Collin Anderson

Friday we left at 5:48pm and got to Rockford at 11:50pm. This time more people stayed over.

Wacker says they have a huge tree in their backyard.

Saturday we left at 7:30am and got in around noon again.
We had a huge party and dessert.

Paul K. really knows how to get things done. It’s awesome.

Sunday Josh and Sheila made the covenant. We left directly after the meeting. Most went through Rochester to avoid last week’s traffic. Marie suggested risking it and staying on 94, and it turns out there was no traffic. We saved about a half an hour: not bad. We got in around 12:30am.

This was a while ago, but I like to be consistant.

Thrusday our car left at 5:31pm and the drive was sweet. We saw a rainbow.


We got to the Del Pra’s around 11pm and stayed over night there. It really liked how Dinkytown was “in transit”. Some had left Thursday morning at 6:30 am and were in South Bend already, we were in Rockford, some were driving through the night, and some didn’t arrive in South Bend til 6:45am Saturday morning.

Friday we left around 7am and got to South Bend around 12:30pm. Most of us did homework most of the day.

Friday night we went to the Busk’s. My household stayed over at the Cramer’s.

Saturday was the big day.

It was probably the coolest wedding I’ve been to in a while.

They played “Your Love is Forever” which is a song I have not heard in a while and I now sing it to my self every once in a while.

The church could hold 750, and it seemed full, so I think we are going with that number. The reception was at the center. It was not a full meal because there were so many people, but it was still great.

We helped out with cleanup.

I had LD at the Zusi’s, then went to the Couch’s for a huge party.

It was pretty much everyone I know from Dinkytown and everyone I met over the summer… so pretty much everyone.
Sunday we met at Greenlawn around 7:30 am to leave.

We got to stop by Rockford for their CM, which was awesome. I love their building.


We got stuck in traffic in Wisconsin, so I got out my tripod.

We got home a little after 9:30 pm.

Monday night Hugh, Dan, and I meet and discussed the Emmaus Project
Tuesday we had an awesome discussion about PowerPoint over breakfast. TJ says that PowerPoint limits how you can present information. Kevin says that there is nothing better. I think they are both right.
Thursday the sky was overcast and really bright. It was perfect for taking cool pictures.



The sirens eventually went off, then it started pouring. It was Thursday so we ate dinner at 312. We noticed that water was pooling in one of the windows and eventually had to start scooping the water out.



We eventually decided that this was too big of a mess and needed a better solution, so we brought out the old plywood to stop the rain from falling in the window well.

Friday night we played pool, then watched Kill Bill.
Saturday night we walked around the river.



The lights on the bridge are super bright.


Sunday night we had pancakes.

I read a really cool article about technology used to assist the recovery efforts of the 35w bridge. Here is a taste:

The customary best practices associated with coordinating the use of such assets is a lengthy and complex process. These processes are important and are designed to ensure the long-term integrity of in-place infrastructure such as lighting systems and electrical grids. Month-long processes were reduced to two-minute conversations. People were smiling a lot when they were solving problems together. The only times smiles seemed to disappear were when they looked over at the bridge that wasn’t in one piece any longer. Gaining trust among a large number of players with diverse interests takes time. During the early hours of this disaster, it was very clear that the time and effort spent during the past year building those relationships became an essential building block enabling a rapid response to the issues at
hand.

One neat thing they did to provide light on the area was to install lights on the 10th Ave bridge. From far away I always just assumed they were temporary lights on stands with generators. As it turns out, they actually took off the ends of the current street lights and added the flood lights permanently in addition to the current street lights. I never would have thought about doing something like that.

They also added video cameras that send footage to the basement of city hall, and more wireless coverage.

Friday night we walked around St. Anthony Falls, and I took some cool pictures.



We heard some gypsy jazz then went to the Weisman for Funk at the Fred. It was not as good but there was free pop and we had fun on the way home.


Saturday morning we did chores. 1027 got rid of the piano and got a new one.



We then went to the community celebration.



Sunday I got a haircut from TJ. Some went to McDonalds, others went to a bonfire at 312.