As promised in an earlier post, here’s an account of my trip to Mpls. Despite the early start, the trip out was largely painless. The flights were both slightly late so I arrived an hour late into Mpls but was one of the first people off the plane and out of customs so we made it to mom’s by 7:30pm. The whole family was there including Mimi who was in town for a few days. Ben, Ione and the boys had just returned from their road trip to Colorado so had a lot to say. Mom made brisket, served with fresh corn and salad on the side and lemon poppy seed cake for dessert. Mike came over and brought me back to Niki’s place where he and Keli were staying during their visit.
Mike and Keli now live in Des Moines so he was only in town until Thursday morning. Although he was working, it mostly involved conference calls so it didn’t cut into our play time too much. I went out for breakfast with Mimi on Tues am since she was heading back to Baltimore that day and had huevos rancheros. I went out to dinner that night with Mike, Keli and Niki to El Loro where Mike and I split combo fajitas and I had an excellent margarita. Due to the portion size at both places, two meals was plenty and it was a real treat to have Mexican food twice in one day. I did my Target run that morning in order to stock up on things that are expensive/unobtainable out here such as sun tan lotion, shampoo, toothpaste, razor blades etc and managed to spend a mere $235. I also got a bit more mayo, orzo and wild rice so my suitcase was very heavy for the return journey.
On Wednesday, Mike and I met his dad for breakfast at Perkins, a restaurant where I once worked as a waiter for a summer. It was good to catch up with Dr. Tom who recently sold his business and is down to working three days per week at the age of 76. We went back to Niki’s to do some work since I was hoping to make progress on my prototype before the big meeting on Friday (more on that later). Unfortunately, I still haven’t gotten past my stumbling block but am trying a new approach so I’m hoping to start making progress again soon. I also went to the optometrist in the afternoon since I hadn’t been in a number of years. My prescription is just slightly worse so I got new lenses for my current frames thinking it would be cheaper but they cost $300 so I shudder to think what the total bill would have been with new frames. Mike and I went over to my mom’s for leftover brisket that was just as good the second time around. Later on, we went over to a friend of his and ran into Ron so we got to visit with him for a bit which was nice. Mike left early the next morning so although it was a short visit, it was great to see him.
I had lunch with Suzi on Thursday. She is a friend who I met through my mom and stayed at her place in Warsaw on my year of travel. She has lived in some interesting places including Serbia and Uganda in addition to some smaller cities in Poland and she had just moved back to Mpls that week. It was nice to catch up with her since it had been a few years. I took Grammy to the doctor in the afternoon and then stopped off to see Carolyn, one of my oldest friends. Suzy and I took Chuck and Marilyn out for dinner that night at an Italian restaurant called I Nonni in celebration of dad’s 80th birthday. We each had the three-course tasting menu, which for me meant crab salad antipasto, tagliatelle with lamb meatballs in a cream/egg yolk sauce for the primo plate and scallops for the main course. We also got through two bottles of a delicious Sicilian red wine that everyone enjoyed and shared a chocolate-y raspberry dessert. I stayed at Suzy and Steve’s that evening and we stayed up playing Wii and drinking once we got home. Steve and I stayed up chatting (and drinking) until sometime after 2.
The next day was the all day workshop for the big project that I’m working on. The team comprises me (technical), Tren (design), Craig (sales & marketing) and Steve (lead). We’ve been having conference calls most weekends since March so this was the first face-to-face meeting. It got off to a slightly late start because Craig was rear-ended on the way to the house. He wasn’t hurt but the car likely will be a write-off. Despite this, we covered everything we wanted to and were all wrapped up by 5pm. We plan to be incorporated in the next 4-6 weeks so watch this space for more exciting developments.
I stayed over at Steve and Suzy’s that night and we all went out to dinner at Famous Dave’s for some bbq where I scarfed a whole slab of ribs. Steve went off to play poker so Suzy and I chatted after the girls went to bed. We both went to bed early since I was tired from lack of sleep the previous night and she was in a triathalon the next day. She has been training for a few months and when she first decided to do it, I contemplated joining her. I would be fine with the swimming, ok with cycling but I can’t really run right now because of my back. It’s much better in general but still needs a bit of physio therapy before I’ll be able to run or at least that’s my excuse for the moment.
Suzy had to be at the course by 6:30 so Steve drove the girls and I down there around 8. She started swimming just after 8 so we got there in time to see her finish the swimming (0.7 km) and onto her bike. We then moved around to see her complete the cycling bit (15km) and then to the finish line to see the end of the run (5 km). She did it in just over two hours and was 10th in her age group for the swimming portion. Suzy was glad to have done it but isn’t sure she wants to do it again. Well done, sis!
Since I’m bragging about my sister, I should mention that my brother, Ben was in Las Vegas playing in the World Series of Poker No-Limit Hold ‘Em tournament at the time. He won a satellite tournament just a week or two ago that paid for his entry, flight and hotel so he left on Tuesday and started play the next day. He was a bit down in chips after the first day and was out midway through the second day, so not in the money but a good showing nonetheless. He was in the same tournament two years ago and lost on the first day so this is a big improvement. At this pace, he should finish in the money next year, or so we hope anyway.
After the triathalon on Saturday, mom and I had lunch with Grammy at Doolittle’s, a restaurant right near my mom’s. They have great iced tea and main meal salads and didn’t disappoint that day. In the afternoon, I went furniture shopping with dad who was looking for an end table to go with the new arm chair that we got him for his birthday. We found one that needed to be assembled so I did that once we got back to his place. Mom got some sushi rolls for dinner that night that we had accompanied with miso soup and sweet corn. I realise the last item isn’t a traditional side dish but it’s in season now and so tasty that it goes well with just about anything. I stayed in that night, had a few drinks and was in bed before 11.
Sunday was the official party for dad’s birthday, which was held in a nearby park. It was mostly friends of his and Marilyn’s plus the family and we served Mediterranean food including gyro (donner) meat, pita bread and salads. Afterward, mom and I stopped at Byerly’s to pick up fish for dinner. For those of you not from Mpls, Byerly’s is quite possibly the best grocery store in the world. They have great groceries as well as prepared food, all in abundance. I went out that night and met up with David, a friend since junior high days who is also gay and has a boyfriend, Donny, who is Will’s age that he met a year or so after Will and I did. We catch up every year or two but this was the first time I’d met Donny so that was nice. Steve, a friend of Dave’s that I knew from my Chicago days also stopped by to say hi.
My last day was spent hard at work in the garage. I have a number of boxes full of stuff there and a few weeks ago, a storm caused it to flood so many of the bottom boxes got wet. Two years ago, the last time Will joined me, we got some plywood to build a small shelf for the boxes but there was so much water it didn’t help. This presented me with yet another opportunity to go through all my junk and discard anything that I really don’t need. So now I’m left with a component stereo system that comprises a receiver, tape deck, cd player, front and rear speakers, each in its own box. I did throw out all my cassette tapes and don’t really listen to cds anymore so it’s probably time to part company with it for good. In addition to that, the remainder is kitchen stuff (4 big tubs worth) and another 6 boxes of personal stuff such as photos, letters and the like. I’m starting to realise that the former isn’t really worth hanging onto anymore unless I can get it shipped here economically.
I had lunch with mom, Grammy, dad, Suzy and the girls at a nearby deli and that was the last type of food to check off the list of things to eat while in the States. Mom drove me to the airport and because Iceland Air is in the small terminal, I was checked in and through security in <10 minutes, amazing for the US. I had a couple of stiff V&Ts in the bar and then was happy to find that my seat was a first-class seat in the economy section. The flight was on time and I had a quick screwdriver in Rekyavik before the flight to Paris. After collecting my bag and making my way to the train station in the airport, I was left with a mere three-hour wait for the train. The ride itself was 3h15m so I was very happy to be collected by Will and Sharon at the train station for the final leg, which is 45 min drive back to our place. We had wine and dinner by the pool before calling it a night around midnight. I slept for 12 hours and am feeling pretty good now. Another long, long rambler from me so I’m going to sign off now.