Twins cost me sleep; Family visits July 24, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in baseball, mom.Tags: baseball, jordan, lauren poulter, los angeles angels, minnesota twins, mom, oakland athletics, texas rangers, weekend
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It’s been a very long week, mostly due to our local baseball team’s absurd streak of losing ridiculous games. Whatever happened to losing a game 7-4 in nine innings, or something normal like that?
The Twins this week suffered the following heart-wrenching losses.
- Sunday: Lost to Texas 5-3 in extra innings. Bullpen blew a late lead, and R.A. Dickey allowed a 2-run walk-off home run to Ian Kinsler.
- Monday: Lost to Oakland 14-13. Twins built a 12-2 lead after 3 innings, but Nick Blackburn and the bullpen suffered a monumental letdown, and then Michael Cuddyer was called out at home on a very bad call in the 9th to end the game.
- Wednesday: Lost to Oakland 16-1. Led 1-0 after the top of the first, but Oakland answered with 5 in the first and 7 in the second off Glen Perkins and Kevin Mulvey.
- Thursday: Lost 6-5 to Los Angeles in 10 innings. Led 5-3 going to the ninth, but Joe Nathan proved he’s human by blowing a save, and then Jesse Crain got hammered in the 10th.
Add on the fact that our starting third baseman is likely headed to the DL, and the fact that these games start late because they’re on the West Coast, and it made for a week of abbreviated sleep and lots of agony. Yet somehow, the team remains just 2.5 games out of first behind the Tigers and White Sox. If the team would make some sort of trade deadline deal, maybe they could pull ahead. But they won’t because they never do.
In other news this week, Mom and Jordan visited the Twin Cities for a girls-only shopping trip. From the load I saw packed into the car Thursday, it appeared the trip was a rousing success. Lauren and I did our best to play tour guides. On Tuesday evening we met up with Mom, Jordan, the Poulters, and Rosoks for dinner at a Famous Dave’s that Mom had a $100 gift certificate to after we saw a mouse last time we were there. Afterwards, I took them on a tour of the city and drove around for an hour. On Wednesday after work, we again met up for dinner, this time trying out one of our favorites, Jasmine 26 Vietnamese. I drove downtown again so Jordan could try her hand at some urban photography. And on Thursday, the two stopped by Microboards on their way out of town to say goodbye. Looks like they made it home as Jordan posted a new blog last night.
This weekend will be one of our very few remaining relaxing weekends until after the wedding! After that, I have several weekends of DJing, and we start to have wedding stuff on the weekends like showers and bachelor parties. Not a lot for plans for the weekend, but Lauren insists I must try a free yoga class with her Sunday.
Walshichetti Visit, Target Field, Pulltabs June 8, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in baseball, dexter, dj, tv, work.Tags: dexter, dj, gambling, lauren poulter, minneapolis, minnesota twins, sarah domenichetti, sculpture, target field, the wire, walsh
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This weekend was quite the time, as usual. Lots of crazy stories and fun times were had, but I’ll spare from incriminating myself this time. Friday after work, Lauren and I stopped at the Poulters and had a friendly chat and dropped off some free/cheap groceries Lauren picked up from work. Afterwards, we joined the gang at the Hopkins Tavern for Amanda H’s birthday. Lauren insisted on playing the pulltabs and gave me $5 to go pick a winner. I picked a barrel and told the lady to dig deep for a good ticket, and wouldn’t you know it, we won $102 on the first ticket I opened! We split the profits and got out of there relatively early.
Saturday we were greeted by Walsh and Sarah’s visit to Minneapolis. We hit up a variety of Uptown watering holes, including Zeno, Williams, and the VFW. Yada yada yada, I was really tired Sunday morning!

Target Field looks much more official with that giant Twins logo up!
Sunday, Lauren cooked us all a delicious breakfast before Walshichetti departed. In the afternoon, I went for a 5.5 mile walk to get some fresh air and check out the Twins’ new stadium. It seems like the project is coming along very nicely, and now that the huge Twins logo has been installed, it all seems a lot more real. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get very close due to construction equipment, but I got a good enough view.
The rest of the afternoon was spent napping and watching The Wire, season 5. I am not quite ready to proclaim it the best show ever, but it’s definitely up there, probably top five now. I think I still like Dexter better.
Monday at work I kept plugging away on writing product copy for this new company, which has been rumored to officially launch a week from today. I can’t imagine why it would be a bad thing for me to give more details and create some buzz, but I’m sure it would get me in trouble somehow, so I’ll shut up until it’s really live. I will say that I have now written original descriptions for almost 200 products.
Tomorrow I am going back to the Profile to meet with potential DJ clients, including one couple whose wedding is over 11 months away. Better early than late, I suppose. Saturday is the big day with my 8am-2am DJ gig. It will be tiring, no doubt, but an excellent pay day. All money will be put into the wedding savings account.

My visit to the famous Minneapolis landmark.
Tuxes, Monocles, The Wire, Trivial Pursuit May 31, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in random, tv, wedding.Tags: bbq, exercise, facebook, jason laplant, lauren poulter, monocle, the wire, trivial pursuit, tuxedo, vietnamese
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Friday evening after work, Lauren and I went to the tuxedo shop in Edina where I modeled a couple different tuxes, and of course, I went with the weird one. That means fathers and groomsmen also get to wear the weird one! Actually I thought it was kinda cool. We’ll be wearing the long morning coats, with the tails down to the knees. And the pants are striped, not solid. Lauren took some pictures which I’m sure will be shared soon. I also intend to purchase monocles for all males in the wedding, if for nothing more than some funny pictures and mementos.
Afterwards, we ate dinner at Market BBQ on Nicollet, a place we had been thinking of trying for a year but never got around to it. It was very delicious, but in my opinion wasn’t quite as good as Famous Dave’s. We came back to the apartment, and soon Jason joined us for a very impressive game of Trivial Pursuit. Possibly because we were all a little tipsy, the game took hours. Lauren was the first to collect all her pieces and move to the middle of the board for the victory, but fell asleep and quit! Jason was the next to get all his pieces and kept getting absurdly hard questions about actresses from the silent film era. I was next to move into position for the win and kept getting ridiculously hard questions about tennis and golf. So we continued going back and forth, over and over again, until Jason finally got an easy movie question for the win. Lauren literally could have woken up after an hour of sleep, come back out and still won.

A dramatic look at the three-way tie that carried on into the night.
Saturday, I woke up very late and immediately went for a 3-mile run around Lake of the Isles. After spending the afternoon watching the Twins fall to 5-16 on the road, Lauren wanted to go to the gym, so I tagged along and sat in the hot tub for a while and did some light swimming. We both signed up for accounts at About.com’s Calorie Count website, which is pretty cool. You enter everything you eat for a day, all the activity you take part in, and it grades and analyzes you.
When we returned home, I found out you can make your own quizzes on Facebook, and I couldn’t wait to try it out by making a very funny Which Glanzer Family Member Are You? quiz, which so far has been taken by a handful of people. It looks like I did a good job of matching the answers to each family member, because Jordan took the quiz and was most like herself. If you are on Facebook, I encourage you to go over and do the quiz yourself right now and let me know how it turns out for you!
Late in the evening, Lauren and I took a walk past our old house on 26th St and went to the late-night Happy Hour at Jasmine 26 for dinner, where Vietnamese entrees, drinks, and appetizers were half off. We sat outside and ate by candlelight while sipping some sake. Very romantic, indeed!
This weekend we also finished Season 3 of The Wire, which Jason lent us, and started Season 4. Season 3 was my favorite so far, as a major in the Baltimore police force decides to cut crime by essentially legalizing drugs in certain designated areas, thereby at least cleaning up the rest of the town. It works, and crime falls 14%, but once people find out what he’s done, will they let it stand or shut it down?
Today, we are almost certainly going to go get our bikes from the Rosoks’ garage. We’ve been planning on doing this every weekend since early April, and I really do want to have my bike back for the summer. That will be a good 3-mile ride, so that will be our exercise for the day. We’ll also probably watch the Twins game and more of The Wire.
Trivial Pursuit, Web Design, Laundry May 3, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in random.Tags: indian food, jason laplant, kate rosok, laundry, lauren poulter, patrick lynch, sleep, tim rosok, trivial pursuit, web design
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It was just like old times Friday night when Jason and Patrick came over for the night to drink heavily and play a new version of Trivial Pursuit where you download recent questions online. In two games, the Jason/Patrick team won both times over me and Lauren, though we were more competitive than expected.
I proved to only be good at answering questions about sports, and some TV, while Lauren was on top of her game with the book and history questions. Jason proved he knows everything there is to know about trivial matters, but struggled at times with geography and history questions. Still, I don’t know anyone who could beat Jason in a trivia game.
Not much noteworthy happened Saturday aside from a lot of sleeping. Lauren and I went to Tim and Kate’s at night for some grilling, but we showed up too late and missing the actual grilling process. We actually made it home at a decent hour unlike normal.
This morning I’ve been very busy with laundry and dishes. I’m always annoyed when someone leaves their clothes in the dryer. What is the rule about taking someone else’s clothes out for them? I gave them a good window to come claim their clothes before moving them myself. Three loads later and the stranger’s clothes are still there.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been very busy with my freelance web design projects for B&B Sheet Metal & Roofing and Classic Hall (link coming very soon!). I haven’t been paid for them yet, but when I do, it will go a long ways towards credit card bills and wedding savings. I’ve also been asked to do some website work for Luke’s food-delivery-turned-theatrical-production company FOOD, Dusty’s painting business in Las Vegas, Travis & Jonny want a makeover on their site, and a couple other projects.
And then Friday night was the strangest website request. I was at India House near the Mpls. Convention Center picking up takeout and making small-talk with the cashier. One thing led to another and I told him I do graphic/web design, and he asked if I could make them a new website. “We’ll pay you in free food! Er, uh, we’ll pay you!” the man said. Well, either way I guess.
And if you haven’t seen it yet, I redesigned the front page of ryanglanzer.com. The other pages of the website do not match, but I’ll get to that sometime. I also want to integrate this blog into that website someday when I get ambitious. I know it can be done but don’t know how.
Will Expensive Mouthpiece Solve Problems? April 28, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in baseball, wedding, work.Tags: bulgaria, jason laplant, lauren poulter, liz burke, minnesota twins, mouthpiece, nick sandbulte, patrick lynch, sleep apnea, tampa bay rays, travis bolton
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Last night, I slept for the first time using the sleep apnea mouthpiece which I purchased earlier in the day from a specialty dentist in Edina. I forked over $250, and insurance footed the other 90% of the bill… so yeah, it was quite expensive.
Basically, it’s just a big piece of plastic that is molded to fit my teeth, top and bottom. It is unusual in that it holds the lower jaw out a half-inch so the tongue won’t fall back over the windpipe in my sleep. It also keeps the mouth partially open so I can always have constant airflow. This is supposed to keep me breathing steadily throughout the night, thereby solving my sleep apnea problems.
It’s too soon to tell if it worked or not after just one night. It isn’t uncomfortable and is relatively easy to put in and take out. The only downfall is when I take it out in the morning, it takes an hour for my jaw to go back to its original location, which means I can’t bite or chew during that time. I also woke up in the middle of the night and freaked out when I couldn’t open my mouth, but I’m sure that will go away in time.

Travis, Daniela, Georgi, and me
Here are some other news briefs!
- Looks like the dog name vote is wrapping up, with Harley in the lead with 6 votes. Get those votes in now!
- This weekend, Lauren and I went to the Bulldog to meet Travis, Georgi, and Daniela for a couple toddies. Georgi and Daniela, native Bulgarians, are my old Valleyfair friends from 2002-2004 and have moved back to Minnesota. Good to see them!
- I’m continuing to work on the website for Classic Hall of Annandale. I was back up there Saturday morning for the third time to do another photo shoot.
- My first DJ gig at the Profile Event Center as the in-house DJ is scheduled for Saturday, June 13. The dance goes from 4pm to 2am! Long hours, but good pay for me.
- Tonight I am going to the Twins/Rays game with Patrick, Jason, Nick, and Liz. Lauren is meeting a friend for dinner. The Twins are 0-2 when I attend this year, but they’re 2-0 on Tuesdays. Something’s gotta give!
- In my role with this start-up company that my bosses have started, I’ve now written the first 75 product descriptions and am waiting for the next batch. Each product requires three original paragraphs, and I have very little information to work off.
- I am back in class the next few Thursday nights with Flash III. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll finally get in to something I can benefit from!
- Did I mention we found out our wedding is the same day as Minnesota’s homecoming? Eep.
Well that’s all for Tuesday!
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.
Lauren Poulter Interview February 16, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in interview.Tags: interview, lauren poulter
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The next in my 2009 interview series is with none other than Lauren A. Poulter! Lauren had a chance over lunch break to answer my burning questions for her regarding our move in two weeks, the wedding this fall, her new-ish job, and traveling the globe before any babies arrive.
A Wild Night at the Mermaid January 31, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in random.Tags: americinn, birthday party, bowling, free hotel, lauren poulter, mermaid, mounds view
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Last night, Lauren held her 25th birthday party at the Mermaid Entertainment Center in Mounds View. For those who have never experienced the majesty of the Mermaid, you are missing out! $15 for all you can bowl for three hours, plus 2-for-1 drinks from 9-11 makes for a rockin’ time. On hand for the event were the usual six of me, Lauren, Jason, Nick, Walsh, and Sarah. Many others were invited, but it was very short notice.
Walsh and I dueled down to the wire in the first game before he struck out in the tenth frame to win 162-147. After that things became a little foggier, but I am fairly certain Walsh won all three games and I was usually right behind him. Nick might have slipped into second place in one of those games. Well anyway, we had two cars there and one sober driver. We probably would have had Nick drive us all home in one car and come back for the other in the morning, but fate stepped in when I heard a voice over the speakers say “And the winner of the free one-night stay at the AmericInn is Ryan Glanzer!” I went running up to the front desk to claim my voucher, which was good for one night only, and it had to be used that night. So Nick took Walsh, Sarah, and Jason home while Lauren and I crashed in the king two-room suite at the AmericInn, which is attached to the bowling alley.
Our free night at the hotel consisted of checking into the room and then waking up and getting continental breakfast before going home. Seriously, nothing else happened. We slept, we left. We of course hadn’t come prepared to spend a night anyway. Not like I had luggage sitting in my car.
So today’s plan is to do a few more wedding things, and then tonight Lauren’s mother is taking us out for dinner at the Craftsman restaurant. We’ll be resting up tonight for tomorrow’s big Super Bowl party in Hopkins at the Steve/Andrew residence.
Quick Rant on Various Sports January 20, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in baseball.Tags: arizona cardinals, kurt warner, lauren poulter, minnesota timberwolves, minnesota twins, paul molitor, pittsburgh steelers, super bowl, twinsfest
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Thought I’d take a minute to go off on the hot topics in the sports world. If you’re not a sports fan, might not be too interesting to you!
After Sunday’s AFC and NFC Championship Games, we’re left with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals. That will be an interesting Super Bowl. I’m always pulling for an underdog team to make it. I had reasons to cheer against every team but Arizona this weekend. The Steelers just won it three years ago. The Phillies just won the World Series, so I didn’t want to see another Philly team win a title. And the Ravens won it all in 2001, which is also recent enough that I wouldn’t want to see them do it again. That left the Cardinals as my team to root for. The last time the Cardinals won a title in the late 40’s, my grandparents were high schoolers. Who woulda thought Kurt Warner would be able to lead another team to a championship game? Win or lose, this puts Kurt Warner in the Hall of Fame, I think. If I was betting right now, I’d put my money on the Steelers. But then again, I would have bet against Arizona in their games against Atlanta, Carolina, and Philadelphia as well. We’ll see if the Cards have another trick up their sleeves.
The Timberwolves have been playing out of their minds lately, winning 7 of 8 (nearly eight straight if not for a late collapse against Miami). As of this very moment, the Wolves have the best record in 2009 of any team in the Western Conference. Too bad you also have to include 2008’s putrid record. The Western Conference is very strange—there are a group of good teams and a group of bad teams, and they’re separated by a very wide margin. The Wolves have moved to the front of the pack of teams with no chance of making the playoffs, which also includes Golden State, Sacramento, Memphis, Oklahoma City, and the LA Clippers. But they’re 10 games back of Dallas, the worst of the good teams. That’s a big gap.

Could Gagne return to Cy Young form as a Twin?
And as for baseball, I’m very bored with this off-season. Thanks to the state of the economy, teams are not making many moves, and the Twins have been by far the quietest team of all so far, almost staying completely “pat” with their roster. The only new players with any sort of experience or name recognition with spring training invites are knuckleballer R.A. Dickey and one-time hot Oriole prospect Luis Matos. The biggest news surrounding the Twins has been the recent rumblings that they’re interested in relievers Brandon Lyon and Eric Gagne. Right now, I’m so desperate for the Twins to do something that I’d jump out of my seat to hear they signed one of those mid-tier relivers.

Will we attend Twinsfest '09?
Twinsfest is this weekend, but for the first time since 2002, I do not plan to attend. I remember after last year telling Lauren that it was a waste of time. It was wildly crowded, the lines for anything were a couple hours, and I’ve done and seen it all many times before! To stand in line for a big-name player’s autograph means camping out for basically the whole day and shelling out $25 or $50. I still think it’s cool to go down on the field of the Metrodome, but I’m certainly not mesmerized by meeting the players anymore, possibly because I’m older than many now. The only reason to go would be to get back in the baseball mood with spring training just around the corner. Well, that, and to see which Hall-of-Famers Lauren can literally run into now that Paul Molitor has been checked off.
About to Get Colder January 15, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in car problems, illnesses.Tags: cat, cold weather, defroster, grand prix, hypochondriac, josh kleve, lauren poulter, sleep apnea, snoring
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So far this week, I’ve heard reports of hundreds of cars every morning rolling, crashing, spinning out, and colliding. Literally, 200+ accidents have taken place every morning and 200+ more every evening this week, where every day has been sub-zero and we’ve seen several inches of snow. If it doesn’t look like the roads are icy, there’s a good chance they are. I found that out this morning, sliding slightly out into an intersection at a red light. I’m slowly creeping down the road at 35—40mph tops—being passed by most cars. But I’ve yet to encounter any accidents.
But, leave it to me to run into yet another auto problem! On the way home from work today, out of nowhere, the blower for the heater and defroster went out. So we’re sitting there freezing in -25 weather for 40 minutes. The further I drove, the less space I had to see out the windshield as it slowly frosted inward. Pretty soon I was cranking my head towards the middle of the car to see. Of all the inopportune times of the year for that to happen, this was probably the worst. If I can just make it to work and back tomorrow, Dad and I will meet up somewhere this weekend and exchange cars and I’ll get my Grand Prix back.
Also tomorrow, it’s back to the doctor. Jason recently described me as a hypochondriac with all my doctor visits. Since 2005, I’ve gone to the doctor for a tingly arm, high blood pressure, anxiety attacks, profuse sweating, shortness of breath, routine physicals, acid reflux, extreme fatigue, and even a really bad canker sore. That’s not even mentioning dental work. Some have proven to be real conditions, and other times not so much. But tomorrow’s appointment is for the latest condition to arouse suspicion—sleep apnea.
Lauren has noticed some irregularities in my sleep, but it wasn’t until my trip to San Francisco where I shared my hotel room with co-worker Josh Kleve that I realized something was wrong. Several times during the night, Josh would wake me up to make sure I was still alive. Apparently, I’d go for very long periods of time (two or three minutes) without breathing, then gasp for air, sometimes waking me up. Other times I’d start choking in my sleep. I snored often, but it was when I stopped snoring that was the concern, because then I just wasn’t breathing at all. On top of that is the fact that every single night, I halfway wake up once or twice with both arms completely asleep and have to try getting feeling to come back… every night. So, we’ll just see if the doctors can’t run some tests and figure out how to fix this. The odd thing is, I feel like I sleep great normally. I fall asleep within a minute of lying down, and nothing wakes me up till the alarm in the morning.
Other than that, not a lot to report. No plans for the weekend other than switching back cars (and sending back our cat). Lauren and her bridesmaids have lots of plans involving dress shopping, and there is a bridal fair Sunday she, and possibly I, will be attending at the convention center.