthy opponent for once.

Couple of nice pics for a cold winter day

My day got off to a crappy start. I missed the bus so I turned around to go sit in the house until it was time to catch the next one. Lo and behold I didn't have my keys and was locked out! With the temp hovering around -2, I didn't really want to sit outside. Normally I would just ring the doorbell, but my wife's brother and his wife are staying with us and I didn't want to wake them up. So I walked over to our bedroom window and started knocking. The wife finally woke up and let me in. She didn't seem too happy.

In light of that I thought I would post a couple of pictures from warmer times and more interesting places.


Florence Italy 2007



Jamaica 2008

Gloom

The time of the year I dislike the most is here. It is not the cold. It is not the snow. It is the fact that it dark when I go to work and it is dark when I get home. It gets old pretty quick.

Roger Ebert kicks a**

I am reading Richard Dawkin's "The God Delusion" right now, so I got a big kick out of reading Roger Ebert systematically dismantle Ben Stein's "documentary" "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" .

Win Ben Stein's Mind

The last paragraph is great:

Ben Stein is only getting warmed up. He takes a field trip to visit one "result" of Darwinism: Nazi concentration camps. "As a Jew," he says, "I wanted to see for myself." We see footage of gaunt, skeletal prisoners. Pathetic children. A mound of naked Jewish corpses. "It's difficult to describe how it felt to walk through such a haunting place," he says. Oh, go ahead, Ben Stein. Describe. It filled you with hatred for Charles Darwin and his followers, who represent the overwhelming majority of educated people in every nation on earth. It is not difficult for me to describe how you made me feel by exploiting the deaths of millions of Jews in support of your argument for a peripheral Christian belief. It fills me with contempt.