156 thoughts on “April 24, 2013: Respiration”

  1. 11 years ago today I was going to some of my final classes for my undergraduate degree and being really excited about how the Twins were doing.

    1. The Twins were 13-8 and 1 game out of first 11 years ago today (after a road loss at the lowly Devil Rays).

  2. 11 years ago today most of my coworkers were being moved to Omaha or had found other work (or not), and I was preparing to begin working from home.

    1. 11 years ago today I was still a lawyer in Wessington Springs and had no idea how my life was going to change.

      1. 11 years ago today, I was just ending my first year of law school and I'd known my future wife for a little over three weeks.

          1. 11 years ago today, Sheenie and I had already "officially"* been dating for 15 months.

            *I think trying to figure out when a relationship "officially" started is pretty silly and juvenile, but it's not particularly hard to remember if your first date was an Inaugural Ball. We measure our relationship by Presidential Terms.

            1. Stef and I got married on the 2-year anniversary of the day we met, so also easy to remember

              1. The Milkmaid and I decided we were for real on St. Patrick's Day. Tough to forget.

                We married on December 20th, which is never tough for me to remember unless it's actually December, in which case she and I are both so preoccupied with Christmas that the anniversary comes and we go, "Okay, it's here. Should we do something?"

                1. my first "date" with mrsS was at a Convocation address by Rep. Bob Matsui at the Alma Mater. Yes, I am that romantic.

                  1. Ours was the two of us sitting around playing Final Fantasy IX with my best friends Greg (Johnson, the Royal Rumble winner, for you CdLers) and Josh (who CdLers will also know). It was a little strange because the Milkmaid and I knew there was something going on, while the other guys didn't. Josh had been told by a meddlesome girl that the Milkmaid was interested in him, and as Josh is very sensitive, I knew he'd overreact to finding out the truth (which, later, was indeed a difficulty).

                    The meddlesome girl, for her part, apparently was sabotaging a bunch of my near-relationships by warning off the girls, saying I was a player. There was some truth to that claim at the time, but she admitted later that she had hoped to get with me. The funny thing is that if she'd just asked and hadn't done all that stupid stuff, I may have been interested.

                    The story of the Milkmaid and I getting together is interesting, with backstabbing, subterfuge and jilted secondary characters. That's pretty humorous, considering that we live a pretty dull (fulfilling, but dull) life today.

                    1. The story of the Milkmaid and I getting together is interesting, with backstabbing, subterfuge and jilted secondary characters.

                      Sounds like a good game of Survivor.

                    4. Dr. Chop and I went to Perkins Family Restaurant on our first date. We both worked the second shift at different retail outlets and met at Perkins for "dinner"at 1 am. I'm surprised she went out with me a second time.

                2. J & I became officially official on February 29th. It was early in the morning since I'd done my radio show the night before and got home a bit late after going out to eat with my co-host. She misunderstood my fumbling attempt at trying to make things official as me saying I didn't want to be with her. That sucked but you know, we made it work.

                3. You got married the day before Juniors 1st birthday. Mrs. SoCal and I agreed to be more than friends the day after Thanksgiving (we were both in college and stuck on campus for Thanksgiving). We got married the day after my 24th birthday.

        2. I'd known Philosofette for a couple months, and we'd been dating for about 3 weeks (no clear start date for us).

          Junior year of college, nothing else much to report from that time.

    2. I had just passed the one-year anniversary at my job and had purchased a house 5 months earlier.

    3. I was in high school. Hadn't started my first job yet, though I may have interviewed for it by then.

    4. 11 years. Sophomore in college, around now I decided to pursue a math major in addition to my chem major. I wouldn't meet my future wife until the following fall semester, and we wouldn't start dating until December.

      8 years ago today, I proposed. That turned out pretty well.

    5. 11 years ago I was on academic suspension at school and working my terrible job at the arcade. I can't remember much else from that time period. J & I were friends but it would be another two years before we were together.

    6. 11 years ago i was still a dirtball living in uptown taking a semester off and working 4 jobs including a preschool and a co-op, and moonlighting at an ice cream store and a sammich shop getting ready to go off to japan for school in a couple months. good times.

      oh, i was still smoking like a chimney then too.

    7. 11 years ago today I was throwing javelin and Shot-put at a track meet. There wasn't snow in Fargo so far as I can remember. It was probably flooding a bit though. I wouldn't have my first date with my better half for 284 days.

      1. javelin!

        just one of the reasons I'm sad about having hurt my knee playing football my freshman year is missing the opportunity to throw the javelin. spear-chucking looked like a lot of fun, and I was built for it.

    8. it's pretty amazing how many of you had either just met or would meet your wives within a year in 2002.

        3. I'm not. I was livin up the single life in college back then, before I'd even made (or really had my first good) beer.

    9. 11 years ago today, I was living in Hartford, SD and working in Sioux Falls. Already had our 2 kids. Nothing against SoDak, but I sure am happy we got back to lake country.

    10. Can't think of anything remarkable 11 years ago. We were in our 6th year in Omerha, and 11th year of matrimony.

          1. I suppose there is that. I was making Davanni's pizza, too, so definitely not unremarkable.

              2. Fair enough. I sort of flip flop between pizza and burgers. Probably my favorite foods. I still have a palate like a twelve year old.

    13. 11 years ago today, I working crazy hours at a crazy job in NYC and living in Brooklyn with the man who is now the resident husband.

    14. 11 years ago, I had been married for four months and would be finishing up my first year of law school. Con Law!

      1. I think we've probably established that you didn't go to the SBG College of Law, but we were in fact going through Law School at the same time.

        1. I think that's right. I went to the law school across town that would lose to the SBG College of Law's hockey team. Every. Year.

    15. I'll play along. 11 years ago today I had already been with Dr. Chop for 6 months, and was looking forward to moving to buffalo for graduate school.

      1. I was in the second year if my second faculty job, approaching our 14th anniversary. The Girl was in preschool.

    17. 11 years ago was sophomore year of high school. I had a faux-hawk and drove a beat-up VW Golf with flames painted on it. I spent that year listening to Rancid and lusting after a skater chick from Guam in one of those so-intense-it's-physically-painful teenage crushes.

  3. Wild Playoff Chase

    Big win last night. 2-1 over the Kings (with a pretty great game saving ... uh, save by Backstrom in the final seconds). That win guaranteed the Wild will finish ahead of the Coyotes.

    Dallas lost to San Jose as well. That ensures that the Wild will finish ahead of the Stars (Norm Green Sucks!)

    The Wild need one win in their final two games to make the playoffs. (or a Columbus loss in their final two).

    San Jose and St. Louis both won and clinched playoff berths last night. The highest seed the Wild can get at this point is the 5 seed.

    4. LA -- 57 pts (clinched playoff berth - Wild can't catch them)
    5. SJ -- 57 pts (clinched playoff berth)
    6. STL -- 56 pts (clinched playoff berth)
    7. MIN -- 53 pts
    8. CLB -- 51 pts (Wild's Magic Number = 2)
    ------------
    9. DET -- 50 pts (Wild's Magic Number = 4)

    Tonight's Games

    Los Angeles @ Detroit
    San Jose @ Phoenix - If SJ gets a point tonight, the best seed the Wild can get is the 6 seed.

      1. To catch San Jose, the Sharks have to lose both remaining games in regulation, and the Wild have to win both remaining games.

        To catch St. Louis, the Wild have to win both remaining games without going to a shootout, while the Blues get one point out of two games. Or, if the Blues lose both games in regulation, then the Wild have to win both remaining games in any way.

        1. The 6 seed would be nice, as the Canuckleheads are a pretty good matchup for the Wild. But Kesler's back now, so the Wild might be better off 7th. The Ducks have been pretty soft over the past month or so after a scorching start.

    2. When the Sabres fired Ruff they were 6-10-1 for 13 points through 17 games (0.76 pt/gm). In the 30 games since they've gone 14-11-5 (33 pts, 1.1 pt/gm), for a total of 20-21-6 (46 pts, 0.97 pts/gm)

      1. Little solace for the Wild with the Kings at Detroit tonight. I still can't believe the refs missed that call.

    1. In your faces, lawyers and artists and clergymen and bureaucrats and chemists and zamboni-drivers!
      And everyone else except Punman!

    3. They must not include the consulting side of actuaries. The minimum there is 50 hours per week.

    7. Wow, sociologist 19th? Huh. I'm feeling a bit better about my degree choice, though it remains to be seen if I can get that sort of job.

    8. My wife's job (Physical Therapist) is #9. I don't see my job (Restaurant Manager) listed. Probably because the list only goes to 200.

    12. I'd be surprised product engineer wasn't on there if I wasn't planning a week long trip to Thailand followed by a week long trip to Jacksonville, followed by a week long trip to Toledo.

    1. The Twins are +31 in walks. I believe only the A's and Reds have a better walk differential (walks drawn vs. allowed).

  6. I just realized that the Bob Dylan/Wilco/My Morning Jacket show is the same night I already have tickets to Dawes. That's about as annoying as the fact that Dr. John and Gary Clark, Jr. are performing at the same time on Friday at JazzFest (and MUCH more annoying than the fact that B.B. King is playing at the same time as Dave Matthews).

    1. Dr. John and Gary Clark, Jr. are performing at the same time

      That sucks, in an awesome way. I suppose, if you've not seen either of them before, go to Dr. John since he is in his seventies. Otherwise I'd probably see whomever I hadn't seen yet.

      1. Sheenie and I were using the exact same logic when we discussed the predicament.

  9. So, it appears that Joel Heitkamp might be right about the Fargo flood. The NWS is apparently going to revise downward. That's good news.

    1. It sounds like they're still talking in the 38-40 foot range? It's an incredible testament to the flood fighting efforts that a flood of that magnitude is considered one which is relatively easy to deal with.

  11. I didn't see it mentioned yesterday, but the Vikings' new uniforms have leaked.

    My opinion:
    Lots of small things that are bad: the number font, the matte helmet, the color-block socks, the purple pants, the potential for color-block socks and purple pants, the potential for purple jerseys and pants and socks [shudder]. However all of those are quibbles considering that the Vikings have replaced an abomination with a theoretically halfways-decent looking uniform. I could actually cheer for this team again, so long as they never go full-unitard.

    For people who discount uniforms' impact on casual fans, there is a strong correlation between my drop in interest for the Vikings and the time at which they introduced the last horrible uniforms. It wasn't immediate, but it wore on me and I gave up.

    Classical uniforms + horrible play = nobility in the face of impossible odds. See Pre-2004 BoSox, Cleveland Browns, probably the Senators before their move to MN.
    Ugly uniform + horrible play = minor leaguers wasting your time. See Tampa Bay _Devil_ Rays, creamsicle TB Bucs, Jax Jags.

    1. I'm not a big uniform guy, but everything except the purple pants looks like an improvement. I've been waiting for the Vikings to go back to "purple"- it's been more of a blue for a while, IMO.
      I actually like the matte helmets- I like high-gloss, too, but the matte is better, I think. As long as they stay away from the metallic shiny terribleness that is Notre Dame's current helmets, I don't really care.

    2. Jaguars going bold with a two tone matte helmet

      I like that the Vikings are going for the 'classic' look, but why not just go all the way and go back to the classic.
      I am not a fan of the purple pants.

      1. I actually like the white-over-purple look. The number font is stupid, but the shift from terrible to significantly-less-terrible is an overall win.

    3. My initial thought was that the number font is awful. It feels too xtreme. Otherwise, the uniforms are pretty decent.

    1. I said the other day that I didn't think Gardy was going anywhere. And, frankly, I don't know that he should. He's not a perfect manager, by any means, but he's far from the worst one out there.

      1. Pretty much. There's little I'd expect a new manager would be better at, and a lot a new manager could be worse at.
        Tito Francona's not walking through that door.

  13. Aw heck, Marv Bossart died. He was a fixture anchoring WDAY news when I was growing up. I never forget the first time I met him while walking down the corridors of MSU (he was also a journalism teacher) and realizing that sitting behind a news desk hides how really short a person might be.

  14. 11 years ago today I was still smoking and working at Lawson Software and it was just a few months after the IPO. Life was good at the time, but the tech bubble was starting to go pop. When I did quit, I used a nicotine patch for awhile, and it gave me the most bizarre, intense, vivid and lucid dreams I've ever had. Rather enjoyable, I thought.

    1. Reading that triggered my gag reflex.

      I remember prior to the 2011 season having a meltdown on another forum about how completely idiotic it was for the Twins to trade Hardy, and that them even discussing it was folly. A bunch of people told me I was "overreacting" and "the Twins will be fine." Sigh. I'm so glad they fired Bill Smith. It was just years too late.

      1. Blaming it on Smith seems weird as the rest of the senior staff is still there. While he had final say and may have had a win-now perspective, he wasn't the talent evaluator.

        1. While I realize this to be true intellectually, it remains an emotional trigger.

          It's like... I got really sick as a kid. High fever, strep throat for a week, all that. The last thing I ate before I got sick was strawberry banana yogurt. There's approximately a 0% chance that's what caused my sickness, but I couldn't eat it for years. I just tied the two things together. Like bad personnel moves and Billy Smith.

          1. Of course, in this case, Smith was the final decision maker. His pulling the trigger on these trades was directly related to the trigger being pulled on them. So... there's plenty of blame that should end up in his lap.

  16. Hey, just wanted everyone know that my wife finally got the off the mechanical ventilation. She was on for a whole week! So that is very good news. Hopefully out of ICU sometime tonight or tomorrow. We still have to figure out what permanent damage was done, but this was a good first step.

    My wife has a ton of friends and they've been going bonkers not being able to see her. At first they were overwhelming me with texts, calls, etc so I had to institute a nightly group e-mail update from me on her status. That helped with the calls and texts.

    But now I discovered they are planning to provide dinners for me and my son, which is nice, but they had a meal schedule planned out to the 3rd week of May! I told them let's just go through next week but they "comprised" by scheduling through May 10. I also tried to remind them that we are just two people but I have a feeling we are going to get full pans of hot dishes and such. Again I appreciate their generosity but I know we won't be able to eat all the food that's coming my way. Might be a good topic for a WGOM fitness post.

    Anyway thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers and let me know if you need some hot dish in the next week or so.

    6. I just had to report that we got our first food delivery: Chicken and Pasta, carrots, sweet peas, biscuits, and a brownie cookie. Oh and a tub of butter and some ranch dressing. It was delicious but could easily feed a family of 5.

      1. Midwest serving determination: Take actual number of servings needed, multiply by two or three.

        My mother grew up on a farm where she cooked for her family of 12 plus the other farm workers. She'd cook meals for 10 for our family of 4.

        I'm not sure I said this yesterday, but hang in there.

      2. whaaat, you don't like their cooking? Eat, eat! You look so skinny!

        Minnesodans are just jewish grandmothers in disguise.

        Good news, free! Best wishes on (a) continued recovery by the Mrs. and (b) portion control by you and the kid.

      3. Over/under on pasta meals? Doesn't matter, I'll take the over.

        Glad to hear things are looking up. Will keep sending the good vibes your way.

    7. Good news.
      Some of EAR's homeschooling friends brought dinners after LBR was born. That and the fact that they were Midwestern Servings (so we could eat them for 2 or 3 nights) were very helpful in keeping our wits.

    8. Awesome news!

      And let them bring the food. Yes, it'll be more than you need, and it may seem both overwhelming and wasteful in some ways, but they want to do something to help, and it's the only thing they can think of to do. Sometimes, when people want to do something, the only thing you can do is smile and say thank you.

      Hang in there. You and your spouse remain in our prayers.

      1. Yes, it’ll be more than you need, and it may seem both overwhelming and wasteful in some ways, but they want to do something to help, and it’s the only thing they can think of to do. Sometimes, when people want to do something, the only thing you can do is smile and say thank you.

        Man, you're good Padre. Thanks!

  18. flipped to the ESPN baseball game and the first words I heard was 'I never thought Id miss the Metrodome'. Im guessing the conversation was about the crappy weather. But still, UGH.

  21. PiPress doing a big spread today (tomorrow morning?) on statistical analysis done by the Twins. I think it was supposed to be written favorably for them, but I think they still come across as way behind the times. At least they're trying, I guess.

  22. Sir Charles: "Maurice Cheeks could only see out of one eye -- the one Dr. J was in."

    Kenny: "That's a good eye."

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