It's pretty hard to avoid the sounds of Christmas today. I've already rang the bell by the red kettle when I was also selling hot dogs for "The Horn of Plenty" and I've heard them just about everywhere I've shopped as well.  It's pretty hard to escape the Christmas music if you are downtown where my office is too.With the lighting of Minot's official Christmas tree downtown and the decorated light posts it's also looking a lot like Christmas as well.  11/27/2023

TODAYI am going back into the sales business. Not for profit but for one of my favorite non-profits, the Horn of Plenty. I will be at one of the 5 Market Place Foods stores selling Hot Dogs today and Saturday.I had to dig up this old pic of Timmothy.2023 is the 40th year that the KHRT Horn of Plenty will provide help to hurting families in a 90+ mile area around Minot by by providing food, toys and a ministry gift that proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ.Check out the NEW Artist!Earlier this year a timid young lady came to have a document notarized while I was in the Art Gallery. I had to draw out of her that she likes creating "natural" art using earths elements. Here is a sample:There is no paint used in her work, it is all dried flowers, leaves, etc. The artist is Shayna Rodriquez a... 11/16/2023

Before you go to a Convenient Care Clinic you may be interested in my story. This may not apply to everyone as I am retired, on Medicare/Medicaid and am on a fairly fixed income so DOLLARS are a factor in the story and the second factor is simply TIME. A small amount of background: Minot is a small city of 50,000 and we only have one hospital, Trinity Health. We had two but that is another story (of trickery) about Trinity Health.A little more background about my blog post title. I have liked every employee, doctor, and administrator I have met from Trinity Health including the hospital President. The horrible only applies to my experience with policy.The situation: While walking to the front door of the church for Sunday worship both feet slipped out from under me. I landed HARD on my ... 11/09/2023

Minot is home to two restaurants that bill themselves as "Diner"s. There is the Sonic's Chain at 1601 35th Avenue SW . Then there is the local Krolls Diner. Krolls has always been a big favorite of the community, especially the German community as they specialize in Knoephla soup, Fleischkuechle, and of course Sausage & Sauerkraut. They also have great American platters that are usually bigger than your stomach.Kroll's diner has great food BUT they also have great advertisements featuring their two German ladies. Their website is NOT Kroll's but SitDownAndEat which is their slogan. Check out this 30 second video.I couldn't find the original ad but all spots used to end with a big German waitress ordering us to "Sit down and Eat!" 09/28/2023

The North Dakota State Fairgrounds is being overrun with Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Finlanders, & Icelanders. Once again it is North Americas LARGEST Scandinavian festival, the Norsk Hostfest.It's a four day party of ethnic food, entertainment, and shopping. The food is fantastic with top Chefs from Scandinavia and other worldwide locations. Entertainment also includes international artists on multiple stages through out the party grounds every day of the festival. There is more then an acre of shopping featuring mostly hand made items.There is so much to see at the Hostfest you must visit at least two days and of course if you want to see the main entertainment attractions you need to be their all four days.If you can't make it this year I hope to see you next year for the 48th annual ... 09/28/2023

The picture above shows the new City Hall from Third Avenue SW and what you are actually seeing is the 2nd and 3rd floor. The 1st floor is accessible from the 2nd or 3rd floor via stairs or elevator. I bring this up because the building does have an entrance from 2nd Ave SW where the City rents out space to two businesses that are not City related BUT access into the City Hall portion is locked. I want to point out that ONE of the excuses the City Council gave for their lavish spending is they did not have enough room in their old building. You didn't have enough space but now you want to rent out space you are sure to grow into???Above is the "Old" City Hall. As much as I searched I could not find when it was built but obviously it is NOT all that old. The information I seeked was behi... 09/27/2023

Yesterday I posted about the first floor of City Hall and focused on the BIG spenders, the City Council. You may have noticed that the offices were numbered in the 200's. That is because as you enter the front door as pictured above it is the ground floor from 3rd Ave. There is an entrance from 2nd Ave BUT although much of that floor is City Hall you can NOT enter the City Hall from that door. The 2nd floor If you walk the open stairway to the 2nd floor you can not ignore the beauty created by the skylight above. At the top of the steps you will find the following offices.Above is the North lobby, with the tables it appears to be a meeting area. The South lobby appears to be more of a lounge. (next picture)Most noticeable on this floor is the City Clerks Office.There are several other o... 09/26/2023

Minot's NEW City HallI am going to walk you through the new City Hall with pictures and a little commentary in 3 parts with each part a separate floor of the building.This and the following 2 posts are part of an entry into a blogging challenge put forth by Dr. Paula McDonald and Kathy Streib titled Let's Get Serious About Writing a Blog Series. First let me be clear that the Minot City Council LOVES to spend money. Minot is the 4th largest City in the State but out spends the largest by a very substantial amount. The amenities are nice but our taxes are as insane as our City Aldermen/women.First of all let me point out that it is right across from the funeral home... very fitting... death and taxes.The location is that of the old Wells Fargo building downtown. Most important to the big... 09/25/2023

Swimming pools in Minot North Dakota are hard to find. The men and women stationed at ther Minot Air Force Base are lucky to have their own pool facility.Our summers are just to short to pay for the expense of installation and maintenance of a private pool. Every year I see someone purchase an above ground pool but I don't believe I've ever seen the same pool the following year. In fact, more often then not by late summer said pool in ruins before fall.The City of Minot has a wonderful pool complete with a water slide and splash pad.Obviously the City pool is an outdoor pool and even though it it heated it is no match for our winters. The City pool is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day. The day after Labor Day the dog is open to pet owners who have dogs.As far as I know the only p... 08/20/2023

I actually borrowed the title of this post from another one of Timmothy's cartoon strips about Titus and Philemon eating strawberries but I am going to use this one to give a plug to the Minot Farmers Market in Oak Park. Our Farmers Market only opened July 6th and will most likely close in October this year.You can click on the picture below to open a new window into the Farmers Market website.How can I possibly tie a cartoon about red lips to Real Estate. Well, if you are looking at homes and the basement is very dark but you can make out a coffin... get out!  08/01/2023

As a bit of a News Hound I am well aware that most of the country has been dealing with extreme heat for close to two months but believe it or not North Dakota has been in the 70's for the most part UNTIL NOW.We are now in the 90's for highs, just in time for the North Dakota State Fair. I love extreme heat during the days of the fair. If you think that is strange it seems so does everyone else.Besides all the fun of the midway and food there is the opportunity for people to show off their talents through displays that include everyday individuals, and local organizations. One such area of displays include Artist and Photographers. My daughter Tina thought she would give it a try and put in an entry for the 1st time.Congrats to Tina for winning Best of Division& Best of the Show.What a ... 07/24/2023

I imagine that Titus and Philemon's world is no larger then they can or have seen. If Joe walked around the house he walked around their world.Timmothy Timm is a big fan of "Catch and Release". He doesn't like taking the life of anything other than flying insects. We have only gone fishing once and I'd be curious, had we caught anything, what his reaction would be.People do fish the river a block away from our home but river fishing to me is to throw a carpenters line out with a hook and check it a hour later to see if I caught a catfish or a bullhead. Just a little further down the line is the North Dakota Game and Fish pond at the Fairgrounds.The pond on the Fairgrounds is open all summer and no fishing license is required being it is catch and release.I suppose there is an easy tie i... 07/20/2023

Last Saturday was one of the days I bring home "a lot of treasure".  Timmothy wrote this strip over a month ago, far ahead of my junk buying binge, but it was right on the mark for my past Saturday.Each year Minot's UCC church hosts a rummage sale to support our local chapter of the Boy Scouts of America.I don't know where this small church gets all the rummage every year but looking at the picture above imagine three rows of rummage (treasures) extending across the picture stacked chest high and you will have a good idea of what they had.Just a few of the treasures I brought home were a nice guitar amp, two easels for the art gallery, an sun tent in an unopened box, and more. I could have easily loaded up my cargo trailer had I not restrained myself. All for a "free will" offering.Mayb... 07/18/2023

It's hard to believe Minot is just now launching a recycle program when the city I left 30 years ago was already doing it back then... better late than never??? I ask that with question marks because I have read and heard that recycling is NOT cost effective for most items anymore.Personally I have always liked the idea of recycling.Here are the details of Minot's upcoming program.    06/09/2023

On my first (very brief) photo walk of the spring I saw something fluttering in the trees that I knew was not a bird. I had to walk clear across the park to see just exactly what it was.They either escaped from a in the park wedding or proposal. I'm guessing the latter as the week before I saw an elaborate "Will you marry me" set up at the park.There was not much else to photograph but I wanted to show you a dead loop in the river where I have taken countless pictures before. The BIG difference here is that this is without the lush foliage or the swamp green algae covering the water.And then there was this couple looking for a home.I hope to share much more as Spring starts heating up and I get out camping but for now... this is Spring in ND. 05/01/2023

The tiger cubs born December 2021 at the Roosevelt Park Zoo are growing up. Dmitri, Luka and Victoria were adorable as babies and now they are pretty entertaining.Their enclosure is a heavily reinforced chain link fence. The enclosure is a brand new state of the art enclosure that gives them room to roam, a pond, and an elevated walkway. I was surprised at the amount of time they spent outdoors during this past winter. I was also surprised that they found the chain link over the elevated walkway a comfortable hammock.Of course they eat and sleep inside a heated enclosure... unless an unfortunate squirrel or  rabbit wanders inside their outdoor habitat. Here is a video of feeding time inside the heated enclosure.  04/17/2023

Hiccups are never convenient and usually are very annoying... especially in a business transaction. Obviously I am NOT talking about the type of hiccup Joe is experiencing while trying to sleep.Purchasing or selling a home is one of the most complex business transactions most people will face in their lifetime. As a retired Real Estate Broker who owned one of Minot North Dakota's oldest brokerages I want to encourage Home Buyers to run away when they see For Sale By Owner. There are just to many legal hiccups that can ensnare you and cost you your life savings.It has been my experience that most homes being sold For Sale By Owner are being sold that way because the Seller does NOT want to disclose a condition/flaw in the home, or worse yet, a flaw (cloud) in the title.A Real Estate agen... 04/14/2023

We know it's Spring in North Dakota when the Snowbirds return. I look forward to when my Best Friend returns from Arizona but he is not the first snow bird I usually see. It's this fellow who, every spring, is calling for his mate from the downtown rooftops.Due to the heaver than normal snow melt this year there are plenty of good spots for the geese to nest but every year this fellow likes to hang downtown and let us know he is back. 04/14/2023

Now it's really summer!That is this years theme for the 2023 ND State Fair. Well I for one am ready, we just set a record for the coldest winter in North Dakota history.Looking at this years line up I gotta say I must be getting really old as I only recognize one performer out of the seven and none of them are going to get any money to come out of my old billfold. HOWEVER I will be there every day for the midway, food, commercial exhibits and much more.One word of caution. Scammers are selling fake tickets and one look-a-like site has already been shut down so be sure you are dealing with the official State Fair and only the State Fair Site. 04/04/2023

For about 24 hours now we have been getting buried under snow coupled with strong winds. This is NOT unusual for North Dakota but it still is disappointing. It has been enough snow that it has really brought the City to a stand still HOWEVER we (my family) decided we needed to go to Menards. It appeared that about 30 employees showed up... and us. It was kind of fun.The ContrastYesterday we received our notice that The North Dakota State Fair, held right here in Minot, is set and ready to roll for July 21st - 29th. The North Dakota State Fair is the largest event in the State of North Dakota and this year I am going to purchase a whole event pass for the first time ever. I am really looking forward to taking in all the free events. If you are coming to Minot I'd love to have you join me... 03/11/2023