Don't be an Idiot Like me

There are times when we shrug off common sense and let stupidity rule. This is such a tale.

You are looking at the remains of the Grenz family's 50 gallon garbage can AND 2 recycling containers. "What happened?" you ask? Here's the tale.

My parents were in town for the weekend. As part of the festivities, we built a fire in the copper cauldron in the backyard on Friday night. We decided to burn some more branches on Saturday afternoon (around 1pm), but needed to dispose of the ashes. The ashes weren't very hot - I could touch them with my hand - but when I went to put them into a garbage bag, they were warm enough to melt through the bag.

Thinking that these ashes weren't hot enough to melt our plastic garbage can's thick plastic, I went ahead and dumped them in anyway. I'm not a TOTAL idiot, I did check the can a couple times throughout the day, and there weren't any problems. I lifted the lid and put some garbage in the can at 9pm - didn't smell any smoke. When I went to leave for church at 8:30am, this is what I had.

My best guess is that there wasn't a fire, it just melted the plastic. The plastic became molten (like lava) and dripped down the slight grade of our driveway to melt the 2 recycling containers. I'm very thankful our vehicles weren't damaged - my truck was less than 3 feet away and sustained no damage. The plastic also was hot enough to liquify the asphalt on our driveway, so now we'll have some patching up to do.

Let this be a lesson boys and girls -

Another Nice Car Rental Surprise...

This is the vehicle I had during my trip in KC last week - an 07 Dodge Nitro. Was a nice surprise namely for 2 factors:

1.) This is a pretty well-designed vehicle. It's not Hummer H3, but it does look pretty cool, and drives well. Gas mileage was pretty crappy though.
2.) This bad boy came with Sirius Satellite radio - and I couldn't have been more pleased. I used to be a Sirius subscriber, but I decided to cancel since I wasn't using it as much as I felt I could. However, it came in handy really well this week. I had 6 hours in Nitro on one day alone, and the extra content was a God send.

The previous week in St. Louis they gave me a Dodge Charger - with the engine running, windows, down, ready to go. As I started to drive off the lot and rolled up the windows, I picked up the distinct smell of cigarette smoke. I pulled back up to the rental office, and requested a different vehicle. They gave me a Toyota 4Runner for a replacement - which became one of the top 2 or 3 car rentals I've ever had (the other being a Cadillac Seville with ALL the options, and a Honda CRV - fun to drive and great milage.) I definitely enjoyed the time in that 4Runner. I'd even seriously consider buying one ONLY if they had a 3rd row seating option.

An Ideal Saturday

No, I didn't finish the basement. (More on that later)

Today ended up being a day of spring cleaning and getting ready to spend time outdoors. I spent most of the day setting out the patio and lawn furniture, prepping the lawn mower, and cleaning the 3-season patio. The latter had become clutter central, and now looks about as good and decluttered as one of the cleaner Wal-Marts I went to once (not saying much, but definitely a step in the right direction).

I also got to spend a lot of time with the kids in the yard. We capped off our day with S'mores at the fire pit in the back yard.

An Unexpected Stop: Hermann, MO

After my stop in Jeff City, I headed on to the little town of Linn, MO for my next meeting. I stopped to get gas after my meeting in town, and saw a "crack 'o man" I rather never seen. Thankfully, my camera wasn't handy, or else you'd be seeing more than you'd ever care to on this post.

These are different people in these parts, and since my meeting ended around 4:30, and I had a 2 hour drive back into St. Louis, I figure I'd take the scenic route rather than the highway in the hopes of coming across a few more of them.

I ended up driving through a little town called Hermann, MO. It's right on the Missouri River, and is one of the prettiest little towns I've ever seen. It was started by German settlers, apparently since it reminded them of the Rhine River Valley in their Motherland. This picture doesn't do justice. That's about a 150-200 foot view looking in the valley, with a little river running through it. I pulled over for a minute to take the picture, but the trees/shrubs were too much in the way.

I'd like to stop back at some point. Here's a link to the Hermann, Mo website if you're interested in seeing/learning more. There's a little slideshow that shows a few more pics of the town.

Places Work Takes Me: Jefferson City

I was in Jefferson City for work last month, but fog hindered my ability to take any decent pics. Last week, I had to meet a client there, and caught this quick pic of the "Jeff City" (as the locals call it) "skyline".

If you look closely, you can see the Sonic (fast food/hamburger chain) sign in the foreground. I love that chain, but am thankful they're not here in MN - would be detrimental to my diet...

Enjoying Optimal Weather

So last weekend (scary that I'm a week behind already) we had awesome weather here in MN (Upper 60s-low 70s with sunshine). We took the chance to break out the bikes and do some riding for several hours.

Karsten starting riding bike sans training wheels last fall, but thought he needed to practice a bit when we were getting the bikes out. He picked it up again as if he'd been riding for years. After Kiera petered out, Karsten and I rode to the lake Johanna (~1 mile round trip). That's the lake picture from our trip above (and the Northwester n College Chapel on the other side of the lake)

My New Friend

This is my Christmas/Birthday present from my in-laws. It's weird calling it a new friend, but we FINALLY had some nice weather over the weekend, and I was finally able to take it out for more than a spin around the driveway.

It's nothing flashy or expensive, but it meets my needs well. It's certainly far better than anything I had growing up. I had 2 hand-me-downs with banana seats before I got a Huffy 12-speed touring bike for for my 12th birthday (irony unintended). That Huffy got me where I needed to go, but I left it at home when I went to college, and I've barely hopped on a bike since. My parents got rid of that Huffy some time ago (with my permission) - so I've been wanting to get another one for some time.

Now that Karsten can ride a bike w/o training wheels (started last fall), I figured now is as good a time as any to get another one. After riding for a couple hours this weekend, my rear end is pretty sore, but I'm hoping this pain eventually goes away. (TMI, I know, but that's the hard truth!) Otherwise, you're looking at a prime dust collector for the garage. The exercise has been great though, and it was so nice to be outdoors without a jacket.

What's odd for me is that I'm wearing a bike helmet for the first time. That takes some getting used to - and I know I look like a dork - but it's certainly safer than no helmet, and it sets a good example for the kids. The other thing I'm still getting used to is the gear shifters. My Huffy had some paddle shifters, but there was no way of knowing what gear you were in, and the shifting was pretty imprecise. The shifters on my new bike are super easy, but it takes a little while to get used to shifting now that I know what I'm doing.

The bike is an '06 Marin Bobcat HT, if anyone is curious. You can read about Marin bikes at the Marin website.

One of my Greatest Passions: Arsenal

I posted earlier this week that I'm not a football fan. I should qualify that statement and say that I'm not an AMERICAN football fan. It seems ironic that we American refer to "football" as the game which requires little use of the feet more than any other pro sport (baseball, basketball, tennis, etc.). The name "soccer" seems odd and stupid for a game that requires extensive skill and use with one's feet, but I digress...

When it comes to proper "football" I love the Arsenal Gunners. I discovered them back in the late 80's when my brother and I found a soccer video tape called "Goals Galore" that had the best goals from several English football seasons. Keep in mind that back then, this was a RARE find - "soccer" wasn't popular here in the US, and it was virtually impossible to watch/see and decent match highlights. There's a saying amongst world "football" supporters that you don't pick a team [to support], but eventually a team finds you. My brother and I watched Goals Galore repeatedly, and I fell in love with Arsenal through that video. I thank God every morning he didn't allow me to become a supporter for Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, or Tottenham. :-) These teams were features prominently on Goals Galore, but Arsenal just seemed to be "the one." Although it's been at least 10 years since I've seen that video, I still remember the highlights of past Arsenal greats like Paul Merson, Nigel Winterburn, and David Rocastle.

While it's difficult to explain why I like Arsenal, there are a few reasons that have developed over the years to hopefully shed some insight to newbies.
1. Arsenal's philosophy for talent. Think of Arsenal as similar to the recent/current Minnesota Twins teams. The Twins - Despite having a modest payroll, and spending far less than most teams - they still manage to field a competitive, team nearly every season. The same can be said for Arsenal. While other teams like Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool spend far more on their players, Arsenal wins as many or more accolades as larger-spending clubs. Arsenal's successes, like the Twins, are due mostly to scouting and acquiring young talents and successfully developing them at a fraction of the cost than what they would pay for top free agents. They don't buy success, the earn success.
2. Arsenal's style of play: To many Americans, "soccer" is boring. While I disagree with this general assessment, this certainly can't be said for Arsenal. They play an attractive, attacking style with lots of movement, quick passing, and possession. Many teams will often position most players behind the ball in defense, but Arsenal rarely deploys such a plodding method to get a result.
3. Arsenal's tact. In a game filled with flashy personalities and marketing, it's often the case that whoever shouts the loudest gets the most attention. This is not the case with my club. To be sure, Arsenal has it's share of notoriety, but the club doesn't employ the flamboyancy that is common amongst most other clubs of their caliber.

Above are a few pictures: the Arsenal crest, and a few pictures of their new stadium. One day, I WILL go to match there to see my club play.

Lambeau Field Analogy: a Jew visiting Mecca

So let's say a a guy from Minnesota is attending a trade show being held on the club level of Lambeau Field in Green Bay today. These are some pictures that would have been taken throughout the day. The first pic is the view from across my table looking out at the field. The second pic sitting a few rows up from the field on the stadium tour we were given at the end of the day.

P.S. I'm sure Jodi is going crazy about this opportunity since she's a huge Packer fan and I'm not. Jo - please limit your comments to less than 10,000 words when you post.

P.S.S. I'm not a Packer fan, nor am I Viking fan. Frankly, I'm not a big football fan. However, I do appreciate tradition and significance - and Lambeau Field has it in spades.

P.S.S.S. The guy in the bottom pic is the tour guide we had. His name is "Grant" and he manages the stadium tours for the Packers. After the tour, I was talking to one of the bartenders at the trade show reception, and he said that Grant is the most popular tour guide they have. People apparently schedule their trips to ensure they have him. If anyone goes, definitely request this guy. The picture doesn't do him justice. He's older, but must have had 10 Red Bulls before the tour. Very animated and a great sense of humor.

P.S.S.S.S I learned on the tour that the club level seats where I took my picture go for ~$300 per seat/per game. Yikes.

P.S.S.S.S.S The field is torn up since it is being replaced with a new sport turf. It's a real Kentucky Blue grass base with a man-made weave sewn into the sod to make the real grass more resilient. He said it will costs around $3M to install.

Pure Genius...

Due to allergies, we will probably never have a family pet (save for the free goldfish that will inevitably arrive one day). Too bad, because it would deprive us of this brilliant, earth-friendly design.

You can have your hamster shred those sensitive financial documents when he excercises on the hamster wheel. The shredded documents then become the base of the cage where the spunky critter will poop/pee on them to ensure no identity thief dare go near them. The net effect consumes ZERO electricity. Genius. (just be sure to remove those pesky staples...)

Unfortunately, it appears this isn't an actual product. It's only some artist's concept that will be put on display in Italy. One can hope this hits the market one day. Save the planet AND your identity!

For my source and more info about this click HERE:

New Tool

Not that I expect anyone to notice, but the new pics from the last week were taken on my new digital camera - a handy little ultracompact from Samsung, the Samsung NV10. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a pocketable camera.

Here are some of the features I like about it:

• All metal body - (no plastic on this bad boy!) makes this more durable...
• Overall Looks: this black beauty looks different than most cameras, but it's not too flashy.
  
• Schneider Kreuznach lens - top quality optics
• built-in USB charger - you can charge the battery while it's inside the camera, you just need to bring the charging cable along (very handy for a road warrior like me trying to reduce clutter in my bag).
• "Smart Touch" user interface. This makes navigating the menus far easier than other digital cameras, and also puts most features just a single click away. You really have to try it out to see how much better it is.
• Size: is slightly larger than a deck of cards. Very compact.
  
• Overall, the camera is pretty easy to pick up and use without reading the manual.
• Price: I picked mine up at Circuit City for a VERY reasonable $255. This is a great price for a camera with these features. - and certainly a better overall value than the Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, or Pentax models I also considered. This is priced far less than most quality cameras on the market, so I definitely consider it to be a good value.
  

So far, there are no real disadvantages or dislikes, but I'll share them if/when they come up. Inevitably, there will be some dislikes since virtually all cameras this small will have some shortcomings.

I'm hoping that this allows me to take more pics when I travel on the road, and also allows Nikki to keep our other camera with her to take pics of the kids.

Trip to Chicago

We spent the Easter Weekend in Chicago visiting my parents. My brother and his family were there too. Unfortunately, it's not often enough that we can all be together, and the sadly the time goes by too quickly.

My mom made some great food - which didn't help my new diet AT ALL. I was still able to enjoy in moderation though. Green Card nachos, Abelskivers, German Hamballs, Dirt Dessert, and Lou Mulnati's pizza (best Chicago Pizza, hands down) put a bulge in my stomach over several days in Chi-town.

We stopped at Wisconsin Dells at Chula Vista Resort for the night. Great accommodations (new facilities) and great prices. The indoor Waterpark has to be one of the best in the Dells - but somehow we managed to forget our cameras for pics of that.

On Saturday, we went to the Dupage Children's Museum. The kids and their cousins had a blast.

There are a couple family photos here as well. I'm starting to think that our family with 4 kids will never have a picture where all of us are looking at the camera, smiling, and posing in a normal position. The one of us is the best of the lot - not saying a lot. At least my wife looks stunning as always. :-)

New Link...check it out

Many of you readers know my brother. If you're interested in seeing him and his family, check out their blog HERE:

(or you can just use the permalink I've created in the column on the right...)

Be sure to drop some comments and say hi!

Basement Update

Apparently my basement is VERY popular here. I get more questions about our basement than anything else.

Yes, I have been working on it (after a 2-week hiatus due to my snip-snip), but there really aren't any exciting pictures to take of wires. If you MUST see them, then please let me know - and I'll take some with utmost haste.

I'm amazed at the cost of electrical wire, btw. I'm in the wrong business for as much as that costs.

I did have one exciting event on Saturday when I accidentally snipped a live wire. Quite the scene. I'm sure you wish it would have been on video. Hopefully the picture above will suffice. Those two holes in the snips aren't supposed to be there...

Where are more stories on Exotic places work takes me?

It's a conspiracy.

My last few trips I've taken the digital camera along, but each time I'm unable to take any due to clouds/rain/fog. Last week, I visited the exotic locale of Jefferson City, MO, and saw little more than fog when the opportunity for a picture presented itself.

Hopefully the weather improves and these updates start coming up more. I just got my own little digital camera, so that may help out too...

Does this look like a rental car to you?

One of my last posts shared my surprise to getting a better-than-expected hotel room in Des Moines. My last trip to Kansas City brought about this little surprise. Not bad... I won't mention that they were running low on cars and tried to get me to take an "upgrade" to a minivan before I refused and they offered this option.

I did like having this ride, although I was REALLY hoping for the big yellow bus in the background instead.

Sheesh...

I received a disgruntled and vindictive post from one of my avid readers who shall remain nameless (but rhymes with "Jetta") complaining that it's been a few weeks since I made any posts. ;-)

I do apologize for not posting lately...there's just been a lot going on at work with the quarter ending, and I've had to be on the road for the last 2 straight weeks, and I've spent most of my weekends in the basement, and I want to spend more time with Nikki and the kids, and I've run out of excuses.

More posts to come shortly.