Really

We have the volume off, but CNBC is interviewing a guest who runs an "environmentally-friendly" fund. They flashed a stat on the bottom of the screen:

"Highest Carbon count in the atmosphere in 800,000 years"

My first reaction is: How could one possibly quantify that?

Second, there was apparently a high carbon count 800,001 years ago, and yet the earth somehow sustained life...

Better Late than Nevah

When the family went to the Metrodome to see the Red Sox play the Twins on this past Memorial Day, we arrived plenty early to watch batting practice.



We carefully watched Big Papi swing the bat. The guy was in the slump of slumps. I don't think he was hitting sub-.200 yet, but he was on his way.


Although Papi didn't play that particular game, he rocked some shots in batting practice. A number of balls landed in the upper deck of right centerfield. Let me say that the Metrodome is nothing if not cavernous. The place was built for football, and they don't even sell tickets for the that area because its too far away. Those were bombs. I understand it was just batting practice, but clearly he still had power.


In the next game, he played, and sent two balls 405 feet. Unfortunately, they were both to the same spot - the 408 foot part of centerfield. Either ball was 10 degrees one way or another, they were his first home run of the year.

I knew from that point that there was at least hope for Papi this season. Others probably knew it too. Throughout the stuggles fans both home and away were very un-Bostonian - they cheered him every at-bat. Very classy.

It probably hasn't gone unnoticed, but Papi is looking better. Yes, he is still batting .210, or something like that, but in the last 14 games (beginning shortly after the series in Minnesota), he is batting .326 with 9 runs, 4 HRs, 10 RBIs, and a .431 on-base percentage. I'll take that!


P.S., here is a picture from our seats during warm-ups at the first game. No, the camera did not use a zoom, those guys were right in front of us. I could have spit on Justin Morneau - not that I would.

Pssst ... Wanna buy a house?

After a couple months of preparations, we finally got the house on the market yesterday. If you click the above link on the post's title, it will take you to the Sotheby's website. I don't plan on linking directly to the house on a public website, but if you know what my house looks like, you can find it.

We priced it on the high end of what brokers quoted us, so it will be interesting to see what shakes out. My aren't pressured to sell. If you don't get a good price, we are looking at renting the place. If we don't get a good rental, we put the whole process on hold. Alison and the kids would very likely stay there until next Spring when we try again. First, we don't necessarily want to take the kids out of school midyear, and second, would you want to move to Minnesota in January?

Simultaneous to the house sale, we are also greiving our real estate taxes. Although we have listed the house on the high end, it's nothing compared to our town assessment! That number is absurd. So on one hand we are trying to put our best foot forward to pitch the sale, and on the other we are making a pitch book to why our house is worth as little as we can justify. Fun! Grievances were due on Tuesday. We shall see...

One Flight on Time

Thunderstorms in New York on Friday caused fairly severe air traffic delays. One flight left and arrived on time - and it was MINE! That's the good news, I guess. The bad news was that I missed it.

Starting as early as Noon, nwa.com listed my flight as late. 3:35pm was the scheduled departure time (vs. the 3:00pm original time). I checked the status every 20-30 minutes with the same results. Since I am only 20-25 minutes from the airport, and I check no bags, my goal is to get there 30 minutes before the flight.

At 2:35, I am getting ready to leave the office, and check the status of the flight once more. Scheduled Departure: 3:00 - ON TIME. What?!? Yikes! I made the airport in record time, and got to security 2:58/2:59pm, but ... I can't print a boarding pass and the flight leaves the gate at 3:07 without me. Apparently, Air Traffic Control deemed it ok to send the flight, and when Air Traffic Control says "go," you go. You need to be at the gate.

So I ask this question: what is the point of displaying the flight being late if 1) I have to be there on time anyway, and/or 2) the flight can change the fact that it is or isn't delayed at the drop of a hat?

I was rebooked on the 5:15 which is eventually 2 1/2 hours late.

Flyin the Friendly Skies

So all this traveling has finally yielded a small benefit. After about two and a half months of flying, I made it to Elite status on Northwest/Delta. I actually got in to the program earlier than expected. When I first moved out here, I made all the necessary arrangements to rack up airline miles as fast as possible. One of the first steps was getting a Northwest credit card. Every dollar spent = miles earned. There was a bonus feature. During the year, if you spent enough on the card, you got 25,000 miles toward the Elite program. However, Northwest and Delta are in the middle of merging, and Delta has a seperate American Express card relationship. Delta recently announced that they are canceling the Northwest relationship with US Bank Visa. And poof! there went my chance at 25,000 Elite miles. However, I wasn't one to give up. I called customer service, and they gave me 10,000 Elite miles due to my "inconvenience." With that, Bang!, my 19,000 miles jumped to 29,000 and welcome to Elite early.

Although it doesn't sound like much, now I can pick preferred seats and make nearer term reservations. I can fly Stand-by and change flights without paying for it, board the plane ahead of everyone else and get upgraded when First Class seats are open. I got upgraded last Friday, but unfortunately, the full plane had no space for me in the Upper Class on the way back this morning.

It's the little things....

New Post

Yes, very exciting post title. I've been meaning to post, but frankly have been surprised how little "down" time I've had. Part time life in Minnesota is going well. The job has been great so far. Although I haven't been to a lot of places, it's really pretty here. Last Thursday, we had a work event at a local restaurant with a deck overlooking Lake Minnetonka. It stays light up here to well past Nine o'clock. It was 81 degrees and just a perfect setting.

The family was out here for Memorial Day weekend. Although the apartment is tight for four of us, the weather was great, and we took advantage of it. The Red Sox were in town, so on Memorial Day proper, we attended the Sox/Twins. We had excellent seats - front row to the third base side, right next to the Twins bullpen. For those NESN viewers, you may have seen us. They took a nice close up of us ("there's a Red Sox family.") The kids were really hoping for a foul ball, but no luck.

I attended the next two games - tickets are real easy to get out here.

As for the New York front, we continue to try and figure out what to do with our place. Decision is immenent, but that's for another post.

I'm rambling, but I felt it was worth posting something.