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Woke up too early again today. Karen (my sister) called last night. They're coming down on Saturday. Lots and lots of people will probably by at my aunt's birthday party on Sunday. It's going to block out the weekend for me.

Xcel -- to the rescue?

My house is on a typical Mpls lot, which was then cut into thirds. I guess the attraction of herding sheep to mow lawns was not very great in 1907. Anyway, my house is in the middle of that cut lot. The power comes from the alley both to my house and to the third house. A tree, wonderfully interwoven with power lines, cable TV and phone lines, sits at the nexus. The tree started to fall over in the strong winds earlier this week.

I called Excel Monday night and they said they'd look at it. I called Qwest who said they wouldn't do anything until the tree fell down, ditto for Time Warner Cable. This morning, as I left for work, an Excel truck was in the alley.

No idea what the result's going to be, but it's better than coming home to find the power ripped off the house... or at least I think it is.