Nem W. Schlecht

This evening, Doug and Amanda had Mark and Keri (pictured), me, Mazz, Dayna, Quinn and his friend Cameron over for supper. Mark brought ribs and marinated steak, Doug made up chopped potatoes, and Amanda made up cheesy bread and tomatoes for fruchetta. The kids played lawn darts while the “adults” all chatted.

Supper tonight at Mazz & Dayna’s, along with friends Michael and Gary (both involved in theater and Trollwood). We had two different types of pork, sweet and mini potatoes, bread, salad, and grilled veggies. Desert was a shortcake with homemade whipped cream and fruit. We lounged around on the deck and chatted until it was time to go off to MSU for the fireworks show. Mazz, Dayna, Quinn and I were just a hair late, but we still had good seats for the show (which was awesome as usual).

My day started out at the Slator Clubhouse. We dug a big hole in the hopes of raising the front concrete steps. Unfortunately, our efforts were in vain, since they appear to be attached to the front of the house (which we managed to lift about a 1/4 inch!). We cleared out some of the refuse from the back, then proceeded to make our own little fireworks show with one of Dan’s super-magnifying lenses. We were unable to get a penny to melt, but we did burn up several items, including an old sock.

I had a few drinks with Mark last night at Woody’s, then we ate supper at the south Aladdin’s.

Lunch today with Nachos (Bennigan’s) featuring some awesome Guiness shrimp. We both ordered salads. We stopped by Scheel’s so I could pick up a chain tool for my bike, but they didn’t have any (and possible don’t sell any).

A frustrating day today with a minor bug in my MARC conversion code for Michele and then several hours trying to help a patron (whose problem mysteriously just disappeared).

A couple drinks at the Turf, then off to see “Transformers,” which receives a big thumbs-up from me. Saw Victoria & Mike (and Matt) at the theater as well.

Friday evening Mark dropped off Doug over at my place. We then picked up Keri, stopped in Dilworth for a quick supper (at Arby’s) and then drove to Mark’s house in Maple Grove. In preparation for the next day’s events; Mark, Doug, and I had a few beers and a couple sips of whiskey in his garage.

The next morning started off with me power washing the backyard shed while Doug fixed up the drywall in the garage. Mark went off to go buy supplies. When he returned, I started painting the shed while Mark’s brother (Matt) started staining the new baseboard trim for the master bedroom.

Around this time Mark’s mom (Melissa) showed up with lunch. An awesome chip dip, beer, brats, and potato salad. Very tasty.

Two coats later (including another trip to buy more paint), and the shed is looking pretty spiffy.

Doug & I installed an external floodlight (in between coats of paint on the shed) and then installed the trim in the bedroom. I had the fun task of using the air nailer, while Doug had the mundane task of measuring and cutting the trim. Mark, Keri, and Matt were painting the garage during this time. Unfortunately, the mudding Doug had done earlier wasn’t quite dry and there were some problems with tape coming off the wall.

The evening concluded with a couple more of Mark’s friends showing up (Joe & Thad) and grilled teriyaki skewers and veggies. We sat around chatting until Joe broke out some fireworks. Now, these weren’t you average, everyday fireworks. These were big suckers. Much fun was had by all (and by all I mean half of Maple Grove).

The next morning we cleaned up the garage, hauled up an old entertainment center from the basement (a long, hard, heavy task) and then took some pictures of the house.

Mark bought us all lunch (actually, he paid for everything I ate the entire weekend) at Chipotle’s. It’s kinda like Subway for burritos. They were very tasty – I’ll be happy when Fargo gets one.

Then it was a long drive home and a long afternoon of me forcing myself to not take a nap (otherwise I won’t be able to sleep tonight). I’m very tired and very sore, but I had a great time.

There was a wedding party hanging out on the NDSU Campus today. The Fargo trolley was there carting them around and they took pictures by the gate and nearby lawn. I was just driving by so I didn’t have time to compose a good shot with my camera phone, but what I got isn’t that bad.

Yesterday, Brian told me that Char (Don Schwert’s wife) was diagnosed with leukemia. In the hopes of keeping their spirits high, Brian and I worked up a quick “Don’s Car Watch” ticket wishing Char a quick recovery. It took us quite some time to locate Don’s car (which would have gone much faster had we actually read any of the signs that said “Visitor Parking”), but we eventually found it and left our little gift.

Lunch with Tim today at Perkin’s. As usual, I ordered (and ate) too much. We talked geek stuff and a good time was had by all.

Went to Mazz & Dayna’s house tonight (Dayna is off to Medora for an annual trip with Quinn and her friend Natalie). Mazz cooked up some steaks and potatoes and then we went to “Live Free or Die Hard”. Lots of action, computer jargon and even a little parkour. I had a great time.

Lunch at my Aunt & Uncle’s house – excellent food as usual. Got to see my cousin Cameo (whom I haven’t seen for years) along with her husband James and their six(?) kids. Kenyon and his wife Vonnie were there as well with their three kids. A great meal and great conversation.

On the drive back to Fargo, Dayna called and invited me over for supper along with Mazz, Quinn, and Stephen & Sarah. After the meal we played Croquet (which I won by sheer chance) and then a game of Apples to Apples, (which I lost horribly).

Tired from my long day, I’m curling up by the air conditioner, reading my book, and going to bed early.

Got my road bike back from the bike shop. It’s nice to have a tuned up bike – quiet and a firm ride. Only they put somebody else’s chain on my bike (I’ll take it in Monday and get that straightened out).

Just shy of 30 miles in 90+ degree weather with a strong south wind. The first 15 miles really, really, sucked. Coming back was much more fun (I even hit 32mph at one point and was averaging right around 20mph).

I’m a little dehydrated (drinking chilled green tea right now) and fatigued, but otherwise feeling pretty good. I’m also happy that I coat myself with SFP 30 sunblock before I go riding – I would have been burnt to a crisp if I hadn’t been wearing it (2+ hours in the sun with little to no shade).

I’ll be taking it a little easy tonight at the last night of the Fair anyways, as I have to go to my Aunt & Uncle’s house near Ypsilanti. I haven’t seen some of my cousins in some time, so it will be a nice trip.

Crews work to remove the temporary train bridge at University between NP and main. For almost a year now I’ve had to deal with stupid people who can’t read the four signs that say the left lane is ONLY for turning onto NP when heading south on University. I also blame the city for not putting up a “Left Turn Only” sign at the end of the lane (there’s just one of the orange and white barriers). Turning from 1st Ave. N. onto University has been confusing as well (the city just gave up and took down all signs that people were supposed to turn wide). It’s been a huge debacle since day one. Hopefully, soon, construction will be over and traffic at this intersection will return to normal. It would have been even better if they had done this, oh say, 3-4 months ago, or longer. I haven’t seen a single construction worker at the intersection for a long, long, time.

My swag from the Sun Boot Camp session today. I got a nice Sun beach towel and several OpenSolaris T-Shirts (one for John and another for Travis). It was a good (but tiring) day. There were actually a few things in today’s session that I didn’t know much about (mainly Solaris Containers – cool!). All that, and it was free, too. Another surprise today was running into Erik Kringlie, formerly of ITS, but now back at Valley City State – a great guy – too bad NDSU doesn’t have him anymore.

Drinks with Mark tonight, partially in celebration of Dawn’s birthday (kinda).

After lunch with Nachos, I finally took my road bike into Island Park Cycles. My rear wheel needs trueing and I need my handlebar tape fixed up (I’m going to have it double-taped like my old bike). I also asked for a generic tune-up.

This evening I had dinner with Mazz & Mark (grilled steak, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob). Afterwards (Dayna finally arrived) we chatted and I did a little quick work on their sump pump outlet tube.

I was supposed to go to bed early tonight in preparation for tomorrow’s Sun Solaris training, but that hasn’t happened.

Lunch with Nachos at Juanos. We both enjoyed the taco buffet – good stuff.

I shot this with my cell during my bike ride last Saturday. Finally got around to uploading it to Google Video.