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Wisconsin Trip 7/27/07

My brother Todd & I made the trip over to Wisconsin last week for the Jimmy Buffett show at Alpine Valley. What an awesome weekend. We took off Friday morning around 9:30. Our plan was to head to Muskego, WI to stay at our cousins lake home. We made it to our destination around 4:00 pm.

We had wonderful hosts for the weekend. My cousin, Linda, and her husband, Jeff, went above and beyond what they needed to to do. My aunt Dottie was also there for the weekend to visit. We definitely were treated like kings for the weekend.

After some meet and greet time set out for a little cruise around the lake on the pontoon. We loaded up the cooler with some cold beers, cut up some limes, and turned on some Buffett tunes. We made a few laps around the lake just taking it easy and catching up.

After our lake cruise we had some more drinks and had supper. Jeff & Linda served us an excellent meal of beef tenderloin, portabella mushrooms, baked potato, & fresh green beans. The meal was fantastic.

After supper it was time for more beer and Buffett. We turned up the tunes and partied like rock stars. This was a first for me since I have never had a chance to party with my Wisconsin relatives. We sat out on the deck with the tiki torches going. The liqour flowed pretty. Good times with good people. We called it a night around midnight.

Saturday morning was pretty slow going. I didn't live up to my promise of having beer for breakfast. Everyone was pretty tired and a couple of us were not feeling so good. Eventually we had some breakfast.

After breakfast Jeff took Todd & myself out for some bass fishing. We didn't catch anything. I wasn't putting much effort into it though. I think if I did get a bite the fish would have probably pulled the rod right out of my hand. I was still in pretty rough shape.

After fishing I went out on the Jet Ski for a bit. That was a blast and took my mind off of how much my head hurt. Todd went out for a ride after I got back in. After that it was time for more relaxing by the lake. We had a quick lunch down by the lake and the n headed out on the pontoon again for a few beers and cruising.

At this point Todd and I went to the Jimmy Buffett concert at Alpine Valley. I will have a separate post for that experience.

Sunday after breakfast, Linda went to play tennis. Todd, Jeff, & I did a little landscaping by the lake. After Linda got home, we got cleaned up and packed our stuff. Todd & I took everyone out for dinner and then we said our goodbyes and headed for home.

I told Jeff and Linda they were so nice did way too much for us. Jeff said "That's what we do". Yep. That's what they do over there in Wisconsin. Thanks for everything.

10 Days Until Jimmy Buffett

I'm dragging my brother Todd to a Jimmy Buffett show this year. The show is on July 28th at Alpine Valley. Only 10 days to go. I better run through my checklist.

Jimmy Buffett Concert Checklist

Concert tickets

iPod full of Buffett

Place to stay

Hawaiian shirt

Flip flops

Corona & limes

Margaritas

Tivo

I got myself a Tivo the other day. I got the 80 hour dual tuner one from Tivo's website. The cost was $99. The monthly charge is $16. I'm amazed at how cool this new toy of mine is.

Now I can watch the TV shows I want to watch, when I want to watch them. I set it to record a couple of Die Hard movies for me. I also set up a season pass for Ice Road Truckers, Survivorman, Man Vs. Wild, & Deadliest Catch. There are a lot of cool options for finding shows that you want to record.

Not sure what to record? Well Tivo recorded a bunch of stuff for me using it's suggestions feature. It records things it thinks you will be interested in based on shows you watch & record. You can also give shows thumbs up or thumbs down as your watching TV. This will effect the shows that Tivo suggests for you.

Away from home and want to record something? No problem. You can go to the Tivo website, log in, & set your Tivo to record from the internet.

Using some software installed on my PC, I can transfer my Tivo recordings onto my computer. When they are on my computer I can watch them with Windows Media Player or burn shows onto DVD. I guess I should get a DVD burner at some point. I can also use that same software to access my pictures & my music from my computer via my Tivo.

I'm just getting started with Tivo, but so far I've got to give it two thumbs up!

All Settled In

I finally was able to move to Fairmont last Tuesday. The movers arrived around 9:30 AM. They loaded up all of my stuff in pretty quick order. After loading everything we set out for my new apartment. I checked in with the landlord, payed the rent, and got my key. Then the movers brought all of my stuff in. They did a superb job.

My new place is awesome. I have more room than I know what to do with. I made one bedroom into an office area. I have an actual dining area now also. Both my bedroom and living room are huge. I don't know what to do with all of the space. I got everything unpacked on Tuesday evening. It's funny how much I can actually accomplish without cable or internet access.

I got my internet and cable hooked up on Friday, so I'm back online. When I get a chance I will post some pictures of my new apartment.

That's enough incoherent rambling for now.

Out With The Old, And In With The New

I worked my last day at my former workplace on Friday. I have a couple of days off and then I start my new job. Friday was kind of a bittersweet day for me. I'm really looking forward to new the new opportunities that my new job will provide, yet I'm going to miss working in Mankato. I've worked with a lot of great people over the last 9 years there. I promised everyone that I would stop in and visit once in a while.

I did some shopping for some new work clothes yesterday. I found some good deals on pants and shirts. I got some new ties as well. My first shift in Fairmont is at 6:00 AM on Monday. So today I jumped out of bed at 5:00 AM to prepare for those early mornings.

I guess that's about it for now...

Livin' In A Van, Down By The River...

Since I'm relocating to a new town with my new job, I've been hunting for a place to live. It's been tough finding a place so far and that really stresses me out. I looked at a place today that was awesome. The only problem is I'll have to commute to & from work until an apartment opens up. The landlord there said he would have an opening at the beginning of June. I also had a message from another place that has openings. I wasn't able to get back to that place so I haven't been able to view an apartment there. So the search continues.

Saw My Old Blazer

Yesterday as I was pulling into my driveway I noticed this beat up old Chevy Blazer drive by. Yep. It was my old vehicle. It looks like the girl I sold it must have played bumper cars with it. The front left was crunched in a little bit. Nice to see it's still running though.

On The Move

Today I accepted a new position in the company I work for. I will be moving to Fairmont, Minnesota in a couple of weeks. It will be a step up from my current position. It's going to be tough leaving Mankato, but I'm looking forward to new coworkers, new challenges, & new opportunities.

IDPA Event #3

My third IDPA shoot and sadly I didn't do as well as normal. The first course of fire was set up as two targets to engage through a doorway. Had to put two rounds in center mass and one round in the head on each. After engaging those, you had to move to cover on the left and reload. Then kneeling and shooting through an opoening, engage three more targets. Move to cover and reload. Then you had to pick up a large stuffed animal and move to the left while engaging three more targets.

The second course was seven cardboard IDPA targets and four steel popper targets. Popper targets are targets that fall down after being hit. This course was engaged in the order of the shooters choice. You had to shoot some from the left of a wall and some from the right. I started engaging from the right. Started with the right side cardboard targets. On of my bullets was able to knock down a popper on a "shoot through" of a cardboard target. I had some trouble with some of the poppers but made it through eventually. A clean run would have been 18 rounds. I fired closer to 25 rounds.

The third course was two targets at about 7 yards. You had to put two in the center of mass and one in the head, or all three in the head. By the way you had to do this with your week hand, which for me is my left when shooting. I went for the head right away. I missed with the first two shoots so I switched to the center of mass, hit twice and the scored the head shot. The second target didn't put up as much resistance.

I was a little dissapointed with my performance but it was still a fun time.