Is it just my house or does it seem like one of Comcast’s two hamsters died a couple of weeks ago and their signal is only about half-strength.
My sister and brother-in-law live over in St. Paul, and they’ve been having some odd issues with their cable TV service from Comcast for well over a year. They lose sound on a channel occasionally and have to switch out and switch back to fix it, and for the past couple of months their picture keeps breaking up. They chalked it up to a problem they have with critters crawling under their porch and chewing on the cable, but I’m not so sure. My Internet service has always been dodgy since I got it a couple of years ago. They say I have a very weak signal even though there’s just one splitter on the cable for my TV and the modem. I had sound problems with my TV service back when I was still on their old analog system, too, but usually just in the early morning for some odd reason.
But lately, my picture has been breaking up all the time and I’ve started to have the same sound drop-out as my relatives in St. Paul. And, worst of all, my cable box keeps crashing. I mean it freezes up and reboots itself, which means it’s dead for 5 to 10 minutes until the cable system recognizes it again.
<rant>So, is it just my house or is everybody in the Twin Cities getting this spotty service? I want to know because I’d really rather not have to call Comcast and have them send the munchkins back out. They did enough damage the last time they were here. </rant>
The Minnesota State Fair officially opens on Thursday, August 25 and, as always, runs through Labor Day. This year, I’m asking everyone to do me a favor and take advantage of the free Park and Ride service that the fair offers every year.
You see, I’m a sucker for the State Fair. I’m too fat and lazy to do the Midway rides any more, but I enjoy the other venues like Machinery Hill, the Agriculture Building, the Creative Arts Building, the Horse and Cattle Barns, the Grandstand, and especially the Food Building. As it happens, my sister and brother-in-law live a mere half mile or so from the Fairgrounds near Larpenteur and Snelling in Falcon Heights. And every year, their neighborhood is inundated with people packing every available inch of on-street parking so they can walk to the Fair. And since they own more cars than will fit in their garage, the world gets a bit complicated for them… and me, as it happens. We have a tradition of Sunday dinner at their house, and when the Fair is running, we go together. But we have to go through all kinds of gyrations to accommodate my car as well as theirs. And it’s silly because there is much more convenient parking available all around Falcon Heights, such as the nearby Har-Mar Mall. It’s free parking and you get a free bus ride to the Fair and back again. My sister tells me that the Har Mar lot always has plenty of space during the Fair. There are many other free parking choices for the Fair. See the Official State Fair Park and Ride Guide for details. So please, this year, give Park and Ride a try. You’ll get to the Fair still feeling fresh and frisky, and I will be eternally grateful. Thank-you!
This year’s Fair has some new foods that I’m looking forward to. Chocolate Covered Jalapeno Peppers – with several choices of heat, so you can go for the gusto or play it safe.
The Breakfast Lollypop, a corn meal battered sausage patty on a stick with a side of maple syrup, which reminds me of the Scotch Egg they serve at the Renaissance Festival. A Scotch Egg is a large ball of sausage filled with an egg and fried. Twenty-something years ago, intrepid WCCO reporter Susan Spencer described it as being perfect for “the protein addict looking for a fix.” Deep Fried Cookie Dough – the name says it all. Crab Fritters, battered with Caribbean herbs and spices and comes with a special dipping sauce. And Grilled Yankee Apple Pie and Chocolate Sandwich, which is a brioche bread filled with apples and spices and covered in a layer of chocolate, grilled and dusted with powdered sugar.
I try a new food every year, but I have my favorites like every Minnesotan. I always get a Honey Sundae and watch the bee keeper in the Ag Building. Caramel Apples are often on the list, and every few years I succumb to the temptation of a basic corn dog. I count myself lucky that I’ve never been fond of the mini-doughnuts. And I hope the Salt Water Taffy is good this year. I was sad to hear that the Epiphany Dining Hall was closing, or more precisely, being sold. I haven’t eaten there since the 1970’s, but it’s one of those touchstones of the Fair. Minnesota Wine At The Fair is purchasing the building. Here’s hoping they do well.
It looks like some great shows at The Grandstand this year, too. Country star Reba McEntire kicks things off on Thursday August 25, followed the next night by Def Leppard. And this year could be one of the last Fair appearances of Garrison Keillor in his Prairie Home Companion show on September, 2nd.
As I said, I’m a sucker for the Fair, and I’m looking forward to it this year to take a break from the real world.
