Vakkotaur

And maybe a disastrous one.

For the last several years I would make a point of meeting Gerry and his team of Belgian draft horses. When I went to MFF, I'd miss one of those times, but there was always another, until last year. Last year, for other reason, I did not go to MFF, but I did meet Gerry and the team that Friday night - and found he would not be back in a couple week as he had in other years.

This year I didn't go anywhere either, but I did not see Gerry. Last night would have been the second chance of this season as there was a holiday shopping event downtown. The news article mentioned a hayride, which was not what Gerry did, but he had a friend who did that sort of thing with another team. But I did not have my hope very high, which was just as well.

It was snowing last night and forecast to drop quite a bit. The forecast was wrong for Fairmont (which is a good thing, to me) but i didn't know that at the time. I saw the hayride setup. A few bales on a flatbed trailer, pulled by a tractor. For the belgian team and Gerry, I'd have stayed. For that? No. I came back home.

If that's all the problems of the night, it would have disappointing but not too bad. But it wasn't. I am glad I have the laptop and have it mostly working (I still haven't gotten the microphone to work under Linux, though I haven't found an external mic. to check everything, either.) and some significant stuff (though hardly all...) transfered to it. The main desktop machine froze up solid last night. And then... nothing. I cycled power and it won't come back up. The fans and drives spin, but it doesn't even make the POST beep. Any of the beeps.

I've pulled the all the cards, the RAM, and disconnected the drives so it's just the motherboard with CPU, power supply, and fans. Still nothing. That's pretty much, "It's dead, Jim." What I don't know is if it's the (just recently installed replacement) power supply, the motherboard itself, or the CPU. I have ordered a replacement CPU as it was only $10.99 and if that's it, it's a cheap fix. If not, I'm not out much.

I am of course hoping for the cheap fix. I expected to replace that machine, but have been hoping to put that off several more months at least. I'd like to have the laptop paid off first. I shouldn't be too surprised if it does come down to replacement. It's rather impressive that I've been using the same machine, pretty much, in nearly continuous service for nearly 8 years. But after the last couple nights, the conking out is yet another annoyance I don't need.

That the local K-Mart is closing is not a big surprise. That it lasted as long as it has is perhaps a bit surprising. I've checked in on the place a few times since the first announcements and sometimes found a bit of a deal and sometimes left without anything at all. The place got emptier and emptier, even blocking much of the floorspace off, the remainder wasn't holding all that much.

Today is the last day that the store will be open. About noon or a bit after I went for one last look. I found a few things, mainly items that might be of use for ACME and a few spare bicycle inner tubes. Things ranged from 70% to 90% off. Until I was half-way checked out when it was announced that everything was now 95% off. The clerk was a bit annoyed at having to void and re-scan everything ("Right now I envy the people on the floor." - I suspect a moment earlier he didn't as they had to deal with crowds and screaming toddlers.) I hauled my purchases out to the car and then went back to check out a few things. Unsurprisingly, some of what I was looking for was now gone, but I found a few more items and got out again, eventually. Between the two shopping runs I spent a grand total of $5.69 and hauled four bags of stuff away.

Although the sign claims that the store will be open until 8 PM today, I can't see going back. I expect everything worth bothering with is gone but there might well still be a crowd. I do wonder what will happen to the building. There are claims that there is interest in it and that it won't be empty for long.

As the Summer progresses or as I see more, I see more cyclists wearing helmets. I also see more parked bicycles locked up. On one of my first outings I recall getting some strange ("What's he doing that for?") looks from a couple kids who just set their bikes in a rack and left them at that. Of course they also gave me looks for a couple other things, like wearing a helmet and obeying traffic laws - which they didn't do. I lock my bike. It's not worth all that much but it's mine and I don't care to have to walk home.

I haven't found any real jerks on the road, and that was and is my biggest concern. Part of it might be "Minnesota Nice" and part might be Fairmont is a small town, but most is likely simply that people don't want to cause injury or damage to their vehicle and such. I've always gotten the legally required three feet of separation - or often more when that was possible. I believe that a significant part of this is that I do obey traffic laws and this seems to impress or astonish some folks. It just makes sense. It's self-preservation. There is a proposal to change Minnesota law to allow cyclists to roll through stop signs and red lights "when traffic permits." Sure, it'd be nice to just glide through, but I doubt it would be truly safe. It would almost certainly be abused, and thus causing (some) motorists to have more reason to dislike cyclists. All around, it's a Bad Idea.

Fairmont is a reasonably cyclable town. I went across town more or less twice today as the weather was a bit cooler (jmaynard would probably complain that it was cold) and seemed better cycling weather than I've been out in for some time. I can keep off of the major streets fairly well and still get around most of Fairmont. If one frontage road extended farther, I'd be able to get about everywhere except Wal-Mart without having to deal with Highway 15. I know some cyclists do go on Hwy 15, but I'd rather avoid that.

Fairmont does have a few bike paths and most of them go someplace useful. One is more is more for exercise than transportation, at least that was my impression of it today. They do have the advantage of being asphalt which lacks the jarring bumps of concrete, and generally also lacks the potholes at every slab junction. I could use a proper map of the town's bike routes, including where they are on the streets.

I could also use a map, or at least a list, of the places with bike racks. Oddly K-Mart lacks such, as does the movie theater. Going to either place by bike, I tie up the bike by the theater's gas meter. At least one city building has a rack, and I suppose I could park there if I were to go to some places on Downtown Plaza. Other times I've used light or power poles, but I don't like doing that. I try to find such out of the way where a bike won't bother anyone - or get much notice. Both County Market and Hy-Vee have racks, as does Shopko, and the library. The mall does not, though County Market is near enough. There is one that is a bit of a surprise: the nearby Shell station has a bike rack. I'm not arguing.

I'm also feeling the effects. I know very well that I'm not just on the treadmill or walking. I don't hurt as such, but there is a mild soreness or not-quite-soreness that is letting me know I've done something outside of my usual.

This past Friday I posted to see if anyone would be in in Sioux Falls for a pre-Siouxland supper. I found out that for different reasons the folks I would usually see then and there won't be around this year. My folks travel plans have also changed and rather than returning from Rapid City or points further west this coming weekend, they're still home this week and will driving to Fairmont on Friday.

So instead of supper in Sioux Falls, it looks like it'll be supper in Fairmont with family. I'm not sure how the rest of the weekend will go. I do know that Jay and I will be doing something different this year. We'll be staying in Sioux Falls Sunday night. This is so jmaynard can catch a morning flight to Atlanta so he can pick up his airplane next week. Then I drive home.

The doorbell rang earlier this evening and for once it wasn't someone thinking they were special and that the 'no proselytizing' sign only applied to other people. Instead it was the next door neighbors asking if they could have the branches I trimmed from some trees a while back. They wanted the wood for a fire. I wanted to be rid of the branches.

They got the wood. I got rid of the old branches. That worked out well all around.

Last night jmaynard and I went to the grocery store for the usual items. We saw, and heard on the sound system, that Hy-Vee had a new item: sushi. I stopped and boggled when I saw it. Sushi is not something I expected to see in Fairmont, let alone in a Fairmont grocery store. I had some reservations about prepackaged sushi, but more curiosity. We bought one package of spicy salmon rolls to try them.

This noon we tried them. Jay thought they were okkay but they really didn't do anything for him. My impression is that the rolls were tolerable sushi but nothing great. Sort of like how a microwave cheeseburger bought at a grocery store compares to a proper, freshly made cheeseburger: It'll do in a pinch, but something is lacking. And it wasn't just that the wasabi seemed to be a bit on the weak side. Also, it was a bit strange to eat sushi with a fork.

So now, at least for a while, there is a local source of sushi that can at least quench the worst of any cravings I might have. It might also be a way for me to try a few specific things from time to time. However, it is not an adequate replacement for going someplace that really does sushi right.

Streetlight.

What did you just picture? A bright somewhat orange light? A bright pure yellow light? A stark blue light that seems to be at once too bright and too dim?

The first thing I picture is generally that last choice, the bluish mercury vapor light that was the only streetlight I saw around when I was quite young. They cast light, and could seem bright, yet somehow also seemed dim. It's probably that the light was mostly blue. One result was that holiday decorations that were put up on the light poles really stood out. They were bright and brightened up the pole they were on.

I remember, somewhat, the old decorations, curved somewhat spiral wreath-like things with lights inside colored plastic globes. These were the most common decorations in Merrill. At one entrance into town there was another item, it was made to look like a candle in a holder, and also a sign that vertically spelled out NOEL. Downtown, there was one corner where a string of lights was strung overhead, diagonally across the intersection. All that looked impressive at the time, the streetlights still gave the light, but the decorations stood out.

Then came the sodium vapor lamps. These have some advantages. They're cheaper. They give more light. They don't use mercury. The low pressure type are a pure yellow, the high pressure type are more broad-spectrum (whiter) but have a bit of orange to them. Merrill, like many other places, switched to the sodium vapor lamps. Merrill also got different holiday decorations.

It was rather disappointing to look at. Part of that is the change of decorations are a change away from my childhood memories. The old decorations likely were in bad need of replacement, but they're what I remember. The other part is that all decorations seem washed out when bathed in the bright sodium vapor light. In that downtown area, not only were the mercury vapor lamps replaced with sodium vapor lamps, but there were now two lamps per pole, making things brighter still. With my interest in astronomy and a dark sky, I found such excess offensive and wasteful.

Moving to Fairmont, I still notice the decorations which are, of course, different. Pretty much all street lighting is now sodium vapor. I prefer the yellow low pressure sodium vapor rather than the high pressure. Some say it's unnatural. Well, it's bright light at night, of course it's unnatural. But low pressure is cheaper to run and maintain - and easier to filter out, something I consider important. The decorations hung from light poles are, like the ones in Merrill, washed out by the bright streetlights even though the decorations use exposed bulbs now.

Fairmont seems to do more with street-level decorations, having illuminated wire sculptures in parks. These stand out better than the pole-mounted things. Fairmont also feels more commercial, mainly from timing. Merrill would put up the decorations sometime in November, but would leave them unlit until the night of Thanksgiving. It made for more of a contrast in the season. Stores might do Christmas stuff early, but the decorations weren't lit until Thanksgiving.

Fairmont has a parade in November to start off its Christmas shopping season. This is done the weekend before Thanksgiving. The lights go on for or during the parade. The first Friday in December is another shopping event. While I like these for my chance to meet Gerry and the team of belgian horses again, if it weren't for that I'd likely not care. I was a bit surprised the first Winter here, when a parade blocked off the way I'd intended to get home from someplace (with my rapidly cooling supper) and also when the decorative lights were lit, to me, early.

The local Wendy's that was planned and under construction for a while is finally opening. I'd heard the target date was this past Monday, but slippage was to be expected. I drove past the site Monday evening and the entrance was blocked off.

Tonight the entrance wasn't blocked and there were a (very) few cars in the parking lot and no obvious activity inside. Curious, I stopped in anyway expecting the doors to be locked. They weren't, so I went in. It was clear that things were very close, but not quite going yet. Eventually I called to a fellow who had his back to me and asked him when the place would be open for real. He replied that the first real day of business would be Thursday.

But that's not all. There will be a couple practice runs tomorrow, one around noon and one in the evening. Wendy's will not be truly open during these times. But one of the results of my stopping in tonight is that I now have a ticket to get in to this restricted run. So supper tomorrow night will be at Wendy's.

The weather forecast, on Friday, for the Amanas in Iowa was for a nice, clear weekend. That being the case, and having some stuff to pick up on the way, jmaynard and I left our cloaks at home. Naturally, the forecast changed and Sunday was a day full of light rain, heavy rain, and thunderstorms. Note: Always take a cloak, just in case.

My big disappointment was that Jennifer and her ponies weren't there. I don't know why they weren't there, though fuel prices could well be part of it. The area she would have set up in had a glass blowing demonstration, and something else. But I missed seeing the ponies this year.

Shattock did good, even poking fun at one of the shows they used to do (and I don't blame them for trying to avoid it). This time their tips went to hurricane relief. One of the merchants (Scots Dragon) was also donating 10% of their sales to hurricane relief. Those are just the ones I know about, there might have been others.

It was good to see various folks, such as Shattock, the Scots Dragon vendors, Danza Mystique, the folks who play Robin Hood and Maid Marion, and a good many others. One strange encounter was with Josh the Juggler. It turns out he had (part of?) a tattoo business in Fairmont for a while. Even more surprising, to me, he claimed the business did rather well, which is not something I'd have guessed. He got tired of dealing with some of the clientele, or rather some of the wannabe clientele and so moved on.

We didn't see Billie or James as Orckes & Trolles was only at IRF on Monday, and that was our day to travel back home. [ADDENDUM: Okkay, we didn't see Orckes & Trolles, nor did we travel through Des Miones and stop and see irpooh and foolscap001] Stopping for lunch in Albert Lea, MN we found a place that had just opened this Spring: Taste of Texas BBQ. It was rather unexpected and was run by a couple from Texas. Overall it was good, but I think the barbecue sauce was overly mild.

Next year, IRF will be moving to early May and I'm not sure I'll care to go. It's nice to see everyone, sure, but it's not a must-do thing. I have other things already planned for May and early June and those I consider more important. There was also something mentioned of a renewed Waterloo faire, but there seems to be some confusion about just when it's supposed to take place.

There used to be a store in Fairmont, On Cue. This was part of a chain of stores. The main attraction was the music collection, a good number of CDs. But not just CDs. On Cue had video, a small selection of electronics, maybe a couple guitars, a fair number of books, and the smattering of tee-shirts and posters.

It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad. It was a music store first, and a book store not so much, but it wasn't bad for a town of 11,000. I bought a good number of CDs from On Cue. I bought some books from On Cue. What they didn't have they generally could order - or would be honest enough to say they couldn't get it.

On Cue went away a while ago when the chain was taken over by Sam Goody. The Sam Goody folks, who weren't doing so well themselves, said they wanted to keep On Cue's strengths. They should have studied them more and discovered what those strengths were.

When the On Cue became a Sam Goody the town may have gained a name everyone knew, but lost a store that was good. The music collection changed, and the more eclectic (okkay, strange) stuff I liked disappeared. The bookshelves shrank and what was on them was disappointing. There were more video games and a wider selection of electronics. Nobody bought the electronics because they could find the same thing for much less at K-Mart or Shopko, and that was just in town, never mind what could be found in, say, Mankato. While they could order things, they seemed to be less capable about it than On Cue was.

The obvious eventually happened. Somewhere a decision was made and it was being stuck to, despite evidence it was the wrong one. Had things reverted to like they were in the On Cue days, without overpriced electronics that wouldn't sell, with a good selection of books, and a less standardized one size fits all music selection, it would probably still be in business. Instead, it plowed on right into closing for business.

And that's how Fairmont lost a music and book store. It wasn't that the town (and surrounding area) couldn't support such a thing. It was that the town (and surrounding area) wouldn't support a bad one.

Now I either deal with ordering stuff over the net, or driving to some other town to get a CD or book. And that way, it becomes a problem. I only place an order or go to a store if I'm looking for something specific and want it bad enough. I don't just pop into the local store to see if there might be something of interest. There isn't a place I can do that. Through really, there hadn't been a place worth doing that since Sam Goody appeared.