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Vacation, days 4-5.....
Aug. 13th, 2003 11:07 pmTue. 8/12: Slept in until 10 am while Rebecca took Maria to day care. Drove to a local park to begin working on cleaning up the inside of the '94 Saturn SL1 -- my "old" secondary car which Rebecca used to drive until last month, when we bought a new '03 Saturn LW300 wagon. I could have done this step at home, but I wanted a slightly different change of scenery. (I definitely recommend the Armor All Wipes trio -- Cleaner, Protectant, and Glass Cleaner. Much easier and more convenient than spraying and wiping!) I lowered the volume of the tape I was listening to -- Big Audio Dynamite's This Is Big Audio Dynamite -- lowered the windows (after they were cleaned), and began to work on the exterior.
I picked up lunch at the local Speedway gas station -- two hot dogs and a 32-oz Diet Coke. I returned to the park to begin tackling my pile of unread newspapers (mostly the local free weekly "alternative newspapers"). Two hours later, I stopped reading and drove to a local "wash-it-yourself" car wash, where I vaccummed out the car and power-washed the exterior. (I took out the car mats, but forgot to wash them down.)
After the car was dry, I went to Mazel's (a regional closeout merchandiser) for a small notebook I saw a few days ago, and then to Bed Bath & Beyond for some behind-the-door pantry racks. They didn't have them there, but I found them at Home Depot.
I picked up Maria from day care, and had a Classic P'Zone calzone from Pizza Hut for dinner. I also watched the Kevin Costner Biography on A&E. (He recently got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! Those of you who know me well may know why I'm a big Kevin Costner fan, despite Waterworld and The Postman.)
Wed. 8/13: Didn't sleep in today. Took Maria to day care. Then I stopped at the Boston Stoker for coffee and a muffin, and went to another park to make another huge dent in the newspaper pile. This is what I used to do on Sunday mornings before Maria was born, but I used to read the papers on my patio instead of driving to a park to read them. This park, which is near the Fraze pavilian in Kettering, had a pond. A few people were fishing, and a few elderly people were walking around the lake.
I returned home to begin cleaning the interior of my primary car, a '00 Saturn SL2. I also scraped off the decals off the back window of the '94. I then took the '00 -- along with the mats from the first car -- to the wash-it-yourself car wash for vacuuming and power-washing. When I returned home, I hung up the mats to dry.
Today's lunch was a "Philadelphian" sandwich from The Upper Krust deli -- corned beef, pastrami, cole slaw, and Russian dressing on rye bread. I also had their gazpacho and iced tea. Then I had my hair cut at BoRics. Afterward, I went to Big Lots to see what things would catch my eye. I bought one of those "handy stitch" machines for $5. I wonder if it will work as good as they claim it does on the TV ad. If not, I'm only out $5.
I also called two charities regarding car donations -- Volunteers of America, and the local St. Vincent de Paul Society. For both places, the process wasn't as complicated as I originally thought: Send (or deliver) them a notarized copy of the title, and they will arrange to pick up the vehicle. I thought I had to drive the vehicle to them, with title in hand. I also thought I had to given them a detailed maintenance history, but since they'll auction off the vehicle instead of refurbishing it for use by one of their beneficiaries, they won't need the history.
Grandpa Steve -- so called because he walked Rebecca down the aisle at our wedding -- and Tante Carol called to wish Maria a happy birthday.
Reconnecting with nature: These past few days, I've made a conscious attempt to reconnect with nature. I used to love to hear the sounds of summer -- the cicadas chirping in the daytime, and the crickets (and other insects) chirping at night. (The cicada chirps here sound slightly different than they did where I grew up. Perhaps they're not rubbing their wings as fast here.) I also love the smell of the trees (especially the pine trees), and the feel of a cool breeze, either in a forest or on a lake. Sadly, I don't get to do that anymore, since I spend most of my life indoors -- at work, at home, in front of the computer, enjoying the air conditioning.
I'd love to bring a boom box with me to record these sounds -- 30-40 minutes of daytime, 30-40 minutes of nighttime -- and make my own tape (and eventually burn onto a CD), a la Dan Gibson's "Solitudes" series and Syntonic Research's "Environments" series. I just need to find a time and place where I won't have any stray noises, like cars, people talking, and aircraft flying overhead.
I picked up lunch at the local Speedway gas station -- two hot dogs and a 32-oz Diet Coke. I returned to the park to begin tackling my pile of unread newspapers (mostly the local free weekly "alternative newspapers"). Two hours later, I stopped reading and drove to a local "wash-it-yourself" car wash, where I vaccummed out the car and power-washed the exterior. (I took out the car mats, but forgot to wash them down.)
After the car was dry, I went to Mazel's (a regional closeout merchandiser) for a small notebook I saw a few days ago, and then to Bed Bath & Beyond for some behind-the-door pantry racks. They didn't have them there, but I found them at Home Depot.
I picked up Maria from day care, and had a Classic P'Zone calzone from Pizza Hut for dinner. I also watched the Kevin Costner Biography on A&E. (He recently got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! Those of you who know me well may know why I'm a big Kevin Costner fan, despite Waterworld and The Postman.)
Wed. 8/13: Didn't sleep in today. Took Maria to day care. Then I stopped at the Boston Stoker for coffee and a muffin, and went to another park to make another huge dent in the newspaper pile. This is what I used to do on Sunday mornings before Maria was born, but I used to read the papers on my patio instead of driving to a park to read them. This park, which is near the Fraze pavilian in Kettering, had a pond. A few people were fishing, and a few elderly people were walking around the lake.
I returned home to begin cleaning the interior of my primary car, a '00 Saturn SL2. I also scraped off the decals off the back window of the '94. I then took the '00 -- along with the mats from the first car -- to the wash-it-yourself car wash for vacuuming and power-washing. When I returned home, I hung up the mats to dry.
Today's lunch was a "Philadelphian" sandwich from The Upper Krust deli -- corned beef, pastrami, cole slaw, and Russian dressing on rye bread. I also had their gazpacho and iced tea. Then I had my hair cut at BoRics. Afterward, I went to Big Lots to see what things would catch my eye. I bought one of those "handy stitch" machines for $5. I wonder if it will work as good as they claim it does on the TV ad. If not, I'm only out $5.
I also called two charities regarding car donations -- Volunteers of America, and the local St. Vincent de Paul Society. For both places, the process wasn't as complicated as I originally thought: Send (or deliver) them a notarized copy of the title, and they will arrange to pick up the vehicle. I thought I had to drive the vehicle to them, with title in hand. I also thought I had to given them a detailed maintenance history, but since they'll auction off the vehicle instead of refurbishing it for use by one of their beneficiaries, they won't need the history.
Grandpa Steve -- so called because he walked Rebecca down the aisle at our wedding -- and Tante Carol called to wish Maria a happy birthday.
Reconnecting with nature: These past few days, I've made a conscious attempt to reconnect with nature. I used to love to hear the sounds of summer -- the cicadas chirping in the daytime, and the crickets (and other insects) chirping at night. (The cicada chirps here sound slightly different than they did where I grew up. Perhaps they're not rubbing their wings as fast here.) I also love the smell of the trees (especially the pine trees), and the feel of a cool breeze, either in a forest or on a lake. Sadly, I don't get to do that anymore, since I spend most of my life indoors -- at work, at home, in front of the computer, enjoying the air conditioning.
I'd love to bring a boom box with me to record these sounds -- 30-40 minutes of daytime, 30-40 minutes of nighttime -- and make my own tape (and eventually burn onto a CD), a la Dan Gibson's "Solitudes" series and Syntonic Research's "Environments" series. I just need to find a time and place where I won't have any stray noises, like cars, people talking, and aircraft flying overhead.
