Secrets of the City

I know it’s not winter anymore when my friend starts wearing his shorts to work – should be in about a week.

Yep, long underwear is 50% off at most department stores, and it’s time to order spring seeds. (Oh, and hire contractors for Apr/May/Jun home work if you’re going to get the good ones.)

Hooray!

No. Winter will never end. Hope is lost.

It’s warming up! Oh, wait…

I was thinking about the longer daylight hours as I was driving home at 5:15 today with the sun right in my eyes.

My birthday’s three weeks away…THAT means spring is here. Don’t worry, you all still have plenty of time to shop for me.

so now is the winter of our discounts, rant’ ?

PwrGeek: I got your present riiiigght here!

Sorry – I’ve been incessantly saying that like an eight year-old recently. It’s like a weird nervous tic or something.

Actually, I think some bugles and cheez whiz are in order for the b-day celebration.

It’s ALL about the discounts, champs!

Sign of spring: When I left work at 5:15 the sun was shining brightly in my face. Blinding me, in fact.

I’m back to seriously questioning the wisdom of ever leaving California, which is a sure sign that I’m sick as shit of winter. I don’t know if that’s the same thing as signs of spring. It’s f*cking February. Sorry, kids, we have a long, long, long ways to go.

I know that winter is NOT almost over because I’m still eating everything in my path. I bought one of those 330 piece licorice buckets from Costco and I can’t stop eating it. When spring is coming around, some sort of seasonal vanity kicks in and I start eating horrible foods like salads and fruit.

I agree with nateek, I’m still wearing my fat pants so it is definitely still winter. Of course the two bagels I had for breakfast might have something to do with the fat pants too…

Cat, nothing says I’m glad you were born like a bag of bugels and a can of cheez whiz.

I’m with Nate. I’m like a human composter right now. anything and everything.

pasty white
pants fell tight
hey…is that a fudge delight?
mmmm….good night.

Oh, it’s definitely around the corner. my urge to spend time on the bike every night, has kicked in, even if the bike is still on the trainer.

Spring is my least favorite season because Minnesota doesn’t really have one. It stops snowing and we get six weeks or so of damp cold air and pissy rain. I goes on forever. I’ll take winter over that.

It’s light out when I got off work. Now I can walk OUTSIDE the skyway and not worry about dissappearing into the darkness and getting run over by a Cadillac Escalade.

mnblrmkr, I’m picking up my new LeMond on Friday (well, it’s not new, buying it used). On a day it’s going to be negative 1. It’s going to torture me only being able to ride it in a trainer for three months.

I noticed the DQ yesterday too, champs. This is a great sign that something warm is about to happen. I’ll take the reopening of DQ over the words of Paul Douglas or the Farmers’ Almanac any day.

PwrGeek and mnblrmkr –

Looks like we should start a MNSpeak cycling team. Max – can you sponsor us?

PG – what Lemond are you getting? I’m looking at one tomorrow.

N

Don’t forget bike-loving, Minnesota-hating wayne. If nothing else, he’ll draw in the chicks.

so now is the winter of our discounts, rant’ ?

HA! Clever. Well done, Champs.

Now is the winter of our discounts
Made glorious summer by this sale at Macy’s;
And all the pounds that low’r'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the snowbank buried.

On a semi-related note, Dude Weather was especially good today:
http://www.rakemag.com/blogs/dude-weather

p.s. I bike too! My bike is gold and can go pretty fast!

I just filed my taxes last weekend, I am pretty tempted to spurge the refund check on a new bike (my road bike is actually a cyclo-cross bike (GT ZRX) that I set up for strictly road use: put on road pedals, road geared cassette, 23 road tires).

But, I still think I’ll end up using the refund to redo my second bathroom and get the shower in it working.

I think I’m willing to do the trainer this year because some friends and I are talking about doing the 100 mile route of the Lakeville Ironman ride at the end of April. Never done a century that early. And, we’re discussing trying a double century on the solstice.

Sunset times defiantly help the mind set, but we closed work early last year on March 11th because we got hit with 6′ of snow in one morning and we are expecting about 3 today and my dog cant do her business because its too cold. So the answer is NO. There are no signs; the only definite sign is April 1st on my calendar.

Last night, I had a dream about biking. That’s usually a pretty good sign spring is on the way. The call of the open road.

Very well done on the “winter of our discounts” thing, Mr Champs. And to Leigha for her riffage.

Reading the blog listed on the Trackback (those Crazy Minnesotans!), I’m sensing a bit of winter-driven cabin fever. Don’t worry, Sanguinetti A, I was the same last year. Even if you never learn to love the cold, you’ll adapt in time. Adapt or die, that is.

The arrival of the Home & Patio Show is always a sure sign that spring is coming. And it also means the Home & Garden Show is just a few weeks away!

I learned the hard way to only accept the absolute end of winter on May 1. April still teases, with showers that sometimes spit ice.

My spring fever gets VERY surly when we get those last lingering cold snaps in April, and nobody likes a surly spring fever; best to keep it shelved until May.

teucer: definitely cabin fever. Funny that I just posted that last night.

Dang! How did we ever get by without Dude Weather?

Dang! How did we ever get by without Dude Weather?

I seem to get by just fine. Or am I just deluding myself.

I will believe spring is coming only when the snow melts and I see tulip and hyacinth shoots poking out of my garden. Around here the grass does not turn green until the first week of April, although I am beginning to see wisps of green on the weeping willows. Cardinals will return as early as late February. I do believe squirrels and cottontail rabbits start mating in February. I am employed as a dispatcher for a towing company and make most of my money when it snows, so I’m looking forward to one month and a half of snow, before it slackens off. I do enjoy the garden and waking to the sound of birds in the morning. And I do love the squirrels.

C’mon mnblrmkr – dude weather is funny. And I betcha his forecast for July 19th is a bullseye.

C’mon mnblrmkr – dude weather is funny. And I betcha his forecast for July 19th is a bullseye.

I guess I’ll have to take your word for it. Unless he’s a mime, or something.

What’s so special about July 19th?

In Jane’s earlier comment she linked (thank you, Jane) to today’s dude weather – he forecasts the weather for July 19th.

http://www.rakemag.com/blogs/dude-weather

Oh and BTW, Jane – sorry to have missed you at yoga this passed weekend. Like an idiot, I let my “friend” talk me into going for a run instead. Outside, no less. Sheesh.

In Jane’s earlier comment she linked (thank you, Jane) to today’s dude weather – he forecasts the weather for July 19th.

http://www.rakemag.com/blogs/dude-weather

Well, that’s two minutes of my life I’ll never get back.

I still don’t get it. But, one wouldn’t expect Stevie Wonder to appreciate a Picasso either.

I still don’t get it.
Come on! The man did a weather forcast, for a day five months in the future, and it was funny.

I still don’t get it.
Come on! The man did a weather forcast, for a day five months in the future, and it was funny.

If you guys say that’s what he did, then I’ll have to take your word for it.

maybe dude weather is an acquired taste.
And you only have to take our word for it until July 19.
On July 20, I expect a diet coke.

maybe dude weather is an acquired taste.
And you only have to take our word for it until July 19.
On July 20, I expect a diet coke.

What was the forecast? Because unless there’s a transcript or a captioned version somewhere, I have no clue what he said.

This is why I fucking hate web video.