Curling - It's a Minnesota and an Olympic Thing

Curling is a strange sport. People pushing smooth rocks across a sheet of ice to push the rocks of their competitors out of the bull's eye. It's not a quick sport, and not an immediately understandable sport, but it's a Minnesota sport and a Scandinavian sport. To do curling you must have ice, and the Duluth area of Minnesota, in the upper part of the state next to Lake Superior, has a LOT of ice. 

Duluth, Minnesota, sits next to the far Western part of 
Lake Superior in the far North of the state. It gets REALLY 
cold and gets a LOT of snow, and having a sport that is 
ice related makes sense. We have curling clubs all over 
the Minnesota area, but the Duluth club is considered one 
of the best. 

So, since we have a lot of ice, we do curling. There are curling clubs and venues throughout the state, but the club in Duluth is considered the best, and they're doing marvelously in the Olympics. We're going to the Gold Medal round now in mixed doubles, and I'm so very pleased! Thus, I'm running a bit late today - I stayed up to watch the match last night and got moving a bit slowly this morning. Still, it's a swimming day, so I have to be in the car in a bit more than 20 minutes. 

I'm giving you an extra large photo today so that you can take a look at 
what curling is all about. Is it a sport? Well, it's not a sweat fest like 
skiing or flash like skating, but it's quiet skills appeal to me as a resident 
of Minnesota. 

The Olympics in general have been absolutely fantastic thus far. I adore the Winter Olympics - even though I despise the cold and I'm not a great fan of snow (especially when I have to shovel it). Still, I live in a land of ice and snow up here in the Frozen Northlands, and even though I don't have the skiing mountains of my youth, there's plenty of ice to keep me occupied. The figure skaters take all the bling and audiences, but there's just something about curling that really appeals to me. And now we're actually going for the gold. Yeah - Minnesota's Duluth Curling Club did well in their choice of team to send to the Olympics. 

The Duluth Curling Club is a large structure with at least 
seven different lanes for curling. That's a lot of real 
estate, a lot of heating bills, and a large membership. 
People interested in the sport who are very good at it, 
come from all over to play here, and the Olympic teams 
are generally chosen from the membership here. 

So, since I'm running late, I'm wrapping this up and heading to the swimming pool. No frozen sheets of ice for me today, liquid water only! LOL Have an excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

I'm Glued to the Olympics

The Winter Olympics are my favorite Olympics, even though I dislike the cold and snow in real life. Nonetheless, the sports are far more interesting for me. I was an ice skater, and a horrible skier - most definitely NOT my sport. I suspect if I had better equipment, I would have enjoyed the experience much more. But, at least I learned how to ski on decent mountains - the mountains around the Aspen/Snowmass area - some of the best slopes in the world. 

Aspen Highlands Mountain actually is the 
Southern border of the town. At the very 
bottom of this image, you can see a speckled 
semi-circle - that's houses. That's Aspen, at 
least the Southern edge.  

I'd rather have a sheet of solid ice, however, and a set of blades strapped to my feet. I've always enjoyed ice skating, and with DH and my larger family all being ice hockey people, it's a good thing I was on skates from the time I was a small child. Most people spending the summer in Aspen, Colorado would be hiking the mountains or kayaking down the rivers. I went to the ice arena on the Western side of the town and learned how to skate for ice dancing while one of the professional ice show tours summered over in the town. 

The Ice Capades summered over in Aspen for 
several years in the late 1960's and early 1970's. 
I took skating lessons in ice dancing from a lovely 
man who had a Great Pyrenees dog named 
Charlie. It's typical of me that I remember the dog 
and forget the teacher's name - LOL. This was in 
the day of school figures too, so I spent a lot of 
hours going around circles on one edge or another. 

But, I'm totally addicted to the Olympics in general, and to the Winter Olympics specifically. I remember watching the broadcast of Jean Claude Killy ski down the slopes at the Grenoble games in 1968. No color broadcasting at that time, and the TV my parents had at the time wasn't the greatest, but I was totally glued to it for those Olympic games. I've been a fan ever since, and the Winter games really appeal to me. I suppose growing up in an area with skiing, skating and other winter sports available every winter didn't hurt, but I wasn't a super athletic person as a kid, so I didn't actually participate in any winter sports. LOL 

Jean Claude Killy was my first crush as a kid. He 
was a very good looking young man, and he won 
three gold medals in the Grenoble games - for 
Downhill, Slalom and Giant Slalom. A wonderful 
skier throughout his life. 

But, I'm getting ready to head off to the shop. We have SO much to do before we close. I spent several hours working on the latest items to pass onward to Travis and got that taken care of while watching speed skating yesterday, so I've done the next step, and I'm onward to the next one now. One step at a time - that's the only way to make it these days. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Olympics Are Finally Here Again - YIPPEE!

I was up late last night watching as much of the Opening Ceremonies as possible, but I'm running late, so I'm just doing a really quick check-in. Have a great weekend, we'll be glued to the Olympics as much as possible. I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini. 

A Treadmill Saga and a Scissor Lift? Fancy Equipment!

I didn't get quite my full 45 minutes on the treadmill this morning. I can't run/walk without tunes. I don't know about other people, but for me - tunes are essential to take my mind out of my room and into the virtual reality scenery on my screen. Running is, essentially, one of the most BORING physical activities EVER. But I do it three days a week for my health and general fitness. I can't be in the swimming pool more than three days a week because the chlorine is complete hell on my skin. So I run/walk for three days and I swim for three days. It works out well. 

I'm only on the treadmill three times a week, and in 
the pool for three days as well. That gives me six 
days of solid activity to start my days. It's keeping 
my weight under control and I'm at the weight that 
I want. 

But to run, I need two components. I need the treadmill to be hooked up to my virtual scenery films, and I need my Sirius XM tunes. Today, I needed to re-log in to Sirius, so that took a bit more time than usual and I ended up with about 40 minutes instead of my usual 45. Still, both DH and I (and probably Chickie too) are running on empty. There's SO MUCH to do before the closing sale begins. 

I've subscribed to SiriusXM for years and years. It's what 
I have in my car and on my phone. I also consider my tunes 
an essential part of my treadmill days. For swimming, I 
listen to audio books. 

So far I'm very impressed with Travis. He's massively organized, very much in contact, and is keeping us to a schedule that will allow this whole "Going Out of Business" thing to actually work! While I'm working with Travis, getting him whatever information or doing whatever action required, DH is working on the shop making sure that everything is correctly labelled, priced, and actually in inventory. What a job! 

A scissor lift would make putting the sale banner at the 
store front a LOT easier than ladders would. I know 
they're available for rent. I'll have to look into it. 

But today is February 6th, and the clock is ticking down. There's still a HUGE amount of things that need to get done/finished before our "Going Out of Business" begins. I had been hoping our landlord still had access to a scissor lift - I had seen him working with one in the past. But, I had a chance to actually ask him while he popped in to the store yesterday, and no. He no longer has access to that equipment, and also is running his business solo these days. A LOT of work for one older guy who has usually had minions of one sort or another to help him with odd jobs. So, we'll have to figure this one out on our own. It'll happen, I just don't quite know how/when. Have a great day. Slava Ukraini. 

Life Continues - Busy as Anything and ICE Is Still Lurking in the Cities

Yesterday was VERY busy, and I ended up spending almost all afternoon on stuff for Travis. But I did get my meals made for the next week, and my "Ogre Juice" for the next week as well. Today. after swimming, I have a dental checkup at 7:30 am, and then on to work. I have 14 items that I need to send to Travis in three days, so I'm pushing to get those finished and sent off. DH apparently has some of the information I need, but I don't think he's actually given it to me yet. *sigh*

I suspect Travis is a good 20 years older than this 
photo, but it's hard to say for sure. I haven't met 
him in person. I do hope if I get a chance to meet him, 
he won't be this wizened little old man - LOL. 

I ended up going to the grocery store closest to me THREE  times yesterday. Once for my regular shopping, a second time because I forgot something, and a third time because their shelves hadn't been restocked when I had been there earlier, and I needed two more items. It's a good thing the store is only a mile from my house! But it still was a major rush. 

This is my main grocery store - Lunds & Byerlys. The two 
stores merged in the late 70's or early 80's. It's only a mile 
from my house, which makes it very convenient. It's not 
the least expensive, but that's OK too - the quality is there. 

I spent a lot of time yesterday on the phone getting this or that changed or this or that notified about things regarding our upcoming sale or business closure. There's just SO much to do. But these first two weeks are the worst, at least in terms of things I need to check out and notify Travis about. Then we'll be getting things worked out, and, of course, we're also still in the middle of reorganizing, pulling items that we don't want to put into the clearance sale, and otherwise working on stuff. Stuff never truly ends. 

I'm not really much of a fan of to-do lists, 
but sometimes they have their place. When 
it comes to this store closing, they're 
essential. He's supplied us with a very 
detailed schedule, and we need to get everything 
on the schedule done on time. 

It's 25 degrees today, almost balmy (which will make going to my dental check-up appointment this morning much easier). Oh, and the government will be pulling 700 ICE agents out of Minnesota. Of course, that will still leave 2000 agents remaining! Can you say "Overkill"? Such bullshit! So, that's life in a war zone. It continues onward, but those "interesting" times that we would rather not be living in are continuing. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

A Bit Longer Post than Yesterday - LOL

I have a bit more time today, so we're back in business. Although, the dental appointment I thought was scheduled for Tuesday actually is scheduled for Thursday (calendar mixup on my part). So, I'll be tight on time again tomorrow. Still, I finally get a day off today, and I really need it. I have NOTHING to eat in my refrigerator, so grocery shopping, etc is essential, as well as a day in the kitchen. 

It's going to be a VERY busy "Day Off" and it's the only 
day I get this week, so I'll grab it by the horns and make 
the most of it. 

The store is starting to look really good - cleaned up, spruced up, and almost ready for whatever Travis will assign to me next. The basement, where DH has worked exclusively for more than two weeks, is looking better than it did when we moved in. Shocking! That was a TON of work on his part, and I really appreciate his efforts. 

Although it's not the holidays any more, this 
still looked like a good photo to add here - LOL. 

But we still have a lot to accomplish, and a lot to get ready. I probably won't take much of a breath, but Travis is guiding us along through this process, step-by-step. Although almost everything is also available in his book, being in daily email contact with him (and he's good with responding quickly to questions), is working out quite well. We're sticking to the detailed timetable that he provided to us, and if I had any hair, I would certainly have gained a few grey ones from this process. 

I strongly suspect that Travis is a bit older 
than this photo (although it's a great photo). 
Still, if he can help us get the store closed, 
his fees will be more than worth it. And he's 
in contact with me every day, or responding 
to questions I have for him every day. So I'm 
taking advantage of his experience and advice. 

Of course, having our internet at home crash last week wasn't a great thing either, but we're back up and running. I had a wonderful technician who was sent out by Xfinity, and after he isolated that it wasn't inside the house, he started looking at the lines and connections outside. Apparently there were some issues with connections at the rooftop level, so he was on a ladder dealing with that. But it really didn't take long, and we were up and running once again. Thank goodness! 

It seems like all of my days recently mirror this 
crazy cartoon. Things will get better, but we 
still have a LONG way to come. 

So, I hope your day runs smoothly. I'm going to be doing my absolute best to make sure that MY day is smooth today because only one day off in the week means everything has to click in like clockwork. Be kind, smile, Slava Ukraine, and ICE out!. 

No Time!

Sorry guys! I'm completely out of time today to post. I'll be back tomorrow with, hopefully, a bit more time to chat. Have an excellent Tuesday. 

Slava Ukraini.