Good Question

I was reading my favorite Jeeping forum, and someone had asked the question. "What do you want to do before you die?"

That's a damn good question. I really don't know. There are a few things that I want to do, that I can think of off the top of my head. There are certainly things that I've already accomplished.

Lets list some of them...

Already accomplished.

Got married.
Own a house.
Gone cliff jumping.
Traveled to London, and across the International Date Line.
Gone flying in a single engine plane.
Been to Canada.


Things I'd like to do.

Visit all of our country's National Parks.
Visit all of MN's State Parks.
Visit Hawaii.
Off road on the Rubicon Trail.
Own a custom furniture shop.
Learn how to Fly Fish.

Just to name a few...

I know that there are more things that I want to do in my life but when you sit down and think about it, that's kind of a hard question to answer. I'm sure that most people don't aspire to sit in a cubicle their whole lives. I know I sure didn't. I also don't want to be installing hardwood floors my whole life. I want to get out there and achieve. Learn new things. Share knowledge. Learn from kids. Make mistakes. Take pictures. Smell the flowers. Watch thunderstorms, and meteor showers. Get up early, and stay up late. Work like I don't need the money. Love like I've never been hurt.

I sure don't have any idea what I want to be when I grow up, but I do know that I've got a few things to do to keep me busy along the way.

Friday at work...

Work doesn't get any better, than it did on Friday. I got to install floors at the Minnesota Zoo.

They are redoing the whole Minnesota Trail, at the zoo, and they hired us to install some floors in one of the sections. They are making the whole thing look like a north woods cabin. We installed 5" Hand scraped Hickory. It was glued down the the concrete that was there before. They're really making that section look nice. I asked them when it was set to open, and they said that next week they start special group tours of the exhibit, then the press comes through, and it will be open to the public on July 7Th.

Here's some pics...

I wasn't able to get any pictures of it complete, cause we covered the floor right away. That's to keep it clean and free of scratches, while they are still working on the exhibit, since it's a pre-finished product. I guess you'll just have to go see for yourself.

Hot weather

With everyone complaining about the hot weather. I though I'd chime in.

I, for one, enjoy it. I thought I'd hate it too, but after working in it for 3 summers, it really isn't that awful. When I worked for the Oops, I used to run through sprinklers on the way back to the big brown truck, and if it rained I'd just stand out there for a while and cool off.

Now that I'm pounding in floors, there are no sprinklers to run through but if I drink a lot of water, I'm fine. I do sweat like a prostitute in church, but that's just part of the job. I'd much rather have the heat over the cold winters. That's the suck right there. Trying to stay warm, running in and out of the house hauling in wood and tools, at 5 degrees. Having a 5000 sq/ft house being heated by one lonely bullet heater. Seeing your breath all day long, but not wanting to wear a jacket or stocking cap, cause you'll end up sweating and then the sweat will freeze and so will you. Now that's a bunch of crap.

So, in conclusion. I say bring on the heat. That's what they make AC for. I guess I haven't noticed the heat at work. The only time I really notice that it's hot out is if I'm not doing anything and even then it's nice.


This has been the fat kid saying, quit whining about the hot weather and enjoy it. We only get it for 3 months.

Fathers Day

We started the weekend at Al and Kathy's cabin near New London, MN on lake Norway. For more on that see Mels Blog.

I can't think of a better way wrap up the weekend, on Fathers day, than sitting at the "Last Stop" bar with my Dad and Brothers, sorting through Grandpa's old fishing tackle. He had a lot of stuff. A lot of old stuff. We divided it up 4 ways. I thought that there would be some arguing over some of the stuff, but everyone was very generous about it.

I ended up with a lot of old tackle. I plan on making a little end table with a glass top and a drawer in it so that I can display some of the stuff I got. It's hard to pick a favorite lure, but if I had to it would probably be one of the old red a white bass plugs.

Happy father's day Dad and Dad in-law! I had a fun weekend!

Cover songs

Cover songs are a touchy subject. When you do a cover song you have to do the song justice by not totally ruining it, but you also don't want to make it a clone of the original.

That being said. There is one song in particular that has been getting some air play, that I really like. That is Green Day's cover of Working Class Hero. They did an awesome job with this song. Every time I hear it I like it more and more. For those of you that don't know, I'm kind of a big Beatles fan, and with that, I like each one's solo career. Particularly George Harrison, but John Lennon's is nothing to overlook. It was short lived but he really made some great songs. For this song to get covered is great, cause it's not a song that gets played relentlessly.

I keep saying to myself that I'm going to make a "cover songs" CD but I never get around to it.

What are some of every one's favorite covers?

Puppy progress pics

This is the night we picked her up.

The was a couple nights ago.

Had her one day.

Tonight.

Tongue.

Cuddling with pheasant.

It's a celebration!

Happy birthday Mom L.