Saturday, December 29, 2007

Benihana

Benihana was the Japanese steakhouse that we went to on Christmas Eve.
We sat with another family--they from Mounds View. All the serving
staff were Hispanic.

Was late to the Y. Definitely gets crowded on Saturday mornings.
Clusterphobic. Nina's--all the tables are full--10:00. I got a great
belly laugh. I walked to the back of the coffeeshop, noting that there
were no empty spots. Back in the corner, another old gray-bread like
myself looked like he was getting up from a table and moving to a
couch. If he was moving to a couch, I'd take the table. If he was
staying at the table, I'd take the couch. Table, couch, table, couch.
Which would you prefer? Which would you prefer? "I'd like the table,"
I said. But before I could step around him, a man and a woman stepped
up and took the table. Just like losing a parking spot in a busy
parking lot. Interesting to me that this whole pre-table thing went
on, that they were oblivious. Right spot, right time. Of course now
they have the right to bequeath it to their descendants. That's kind
of it. Worth a good laugh. Metaphorical of greater existence. Of
course, for me everything is metaphorical.


--
David
www.schons.net

Back on the bus, in the snow

Back on the bus again. It is snowing again. A couple of people are
sleeping, there is a guy behind me talking to himself. Or is he?
Sounds like Mohammed Ali. The pretty, fashionably dressed young black
woman who got off, probably a worker at the department store.

On Christmas Eve, on the way back from the Japanese steakhouse in the
western suburbs, we stopped at my sister-in-law's house. She gave me
fat measuring scale she'd gotten.


--
David
www.schons.net

Friday, December 28, 2007

Greece and a beer

If my eye appointment for Monday stands, this is my last bus ride of the year.

Last night, I went to the Science Museum with
Dorothea, her sister, and her sister's daughter, and we all went first
to the Omnimax film about ancient Greece, and then to The Great Waters
brew pub. All was to my liking, especially that we did it early.

We have a basement utlity sink with a dripping faucet that Dorothea
brought up last night in the sense that we should fix it. This
morning, I found the knobs to the shutoff valves frozen.

--
David
www.schons.net

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Buses and snowbanks.

Buses and snowbanks. When the 21 stopped at Nina's, I got out the
backdoor. That was a silly thing to do. I got out the door and then in
two feet between the back of the side of the bus and the snowbank. All
I could do was wait for the bus to pull away.

Yesterday Dorothea and the children went to Theresa's farm for
Christmas dinner. Snow, dark, traffic, sledding, snowmobiling, and
four-wheeling. Both Madeline and Liam had a great time. Dorothea was
beat. The day to myself was my Christmas gift.


--
David
www.schons.net

More snow--egads

Egad. It is still snowing. More accurately I can say that it is
snowing now, and that I surmise (infer?) that the snow has been
falling continuously since yesterday morning. Almost twenty-four
hours. Wonderful. The temperature is neither too warm or too cold. (I
just fired up the Wing's IE to check the weather--no connection.)

First time in awhile that I have been on bus, and therefore to write
as well. I trudged through the snow to the bus stop--Russia, Moscow,
winter, snow. Just missed. Walked to the main intersection bus stop
shelter and just barely caught the next bus. First was late, second
early.


--
David
www.schons.net

Sunday, December 23, 2007

drinking cheaply

Attuned to drinking cheaply and watching TV, my neighbor misses the
snowfall, the blizzard winds, snow swirling off rooftops like surf
pounding rocks.


--
David
www.schons.net

Saturday, December 22, 2007

First zoho blog entry


I have discovered zoho.com and just have to write something. I see that I can publish to blogger (though not movabletype.) The first thing that I always look for is the ability to insert the date and time. I don't see that here, though there are lots of word processing features and goodies.

 

I am going totally online. I discovered mint.com and have myself set up. Scary, the interconnectedness of financial information. But it seems like such an easy site to use.

 

And zoho even lets me create applications with database back ends, which seems great for prototyping. Ah, digital bliss.

chill to the heart of the soul

On the café table, a cellphone has replaced the cigarette pack at the
elbow of the woman who hails "Richard!" across the room, and Richard
arrives: "I was wondering what caused the chill to the heart of my
soul." Momentary light banter.

--
David
www.schons.net

Sunday, December 2, 2007

First snow

Snow. Snowed for twelve hours yesterday. Not enough for a snow but
enough to call 266-PLOW.

As I sat in the draining bathtub at the age of six, in 1965, I was
almost as "closer" then in "time" to my mother as a six-year old in
1920, than I am now, at age 48, in 2007, to 1965. I love contemplating
this sort of thought, over-intellectual and vacuous as it is. Same
sort of thing as a "birth year"--59 for me.

--
David
www.schons.net

Thursday, November 29, 2007

10° Fahrenheit

And windy again. Cold enough for sure. Downtown St. Paul is easy on
one's eyes, at least at this time of the morning, and from the angle
just across the street from the Xcel.

Company email yesterday said that J. Russell Jones died. No wallflower, Russell.

Dorothea is down. Liver, thyroid, knee, hand, incontinence, due for
colonoscopy tomorrow.

My coworker Ryan, who got kidnapped corporately from one building to
another, and away from riding the bus, gave me his Metropass. Should
be good til the end of the year. Will save me forty dollars perhaps.

--
David
www.schons.net

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

9° Fahrenheit

Officially cold. I walked from home to my dental appoint. Time to get
out a heavier jacket. I continue pondering about Hour Car. Both
Dorothea exclaim "That's a third car." Indeed that is exactly it.
Madeline was to take ski poles with her to school for practice.


--
David
www.schons.net

Monday, November 26, 2007

Hour Car?

Coming home Saturday from visiting my mom, the van made funny sounds
again. Scary sounds. Scary enough that it was back in the shop Sunday.
That's it. The van is dead to me. I missed the bus this morning--84D,
I was heading straight to work, skipping the Y, though that little
chain of events made me think I should just go out and walk thirty
minutes. It also reminded me of Hour Car.

--
David
www.schons.net

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Day of Connections

What a day of connections. First a bit of housekeeping. I didn't ride
the bus on Friday as I needed to pickup Madeline and cohorts after
practice. So, I didn't jot anything down.

At the Y though--Mike, a lawyer, in the shower, a bit older, and
another fellow were conversing. Mike was saying how he felt tired all
the time, even with being bed by nine. His doctor told him that
testosterone treatments might help, with the downside being increased
risk of prostate cancer.

Out of the shower, I commented how that was a great line that Mike had
in response to his doctor--"No thanks. I'd rather be tired than dead."
to which I added it is not so much being dead that bothers me--or
maybe it does, the concept of none existence--but rather the living
with the prostrate cancer would be a problem.

So we're both standing there naked, me just out of the shower, and he
just about to turn to the sink to start shaving. This seems
significant. And he pulls out a couple near death stories. One: a
woman told him of watching from above as a medical team worked on her
during her having a heart attack. Another: people gathered at a home
after a guy's funeral, and a floor lamp begins sparking and does so
continuously for twenty seconds before stopping. The implication
being: he was there.

So, today. Kind of a busy schedule. One item is the Quaker memorial
service for Barbara Neal. Various people get up to speak. One woman, a
neighbor, mentions another neighbor's last. A unique name, one that is
known to me from college. Sure enough. We have eventually run into
each other.

She asks "are you in the phonebook?" and I can only answer that I
think so, but am not sure. My thought was "Google me." when I got
home, I did. Some Kinda Possible, my blog shows up. (I Googled
"schons.") but also near the top of the list was
christopherschons.com. I suspect that is my nephew.

--
David
www.schons.net

Day of Connections

What a day of connections. First a bit of housekeeping. I didn't ride
the bus on Friday as I needed to pickup Madeline and cohorts after
practice. So, I didn't jot anything down.

At the Y though--Mike, a lawyer, in the shower, a bit older, and
another fellow were conversing. Mike was saying how he felt tired all
the time, even with being bed by nine. His doctor told him that
testosterone treatments might help, with the downside being increased
risk of prostate cancer.

Out of the shower, I commented how that was a great line that Mike had
in response to his doctor--"No thanks. I'd rather be tired than dead."
to which I added it is not so much being dead that bothers me--or
maybe it does, the concept of none existence--but rather the living
with the prostrate cancer would be a problem.

So we're both standing there naked, me just out of the shower, and he
just about to turn to the sink to start shaving. This seems
significant. And he pulls out a couple near death stories. One: a
woman told him of watching from above as a medical team worked on her
during her having a heart attack. Another: people gathered at a home
after a guy's funeral, and a floor lamp begins sparking and does so
continuously for twenty seconds before stopping. The implication
being: he was there.

So, today. Kind of a busy schedule. One item is the Quaker memorial
service for Barbara Neal. Various people get up to speak. One woman, a
neighbor, mentions another neighbor's last. A unique name, one that is
known to me from college. Sure enough. We have eventually run into
each other.

She asks "are you in the phonebook?" and I can only answer that I
think so, but am not sure. My thought was "Google me." when I got
home, I did. Some Kinda Possible, my blog shows up. (I Googled
"schons.") but also near the top of the list was
christopherschons.com. I suspect that is my nephew.

--
David
www.schons.net

Thursday, November 15, 2007

84 and Home

And now on the way home. Just passed the bright lights of "The
Village." pretty much brain-dead. There is a guy behind me talking on
a cellphone in what I surmise is Somali. A woman ahead of me is
talking about subsidized apartments. She doesn't sound like she needs
low income housing, but then who knows?

--
David
www.schons.net

54 LTD II

I tried something new. Actually still in the midst. Here is: I am on
the 54. So far all is good. I caught the 21 to St. Paul instead of the
21 to Minneapolis when I came out of the Y. Just threw myself on the
winds of fate with nary a schedule. The 21 stops at the corner of
Smith and whatever, in the midst of what was forever a vacant lot but
where there is now a parking lot. The 54 stops in front of the Xcel.

--
David
www.schons.net

54 LTD

There is across the side street from my bus stop a tree, of what genus
or species I do not know. It might be an oak tree. Tree identification
is difficult this time of year. I started to think of how the gnarled
main main branches divided into branches, in silhouette of mercury
vapor street light looked as arteries and capillaries. Pondered how
the trunk-to-branch system is the same answer to a design problem as
our circulatory system. How ancestrally are we related are we, tree
and I, across Darwin epochs? As the bus approached, I noted that tree
was read banded and surrounded with no parking signs.

--
David
www.schons.net

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Shale Sands

Depressing. My weight continues to squirt up. Ugh. Also depressing is
reading an article about shale oil shades in Canada. I guess we knew
this was coming, but even a little taste of a description of the
mining and tailings and refining is stupifying. So being on the bus
with the sticky floor is a good thing.


--
David
www.schons.net

Monday, November 12, 2007

Ad Hoc Bus Committee

5:24 AM

Back on the bus. This is not the white bus. How's that for a start?
Lame. But it's a start.

I saw my cholesterol results from my most recent physical. Went back
up. Discouraging. The one thing that I have going on is the Clif
bar--they're probably high in saturated fat. So I think that I will
try substituting with Kashi bars. Not ready to give up bars.

Also I think I am ready for WW at Work. Thursday.

Yesterday was the Meeting for Business. The Ad Hoc Committee for paid
staff was last on the agenda, and wasn't allotted enough time. So
yesterday I got in a month's worth of church attendance.

11/11/07

My idea is that I should be able to sit here and write, in the vein of
the people who are sitting and knitting and crocheting. Facing
constantly my feelings of inadequacy, brought up first by Richard the
clerk and his opening comments--instead of an inspirational quotation,
he pondered on the ad hoc committee, and brought on second by Paul and
his announcing about his mother-in-law's death. All about me, isn't
it?

--
David
www.schons.net

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Madeline sees first snow

5:25 AM

Ah, back on the bus again--with the MDA. I didn' t ride the bus at all
last. Yesterday, Monday, I did, but I forgot the cellphone. I read
some more from the beginning of Cold Mountain instead. Maybe that
wasn't such a bad thing.

Reading an article last night about Antony Flew. Got me to thinking
about life, death, the universe and all. One comment that struck me
was of his idea the concept of God is to general. Indeed.

Which leads me to bus seats and blogs. Some buses have old, ugly, but
cushy bad vinyl seats. Some buses--today's--have more modern, more
attractive, but harder seats. Bumpy as medieval cobbles.

And to blogs. All things come to an end and are ephemeral. Eventual I
will stop posting, the domain name will expire, and no one will know
it was here.

7:16 AM

Still too early. How ironic for the bus. My connection is 84D, 7:38,
University and Snelling. I caught the 7:12 in front of the Y. I should
get the next one. That'll give me more time on the elliptical, anyway.
Otherwise, I'd be standing around at Snelling and I-94 for twenty
minutes. Don't see any point in that.

Because I am getting on before the peak time starts, and make the
whole home to Y and back trip in one transfer, my cost $1.50. With gas
at $3.00 a gallon, a roundtrip of eight to ten miles at probably
fifteen miles to the gallon in the minivan, that's competitive.

--
David
www.schons.net

Saturday, November 3, 2007

A Good Day So Far

I just hit the YouTube wall. I thought that I could watch videos on
the Wing, but no. Now I remember that there is some sort of mismatch
between their file format and the T-Mobile network. Perhaps that is
just as well, since writing, even as feasible as this is better than
watching videos IHMO.

In the tub I am. Liam is showering in the basement. Ah, just finished.
Dorothea has returned from dropping off at The Mall of America
Madeline and her friends, and is puttering about in the kitchen.

As the girls were leaving, Liam returned, dropped off from a camping
overnight with a friend's dad and five other boys.

The Led Zeppelin songs that I had queued up on the PC iTunes is finished.

I did not ride the bus at all last week. Two morning medical
appointments didn't help. I hope to get back in the groove next week.
I actually missed the writing time.

Dorothea and I had a bit of a tough time this morning. Me, for
starters--I didn't sleep well at all. So I slept in later than usual
for Saturday. Dorothea, bless her, wanted go to the Y. But by the time
that she was ready to go, I wasn't. And there were issues--she wanted
drop off her car for repairs and needed a ride, plus, since she had
made the effort, my backing out was slimy.

What didn't even realize (or remember) until was there is I don't like
the Y on Saturday mornings after 9:00. Kiddie ballet--Liam must have
done a session, probably as a four year-old; a super-packed water
aerobic--which must have raised the waterlevel in the pool by a foot;
a "train the trainer" class--well attended, and with lots of
merchandize for sale; yoga--this meant that all the studios were in
use; Madeline called during meditation--my attempt to meditate; a
little kid was annoying in the locker room.

Madeline called because she wanted sugar to make banana bread. We
stopped at Lulu's corner store to get it on our way home. The door to
the store was locked. A note taped to the door: "Back in ten minutes."
three little kids waiting outside the door told Dorothea that it had
been way more than ten minutes. As I was backing up in the little
parking lot of the little to leave, I backed into an elm stump.

The banana bread didn't turn out as expected due the out of
order--late--sugar, gotten by Dorothea from a neighbor.

All in all, it has been a good day so far.

--
David
www.schons.net

Friday, November 2, 2007

Elliptical Confrontation

On an exercise bike. Partly killing time because I am going into the
lab for a fasting blood draw at 8:30, partly recovering from an
elliptical signup sheet confrontation. A woman was on my machine at my
time, and she didn't want to leave. She thought that I signed up for
7:00 and that I was fifteen minutes late; actually I signed up for
7:15. "Sorry about being pissy," I said, and thought "but bring it
out." oh well--loving kindness.

--
David
www.schons.net

Monday, October 29, 2007

Madeline's Piano Lesson

I guess that I took Sunday off. I am quite tired. I thought that I
would sit and write a bit during Madeline's piano lesson, I was more
on track for falling asleep on the couch.

Liam won. He gets to keep the Bullet Blender that he bought at
Walgreen's yesterday. I am quite surprised that Dorothea didn't make
him take it back.

Madeline is going to change into easier math and science classes.
She's conflicted over these changes, of course.

Duh. I did write yesterday, just not from here, the MDA, but directly
into the computer. Imagine that.


--
David
www.schons.net

Sunday, October 28, 2007

The Almost Moon

Weird. A moon theme. I listened to a podcast of Fresh Air interview with Alice Sebold about her book The Almost Moon. Now, Liam has just finished his homework and gone upstairs. He took his Bullet Blender with him. We stopped at Walgreen's after I picked the children up from the Unitarians. Madeline needed mascara and shampoo. Liam said he wanted to buy a Bullet Blender. I said go for it, if you want it, let's get it. Maybe your mother will laugh, maybe she'll cry. Dorothea and I watched Sweetland. She got the video from Blockbuster, our only source now that the local Home Video store closed. We started watching it last night, and got about half way through, when it was time to go across the street to the neighbor's cocktail party. Funny, but that clan is definitely North Dakota Lutheran, just like the movie portrays. One of the guys from last night is actually a Lutheran minister. Spooky. And it isn't even Halloween yet. There is a mention of a Becker County, Minnesota. Sure enough. Think Detroit Lakes.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Binocular Moon at Perigee

This morning was to "Binocular Moon." Dorothea had commented that she
and Liz had used binocs to look at the moon when they were camping
this week. "The Hunter's Moon" she called it. And it is exceptionally
bright. Apparently it is at perigee--closest to earth.

--
David
www.schons.net

Friday, October 26, 2007

More stuff

5:25 AM

Smashing pumpkins moon. This morning the moon is like a bright
spotlight shining through the bedroom blinds. I just barely made the
bus. In fact I would have missed it if it hadn't stopped to let
someone off. I gave up my copy of the 21 schedule for Madeline. The
discussion is to get her to do afterschool tutoring.

Dorothea returned from her "cabin camping" trip at Lake Marie State
Park (pronounced 'mo-rye-ah'). She was there with Liz. Dorothea hacked
off a small piece of her thumb while using a hatchet to split wood.
She told of moonlit walks in the woods and fear. While on their
nocturnal stroll, they hear coyotes howl.

5:57 AM

My brain is nothing but a basket weave of neural detours. Sleep and meditation.

7:03 AM

Just barely caught this bus, too. I walked out of the Y expecting the
next bus, and, thinking that buses came about every twenty minutes, I
ran to catch this one--and did. Waiting for the next bus would have
been fine.

--
David
www.schons.net

Thursday, October 25, 2007

China and Japan Moon

Rearview mirror moon. Unexpected moon. Bright, clear,
just-above-the-treetops, bright, clear, full, setting moon. Harvest
moon. An "like to take a picture, but that is pointless moon." an "I
am parked on Concordia Avenue next to the interstate, but need to be
getting to the 'Y' moon."

--
David
www.schons.net

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Twelve-hour ouch

5:39 PM

Ouch. The twelve hour thing. I guess that is what I have been doing
anyway, just now it is on the bus. And I am writing about. Having time
to reflect, as well. So the homeward bus thing work too. Deceiving,
maybe, because the weather is so nice. The fifteen minute walk to the
base of the Davern hill--not so bad. And the road construction in
front of my work does look as though it is nearing completion. Then
the buses should be able to stop at the door again. Another piece that
is making this work is that I am able to get to the Y in the morning
as well.

--
David
www.schons.net

Bus, Day Two

5:24 AM

On the bus, day two. This time I caught the "5:25" which really came
at 5:20. On my walk there is one place where there is a tree branch
overhanging the sidewalk from the right, and it is strategically
placed just at the point where, as I am approaching the corner, I am
looking to the left for the bus. It's a tough branch, too. I should
bring a bow saw with me.

7:22 AM

Hamline. Yesterday while I was trying to use the Pocket PC to figure
out the bus schedule, I happened upon the Wikipedia site for Twin
Cities Transit. So that gave some historical perspective. One thing
that was interesting to me was that TCT was still functioning, by that
time just with buses, until 1970. "Mary Tyler Moore" land.

212 this morning. Probably burned off a lot yesterday, the first day of bussing.

7:42 AM

That worked. I am now on the 84D. I still didn't get off at the right
stop, but a corner early, which ended up okay. Especially since there
was an amazing sunrise. I took a picture.

Last night I couldn't get to sleep, so I was YouTubing. I discovered a
whole genre, "upskirt, no panties." (Yes, one word.) mostly actresses
on talk shows with short-short skirts. I probably missed out on the
really good stuff because apparently you need to log in for that,
which I couldn't.

--
David
www.schons.net

Monday, October 22, 2007

Every Day Since Thursday

5:34 PM

I just barely caught the 84 home. It is stopping all the way over by the MacDonald's on Madison as it's layover spot, instead of right in front of Riverbank because of road construction. I see now that I could also walk up to Davern and St. Paul for 5:35.

And that is where I should get off. Am thinking that this calls for schlepping a bicycle.

This morning I got on the wrong 84, thr "H" instead of the "D." Once he understood my plight, the bus driver made a valiant effort to get me back across the river to a rendezvous with the "right" 84, doing forty-five across the Ford Parkway bridge. Still missed the bus. But I walked from "The Village" to work, and that was fine. The weather this morning was gorgeous, as it isw now.

The minivan is listed as needing $2500 of repairs. If it weren't for the need of a vehicle for Madeline, I think this would make the perfect time to bail. A life of owning and operating a minivan with 100,000-plus miles on it is otherwise not my idea of a life worth living.

8:27 AM

This is a lack of planning and understanding. I got on a 84H--no good. I now understand that "H" is for Hiawatha. "D" is for Davern. I wanted Davern, which is the street where my work is. Instead I went all the way across the river to the "Hiawatha" light rail station at 46th Street.

Okay. I officially give up. Trying to figure out the bus schedule on the Pocket PC while riding on the bus doesn't work. Close, but it is not quite there.

But I am trying it. The route and schedule of going to the Y and back on the 21, and then catching the 84, with the 84 home from could amount to a substantial block of time on the bus. Unpleasant in so many ways--currently as it is loud and bumpy.

The transfer is automatically calculated on the card I am using, so that is good to know and simple. Realized when I sat down that I need to ask where to get off for my work because of the road construction.

Watching the bouncing PDA is giving me a headache. If the bus is not a good place to write, then I become much less interested in riding.

10/20/07

5:38 PM

The data connection here outside of Nevis doesn't exist. I got paged from my co-worker Jim, but have no idea when or why. Only know that for him to page me is rare.

On Friday morning when I went to Nina's, I took this picture of the Statue of Liberty.

<INSERT PIX STATUE OF LIBERTY>

When I got home from the Y and Nina's on Friday, I took some pictures in the backyard. The birch tree is the birch tree in need of trimming.

<INSERT PIX BIRCH>

A COUPLE OF "B" roll photos are of the back step

<INSERT PIX BACK STEP>

And the dual watering cans--

<INSERT PIX water cans>

(I publish everything I got, man.)

Here's the view from the back of the minivan, as if no one knows what that view looks like--

<INSERT PIX minivan>

Ideally, I should be getting a thousand words out of each of these pictures. Don't seem to be quite up to that standard.

But here is the picture of Madeline and her "O.M.G. Becky" shirt. Madeline was walking in the hall of Junior High, the hall was really crowded. (Madeline, who just came in the room where I am sitting and writing this, wants me to make sure that you understand that this is a large school--four hundred students per grade--and is a racially and culturally diverse school.) So, she ran into this black guy, sort of accidentally bumped into him with her shoulder, and then he, in mock horror, stood back and raised his arms up in the air and said, in a high-pitched, white-girly voice "oh my god, Becky!" In this context, "Becky" to be understood as a generic white-girl name.

That was eighth grade. Fast-forward to the beginning of ninth grade. Madeline has moved on to a new high school. One weekend with friends from her old Junior High, she is with a group that is tie-dying. And someone creates this shirt for her, harking back to the eighth-grade incident.

And I've had the idea for this narrative for a while, and just now got to taking the picture.

I also want to send it to Alan, who just married Becky, with a comment--"Co-incidence?"

10/19/07

8:09 PM

In my in-law's in-laws vacation home waterbed. (Heated, no less! Remember unheated waterbeds?) this has been a lot of writing--riding the bus, back of the minivan. Lots of words of dubious value.

5:13 PM

Right after I got in the back, I got a GPRS network connection. That was great. I don't think I have ever been on a GPRS network before. I was able to see my Google Docs, which was a first.

A young fellow came to look at trimming trees in our backyard. He came at 8:00 AM. Dorothea asked that I be there to take part in the consultation. I begged off, saying that because I was taking a vacation day, I was looking forward to lingering at the Y and Nina's. The idea of having to be home by 8:00 AM saddened me greatly. I told Dorothea that I trusted her judgement completely. My requests were that

Tree branches not rub against the house Tree branches not interfere with our neighbor's telephone line--which cuts diagonally over our backyard Tree branches not force me to duck as I walk about.

Dorothea said that the guy was a cute hunk. In his thirties and from Frogtown, he looked as if he'd be more at home in northern Minnesota. His philosophy was off making only small changes and not doing anything drastic.

The birch tree is the one in most need of trimming. It is old for a birch, but could be around for a long time if properly cared for, according to our young arborist.

When discussion with the tree trimmer turned to the maples that Dorothea got from her brother Thomas, Dorothea said that she began to cry. She told the young arborist that she had trimmed one of the maples, and that it died. A month later, her brother Thomas died.

4:01 PM

Now I am in the way back seat of the minivan. We're on our way up to Akekey to stay at the vacation home of my sister-in-law's in-laws. The weather: Cloudy, cool, and windy. In the city and to its immediate north and west, we drove through intermittent rainshowers, some heavy. At least it isn't raining here. Well, it is, a bit.

My sister in-law Mary is with us. We waited for her before leaving at 1:00, as she had an inspection to attend to for her real estate business. She was on her cellphone quite a bit during the drive, even when we had gotten to St. Cloud, talking to various people--the handyman, the title company lady, the client, and others that I am forgetting.

Things were kind of tense for awhile as I took what turned out to be the wrong exit that got us stuck in horrendous traffic in St. Cloud. That place has always had traffic problems, even thirty-five years ago, when my parents and I would sit in the Embers Restaurant at 33rd and Division and marvel at the traffic. The interstate wasn't completed yet at that time, and the intersect of traffic from the two main routes "up north"--US Highways 10 and 52--was controlled by a four-way stop.

Back on the bus. 9:28. I thought about walking home, and started too, but realizing that the bus was coming in a few minutes, I crossed over to the westbound side of Selby. I was thinking that the bus was coming at 9:23, and was pleased to see a bus approaching from the east at exactly that time. Problem was, it was the 65, not the 21. This sort of thing happens to me all the time.

And this makes me think of the story of Dorothea and the radio code for the Honda. When she got a new battery put in the Honda, it's radio went into anti-theft mode, and wouldn't play. Rather, it displayed with it's LED screen the word "code." Dorothea looked and looked but could not find the code. It was supposed to be on a sticker on the inside of the glovebox.

So, she called her brother Joe. Last Sunday she and Liam drove south to Joe's house in rural Northfield, anticipating the Joe would take out the radio. Instead, when they got there, Joe opened the glove compartment and showed Dorothea the stick with the code written on it.

When Dorothea told me this story, I laughed, because, with my vision the way that it is, and my brain the way that it is, I go through just that sort of thing all the time. (Like with the bus schedule.)

Which thought, along with riding the bus, gave rise in my head of the notion (long held) that I am naught but a high-functioning handicapped person.

On Wednesday, as Liam, Stella, and I walked out the door on the way to Liam's bus stop, he spotted a huge shit on the grass just off the sidewalk. Could have been human. Turned out to not be so bad to just pick it up into the plastic bag with Stella's (took two scoops), but I dreaded it nonetheless.

This morning, I was listening to a podcast of Science Friday, and Ira was talking to a woman who'd written a book called "Math Doesn't Suck."

6:26, and I am on the bus, on the way to the Y. It's not the Paris Metro, though this morning's light drizzling rain is Paris-like. With my Tilley and water-repellent jacket that I bought for golf, I feel prepared.

I just thought about trying to complete the loop to my work. Simultaneously, I thought of how as a kid I thought it would be cool to just ride around on the Mankato city bus. I never did do that, though. Maybe I was too young. I never got that feeling about the city bus in St. Cloud after moving there at fourteen.

6:35 AM at Lexington, realizing that bus speed is about bike speed.

-- David www.schons.net

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Go, rainy, rained, raining, rainfall

Gatha

When challenged and tense
I vow with the help of all
To let go of my arrows
And relish being

Arrows being

Anger
Irritation
Resentment
Hatred
Desire
Hurt
Sadness
Grief
Regret
Anxiety
Apprehension
Edginess
Concern
Envy
Disgust
Shame guilt
Depression
Self-pity

This morning on The Morning Show, Dale Connelly was gone, leaving a
solo Jim Ed. There was hope. He played

Shocking Blue "I'm Your Venus," 1970.

--
David
www.schons.net

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Not Five

Okay, okay. I watched a guy do some real pull-ups this morning. I am
super humbled.

Done with twenty minutes on the elliptical, and having extra time
because it is Monday and I have to see Liam to the bus, and I was here
early, I am now on a recumbent statuary bike, Wing in hand. I don't
imagine the "Wing" will become quite the household word as "iPod." but
the idea is to, like the castaways from Gilligan's Island, generate
some electricity. Alas, these exercise machine flywheels are not set
up to generate electricity. While I am sure this idea is pretty
obvious, I wonder who is working on the idea, and where they are at
with it.

Like the $100 laptops for everyone, with hand cranks, really good
batteries, solar cells.

And then there comes the moment, like now, when here I am, I am all
set up, and don" t have A LOT TO SAY.

At some point yesterday I realized that I had left a rather expense
lunch in the fridge at work. A gourmet sort of prepared meal from
Kowalski's. It ended up being a fridge sacrifice to the cleaning
people who empty out and clean the fridges on Friday.

As it turned out, that was a lunch that I didn't need, shouldn't even
have bought, because I was going out to lunch that day. I went with
Sophie the DB2 Database Administrator to Eagan. True to form, just
like I always do when I go to Eagan, I got lost. Mind you, I was
prepared--I had my Google map and driving directions printed out. But
they didn't account for the huge detour right at our destination. So
much for the best laid plans. But even with all that, the time with
Sophie was good.

Up at 5:00 to check db connectivity for work. Resting pulse 58, which
seems good.

I haven't even gotten to the Friday lunch date. Nor the MWB. Nor the
work--getting called because of server problems. Sunday outside the
Unies, waiting to pick up Liam.

--
David
www.schons.net

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Haunted Landscape

10/14/07

I have found a social justification for Stella chasing squirrels: Dogs
chase them in the company of humans. Therefore squirrels keep their
distance from humans as well as from dogs. This occurred to me this
morning as I approached the front stoop, and the squirrel that was
sitting there, intent on munching on nearby pumpkin, didn't move. Took
long enough to move, anyway, to give me the chance to think "we're too
close" before the squirrel did bolt under the porch. If not for
Stella's tireless dedication, maybe the squirrel would have attacked
me, charged me, like a bull elephant.

Of course I rue the day that Stella might actually catch one of these
tough little bastards.

What I need in my head is a stenographer.

One hour in the rub-a-dub tub with this thing and the front section of
the NYT. Kiss My Face Peaceful Patchouli was my companion. I stayed in
the tub until the water began to feel too cool. The "this thing" part
was pretty brazen. I am not sure what would happen if this thing
dropped in the tub while I was in that tub. Couldn't be good, though.
Also, I was fortified with the following queue: the NYT magazine; the
business section; and the Week in Review.

On Friday, Dorothea and I had a bit of a raugh in that she wanted to
go to her brother Joe's to get help with code for the Honda Civic car
radio, which hasn't worked since she'd gotten a new battery, and
which, because the Civic is a repairable like all our cars have been
for twenty years, no longer had with it the code to get the radio to
work. (Boy, does that sentence need editing.) Anyway, she wanted
everyone in our little nuclear family to go. But Liam had baseball
practice in the early afternoon, which I insisted the he not skip. So
we were to go later in the afternoon until Dorothea decided on that
day it was too nice, and postponed until the next day, Sunday. Now she
and Liam have gone. I get to go to the Meeting for Business at the
Quakers this afternoon. Madeline was still in bed. And we feel that
she needs some down time after the intense initial rush of 9th grade.

Yesterday, I went on a cleaning tear, to the point of eventually
re-arranging furniture in the livingroom and dining room.

I am now in the under-utilized, remodeled attic, sitting on the futon.

The order of the narrative gets a bit mixed up. For example, last
night, while sitting in front of Brits Pub, I made the entries below.
Properly, they should have gone on for the 13th, but I had already
posted for the 13th.

It is Saturday night, and Dorothea and I are in downtown Minneapolis,
having just finished Stella's on the second-story of Brits.

Grieg and Stravinsky. Fireworks. Pretty easy. I hear a lot of Gershwin
Rhapsody in Blue in the Grieg. Also a piece by Crumb from 1984,
Haunted Landscape. Lots of percussion, gongs and what not, sounding
like Star Trek music, but there was nothing to inform of the time it
was created; as far as I could tell, the composition could have been
from fifty years ago as well as twenty. In fact, in the older, the
better.

We were sitting in seats that cost us a total of $5, and were just a
few rows behind what image to be the block of more expensive "sweet
spot" seats, which were mostly empty. Maybe this was a second-string
game of little interest to those holding season tickets. The average
age of the audience members had to be pushing 70. Though I will say
that I would be interested in orchestra season tickets over sports
season tickets.

--
David
www.schons.net

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Excessive blinking

Okay. I can't do five pullups.

I am sitting at Nina's, in the back, by the kitchen, sort of comatose.

Last night, I had invited Dorothea to the Eagle's Club. She called me
at 9:00 on her way back from class. She began the conversation with a
yawn. "Okay," I said, "I'll be ready." As I was putting on my socks,
the phone rang again. "Is Liam asleep?" she asked. Nope. And Madeline
was away, babysitting. So, we couldn't leave him alone. Madeline
arrived shortly thereafter. But we stayed in anyway.

Since we were bachelors, Liam and I went out to eat. His choice. Green
Mill. I had an Oktoberfest from their microbrewery, and a burger. Liam
took his two dollar allowance and played the touchscreen video games
on the monitor ar the table. (This is a feature of the booths in thr
bar, where we were seated.) Pretty new, too, as Liam was first or
second or third to enter his name as top score. Two little boys
waiting with their dad for a table were mesmerized. Wonder if the
computer screen, as such, is to become ubiquitous. doesn't seem fair.
It is as if in that Smemmerizing" sense that this is just yet another
example of technology overtaking our nature defenses. Way different
from having a little jukebox at the table?

10/12/07

Emailed Livingdot about domain name. Holy cow--it expires in three
days. Not ready to give it up yet. So, I think that means that I've
had it for four years?

--
David
www.schons.net

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Buddha turns arrows into flowers

211. I can do four pretty honest pull-ups. That is new. Craving sleep,
fearing death. Fall asleep, wake up. Birth and death, posts of the
same door. Being born and dying all the time and not even knowing.

528 Shower of Blessings. Followed by My Lucky Charm. Coincidence? From
listen to songs on the mp3 player while exercising--via random sort.

They turned on the stoplights yesterday at the intersection of Shepard
Road and Davern. Still not sure if it is safe to cross there.

Today is the first day of turning on the heat. Actually, Madeline
called me about 3:00, super whiny, saying that it was 59 degrees in
the house. I tried talking her through setting the thermostat but
unsuccessfully. When I got home, she' figured it out--there's an
on/off switch, and it was off. Actually she learned that from Dorothea
during a phone conversation. I wonder if that is something that I
forget every year?

--
David
www.schons.net

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Weird grind

It's a weird grind. Here I am in bed, and I have got to write
something. Guilt otherwise as to this expensive gizmo. Liam is in bed
with Stella. Sleeping with a dog. But that is what dogs do--sleep as a
pack. Madeline is babysitting across the street. Those folks have Wild
hockey season tickets. Dorothea is at her book club, though she
mentioned that they are meeting at a bar, which I find suspicious.


--
David
www.schons.net

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

The bridge contract is signed. Design not to be a cable stay design,
like the bike bridge over Hiawatha. Precast box design. Like Wabasha,
Tenth Street in Saint Cloud. Probably a good choice. People on the
bridge won't see the bridge.

Supreme Court ruling today on Charter. They conspired with their
suppliers to jimmy their earnings. Just what Dorothea's ethics class
group is researching.

Windy and cool today after October being 13 degrees above normal.
Today is below normal. Snoe in Bemidji.

Comcast out metro wide today.

Sorta just like I was listening to the radio when I was exercising, which I was.

"Dear Diary" is my feeling tonight--just the discipline of writing something.

Took the window air conditioners out of the bedroom windows. Temp is
already in the forties.

Using my wireless network rather than the T-mobile network is much faster.

--
David
www.schons.net

Monday, October 8, 2007

Database shit scary

Ah, the scary things in life. Working with a real live database and
being as careful as I can be and still getting the shit scared out of
me. Makes me think that all I have are my habituated patterns. Good
pratice maybe for going on. Sometimed--like this--I wonder maybe I
have peaked. Otherwise there is nothing but "omm." (Spell that.) What
will life be setting me up for next? There. I have written something.


--
David
www.schons.net

Sunday, October 7, 2007

"Hippie" American Roots

"Hippie" music on American Roots. A treat.

When I was a kid, this time of year was time to change from storm
windows to screens. Now it is time to realize that it is not quite
time to take out the window air conditioners. There is still a heat
wave pending.

This morning there was only the local paper on the front step. No NYT.
I was thinking calling, then realized that we just changed from the
Minneapolis paper and therefore delivery has changed, too.

Yesterday was visit grandmother day. We started with Bernice in Cold
Spring and then moved on to my mom in Sartell.

But the trip really started with an amygdala moment while sitting on
the couch on the porch about 9:00. Dorothea said "Can we go please?"
in a tone of voice that pushed my "blamed" button. I think I said
something not not-so-clever like "why are you doing this?" she
launched into what I perceived as Stab 2: "When you're moving out the
door the children follow."

Now I was pissed. I asked her to please stop. I don't remember if I
had gone inside to get my things and returned, picked them up right
there on the porch, or was about to go get them when Dorothea went for
the jugular, Stab 3: "My mother is expecting us at 11:30 . . ." I said
something like I don't want to deal with this right now. I was turning
to walk out the front door of the porch , and she made some comment
about my not being ready. Stab 4.

Stopped and turned to address her. She said "Don't point."

Still not sure how to recount the exact details, but I ended up saying
that as she described things is not what happened.

Scene Two: The car. We eventually get to the point where Dorothea says
that there are unpredictable times when something that she says or
does triggers an amygdala response from me. True enough. My comment
was that I should have a light on me chest that starts flahing red
when a button has been pushed. The next time that Dorothea said
something that upset me, I pointed to and mimicked the imaginary
flashing. She got it.

Some side notes. Dorothea observed that I respond differently when
Madeline says something disrespectful to me. I agree. I think that's a
testament to the complications of intimate relationships. Also,
Dorothea, because of the complications of the relationship to her
mother, is always a bit on edge about mother visits.

And a side-side bar. Not so long ago--in the last year--we were
playing cards with my mom. We'd asked her to teach us 500. Not only
was she doing that, but she was making us feel like complete drooling
morons. More recently, we aren't even playing cards anymore.

Bernice seemed fine. I for one have no interest in seeing the
baseball-size tumor in her arm pit.

--
David
www.schons.net

Friday, October 5, 2007

Atlantic Flute

A crazy day for me with many scheduling conflicts, especially right
around 5:00. A spaghetti dinner at Liam's school, an abortive attempt
at an appointment for a haircut, and then, on account of a colleague's
illness, I had to stay late for a change.

Went with Dorothea to St. Kate's to an "Atlantic flute" recital.
Before they began playing there was a slide show with great photos of
Nova Scotia, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. It all looked quite like
Brittany.

The Big Foot Reel foot tapping was spot on, and the flute and
accordion went together very well.

I can hear Martha's laugh quite clearly

--
David
www.schons.net

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Emerald City

Dorothea and I took Stella and Liam to his first guitar lesson of the
new school year. We took Stella for a walk over to Como Park and then
to the west looking toward downtown Minneapolis. It is like the
Emerald City in the distance, and as if Como Avenue should lead arrow
straight to the heart of it, but not. There's a river and rail switch
yards and all sorts of stuff in-between that the road curves and
angles to negotiate.


--
David
www.schons.net

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Precipice

I went to the Wednesday evening Quaker meeting. There were eleven
there, me included. A couple of people were probably younger. The
average age was in the fifties, if not the sixties. First time for me.
It is good, mostly silent, but harsh in the grinding conflict with
family life.

I was on the verge today. Now that I think about it, I am often on the
verge of something or other. Today the precipice was posting for
internal positions as a way of reminding my management that a year was
long enough to wait for the promotion they'd promised when I'd started
in the department.

I stopped Thad in the hall. "No," he laughed, "that's not so subtle."

When I returned to my cube, my manger came over and put on my desk a
piece of paper indicating that I had been granted the desired grade
increase. I got a promotion. Ten years. Ain't the fast track.

--
David
www.schons.net

Does your dog agonize?

Meditating at the Y. Went over my time because I didn't push the "okay" button.

Dreamed that I was at a reunion concert of some 80s band, all women.
While trying to do their signature aerobatics, one of the members
injured herself and the show was over. I was sitting next to
invertebrate outgoing woman. The explanation for that seemed to be
that she worked with animals. She was a horse trainer.

Buddhism 101--

http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbuddhism.about.com%2Flibrary%2Fblbud101basics.htm&_gwt_noimg=1&hl=en&q=buddhism+101&source=m

--
David
www.schons.net

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

ahead of schedule?

I am having an early morning, am ahead of schedule. There was a guy on
my trainer so I thought I would sit down. But he's gone.

Kevin Bowe says " I have been right where you and I know it isn't that
far to the heart of everything."

Did the Y. Work is craziness. The app that I am working for is totally
on the ropes, life support, sinking. Pick your cliché. So of course
our staff that was too small to begin with has even more to do.

--
David
www.schons.net

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Start up script for Ubuntu for x11vnc

I was scratching my head about why I couldn't get remote access to the Ubuntu computer in the basement from my laptop. Dawned on me--I need to put the x11vnc startup script where Ubuntu will see it everytime it starts up. Dah. Welcome, that kept me from working on catching up with the checkbook balancing, which I am way behind on, and that I have been using the Linux program KMyMoney to do.

4:30; hit the tub

4:30, and Dorothea dropped the children off at the Unies. I am hitting
the tub. I now have Opera on the MDA, have figured out how to disable
the locking screen, and have started working my way through updating
and consolidating my contacts on Gmail

This morning, Liam and I walked Stella to Starbucks. He got a hot
chocolate and I coffee.

Madeline's parade was cancelled due to the rain.

When I went to grab the New York Times Magazine just now, I realized
it was "the college issue," thick, too. I was going to leave it
behind, but then thought perhaps i better take a look.

--
David
www.schons.net

Formatting and Blogspot player

I have satisfied myself that the line breaking is a Blogspot issue, and that the best that I can do is to use a very simple template and just live with it.

I did discover play.blogsot.com which is a way to watch photos as they are uploaded to Blogspot. Hypnotic.

Furthermore, on the formatting thing, okay--looks like somebody (something) is putting in tags--not Blogspot, because Blogspot uses . Again, I will just have to live with it, perhaps clean it up periodically.

-- David http://www.schons.net/

Blogspot formatting

Okay, here is the formatting scoop in regards to how I am doing mobile
blogging. The process starts with thumb-typing in Word on the MDA.
Then the text from the Word document is pasted into an email to
go@blogger.com. The contents of this email are magically posted the
blogspot version of Some Kinda Possible. But there, the lines are
broken up too much.

--
David
www.schons.net

Saturday, September 29, 2007

i?hone brick & antihistamines

iPhone bricks? Perhaps I have made the right choice. certainly there will be linux PPCs in two years when my contract is up. NYT obit of George Rieveschl, chemist who invented Benadryl has this--histamines are chemicals made in some cells that can damage capillaries, allowing blood plasma to leak into body tissues, causing swelling and itching. David http://www.schons.net/

Intentional Moodra

Awoken from dream of walking with Sean and Liam in a kind of wooded exurbia area, Mankato like, a bit lost, looking for a new way down the and back to our car. Sean's cellphone rang. In the real world, the sound was the sound of the alarm I had originally set on the old cellphone to bring me out of meditation. I used that for about a week before getting the MDA. So here I am now, sitting at the Y, meditating and all these ideas occur to me that seem ripe for writing down. So I have decided to treat this like being moved by the light--though to thumb-type rather than speak. Madeline' s soccer team played a scrimmage against the coach's other team--Somali girls. They wore scarves and dresses. That led me to the idea of clitorisectomies. Need to look that up and to email to Madeline's Unitarian religious ed teachers. The voice an images in my head, my thoughts, are in one way old friends that have kept me company my whole life. Saying good by to them may not be easy. They may not want to go. Trigger for playing with my beard is daydreaming. Back to meditating until I can do it fifteen minutes uninterrupted. I see the MDA as akin to a medical device. I saw 211 on the scale this morning for the first time in almost two months. -- David
www.schons.net

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Dismantled Habituated Patterns

Dimantling Habituated Pattrns class was tonight. I had an assignment
and was caught off guard. Sure enough there it was--I had put into
this thing but hadn't acted on it. I have meditated for twenty minutes
a day.

Announced that my pattern would be playing with my beard. Someone said
"that just makes me think of lonely." whch feeds right into my sense
of me not knowing the secret handshake. Makes me think that in a way I
am lonely for myself.

Lonely for interaction that I don't get, maybe. That may be the thing
with my family and the Amygdala moment that I had at dinner the other
night--I lack confidence anyway because I don't think they're
interested anyway.

Yesterday the full moon was four or five diameters above the trees.
Today it is at two o'clock.

Shawn Cassidy 49 and Meatloaf 56.

Burma's military cracks down on the monks. How about them monks?

Trouble sleeping. My tummy is a little rough. Moved upstairs. To much
cantaloupe, maybe. I choked at dinner while eating cantaloupe.
Madeline said that she' d never seen that before.

--
David
www.schons.net

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Grady Booch

9/26/07

Walked out of work. Thought to phone home. But I have to unlock the
phone, so I didn't.

Today is the first day that I have snorted Nasonex since the end of
July. That is the usual way. I just gradually forget.

Went to the U of M tosee Grady Booch.

Grady booch beauty of software, reading in sftware? Trillions of lines
of code. Software saved his life anyorism? Digital dark age-decode ms
word in200yrs?

Ethics of software. Our products are invisible. Tube no more tunnels
closer trains.

--
David
www.schons.net

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Dinner time Amygdala moment

Wonder how the state patrol cleared the traffic jam from the bridge collapse?

Wrote that this morning on the way to the Y. Seems long ago. Was it
worth the effort?

And now I add--that was kicked in as two police cars passed me. There
must have been a lot of backing up and turning around. I image it
looked like a demolition derby. This was unlike the type traffic
accident that gets cleared. There'd've been no clearing.

Yesterday I had a massive Amygdala Hijack. At the dinner table, as I
was beginning telling about my day, it seemed like everyone got up and
walked away. I was distraught and stunned. And then afterward sitting
in the livingroom, I told
everyone how I felt. It was probably one of those times I'd've been
better off saying nothing. This the difficult part where I should be
detailed and specific but that'd be hard. I wrote the bit about the
bridge instead. Dorothea said that was I making my family "other." it
is that doubleness of closeness as a comfort and an edge.

I wonder if I can make a connection with the bridge.

--
David
www.schons.net

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Sacred Harp Convention

acred Harp singing at Murphy's Landing. Annual event, actually the
state convention. Beautiful Fall day. I had the easiest time singing
ever. Sat for two sessions, leaving just before the memorial lesson.
Thought about biking here, because there is a trail almost all the
way, but it would be maybe thirty miles.


--
David
www.schons.net

Saturday, September 22, 2007

jane eyre

Dorothea took me to the Guthrie to see Jane Eyre. It was okay.
Professional, smooth, slick, and as Dorothea said, soulless. I had
wanted to go to the new theater. It looks very much like the old
theater on the inside. In a consession to modernness, the seats are
wider. In a consession to budget, leg room is tight, way tighter then
coach class. I will think long and hard before going back. We left at
intermission.

Now we are sitting in the shade at Clicquot Club. We met at the
Guthrie each on bike and biked here afterwards.

--
David
www.schons.net

Friday, September 21, 2007

Techie glitches

All righty then. I have figured out how to get to my gmail and just--I
think figured out how to post to a blog, thogh it is not my blog.

It is a blogspot mobile blog. Hmmm. There seems to be some techie
glitches about "claiming" it. Oh well.

--
David
www.schons.net

go go go

went went went


--
David
www.schons.net

first post

test

--
David
www.schons.net

Twitter Updates

    follow me on Twitter

    Blog Archive