It's Been Nuts, or I Was Involved At The Northtown Mall...

I don't have any time right now, because I need to get a few sites up on TCNS tonight, but I've been busier than I think I've ever been. I'm currently taking a week-long training course on tower construction in Monroe, but I ran up to the office tonight to get a few things done. Last night I saw the Hold Steady with E Eugene and Kevin. It was frickin' epic. Here's a review from MoB until I get around to writing one (I still haven't done up the Turner Hall show!). Also, for no real reason, here's a picture of the Civic at the Northtown Mall in the suburban Twin Cities area - that lightpole is slated for replacement:It made for the perfect listening conditions for the Hold Steady's newest, Stay Positive.

Greetings from Cloquet, MN

I find myself on the road again, this time for five sites through Minnesota. I don't have the lakeshore view this time, but I also am really hoping that the insects (namely wood ticks) won't be so bad. Today I hit up two sites in the Twin Cities area, and tomorrow I'll be up at the Babbitt site to do an as-built on the newly constructed tower there. Truth be told, I'm getting a little tired of all the travel. I like getting out of the office from time to time, but this trip will make it 8 days on the road in three weeks. It makes getting caught up at the office a chore, though being able to check my email from the hotel and using the Blackberry makes it a lot easier. If I end up with any decent pictures (I'm thinking I could manage a few at the mine tomorrow) I'll post them when I get back.

UPDATE: Oh, I've got some pictures alright!On the way up to Babbitt I stopped quickly in Embarrass, where this old sauna building serves as a visitor's center. Inside there is even an old sauna display:The best part - the dummies inside of the sauna:It was kind of dark in the visitor's center and I didn't bother to get a good look, so I actually had no idea how hilarious this was until I downloaded these pictures this morning.

On to the mine. Here's a picture of the Civic on a mine road overlooking the end of the pit:I actually wanted to take a picture with my car parked in front of a huge bulldozer that was off to the side of the road, but I didn't think the operator of the dozer would find it as funny as I did.

Lastly, I managed to snap another picture as I drove over the Blatnik Bridge. This time there was a significant traffic back-up since one lane of the bridge is closed for construction. As I came past the closure I was accelerating while attempting to secure this shot from my sunroof of an ore boat sailing underneath me:Admittedly, this was not the safest driving maneuver, but I think it was worth it.