The eating competition between the guinea pigs (Titus & Philemon) is over. Philemon wins! I do have a Real Estate message here BUT during this series of cartoons the most famous eaters name has come up, Joey Chestnut, more than once.Joseph Christian Chestnut is an American competitive eater who holds 55 world records across 55 disciplines, and is ranked first in the world by Major League Eating. He has won the Mustard Yellow Belt a world record 17 times. Chestnut is considered to be the greatest competitive eater in history. Wikipedia.Tying eating hot dogs and Real Estate together may be a stretch BUT in some markets purchasing your dream home is harder than beating Joey Chestnut's downing 70+ hot dogs in 10 minutes.Competitive bidding on a home in Minot North Dakota is very rare. Not s... 07/09/2026

I thank God for this Nation. I pray it survives the current assault of communism that we are seeing creeping into our political system. Communism has been tried over and over again and the result has always been a miserable failure with the death and misery of hundreds of thousands of people.  We had a wonderful day with most of our activity spent at our church (Calvary Church, Minot) eating, socializing, and playing corn hole. It was a GREAT time celebrating the freedoms that our country offers. 07/05/2026

It seems like every year I see more and more COOL cars.I love the "tricked out" and restored vintage cars but lately I've been seeing more and more cars totally built for speed. In addition to the Lamborghinis there are Porches and others who's names I can not pronounce. How about the Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut? This is the car for you if you need to travel at 330 miles per hour.Of course the American Corvette is always a thing of beauty. Over the years Chevrolet has introduced 8 different body styles of the Corvette. Today's (2026) body style is a mid-engine model as shown below:I think the reason I am seeing so many of the "Go Fast" cars around Minot is the oil money. The oil jobs have been around for 20+ years and now that the boys have bought homes, campers, and expensive bling for th... 07/04/2026

Yesterday was a BIG News Day in North Dakota.President Donald Trump came to North Dakota for his fourth visit yesterday. North Dakota may be the "redist" State in the Nation so it's safe to say he was overwhelmingly welcomed for this visit.Donald arrived in the new Air Force One. It's madden voyage. He came to be the FIRST official visitor to the Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora North Dakota and he stayed all day, not just a 15 minute photo opportunity.An interesting note: The nearest airport that could accommodate the new Air Force One is 100 miles away from Medora so he took the brand new Train that celebrates the 250th anniversary of our nation.It was a GREAT day for North Dakota! I was happy to see that the Presidents visit was covered on every Radio and Television bro... 07/02/2026

NO pet enjoys fireworks! Hunting dogs can be trained to tolerate loud noises but that doesn't mean they like loud noises.They are not alone, the only natural human fears is that of loud noises and falling. Boys being boys and stupid men need to learn this (it's an easier lesson for boys to learn). A man who throws a firecracker near a child or pet and thinks it's funny is truly stupid or he is a sociopath (maybe even a stupid sociopath) 🥴.Now you know how I really feel.So what is going on in Minot on the 4th of July? Minot is hosting a full day of public activities to celebrate the 4th of July (which also coincides with America's 250th Semiquincentennial milestone). According to Visit Minot and the North Dakota State Portal, you can expect the following official event lineup for the hol... 07/01/2026

Timmothy's latest painting is in honor of the 250th anniversary of the USA. This acrylic 24 X 36 painting is a tribute that can be used any time, any year (as it is not dated).I don't know how much shipping would be but Timmothy is asking $150. for the painting. I will check on the shipping if anyone is interested in purchasing it. It looks great on the galley wall, I'm sure it would look great on yours as well. 06/17/2026

We had a string of record, or near record setting days at the end of May. Many people thought they were going to melt. That's the thing about living in North Dakota, even the 70's seem to hot to some. That last week in May we had several 90's so pretty much everyone here thought it was to hot.While I am not aware of anyone actually melting here I am aware of many people having heat strokes, in fact a close friend had one last week when I was out of town (she is fine today due to the fast action of bystanders in the immediate area).My Point:If you are moving to North Dakota expect extremes. If you stay for any amount of time you can expect your body to adjust to low temps as the norm. You too will start believing that 75 degrees will make you melt. 06/08/2026

Yesterday my family and I went to our "Once in a great while" movie adventure. The movie was playing at our "Second Run" theater, The Oak Park Movie Theater. I'd like to tell you a wonderful story about this theater but I'll save it for another post.This movie was NOT a second run but a very small production of local interest. That being said, it is getting GREAT reviews nationally.The movie is the story of Medora. The wife of a brilliant French Investor who had a vision to build a town in Western North Dakota for a meat packaging plant. Medora's father was very wealthy and invested in his son in laws ideas. Her husband was of both French and Spanish nobility and also had great political ambitions.Click on the photo for a preview.The movie was filmed in the North Dakota badlands by an l... 05/26/2026

These photographs were taken on Thursday 05/20/2026 just outside my office at 201 Main Street South, Minot ND 58701.The signs of spring.#1) Not only did our downtown goose show up again but this year he has company that is NOT his mate.#2) The little sidewalk gardens have been planted.#3) The trees are in bloom.And, of course as you can see, there are no more snow piles everywhere.I am looking forward to seeing #4, the hanging flower baskets but that may take another week before the City gets them out.  05/22/2026

This cartoon and post were inspired by the following article in the Northern Sentry, Minot Air Force Base newspaper.The Airmen's Attic is available to low ranking Airmen, those on the bottom end of the Air Force pay scale. At this time they are also making essential kitchen tools available for free to the same Airmen.I have to tell you that until I read the article (linked to the photograph above) I had no idea that Airmen had to purchase uniform items. I should have known this being my daughter was in the Airforce for six years. I'm guessing that they only need to purchase if they damage the original uniform they were issued but I need to clarify that. 05/22/2026

I'm printing this to late to participate this year as the auction was April 23rd BUT this years Prairie Warrior Auction raised $135,000. The event had more than 250 live and silent auction items and  table games. Many people also made cash donations. The auction is held to help squadrons at Minot Air Force Base fund events, meals, and other morale-boosting activities.This information and more can be found in the Northern Sentry Newspaper, printed and also on line. 05/16/2026

North Dakota, nearly the entire State, is in a Red Flag Alert.For several days now we have had high winds and very little rain. This makes for a Red Flag Alert. It's not good for Farmers, home owners who care about their lawns, and certainly not good for fire fighters.Personally it effects me in the following ways:1) I love to use my burn pit and that is a big no, no as I'd hate to be the one to burn down our neighborhood.2) I reseeded much of our yard and that grass seed needs moisture... of which there is pretty much none.3) Dirt is in the air, and in the car and home, and in your eye. It's blowing everywhere.People can still use their grills at this time but caution is advised. I can't say that I have any sage advice, just be careful out there. 05/15/2026

The Shrine Circus is/was in town, Minot North Dakota, this week. It comes every year but this year was very unusual. This was the first year that they did not bring any animals, except some performing poodles. This was also the last year that Dizzy the Clown will participate. Dizzy is a local celebrity who is recognize nationally as one of the best clowns in the USA.So no animals? A circus with no animals? How does that work? Well, they still had 3 rings and they had performers. Not the circus performers I remember as a kid, I think this group was pretty much a Vegas show girl exhibition. The kids didn't seem to mind, the Shriner's made sure they had (sold) tons of flashy noisy toys, candy, face painting and such.About those girls. They were entertaining but it just was not a circus to ... 05/10/2026

The Little Blue Elephant used to be a restaurant downtown just a half block from my office. They did a good business here but they purchased a food truck at the urging of several Event Directors and found they made more money on the road and enjoyed it more than a stationery post as well.The owner of The Little Blue Elephant told me that he also liked being his own landlord and being able to take his business South during our harsh winters.While I know my daughter Tina liked eating at The Little Blue Elephant when it was downtown here I must be honest in my reporting... being a man of German decent, I am a meat and potatoes man and I rarely try any ethnic foods, including Thai food. 05/09/2026

While our Spring in Minot has been cool we are seeing green grass, some garden plants re-emerging, and of course dandelions. I think most of the migratory birds have returned, although I have yet to see any hummingbirds.Another sure sign of spring to me is seeing "the boys of summer" return across the street at Corbet Field.Reflecting back to the years that we had guinea pigs I remember how happy they were to graze in the back yard. I was always worry that an owl would spot them and take one or both away. Thank God it never happened. 04/27/2026

Last week a representative from "Visit Minot" came to see Timmothy's Art Gallery and Studio. We had been ignored in the past in the printed guide and again the new Spring magazine. They were so gracious to send a representative over who took a lot of pictures and came up with a page for us in the "on line version". She took pictures I never even would have thought of. Check this out and click on the picture to go to the actual site (it will open in another window so you will NOT lose your place here in the Rain).Please tell me what you think. 04/22/2026

This post is my answer to the April Challenge put forth by Carol Williams and Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400 titled Why Do You Love Where You Live?I hate to say this but I almost feel like holding my nose when I say I "LOVE" living in Minot North Dakota. HOWEVER I love many things about Minot.I am going to point out that I think Minot's political landscape is why I hold my nose BUT it is improving as more fiscally responsible people are being elected to the City Council. Still our current Mayor and a few of his yes men/women have not met a dollar they didn't want to spend. Even worse, the Minot Park District want to spend every dollar they think you may have.Now that I have that out there:#1) I love Minot ND because my family (Carol and Timmothy) live here as well as many, many fr... 04/18/2026

In the case of Timmothy's cartoon Joe missed everything except that one spot. Maybe that spot needed a lot of attention just like this carpet needs a lot of attention.Moving is a daunting task. Often the true scope of cleaning a home is not realized until you prepare your home for sale or even until you move out prior to closing. You have enough on your plate because you are not only moving out but you are often moving into another home at the same time. Adding insult to injury, you may not have had any idea how badly some areas need paint too.In general it has been my experience that most homes need three days to two weeks to make a home "show ready' or even ready for the final walk through before closing.If you don't have three to fourteen days to clean up you may wish to call a clean... 04/15/2026

Community service is a wonderful thing. There are those who love to volunteer for various causes, and there are those who are ordered to provide community service by the order of a judge. ALL forms of volunteerism is appreciated, but those who have volunteered while also serving our country is extra special to me.Yesterday, Sunday April 12th, we enjoyed a pancake breakfast at The Minot Rural Fire Department. Many of those whom were there to service the pancakes were local volunteers.The Minot Air Force Base is huge on promoting volunteerism. I know that base personnel are required to help anyone who is stalled on the side of the road. The biggest and best example I can give you is when a fourth of the homes in Minot were affected by the worst flood in it's history Military volunteers we... 04/13/2026

A warm welcome is a GREAT first impression. Often, when a soldier graduates from Boot Camp they are sent off to a base far from their home and the environment they are used to.We citizens of base communities like to think they will arrive here and be amazed at what a great place we have here and how wonderful we are as the people of their new home. Ha!In reality these 18 to 20 year old children are scared poop-less. "What new hell is this" may be closer to their actual thoughts. "Mommy" !The Minot community is trying to make that initial shock easier for the soldiers arriving to serve at the Minot Air Force Base with a new Military Welcome Center at the Minot Municipal Air Port.It's a small gesture but hopefully it will help the young men and women be a little more at ease with their ne... 04/04/2026