So the second crest didn't exactly happen. The first crest was 40.8 (already an all-time record) and originally they said there was a 75% chance the second one would be over 41. As it happens the second crest was only 34 feet, so they were way off. Out of superstition I suggested we leave all our stuff in the upstairs living room for the entire month so we wouldn't have to move it down and up again. Yes, I'm a bit superstitious when it comes to Murphy's law. I guess Fargo has us to thank since our preparation meant there was in fact no second crest to speak of. Other cities in ND have it pretty bad though...

Also, wanted to mention Roxana Saberi - I don't know if it's actually news that people would be hearing about a lot outside of Fargo but she was in my grade school and high school class - I actually had a sleepover at her house once. She is a journalist who has just been convicted of spying in Iran and sentenced to 8 years in prison there. I am sure she is not a spy and naturally I hope they will release her before then!


Three Replies to More news

Amy Austin | April 20, 2009
Wow! What a way to reconnect with an old friend -- that sucks!!!

Scott Hardie | April 20, 2009
Her story isn't just Fargo news; it's international news. Iran's government is corrupt and these are charges are theater, but at least this didn't happen in certain other countries in the region, where she would already have been executed. I hope for her safety and early release.

Denise Sawicki | April 21, 2009
I know it's big news (Obama said he was deeply saddened by her conviction!) but over here we probably hear more about it than elsewhere.

Her parents met her and say she is doing fine. I think she will be OK. I hope so.


Prayer for the Paranoid

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Another Irritating Thing

The Indian episode isn't the only irritating thing that happened with The Cedars recently. A while before that, Darrell received an e-mail from someone claiming to be from MTV saying they had listened to his songs on the Jones Soda website, liked them, and wanted a CD to consider including in their show. Now this sounds like an obvious fake, but the thing is, some research showed that the person who sent the e-mail does exist and does work at MTV, the e-mail address was verifiable, the phone number led to a seemingly legitimate voice mail, and the address was an actual office at MTV. Go »

D&D update

The guys made it to 4th level and then we added 2 new characters. We had a dragonborn warlord and an elf ranger, at 4th level we added an eladrin wizard and a dwarf fighter. Darrell is playing the fighter and warlord, Darrin has the ranger (though he's not exactly into the game so we're lucky if we're able to call him to the table to actually make his dice rolls) and I got the wizard even though I'm DM :-P. Go »

D&D first impressions

So our books came yesterday and I've been reading the Dungeon Master's guide as scheduled while Darrell's been reading the Player's Handbook. It's quite obvious I am going to have to read the Player's Handbook too since there is not so much actual useful information in the DM guide. It has lots of pages about different playing styles, how to handle different personalities in your group, and weird stuff like how to write cryptograms, but not so much useful data on the actual rules. Go »

Would you like the receipt with you, or in the bag?

I don't really understand why people ask this. Doesn't it take longer to ask this question and wait for the answer than to just let the person do what they please with the receipt? Oh well. Go »

Broken bikes...

So, I had 3 broken bikes and no usable one really and I figured it was time to deal with the situation. Problem being I am about as strong as a wet noodle and NOT mechanically inclined. The first two are what they call "BSOs" (Bike shaped objects), cheap crappy bikes that aren't expected to last long. Go »

Flood

So... not sure exactly why I live in this ridiculous state of North Dakota. I can tell myself that we're better off than California much of the time but who's to say? Go »