I am CuTRis

We've had construction on our street all summer, but when this heavy equipment was parked in front of our house overnight , I figured my wife must have bought me this stuff for my birthday! She just can't tell me yet (until my birthday)! I took this picture with my new toys when nobody was looking...

Cutris Thought to be on Dangerous Diet September 25, 2008 UnAssociated Press Once again, presidential candidate Cutris is involved in a scandal . It seems that a recent photo shows an extremely thin Cutris . "He's almost 'stick thin!'" one reporter said. When questioned, Cutris admitted he had lost some weight, due to a combination of diet and exercise.

President George W. Bush spoke last night about a bailout of Wallstreet. It seems that when the really rich get in financial trouble, it affects everyone. So, all the rest of us have to pay more taxes to bail them out. Don't try this at home though, because no one will come to your rescue. It's quite a socialist concept to have the government intervene in an otherwise capitalist market.

LIVE HERE? Really? Would I really want to do that??? It is actually "marina approved," so there would be no problem keeping my canoe there. Still, I can't quite get over the fact that the building looks like it might need a few repairs. 10.7 acres though... although riverfront has got to be expensive...

Six of us went peddling all over St. Paul (and Minneapolis and assorted suburbs) on Saturday. It was about 30 miles or so through some nice trails along the Mississippi River. The first photo shows our riding party, and the last is a telephoto shot of downtown -which we rode right through just before the first photo was taken. The second picture was taken from the Mendota Bridge, and the third is of the Ford Dam.

We’ve all heard of food scares with such things as salmonella or toxic chemicals entering the food supply. Recently I had a scare with peanut butter. It didn’t make me sick, but it scared the crap out of me! After buying some “natural” peanut butter, I opened the jar and had some and it was quite good. Later that night though while I slept, I was woken up to a strange sound. It was a moaning sound and I got out of bed to investigate. It seemed to be coming from the kitchen, so I turned on the light. Several times, I turned on the light and it would go off by itself! Finally, I noticed the moaning sound was coming from my new jar of peanut butter! When I looked closely at the label, I realized I had grabbed the wrong jar by mistake! I threw the jar outside in the garbage and the strange phenomena stopped. Be careful to read the labels closely when you buy food products (see photo)!

If you are now "the man" of your family because you are married and have kids, don't try to pretend the bad message and bad feelings you bring aren't from you. You chose to hold onto those things. If your family has held onto customs for over 1,000 years but they are wrong, don't pretend that you have to keep doing the same thing yourself. You can change the system if you are strong, or keep doing the same things if you are a coward. Don't blame your problems on your ancestors (or someone else's ancestors) because someone in your family was a slave over a century ago. Read your history. There have been slaves throughout the sordid history of mankind. If you are free, why do you choose to hold onto that unfortunate past? If your parents mistreated you, I'm sorry about that. But if you are an adult, pull yourself up and make the best of your life. Also make darn sure you don't mistreat your own children. Perceptions change over the years, and sometim...

After proving ineffective in game one against the Packers, coach Brad Childress continued to play Tarvaris Jackson as the Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback. After he proved ineffective against the Colts, Childress kept doing the same thing (like he always does). Could owner Zygi Wilf have made an impression? I think maybe so, as Gus Frerotte will be starting against the Panthers on Sunday. In fact, coach Childress says Frerotte will start the rest of the season! Shouldn't the coach be a bit more flexible and take it a game at a time? Maybe try some new plays too...

People who weren't born in Minnesota, or who despise cold weather, like to bash the state for being so cold. Truthfully, it does get cold, but there can be a significant difference between northern and southern Minnesota on any given day. We do have cold and snow, but we are really good at dealing with it. We get up and go to work in weather that would paralyze many other states. Personally, I don't like really hot, sticky weather. We do have some of that in Minnesota, but not a lot of it. We have no hurricanes, though we do have a few tornadoes. Thinking about Minnesota weather, I couldn't help but notice that while hurricanes and floods are devastating parts of the U.S., Minnesota is enjoying near perfect conditions with cool nights and 70's and low 80's Fahrenheit daytime temperatures.

The Latest straw poll conducted by CNBC has placed Cutris ahead of both Barack Obama and John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. The latest figures show Cutris with a commanding 406%, with Barack Obama at 37% and John McCain at 36%.

Cutris Finds Lost City of Atlantis September 15, 2008 UnAssociated Press Recent reports suggest that Cutris has found the legendary "Lost City of Atantis." When questioned where he found it, Cutris acknowledged that he indeed had located the lost city, beneath a fairly large rock in his back yard. "I was doing some gardening," said Cutris , "and when I moved that big rock out of the way, there it was! Scientists are rushing to verify the find, though Cutris is not allowing them into his yard "because there is new sod," and he doesn't want "half the world tramping all over it."

Seven years ago I was working for county social services when I heard about the Twin Towers of the World trade Center being hit by airplanes. It was an awful day. Later, I was met with an unusual silence, as I was living near the airport and nothing was flying except F-16's that kept me awake with their faint erie sound as they patrolled at high altitude. A year later I spent the first anniversary with the American Indians at Camp Coldwater. Today I remember...

OPEC just voted to cut oil production by about 520,000 barrels per day. In other news, OPEC sucks! When I get to be President, the USA will seriously try to "kick the foreign oil habit." Then you can try to sell your sand.

As human beings, we are perhaps more concerned with our own finality than most other creatures that live on land or in the waters of the planet Earth. I am quite sure that other animals have a concept of death too, especially apes, whales and elephants. Still, I doubt that these animals have philosophized about death in the way that Homo sapiens have. As humans, we know death well. We kill other animals for food, and are well aware of the fact that there are predators and prey in the world. We recognize that death can come peacefully, though most often there is some amount of pain associated with it. Perhaps this is what scares us the most. Death is a final event that is feared by both man and beast. One will go to great lengths to avoid it. Yet sometimes, a person will end his own life in suicide. What a desperate and depressed state such a person would have to be in, to fight the natural feelings of avoiding death. Throughout history though, cases of humans and animals simply giving ...

When I buy a box of flavored oatmeal, why do they put "regular flavor" in it? What is "regular flavor?" It isn't a flavor! I had to eat one this morning to get rid of it. I used honey to make it "honey flavored."

After last night's speech by John McCain's choice for running-mate, Sarah Palin, the media is filled with excerpts from her speech. Personally, I didn't find her very likable. Furthermore, one woman (Hillary Clinton) isn't interchangeable for another (Sarah Palin). I know McCain is after the former Hillary Clinton supporters. Sarah Palin, I never heard of you a few days ago. Now that I have, McCain looks worse than ever.

Cutris Holds Political Convention UnAssociated Press September 3, 2008 Cutris held his own political convention yesterday in an undisclosed location that only he knew about. "It was very exclusive!" said one CNN correspondent. "I understand it was nearly impossible to get an invitation." It seems that the Cutris Party , formally endorsed Cutris as their/his presidential nominee, with a vice-presidential candidate to be named later.

I support your right to protest. I also drive by the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul (almost) daily. If you don't live in Minnesota, you are welcome to come and visit. Just don't come to my city to break windows and throw poop at police officers.

I can't get into any details of my work, since businesses are touchy about blogs and such. Suffice to say, the remodel is unfinished and I cannot work today. So, I am getting things done like stocking up on supplies and hopefully a bike ride. Yesterday I had an early training and was released for the afternoon. I went hiking in the Wilkie unit of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. I was dressed in denim and headed into the unchecked, late summer growth. At first I was noticing all the smells, flowers, birds, butterflies and such -thinking about how much I love getting out into the woods. Soon, I was fighting my way through a tangle of stinging nettles, branches and brush, thinking that I was an idiot to be doing this! As always, I ended up with a lot of burrs in my clothes, some great photographs and a sense of satisfaction. I filled out my ranger report and went home to have dinner with my wife before band practice. Life is going to get busier for awhile, and that mean...

How ironic that since I never liked going to school, I now work at one. That means (like the kids) I am about to go back. I regret the summer ending, though I am optimistic for a good year.