Phil Rodemann

Why does Amazon ship such a small item in such a large and wasteful box?

We have had a very warm autumn but it’s time to pay the piper

‘Tis the season! Reika is our 5 month old rescue. When our vet got her she was emaciated, had fleas, worms, a bot fly larvae in her nose, and puncture wounds on her neck. She is now our warrior princess, playing with the dogs and loving attention.

Audi service has messed up the repairs on my wife’s car. It’s a really long story but suffice to say that even though it has a new engine, brakes, tires, and is a great driving car she doesn’t want it anymore. Oh, and it’s paid off.

It’s mid-November and in the US we have Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up. With hosting dinner for family members, figuring out gifts, and doing all of the logistics is challenging. I am adding to that craziness this year as I am scheduled for rotator cuff repair surgery on December 1st. I think most adult males are two ages: their chronological age and then the 15-21 year old in their head. I was listening to the wrong entity in August when I went tubing at the lake. One spill later where I was tipped onto my back and didn’t let go of the tube right away and I have a torn subscapularis tendon with swelling and fluid in the joint. I am facing 3-4 weeks in a sling with the shoulder immobilized. The 2 biggest reasons for failure of this type of surgery is the quality of the tissue being repaired and the patient not following the rest and rehabilitation process. I intend to follow the process. It will be hard to not do things and to just sit. As an adult I don’t really read for pleasure as I read so much when I’m learning how to do things centered around my latest obsession. I have a few books set aside that I plan on trying to read, if anyone has a recommendation I’m all ears.

I realized we had “visitors” yesterday when we found a Ghirardelli 72% dark chocolate in the theater that had a chewed wrapper. We moved the seating and found LOTS of evidence of visits. We cleaned, vacuumed, and I set six snap traps in the furnace room next door. I have to be careful where I place traps as we have 2 dogs and a kitten that would love to check them out. This morning when I checked I had caught three mice and the other 3 traps had the bait eaten. I replenished the bait and traps so we have six out again. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

My Sister-in-law either loves me or wants me fatter. Either way, these are my favorite cookies!!

When in Rome… …actually Perham, MN

Cool weather and windy day today. Games, reading, and chill time.

Sunsets on the lake are the best! Grace and Elijah arrived this evening and we took out the pontoon.

Lunchtime in Perham, MN. Starting 10 days of vacation in lake country!

This has become one of our traditions every time we’re in Chicago. If this offends, sorry, not sorry.

In Chicago this weekend, walked up and got a table outside. A cocktail and apps. Our waitress, Katie, was superb and the food was so good. Chickpea fritter and empanadas. Down near Fulton Market.

You can just smell the sugar in the air…

A day late sharing this but we ventured downtown for the Farmers Market Saturday morning. I was surprised there weren’t more vendors and I think the holiday weekend played a part in how easy it was to find a parking spot.

Beat the heat by seeing “F1”. Story was typical of Apple movies, really good production. I thoroughly enjoyed it, as did the rest of the crew, and wonder of wonders we didn’t get pulled over driving fast on the way home!!

Back at one of our favorite restaurants. We sat outside in spite of the heat but there was a nice enough breeze that helped. Stopped at Grand Ole Creamery for a butter pecan dish for dessert!

This is Mila, our grand kitty. She’s been visiting for a few days while her mommy is out of town and this chair under the dining room table is her favorite spot to stay above Archie. She is a great kitty who gives nuzzles all the time.

24 MN Highway Patrol cars just passed us headed westbound on Hwy 212 in SW Minneapolis. Did they catch the shooter?

Heather went to Indianapolis today for some meetings with BCBS association. Matt called and wondered if I was free tonight, he had tickets for the Twins game (for work) and had brought Charlie down with him. Dan and I were able to go, it was Prince night (today is his birthday), we had fun but the Twinkies lost 16-4 to the Texas Rangers.