Mosquitos!

So this year, in the great state of Minnesota, the mosquitos hatched and began attacking in our area/yard a about 3-4 weeks back. I had been procrastinating setting up the 'holy grail' of mosquito control, the Mosquito Magnet (I had it in the garage storage and knew I had to get some replacement parts as well as propane). Well it didn't take me long after those 'squitios hatching that I made a run to the local home improvement store and my nearest propane exchange location!

I got a few propane tanks exchanged and got some new Mosquito Magnet attractant packs. Along with clearing the propane line per the suggested maintenance tasks, I cleaned out the filter. I set this bad-boy up in the backyard (same place as last year) about 15 feet away from our deck. After about a week I figured I would check out the net/catch cap. HERE IS WHAT I FOUND:

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Yep, about a few thousand of 'em! I was so amazed (and disgusted) I just had to blog about it. Needless to say the mosquito problem is nearly noticeable. All I need to do now is check things out, make sure the tank is full and keep emptying the net! If you're unfamiliar with the Mosquito Magnet, click here to see how it works!

2008 Gridiron Gallop 5k Results

My 3rd race this summer and this one about the same as the last one. I did better time but it was tough. This time it wasn't hills, it was the weather. The race started at 9am and it was a warm one! This race put together by Chad Greenway of the Minnesota Vikings, was a fundraiser to help raise money for the Vikings Children Fund. Out whole family participated - the kids ran in the kids fun run and the wife and I ran the 5k.

This was a pretty cool event because it gave the kids a chance to gaze and awe at some of the MN Vikings players. Needless to say they got many autographs and pictures.

As far as the race, like I said before it was warm and humid! I trailed behind my wife for all of the race...my plan to catch up to her at the end failed and finished 11 seconds behind her. My official time was 25 minutes 46 seconds. You can check out the results here.

Well, this is the last one for awhile, my legs need to recoupe. I think I may get a few things checked out to help identify the cause of some pain and soreness but my plan is to enter in a mini/sprint distance triathlon in August with some neighbors of mine. I'll have the rest of June and all of July to train. Wish me luck!

Here is a little article on this years event.

Fat Tire

Attention! I have a beer you need to go get. Its probably my all time favorite brew called Fat Tire Amber Ale produced by the New Belgium Brewing Company based out of Fort Collins, CO. I've been a fan of this beer since a college friend and I made the trip out to Fort Collins for spring break back in '95 (I think).

This beer has only been out since 1991 and has finally made it to the local liquor stores on a regular basis. If your a fan of beer, I definitely recommend you put this on the top of your list!

Deck Project 2005: Complete!

It's been 3 years, but I just got the deck inspected and approved this morning!

Last Sunday, I buckled down and got to finishing the trim pieces rather than going to the Grand Old Day parade with the family (yes I'm a bad father and husband). After breaking a few Dremel bits, I got into the groove; the final steps of attaching trim pieces to the deck wasn't as bad and painful as I first thought!

I hammered out about half the trim pieces before noon then took a nice beer break (because it was very hot of course). Once it cooled down and the sun wasn't out so much, I finished the rest before supper-time. The reason I was dreading this was because I had to use a Dremel tool and route/drill slotted holes through 2 layers of trim pieces. There's a reason for all this extra work but to make a long story short, my whole deck is made out of composite material (EON decking material) which expands and contracts depending on the temperature outside. I needed to calculate and plan for this throughout the whole build process; which included drilling/routing out slotted holes for nearly every screw I attached to the material.

Overall I am OK with the deck. I've definitely seen some nicer looking material since. And although I am not 100% satisfied with the material I chose (due to the gaps I had to leave due to the expansion/contraction thing as well as scratch-ability, staining and some fading), I am proud to have done with on my own with hard work from some family and friends along the way.

I am not sure what project I will take on by my own next; I was thinking of a tree house. Maybe something like this?