365 in 365 for 2014: Images 034 through 040

This is just a "get me over" post on the picture project. What can I tell you? Just more cold, snow, and misery for the week.  The thought occurred to me, this winter is exactly the type I worried about suffering before moving to Minnesota. Hard to imagine I've been spoiled over the last 17 or so years.

The recent cold reminded me of a newsletter article I wrote for the first company I worked when I moved to Minnesota. I kept all the editions where I was either mentioned or featured or had published work. Here is what I wrote in February 1997:

There is one characteristic which defines a state and differentiates that state from the others.  A sense of pride is formed from that characteristic and binds the residents together.  I have recently discovered the one characteristic in which all Minnesotans find pride. 

Is it the Twins?  Not lately. 

Is it the Vikings?  Not likely.

Is it the magical splendor of a golden sun sparking on one of the numerous lakes of which Minnesota gets its nickname?  Not really.

The pride of Minnesota is the winter's bitter cold.  To survive temperatures that drop 60 degrees below zero, one needs strength.  My mother visited me recently for the holidays and she did what all visitors to Minnesota do - she went to the Mall of America.  While at the register at one store, a clerk pegged her as an outsider.

"Visiting for the holidays?" he asked.

"Yes.  I'm trying to get out of the cold."  The temperature had warmed from the prior week and was a balmy 20 degrees that day.

The clerk's eyes twinkled and his chest heaved with pride.  "Do you know how cold it gets around here?"

Minnesota winters are famous.  While living in Boston, my fiancee tried to convince me to move to Minnesota with her.  She wanted to return home but I wanted no part of the bitter cold.

"Come on.  The winters aren't that bad."

A few months later we were on our way.  My first winter consisted of record-breaking, history making temperatures.  This winter is my second and I have faced near record-setting snowfall - and survived!  I have spoken with family who live in the northwest and they are coping with temperatures in the 20s and 30s.

"Rookies. Do you know how cold it gets around here?"

Here is a week of cold pictures.  Better ones are in the offing.

No. 034:  02-03-2014

A sure sign Minnesotans have given up.

No. 035:  02-04-2014

The lights of Minneapolis looked really crisp on this night
and there was a touch of winter's dusk.
This is what my camera was able to capture.

No. 036:  02-05-2014

Tried again the next night at a different location.  Meh.

No. 037:  02-06-2014

The gated community of Como Zoo and Conservatory.

No. 038:  02-07-2014

Snow's piling up on and around the birdbath!

No. 039:  02-08-2014

Pretty much says it all about Minnesota.

No. 040:  02-09-2014

G-Bug getting direction from the coach before the serve.

If You Can't Be An Athlete, Be An Athletic Supporter

I’m going to be honest with you.  This post is a puff piece written by a proud father.  I’ve made mention of my daughter’s participation in volleyball, mostly through photo captions in my “365 in 365” projects, but haven’t written at length of her experience with the sport.  Obviously, I look at her through the lens of a parent, but I honestly believe she is a talented player.

Her mother got her enrolled in a club team in the Maplewood area.  This is a huge commitment in money and time for both of us, not only for the club fees (which G-Bug’s mom is handling), but also traveling to various venues for overnights and weekend tournaments.  Most tournaments are in the Twin Cities, but there are a couple in Rochester, MN; one in Wisconsin Dells; and the Grand Finale in Orlando, FL in June.  Both of us beamed with pride when we saw her be selected by the 16-1’s coach to play on his team.

Playing club volleyball is an entirely different experience than high school and less expensive clubs.  The competition is intense, the conditioning grueling, and the coaches demand the best from every player.  They also instill a sense of team spirit, which I felt was a little lacking in the club team G-Bug played for, but was better when she made it on the JV squad as a sophomore.

If there is a downside to this club team, it’s that G-Bug is playing with other quality players who have shown a more competitive fire.  Her coach has commented how she is too nice and she has to find a way to “release the beast.”  I’ll tell you this though, you can’t ask for a better 11^th player off the bench.  Plus, at 6’1”, she is the tallest on the team.  She has been projected to be a middle blocker, but there are two other middle blockers ahead of her; so she doesn’t get much court time.

However, she has made the most of her time when she is competing.  A couple weeks ago, she was playing middle when an errant pass from the other team floated toward the net.  G-Bug jumped and spiked the ball with authority.  The ball didn’t bounce, but cratered!  Her whole team cheered and her coach jumped out of his seat.  A few people in the crowd, who knew G-Bug didn’t compete much, but was patient for her opportunity, cheered as well.  The parents of one of her teammates came by and gave me a congratulatory pat on the shoulder.  After the match, G-Bug was all smiles.

This past weekend, the team was participating in the President’s Day Festival and G-Bug was put in the rotation as an outside hitter.  She looked a little confused on the floor as she didn’t practice much at the position, but she did a very good job; not only as an outside, but serving as well.  In truth, I think she is more suited at this position and the mother of one of her teammates said the same to me during the tournament.

Every Wednesday night, we go to LA Fitness to play volleyball during the open gym time.  There is a regular group of Hmong people who play, both men and women, with a sprinkling of others for diversity.  The play is first come, first serve, so every night is a different mix of teams.  The rules are six players per team who rotate around a permanent setter.  This person is in the middle, so the other two players at the net rotate from the left outside to the right.  This is where G-Bug has gotten most of her outside hitter experience.

I think when we first played, the other players weren’t quite sure about us.  G-Bug is tall, but young and might not have been up to the level of competition.  She proved herself in short order.  In fact, she has developed a little bit of a fan club that cheers and claps whenever she puts down a good spike or serves an ace.  I’ve played against her a few times, too, and she is an excellent server.  She’s dumped a couple right in front of me and I’ve watched others whistle passed to get misplayed by one of my teammates.  I’ve thought about creating short videos of her playing so I could send them to her coach; but then I thought he might not want his players involved in the seamy underbelly of back alley volleyball.

Hey, that might be a good movie idea!  Dibs!!

365 in 365 for 2014: Images 027 through 033

This week of pictures could only be described as a week of bitterly cold. Unfortunately, for this winter, the week was trumped by subsequent weeks. We do what Minnesotans do, keep on and wait for the weather to get warmer. It's only a matter of time as the earth continues to rotate around the sun. It will happen. In the meantime, some cold weather photos.

No. 027:  01-27-2014 

In celebration of Mom's birthday, an arch in downtown St. Paul.
I don't know how the two are related.

No. 028:  01-28-2014

A winter version of St. Paul from the High Bridge

No. 029:  01-29-2014

How Minnesotans "gleam the cube."

No. 030:  01-30-2014

An ice sculpture from St. Paul's Winter Carnival event.

No. 031:  01-31-2014

A ship in the bottle ice sculpture from the Winter Carnival.

No. 032:  02-01-2014

An old Grain Belt brewery building.  Now an architect's office.

No. 033:  02-02-2014

Got myself in trouble on a shoveling project.  Can't tell from this
angle, but there is about 7 inches of packed ice at the entrance
to my driveway.  I was only successful in creating a deep divot
that scrapes the bottom of the car.

The Dirty Dozen: SitRep 02-20-2014 “Then There Were Nine”

Since my last SitRep in July, there have been few changes to my stock portfolio.  I bit the bullet and reduced my stake in Kraft by 16% to take an early disbursement, which is always galling.  The last major move I made was to sell my share in Pitney Bowes (PBI) as the stock price was exceeding the level where I would get one re-invested share per quarter with the dividend; in spite of PBI cutting the dividend in half in June.

I used that money to re-re-invest in Crown Crafts (CRWS) and Town Sports International Holdings (CLUB).  I learned what a mistake that was over the 34 trading days of 2014.  All indications were good with CLUB at the beginning.  The stock just instituted a $0.16 per share dividend and the price was low enough to get well above my one re-invested share per quarter threshold.  By the end of 2013, I had made $1 per share profit.  The stock price started to drop in the early days of 2014, but the entire market was seeing a downturn at the time, so I figured CLUB was just “one of the boats on a sinking tide.”  The high for the year was on 1/3/14 at $14.37.  On 2/5/2013, the price hit a 2014 low of $10.36.  Still, I held onto it, hoping the pricing would start to bounce back and I wanted to reach the ex-dividend date to at least get some payment from my investment.  I did select to have my dividends put into a money market fund, rather than reinvested, and put a Stop Loss order at $10.

Yesterday, CLUB reported it missed Q4 EPS by $0.06 and YOY Revenue was down 0.3%, which was an improvement of $230K from expectations.  This announcement occurred after the market closed, but I knew the implications as I suffered a couple big hits with B&G Foods (BGS), Mattel (MAT), and Waste Management (WM) when they missed EPS.  Sure enough, CLUB tanked 17-18% to start the day.  My Stop Loss order triggered at the opening price of $8.48.  I took that money and increased my stake in NutriSystem (NTRI) so that I would get over two re-invested shares when the stock pays in March.

Here's how the Dirty Dozen looks like now:

First Month of Quarter Payers

B&G Foods (BGS)

Profit/Loss Per Share:               +$8.09

Annual Reinvested Shares Pace:  6.50

• Increase dividend to $0.33 per share in January

Kraft Foods (KRFT)

Profit/Loss Per Share:               -$1.00

Annual Reinvested Shares Pace:  4.75

Xcel Energy (XEL)

Profit/Loss Per Share:               +4.07

Annual Reinvested Shares Pace:  6.50

• Increased dividend to $0.30 per share for April

Crown Crafts, Inc. (CRWS)

Profit/Loss Per Share:               +$0.49

Annual Reinvested Shares Pace:  6.50

Second Month of Quarter Payers

Paychex (PAYX)

Profit/Loss Per Share:               +$18.64

Annual Reinvested Shares Pace:  4.00

NutriSystem (NTRI)

Profit/Loss Per Share:               +$4.08

Annual Reinvested Shares Pace:  8.75

• First dividend payout is in March, then again in May

Darden Restaurants (DRI)                           

Profit/Loss Per Share:               -$0.13

Annual Reinvested Shares Pace:  5.50

Third Month of Quarter Payers

Mattel (MAT)

Profit/Loss Per Share:              +$9.56

Annual Reinvested Shares Pace:  5.75

• Increased dividend to $0.38 per share in January

Waste Management (WM)

Profit/Loss Per Share:               +$8.17

Annual Reinvested Shares Pace:  4.25

365 in 365 for 2014: Images 020 through 026

Well, let's try this again.  In my effort to be a perfectionist, I was making changes to how the blog looked on the page and somehow duplicated my previous post under this title.  I will try to rewrite the original blog post.

My wife and I were invited to a birthday celebration for a friend of a friend. We've actually partied with her the past couple of New Year's celebrations and a couple other birthdays, so I suppose she has become a more direct friend; although we hang out with her and her boyfriend when we hang out with my friend and his . . . you know what, let's say we're Facebook friends and leave it at that.

At any rate, the plan was for a group of us to meet for dinner at Khan's Mongolian Barbeque on Friday night.  Yet another winter storm had rolled in that day, so I had left work early to have enough time to pick up my wife and head to the restaurant.  That part worked okay, but we still left late and the snow had not let up at all.  Worse yet, we almost hit a deer crossing the four lane road by our house, so my nerves were pretty frazzled when we arrived.  The parking lot hadn't been plowed, which left for some creative, and sometimes stupid, spacing issues.  I had my wife ask an employee for a read on the situation and we were told to park any way we could and all would be forgiven.  I had visions of scratched quarter panels and headlights as we went inside.

The interior of the restaurant was as crowded as the parking lot and did not seem conducive to this unique dining experience.  For the uninitiated, Khan's is a combination buffet and Japanese steakhouse where you negotiate a series of bottlenecks to prepare your meal then have it cooked in front of you.  This seems just a step away from actually making dinner, of which I'm not a fan.  

You start with loading a bowl with a selection of meats, raw and freeze dried. You then decide from a choice of two different noodles. The vegetables are next.  The final step in the preparation is creating your sauce, which is the culinary equivalent of mixing paint to get just the right hue.  The next bottleneck is waiting to hand your bowl of potential salmonella to a chef who dumps its contents onto a round grill.  After cooking for the right amount of time, the chef puts your meal on a plate and sends you off with a good luck.

For all the ball busting I'm doing, the food was excellent and I had no digestive issues afterwards.  I made two trips, the second of which was very easy as we were beyond the dinner rush.  I particularly liked the lamb during my second pass.  I tried a little spicier sauce, and although still pretty mild, caused thick drops of sweat to form on my bald pate.  Fortunately, I wasn't the only one - either sweating or having a bald pate.

Unfortunately, my wife and I couldn't continue with the revelries after dinner. She had to work early and G-Bug had a volleyball tournament that started at eight in the morning - on both Saturday and Sunday!  We wrapped up the dinner by playing the "in bed" game with our fortune cookies.  Mine just read "You're lousy."  A-oh!

The subject of my blog came up and I was asked when I would be making only post.  I said I had already made three for 2014.  I was surprised to learn that a few there had already read them and were waiting for the next installment. Those who didn't know about the blog were curious about it.  I was happy to hear people were reading and enjoying my work.

So, it may have been your birthday, Cassie, but I also got a gift that night!  It was a really great time.

After the jump is a week's worth of pictures, although I have to admit these are a weak crop.

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

If the expression is true, I would like to thank Cheyenne (I went with the traditional spelling) for making me stronger.  Let me explain why.

My heart skipped a bit when I read the following headline last weekend:

Minneapolis Good Samaritan murdered trying to help stranger                      

This happened last Saturday afternoon and grabbed the attention of my wife and work friends because I told them a similar experience that happened to me, and just two nights prior to the news story.

As anyone who has read this blog religiously would know, Thursday is my bowling night. This is also the night my wife works a late shift with a client and doesn't get home until after 11p.  Last week, I was upstairs surfing the Web and listening to music when the dogs started to bark furiously.  This isn't uncommon as Jack will wait in the kitchen until one or the other of us returns home and offers a loud and rambunctious greeting.  What was odd on this night was the barking started at 10:30 and became progressively agitated.

Annoyed, I went downstairs to see what was the matter.  Through the large window of the kitchen door (for which we need to get a curtain), I could see a black woman in her late teens to early twenties standing on the back porch. I opened the door and asked the key questions including "who are you?" and "what are you doing here?"  She was concerned the dogs would bite her and when I told her they wouldn't, asked to come inside.  The temperature had dropped below zero and I wasn't going to have a conversation with the door open, so I let her in.

She claimed she was with a couple friends in a pick-up truck and they were driving by the lake a block away.  They saw a police car at the far end of the street and her friends asked her to see if they could get through.  There was heavy snow that morning and our neighborhood streets hadn't been plowed. When she approached the police car, her "friends" threw her bag out of the truck and took off.  Somehow, the police found her bag and searched it, but didn't find anything, so left it with her.  They also refused to give her a ride home.  So, she was reduced to knocking on doors to find someone to help her.  I used to think I was required to be in a needy person's line of sight to be harassed, but I guess I just exude "sucker" like a clarion call.

Right away, her story didn't add up.  I couldn't understand why her friends couldn't drive up to the police car, rather than have her get out of the truck. The police searching her bag was a little unsettling and their refusing to give her a ride seemed cruel, but not beyond the realm of possibility.  

I asked her if she had someone to call.  She said she could call her brother, but he was working until midnight.  She called him, but when he called back there was no connection because both handsets of our land line lost their battery charges.  I had my cell phone, but I didn't want to go through the process of calling her brother and waiting for him to call back again.  I asked if she had any money.  Of course she didn't and conveniently had loaned her bus pass to her sister because her car wasn't working.  Faced with the choice of having a stranger in my house until the witching hour or throwing her out into the cold, I decided to offer her a lift home (SUCKER!  SUCKER!  SUCKER!).  Looking back, I had a couple bucks and some change in the car; which I could have given her, along with a ride to Sun Ray to take the bus. Instead, I took her from St. Paul to this area of north Minneapolis:

Yes, this is a crime map of the area.  I take heart there was only one murder in the area (the black "M" in the upper right hand corner).