Farewell Cando

I first came out to Cando, ND. partially due to where a dart landed on a map, the cost effectiveness of living and the high speed Internet connections. This became my headquarters for living, although I didn't have too many visitors it still felt like home. And the time here was productive, the scenery was gorgeous and the town people were very welcoming and nice.



I've learned a lot about patience and relaxing in my time here. Coming from a fast paced life it's a shock how laid back things are here. At first it was frustrating -- the lack of competition and the schedules but once you figure it out life is good again. I'm thankful the town of 1200 people had the folks to assist with everything though and they did excellent work.

Food choices… Again I'm spoiled, living in all these great cities with places open at all different hours. I got to start eating healthier again and making my own meals always surprising myself with how awesome the food turned out. I saved so much money, explored my culinary skills again and took a lot of fun photographs of meals . I had plans on opening a coffee shop in town, but work kept me too busy to expand in this field. I hope someone does, a nice place for the kids and adults to go to.

Amazon Prime became one of my best friends while out here. If you do not upgrade your account to Amazon Prime (80$/free if student for year) you end up paying for rural delivery charges, plus if you upgrade everything is 2nd day shipping. Bob the UPS driver was a staple to my living out here with his daily deliveries of necessities and goods from Amazon.

Now onto the water, with Minot currently risking flooding as mouse river overflows I hope all the folks make it out and without too much damage. One thing North Dakota has is a lot of good people, folks who volunteer to keep each other safe. When Grand Forks and other areas were flooding people stepped up and helped with sandbagging and everything else. It's good to see people step up and help out. North Dakota is a helping and caring community. Hearing the news coverage saying Red Cross has enough volunteers helping out with food distribution and such and will keep people in the loop for what is needed next.

I'm not going to miss the mosquitos though, I don't know if it was my unique flavor, but the ND mosquitos really liked me. And with all the still water around the area… Yah…. bye mosquitos!

Internet Speeds in Cando, ND.

When I first moved to Cando one of the deciding factors was that there was decent Internet access. Upon driving into town I noticed the telco box with fiber dropped to it so I knew it would be suitable. Most all of the wireless APs were locked down.

The cable modem company serving Cando is Midcontinent Communications. With a quick call I had someone out installing, setting up and turning on cable. For a fraction of the costs in other states I get better speeds than some of the higher paying packages. A few speed tests are shown below. Nothing too fast for uploads but decent download speeds.

Server: Grand Forks, ND.
Download: 18.39mbs
Upload: 1.88mbs

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1212145341.png

Server 2: Grand Forks, ND.
Download: 18.44mbs
Upload: 1.86mbs

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1212146147.png

Allegiant Air adding new routes to North Dakota

AllegiantAir.com is adding new routes to North Dakota. For people looking to visit this great state you can get here for some great prices. AllegiantAir isn't listed on travel discount search sites so its important to go to the site directly when looking for flights.

Currently Allegiant Air offers the following routes to North Dakota:

Grand Forks, ND -> Las Vegas, NV & Phoenix-Mesa, AZ
Bismark, ND - > Las Vegas, NV & Phoenix-Mesa, AZ
Fargo, ND - > Las Vegas, NV
Los Angeles, CA
Orlando, FL
Phoenix-Mesa,AZ
Minot, ND -> Las Vegas, NV (Coming Oct. 2010)

Cando Businesses

What is Cando missing from its realm of businesses and things to do? I have been tossing around ideas for the last year about what the town of Cando needs. Does Cando already have everything it needs, or does it need something more, something new?

Traveling to Cando

You have two choices for airports that are about equal distances.

- Minot, Nd
- Grand Forks, Nd

Depending on where you are flying in from really determines which airport you choose. Personally I prefer Grand Forks, Nd when I fly in and out of Las Vegas, Nv because allegiantair services non-stop service from this location. Keep in mind that smaller towns/airlines don't fly all the time, generally allegiantair flys two days a week in and out of grand forks to las vegas. Once you land it is about a 90 mile drive to Cando, so plan on two hours depending on your speed.

If you are up for a scenic trip I would suggest driving (not during winter), coming through Montana and Wyoming are just some of the most perfect scenery. Amtrak is also a solution that is relaxing. I took Amtrak from Wisconsin to ND and had such a scenic trip. I paid a few dollars extra to get my own room and plugged in my laptop and worked while watching the world pass by.

Tip for Amtrak to Cando, it arrives super early, or late however you may see it so have someone waiting for you or your car ready. I believe it drops off around Devils Lake and is an unmanned station at that time.

Cando The VooDoo That You Do

I remember growing up in small town Oregon, during Halloween everyone was out in full force in costumes trick-or-treating. Expecting the small town tradition I picked up a 10 pound bag of assorted candy at Costco to give away to the kids.

In preparation to spookify my place up I went into town to buy a pumpkin to carve. The town was either all out of pumpkins or they don't exist in my area of North Dakota. After four stops and a tour around the town only to find plastic pumpkins it became obvious that pumpkins don't grow in North Dakota and/or they don't import them like other towns do.

The front porch light is on, the candles are lit in the window and a spooky import horror film is playing in the living room. The evening passed with only one group of children trick or treating, and they passed up my Cando home.

Either this town is against Halloween, they all went trick-or-treating to a bigger town or my house was just too spooky. Either case I have 10 pounds of candy that need eating.

Trick or treat?

Getting involved in Cando

It has been my intention upon moving to Cando to get involved in the local community, church, politics, and economy. I have to admit I got a little sidetracked with day to day life and work that I have put it on the back burner. It is my goal to get involved this fourth quarter in all aspects.

What should I get involved with? Any suggestions?

Please Don't Eat Me!

Mosquitoes love to feast on me however I can't find any in my house in Cando, but they keep taking jabs at me and making me itch. There was a mosquito waning for cando today, I am hiding inside wearing long sleeve shirt just hoping this bug dies on it own or I can kill it to reclaim my blood.

I wonder how bad the bugs get here, I should invest in some mosquito repellent, that icky feeling of camping but indoors...

Summer in Cando

I've been gone for a while, I left on Easter Sunday and returned today to a beautifully green and perfect weather in Cando, ND. This is the first time I've seen my yard, it is grass filled and has many plants including rose bushes and a fruit tree in the back.

Anyone looking for a place to relocate to in these tough economic times should consider Cando, ND. It is easy to fall in love with the scenery and the weather, today it was 74 degrees F with the lakes are sparkling blue and people fishing at every possible spot along my way into town.

Michael Jackson RIP

Sitting in the room at the InterContinental in Austin, TX exactly where I sit now, the same place, same room, same hotel... I was when I eagerly placed my ticket order for Michael Jackson on March 12th 2009 at 1:01 am and received confirmation of purchase.

Seat location: section BK 406, row L, seats 579-580

Today I sit in the same place I was when i placed the order in sorrow and disbelief of the news of Michael Jackson's death.

The Game - Beautiful on the other side - http://bit.ly/1RV8Bo

The artist did this sidewalk chalk drawing of michael jackson in austin, tx the day after the news.