<<< Handy Dandy Notebook: August 2003 >>>
August 14, 2003: I can say with confidence that today will become an important part of history. At about 4:00 P.M. EST, there was a blackout throughout the entire northeastern part of the United States and up into Canada. It was pretty crazy. Of course I was not affected by it here in Wisconsin but it still made me realize how much we rely on this thing called electricity. New York city was just a mass of people trying to walk home or find a ride from someone. People were trapped down in the subways and it had to be hotter than hell down there (my best guess at the high temp in NYC today is around 95 degrees Fahrenheit). There was no escape from the heat or the walking considering that air conditioners could not operate and neither could elevators. If you were in a skyscraper, you were using the stairs. Once darkness fell I heard there was some looting going on in places. I am not exactly sure where and what type, but I will probably find that out tomorrow. When I last saw the TV a few hours ago I could see lights in NYC so I'm sure everything is just about back to normal now.
August 24, 2003: Well quite a bit has happened since the last entry. Last weekend we went to Kenosha for the "Mom The Shark" reunion. Mom the Shark was the name of the band my dad played in years ago. I remember them practicing in our basement when I was a little kid. My dad and I left in the morning with the equipment and my mom and sister came down a few hours later. It was pretty fun. I got to play along with them when they were playing a song I knew. One of the coolest things was when I started playing a picking progression I came up with a little while ago. Ted started doing something on drums, George watched me for the chords so he could do a bass line, and then my dad picked up his PRS and started wailing away. The tempo was getting higher and higher so I finally said screw the picking and started jamming out the chords. It was an awesome jam session and I had a lot of fun. Hopefully this is an annual event.
The day after we came home from Kenosha we headed for the Twin Cities for vacation. We stopped at the Thorpedo restaurant in good old Thorp, WI for something to eat. I took the driver's seat and drove the rest of the way. We stayed in the Hyatt Minneapolis the first night. We were on the 23rd floor so the view was pretty nice. We went to the downtown Target and I bought a pretty nice looking shirt. I got some wife beaters and a black baseball cap to top it off (he he top it off, hat, get it)? For some reason I did not like staying in that hotel downtown. It felt too upper class for a Wisconsin guy like me. The next day we drove to Bloomington, MN so we could check out the Mall of America. It was pretty nice. My sister and mom were in their glory because of the shopping. My dad got sick of it failry quick, though. The only thing keeping me interested was the occasional hottie. Once it started to get busy we checked in at the Country Inn & Suites. Before we left the next day, my dad went to a place where you could use a flight simulator. He said it was a lot of fun. I was pretty glad once we got out of the metro. I do not like that area for some reason.
And to close, last night I went to my first Packer game with my parents and sister. It was a lot better than I expected. It was really cool to see the field in person and to be able to watch the game with my own two eyes instead of on TV. I'm glad I went to it instead of my other option which was the Dells. Now I have a block party to look forward to on September 13th. Have a good one whoever is reading.
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