I spent a few hours poking around west and southwest of Bismarck-Mandan this Saturday. That’s when I had the opportunity to photograph this tractor on the outskirts of Glen Ullin. I found lots of other fun things at which to point my camera, and they’ll show up here soon as well. None of the other ones involve boxy wooden farmers, though.
This power pole is adjacent to the Bismarck Expressway, near Capital RV. The lines held, and the pole seems intact, so it’s just a matter of getting it upright and reinforcing the soft ground. I would not want to be the guy in the bucket truck that had to lean over that thing and attach a tow line to it!
Hat tip to Brucellosis for featuring this on his blog. You beat me to the punch! I took some photos of this a while back but hadn’t posted them yet, and I’m glad I waited to catch him in the snow. It helps with the fact that the background’s pretty unappealing.
This is part of a political campaign display, and is accompanied by a sign for a hopeful candidate. His message: help keep District 30 strong! I’m not showing the sign, though…no free advertising. Especially considering that our three representatives down here are Republicans, so this challenger is presumably a socialist, I mean Democrat. Same difference.
I have since found out that Arnie Zent was vying for a Republican nomination for a vacated seat. My presumption was wrong, as is often the case. That drives home the old lesson: When you presume, you make a pre out of you and me!
I’ve never made contact with either the lightpost or the tree, but I did discover the danger of this curve early on in my driving career. Thankfully I filed that information permanently in my melon, because it was particularly slick there tonight! In fact, I saw a 4×4 go by all stepped out as they tried to avoid the curb. Unlike the people whose wheel tracks appear in this photo, they were successful. The person who connected with the lightpost left some parts behind!
Since my days in television, I’ve been notorious for keeping a locker full of various Chef Boy Ar Dee, Franco American, or Hormel products. Much of that was the result of working long hours with no real breaks, so I could just nuke something and eat while I work. I still prefer to do so now that I have a job where I get a lunch break. While I don’t have a locker like I did at KFYR, I have a plastic rolling bin with lots of cans in it.
Anyway, about “soup guru” Kurt Eberling, I’m grateful that he came up with Spaghettios. I have a feeling they were the start of a lot of the funky pasta meals served in a can over the years. But the guy was also a scout leader and an artist, and it seems like he was a nice guy. When I get back to work, I think I’ll crack open a can of Spaghettios in his honor.
I would have presented a better view of this patriotic display, but I can’t. I was out and about with little 3-month-old Jonathan, who just couldn’t seem to fall asleep. He was crying until I hoisted him into the truck, then we two dudes drove around and watched Bismarck go by. I started reciting two of PJ’s favorite storybooks, since I’ve read them enough to have them memorized, and my mastery of the art of storytelling put him gradually to sleep. I was about to head home when I saw this tree.
I did have my little 3.1 megapixel backup camera with me, so I set the timer and held as steady as I could. It always kicks into “Slow Shutter” mode in low light, and it’s difficult to pull a non-streaked photo when in that mode. Fortunately it turned out okay. I tried to get a shot of it again the other night, and the big sign in front of it had blown over. It’s since been fixed, but some of the lights were out when I drove by on my way home Sunday night (probably damaged by the tip-over). Hopefully it’ll be restored soon, and you can swing by to see it as pictured above!
This is a LONG stretch for the guys on the NBC North Dakota TV crew. The Bismarck folks start off with bowling in February, then members of the team from over the state make treks to Grand Forks, Fargo, and Minot for state hockey and the three basketball weekends. That’s a lot of nights in hotel rooms, a lot of long work days, a lot of miles traveled, a lot of cables coiled. Oh, and a lot of Applebee’s every night. I was on a different crew this weekend, which means no free food for me. Darn.
The TV crew isn’t the group most inconvenienced by this, though. Back when the switch was made, in order to avoid a lawsuit from parents of volleyball girls if I remember correctly, it put a crunch on the smaller schools. Girls’ coaches would referee boys’ games and vice versa, because their seasons were not simultaneous. All of a sudden they were playing at the same time, putting a strain on the system. That also made gymnasium space harder to come by in some places as well. All to make a few kids and their parents happy. North Dakota had watched South Dakota fight a similar lawsuit until its resources dwindled and it finally settled. Now we have two Class B tournaments and the Super A each spring.
What do they smell like? I couldn’t tell you right now; I’m still getting over the flu, so my nose as stuffed as a Democrat ballot box. I don’t recall the fragrance exactly, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t smell like me. That would never hit the market!