• We got a puppy!! Cassie a schnoodle, who is playful, fun, and very cute.
• I got a Jeep! A few months ago, actually. Updates/upgrades/fixes have been numerous, need to get the work log started. In the mean time I’m tracking my fuel usage with fuelly, check it out here:
• The kitchen is no longer green!! Thanks to my mom, it’s a nice shade of white on the cabinets.
• I got a water softener! Woo! Fixed the dishwasher, and unplugged all my appliances. I can now do laundry, dishes and shower with some amazing water pressure and soft water!!
• The Theater has new pictures in it, thanks to Michelle who got me some awesome art for Christmas.
• I got engaged (see post below and chris-n-michelle.com)

Okay, That’s my visual commitment to come back and make real posts on these things…

With her living 4 hours away in the twin cities I got to know the roads from Colton to St. Paul well. Thankfully as with the rest of our relationship Michelle would hardly saddle me with the entire burden: she accumulated just as many miles trading weekends to drive home. Out of the nearly 72 weekends leading up to our engagement I got to see her smiling face all but one.  The weekend she was stranded in California was a sad weekend for both of us, including crying on the phone by both parties. Thankfully the phone, which we cried, laughed and got upset over was always there for us. 500+ nights in a row now I’ve heard her voice on the other end, usually the last thing before bed.

The next 18 months of our lives we’ll have just as many laughs, just as many phone calls, and just as many miles, but all of it will be leading towards the day we start our life together.

I love you dear, and  can’t wait to write the next chapter of our life.

The Grand Sandwich
Price
Average Price for sandwich and chips: $8
Service
Friendly Staff, order at the counter and they bring it out.
Food Quality
Really good bread, quality, fresh ingredients. Unique options along with the standby's.

Overall
Solid sandwich shop for a good price among other more expensive boutique shops on Grand.

Website: https://grandsandwich.com/home.php (full menu’s available online + online ordering)

Location: 1672 Grand Ave, Saint Paul, MN 

Con’s: Tiny place- not a lot of seating.

Pro’s: Was not overly busy at 2:00 on a Saturday. Fast food, fresh bread, good soup. Ton’s of beer on tap and available.

Food: I had the Trifecta (Turkey, ham and hard salami with swiss on a ciabatta roll with mayo, Italian dressing provolone, lettuce, tomato, and sprouts) and my partner in eating had the Turkey & Avocado.

The sandwich was served hot, with chips and a pickle. It was full of great fresh ingredients and had a really nice balance of flavor. The mayo wasn’t overpowering or overcompensating for any lack of taste. I got mine without onions or sprouts. Excellent sandwich. Chips were cheapie potato chips, I didn’t opt for the upgraded “premium” chips- the sandwich was enough that I left most of the chips on the plate.

The Big Cheese
Price
Average pizza price $20
Service
Seat yourself usually, wait staff was friendly, suggested items to try all 3 times service was slightly less than prompt
Food Quality
Fantastic pizza!! Indulge in the specials that can be 1/2 and 1/2 and the Italian nachos!

Overall
One of the better pizza places in Sioux Falls for sure!

Website: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cheese-Pizza/134749593229569 (full menu’s available online)

Location: 1301 East Benson Road, Sioux Falls, SD 57104

Con’s: Weird location on NE section of town.Pro’s: Nice, hasn’t been overly busy when I’ve been there. Wide range of menu for all tastes. TV’s for football, full bar, music Wednesday nights. Friendly staff, not overly attentive but very accommodating.

Food: Where to begin? Their pizza is TOP NOTCH and I would not go there and not have a slice. I have had nearly everything on the right side of their menu, which are the specials. Don’t forget you can order those 1/2 and 1/2 so everyone gets a bit of what they want. The crust is a medium weight, with plenty of flavor. The sauce tastes home-made and is zesty. plenty of topping on all the pizza’s I’ve had.

The thin crust wasn’t my thing, but was probably one of the better thin crusts I’ve had. I’d stick with hand tossed crust. The Italian nachos are a great treat for a group (they’re BIG!) but the garlic cheese bread was nothing to write home about. I have not have the chicken, or the sandwiches, but the sandwiches sure look tasty.

Favorite Pie: Meeting Place or Buffalo chicken.

Pics as soon as I get a chance to finish the rear channels etc.

Newts In Rochester
Price
Average burger price is $10 including a large portion of fries
Service
Seat yourself, waitress was friendly and prompt, suggested items to try
Food Quality
Excellent food, try the Marvin burger and share the nachos!

Overall
Stop in for one of the better burgers I've had for a price that is very fair. Solid place, nothing fancy, just good food.

Website: http://cccrmg.com/newts_menus.htm (full menu’s available online)

Pro’s: Nice place to eat, staff was helpful, you could totally tell it was a local joint, everyone knew everyone and the tables were all loud (in a great way). Everyone was drinking and watching football and enjoying good food. They have a full bar, as well as an impressive selection of bottled beers from around the world.

Con’s: Sort of hard to get to, if you don’t know where you’re going- google map it or use nav on this one!

Food: My lady friend had the “Marvin’s Burger” which was suggested by waitress. I had the Jucy Lucy, we both ordered them medium and got fries, I had water to drink as I was dehydrated.

Immediately after we ordered we saw a platter o’ nacho’s being delivered to the table next to us, and were sorry we didn’t just order that to share! They were huge and looked wonderful, the waitress said they were a local favorite. (next time)

Food arrived on time, and burgers were actually medium (hard to find these days imho). Fries were good, thick cut but crispy and very tasty, not over salted. The Marvin was fantastic, the chipolte mayo was a nice touch- I would order this next time. Juicy Lucy was good, good beef, plenty of cheese but not anything overly special, just a good solid Lucy.

I should tag this with #selfhelp but I think I’ll just skip all that. I’ve been walking and jogging a lot with my girlfriend, and I thought “wow this is great, I feel great, I’m running great! I should start running again!!!”

Problem was, I was just jogging, at someone else’s pace, with walk breaks.

I was lying to myself to convince me it was worth starting to run again. Last weekend Michelle and I went on a nice leasurely walk:

Roughly as such:

Total Distance: 6.26 km (3.9 mi)
Total Time: 1:19:07
Moving Time: 1:10:32
Average Speed: 4.75 km/h (2.9 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 5.32 km/h (3.3 mi/h)
Max Speed: 15.41 km/h (9.6 mi/h)
Min Elevation: 233 m (765 ft)
Max Elevation: 273 m (894 ft)
Elevation Gain: 322 m (1056 ft)
Recorded: Sat Sep 10 17:30:28 CDT 2011
Activity type: walking

After which, I was feeling great. We had ran a few times before that, and I thought “oh yea, this google tracks thing is awesome!” And figured I should run at home.

Then of course work picked up, consulting, blah blah.. you get the point.  Today I finally said “that’s it, I’m going to go and run some of this work stuff off, between 5 and 6 before I start working again.

Total Distance: 3.08 km (1.9 mi)
Total Time: 21:35
Moving Time: 21:24
Average Speed: 8.55 km/h (5.3 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 8.62 km/h (5.4 mi/h)
Max Speed: 14.51 km/h (9.0 mi/h)
Min Elevation: 459 m (1504 ft)
Max Elevation: 479 m (1573 ft)
Elevation Gain: 63 m (206 ft)
Recorded: Wed Sep 14 17:25:32 CDT 2011
Activity type: jog

Sadly what Google My Tracks doesn’t tell you is that my first mile was well under 10 min (rougly 8.5). My pace was out.of.control. (for not having ran in over 5 years, anyway)  It felt great until I looked down and realized my planned 1 mile run was already .89 miles in. Woops!

I turned around, and attempted to slow my pace, but it was too late. I was feeling my ankles and calves starting to tighten up: I had stretched but the pace of the first mile on a stomach full of coffee was not sitting well.

I got back to town and walked the last 1/5 of a mile at ~3 mph, stretched well, showered and came to post this up.

Hopefully it’s mental fuel for the fire, I want to be able to do a mile in a solid 6-7 min in the not too distant future.

Thanks to help in the engine tech section over at H-Body.org I’ve gotten it running but am having fuel delivery issues. Carb will likely need to be rebuilt due to excessive varnish action. Why bother if I’m planning an engine swap?  I’d like to drive the car some to see what i like/don’t like about it. How much more power does it need? Hows the suspension? etc. I’ve never driven a running HBody, figure I can get the wheezy 140 going and at least put put it around and build some impressions.

Cleanup inside has started. My barn pasture find is pretty dirty and even has the added perk of some mold growing here and there. I’ve dried it out, and started with some mold specific cleaners and leather/vinyl cleaner / treaters. Photos below.

Time to clean it up, get the output straitened around and then it’s done!