I just returned from a nice little trip to Denver, a place that I had never visited before. Actually, Denver is now the farthest west I’ve ever been in the U.S. (well, technically, it is Silverthorne, just west of the Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70, the extent of our driving). I liked it, despite typically heading eastward when I want to get away. There’s something about real mountains that is impressive to somebody who has spent most of his time in flat states.

I was only there for a few days, but I found a number of amusing and confusing things while I was there (and not just the airport that is almost as large as the city of Minneapolis, and located almost as far from Denver)…

• I-70 heading west out of Denver into the mountains is surprisingly wide. Why such a huge freeway? Seems out of place.
• Many times on the freeways I’d see people traveling around 45 MPH for no apparent reason. It wasn’t the terrain, since this was in the flat areas. Not being Minnesota, though, they were not in the left lane.
• Peña Boulevard, the freeway to the airport, allows bicycles on the shoulder. I didn’t see any, but bikes? On a freeway? That sounds more dangerous than the bike lanes on Hennepin in downtown Minneapolis.
• The Chevy Cobalt is a crappy car, but it become a bit less crappy once you figure out how to move the seat back from its default recline position.
• Suburbs look the exact same no matter where you go.
• Hotels are much cooler when they come with a semi-tame fox that lurks in the parking lot at night.
• States that allow grocery stores to only sell 3.2 beer should have large signs next to said beer informing people of this fact. Breweries that make 3.2 versions of decent beers should be mocked.

I took about 500 pictures while I was there, so processing them will take some time. I’ll have them up as soon as I can.

• Current Mood: Headache

I’m coming at you live from Littleton, Colorado, where home base is currently a Marriot hotel in the foothills. Colorado is a very pretty place to be. So far we’ve driven up into the mountains and visited Colorado Springs (no, not to visit Focus on the Family, but the Garden of the Gods). Today is a trip to Boulder. Hopefully, we’ll go into Denver too sometime, since Littleton isn’t all that exciting.

Once I get back, I’ll have a ton of pictures to post.

• Current Mood: Rocky Mountain High
• Currently Reading: "A People's History of the United States", Howard Zinn

After just recently getting the internet back at home, I’m off until next week to Denver. Enjoy the weather!

After what seemed like an interminable time (but was in reality a little over a week), I once again have internet access at home. I’ve had issues with Comcast in the past, but this time around the tech came out and did a good job solving problems and getting everything up and running. I’ll finally be able to get back to work posting.

• Current Mood: Headache
• Currently Listening To: "Foxy Lady", Jimi Hendrix

It’s been a while since I last posted, for a good reason. Over the weekend, Julia and I moved into our new place in Northeast Minneapolis, and at times it was a comedy of errors. Friday consisted of me banging my head on low ceiling in the basement, taking a flying bungee cord to the temple, and nearly losing the very heavy brass base of a table onto I-94. Saturday was actually fairly uneventful as we moved the big furniture with the help of my brother; about the worst that happened was that it rained on us in the morning while we loaded the truck. Sunday morning, Julia and I got locked out of the apartment as we tried to enjoy the nice morning on our deck. I also managed to accidentally smack Misha in the face and step on the downstairs neighbors’ dog.

But possibly worst of all is that during our cable-TV-and-internet install on Friday afternoon, the cable tech discovered that there is something wrong with our cable lines and we will need a new one. That means no internet at home (and no cable TV) until this weekend at the earliest! This unplanned internet outage at home makes me feel disconnected with the outside world. Not fun at all.

Thus, my lack of posting. Hopefully we will get the interwebs working this weekend so I can again use my computer at home. Internet is such a necessity now.

• Current Mood: Disconnected

It’s been a couple weeks since we brought Sasha home and things are quieting down. Misha was not happy at first, but it only took a couple days for him to accept Sasha. They still fight and wrestle some, but most of the time it’s harmless play.

Sasha still has ringworm, so we have to dip her in lime sulfur to take care of that. It’s getting better, and it’s more of a cosmetic problem than anything else.

I’ll be posting more pictures as I take them.

Julia and I picked up Саша (Sasha) the kitten yesterday. Here is the link to the gallery. She is very playful and energetic, and is pretty fearless. She climbed all the way to the top of the cat tree I made (although she needed a little help getting down), and is in general having fun exploring.

Миша (Misha), the existing cat, is not very happy about this at the moment. He’s all hissy and has tried to take a swipe at her a couple of times. We are trying to introduce them slowly so they don’t kill each other. Next step: getting some baby gates so they can see each other and maybe get used to each other.

• Current Mood: Calm
• Currently Listening To: "Suck My Kiss", Red Hot Chili Peppers

A couple weeks ago I went to the dentist, and although I didn’t have any pain or other issues, my dentist found the beginnings of a small cavity. I went in a week later to have it filled; less than an hour later I was on my way. A short time later, I got my bill for $150 (which, when I thought about it, seems like a really good deal). My insurance paid for the majority, I paid the rest, and that was it.

All in all, it’s a pretty mundane story. Hardly worth even mentioning, you’d think. But taking a closer look at the pieces, it’s not unremarkable at all. I’m very fortunate that I can engage in such a transaction so easily at so little cost to me; for countless people, that just can’t happen, and the distance between my situation and theirs is not as great as one would think.

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It’s official: I and Julia are moving to a new place in NE Minneapolis in July. It’s the top floor of a duplex, new kitchen, pretty cool. I’ll finally be getting back to Minneapolis after wandering in the wilderness of Saint Paul for a bit.

Of course, I’ll post pictures at some future date.