General

Long time me-knowers will remember that I got a bum ankle. The left one got operated on after a lot of pain and left me unable to run or jump. After two years or not running or jumping, my right ankle has started to send the same damn pain signals to my head. Awesome.

It has a been a couple of weeks now and it is getting worse. So I called my surgeon and will be going in to have him take a look. I'm guessing an MRI is in my future. The main problem is that I have done nothing to hurt it! Here we go again. Sept 2, I hope to get some answers.

Just had a pretty good weekend. Need proof? Michelle captured some

Kicked off Friday with some rock climbing with Michelle and Garbe. Then down to ma and pa to sleep in air conditioning and get up quite early to start landscaping work before it got too hot. Didn't take too long to get hot. Real hot. I drank as much as I could stand and still become mildly dehydrated. But we made some progress at turning weed gardens into nicely mulched areas with matting to prevent future weeds.

Quite a day - wore me down. But we had a dinner and watched 5th Element on Blu-Ray. Blu-Ray is a high definition DVD format that shows incredible detail, you really notice the difference in facial features in particular. Quite a pleasing display.

Michelle and I then returned home and turned in early.

Woke up the next morning and joined James and Autumn on a trip with Captain Garbe to a corn n chicken feed and an afternoon on Bass Lake in Wisconsin. Wow. After 3/8 of a chicken (oh yeah, fractions are cool again) and 3 incredibly tasty ears of corn later (fresh picked), I am less convinced of the natural superiority of Minnesotans to cheeseheads. Guess it just took some righteously good food for me to question my pro-Minnesota brainwashing.

But from there, we went on to a heavily overcast (and therefore, mostly deserted) Bass Lake. After a short rain shower, James and I did some tubing and Garbe carved some serious wakes on his wakeboard. Swimming in the middle of the lake in between. It was a good day. More photos to follow, I took the brand new camera and we got some excellent photos.

Wow. That was a good weekend. Now my shoulders are wasted. Incredibly sore, but I'm okay with that.

Quoted in the Star Tribune, massively popular online news source Ars Technica, and Third Pipe. Interviewed recently on a MN foundation blog and on Mark Heaney's show on Air America [mp3 file].

Also had an op-ed published this week.

What a couple of days. Yesterday, I took the day off to visit my parents and help with some yard work. It was hot and humid. Especially when the trusty ole Probe stalled on blacktop on my way down there in the morning. Waited for the tow truck for 45 minutes when it magically started again. So I finished the drive.

Decided to drive it back home despite its unreliability because the auto shop I go to is closer to me than them. It stalled. On 35E. After 45 minutes, while again waiting for a tow truck, it started. Poof. So I started moving again, hoping it would keep working, as in the morning.

But it didn't. And traffic was backed up due to construction (on 35E, at 9:30 at night). So when it died this time, I was not moving and could not get on the shoulder. Fortunately, the construction had just changed the traffic pattern and instead of using only the lane I was in, they changed it to using only the other two lanes. Phew.

Unfortunately, it was dark, and some idiot nearly nailed me anyway. So instead of waiting more than an hour for the tow truck AAA was arranging for me, I called 911 and patched me through to the State Police. They sent a cruiser to push me off the road for safety and called a different tow truck that would get there faster. The officer was quite friendly and waited there until the wrecker arrived to offer more protection against drunks or other idiots who might hit me.

Got towed to the auto shop, where Michelle came out at 11:00 to pick me up and transfer my stuff to her car. This morning, I woke up after barely sleeping and developing a huge headache. Drove up to the shop to drop off the keys to the car and explain that if it was going to be a spendy repair, we'll opt not to do it and get rid of the car.

Driving back in Michelle's car, I was sitting at a traffic light when I was confused to see quarters from the center console hit the dashboard. I think my brain heard it, then saw it, and puzzled over it until I realized I had just been rear-ended. Again. Happened 14 months ago to me in the Probe. This is now my 6th auto accident (I was responsible for only 1 but was driving for 3 of them).

The woman who hit me (she was probably mid twenties) looked fairly scared. I was shaky, having started with a headache and now having too much adrenaline in my body. We pulled off, called the police, and exchanged info. Had to wait awhile, so we talked. She was friendly, apologized, and actually thanked me at one point for not yelling at her. At that point, I was closer to just crying because everything auto-related seems to be falling apart in my life.

The St. Paul police officer arrived, was incredibly friendly and gave us a case number. So I called into work, came home, and laid on the couch with Harley for the day. Took pain killers, buried my head under the pillow and listened to the Director's commentary on Transformers. Feeling better now. Not great, but better.

It helps to have Michelle be incredibly supportive over the last 2 days and my family being there whenever I need them. So thanks. I'll try not mess up any (more) of your vehicles...

Spent last weekend at Michelle's parents and had another great time. Almost won at Hearts, but Jim had rough 1/5 the points I had. So I didn't win. But I did beat Michelle. So that's something.

I've been reading a lot lately while not feeling the blog vibe. Just read Janet Evanovich's latest Steph Plum novel - Fearless Fourteen. A fun summer read but I wouldn't pay money for it. Other than that, I've been catching up on my magazines. And playing with a new camera.

HELL YEAH - a NEW camera! Wooohooooo!

Nikon's D700 has found its way to my possession. I'm impressed with it thus far - especially Nikon's commitment to reusing batteries. Extra batteries from previous cameras work in the new one! This is exciting cuz I got some extra batteries.

I don't want you to think that just cuz I ain't been blogging much means I ain't been doing much. I just put up a piece looking at who decides what channels are available on your TV and how to change that.

Last week, I was on the radio for almost an hour - a local station called KFAI. You can listen to the stream here or an MP3 of the full program here, or a short version featuring mostly me, here.

I also upgrade the gallery software running my photo gallery but I have not fully finished that. Need to spruce it up a bit. But that was a big hassle and is kind of done for now.

This was a good weekend. We intended to go camping, but that fell through. Still enjoyed the weather though - biked on Friday, Sat, and, Sunday for a combined 80 miles or so. Finished my paid photography work backlog.

Nearly done editing the photos from Texas but am stuck trying to upgrade the gallery software right now. Been wrestling with it for hours - hope to finish in another day or two. I use a product called "gallery" and I am really unhappy with its SPAM control. I want better control over comments, so I may have to switch to another product if I find a superior one.

Michelle and I watched "Talk to Me" - a recent movie with Don Cheadle. Very good, highly recommended. On the other hand, Kimmi and I recently watched "Chaos" and I have to think that if someone allows you to choose between a broken leg and watching the movie, consider the former if you have good insurance. May be less painful.

Tim Russert has just died. I've received a bunch of tweets (on twitter, of course) lionizing him. Well, I'm sorry that he died but I will forever remember him as a softball pitcher for the Bush Administration who saw him as the best way to get Dark Lord Cheney's message out.

Tim has probably done laudable work that I should remember, but I'm sorry to say that is all I think of when I hear his name.

Wanna hear me on the radio? Tune into KFAI on Wednesday, June 11, at 11:00 AM CDT. FM 90.3 in Mpls, FM 106.7 in St. Paul. The rest of you can listen online - I recommend the MP3 stream. The subject is broadband networks - we will speak for 1 hour with a couple of in studio guests and also take phone calls.

Back from Michelle's parents - another great weekend up in Cass County. Michelle and I biked, I drove the John Deere bulldozer and moved stuff without breaking nuthin, and we did a lot of relaxin' and chattin' with the 'rents.

No complaints. Except that I'm off to DC for the rest of the week.

I'm on twitter now - if you don't know understand, ya don't understand. I'll explain for those who are curious.

Took a bunch of photos of birds - mostly with a remote setup that was fun to play with. Good some usable stuff, but I need to take a closer look before I get excited. Birds are hard, and guessing where they will be is hard when deciding where to focus. Good thing Michelle's dad was always happy to help me rig something up to position the camera.

A great weekend - looking forward to more like it this summer. Need to get Michelle to bike down to Ma & Pa's with me - maybe next weekend.