September 2017 – Page 3

Mystery Package in Kenton

What could be inside this gingham packaging?

First Imperfect Produce Delivery

I’m trying out Imperfect Produce, a company with a mission I like. They take food that is not quite ready for the grocery store market and sell it at a discount.

Here’s my first order. As you can see, there was much variety. I got $10 off my first order, so we shall see how future deliveries go.

11/23/17 Update: I experienced three boxes and after that canceled the service. I really liked how easy it was to adjust your order and I love the mission behind the company. But the prices weren’t as amazing as I had hoped, often times not being less than my grocery store, even before adding in the delivery fee. Because I am working on a thrifty food challenge, it made more sense to cancel.

Postcard from Minneapolis

Here’s a Postcard from Sara who wonders if I will see her, or this postcard first. Answer: her.

Future me can also tell you that I’ve had this book on hold at the library for about a month now. It’s very popular.

Payoff! September Report

We’re only 11 days into this project, but already there are things to report!

What I paid toward the loan in August. By the time the challenge started, I had already paid my usual $189.37 payment, so there’s nothing to report there. But I did make an additional payment of $554.29, plus one more additional payment of $48.24. This makes $602.53 additional payment, for a total August payment of $791.90. Take that, student loan debt!

How much I paid toward the principal and how much toward the interest. This month I paid $590.02 to the principal and $12.51 to the interest. (These numbers don’t reflect the regular monthly payment amounts. Those amounts will be present in future months.)

Where the money for my extra payments came from. My notes say that I had originally put $224.77 into the budget line, so that’s where I started. I decided cross my fingers that my computer will keep on chugging along, and put the $310.00 I had saved toward a new one into the Payoff! goal. Once I achieve this goal I can save up for a new computer. After that, “new computer” will be a regular line item in my budget, allotting for a new one every five years. In that same vein, I had been saving bits of money up for an Instant Pot, a poetry post, and my reverse lost bed. That $19.52 was added to my extra payments. This was part of a practice called a Wish Farm, the concept of which is outlined in this article. I really like this idea and will reinstate it after I pay off this loan.

A list of what I didn’t buy in order to put more money toward this project. So that’s what I didn’t buy. Parts of a new computer, an Instant Pot, a poetry post, and a reverse loft bed.

Any roadblocks I’m having toward this goal. Right now, I’m very excited about this goal.

Here’s the first graph:And here is my progress.

I return to Portland to find I’ve entered some sort of hell.

Having spent five lovely days in breezy Minneapolis, Minnesota I returned to Portland and found:

The Gorge was on fire. A teenager being irresponsible with fireworks started a fire that burned through large swaths of everyone’s favorite hiking destination. Multnomah Lodge was only saved due to an all-night battle by firefighters. I-84 was closed for more than a week, Hood River lost a chunk of their tourist season, towns had to evacuate, hikers were stranded overnight, and many people posted pictures of their favorite Columbia River Gorge sites on social media. The sorrow was immense.

Ash was everywhere. The Gorge isn’t far from our North Portland home, and there was a light dusting of ash in the fifth quadrant.

It was friggin hot. You know how when you’ve been having lovely cool summer experiences and you find yourself plunged into triple digit temperatures and it just doesn’t feel very good? That was Portland in the week after I got home.

My work computer was stolen. While I was enjoying my Jucy Lucy at Matt’s Bar, my office was being broken into by people who used the fire escape. They took two computers, a projector, and a favorite throw to wrap everything in. This meant that I spent my first day back at work with a brand new laptop, which had none of the same ports as my old laptop. So instead of working from three screens (one laptop, two monitors plugged in) I worked with one tiny laptop screen. It is very hard to do my job with one tiny laptop screen. Plus all of the installing of programs and getting everything up to speed.

It was probably the bumpiest re-entry I’ve experienced.

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden at the Walker

We had some time before my plane left, so we had a hearty brunch and headed over to look at some outdoor sculpture.

Empire by Eva Rothschild

Where is this little duck hanging out?

Right under the iconic Spoonbridge and Cherry by Claes Oldenburg & Coosje Van Bruggen. I had seen pictures of this iconic piece, but in person, I was surprised to find that the cherry sprayed water, which was a delightful addition.

Hahn/Cock by Katharina Fritsch. Love that blue!

Sara as Hephaestus by Matthew Monahan. I really liked the texture of the metal. (In the sculpture, not in the Sara) We walked to the car passing by Loring Pond where I got this lovely picture.

And then it was to the airport, where I had to bid my hosts goodbye. Thanks much to Shawn and Sara for being such excellent hosts.

Minnesota State Fair Day Two: Sunset, Amateur Talent Show, Fireworks

The sun was beginning to set which meant it was time for…

The Amateur Talent Contest Finals! (Sponsored by Jack’s Pizza.)

There were 26 individual entries into the contest. They had been winnowed from the daily talent contests held at the fair, after passing their audition in July. There were seven preteen, nine teen and 10 open participants. All of the talent on display was amazing. I was amazed that the judges could pick any winner. (And then mostly annoyed at what they did pick.)

Some highlights for me were Gigi Bragg, who was a tiny little thing that killed it with “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” After everyone had performed they had time-filling stuff while they tallied results. The singer and the band did “Don’t Rain on my Parade” and I found it to not be as effective.

I also really loved Eden Nesburg & Page Mackendanz, who sang “River Deep, Mountain High.” Their music cut out early on–something the crowd only became gradually aware of. They got to come back later on to re-do their performance. Both performances were filled with joy and memorable.

I also enjoyed Amber Feind & Mikayla Meyers, another vocal performance but in the open division. Aside from liking them, I also liked that they were two normal-looking women who were not as young as some of the people in the open division. The Famrez Dance Team was really great to watch too. I like when acts with multiple people advance. Every person you add to your group makes it that much harder to schedule practice time. The beatboxing guy, Cameron Latinen, was also quite good.

In the end, a lot of classical musicians won, which I find boring. Though Gigi Bragg did win third place in the Preteen division. I also shouldn’t be really grumpy about the Teen division because a band of middle school kids playing “The Thrill is Gone” won, but the other two winners were opera (the kind of flouncy opera that I do not like) and violin.

In the Open division, all three winners were men, which annoyed me, although my beatboxing guy came in third place and Rush Parrish, the overall winner seemed to have an enthusiastic following. He won $10,000 (and quantities of Jack’s Pizza) so this contest was no joke.

Just in case you might forget who the sponsor was.

Afterward, there were fireworks.

And with that, I attempted to buy olives on a stick, failed due to the late hour and settled for mini-donuts. I headed off to wait for the bus home.

The Minnesota State Fair was a wonderful experience and I could have done an additional day to catch all the things I missed, even after spending more than 16 hours at the fair. I also learned too late that the fair opens at 6 am, and it would have been fun to start the day with the fair, to see the difference in crowds, activities, lines, etc.

For those of you who haven’t had enough of the Minnesota State Fair, please enjoy this documentary from the Twin Cities PBS station: State Fair Traditions

It’s got a lot of good stuff, both interesting vintage photos and interesting facts (The fair is 320 acres. Attendance numbers are triple what they were in the 1930s, but in the same amount of space.) It’s also fun to see some of the work that goes into making the fair such a fun experience.

Minnesota State Fair Day Two: Skyride

I headed from one sky experience to the other one, with only a quick stop to collect my walking tour prize.

It was interesting to note that the USA representative for Von Roll Ltd. is located in Sun Valley, Idaho.

There was a long line for this, and as I got closer to the front there was a sign that said, “No single riders Friday, Saturday, Sunday.” I didn’t want to ride with other people! But I stayed the course and no one said anything as I stood by my lonesome waiting to get on. It was fun watching the employees helping everyone get onto each gondola. These hold more people, than the chairlifts, so sometimes it would be parents, three little kids, and a stroller being packed in the car in the few seconds they had to load up.

Here I go:

There were not as many people here today as yesterday. But not by much. Yesterday the attendance was 254,431, today was 242,759, which was a new attendance record for this day at the fair. Overall, nearly TWO MILLION people visited the fair this year, making a new record of 1,977,320

Sweet Martha’s cookies has three locations in the fair. I only passed over this one from the air, but from walking by, I can guess that they all pretty much looked like this one. Shawn says the trick is to go in from the side.

Here’s the giant slide, yet another thing I didn’t get to.

A “backstage” look at some pretty intense cardboard recycling.

Where I ate my cheese curds and key lime pie on a stick

The agriculture building.

Did you want to go through a giant maze while at the fair? You are in luck!

Overall, I preferred the open air Sky Glider to the gondola-like Skyride, but the Skyride does hold more than two people, making it a better choice for families.

Minnesota State Fair: Sky Glider

Having taken the Fairlift at the Oregon State Fair, I was ready for the Sky Glider at this Fair.

The line was long, so I had time to take pictures of Sky Glider riders.

This was also next to one of three Giant Sing Alongs, where you could group karaoke.

The line I waited in.

RVs and Fifth Wheels for sale, plus the Space Tower and Great Big Wheel in the background.

Various tractors for kids.

We passed over a few roofs, and I was surprised to see a number of discarded bras.

The Great Big Wheel. Yet another thing I couldn’t quite fit in.

The “feet” picture.

Me with the Great Big Wheel

Maybe you’re in the market for a new riding mower?

There was a rental space, where Molly & Bob had chosen to celebrate their 50th anniversary. The other half of the rental space was a wedding!

Looking to buy some kids’ play equipment? Lowest prices of the year.

So many people.

Minnesota State Fair Day Two: Eco Experience Progress Center and Log Rolling

The Eco Building had all sorts of fun stuff, like this tall, talking Paul Bunyan He demonstrated not just recycling, but why it’s important to think before you buy.