My friend Melissa

My pal Mel was in town over the weekend to run into the Twin Cities marathon, and, uh, it didn't go as well as expected. I found out on Monday night that she had collapsed due to heat exhaustion, dehydration, ridiculously high temperature... all that good stuff. The short story is that Melissa is out of ICU and back at either her mom's or her dad's place, and she'll return to Chicago this weekend. WCCO ran a story about her near-death experience.

The lesson, I think, is to never run marathons. You want to run? Fine. You want to push yourself? Fine. Make your goal...oh...5 miles, 10 miles? Maybe even 12 miles. That seems much more reasonable, right?

Question

Like many people, I enjoy reading Thomas Friedman, and he posted a column on Wednesday about "Generation Q." This is his moniker for college-age people (and 20-somethings), and his basic point is that these kids aren't angry enough or radical enough to be asking politicians the questions that they should be. Namely, in his words, "What is your plan for mitigating climate change? What is your plan for reforming Social Security? What is your plan for dealing with the deficit — so we all won’t be working for China in 20 years?" He scolds the passivity of e-mail, Facebook and online petitions.

Do you think, in a very general sense, recent generations are too distracted or too busy to publicly stand up for such issues?

New addition

My sis and her hubby-to-be are now the proud new owners of this scrappy little fella. He currently resides in Duluth, MN but will somehow make his way to San Francisco, CA. My guess is that this innocent wheaten terrier, a sarcastic cat, and a tough and dumb but good-hearted bulldog will team up and find their way across the country - with hilarious results and funny dialogue. Starring: the voices of Robin Williams, Annette Bening, and The Rock.

Damn, Them Boys Are Good!

Not only did I catch fish this past weekend, I also netted three (count 'em...1...2...3) fantasy football wins. Seeing as how I'm only in three leagues, it's tough for me to do much better than 3-0.

My various teams actually didn't play particularly well, but the combination of inept and injury-plagued opponents helped me to earn those three wins - one of which was slightly controversial. My rosters seemed to be filled with more and more ailing players with each passing day, but I won't use the maladies as an excuse... until I lose this Sunday.

In the words of former colleague Court E. Mann...Stay hot!

Proof of my prowess

Deb and her father took me fishing with them this past weekend. It was the first time I've grabbed a pole (insert joke here) since I was a wee, pre-teen lad, and I'd never truly been on a fishing excursion. My past experience included throwing a line off a dock and...uh...that's about it.

This picture was taken on our first night, after a long day on the water. On this Friday, we slept in a bit, ate a big breakfast, purchased some minnows and a license, and put the boat out in Birch Lake. We motored for roughly seven seconds before the engine sput...sput...sputtered. Deb's dad pumped the gas line, shook the can, cleaned out the lines, checked the gas filter, cleaned out valves, cursed, and tried just about every trick he knew. No dice.

So, we headed to the Trading Post in Remer, MN for some advice from the local shopkeep/engineer. We systematically eliminated a number of issues and settled on buying a new hose from the gas tank to the engine.

Back to Birch Lake and sput...sput...sputter went the engine after about 14 seconds. Further on-lake inspection uncovered a problem with the tube/filter in the gas tank. Deb's dad stuck various objects into the tank in an effort to capture the missing piece, and after about 30 minutes, he pincered the piece and put all the parts back in place. And...we're off! At about 4:00, I figure.

Birch Lake proved to be windy, cold, and a bust for fishing - which stinks because getting to the lake involves navigating a shallow canal filled with logs and muck and weeds for about 20 minutes. We eventually switched over to another lake and nabbed 6 or 7 crappies for the Saturday night feast.