Wow... I've been gone for quite some time. Sorry about that :P Anywho. Just got back from Wisconsin for my roommates wedding. Had a blast at the reception and on the way back we visited Castle Rock which is an exposed limestone bluff that rises from the rolling plains of Western Wisconsin. Pretty rural area which I'm not used to. It was nice to get away for a weekend but its back to work tomorrow! 

The Minnesota State Fair just started this past Thursday. Its one of my favorite things to do and now that I have a job, I can actually eat to my hearts content which includes stuff like Chocolate covered bacon, deep fried mashed potatoes, and much more! 

Today's picture of the day was taken from Castle Rock towards another limestone bluff. Wisconsin was fun but I will forever prefer Minnesota, especially since we have Bret Favre now :P.  But really... County Road G in Mauston, WI is stupid... doesn't travel in a logical path. That and sideways lights are REALLY stupid. And a cheese factory is not a one room cheese stand. Just to let you know thats what you need to work on Wisconsin :P. 

Todays picture of the day is just an ode to winter. Its a long harsh season here but on days when we not only break the old record high for the day, but by 7 degrees F... a little bit of this doesn't sound too bad. Minneapolis topped out at 95 F with heat indices flirting with 100 F,  Wouldn't be so bad if it didn't remain in the 80's til 4 AM. This picture was taken around a single degree F (-17 C). I wouldn't mind a brief hint of this... something a bit stronger than opening the freezer door. 

 

We all know that riding mass transit in pretty much any sizable city is bound to come with some adventures. I myself have LOADS of stories riding Metrotransit buses and light rail. I had the 2:30 #16 homosexuality debate between the ardent lesbians and the "you don't know until you try it" heteros.... There was the National American "Smoke-iversity" singer.... and the random people who wanted to beat my friend up for supposedly staring at her boyfriend while other women on the bus were tying there hair back to step in to defend her. So yes, riding the bus can often times be an adventure. Usually it comes from the passengers....

However, occasionally it comes from the drivers. I have nothing but utter respect for these drivers who have to navigate in rush hour and all types of weather. In fact, I'm always amazed when I see a Metrotransit bus in my neighborhood in Saint Paul during the winter when roads narrow by about 10 to 25% and they STILL don't hit anything. But... I guess the pressure of being a bus driver can get to you.

Metro Transit's Bad Boy List

Its a decent read but also somewhat disturbing that we have issues such as this coming from public servants. Yes, they are human and make mistakes... but you don't leave people outside when its -22 F (-30 C) while you take a nap. Its at that point dangerous and potentially life threatening. What scares me the most is that these people remain on the job after some near 30 LEGITIMATE complaints (not including the ones that people don't follow through). This of course could be used as more anti-union fodder and in some sense, yes, I agree there needs to be more reform to weaken the union somewhat. Just kinda weird that people who physically threaten disabled people can still drive city buses.

Anywho....

Minneapolis decided to secretly work towards the 2012 Democratic National Convention. I mean VERY secretly. In 2008 when Saint Paul was awarded the RNC, it was well known for some 2 years that the Twin Cities were attempting to bid jointly and got a lot of work done right in the open for all to see. But somehow this year with the deadline being TODAY to bid... Minneapolis didn't say a word publicly until actually submitting the bid. This surprised many pundits who didn't see this one coming the least bit, especially in the chorus of more vocal bidders such as Saint Louis and Philly, as well as Charlotte, Cleveland, and Phoenix.... well and any other unannouced city.

 
Another beautiful spring day at 75 F (24 C). 

Just renewed my tabs for my car which came to $144. Jesus, I'm totally for a charging by the mile. I use the roads much less than most people (I think the average person drives something like 40 miles per day) yet I have to pay the vehicle registration fee based on the value of my car... the BLUE BOOK value of my car (which is over $3k which I actually paid on top of the fact that its double used...). Hardly a fair system. I can't wait til we get more mass transit. 

 
I took this shot over 2 years ago during the depths of winter. It wasn't really too bad by Minnesotan standards but even our downtown streets were somewhat hard to keep clear. I like this shot cause it shows how dynamic a downtown area can be and how even the skyway system continues to evolve. At one point this skyway connected to a building which has sense been demolished. The skyway which is probably was never removed (held up by now demolished supports) was a path to no where allowing someone to paint the entire side of the building with a Twin Cities Marathon mural. Of course the demands for a coherent skyway system probably forced them to create the out of character hallway that spanned the parking lot.  Now if they only put something in this parking lot.

 

The F. Scott Fitzergald house in my neighborhood on a nice day last month. Wouldn't mind living here.

 So I've lived in my apartment for the year which comes equipped with a single solitary parking spot. Which normally isn't a big deal but the multitude of parking restrictions in our neighborhood through out the year, especially during winter, road construction and the occasional gas leak or sink hole have made it rather.... irritating. But what is worse is that on Sunday nights (technically Monday 2 AM to 7 AM), we cannot park in front of our building. On the street I live on, there are a lot of businesses and parking is thus restricted to allow high turnover, but the sections in front of residential buildings are for the most part exempt (which allows non-residents to park all day if they so choose to).  So I'm baffled why my building gets this really weird parking restriction. I know full well its not street sweeping, or at the very least it better not be. Who street sweeps 200 feet....

What I believe is the case is that this sign is old. Ages ago there used to be a small grocery store on the first floor of my building and like all other stores, they have to stock up. A Monday stocking time seems VERY logical as weekends are typically the big shopping days and 5 hours for a grocery store less than 5000 square feet seems logical. So currently I'm assuming that this is an old sign yet to be taken down. 

So... who do I call... there's not exactly a number on the Saint Paul website that pertains to "Inquiry odd road signs call ______". So I looked at their directory and none of the numbers were really a 100% fit for my question so I picked the "Street Design" number... I figured that since our street was remodeled (narrowed) and they kept the sign, that perhaps theres a unique design element. I doubted that but figured I didn't have anything to go off of. I figured I'd get redirected a couple times anyway.... 

Action: Call Street Design
Result: "I think you need to talk to Parks and Rec, I'll redirect you..." Umm... why? 

Action: Listened to Parks and Rec Menu
Result: Hung up. Nothing there would have helped

Action: Called Generic Public Works info line....
Result: "Oh you need to contact a right of way inspector... here's the number". Sweet! Getting somewhere!

Action: Dialed number for Right of Way office
Result: Phone refused to even dial....

Action: Repeat previous action... twice
Result: Me getting frustrated and pissed off.....

Action: Looked up "Right of Way Saint Paul" and found a random document about a street space permit for vendors. Perhaps that parks and rec lady WAS right...
Result: Found phone number!

Action: Dialed said phone number
Result: "sorry, but this number has been disconnected call "****** 7250" Turns out the first guy who tried to connect me to the right of way office told me 7200, and it was really 7250... UGH

Action: Called right of way office's REAL number
Result: Call either of these two folks... Victory is at hand!!!!

Action: called both numbers
Result: Answering machines....

Overall Result: wasted some 15 mins on my cell... great....

PotD #11

 Today the Republican Party of Minnesota will begin the process of nominating the gubernatorial candidate for this falls election. The DFL conducted their convention and chose Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher who will then have to face the general primary against a currently unknown number of Democrats in August before facing the soon to be determined Republican. But candidate selection isn't the only purpose of a state convention. These conventions also select the official party platform which is supposed to be the generally binding commonly held beliefs for members of that party, with a few disagreements here and there. Although this is the case for all parties, the Republicans have far stronger unity with fewer dissenters. 

However, if you ACTUALLY read the party platform, I think even moderate Republicans will realize that the party that born out Progressive Republicans just 50 years ago has long disappeared and given way to the Tea Party and their allies, complete with their lunacy and illogical and contradictory beliefs. Anyone with even a remote hint of understanding what the composition of the actual federal budget would realize that there is only so much spending cuts and tax cuts (which essentially are treated as a form of "spending") that we can sustain without joining the PIGS of Europe in financial crisis. 

But here's a link to the article about the Minnesota Republican Party platform and a link to the ACTUAL platform is embedded in the article.

Personally, I think Obama is doing a pretty good job given the circumstances and I think a lot of people are displeased because they didn't get "THEIR" President and personally I think there is a lot of racism to play still in a lot of the anti-Obama groups. If you check the cross tabs of polls where people disagree with Obama, large majorities or at least pluralities of these folks STILL believe he's muslim... harbors a "black" agenda, was not born in the US, and is a "socialist" which any RATIONAL person would realize is wrong on ALL counts. But... the Tea Party is likely the result of moderate Republicans who once dominated the party and suppressed the lunacy of its fundamentalists falling victim to conservative democrats in 2008 allowing the once silenced sleeping wing to awaken. This of course scares me on practically every issue and I fear I will not vote for anyone in the Republican Party for several election cycles. 

But it really isn't the Democrats that should be worried (as much anyway, still a rough 2010 cycle coming up).

The faction that is in most peril would actually be Moderate Republicans, many of whom were sniped in 2008 out of office by Blue Dog Democrats (some of whom were actually republicans that switched parties when the sinking ship was clearly taking too much water). There are three main reasons why Moderate Republicans should be worried.

Association
Long Term Demographic handicap
Strong Party Politics

Association: This one is probably the most evident in the 2010 elections. Poll after poll after poll have shown a generic nameless "Republican" beating a generic nameless "Democrat" in this falls election by some 6 to 8% points which I wont' go into specifically but COULD spell disaster (www.fivethirtyeight.com had a lot of the math on this) but actually examining each individual race does not suggest that strong of a Republican victory. Why is that? Even though there is a vast enthusiasm gap between Republicans and Democrats, I believe that a lot of the candidates who are in moderate territories that have to pander to Independents/conservative Democrats are going to struggle to shed the "lunatic" labels that people are throwing at them. It'll be easy for homogeneous suburban districts to maintain Republican seats, but places like Ohio's rust belt that was racked with unemployment and support of health care reform as well as support higher taxes for the richest Americans supposed to consciously vote for a party associated with being highly antagonistic. I think that its going to be the moderates that either have to forgo their own beliefs and pander to the party for money or get grouped in as a whole with the party and take a hit at the polls. 

Long Term Demographic Handicap:
The Republicans realized they were in trouble when they not only got beat in 2008, but walloped losing states like NC and Indiana and barely holding on to Missouri. Although 2008 was clearly a "wave" year, it made the Republicans wonder what the long term viability of their party was, namely their shrinking base. The controversial pick of Michael Steele, the first black Republican to head the party, was seen as a political "rebuttle" against Obama, although his leadership has been .... crazy.... at best. But even he realized that they needed to appeal to other demographics, especially minorities and the youth. By 2050, the US will be a minority majority nation, the same minorities that shunned Republicans; Hispanics by 2-1 and Blacks by 9-1. With the Republican party dependent on high voter turnout from older and white constituents, they are hitting a wall soon. This should lead to their liberalization, but we'll have to wait and see. But in the mean time, Republicans will have to fight even harder for every vote often with moderate Republicans losing their seats in contentious districts. 

Strong Party Politics:
The Republicans are well known for their strong party unity often demanding unwavering support lest they remove their dissidents from funding rolls or committee seats. This is true federally and locally. The Democrats have long been the more splintered unorganized party which often benefits the Republicans. However, moderate Republicans wanting to keep the funds rolling for election campaigns have to adhere minimally to a rather large chunk of the Republican platform. The very same thing that makes the Republicans such a formidable force in Congress (especially in respects the record number of filibusters this session so far) will hurt Moderate Republicans. As the Tea Party fanatics have drawn in people like Michelle Bachmann and Palin, who although controversial have a lot of money, their wing of the party has become even stronger. As the Tea Party money flows to the furthest right wingers of the party, they will have disproportionate say in using those funds and determining the party platform and they in turn will demand people adhere to this platform. Moderates will either have to abandon the party (See Governor Crist of Florida and Arlen Spector of Pennsylvania). 

I don't doubt that the Republicans will make an impressive showing in the polls this fall unless the economy has a more than stellar turnaround (although its not that bad). Personally, I think the 5 or 6 quarter recession from such a devastating collapse is pretty impressive. But concerns about the debt (which we ALL have) will hurt the Democrats who are perceived as the main culprits of the debt (although people fail to remember Bush's chronic deficit during GOOD times, but its okay cause he's white).

Additionally, I recently read a blog about the Tea Party and it asked "what if they were black" and I think the situation would have been viewed much more differently.

Potd #10



My first game at Target Field! Best seats in the House!

I'm usually not one for warm weather, but I can't say that this spring is anything but spectacular. Grilling midway through April in Minnesota!! Thats incredible to say the least. Usually the temperatures hover in the mid 50's but we've been well into the 60's and 70s and on one day... we even cracked 81 F, nearly 30 degrees above average. With several large rain storms, our very brown landscape has bloomed and come alive. I remember in 2004, it snowed on the first week of May and there was hardly any leaves out. What a dramatic turn around. I just hope that Summer isn't above average.

Anyway, here are some pics from the neighborhood.

PotD #9