Yesterday I posted about the first floor of City Hall and focused on the BIG spenders, the City Council. You may have noticed that the offices were numbered in the 200's. That is because as you enter the front door as pictured above it is the ground floor from 3rd Ave. There is an entrance from 2nd Ave BUT although much of that floor is City Hall you can NOT enter the City Hall from that door. The 2nd floor If you walk the open stairway to the 2nd floor you can not ignore the beauty created by the skylight above. At the top of the steps you will find the following offices.Above is the North lobby, with the tables it appears to be a meeting area. The South lobby appears to be more of a lounge. (next picture)Most noticeable on this floor is the City Clerks Office.There are several other o... 09/26/2023

We know it's Spring in North Dakota when the Snowbirds return. I look forward to when my Best Friend returns from Arizona but he is not the first snow bird I usually see. It's this fellow who, every spring, is calling for his mate from the downtown rooftops.Due to the heaver than normal snow melt this year there are plenty of good spots for the geese to nest but every year this fellow likes to hang downtown and let us know he is back. 04/14/2023

Okay, I truly doubt that is going to be a "Happy Trip"for Brownsie or that it will get him home.Hopefully Joe will step in and put a stop to it before Brownsie becomes a permanent splat on the wall.Speaking of happy trips my daughter, Tina, said the military flight out of the Middle East to the States was long but not bad. From the East Coast they sent her on a commercial flight to Milwaukee and then after debriefing she took the train from Milwaukee to Minot ND.Tina has used the train many times and says that the Amtrack service is good. I myself have only been on the train once and that was a Cub Scout thing traveling just 10 miles so we could "experience" it. What I remember from that 10 mile trip 60 years ago is that it seemed to go through unspoiled beauty.My point: If you are plan... 02/03/2023

Today is/was The Downtown Haunting. Actually I'm not sure what they call it BUT from all the happy faces and big smiles I'd say it was a very happy day.Here we have one happy girlWe also had Sisters and little BrothersCrowds EVERYWHERE.Sistersand Moms.A lot of fun and a lot of candy for all. 10/28/2022

I'll have another post when everything is complete but I wanted everyone to know that The End Is Near!The Gallery is really shaping up.No pictures of my office space yet. It is such a mess that I went into panic mode looking for my notary stamp for a closing tomorrow (remember that I am now making a living as a notary... having my stamp is helpful) 😂.  10/11/2022

We could use some rain around here (the Minot ND area). It has been a very long time since I remember a real "Thunder Boomer" and frankly I love a good rain storm.Unlike Joe in Timmothy's comic strip, I actually sleep better when a good rain comes in the middle of the night. I wouldn't know if the rain made me go to the bathroom, I get up most nights any way to do that.If there is anything making me walk around like a Zombe these days it's the experience of moving my business. Just like the home owners who list with us or the home buyers trusting in our word I wonder if the move is what is best for me and Timmothy. And then there is the cleaning, painting, and do I need an electrician or not.At the risk of droning on I just want to clarify a couple of things. 1) I am in a commercial bui... 09/30/2022

I am getting too old for this.I am at that age where I really had hoped to never make another move either at work or at home again. At least this move is an office move within the same building so no packing or shipping will be involved.As you can see from the picture at the top of the post I have some prep work to do painting and filling in holes and cracks. The good news is that I am more than doubling my space and my rent will be a quarter of what it is now.Obviously the down side is the decent DOWN the steps and that there is no elevator available. More GOOD news is that the Art Gallery can use all walls down the steps, in the halls, and of course in the office and the gallery area it self. The feature picture at the top really only shows about half the space of the new Gallery (tha... 09/12/2022