Dear Answer Man, maybe you have already covered this, but last week we were at a Mayo Civic Center event and saw a big change in appearance for Mayor Ardell Brede, as we had not seen him for several months. What kind of diet did he use to lose weight? Someone said he would need to get new Gophers apparel now.
The mayor certainly is a great PR person for Rochester, and we want him to stay healthy! — Wayne Hendrickson, Kasson
This is the worst-kept secret in Rochester. If you work downtown, are involved in public life in any way or care about University of Minnesota sports, you know that Mayor Brede has been on an aggressive weight loss program that has shown amazing results. I checked with him to make sure he was OK with my noting this, and he said, "Go for it — I'm certainly OK with you addressing this. My weight loss is on purpose, and I'm very healthy. ... As the commercials say, 'It's not a miracle, it's Medifast.'"
Hizzoner says he's "just about at his 'playing weight,' with a loss of 72 pounds."
For those of us who are flabby and doing nothing about it, the mayor's an inspiration, no matter what diet plan you choose.
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A costly memento of Boca Raton
Last week, I had an item in this magnificent column regarding the proper and timely registration of your vehicles, if you're a Minnesota resident. Savor it again — like all of my columns, it improves with age. A loyal Answer Man couple, Wayne and Kitty Larson, savored it and shared this tale:
"On Friday, May 31, you answered a question about cars around town with Wisconsin and Florida license plates. The quizzer also asked about enforcement, which I suspect may be a little tougher to come up with an easy answer. But it did bring back to mind a little story that may be of interest only to me. During the late '60s, the IBM System/3 was designed at the Rochester IBM facility. When it came time to start manufacturing the system, the decision was made to do so at the IBM facility in Boca Raton, Fla. To help get manufacturing up and running, four engineers (I was one) who had worked on the design were sent to Boca for temporary assignments. I was there for six months. I don't remember how far into the six months this occurred, but one day a Florida Highway Patrol car pulled right into the IBM parking lot and all four Minnesota cars were ticketed.
"I still have my Florida auto license hanging on my garage wall."
That's a costly memento, Wayne. Hopefully Thomas Watson Jr. picked up the tab for you.
