for what it's worth

I misplaced my phone the other day, and you won’t believe where I found it. I’ll give you a couple of hints. I was using the phone as a flashlight, so think dark space … or in this case, a dimly lighted space. Hint No. 2: I was working in the back garage at the office. Hint No. 3: I had completely covered up the phone so you couldn’t see it without uncovering it. Hint No. 4: After covering up…

So on most Monday mornings around our office, conversation usually starts with “Did you have a nice weekend?” Oftentimes the response is based on the weekend weather or maybe how the Vikings did. This past weekend the weather wasn’t all that great, and while the Vikings won, they lost their quarterback for the season. My weekend, however, based on weather and football was nothing short of…

It’s funny how everything has changed. Some things you thought would never change – yet they did. Case in point, the pumpkin. Used to be one color choice – orange. Then the white pumpkin crept into the fold, and now you have a regular buffet of pumpkin colors to choose from. While I am not an expert of pumpkins, I am not sure if all the pumpkins on our front porch ARE pumpkins or if they’re…

A recent column of mine was about how I enjoy looking for things other people have lost. A couple of Saturdays ago, while Mary and I, along with Gilbert, the dog, were on a Ranger ride, I got a phone call. The call was from a frazzled mother from Redwood Falls. She explained that her son had been in Luverne most of that day for a cross country meet and had left his iPhone somewhere on the…

I don’t know if you believe in coincidences, but here is proof they do happen from time to time. Last week Mary and I happened to be at the horse races in Des Moines, Iowa. So the Monday morning office conversation centered around horse racing. During the conversation I asked if anyone knew the distance of a furlong. Not sure why, but at the time nobody googled it, so the furlong question went…

I chalked up another birthday earlier this week. The years go by fast with age, as most of you know. Funny thing about getting old … my thoughts aren’t so much on the future but more on remembering the past. Mary and I took our two granddaughters to Arnold’s Park a couple weeks ago, and boy, did that bring back some memories. The Arnold’s Park memory that came to mind was while growing up in…

Today, Thursday, our youngest grandchild, Ellee, turns 6. Like all grandparents, Mary and I are proud as punch of all our grandkids. Those of us that make up our morning coffee group that are grandparents share stories (brag) about our grandkids at least once a week. Most of the stories are sports-related or how old they are or what grade they are in school, or recently, where they might be going…

If you don’t know it’s fair week, you must be living under a rock. The four-day event actually takes months of planning and preparation by the volunteers that make up the Rock County Agricultural Society. The behind-the-scene work is so good you don’t even notice it. I mean that as a compliment. You probably won’t notice the freshly painted buildings, the new additional sidewalks and the upgrades…

We don’t have a lost and found department here at the Star Herald office, but from time to time someone might stop in the office and drop off a set of keys or maybe a glove that someone apparently accidently lost outside on the sidewalk. Up until last week the items turned in as lost have been of the smaller size. Well, not anymore. Monday morning when I pulled up to the back door at the office,…

I am not sure why, but I’ve been thinking about sounds lately. Maybe sounds have been at the forefront of my thoughts because some people would have you believing my hearing is a bit suspect. Sure, sometimes I don’t always hear my phone ringing, but no worries – hence voicemail. And I don’t always pick up on office conversation. And maybe that is by design. Those aren’t the sounds I am talking…

My last column was about my fishing trip, and this one is about Mary’s and my recent trip to Las Vegas. To give you an idea of how the overall trip went, the file I created for all the flight, hotel and other information was called “the trip from hell” file. We were one of four couples going to Vegas to celebrate the 65th birthday of the “baby” of the group. He was the first of the group to book…

My last column was about my upcoming fishing trip. Well, been there, done that, and here is my takeaway from the trip. First and foremost, no injuries for me this time. If you recall, I broke my big toe the last trip racing another camper to the showers. The fishing was fantastic, the weather was like always, hot, cold, windy … and this year, for a change of pace, heavy Canadian smoke cut out the…

In recent weeks I have been planning for an upcoming fishing trip. For years my two fishing buddies, Leroy and Dan, and I — and yes, I have fishing buddies … I also have hunting buddies, side-by-side buddies, and I even have a group of Power Ball buddies, not to mention my coffee buddies — anyway, my fishing buddies and I get together for a four-day trip to the waters of the Missouri River. Due…

It’s the first week of May, and until this week it felt more like March. Prom has passed, citywide cleanup is in the books, and Mother’s Day and the Minnesota fishing opener are just around the corner. Driver, beware, because this week is garage sale week. Some sales start on Wednesday, but for the most part Thursday through Saturday are the big days. Traffic through the neighborhoods will be…

Spring rummage sale (May 3-6) and the citywide spring cleanup (May 1-5) are just around the corner. The citywide cleanup event is one of the nicest perks the city offers. There are rules to follow as to what you can place by the curb for free pickup. The citywide cleanup also draws a fair number of out-of-town treasure seekers as well as locals. Truth be told, I’ve harvested a treasure or two…

Don’t know about you, but I am ready for baseball, track, golf, tennis and some softball. Our high school spring sports preview section is in today’s paper. Right out of the starting blocks, many of the scheduled games and events have been rescheduled because of winter hangover. The problem with postponing spring games is that the window to reschedule them is so short. Compounding that problem…