A couple of days ago, Minnesota raised the speed limit on over 900 miles of highways from 55 mph to 60 mph. The stated goal? Reduce speeding. A cynic would note that speeding would be reduced because speeds up to 60 mph would no longer count as speeding. However, a keener eye would see a different story.

Minnesota has a law nicknamed the “Dimler Amendment” that prevents speeding infractions from appearing on one’s driving record so long as the offense takes place in a 55 mph zone and the speed is less than 65 mph. The key number is 55 mph – not 60 mph. Thus, the increased speed limit actually leads to steeper penalties for a person going 65 despite the absolute speed excess being lower. Clever!

Saturday was a day of cultural enlightenment. Or, at least, entertainment.

I attended my first Gopher football game, which just so happened to be the University of Minnesota’s homecoming game. Who were they playing? None other than 11^th-ranked Purdue.

The game was one of the best sporting contests that I have ever witnessed live. The only experience that trumps it is watching the Wild beat the Avalanche in the playoffs.

The Gophers and the Boilermakers put on quite a battle. The Gophers were up by six going into the fourth quarter but managed to find themselves down by eight with about 6:00 to go. At that point some of the less loyal fans started leaving, but the team didn’t give up. The Gophers managed to score a touchdown with about 90 seconds left, and then they managed to convert to tie the game at 28. Overtime!

In overtime, Purdue got a touchdown; the Gophers responded in kind. For the second overtime, the U lead off with a touchdown. Purdue began its drive. Before long, it was fourth and one. The Purdue QB went to pass. Would they complete? No! The Gophers won!

What made the game even more enjoyable is that the buddy I went with, Kyle, who managed to get the tickets in the first place, is a Purdue fan. There’s nothing like a little rivalry to make things more exciting!

Later in the evening, I attended a concert at the McGuire Theater in the new Walker Art Center, thanks to some tickets from my friend Angela. The performance included three bands: Blood on the Wall, 13 & God, and Black Dice. Here are three succinct reviews of their performances:

• Blood on the Wall: Somebody really needs to tell these people that they can’t sing. They tried for the smoky-voice sound, but it was just so off-key and stressed that it didn’t work. The alt-rock sound was good save for the anti-singing.
• Black Dice: Dear God, I have never heard anything that gave me such abject displeasure. The noise from this band (and I do mean noise — they are a noise band) was so bloody loud that, even if it had been musically interesting, it was too painful to hear. The house was full at the start of their performance; by the time they finished, the theater was half empty. Half of the audience walked out during their set! Some saint passed out earplugs about halfway through the nightmare, which made it somewhat bearable.
• 13 & God: These guys were good. And I don’t mean “good compared to the other two bands;” I mean “good” — full stop. They do a sort of electronica/rap/alt-rock fusion. The band members are quite talented. The end product is sufficiently different from the mainstream to be interesting yet sufficiently musical to be enjoyable. I recommend seeing them in concert if you have a chance (note: I say “in concert” deliberately because, in my opinion, the live experience is far superior to the studio version)

As for the theater itself, one could definitely tell that it was in an art museum. The aesthetics trumped the ergonomics, but the good acoustics tipped the scales enough to make it an enjoyable venue.

In summary: the Gophers rule, Purdue sucks, Blood on the Wall needs voice lessons and/or better monitor speakers, Black Dice was literally painful to hear, and 13 & God is very good.

How often do adults get snow days? Rather infrequently. In fact, I’ve never had a snow day as an adult. Today changed that.

Sort of.

Blizzards don’t typically occur in September, even here in Minnesota. On the other hand, September thunderstorms can be quite powerful, such as the one that menaced the Twin Cities last night. Tornado warnings, high winds, hail — the works. Having lived through many such storms, I didn’t think much of it at the time.

This morning, I drove to work as usual. Everything seemed perfectly normal until I exited the freeway to get to my office and was greeted by a long queue of cars. All the way up and down the street, the stoplights were off. As I looked closer, I noticed that none of the buildings were burning lights and that numerous tree limbs littered the lawns and street gutters.

A quarter mile farther, and I crested a hill, which gave me a full view of my office’s parking lot. Save for a number of branches and a half-dozen cars, the mammoth lot was empty.

Empty? That could only mean… YES!!! Storm day! A quick conversation with the lone on-duty security guard confirmed that the office was indeed closed for the day.

At the moment, something like 160,000 buildings are without power in the metro area. In addition to my office, another half-dozen of my company’s buildings are closed, as are two dozen school districts.

The only question now is, what should I do with my free day?

Rose went co-ed a decade ago. Is it time for St. Mary-of-the-Woods to do the same?

NPR reported this morning that “the Woods,” a women-only Catholic college in Terre Haute, admitted two men to its programs for the first time. Intrigued by what would motivate such a change, I did some investigation. It turns out that the NPR bit was slightly misleading: the Woods’ on-campus undergraduate program remains exclusively for those of the finer sex. The change? Men can now enroll in the distance education program. Not earth-shattering, but a change nonetheless. (source)

Every so often, people ask me what I’m up to. Obviously, a lot of my time is spent at work, but that leaves many hours for other activities. Some of that time is spent playing hockey (more so in the winter than the summer). Other blocks of time find me playing poker, as seems to be the fad these days. Reading newspapers and books eats up some time, but I’m still left with large sessions of mindless web surfing. Web surfing can be entertaining in the short term, but, much like watching television, it generally isn’t a good way to use up precious recreation time. Well then, what is a good use of those many hours?

An evening college class seemed to be the answer. I wasn’t looking for anything even remotely related to my day job or even my future full-time endeavors. No, I wanted something interesting, exciting, and — most importantly — fun. What topic did I choose? How would I spend countless hours for the next four months? Wait for it…

Firefighting!

A “Firefighter I” course, to be specific.

Of course, there was a huge problem coupled with that decision: I wasn’t sure whether or not people take that type of class on a lark. A conversation with the college registrar allayed my concerns enough to register.

At the first class, I was relieved to see that my fears were unfounded. About two thirds of the 16 students are affiliated with fire departments, but the other five are, like me, taking the class out of independent interest. The median student age seems to be around 22, which adds to me sense of belonging. The teacher is semi-retired from fire fighting (after 25 years) and definitely seems to know what he’s talking about. The course itself is split between lecture and lab, so there’s lots of hands-on practice of the various techniques that are discussed in the classroom. So far, it’s a blast.

Why firefighting? As I mentioned earlier, I think the topic is interesting. I enjoyed playing with the Pike fire trucks. I have a certain [non-malicious] fascination with fire (albeit not quite to the level of a certain pyro). On top of those whimsical reasons is a solidly real one: the physical challenge of firefighting activities provides stark contrast to the posterior-enlarging days of working at a computer.

Why take the course if I’m not part of a department? Due to my living in St. Paul, which is served by career firefighters, I don’t have the option of joining a department on a volunteer (part-time) basis. When I move to a suburban location, I plan to pursue a volunteer position, but that might be many (many!) years away.

Until then, it’s a fun diversion.