73 bar falls 30.07 1mh ENE dew-point 48 Sunny, pleasant
New Moon (Thunder Moon)
The little red car has its new head. Phhew! Even so, new heads require inspection to be sure their connections are good, so it won’t come home until Saturday. Too bad we don’t inspect the heads of decision makers as well. Say, hmmm. Bush. Cheney. Rumsfeld. Each one of this trinity of corruption and incompetence has a bad leak somewhere, for sure all their ethics escaped their heads long ago.
Kate and I had lunch at Saji-ya in St. Paul. This is an old hangout for me, but I hadn’t been there in several years. They had redecorated. When I mentioned it to the host, he said, “Oh, 3-4 years ago.” Sashimi is a great lunch, light and healthy. Kate had her usual tempura.
We both agreed that if we ever moved back to an urban area that it would be St. Paul. It has leafy streets, older homes, distinct neighborhoods and a generally laid back approach to urban living. The main large avenue, Summit Avenue, has a long, relatively intact stand of Victorian homes, many large enough to qualify as mansions. Rice Creek Park, which has the Ordway Center (music and performing arts center), the central Public Library, the James J. Hill Library, the St. Paul Hotel and the Landmark Center (former federal building) remains my favorite urban space. The center city is compact and contains many buildings from the turn of the century (the last century) so modernism has not stained its skyline as it has Minneapolis.
The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra plays the kind of classical music I love. The state capitol and the main government offices are just up the hill from downtown. The Mississippi river winds through its heart and, as a result, the street system has a charming eccentricity. Many people from Minneapolis claim they can’t drive in St. Paul. Too confusing. I have the same problem in the western suburbs.
We’ve had another money meeting with the woman I think of as our financial strategist. She helps us with the practical side of money management and she is very good. After a period of lackadaisal attention to the financial aspect of our life, we have developed a steady routine, a consistency that has allowed us to build up cash reserves, save plenty of money for retirement and still enjoy travel, taking care of our family and our home.
