Almost went to work today

ADDENDUM: Today's theme for daily photo bloggers is "Big". This evening I walked over to the State Fair with the idea that I might come upon something "big". And I did.

Here is the winner of the "Minnesota's Largest Boar" contest for this year, Deano, a 1,310 pound, four year old Hampshire raised by the Beise Brothers of Buffalo, Minnesota.Puny human for scale. I believe that Deano qualifies under nearly any classification system as "big".

I almost went to work today. Well, no, not really.

Today's wind was not overpowering but it was from the south and it was strong enough to rule out of the question any sort of a ride to the north. Directly south of me is the impenetrable obstacle of the State Fair. I set out to ride around it.

First I went a little south, then a little east then a little bit more south and then took a long haul west. I got out to Larpenteur within the jurisdiction of the rental cops directing traffic at the Larpenteur gate but escaped to the west. I ended up riding through the University campus.

I got as far west as Como and 14th Avenue SE. I made my big turn back at 15th Avenue SE and University Avenue, eventually exited the campus on Oak Street and followed the River Road towards the Minneapolis/Saint Paul city border and into more familiar territory.

I got as far south as Randolph and Warwick before finding my way back to Summit and on down to the Capitol.

I almost made it to work as here is a picture of the DNR building from my furthest eastern penetration, the overlook above University and Jackson behind the Administration Building.Mars, if you were standing up you are in the picture.

I felt a tiny bit sheepish about riding back into the old neighborhood. To atone for my transgression I rode on down to the end of Park Street and took this picture of the building where both of the pension plans that I am going to be drawing funds from are located.Yup, that's more like it.

I avoided the Fair completely and never rode any farther north than the other side of the street where I live when I did a circle around the cul de sac as I set out on the ride. I saw some sights I don't see very often and had a pretty nice time on my bicycle.

The other day I remarked sarcastically that my former employer had wasted no time in processing the forms to have my health insurance cancelled. I received the official notification last week. Bite my tongue. Today my new enrollment forms arrived in the mail, confirming me as a continued insured, albeit in a new group (I assume it is the retired group). The dominoes continue to fall into place, I won't be going to work anymore, not even on my bicycle.

I have been watching the streaming video of the Vuelta a España, the tour of Spain. It is muy, muy confusing. Up until today the stages were in the Netherlands. Today they crossed over into Belgium. Tomorrow is a rest day and then they will resume on Thursday in Catalonia. The race leader is the Swiss Fabian Cancellara. Very, very confusing.