Mosaics and Millions
Yesterday morning I went down to the River Center in Saint Paul to try and pay our president and leader a visit. I’ve had a few things on my mind lately about the course he’s taking my country. So I thought, since he’s coming to Minnesota with greater frequency these days, that I might have a shot at giving him a little sound advice. Unfortunately for me and some other folks that turned out with similar hopes, we were turned away. Seems we lacked the $2,000 clams necessary to bend the ear of the man we affectionately call Dubya. Oh well, at least we got to laugh and joke around with the mounted police while he was inside raising 1.4 million for his campaign. The only scary moments of the protest came from a female officer that did not know how to control her horse. Every so often the horse would launch into these manic spasms and everyone would scatter trying not to get stomped. Also some vans drove through our gathering at top speed, interrupting the ‘Soccer Moms’ game of soccer and destroying their goal posts that were made from bags of food. We wondered if the president was in those vans.
On the bright side, I stopped in at an antique store in Saint Paul and discovered boxes and boxes of old Wood Type along with several cases of metal type. I didn’t have time to fully explore or purchase, but I will return this weekend to see what I can get.
Oh yeah, the above photos all come from the West Side of Saint Paul. Monday night I had a half hour to kill before an event over there, so I walked around and took some snaps of some great murals and mosaics. The picture of the chickens is one of the more unhealthy sings in all of the land. The camera doesn’t capture accurately the horrible green hues that the sign had turned after exposure to the sun. Very unappetizing to say the least.
In other news. . . today I am breaking down and buying a cell phone. It’s been over two and half years since I threw my last phone over the Hennepin Avenue bridge and into the mighty Mississippi, (I know, bad for the environment, but it was in a moment of weakness and serious fed-up-ed-ness). But it seems that the cell phone thing has come to a head and if I don’t get one soon than people will continue to be displeased with me, especially when I disappear into antique stores for hours on end in the middle of a friggin’ work day.
So I’ve done my research and compared all plans, phones and rates, etc, etc. Right now the winner seems to be T-mobile and their 1000 anywhere plan for $39.99. If you get the phone from Amazon, T-mobile or one of these other third party venders, it looks like any phone you’re going to buy has some hefty rebates that bring the price either to zero or in some cases you actually make money. To good to be true? I’m not a big believer in mail-in rebates as I still have two outstanding with Best Buy and I really don’t believe they have any intention of ever paying me, even after I jumped through the million and one hoops just to mail the darn things in. I digress. If anyone has any reasons why I should or should not go with T-mobile, now is the time to let me know. I’m sure this phone will eventually be polluting one of Minnesota’s great waterways soon enough, but the phone should at least go to its watery grave with the right plan.