It is another one of life inedible truths. When it snows, the city of Minneapolis declares a snow emergency, hundreds of cars get towed and every media outlet in the Twin Cities goes down to the impound lot and interviews people who have excuses on why their car should not have been towed. I have to admit, the rules are confusing.

Phase 1 (until 8 a.m. today): Don't park on either side of a snow-emergency
route until it is fully plowed to the curb. Snow-emergency routes are marked
with red snow-emergency signs and/or blue street name signs.
Phase 2 (8
a.m.
to 8 p.m. today): Don't park on the even-numbered side of residential
(non-snow-emergency route) streets until fully plowed. Also, don't park on
either side of city parkways until they are fully plowed. For a list of
parkways, go to www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/snow/FAQ/parkway.asp.
Phase 3 (8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday): Don't park on the odd-numbered side of
residential (non-snow-emergency route) streets until they are fully plowed.
After 8 p.m., parking resumes on both sides of all streets unless posted
otherwise or further winter parking restrictions are put into effect.

One can only hope that they can get through Phase 3 before the next snowfall, which is supposed to come through on Wednesday. My solution - but a house with a garage.

Happy Birthday to Us!

When I was younger, I felt very special because I shared a birthday with George Washington and my cousin James. Most of you have heard of George Washington (come to think of it most of the people who read my blog are family, so you know James also). So I am sending a big shout out to George and James. And to anyone else who shares a birthday with us. May the year ahead be filled with wonderful surprises!

Nope, the birthday cake isn't mine, just an image I found on the web. I love google!

What ever happend to face to face conversation?

I have found living in Minnesota, that the people who advocate tolerance and diversity often are the ones who are most intolerant when it comes to their own behavior. Rep. Ellison calls the cops to snuff Tancredo’s cigar. Ellison is the first Muslim to serve in congress and is from Minnesota. Seems to me that this would have been a great opportunity for him or his staffer to go next door and actually talk to Rep Tanceredo.

Maybe this is why our government is is such a disarray. The art of conversation has gone by the wayside. In this era of fast food, instant feedback and instant messaging we have lost the art of communication and building relationships. As anyone can tell you, it is a lot easier to say no over the phone or via e-mail then to tell the person face to face why you aren't going to take time out to help them.

Too often it is easier to let someone else deal with our problems instead of facing them ourselves. Let's hope that our congressmen can learn to talk face to face and resolve their issues directly, as opposed to filtering them through the media.