I am CuTRis

...bore me bore  2   (bôr, bōr) tr.v. bored , bor·ing , bores To make weary by being dull, repetitive, or tedious: The movie bored us. n. One that is wearingly dull, repetitive, or tedious. [ Origin unknown .]     Perhaps there are too many award shows???  

Created with a flashlight and an 8 second shutter speed - Kevin J. Curtis

Do you really want to go in there??? "Mark of the Beast"

I found out that I still have money in an HSA from when I worked for the school district. I won't mention what school district because they were paranoid about my blog and tried to end my freedom-of-speech with intimidation when I was at the ALC. Anyway, the rules to getting reimbursed seem arbitrary and sometimes I need the Explanation of Benefits (and sometimes not) from the insurance company—even when the amounts paid and owed are already shown on the bills and receipts submitted. After my latest attempt to get reimbursed (the previous attempt went unpaid and had to be resubmitted), I was growing annoyed by the idiotic policies and so I sent this note with my EOB and resubmitted claim. Hi NAME REMOVED, After only 10 minutes on hold with INSURANCE COMPANY NAME, I was able to get the EOB for the claim that was denied. I hope this is all the documentation necessary to prove I am not trying to falsely get my money from my medical reimbursement account as outlined by SCHOOL ...

If the minimum wage is raised so that dishwashers are making $10 per hour and college graduates are making about the same amount for entry-level jobs, what does that mean to the economy? Should this be market-driven or artificially set by the government? I think it is a legitimate question since so many incentives/bailouts have failed so miserably.

Not since the Halloween Storm of 1991, have I seen the roads as bad as they were for so long as from Friday through this past weekend. This morning, while better, the roads are still slippery in places where the ice is stuck to the pavement. Here are two images from Friday afternoon showing the highways and freeways coated with a thick layer of ice. This is also how it looked Saturday morning when I was out. Hwy 36 East 35E South

Click any photo to enlarge and click "back" to go back. 94 East - DT St. Paul    35E North 36 West - Icy   Ramp from Lexington to W36 - pushing cars  Lexington Ave. N. 

Yesterday, I sent this message to SuperAmerica corporate contact. All of your SuperAmerica stores have signs that say, 'free gas for a year.' I would like to get my free gas. Can I just fill up and leave, or do I need to 'check in?' I am ready to start receiving my free gas as your advertisement states. Also, is there a limit; like 10 gallons per day? I will need to know that. Thanks, CuTRis So far I have received no response.

  Now that the weather has gotten warmer, there are already panhandlers at numerous freeway off ramps—begging for money. They all have signs that say they are out-of-work and homeless. Some have children to feed and some say they are veterans. Many are none of those things and are looking for money without working. I've always thought about standing out there with a sign like this one. However, I don't think I would really want to do it—even though it makes me laugh!

My nephew Mason is in the hospital again. It is the fifth day since he went to emergency. Say an extra prayer for him.

When I was a child, my parents found that I was never satisfied with a meal from the children's menu when they took me to a restaurant . Mostly this was because there was no salad . I have always liked salad, even as a child. Now that I have my own child, I am dismayed by the children's Menu at pretty much every restaurant. They are filled with uninteresting, not particularly nutritious food choices. Apparently children mostly eat macaroni and cheese, hotdogs, and other foods that I don't normally feed my child. These foods while lacking as a healthy diet, also wouldn't cost me $7 if I made it at home. I can buy an entire box of macaroni and cheese for under $1 on sale. At the restaurant my child is getting a small portion of that for $5 to $8. Since my son is two-years-old, my wife and I can usually feed him some of what we are having. I imagine soon that will be unacceptable both on the restaurant side and ours--as he begins to eat more as he gets older. In fact, ...

More Snow!

It's always fun to listen to an Australian hunter from the Outback . In the USA, we probably have seen one of these guys on TV saying something like in the video below. If you want to talk like this, it is best to find a good hat to set the mood. It can get pretty hot and dusty in the Outback.

Driving in the car, I like to ask my son what color the traffic lights are and then I tell him that green means "go" and red means "stop." We talk about all sorts of things like that. So when I pointed out the big, beautiful full moon to him, he commented on it being round and yellow. Since it was low on the horizon, the moon soon disappeared behind the buildings of downtown St. Paul . That's when my two-year-old said that we would "see another moon!" I told him that I was pretty sure Earth only has one moon . Boy was I wrong! Another mile or so up the road and it turns out he was right!

Happy Valentine’s Day to all! My wife has planned ours. We will be babysitting our two nephews that evening. It wasn’t what I had in mind and I really didn’t expect it; though I probably should have. Have a great day!

Contact me if you are looking for a programming job in the Twin Cities.

My son enjoyed lunch and the music at the Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter yesterday.