urbanMSP

Yeah I hate the slow car stalk while I'm biking

Yeah I hate the slow car stalk while I'm biking

Honestly, I just drive so infrequently that crossing the yellow line to give enough room freaks me out. So I just do nothing...

I drove, alone, to the streets.mn fundraiser in North Loop last night and bragged about the free street parking space I found nearby (a spot marked "commercial loading zone, 9am-6pm"...I parked at 5:45 and risked it).

Also, driving up 35W from Richfield, I inadvertently drove in the HOT lane for a while, and by the time I noticed my error, I just decided to stay there since I was taking the left exit (MN-65) into downtown.

I fall into old habits when driving in east coast exurban areas. I drive faster & much further, though not as fast as the crazies out here.

But, really, everything is so far away from everything else. And there are all these great destinations, but they’re all 10+ miles away.

I’ll be taking the bus to downtown Minneapolis for the first time in ... 20 years(?) tomorrow.

Went to the Mall of America last weekend for probably the first time in 5+ years. I live 5 minutes away and drive past it all the time. I was amazed by the sites, went on the roller coaster, and actually had a lot of fun.

There IS a place for fun in your life.

My middle school crush was in a MOA commercial from that same era / ad campaign (not that one though, I looked very closely)

Went to the Mall of America last weekend for probably the first time in 5+ years. I live 5 minutes away and drive past it all the time. I was amazed by the sites, went on the roller coaster, and actually had a lot of fun.

Had kid duty the other day while it was so cold and wanted to take the kid (who loves buses and trains) to ride the Blue Line. Rather than risk having to wait in the cold with her, I drove to the MOA, caught a waiting train, rode it to Terminal 1, the only other enclosed station and went back.

Eliminating 1 or 2 stoplights on Hiawatha wouldn't be the worst thing to happen.

Edit: specifically 32nd and or 35th

It’s ok to appreciate the looks of cars you’ll never own

I enjoy riding the designated Cedar Lake Trail detours for the amusement value alone:

“HAIRPIN!!!”
“What the… did I just ride through somebody’s gazebo?”
“Hey, I've never seen the sun come up in the West?”

I’m developing a fetish for European city bike videos on YouTube.

Would you be so kind and provide a link to an example?

Copenhagen & Amsterdam:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkn1Ii ... Ql9UeEzpwQ

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0intL ... G-xAvUEO-A

45 minutes of biking in a suburb of Utrecht, sent to me by a friend today. This is “suburban” in terms of population (65,000), but not in terms of density, as it is 15% denser than the City of Mpls.

https://youtu.be/aANhcGI39TU

I’m developing a fetish for European city bike videos on YouTube.

Here is one for you:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnVGl6 ... wSl9AD161A

Here is one for you:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnVGl6 ... wSl9AD161A

Fun! Seems a little aggressive, and not very patient. But seems like a nice guy. Love the views of the city. Horrible motorists everywhere.

[warning...mean old man rant]
There doesn't seem to be any expectation that parents of city kids ask/teach them to keep their voices down...at all. My neighbor's kids, ages like 4 and 6, just seem to scream at full volume 100% of the time they're in the yard, whether screams of joy, calling the dog, to each other, etc. We're talking about a 40' city lot here, so the volume isn't necessary at that distance. I get it...they're little kids and have limited sense of volume modulation, and it will probably(?) improve with age and self-awareness, but like, when? I can't recall a single instance of the parents ever telling them to lower their voices. They're very nice neighbors, but I'm pretty much ready for them to move to the suburbs. There's just so much noise constantly coming from their yard, we can't even have our windows open in the evening. They also conveniently have all of the kids' things (sandbox, kiddie pool, climbing playset) lined up along the lot line like 2' from the chain link fence separating our backyards. That's kinda obnoxious. Ugh, sorry, but I had to vent somewhere. I feel like asking my neighbor to tell his kids to keep it down a little would be...frowned upon(?)

I have wondered if Dora the Explorer have given kids this expectation to talk at shouting outside voice levels. But then I have overseen some of the Twitch/YouTube streams of the Roblox game she loves, every. single. streamer. shouts. all. the. time.