Mi casa es su casa

Eduardo and I had our first meeting with out realtor Sylvia and a loan officer today. It was so exciting. I love our realtor- she is Boriqua but also truly Minnesotan. A great combination, in my opinion. Also, the idea of having a home of my own, complete with a yard, a grill, and a place for my friends and wife to stay when they come to visit is extremely appealing. This is going to be only one of quite a few major changes in Eduardo's and my life in the next few months. Check back regularly for updates.

Snowed In

Over the weekend, Minneapolis was pummeled with almost a foot of snow. It began on Friday night and snowed all the way through Sunday morning. This is nothing new for Minnesotans, but I was surprised and irritated by the city's reaction to it. The city did not declare a snow emergency until Sunday afternoon. A "snow emergency" (for those of you who may not know what that is) is when the city tells you to get your car off the street so the plows can come through and if you don't do it, you get towed and/or ticketed. It's awesome. While it would have been nice to be able to drive safely on Saturday, this was not my main problem with Minneapolis' reaction to the snow. The problem was that, even though the plows were not supposed to come through until after 9:00pm on Sunday, there was a disconnect. Plows had started to come through late Saturday night and Sunday morning. People's cars were still on the street, meaning they got plowed in and had their cars surrounded by 3-4 feet of snow. Try driving out of that. It doesn't work.

I like to think that most people, especially in the Midwest, do their best to follow the rules and avoid run-ins with the law (although my career depends on an opposite conclusion.) If I had been one of those people whose car had been plowed in and had to spend an hour shoveling my car out of its winter prison just to avoid being towed, I would have felt a tremendous injustice. Trying to follow the rules and literally impeded from doing so by the City of Minneapolis from every angle. It's just not right.

More snow starts tomorrow. I hope the lessons of experience will prevent a similar problem this time around. On the other hand, in true Midwestern fashion, perhaps our leaders are just trying to build character via wintry ineptitude.

3rd Try

I am starting again. I have blogged before, sort of. First, I had a blog through Friendster and it kicked me out for mentioning prescription drugs by name. Nothing fancy. Just a nasal spray. What can I say?- It was allergy season. Then I was excited by the prospect of a group blog. It lasted for about a year and was successful, but it has been abandoned like a piece of art that you start out so excited to make, and then get bored half way through.

I think I was coming at this all wrong-- I saw blogging as more of a discussion or dialogue than it really is. Now that I am a loyal reader of blogs by my best friend/wife, other friends and maybe a stranger or two, I understand that it's more of a monologue. Self-indulgent, maybe. But it wouldn't be the first time.

So, welcome. Be a loyal reader. I can't promise suspense or side-splitting comedy all the time, but I will try to be interesting and not too obscure. Or, maybe it's good to be obscure as then I'm more interesting? Only time will tell.