Category: Personal

Excuses, Excuses

This time I promise it will really be my last weather-related post.

I had planned to do some SMUG curriculum work this weekend, but when I woke up at 6:30 Saturday morning to play basketball, I discovered that our kitchen had a big pool of water, and that it had leaked through the floor to soak our basement carpet.

It seems that when the temperature hits -22 degrees Fahrenheit, and when your dishwasher is on an outside wall, its motor can freeze. Frozen water expands and wrecks motors. Then when it thaws, the motor can no longer hold its water.

After I turned off the water to all of Old Main, we spent a good part of Saturday with the Shop Vac pulling water out of the basement carpet and pad.

And of course, we then needed to position fans to help the floor coverings continue drying.

picture-5

Besides that unexpected pleasure, I’ve been exceptionally busy in my day job, as we’re about to launch a major new blog this week. When you see it, you’ll know why my SMUG postings have been a bit less frequent.

I’m really looking forward to you all being able to see the new blog on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the SMUG activity is going to be increasing, starting tomorrow morning.

When It’s This Cold (Part II)

Here’s my last weather-related post for a while. I couldn’t resist the update though, especially when we hit -22 Fahrenheit yesterday morning. Here was the Old Main thermostat reading:

53degrees
As before, the setting on the right is the target temperature (69), while the big number is the actual indoor temperature. It’s a little warmer upstairs, but still awfully cold. There’s no way for the furnace to keep up in a big old house like ours. Yesterday’s high was -11, and we’re not talking wind chill.

So here’s a fun little video to illustrate the benefits of our SMUG North Annex (also known as the Lewis J. and LaVonne A. Aase Motor Fleet and Retreat Center.) When it’s this cold, I’m not spending much time in the attic, but I’m glad our vehicles have a slightly warmer place to be. It’s kind of amazing to watch the car thermometer reading drop after I backed out of the garage.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6sNad4S8IU]

And as I started to say (before my Flip batteries gave out), I really appreciate having a nice warm bus (with wifi) to ride instead of having to drive.

The good news: today we topped out at 2 degrees above zero, and tomorrow should be in the 20s.

This has been a hectic week, as I’ve been working on the launch of a major new work-related blog. I’m looking forward to telling you all about it later on next week.

Meanwhile, I expect now to be able to resume some of the regular SMUG curriculum development over the weekend.

When it’s this cold…

…it doesn’t matter where you set the thermostat. In the first photo below, you see the Old Main thermostat, with the target and actual temperature. The furnace just can’t keep up.

I tell people Minnesota weather isn’t that bad (which is better than “isn’t that good,” for those of you who don’t speak Minnesotan), and that we usually have 3 weeks a year in which the temperature stays below zero F.

This is one of those weeks.

I’m on the way to university of St.Thomas for a journalism seminar. The second photo is the traffic, which is making me late (but also enabling me to compose this post via WordPress for iPhone.)

No animals or humans were harmed or endangered in the writing of this post. Traffic was stop and go, with more stop than go.

Updated: When I got to St. Thomas (about 9:45), I added this video I shot during the stop and go traffic. It’s not my best work, because I was paying attention to the road (though I was only going about 3 mph), but I think the message is good for young people considering journalism or PR careers.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNW38ta84sI]

Dr. Seltman’s Opus

Among the reasons for my relatively lighter posting in the last few days is this video, which I produced (with some of my colleagues) to honor Kent Seltman, who celebrates his retirement from Mayo Clinic at a reception this afternoon.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjtCAmmT4h8]

Unlike the character played by Richard Dreyfuss, Kent not only left his influence within the lives of the people with whom he worked at Mayo. He actually did get to write his Magnum Opus. Kent is the author, with Leonard Berry, of Management Lessons from Mayo Clinic: Inside One of the World’s Most Admired Service Organizations. You can read a review here.

Monday Morning Chess and iPhone Blogging

We have had house guests this weekend at Old Main – the Kelley family from Louisville. This morning our daughter Ruthie vanquished Christian Kelley in chess. Apparently he has difficulty focusing in her presence. I’m also using this as a chance to show Christian’s Dad, Rick, a soon-to-be-SMUGgle, how to blog with a iPhone.

Here’s a post-victory photo as they engage in the rematch…and a photo of the current state of play.