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Those of you that know me, know that I love guitars and that I own several of them. You also know that my pride and joy is my Petros Applecreeek D made by luthier Bruce Petros. I have had this guitar for almost 6 years now! It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. Anyways…I have played it a lot and as a result have worn down a few of the frets in a couple of places. I decided I should keep it in tip top condition since it is such a nice guitar, so I brought it into the Podium to have Marty do a partial re-fret. I dropped it off on a Saturday and left it there a little over a week. I then picked it up this last Monday. When I got there, I went downstairs to talk to Marty and see how it went and give it a test to make sure everything was good. As I suspected, Marty did a fantastic job. It plays like new again! In the midst of me testing it out quick he tells me: “Kottke was in the shop and was really admiring your guitar.” For those of you that don’t know who Leo Kottke is…he is a world renown finger style guitar player. I was floored by this and instantly felt pretty cool that leo Kottke, who could probably have any guitar he wanted, and no doubt plays amazing guitars, was admiring my guitar. Good thing I didn’t have to play it in front of him. I would have been embarrassed that I am not nearly as good as I should be for a guy with a guitar of that caliber. I left the Podium with a big smile that I couldn’t seem to wipe off all day!
As many of you know, yesterday at 6:00pm, The I-35w bridge over the Mississippi river in MN collapsed. So far 4 are confirmed dead, 79 injured, and at least 20 missing. I don’t have many words about this tragedy, but I will say this: My thoughts and prayers go out to those that are injured as well as the family and friends of those involved in this horrific accident. I don’t of anybody that I personally know that was in the accident. At least not at this point. I also want to say that it’s things like this that remind you that life is very precious and is taken for granted all the time. Anything can happen at anytime….It makes me even more passionate to tell others about the best possible life available; Life in harmony with Christ.
This is Jenna and I Simpsonized! Aren’t we cute? Head over to www.simpsonizeme.com and see what you look like as a simpsons character. That’s all I got for you. have a good day.
It was the year 2000….the future was upon us and 1 brave soul (or stubborn Jamaican) set out to test the laws of nature. The challenge: Drink a gallon of milk in an hour and keep it down. The outcome: see for yourself….
Today, I interviewed for a position at the San Pedro Cafe in Hudson. It is a small restaurant with really good food and a great atmosphere. It was probably the shortest interview I have ever had and it seems like it is going to be a great place to work. I am starting next week with some training and will start off hosting for a few shifts and then move into a serving position once I get the hang of it and especially once the fall hits and things pick up a bit. I am excited, but I have never worked in a restaurant before, so i don’t really know what to expect. I am hoping this Job will allow me to get better connected in the community and meet people. Ultimately, I hope it allows me to meet people that i can share my faith with and invite them into the Journey that Sanctuary is on. Plus a few extra dollars will be nice to help pay for things we have done and want to do on the house. So, If you are ever in Hudson, come see me at San Pedro! I can’t promise I will be there, but i can promise that you won’t be disappointed with the food. Check out the menu on their website: www.sanpedrocafe.com
Jenna and I just got back from the flowage. The turtle flambeau flowage to be exact. It is a body of water in the northwoods of Wisconsin that was formed in the process of damning up the flambeau river. There were several lakes in the area, and when they damned the river up, a lot of the area around was flooded. This body of water is called the flambeau flowage. It is over 200 miles of shorline with hundreds of bays and narrow passageways. If you are ever there, it is a blast to explore with a boat, but be careful because there are stumps everywhere from trees that were flooded years ago. If 200 miles of shoreline doesn’t conjure up any images, just think of it this way (if you are from MN)… lake minnetonka has about 100 miles of shoreline. So, that should give you a clue as to how much water we are talking about. My family has been going up there for years and years. My grandparents have been up there in the summer for a couple weeks every year for about 50 years, and thus I have been a lot as well. However, I haven’t been in the last few years.
Some of the activities that we usually take part in there are: boating to the damn to pick raspberries (which we then eat on cereal or pancakes the following days); taking a trip to lake of the falls to see some small waterfalls and enjoy the views; lots of swimming and watersports; many card games; enough snacks to make you sick; but mainly a whole lot of nothing! One of the other things we often do is to take a trip into Minacqua to see the min-aqua-bats water ski show. This is the longest running amateur ski show in the US, and it is FREE! They do amazing things such as pyramids, a lot of jumps off the 6 ft ski jump, skiing on human skis, or their hands, or bare feet, canoe paddles, you name it…. also a lot of other crazy things. We went there Sunday night and saw the show, and once again….it was quite good.
So, if you ever want to get away from it all and enjoy the northwoods in it’s fullness, take a trip up to the Flambeau Flowage, and if you want…look up Joe Miller’s cottages. That’s where we have stayed every time we go there.
I have recently been interested in using biodiesel in my jetta TDI and have found a couple fueling stations that have it available. I am currently running B100 (100% biodiesel) in my car. I found it at a Marathon Station in Apple Valley. I wouldn’t normally drive there to fill up, but I happened to be out there, so I thought I would give it a shot. Prior to that, I used B20 for the first time which I found a little closer (but not much).
So, you may be asking why use biodiesel? Well, because Biodiesel is better for the environment because it is made from renewable resources and has lower emissions compared to petroleum diesel. It is less toxic than table salt and biodegrades as fast as sugar. Since it is made in the USA from renewable resources such as soybeans, its use decreases our dependence on foreign oil and contributes to our own economy. On top of that it extends the life of your engine due to its good lubricating properties as well as it runs cleaner, and removes carbon deposits that traditional Diesel fuel causes.
So what are the downsides? There are some downsides to it. First off, It seems as though my car is not quite as quick, but yet it runs smoother. I can’t really describe it other than it’s not as jumpy when I hit the throttle. Also, it is not readily available(at least in this area) and because of this, B100 can be more expensive that regular diesel. The b20 I got was the same price as the regular diesel.
Diesel engines are much more efficient than gas engines and they are getting cleaner and cleaner. Many auto makers such as Honda and Toyota are going to start producing Diesel cars along with VW and Mercedes who have been making them for years and years. This is good news! For one, the fuel efficiency is much better, so they will use less fuel overall, plus the more demand there is for Diesel, the more likely that Biodiesel will be more readily available, and thus lower our overall dependancy on foreign oil as well as reduce the amount of dirty emissions being put into the air every day. It is truly the most “green” option for a vehicle, even much better that a Toyota Prius or other hybrids which still rely on foreign oil, as well as the production and disposal of the batteries involved in them which is not good for the earth.
I just wish that there were more stations that sold bio. The coolest thing is that you can make Biodiesel yourself with the right equipment. I am hoping to be able to make it within the next few years. Once I get the system down, I would love to use waste vegetable oil from local restaurants to make it with. When made this way, it cost’s $0.46 per gallon. So not only is it great for the environment, but it would save on my wallet as well. The interesting thing is that Rudolph Diesel originally developed the Diesel Engine to be able to run on peanut oil, so in a way we are geting back to the original intent of this engine.
It has been quite some time since I posted a blog, but I thought I would at least stop in and say hello and let you know that we made it home from MT and were not eaten by a bear. We did have a great trip, but it seems like so long ago now. For those of you that actually still pop by from time to time to see what I am up to, I will try to do a better job of sharing my thoughts or at the very least what has been going on as of late. There is a lot to talk about, but I don’t feel like writing about it right now.
After church tonight, Jenna and I are heading up to visit Mark and Kay Johnson and then heading out west to spend some time camping in Glacier National Park. We are extremely excited. It is such a beautiful place and will be nice to get away from some of the busyness of life and relax in the mountains. We will also be spending some time with Kevin and Heidi and the boys, and so that will be fun as well. I hope to be able to post some pics along the way, but we’ll see. Otherwise I will when we get back. Pray for safe travels and that we can manage to stay away from the bear since it is their home after all and we are just visiting.
On a totally different subject, I recently got the solo album from Glen Hansard, who is the singer/songwriter for The Frames”. The cd is entitled the “swell season” and I would highly recommend it. I recorded one of the songs off of this cd for the fun of it and I really like how it turned out. Click on the link to hear it or download it.
Let me know what you think.
Last night I decided to join the Starbury movement. For those of you that don’t know about it, basically, Stephon Marbury decided to create a line of shoes that cost only 14.98 per pair. It started out as just basketball shoes, but now there are several styles. He even wears his shoes on coart along with Ben Wallace and a few others. Suposedly, they are just as good as expensive shoes, but without the price tag. The whole point was to create a quality shoe that everyone can afford. So, I decided to pick up a pair mainly because I needed some shoes and they are only 14.98. I got the “cyclone II” style in brown/black/tan. they are really quite comfy and have that classic old school “new balance 574″ look to them. I have had 3 pairs of New Balance 574’s so they are kind of the standard of measurement for me as to how these shoes feel and hold up. So far so good, but it is the first day, so we will see how long they last.
wilco
cold war kids
andrew bird
