I’m jealous. I mean, a year ago now, I got sick and tired of Eric’s three-times-a-week-long-winded emails (mostly the ones related to politics, unless, however, they were about Abercrombie and Fitch models). So, I kindly suggested that Eric get his own blog where he could rant to the world (instead of just me). So, I introduced him to Blogger. And we created Blaine (ahh, remember Blaine). And, Eric blogs for a year. And blogs. And blogs.

And now, here we are, just one short year later, and he gets to be Blog of Note?! Harrumph!

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Despite being green with envy, Eric and I still remain friends and are off to the Ordway tonight for The Car Man.

What a blast from the past: Earlier this summer I wrote about my elementary school talented and gifted teacher Barry Striegel. Lo and behold, who do I receive an email from this week? The one and only teacher who made me memorize a Robert Frost poem, which, by the way, I can still recite by heart. (Mr. Striegel: I promised to reply to your message tomorrow!)

One more day of work and then I’m on vacation. The Fair, Up North, wedding stuff, etc., etc. A good week lies ahead.

The Jerry Etter saga continues from last week…

Since I was a little leary from the start, I really never gave Jerry the current name of the company I work for, which is eChips. I gave him Arrow Electronics (since more people have heard Arrow than eChips) the company I worked for until February of this year before we were spun off to create a new company. The real bummer of our conversation is that he was very difficult to hear on the phone. But here is how the conversation went.

Jerry–”Hi this is Jerry Etter, we met a few weeks ago at Rainbow Foods”
Me–”Hi” (How the hell did you find me!)
Jerry–”Did you ever get that chocolate malt you wanted”
Me–”Yes” (It was actually quite good, but why the hell do you care)
Jerry–”I run a business that is just getting started and I’m looking for new people to be involved”
Me–”OK” (Why the hell do I care…I wonder if he is really selling Amway)
Jerry–”Have you ever thought about extra ways to make money”
Me–”Ah..No.” (Of course you fool, what do you think, money just grows on trees)
Jerry–”Would you be interested in finding out more?”
Me–”No thank you, I’m happy with my job and the National Guard gives me extra money”
(Actually, if you had a better phone, I would have taken the time to ask some questions and have some fun with you. But since I think you’re a freak, I’m afraid to give you any further numbers to contact me)
Jerry–”OK then, thanks for your time”
Me–”Goodbye” (I hope you never give me a call again)

The fact that he found me was a very strange feeling. And it wasn’t merely him just looking up eChips or Arrow in the phone book and then calling. He happened to call me on my 800 number (my phone tells me what phone number is being called) that is only given to my customers and is listed on the Arrow personnel contact files.

I will give him credit for being persistent. He actually had to call Arrow Electronics and talk to someone who probably had no clue who I was until they looked up my name and gave him the 800 number that was listed. This is not normally a big deal unless they’re giving it out to a stalker. Well, hopefully I won’t hear from him again. That is until he uses Google and finds his name on this site…

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Shari Bearl of Big Lake, Minn., agrees with Rog on the conspiracy theory, as evidenced by her Tuesday letter to the editor (scroll down to the second letter from the bottom). But come on Shari … you’re the one who chooses to drive 110 miles to and from work each day. How can you complain about gas prices when you knew darn well that you’d be driving mega miles?

Speaking of driving mega miles, to take advantage of the low prices on Twin Cities Gas Prices, that’s what you’re gonna have to do. From Burnsville to the Citgo on Lowry in Minneapolis: 23.3 miles.

Right before Labor Day seems like a rather convient time to have an oil refinery fire. Needless to say, our gas prices have skyrocketed to $1.89 per gallon, with not relief insight. I personally think the whole gas pricing process is a scam. How does the price magically jump 10 or 15 cents on Thursday and then as quick as it goes up, it drops on Tuesday morning. Thus leaving about a two day window to buy gas at a cheaper price. Why don’t they average the price of gas through out the week so I’m paying about the same price all the time. I wouldn’t feel so bad then. I guess it’s just one of those mysteries that will never be solved.

Check out the latest gas prices in the Twin Cities here.

Lynsey and I had a wonderful weekend doing nothing. Well, we did something, but since we didn’t have any specific plans it felt like we didn’t do much. I got some packing done so I can move the rest of my stuff to Burnsville this week and Lynsey provided moral support, since it’s my junk to pack. BTW, I hate moving. Other than that, nothing is new.

Hey, this site is finally coming together! I finally got something up in the photos section … you can check out Roger’s and my recent visits to the Minnesota Zoo and the Carlos Creek Winery.

So, Eric is sitting in his cube at his new job, and his co-workers on the other side of the wall are hearing him chatting with someone on the phone:

“Hmm. … Wow …. It was where on your body? … Did she give you anything? …. Overdose youself? …. Itchy, eh? …. Undiagnosable? Really! ….How about some salve or some cream? ….. Red wine? No! ….”

I can only imagine the reputation that Mr. Molho is getting at his fancy-shmancy new corporate job.

Yes, the hives came back. If you remember last time, I discussed the joys of unexpectedly breaking out in hives when my mom came to visit for the weekend. Well, they came back, and in full force once again. Unfortunately for me, the Internet tells me that 95% of hive cases are undiagnosable … only treatable. So, if I break out again? Lots of drugs and hopefully an ointment from the doctor to keep the itchies and scratchies away.

There is one suspect: red wine was consumed in both instances. How sad would life be if I had to go through it never drinking red wine again? Why can’t I be allergic to broccoli or beets? I won’t know for sure, though, until I drink another glass. And that won’t be happening anytime soon.

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My new favorite word: picayune. Haven’t yet had the chance to use it, but like the sound of it.

Today is the first day of the Great Minnesota Get Together! Rog and I will be heading over on September 1, MPR day. Other cool things to check out:

• the Miracle of Birth Center: “If all goes according to plan, eight calves, 12 lambs and 12 litters of piglets will be born between Aug. 23 and Sept. 3 right here at the Minnesota State Fair. “
• the Royal Restroom, sponsored by Charmin Ultra. “Want to freshen up in style? Not only does this bathroom provide Charmin, Bounty and Safeguard products, our sponsor has added flowers, music, television and air fresheners! “

In all of my excitement over Jerry Etter, I forgot to mention that I got my very first pair of Birkenstocks on Saturday. We went to the Birkenstock Footprints store at 50th and France. For my first pair I chose the Milano because I wanted something that I could use for walking more than just lounging around in. Lynsey also got a pair of clogs, but wasn’t nearly as excited as I was.

I got an A in my English class, which of course makes me pretty excited! To celebrate this and getting an AA degree, Lynsey is taking me out for dinner tonight. Probably somewhere in Uptown like Famous Dave’s.

Have you ever been somewhere and met an overly-talkative person? Last night after we finished dinner about 9 o’clock I decided I had a hankering for a chocolate malt. Which of course meant a trip to Rainbow Foods for ice cream. As I was standing there debating how much I wanted to spend on a half-gallon of vanilla ice cream, I looked over and saw another guy doing the same. He said “Hi, it looks like you’re here doing the same thing as me. My wife has me here getting ice cream because it’s that time of the month if you know what I mean.” I said, “I’m here to get ice cream for a malt.” Some how I mentioned that my fiance didn’t care if I made an ice cream run. Now here is where it get’s weird.

He said “So do you live around here?”
Me–”Yes over on 143rd St.”
He–”I live on seven” (Wherever the hell that is)
He–”So when are you getting married?” (Why the hell do you care)
Me–”November.”
He–”Are your families from around here? (Because you’ll actually know where I’m from)
Me–”No, her family is from Bismark and mine is from Belgrade.” (Of course he didn’t know)
He–”My name is Jerry Etter!” (Like I really care)
Me–”I’m Roger.”
Jerry–”Roger????” (Are you a stalker)
Me–”Roger Struthers.”
Jerry–”So what do you do?” (This when I’m wondering–Is this 20 questions?–all I wanted was some icecream)
Me–”I work for Arrow Electronics (Well, really it eChips, formerly Arrow).”
Jerry–”I know someone that works at Arrow, but I can’t think of his name.” (Like I’m supposed to start guessing which of 7,000 employees he knows)
Me–”Well nice meeting you Jerry.” (Just wanting to leave at this point and try to avoid him as I’m checking out)
Jerry–”Here’s my business card before you go. I run an internet busisness develpment company Etter Enterprises”
Me–”Oh. OK. Have a nice night.” (Meanwhile I’m thinking, no thank you, I would rather not hear about the joys of selling Amway or the internet version Quixtar.)

Then of course my new best friend just happened to get in my checkout line. I tried to run, but was afraid of running into the automatice door before it opened. I hope Lynsey isn’t to0 hurt that I have new best friend

The rest of the day wasn’t nearly as interesting, which I’ll write about later since we’re off to Crate and Barrel to look at dishes.

Yes, Roger has been a scholar all summer long … writing papers about Don DeLillo, patriotism, and the “Sensation” exhibit (you remember — the Virgin Mary smeared with dung). Don’t let him tell you he didn’t like the couse, because deep down I think he really did. I, on the other hand, just edited a few papers here and there. In fact, even though the course is now over, I haven’t gotten out of my editing habit: When Roger was in the shower this morning I sneaked into his post and added a couple of commas. (Shhh. Don’t tell.)

Today is errand day: we already missed the Farmer’s Market (it was raining) but are heading back to Paper Depot (I was short on a few envelopes last weekend), Target, and the usual suspects on a typical Saturday.