Some notes on a soon to be snowy Tuesday.

It was my birthday today, which means it's time to look through the Arborwiki Birthday Deals page and make sure I catch the good ones. I hit up Zingerman's Deli for a half dozen free bagels, and then caught the Route 1 bus for a quick hop to the Northside Grill for a good deal on breakfast. Ann Arbor is one of the best cities I know to have a birthday, and one interpid gastronomic explorer managed to score eight separate birthday treats on his recent special day.

The Northside is only a few steps from Argo Park and the Argo mill race. The water level of the mill race is down low enough that the spillway is dry, but it's still draining through a grate which had been submerged. I kicked some floating logs out of the way and tried to get the flow going a little faster. The mill race had started to ice up a bit, and I can't help but wonder if we get a hard freeze this winter whether it would be a suitable place for pond hockey or ice skating.

Snow is on its way, not as bad as what it's going to be to the northwest of here. The roads are already at least a little treacherous, enough to cause a semi truck full of dog food to roll over on I-94 south of town.

The old Tios Building next to City Hall came down today. The City bought the building and its 0.11 acre parcel in 2008 for $605,000; its new best use will be parking. Tios relocated to where Salsarita's used to be on Liberty near Thompson.

I'm hoping for at least one more birthday deal for the rest of the day - I'm aiming for ice cream.

Edward Vielmetti rides the bus for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at 734-330-2465.