Live from Minnesota

I feel my social calender while in the Cities has been kind of full. It's a little betraying because if I lived here, I wouldn't be nearly as busy. It has been nice to see so many friends, though. I am glad that it still 'works' between us all despite all of our various paths since our friendships began.

Landed. I'm here. I'm fine. I need a little more sleep.

I am here in Minnesota. At JFK I had to get rid of a few things from my suitcase because it was too heavy. Since I decided to pack my suitcase with only un-did laundry, I threw out some old shirts and stuff. A young couple looked to be on their way home with some overpacked bags and their mother supervised their unpacking, downsizing and packing. Actually, she didn't do much supervising of them as she did me- at one point she saw me putting things in a separate bag (which would shortly find itself in the bin...) and was like "if you're just going to throw it away, I'll take it..." Um. No. As I mentioned earlier, this was some nasty laundry. Why would I throw out new clothes? I got up to the check-in counter and the check-in lady looked at the bag and then looked at me..."You're over by 5 pounds. Do you want to check in a second bag for $25 more or pay the excessive weight fee of $100?" No lady. I don't have another bag and I don't want to spend any more money. Finally she decided to overlook the few pounds... I am keeping this in mind for my return trip. I am kind of annoyed by the new charge for luggage, at least on domestic travel. My previous trips in the recent past have been international, so I haven't had an issue with weight limits (because they're higher!) or even extra charges for checking a piece of luggage. This is certainly a new world of flying for me.

I am in the land of 10,000 lakes. I wouldn't be a good Minnesotan if I didn't somehow mention that there are actually more than 10,000 lakes here...

The descent into the Twin Cities is always nice in the fall...the leaves hadn't quite changed color, but it was just starting. Topped it off with a Caribou after landing: perfect.

Kein Alkohol ist auch keine Lösung. Ich hab es immer wieder versucht...Es würde gehn doch es geht nicht gut

This is basically an extended Oktoberfest post. The good thing is that the Oktoberfest evening ended early enough for me to get home, sleep a few hours, pack and then head off to the airport.