Yesterday was the Downtown Halloween Trick or Treat for little children. I saw a costume or two that I wasn't ready for. How about a 3' tall Gene Simmons (life size head of Gene with a extra long tongue hanging down).You can't get much scarier than that.Here is my try. It took me a full 10 minutes to put it together.A cover band that I have exposed you to before, Broken Peach, just released their Halloween song for 2025. It's more fun to watch than to listen to.You may want to turn the sound down or off on this one.   10/31/2025

My exaggerated answer to Titus is: "just stand still, everything will fly by you in the frenzy of the other shoppers". 🙄The Ugly Box Store of Minot has never advertised, it doesn't need to, word of mouth keeps this store busier everyday than Target is on Christmas Eve.What is The Uglee Box Store? First let me clarify the picture above only represents about 5% of the stores square footage. What you do see is only a small portion of the bins in the store. Why is it a madhouse (although the picture above is at a relatively calm time. Check out these prices...No matter which day you go it's crazy. I go on Wednesday when everything is a dollar and I go on Friday when all the new stuff gets put out. What can you get for a dollar? This last Wednesday I got a new pair of shoes, a box with four ... 10/25/2025

I will admit that I get sad thinking about winter being right around the corner BUT once winter is here it really doesn't bother me... until maybe April if it's still hanging on.Winter is a time of solitude. It reminds me of Superman's hideout, it gives you space to think and contemplate.When we want companionship we just open a door and our families are there for us just like Timmothy's cartoon above.I credit the well know friendliness of North Dakota to our long winters. Come Spring we are all joyful to see others out and about. Of course life goes on as usual so we visit at church, at the bar (if you like), and at our occupations if we work outside of our homes. Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter gives us as much family contact as most of us want for a while.All that being said we ar... 10/24/2025

If it were not for Timmothy's cartoon I would not have known about the change of hands of this business. The original owner/creator of the business has been a strong acquaintance for many years. Our relationship began when Valerie was the manager of a local thrift store.She had a dream of being her own boss and took the big step of leaving a comfortable job to pursue a dream.Val started out by purchasing most of the books in the thrift store and other thrift stores. She had nothing but used books. In time she got hooked up with book distributors and today used books account for 5% or less of her inventory.I can not imagine a better ownership then Valeries. She has been a big promotor of Downtown Minot and the writers in our community. You know one such writer,Timmothy, 6 years ago and t... 10/18/2025

I remember back five decades ago and even further that our High School required Seniors who were enrolled in a science class had to collect leaves (every other year it was insects). Leaves or bugs... I'm glad I did not have a science class my senior year. My brothers and sister all did leaf collections. I found it interesting but again, I'm glad I did not have to participate. I believe my oldest brother did both for extra credit.This time of year I have always enjoyed looking at the foliage in Roosevelt Park. Not this year! Regretfully, due to a flood control project and the simultaneous expansion of The Roosevelt Park Zoo there is NO admittance to the area we love walking and biking through. Thus I will just appreciate my own backyard.The grapevine in our backyard is my favorite.We did... 10/13/2025

Just up the block from my home is a beautiful open area that is perfect for kite flying as long as the predominant wind is out of the West (North or South doesn't matter).I wish I would have stopped and visited but my Bride had a mission: get groceries at Walmart.When we first drove by there was only one up in the air at the time. I'd like to know how many ended up flying for this "Kite Fest". I did notice that there were just as many women holding the strings as there were men. This picture also explains why a Easterly wind would be a disaster.Prior to seeing these kites I heard something directly over my head as I stood in my front yard.I usually see the Applebees balloon once or twice a year. It's always a welcome site and someday I'll take a ride in it (I have two friends that cook ... 09/30/2025

First of all I am keeping my promise to show you more of Citizens Alley. Timmothy and I made a special trip over there and I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of work put into the project. Citizens alley is connected to several businesses and on it's own it has a free movie area, splash pad, food vendors and more.Now on to a new subject. I got woke up last night (aprox 11:30 PM) by a loud crash. A police officer in hot pursuit lost control of his squad car and hit a street signal with unbelievable force. Check out these pictures (I did not see the patrol car.One last topic.Is this art?Corbett Field, a historic baseball park, contracted an artist to "beautify" the 12' fence surrounding the park.Isn't that MINOT made out of giant Popsicle sticks special (like a first grader couldn't ... 09/21/2025

At this time Citizens Alley is only open to humans and certified service animals (You MUST have a State Certification on you to bring in an animal). Citizens Alley is privately owned yet open to the public. Visit their website for detailed information. The schedule for this weekend is:Citizens Alley is truly an alley. It is an area between two old buildings on Central Avenue, downtown Minot ND. The two buildings were purchased by an architect and although very old they have been reborn into new businesses. It is a very attractive setting yet I found only one good picture on the web. I will try to head over there and take a few shots for you.     09/19/2025

The Norsk Hostfest is the second largest event held in North Dakota. The largest is the North Dakota State Fair. Both are held in Minot and they are held just two months apart.The Norsk Hostfest is the largest Scandinavian festival held in America. Just like everyone is Irish on Saint Patrick's Day everyone is Scandinavian during the week of the Norsk Hostfest.Everytime I blog about this people say: "Maybe Next Year". Well if this is your year to attend I hope you let me know so I can see you there. 09/18/2025

Timmothy is not just a contributor to The Northern Sentry (The Minot AFB newspaper) he also reads it. Even though this store, Second Snaps, is right around the corner from our office we were unaware of its existence until Timmothy read the article.Second Snaps is a store offering gently used children's clothing. You can read more by clicking on the photo above which takes you to their FB page. Parents with children are often looking for ways to save money and finding good clothing at a reasonable price is a real blessing to those on a tight budget.This shop is a little off of the beaten path but I think it's worth the time to find it. The store occupies a small portion of what once was the Eagles Club in downtown Minot. I'm headed over there just to take a look at the old club and it's ... 08/16/2025

Once again Timmothy's cartooning, written a month in advance, is far more accurate then the weather guessers.This year may be the most unusual year of weather in my region ever. We had a blast of summer (a week long) in March, returned to Winter (not Spring) and then Summer kicked in a good month later than usual. On top of that we have had far more rain than usual and almost no misquotes or hornets. It's strange.In a normal summer we usually have one to 10 days of over 100 degree weather but we have not had one triple digit day yet. So why has our AC been running a lot over the past two months? Humidity!AC dries out the air. This is an important thing to keep in mind especially if your home has ever been inundated with flood waters in the past. Our home was inundated with flood waters ... 08/10/2025

This post is not about politics although we certainly are in a political pickle at this time.The City converted my favorite tennis courts into four Pickle ball courts. I get it, pickle ball is more popular than tennis at this time. The only problem is that with all the work that is currently being done to keep the Mouse river in it's banks it is almost impossible to get to them.I will be eager to show you new pictures when the flood alleviation project is over.This is not a complaint or a rant, it's an informative post.Roosevelt Park as it is/was. White outline. I just noticed that it kinda looks like a wind-up duck.The current Zoo outline (red).The finished expansion of the Zoo. Blue outline.It may not look like much from the maps above but it really is a good sized chunk of the park b... 07/26/2025

EXCEPT ETERNITYbut that is not where I am going with this post.Being it's Friday I'm only going to comment on the cartoon itself. This cartoon by Timmothy is/was printed in the Northern Sentry, the official newspaper of The Minot Air Force Base. Timmothy's cartoons written for the paper are actually taken from articles previously printed in the paper. This came from the Gettin' Around Downtown Minot section of the paper. The title of the article is JEWELRY MEETS MEANING by Hope Anderson.When I heard permanent jewelry I thought tattoos but I was WRONG. The article says: "What is permanent jewelry? It's a custom fit bracelet , anklet, necklace and more that is tailored to your perfect size, adorned with charms, beads, and elegant embellishments. Then instead of a clast, the artist expertl... 07/19/2025

YES! The State Fair starts this Friday.While there are absolutely no headliners I want to see you can bet I will be there for a day or maybe even two.The North Dakota State Fair is the largest event in the State of North Dakota, drawing people not only from North Dakota but often world wide.I no longer go for the rides either HOWEVER I do enjoy walking through the midway to see the young people having the time of their lives.So why do I go to the North Dakota State Fair? I do like the overpriced Fair Food and I LOVE visiting the commercial exhibits to see the latest gadgets and such.I also love the State Fair parade that passes by my home (1/2 a block away) on Saturday.  I usually set up our spot on the street by 8AM so we get great views like the one above. The area gets packed with pe... 07/15/2025

Most of us know where to find a Dr for our own health but if you are in a new community you may not have a clue as to where to go if your pet needs help. Almost all vets will treat a dog or cat but what if you have a bird or guinea pig?The problem gets even more complicated when it's an emergency and an even greater concern when it's after hours or on a weekend.I myself have two go-to's. The Pinkerton Animal Hospital has been in Minot for ever and they were familiar with our dog (Baby) even before we rescued her.Our other go-to is actually our "come to" as The Pet Vet is a mobile vet service. I can not find a website for The Pet Vet but we have used her services for more than 20 years. You can get in touch with her (Sharon) at (701) 720-8387.Now we know of another place thanks to Timmot... 06/14/2025

When Timmothy was invited to share his cartoon with the Northern Sentry (Minot Air Force Base newspaper) he was given a brief lexicon of terms Airmen use. One of those terms was Dakrat which refers to our gopher population.We have two or more gopher breds in North Dakota but the two dominant breeds are the striped gopher and the Golden gopher. Both dig a lot of homes. The Golden gopher is much larger than the striped gopher and much more destructive.Until last year I had not seen a golden gopher in the City of Minot, they always hung around the edge of the city.Last year they moved into my neighborhood on a plot of City owned land used for an ice skating rink. Now they are moving to residential lots and the destruction to lawns they are leaving is unbelievable.So how do you deal with th... 06/02/2025

Just one fly in my house is enough for me to declare war! I have yet to purchase a "Salt Gun" but I have a full arsenal of various fly swatters.Flies in our area generally are not a big deal until we have a stretch of hot dry weather. We have been in a long (several years) drought... until the past week. It looked as though the drought was going to continue being earlier in May we set three record high days in the upper 90's. Believe it or not we just set a record low high for the last day or two and we have received 5" of rain in the last week. The farmers are rejoicing but now most of us are looking for a little break. One other benefit to this rain, wood tics don't like it.This is my first post in several days due to a maddening work load. I intend to make up for it by posting two or... 05/21/2025

A house burning or burnt is not somethingwe want to see twice.I know I will be looking at the burned out shell of this home for a few days. The fire was just yesterday and only a few blocks from my home. A close friend lives directly across the street. Lucky for my friend that the wind was from the opposite direction.There are some things that deserve a double take.While this post is not directly related to Home Inspections it kind of is. Initial reports said the fire in the  home  above was started by an electrical problem.When I purchased my home the heart of the electrical system looked like this. The home inspector was not well educated on such systems so I had an electrician take a look at it. He discovered it was not adequate for the power service going into it. He commented: "You... 04/29/2025

Every Spring thaw reveals the garbage that was beneath the beautiful white snow. It seems to me that every year the volume of garbage revealed gets to be greater and greater. Even as a young man I never understood the mentality (or lack thereof) of anyone thinking it's okay to just chuck their trash anywhere on the ground.I think my disgust started with my first job at the age of 15 when I worked for a Holiday Inn as a porter and when things were slow I would pick up around the hotel (mostly cigarette butts).The picture above was the aftermath of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. What were they protesting... that the pipeline would pollute the earth. I would be interested to know if there has ever been a study as to who litters. My guess would be that HOMEOWNERS would be very low on ... 04/22/2025

The photo above is a two fold sign of spring and with a new twist to me. The first thing that came to mind was the white duck. I have seen plenty of water foul all ready on the river but I don't think I have ever seen a white duck over the last 20 years. Second, today was the first day I've seen the river ice free this year.This picture is also two fold. I got the grill out and used it for dinner tonight BUT Timmothy and I also installed our screen doors today. There are very few flying insects out yet but now we are prepared for their invasion.And yet another double header. Timmothy and I got our bicycles out of storage and tuned up, ready to ride. In the background you can see the gate to Corbett Field is open (yes the gate that almost killed me last year). The Boys of Summer started ... 04/12/2025