Greetings blog faithful. It’s again Thursday Blog Day, although I wrote this one on Wednesday because my Thursday is jam-packed until late in the day. I shall endeavor to post this in the morning, but I don’t want to confuse the entire blog-reading world by posting it Wednesday. Wednesday is not blog day. That’s a rule.

So the first topic today will be weather-related. That happens often around here, but this one was fairly epic. And what was more epic was the fact Barbara and I missed it. As much as I’d love to say I experienced what happened here, I think we’re both happy we missed out on the merit badges.

On Friday in the Twin Cities, it snowed some more and the temperature started dropping. It was cold and white, but it was just the warm-up act for main event that was to follow. The snow continued into Saturday and, while it ended up being a solid six inches, that was far less than the dire forecasts of 10 to 12, so that was a relief. What was not a relief was the severe polar cold that followed the snow. It got down to -20 that night. That would’ve broken my personal record by three degrees.

All the while, we were out in Spokane. It was snowy and cold there, as well, but “frigid” in Spokane means it was about 10 degrees.

Barbara had been out there all week, and I flew out on Friday, just as the snow was starting to fall at MSP. We were about 30 minutes late off the gate because the ground crew guys were trying to add drinking water for the coffee makers. To do that, a hose is attached to a valve on the outside of the plane. The valve was frozen, so maintenance guys were called to thaw it out. Apparently, whatever method they used worked and we had water, but it took a while. Can’t take off without making sure people can have coffee. That’s another rule.

When we landed in Spokane in the early afternoon, I picked up a rental car and headed for the Davenport Grand Hotel, in downtown. It’s a relatively new place, right across Spokane Falls Blvd. from the convention center, and I’d never stepped foot in it. Not surprisingly, after all the glowing reviews I’d heard, it was spectacular. Although, we quickly wondered if the management was regretting their decision to have brilliant white marble floors in the lobby. People couldn’t help but track snow and slush in from the street, so a small army of hotel employees were continuously cleaning it with Swiffer sweepers. It went on the whole time we were there.

Our room, on the 14th floor, faced “the wrong way” if what you were after was a downtown Riverfront Park view, but it did provide us a beautiful view of The South Hill, the area of Spokane that is indeed both south of downtown and on a hill. We almost lived there, but the deal on the condo we liked fell through and we ended up out in Liberty Lake, instead. Although we enjoyed Liberty Lake immensely, and Barb loved the two-minute commute to work, I think we both wish we’d have had a chance to live there. It’s a very neat part of the city.

As for the 14th floor deal, I had to break the news to Barb that we were actually on the 13th floor. Like many hotels, they skipped that number designation and went from 12 to 14 in the elevator. You can’t fool me! That’s not a rule. Sometimes you can, indeed, fool me.

Our plans for Friday night were party-related, as we headed over to the southern part of Spokane Valley to join some old friends from Barb’s company. The same people, Claudia and Paul Hersey, hosted us every Christmas for the last few years, and twice hosted us for Super Bowl parties when the Seahawks were in the big game. They know how to put on a heck of a soiree, and we love their gracious company. A fun time is always had, and this one was no exception. And, hilariously, they named their fantastic lower level the “Hersey Bar.” Get it?

Saturday was the date for the Barb’s company party, and the best news was that we wouldn’t have to drive to get there. It was in the ballroom at The Grand, so our commute included nothing more than a walk down the hallway and an elevator ride. But first, we had to do some shopping. There’s a Nordstrom at the downtown mall, only a few blocks away from the hotel, but by then it was getting to be pretty cold, even by our Minnesota standards, so we actually drove the half-mile and battled fierce holiday-shopping traffic to avoid the walk. To make it a little more painful, I tweaked my lower back that morning, making a funny twisting and bending move that pinched a nerve and made the muscles spasm. Not fun, but it’s something I’m kinda used to after two decades of lower back problems. Aleve comes in handy, at such times.

Before the party, though, we met up with our friend Nancy and her mom, at a restaurant about halfway between downtown and Liberty Lake. Nancy was our cat sitter for Buster and Boofus the whole time we lived out there, and she’s a gem. Her mom was also a hoot.

The restaurant blew me away, and it made me little mad/sad that we’d never discovered it the entire four years we lived there. It’s the restaurant at a Spokane Valley hotel called the Mirabeau Park, which is a nice property but not the sort of place, or location, that would make you think it’s a destination. The restaurant is called Max, and there’s also really no reason to imagine it would be anything more than a standard hotel eatery. It was anything but. It was fabulous. If you’re ever in Spokane, there’s another place to check out. I can vouch for the prime-rib French Dip.

For the Itron party, I had planned to wear a nice jacket, slacks, and dress shoes with a colorful dress shirt, but Barbara had heard at work that a lot of people from Itron were going to be getting dressed up to the nines. So, I found a red tie at Nordstrom that would make me look dressier while it also gave me a little Christmas color. Barbara wanted to find something nicer, as well, and she found a fabulous outfit that was perfect for the festive occasion.

Of course, in the end the big-party gathering of 400 people featured everything from formal outfits to blue jeans. I thought we nailed it, right in the strike zone between being too dressed up and too casual. And we looked GOOD! Well, at least my wife did.

The party was huge, the food was great, and the company was spectacular. My back was still hurting, but the fun factor and getting to chat with colleagues like the CEO, the CFO, and other executives was fantastic. We had a blast. And with my back, I had a perfect excuse to keep us off the dance floor, but we did enjoy watching many others cut a rug, which was actually not a rug. It was a hardwood dance floor.

All in all, we had a great time and I’m so glad I went out there for those two parties. Good people.

And, while everyone was shivering because it was near zero in Spokane on Saturday night, we were getting texts from Woodbury friends about the -20 excellence they were enjoying.

We flew back on Sunday morning, and were both in the front cabin but not sitting together. When that happens, I try to size people up before asking anyone if they would trade seats with one of us, but before I could even do that more hilarity ensued. One young girl was in 1-A, but when a man got on next and had that on his boarding pass the young lady was very confused. She pulled her pass out and it said 10-A, but she said, “They told me I’m in the front row. This is where I’m supposed to be.”

I turned around, suspecting where the confusion came from, and sure enough this MD-90 was one of those planes where they skipped a bunch of row numbers between first class and the main cabin. The last row of first class was row 4. The first row of the main cabin was row 10. Six entire row numbers simply didn’t exist.

Anyway, we finally convinced the young lady that she was really going to have to move to row 10, because the guy needed his seat and someone would soon be getting on for 1-B, where he was temporarily sitting as he tried to explain this to her. Once she moved, another couple came on and one of them asked Barb, who was in 1-C, if they could talk her into moving back a row so they could sit together. And at the same time, a giant dude who looked like he was in a bad mood, sat next to me. Barb moved, to be polite, but by then everyone was laughing because of the musical chairs we had going on. I didn’t have the heart to make it worse, so I just said, “Oh, I could make this even better but I won’t. That’s my wife, sitting over there,” as I pointed to her in 2-D, by the window.”

Everyone looked a little stunned, and the rest of them laughed, but mammoth man next to me just kind of grumbled. He definitely wasn’t giving up his aisle seat. Such are the many fun “off the record” things that can happen in the front cabin before you even push back. It’s nonstop merriment.

By the time we landed late in the afternoon, at MSP, it was up to a balmy -7 but the roads were totally clear. They do that pretty well in the Twin Cities. The contrast to Spokane, where they’d had two inches and had cleared about 10% of the main roads, was stark.

So that’s it for this week. I have no idea when I’ll be traveling again next. No plans at all right now, just holidays at home with my Sweetie and my fuzzy boyz.

Friday night, though, we’re headed for the Timberwolves game where we hope to catch up to Gary Gerould before tip-off. It will be great to see my longtime NHRA friend.

See you next week!

Bob Wilber, at your service and none the worse for wear after missing a record snap.