Last Night Playing Pinball at Home

The European Trip starts Wednesday when we take The Empire Builder to Chicago for a few days of Pinball, Museums, Food, and Bars. Stay Tuned!

Successful Eye Surgery

 Minneapolis, MN

Daft Punk, here I come!

Pterygium Eye Surgery

When you grow up in Southern California, you get exposed to the power of the sun and the sun's UV rays.  When you surf you get exposed to the power of salt water in your eye and the sun.  When you think sunglasses are anti-social, this compounds the issue.  All of this can add up to a pterygium lesion on your eye or eyes.

Pre operation

I noticed the pterygium way back in 2009 or so.  I had it monitored whenever I got my eyes checked.  They always said it was cosmetic and wouldn't be an issue unless it made its way to my pupil.  I started wearing sunglasses and protecting my eye but over the years it made its way towards the center of my eye, squishing my eye and giving me an astigmatism along the way.  The astigmatism distorted my eye and changed my vision rapidly.  I wanted to get it all taken care of before it caused permanent eye damage so when we moved to Minneapolis I got a referral to see a specialist. Dr. Volker agreed it wasn't cosmetic anymore and we scheduled an operation about 6 months later.  

That operation is done!  It was a success and after about a month of healing, everything is fantastic.  

The first thing I said after recovering from the anesthesia was, "Take my picture!" so Donna took a great photo.

Francis helped me recover that day and also helped me cosplay a Bond Villain.

The following day I went back for a checkup and they removed the bandage and said it looked fantastic.  It was scratchy and painful and I couldn't rub it.  A contact lens helped keep the skin graft in place.

Since the surgery in late January, I have returned to the Dr. for multiple follow-ups.  It's pretty much all healed now, but my vision is still settling in so I won't have new glasses for another few weeks.  The vision in my left eye has gone from terrible to great with the surgery and I am wearing glasses with the lens popped out.

Post op about a month.

It's hard to tell unless I do this.  Also I need to shave.

We chose Minnesota as our current home because they have a state run healthcare exchange.  We will need to continue to stay in states that run their own just incase The Affordable Care Act gets gutted.  If that happens we all go back to the chance of getting denied coverage because of a preexisting condition so that healthcare profits can increase annually by 20%.

That's it for today.  If you missed, 5 Days of Competitive Pinball in a Row, check it out.  It was the 5 days leading up to my eye surgery.

5 Days of Competitive Pinball in a Row

 Twin Cities, MN

Pinball doesn't get old...

Making the Tournament Rounds

Last week I played competitive pinball for 5 days straight, well 6 if you count the recreational but still somewhat competitive league.  

It started at LITT for our Tuesday night league.  I used the evening to brush up on my rules and practice shots.  I wasn't gunning for a win that night, because the league I am in is just for fun.  

I even had time for a beer and we had some happy hour food at LITT, which is fantastic.

My friend Brendon was in my group on Tuesday so that was fun.  Here he is putting up a good score on John Wick.

On Wednesday I headed out to Blaine, MN to play at Blainbrook Bowl.  This tournament is packed with talent and I am still learning all of the tables there so my expectations where tempered.  I still did well.  I came in 6th out of 20.  I played really well but then it kind of fell apart on my last game.  If I had done better in my last round I would have come in 4th, which would have exceeded my expectations.  I will keep playing this one and eventually I won't be dead money.

Blainbrook is HUGE.  They have a ton of bowling lanes, a giant bar in back that people hang out in, pool tables, ticket redemption games, and a good number of well maintained pinball tables.

The carpet is also legit!

They have a cool wooden sign in the pinball area too.

Here I am waiting for my turn on Dr. Who.

On Thursday Donna and I drove out to Beautiful Savage, MN.  On the way we stopped by a Replay Sports store so she could trade in her old ice skates for new, better fitting ice skates.  She found what she was looking for and then we continued on to Northstar Pinball Collective.  NPC is at least partially owned by Luke Nahorniak, #1 in the state and #9 in the world.  It's full of great players and I am still learning the tables here too.  I ended up 13th out of 21.  It isn't a great showing, but I have nothing but future potential here so that is good.  I will continue to get out there a couple times a month and will eventually know the tables better and feel more comfortable there.  Being comfortable at a place and on a specific table is so important in my opinion. 

Donna bought figure states but the used hockey skate rack was impressive, so I took a photo of that.

We got to NPC at opening and had the place to ourselves for a bit.  I got to play 3 or so tables I have never played before.  I also got to get used to specific copies of these tables here.

They stream their tournaments on Twitch.  They only streamed 2 of my rounds and I ended up getting strikes in both of those.  You can what them here if you want.  My first round was terrible and is at about the 11 minute mark and my 2nd round shown was better and starts at around the 1h 35m mark.

I got this great shot of Donna using her cool sweater to blend into the table she was playing.  

On Friday I headed back to Bad Penny in St. Paul.  I am very comfortable here.  I came in 1st in early January and 3rd just last week so my confidence was high.

But before the tournament, Donna and I went to Lake of the Isles skate rink and Donna tried out her new skates.

Early on Donna was pretty cautious due to the fact that she was on new skates and had never skated here.  Shortly after this photo she was skating around like a natural.

Bad penny was hopping with 27 players.  I played great throughout the evening.

I was tied for 1st going into the last round.  If I won my round I would win it and if I finished 2nd, I would be 2nd overall.  I didn't do the math for 3rd or 4th place.  It would have been more complex.

I ended up taking 1st for the 2nd time this year (you can read about the 1st here if you want).  A fantastic result.  The round on Elvira was exciting.  I had 2 really bad balls and did it all on my 3rd ball.  I was player 4 so as soon as I was in the lead I could stop playing.  Winning is fun!

On Saturday I headed to 56  Brewing for their monthly tournament.  44 players showed up and 16 players would advance to the finals.  I played great and made the finals but then it all kind of fell apart.  I was on modern tables and about 1/3 of the field were all top of state qualifiers.  I ended up coming in 13th, which is okay, but I could have done better.  I just need to continue to make finals, put myself in a good spot and then play well in that spot.  

This is Ember waiting for Elizabeth to finish her long ball on Jurassic Park.

On Sunday I played in the LITT monthly tournament.  I didn't play well and didn't make the finals but a few of my friends made the finals and one of my friends won it all.  I hope to play better next month.  It's a huge tournament and is a lot of fun.  I guess I didn't take any photos.

That's it for today.  It was a great week of Pinball.  If you missed, Embracing the Cold Embrace of Winter, check it out.  We are enjoying winter here.

Embracing the Cold Embrace of Winter

 Minneapolis, MN

6 Degree, Feels Like -12 Degree Selfie

Living The Cold Life

Our Minnesota winter is going well.  Temperatures have gotten cold but it has mostly been dry so we have only had 2 real snows.  We do get surprise dustings of snow and a Factory Created Snow (read about that here). For the past 20 years or so, I have wanted to experience cold in a place that makes cold livable.  I often talked about spending a winter in Montreal so part of the appeal of living in Minneapolis was to experience The Cold.  I feel like we are doing a pretty good job and we have gotten to experience some pretty low temperatures.  We also really appreciate being connected to The Skyway so we don't have to experience the cold when we don't want to.  We can get to bars, restaurants, and go grocery shopping at Target without ever having to go outside.  Historically, January 17th is the peak of cold here so, if history repeats itself this year, temps are on the upward trend.  Days are already starting to get noticeably longer as well.

Kind people knit warm wear for our unhoused population that somehow manages during these harsh winters.

Our busses and transit run reliably in the snow.

There was a tattoo convention in the hotel behind our apartment and someone took their best attempt at spelling Tattoo.

There was also an attempt at the use of you're.

People are required to keep the sidewalks clear and some fail at it spectacularly, while others do a great job.

The Minneapolis skyline is really pretty at night, especially when it is foggy.

Donna made us a Minnesota Hot Dish to keep us fueled up for winter.

We also purchased stylish balaclavas.

Francis keeps warm in is fluffy blanket

Both my eyebrows and my glasses frosted up walking to play pinball at LITT the other night.

We try to stay in when it gets this cold.  We don't want to mess around with frostbite.

We even have a saying here that may or may not be borrowed from some Scandinavian country, "There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing".  

That's it for today.  If you missed, Pinball Tournament Winner Winner #1, check it out.  I won a local pinball tournament.

A Free Day of Adventure

 Minneapolis, MN

Couples Skate in the All Skate Direction!

The Walker Art Center

Today we took advantage of our NARM Pass and walked over to The Walker Art Center.  There are a couple of new exhibits that we haven't seen yet.  We also haven't explored their permanent collection recently.  

Donna and I peer into Passing Winter - Yayoi Kusam

Office at Night - Edward Hopper (The Nighthawks guy)

There is a great Stanley Whitney exhibit.  I wasn't aware of him before today but his works are fantastic and it's great seeing them all together.  I liked the reflection of the paintings in the floor.

Holidazzle 2024

After our museum visit we headed home and ate some dinner and then walked the skyway to Holidazzle 2024.  Holidazzle is and was a winter festival in Minneapolis.  It has had a 10 year hiatus but it's back this year, in part.  There used to be a parade but now it's a closed street with a lot of vendors and things to do as well as things to do indoors.  We took advantage of this free event to celebrate winter in the winteriest place I have ever lived.

They had Minne-Golf set up to play for free.  It's the same course as we played here but in a different place.

We were headed to the FREE ROLLERSKATING AKA Roll-A-Dazzle sponsored by CenterPoint Energy in an unused business in The City Center Shopping Mall.

We arrived just after they opened so it looks pretty deserted in these photos.

You signed an online waiver, gave them your ID, and Twin Cities Skaters gave you rollerskates!

I ran off and got photos while Donna put on her skates.

This is Donna's "I'm having fun" pose that you can also see here in this skating post.

There are a lot of many opportunities for selfies.

They had a nice seating area set up so you could rest, post on Facebook about skating for free, and tighten your skates.

It turns out those toe stoppers are just for posing.

After skating we bundled up and walked Nicolette Mall.

The mall has a giant chess board and they put scarves on the pieces.

There was a beer and drink tent that we didn't make use of.  A $9 can of beer seemed inappropriate for our Free Day of Adventure.

Fake ice carvings are a thing even when it is 10 degrees out and a real ice carving would survive just fine.  After looking at this again it might be real. The Southern California boy in me just assumed it was fake.

I was hyped for this Holidazzle Rollercoaster but it turned out to be a stationary sled.

As we walked we happened across a giant yeti.

They seemed pretty cool to look at but then we found out...

They were a marionette and we could control them!

The animation looks pretty great considering it is like 5 random people just randomly pulling ropes without any organization.

The Yeti was made from recycled mattresses, which is really cool.

This hoop tunnel was stroller and wheelchair accessible.

There were a few large hour glasses that were interactive.  When you started turning the wheel it triggered a light show with music.

This is what it looks like before you started turning the wheel.

It was a fun day of exploration.  Minneapolis has been treating us great so far.  The weather has been getting colder and we are expecting our first major snow storm today (it's happening as I write this).  That's okay, we don't have to drive anywhere anytime soon.

That's it for today.  If you missed, Skating the Stadium, and didn't click the link above, check it out.  We went rollerblading at US Bank Stadium for NOT FREE!