Carpenter Has Suburbs? August 19, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in Uncategorized.Tags: carpenter, ghost towns, south dakota
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Just ran across this online and found it odd. Can any members of the Carpenter community elaborate on this map? According to the text size used on this weather.com map, Carpenter is actually larger than some of these other area towns. I’m not sure when they found this map—1896?—but I can assure you the “towns” of Merton, Keefton, Carlton, LaDelle, and Bloomfield do not exist. And if Merton does indeed exist, how come it gets a larger font than fellow non-existant neighboring town Keefton?
Carpenter, South Dakota Metropolitan Area
Getting to Carpenter Half the Fun over Weekend July 6, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in trip, vacation.Tags: 4th of july, baseball hall of fame, camping, carpenter, granite falls, lake norden, south dakota
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America celebrated another birthday as Lauren and I ventured back to the farm for the three-day weekend, but this time we decided to make the drive there more of an adventure.
Thursday after work, we drove to the Granite Falls area where we set up camp for the night at the Upper Sioux Agency State Park. I made sure to make a reservation online to ensure we’d get a spot for the busy 4th of July weekend, but it turned out we were damn near the only ones there. We had a “rustic” walk-in site, where we pitched a tent and Lauren started a roaring fire. We cooked up dinner over the fire and listened to the sounds of nature on a picture perfect night for camping.
Our rustic camp site at Upper Sioux Agency State Park.
In the morning, we packed up and headed west to Toronto, SD for the novelty of visiting a town by the same name of Lauren’s alma mater. Lauren proudly got pictures of the city sign while wearing her U of Toronto sweatshirt. While in town, we stopped in at the local cafe for lunch.
As the rains came down, we made our way over to Lake Norden to the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum, a site I’d long been interested in visiting but never had the chance. Surprisingly it was a very nice museum, full of uniforms, photos, and memorabilia from South Dakota baseball.
We finally arrived in Carpenter early Friday afternoon, where we were quickly greeted by the Krogmans, minus Calvin. The family is busy moving this week to another house in Vermillion, and Jordan came home to leave the kids with Grandma and Grandpa for a few days so she could get some work done. As usual, spending a couple days of quality time with Peyton, Emerson, and Hudson made Lauren and I think long and hard about any plans to give the Krogman kids some new cousins anytime soon. They are very nice to see, of course, but there’s always massive commotion.
Saturday, I had the bright idea to go fishing. I haven’t gone fishing in at least ten years and thought it would be a good way to spend the afternoon. Lauren, Alex, and I first tried our luck at Dry Lake and failed. It was mostly due to fishing pole malfuctions and lack of patience, but we packed up after about 20 minutes and went to Staum’s Dam near Carpenter, where again we cast out just a couple times before giving up. We then moved on to Lake Byron, where at one point Lauren felt like she had a bite. Beyond that, our afternoon outing was a lost cause! Lauren and I got sunburned too.
The highlight of our fishing trip was probably riding through Carpenter’s muddy roads that were in terrible condition. This is what Mom has to drive through every day on the mail route!
That night the Bells were out and fireworks were set off for the Krogman kids. On Sunday morning Dad replaced my washer fluid pump before we had lunch and took off for Minneapolis. The ride home was uneventful, but we did stop at Knit Nook in Watertown for Lauren as usual!
Carpenter, Calves, & Karaoke April 12, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in random, vacation.Tags: alex glanzer, ann glanzer, calves, carpenter, easter, huron, karaoke, lauren poulter, south dakota
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Lauren and I have just returned home from a weekend back on the farm in South Dakota. While it did in fact coincide with Easter, it was really just a weekend at home for the first time since Christmas.
Friday night, we headed out right after work and had been making great time until we got close to home. Mom told me not to take the Carpenter road off 212 because of some terrible potholes, so we went south on 81 out of Watertown, then west through Hazel. Before we could reach Hwy. 25, we came upon two miles of gravel road. What the hell, I figured, and we tried to reach 25 on the gravel. Unfortunately, we got almost all the way down this creepy gravel road and then noticed it was underwater. We had to back all the way out and try a different road, but it was too muddy and we had to back down that road and backtrack again. It was a series of poor decisions but we eventually made it home. That night we stayed up chatting with Ma and Pa for an hour or two before calling it a night.
Lauren meets calf #822!
Saturday morning and afternoon we hung out at home. I took my old ‘85 Monte Carlo SS for a spin for the first time in five years. Then Lauren got her first up-close experience with cows as we went out to check cows with Dad. Lauren found it to be a rewarding experience! In the afternoon, Grandma Bell and Uncle Stuart came down for a visit and we all ate Grandma’s strawberry pie. Mmm-mmm!
In the evening, Mom, Dad, Alex, Ann, Lee, Patra, Lauren, and I went out for dinner at the Hanger restaurant at the Huron Airport. I ate a tasty 18 oz. prime rib. We decided to keep the fun rolling, so I suggested karaoke at the Sportsman’s Bar. There, I rocked the house with “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” with Mom’s high school friend Lynda and did a solo of Travis Tritt’s “T-R-O-U-B-L-E.” Later, Lauren joined me for “Two Pina Coladas; Alex joined me for “Jessie’s Girl”; and Ann joined me for “Thank God I’m a Country Boy.” I think all were crowd-pleasers.
Mom and Dad show a little affection!
The craziness of the night was a dice game Alex wanted to teach the family. The game consists of rolling five dice and one person picking a shot, one paying for it, and one taking it. We thought it might be fun to play a round or two since Alex had just turned 21 and this was his first real bar experience. Well, one thing led to another and… well, I best not incriminate anyone in my immediate family. But somewhere, I knew Jason LaPlant was proud of us.
Sunday morning we woke up, Mom cooked an enormous brunch, and then Lauren and I hit the road at 2, making it home safely by 7. We stopped at the Poulters to give them a gift of Dakota Style chips and Glanzer beef products. All in all, a successful Easter!
Oh, and here are pictures of the weekend and other stuff.
Random Thursday Morning Stuff April 9, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in baseball, mom, wedding.Tags: minnesota twins, south dakota, carpenter, wedding planning, officiant, Blogroll, ben-hur, adobe flash, elliptical
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Just a few random things going on to mention today!
First of all, in response to Wilson’s comment in the last blog, I really did burn just under 600 calories in a half hour of running on the elliptical machine. Is 600 calories in a half hour that unheard of? I actually don’t know, I just went by what the calorie counter on the machine said. I do know that it is my personal record in the short time I’ve been going to the gym. Typically even 500 is a stretch. But like I said, I was going all-out to release my frustration with the Twins at the time!
I had my Flash class again last night, meaning I’m halfway finished, and so far we are yet to learn anything I didn’t already know! I guess I’ve got the Flash animation thing down. What I am hoping to learn in this class is how to make something that’s interactive, where you click somewhere and something happens. None of that yet. I believe I am the only person under 40 in that class.
Lauren and I are preparing for a weekend trip to South Dakota tomorrow through Sunday. We have no real reason for going, though it does happen to be Easter. For the first time I can remember, I will be back without either the Krogman family or a large group of my friends, so things will be much quieter than I’m used to. I bet Lauren really wants to ride on the mail route with Mom or feed cows in the tractor with Dad, so I’m sure we’ll keep busy!
Speaking of which, the big wedding day is six months away tomorrow. Lauren is beginning to feel time bearing down on us and is keeping us both on track as far as planning goes. Amongst my duties right now are finding an officiant. I’ve asked a couple people, including an old college friend who has become a pastor. Hope to find someone soon!
Next week is busy. Monday night Lauren and I have good $6 tickets to the Twins/Jays game which we bought as part of the team’s Dow Jones promotion a while back. Tuesday we go in for an entree tasting for the wedding. Wednesday I have my class again. And then next Saturday I have my Voice-Over Acting class and we have two more floral consultations—oh joy!
Also, not sure if I pointed it out before or not, but I recently reviewed Ben-Hur on my Best Picture Review blog.
New Mom Column April 3, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in mom.Tags: carpenter, cities, column, mom, south dakota
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Since I have nothing of interest to write about today, head over to ryanglanzer.com where the latest Mom column has been posted! In Mom’s landmark 50th column, she discusses why Carpenter is a great city to live in.
Also I’m sure you notice the new look of the blog, unless you’re just reading my posts via RSS feeds, which is what I would be doing. WordPress has all these free built-in themes you can use, but not really customize much. I might play around with a new banner, much like I did with the Best Picture Review site.
Weekend on the Farm October 19, 2008
Posted by glanzerr in random, wedding.Tags: carpenter, engagement, hudson krogman, knit nook, tampa bay rays
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For those of you wondering whether or not I made it back to Minnesota… I did! And I owe it to 5-Hour Energy supplements you can buy at any gas station. I was dozing off on the way to Watertown, but I took one of those bad boys and I was wide awake the rest of the way. We stopped in Watertown for 40 minutes at the Knit Nook and after that basically made it back in usual time.
Of course that was the ending to the weekend. It all started Friday after work when Lauren and I made the drive from the southwest metro to Carpenter. We visited with Mom and Dad for a bit, then headed to bed. Saturday we spent much of the day playing with Peyton and Emmy before Jordan took us out on a very windy engagement photo session. We went through several outfit changes… as did Jordan, who ripped her pants bending down on the very first shot of the day! After dinner, Lauren and I joined Alex and Ann on a trip to the Yale bar and then a little jaunt to Huron.
Sunday morning was the big Hudson Krogman baptism and the whole family was together in church for the first time in… well, several years anyway. We returned home for dinner and headed back to Minnesota in the afternoon after watching the Vikings lose. After returning home, Lauren and I caught the end of the ALCS where the Rays knocked off the Red Sox to advance to the World Series. We were just cheering for anyone but Boston, so we were happy.
The highlight of the trip was perhaps receiving my very generous birthday present from Ma and Pa. I can now breathe a huge sigh of relief in regards to my credit card debt, so thank you again! Hopefully, at age 26, that will be my last financial bail-out from Mom and Dad.
Work, Carpenter, Phone, Shirt October 17, 2008
Posted by glanzerr in random, work.Tags: carpenter, carpool, cell phone, dick glanzer, lauren poulter, marcie glanzer, no fear, shirt
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Haven’t been doing much updating on the blog this week. It’s been an exhausting week, to say the least. Work, for the second week in a row, has been ridiculously busy. I’m no more than digging out of one big project when two or three more are thrown on the pile. Typically things don’t get this busy until late November when the trade show season starts picking back up. Lauren and I are getting used to the carpooling, though the timing still isn’t there. I was fifteen minutes late to work Tuesday and 25 minutes early Wednesday. I think if we leave home at 7:19, I’ll make it to work right at 8.
Tonight we leave for the weekend trip to Carpenter. Lauren seemed a little stressed that she’d have to be on her “best behavior” for the Glanzers the weekend after her first week of work. Trust me, nothing about the Glanzer farm requires good behavior. After meeting the parents of countless friends over the years, I’d say the Glanzers are amongst the most laid back, non-traditional parents of all. Well… Dad probably is the prototypical father figure, but Mom really doesn’t fit the charecteristics of the other mothers out there. I don’t quite know how to describe it, but it’s definitely not a bad thing! I cited the 2001 family Christmas portrait where all five family members and Simba were pictured waving liquor bottles in the air “pretending” to be drunk as a prime example of why a visit to the Glanzer farm should not be considered a stressful event.
On a totally different subject, I am considering some alternate options to my cell phone plan. Why do I have to pay $90 a month for my cell bill? My plan is $49.99 a month for unlimited calls and texting, and it always ends up with $30 worth of taxes and fees that I can’t explain. I was paying a few bucks a month to have Scrabble on my phone, but I even deleted that to cut costs.
And on another totally off-the-wall subject… After discussing the episode of Seinfeld where Jerry loses his best, most dependable shirt, “Golden Boy,” in the wash, I couldn’t help but think about my all-time favorite shirt, which I owned for a couple years, probably around 8th grade. It was a teal “No Fear” long-sleeve t-shirt with slightly darker teal stripes and the embroidered No Fear logo in the corner. It was the perfect size and was good for any type of weather, and was even considered acceptable for church. I wore the hell out of that shirt until it was reduced to a rag. I wore it at least once a week to school, until my friend Jesse commented “You wear that shirt all the time!” I was embarassed and reduced it to a much lesser role. To this day I have never found another garment of such high quality and wearability.
The New Routine October 14, 2008
Posted by glanzerr in wedding, work.Tags: carpenter, lauren poulter, patrick, wedding
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This week, things have been a tad bit different around here. For the first time since the first day of summer, Lauren is back to work! At first I thought it would be great to have her out earning money, but I noticed the house is pretty filthy tonight. I guess Lauren has been doing some housekeeping while she was home. But in all seriousness, it is good to have her working once again. In fact, we are able to carpool. I dropped Lauren off at work this morning and picked her back up after work.
On the way home, we swung by the Southdale Mall and did some clothes shopping. Lauren needed to update her business attire, and we both thought it might be nice to have a new shirt or two when Jordan takes our engagement photos this Saturday when we return home to the farm. I’m excited to not only go home, but this will be the first time since the 4th of July that I’ve even left the Twin Cities except for DJing wedding dances, if I’m not mistaken.
Not a whole lot else to write about really. Liz and Patrick both accepted usher roles in the wedding, which leaves us with very few positions left to fill. I will be fair to all my old high school friends and not have any of them stuck coming up to the Cities and being something in the wedding.
Go Rays!
