Answer Man: Plainview reader can't do without Answer Man

I have happy and well-informed readers worldwide.

Do you doubt that? It's never a good idea to doubt the Answer Man.

In Friday's column , which was unusually entertaining, I asserted that, contrary to the romantic idea of Irish and U.K. pubs, most of them have TVs , just like U.S. watering holes, and they're generally tuned to soccer and other sports. To quote myself, which I'm never loath to do, "This column is read worldwide, as you know, so if you happen to be reading this on a smartphone while quaffing a pint in a British pub and disagree with me, take a pic and send it to answerman@postbulletin.com."

That column went online late Thursday, I believe, and at 8:41 a.m. Friday, I had this unsigned email in my inbox:

"As I am sitting in the Bleeding Horse Saloon in Dublin, Ireland, reading the Answer Man column, I count in clear view three flat-screens, with soccer on every one of them."

My response: "I wish I believed you … please send evidence … and an airline ticket."

The emailer responded with four pics, including the one published here — but no airline ticket.

My fan eventually identified herself as Elaine, of Plainview, who later in the day said she was on her way to the Dublin airport. I did some legwork and tend to believe she truly was at the Bleeding Horse Pub (not Saloon), though if she's pulling my leg, she at least deserves some publicity for creativity.

I have to admit, if I was sitting in an Irish pub right now, I might be reading me, too.

Hope springs eternal

Also in Friday's epic , I offered a $5 Starbucks coffee card to the first reader who correctly identified the tiny cemetery northwest of Rochester, "not so far" from the new Menards store , that overlooks the city on one side and the Byron area on the other.

"Would that be the Cline Cemeterynear Menards?" asked one reader. "Just a wild guess."

So sorry, not Cline . That's on the wrong side of town, near Eyota.

"Are you referring to referring to the Center Grove Cemetery? ," asked another.

No, but you're getting warmer. That one's near Douglas.

Then I received an amusing note from a reader named Steve: "Is Mount Hope the cemetery you're looking for? I'm dying to know."

I responded, "Oh, but you lingered too long! We already have a winner."

That winner is Michael Strand, a database and software manager at St. Olaf College in Northfield, who sent his email at 8:34 a.m. Friday, just three minutes before Elaine checked in from the Bleeding Horse Pub. He was the first to guess Mount Hope Cemetery, which is in Kalmar Township along Olmsted County Road 4, just east of 70th Avenue Northwest.

Check out Mount Hope, and tell me it's not one of the prettiest sites in the area for eternal rest.

Be careful if you go checking for Mount Hope Cemetery online, though — there are a lot of them, including one in Rochester, N.Y. , where two of the great American progressives and social reformers are buried: Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass.

Going back to the reader who was "dying to know," here's how he responded to the news that he didn't win: "That's what I get for spending Friday morning on the golf course instead of waiting at home for the newest Answer Man column to post like I should have. Lesson learned."

Actually, that's the wrong lesson. The right one is to read my column in between shots.