miscellaneous

A few tidbits from the last few weeks around here:

1. In case you were wondering why we haven't gotten on that long list of final to-do's for the duplex, one of the reasons (besides of course being out of town) was that during the major storm a few weeks ago, besides damage to our fence, we also lost a few shingles and had a leaky roof, which we did not realize right away. And so, our spare time/ house time was spent patching the roof (and putting buckets in the attic), not upgrading hallways and painting floors.

 

I wish I would have taken a pic of the tarp from the street, but I didn't, so you will have to use your imaginations. The missing shingles were almost at the very apex of the roof, on top of the dormer almost three stories up! Neither David nor myself was brave enough to do the initial patch (just with the tarp) so we had to employ Michael to crawl up there and straddle the peak to get the hole covered. This pic is merely a pic of David rearranging the tarp after another storm came through and blew it sideways. Crawling up there to just move the tarp wasn't so bad, I even tried it myself. Luckily since I've taken this pic our handyman has been free, and has patched it properly with some shingles. Less than $100 and no more leaky roof!

Oh, and while we were up there trying to move the tarp we had a few little helpers who were just dying to come out and see what the commotion was about:

2. Remember how we got to work the Kenny Chesney Concert at Target Field just over a week ago? Well I didn't take any pics so I am not going to do a whole post on it, but I will say that it was absolutely insane. The fans were drunk and obnoxious, which I guess is good for business. I won't be attending a concert like that anytime soon (unless you want to buy me a ticket) as I can't imagine spending my hard earned money on a ticket to then either a. go sober and have drunk people fall all over me and spill beer on me or b. go spend even more money on over priced beer to make everyone around me not seem quite so obnoxious. But whatever floats people's boats, right? And vending a concert is a nice change of pace from the usual baseball game.

I also got to bar-tend at the Tom Petty concert that happened at Target Center a few weeks back. TC was short staffed for the event, so they opened it up to any Target Field vendors who wanted to go over and help out. It was terribly disorganized and a little stressful (since I have never bar-tended or used a cash register or credit card machine before), but I would probably do it again if the opportunity arose. It's always nice to make money while listening to live music; and getting to pour drinks instead of just open bottles was a fun addition to the usual.

3. It was hot last week.

 I thought this was bad at 10:30 at night. But that was before this happened the next day.

Luckily the window AC stayed strong and managed to keep the attic cool enough to sleep in (and luckily we did not lose power for more than a few hours during the day).

I worried about the pups staying cool in the attic (especially with the prospect of the power going out and them being trapped on the 3rd floor with no open windows or breeze), but they toughed it out napped through the heat wave. Franklin didn't seem phased by the warmer temps and was running around cray cray as usual, Winston wasn't quite his chipper self the whole time, so he spent a little more time sprawled out in the air-conditioned attic with a cool washcloth.

4. We had our last.ever training session at the Metrodome yesterday for the final Vikings season. *tear* But really, it was sad. My first job was there. And no matter what other Minnesotans say, enjoying a game, either baseball or football, indoors in the climate controlled stadium is way better than outdoors at say, Target Field. Well, maybe not always, but I just really love the Dome. I'm gonna miss the it and the vendors there. Because vending at the new Vikings stadium, just like at Target Field now, is not going to be even close to the same. So allow me to be sentimental about it for a minute or two. David thinks I am being silly, but I know he's gonna miss it too.

Like our union rep said in an email: Here's to "the  32^nd and final season at the Dome.  A lot of us started our vending careers at this stadium.  I know a lot of memories from the Dome will live on long after the building is gone.  Let us go out in style."

5. I leave for Florida tomorrow! Sun, sisters, vacation- it's gonna be perfect!

Say a prayer for the puppies- ya know, that they will continue to get food and water for the week as David watches them!