Beautiful Day
Today was the kind of day that you wait for as the season slowly sheds its winter coat and contemplates a whole new wardrobe. It was still pretty cool up here where Canada is closer than our southern neighbor, Iowa. The great heat-sink of Lake Superior keeps things in the immediate vicinity a bit cooler than what you can find just up over the hill.
Still, a clear blue sky and temps in the low fifties were enough for us to put on our walkin shoes and head for the lakeside boardwalk that is accessible at the bottom of the hill I live on and takes us on a meandering path toward the redone waterfront district full of shops, galleries, and restaurants. We took advantage of all of that during the three and half hours that we were gone.
Upon returning, Marisa went off for her guitar lessons while I attended to my lame car as I gave another shot at freeing a recalcitrant brake fitting on the rear wheel that ruptured a couple of weeks ago. I was finally able to get the old hose off after days of soaking with penetrating fluid and taping a flare wrench carefully to break the fifteen year bond of rust on steel without kinking the solid brake line itself.
It was then that I discovered that the replacement hose that I had intended to put on was a lesbian where I needed a heterosexual model. Oh well, it was off to my favorite car repair shop, "Foreign Affairs" to see if they had a couple of replacement hoses for an old, fat, wagon. Much to my surprise, they did and I was finally able to get a new hose on the passenger rear wheel.
Unfortunately, the voice of prudence was whispering in my ear telling me that if one fifteen year old brake hose failed, then the chance that its partner failing was a lot better than Minnesota choosing its next senator anytime soon. So now the other side of the car is jacked up in the air and I am lying on my back gently tap, tap, taping the other rusted on hose to see if I can free that one up. So far the answer is "no" but tomorrow is another day as they say.
In other news from the northland I finally finished my last round of antibiotics in an attempt to beat the snot out of the snot that has turned into some kind of super powered cheese that has packed my sinuses for the last six months. It does not seem to have had much effect and so it looks like I am in for another CT scan of my head to see if there has been any positive change or not. If not, I am a candidate for a nasal roto-router session. Ack.
The next few weeks are shaping up to be busy ones. I need to get the White Whale back on the road because I need to shimmy down to Madison and collect my little girl from her first year away at school. Then there are the weekly trips to the Cities to check the house down there and water the plants. There's also another Mayo visit coming up as well.
Well, that's about it. Hope you are all enjoying the change in the seasons too, but I maintain that it is only in places like northern Minnesota that it is truly a religious experience.
Ta.
Still, a clear blue sky and temps in the low fifties were enough for us to put on our walkin shoes and head for the lakeside boardwalk that is accessible at the bottom of the hill I live on and takes us on a meandering path toward the redone waterfront district full of shops, galleries, and restaurants. We took advantage of all of that during the three and half hours that we were gone.
Upon returning, Marisa went off for her guitar lessons while I attended to my lame car as I gave another shot at freeing a recalcitrant brake fitting on the rear wheel that ruptured a couple of weeks ago. I was finally able to get the old hose off after days of soaking with penetrating fluid and taping a flare wrench carefully to break the fifteen year bond of rust on steel without kinking the solid brake line itself.
It was then that I discovered that the replacement hose that I had intended to put on was a lesbian where I needed a heterosexual model. Oh well, it was off to my favorite car repair shop, "Foreign Affairs" to see if they had a couple of replacement hoses for an old, fat, wagon. Much to my surprise, they did and I was finally able to get a new hose on the passenger rear wheel.
Unfortunately, the voice of prudence was whispering in my ear telling me that if one fifteen year old brake hose failed, then the chance that its partner failing was a lot better than Minnesota choosing its next senator anytime soon. So now the other side of the car is jacked up in the air and I am lying on my back gently tap, tap, taping the other rusted on hose to see if I can free that one up. So far the answer is "no" but tomorrow is another day as they say.
In other news from the northland I finally finished my last round of antibiotics in an attempt to beat the snot out of the snot that has turned into some kind of super powered cheese that has packed my sinuses for the last six months. It does not seem to have had much effect and so it looks like I am in for another CT scan of my head to see if there has been any positive change or not. If not, I am a candidate for a nasal roto-router session. Ack.
The next few weeks are shaping up to be busy ones. I need to get the White Whale back on the road because I need to shimmy down to Madison and collect my little girl from her first year away at school. Then there are the weekly trips to the Cities to check the house down there and water the plants. There's also another Mayo visit coming up as well.
Well, that's about it. Hope you are all enjoying the change in the seasons too, but I maintain that it is only in places like northern Minnesota that it is truly a religious experience.
Ta.
Copyright ©2003-2007 Phaedrous
posted by Phaedrous at 7:59 PM
2 Comments:
the boardwalk stroll along the lake sounds like a wonderful way to enjoy early spring without having your shoes sucked off your feet my the mud.
nasal roto-rooter...oh lordy i am wincing in sympathetic discomfort at the mere though.
It's close to religious in Alaska too. It's 60 degrees today but two days ago I had snow on one side of the house and pouring rain on the other side of the house. Denali was windy and cold yesterday!
Hope the sinuses clear up soon. I've been full up with mine for 2.5 weeks and it gets old. Can't imagine 6 months.
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