Oh my goodness, this is so amazing, Alex! I've followed your writing in Streets for quite a long time, and I can't think of anyone better to be the new bike/ped coordinator for Minneapolis! Congrats to you! (And hooray for Mpls!)

Never would've guessed they needed divers as part of the Green Line LRT extension project in the Twin Cities, but that's what's necessary when there's a below the water table tunnel, apparently (at least in that area). Interesting video; gosh that water looks gross! www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_Po...

Green Line Extension -2024 Construction: Kenilworth LRT Tunnel Dive

YouTube video by Metropolitan Council

Leaning into vibes/clubhouse stuff can be a bit much, but: I feel the team vibes looked off all year. I don't know if the guys they lost from the '23 playoff team were the glue, or what was up, but even in May when I saw them play in DC and sat near the Twins bullpen, the body language was bad.

Agreed! Lol

Sweet, thank you very much for sharing!! That looks slick and super useful—what a compact size! I also hate + rarely use amazon but idk where else one could easily find something like this!

Oh! Very cool. Truly no pressure but if you have a link to the kettle you own, or similar, would appreciate. Having that would be incredibly helpful!

They are! The longest I’ve had a not-normal power situation was the spring 2013 ice storm in Worthington. One eve/night w/no power & then rolling blackouts for 3 days. (City has a a large emergency generation station) All was closed! It sucked.

There’s some more expensive (~$1,000?) large battery reservoir things that can apparently run a fridge which is helpful. But not in cards for us. Plan to put a real 1st aid/toiletries type bag together at some point, though. Feel like I can’t trust the power system here in NC.

—because it’s not that-that expensive, is pretty compact, can be used for non-emergency things, annd yes, as seen with the Asheville/western NC catastrophe, would be invaluable to have a way to charge phones, laptops, anything during power loss.

Ever since covid hit—and especially since moving to NC—I’ve become a “let’s at least have 24-48 hrs of water and more high-protein/nutritive non-perishable food stocks” person. Easier re: water since there’s only 2 of us. Highly considering a small portable solar panel + large battery kit—