lanesboro minnesota

lanesboro mn
Originally uploaded by jfravel.

Shellie and I decided on Tuesday to go on a little vacation this week as starting July 1st she starts her residency at the UIHC. She was given a recommendation that Lanesboro MN was a quaint little town right on the river and offered a little bit of everything. I must say that's a huge understatement. Not only was everything extremely reasonably priced, but the people were nice and there were enough young people or young people at heart that the evenings were awesome. We spent a couple days wandering the shops, streets, and restaurants. We also spent an entire day tubing the root river with three tubes, one for Shellie, one for myself, and one for buddy the cooler.

And what is the true reason for celebration? Shellie and I are now both professionals. I didn't find out until we got to Lanesboro but I passed my boards so that was only more reason for the celebration. By the way for having only 725 people in the town there were over 15 wi-fi hotspots downtown (a 2 block radius). Ultimately, it was an awesome vacation and very laid back. It was something both of us needed and for the price I can only say great things about the place. (We stayed at Brewster's Red Hotel and lived/stuffed our faces at the Root River Outfitters and Restaurant).

We also stopped at the World's Smallest Church on the way back to Iowa City which was unique experience. I took plenty of pictures that will be up on flickr sooner or later. It looks like now the wedding season wil be in full force so it's time to gear up and dress up.

Congratulations

20060305 - Flexeril
Originally uploaded by sadalit.

Congratulations Shellie!!! She finally got her results from her boards and she passed everything. Nice job Doctor O'Connor

good bye brian

drinkforacure
Originally uploaded by jfravel.

drinkforacure2
Originally uploaded by jfravel. In honor of Brian Feist's last night in Iowa City. I dug up an old newspaper article from the daily iowan on Monday April 26, 2004. It seems very befitting. He was a great roommate for 3 years, a great bartender for even longer, and I'm sure San Francisco will be glad to have Brian and his girlfriend Bre. Good luck and good wishes.

Field. Tree. Wildflowers.

Field. Tree. Wildflowers.
Originally uploaded by slight clutter.

Relaxing. I am done with camps for a while. I plan on getting through one of the classes online and now am waiting for exam results. The first two weeks of camps and i worked way too many hours to do a body good.

Father and Son

Father and Son
Originally uploaded by Michael Nagel.

Happy Fathers Day.

basketball

after competition
Originally uploaded by muha....

basketball camp started today. i worked till 10 something. will the long hours be worth it. i don't think the odds are in my favor.

i started working camps today

Game On / I See Four Lights
Originally uploaded by _mpd_.

i started working camps today. it would almost be more respectable if i wasn't paid at all. it is sad. truly sad. 14-18 hr work days if i told you what i was paid you wouldnt believe it.

Sioux City Journal

FlickrNation, Episode 2
Originally uploaded by Thomas Hawk.

So the Sioux City Journal is finally supporting RSS. I had emailed them a couple times over the past year requesting, suggesting, hoping for some RSS support. There was no way I could have the paper delivered being 5+ hrs away so I was sort of stuck just visiting the website. Well the website was so horrible and it was filled with way too much advertising. Very anti-Web 2.0. So after they had just done a site redesign and still not implemented RSS I emailed again pleading and begging they step up to the new standards in media. I think Dave Winer would have been proud. Sure enough I got an email from the site designer saying it would be available publicly soon enough, but offered me the beta test the RSS feeds. Currently they only offer feeds for articles but he stated soon enough they would offer feeds for the video and audio they implemented with the site redesign. It looks very promising and I hope that means good things for their publication and a step towards better journalism at the Sioux City Journal.

Segway

Segway Parking at Mo's
Originally uploaded by JoshB.

Today we studied at the Medical Research Building. Today was also the first day I saw someone in Iowa City using a Segway to get around. I wonder if I will tell my children that I remembered the first time I saw someone using one and it will be as weird as when my parents said they can remember the first time they saw a color tv. Also happy birthday to Shellie's little birthday, Matt. A day late, but I was a little nervous congratulating him on 06.06.06.

freecycle

return for refund.
Originally uploaded by D.James.

I have been moving alot of items lately and trying to clean up the apartment. With that means taking things to goodwill or consignment places. I've been trying my best not to just throw things away which is a whole lot faster. I've also been using the Iowa City Freecycling site to give things away. It's like recycling but free. It's sort of like a craigslist site where people post things they are either requesting or offering and the only rule is that it must be done for free. It's been unique but rewarding knowing that it will for sure go to someone who needs it, but it also takes alot more of my time. I know there are tons of cities who also have these groups and I couldn't believe how many people are involved with this in Iowa City.

brothers don't shake hands.

French onion soup
Originally uploaded by ilmungo.

Tony and Christy passed through Iowa City today. They were on their way back from Illinois after going through their Catholic Sex Ed course for their "marriage education" courses. We decided to stop and get soup and salads on their way out. Great talks and great food. Those two always have something interesting going on.

Vacations

Fire Canoe #2
Originally uploaded by peter bowers.

I have been dreaming about summer vacations lately. How great does this look.

summer

wave
Originally uploaded by lucky e.

i have been studying as of late. and i can't say it is a whole lot of fun. shellie has suggested we go to the pool and study. i tried yesterday and thursday but I had to skip today's session. Shellie went again but unfortunately, there is no computer access. So I was a trooper and studied on a computer inside while outside was gorgeous. Technology is such a burden. There was a time when I could have just picked up a book, now I'm stuck sitting inside. Sooner or later there will be no books and wireless internet everywhere. Unfortuntaley, that day has yet to come.

verizon

E815
Originally uploaded by Garrett Vonk.

well my computer, my first real adult purchase is shot. it's done. we got along while it lasted but it's toast. i am using shellie's computer until the time comes where a new one will enter my life. it's a bit slow (alright a lot slow) which is saying something because mine was 6 years old. but it's running ubuntu meaning no viruses/spyware, and it will get the job done for the time being. just don't expect me to write a paper or keep up with email or the rest of it.
it was time for a new phone and a new phone plan. shellie and i decided to share an account. the plans and phones had all been figured out and it should have been easy enough. believe it or not we stood and waited for 2.5 hrs tonight waiting to get switched over and get the phone. the phone part took all of 5 minutes. standing in line was only the beginning, it took about 20 minutes to even get to the front of the line. apparently since our numbers hail from different area codes the verizon employee was suppose to have training about how to manage this account. i could have changed numbers but that would have negated the whole process so that anyone who would try to reach me via that phone number would always get another person. that would have made it simple for the employee, but who needs simple. so believe it or not we stood at the counter for 2hrs waiting for the manager to struggle through his first time of working with a cross market account. the entire 20 minutes in line i was hoping to get helped by either the 20 something guy or the geeky girl working at the counter. (no offense by the geek comment, i consider myself a geek). i could have guaranteed that they had read the manual that had just been sent out and they had done at least a couple of these accounts. (sure enough they were the ones who ended up helping the manager through the process at the 2 hr mark.)
i don't fault him for not reading the manual or being new to the process just as i wouldn't fault the head of general surgery for not knowing how to walk through laparoscopic surgery for appendicitis. a nice enough guy but hopefully you are the boss not just for personal relations. so after 2.5 hours what did i walk away with? Murphy's Law is still in full effect, i now have a new phone and plan, this quotes can probably be taken two ways "A manager is not a person who can do the work better than his men; he is a person who can get his men to do the work better than he can," and 2.5 hrs of people watching at verizon is way better than watching 2.5 hrs if Real World on MTV.