Vacation, days 6-7.....
Aug. 15th, 2003 10:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1Thu. 8/14: Took Maria to day care. Then I stopped at McDonald's for breakfast: coffee and a Sausage Egg McMuffin. Then it was off to Magee Park in Bellbrook for another "marathon" session of newspaper reading. It was still a little misty out, and there are several hills between the day care center and Bellbrook. It reminded me of being out in the mountains in the morning -- a weekend trip to Bluefield WV, and my honeymoon along the Blue Ridge Parkway -- and it was beautiful. My morning reverie was interupted by a group of young cheerleaders -- the Bellbrook Wee Eagles -- doing their morning run around the parking lot and practicing their cheers. At 10:15, I had only 4 newspaper sections to go, then I left for home.
The rest of the morning was spent sorting out bills and mail. I have a few cardboard flat-trays from a local garden store that are the perfect size for mail. I also have a nice little pile of credit card applications that will be opened, sorted for paper type (plain or glossy), and shredded. I should just pitch the junk mail that I have, instead of hoarding and filing it.
In the afternoon, I stopped at Submarine House -- a local sub chain -- for lunch, to my insurance man to get written proof of insurance for the new car, and then to the local license bureau to begin the process of getting my plates transferred from the '94 SL1 to the '03 wagon. I had the titles and insurance information for both vehicles, but I had to run home to get my Social Security card since I don't carry it around with me. Once I had everything, and signed the car over to the organization that was receiving the car, the transaction went smoothly.
I hate dealing with the license bureau. Things are never as easy or as smooth as I expect. The clerks are easy on the eyes, but I often wonder if they invent rules and regulations to make things more complicated than they need to be, or lie about the rules and regs in order to get out of doing any work. A few years earlier, during another license plate transfer transaction, I remember losing my cool at supervisor and telling her, "I'm the customer. The customer is always right!" Since they're so rules-driven and authoritarian, I wonder why no one has considered replacing them with artificial intelligence programs or expert systems. I know I'd suffocate in that environment, just as they'd probably be lost and confused in a world with little or no external rules.
Afterwards, I went home to wait for the plumber, who was supposed to install a new garbage disposal for me. The housing on the old one cracked last year. But he called, told me the other jobs were taking longer than expected, and asked if I could reschedule for another evening. I said yes, and agreed on the evening of Tue 8/26 to have the disposal replaced. I've waited over a year; what's another week?
I also made a trip to AutoZone to verify whether the spare lightbulbs and windshield wipers I had for the '94 Saturn would also work on the '00 Saturn. The wipers would fit, but the light bulbs wouldn't. And so the light bulbs went into the trunk, along with a copy of the shop manual.
That night, Rebecca and Maria came home. The first thing my wife asked me was if I've heard the news. I didn't have the radio or TV on after 2:30pm, so I didn't know about the power outage until I turned on ABC News. (CNN Headline News is on a channel my TVs tuner doesn't pick up -- channel 71 -- but my VCR's tuner does.)
I called my parents to see how they were doing, and they told me they still had power.
(More blackout stories and coipng strategies will be posted at a later date.)
Fri. 8/15: Rebecca took the day off, so Maria didn't go to day care today. She slept in while I watched the baby in the morning. (Nope, no newspapers today. But I found a few more which went into the "read me" pile.) Last night, Rebecca told me that the day care center was in desparate need of plastic grocery sacks (which they use to send home dirty clothing), so I spent a little time sorting the bags (from the other plastic bags I had), stretching them out, flattening them, and putting them in another bag.
After Rebecca woke up, I moved the license plate tags from the '94 to the '03 wagon. Then I took the bags to the day care center, and received much thanks from the center director. (Her husband, who also works at the center, kidded me about sending the truant officer after my daughter because she was playing hookey.)
I then went to the local St. Vincent de Paul Society office to give them the title of the '94, and directions for their towing crew to find the vehicle. I also wanted to give them the keys, but they told me to leave them inside the car to be taken away. I then made a stop at Mendelson's to do a little shopping, and to visit my friend Rick, who is part of the family who owns the store. I left with some baby safety things, a new set of headphones for the computer, some old deep-discount software (Quicken Deluxe '99 -- CD only -- for $5; Globalink Power Translator or $10), and filters for the air filter in my bedroom.
Lunch today for the three of us was at the local A&W/Long John Silver's. I had a burger, a piece of fish, and a mug of diet root beer. I think they add vanilla to their root beer to make it taste extra smooth and to help with the foaming. My wife and I talked about going to The Beach Waterpark for the rest of the afternoon, but decided against it due to the anticipated crowd and cost.
After lunch, we came home, and I took a nap. Three of my four cats decided to join me on the bed -- Oreo, Marcus, and Merlin. (It's a king-size bed, so there's plenty of room for myself, the wife, the daughter, and the cats.) They probably think I'm turning into "one of them", since they take naps often. If my schedule allowed, I think I'd nap every day for 1-2 hours in the late afternoon. Ideally, it would be in a hammock outside. But we don't have the space for a hammock, or even a Sky Chair, so the bed is where the napping gets done.
After I woke up, I saw the the car was gone. I hope it was towed away, and no one else made off with it. Dinner was from the Dorothy Lane Market. They have a wonderful prepared-food section. For Rebecca, I got a small piece of Apple Cider Salmon, a twice-baked potato, and green beans amandine. For me, I got some sushi, squid salad, and tabouleh salad.
7 days down; 2 to go. I'm a little ticked at myself for not accomplishing the things at home I wanted to do. Maybe I'll get them done tomorrow or Sunday.
The rest of the morning was spent sorting out bills and mail. I have a few cardboard flat-trays from a local garden store that are the perfect size for mail. I also have a nice little pile of credit card applications that will be opened, sorted for paper type (plain or glossy), and shredded. I should just pitch the junk mail that I have, instead of hoarding and filing it.
In the afternoon, I stopped at Submarine House -- a local sub chain -- for lunch, to my insurance man to get written proof of insurance for the new car, and then to the local license bureau to begin the process of getting my plates transferred from the '94 SL1 to the '03 wagon. I had the titles and insurance information for both vehicles, but I had to run home to get my Social Security card since I don't carry it around with me. Once I had everything, and signed the car over to the organization that was receiving the car, the transaction went smoothly.
I hate dealing with the license bureau. Things are never as easy or as smooth as I expect. The clerks are easy on the eyes, but I often wonder if they invent rules and regulations to make things more complicated than they need to be, or lie about the rules and regs in order to get out of doing any work. A few years earlier, during another license plate transfer transaction, I remember losing my cool at supervisor and telling her, "I'm the customer. The customer is always right!" Since they're so rules-driven and authoritarian, I wonder why no one has considered replacing them with artificial intelligence programs or expert systems. I know I'd suffocate in that environment, just as they'd probably be lost and confused in a world with little or no external rules.
Afterwards, I went home to wait for the plumber, who was supposed to install a new garbage disposal for me. The housing on the old one cracked last year. But he called, told me the other jobs were taking longer than expected, and asked if I could reschedule for another evening. I said yes, and agreed on the evening of Tue 8/26 to have the disposal replaced. I've waited over a year; what's another week?
I also made a trip to AutoZone to verify whether the spare lightbulbs and windshield wipers I had for the '94 Saturn would also work on the '00 Saturn. The wipers would fit, but the light bulbs wouldn't. And so the light bulbs went into the trunk, along with a copy of the shop manual.
That night, Rebecca and Maria came home. The first thing my wife asked me was if I've heard the news. I didn't have the radio or TV on after 2:30pm, so I didn't know about the power outage until I turned on ABC News. (CNN Headline News is on a channel my TVs tuner doesn't pick up -- channel 71 -- but my VCR's tuner does.)
I called my parents to see how they were doing, and they told me they still had power.
(More blackout stories and coipng strategies will be posted at a later date.)
Fri. 8/15: Rebecca took the day off, so Maria didn't go to day care today. She slept in while I watched the baby in the morning. (Nope, no newspapers today. But I found a few more which went into the "read me" pile.) Last night, Rebecca told me that the day care center was in desparate need of plastic grocery sacks (which they use to send home dirty clothing), so I spent a little time sorting the bags (from the other plastic bags I had), stretching them out, flattening them, and putting them in another bag.
After Rebecca woke up, I moved the license plate tags from the '94 to the '03 wagon. Then I took the bags to the day care center, and received much thanks from the center director. (Her husband, who also works at the center, kidded me about sending the truant officer after my daughter because she was playing hookey.)
I then went to the local St. Vincent de Paul Society office to give them the title of the '94, and directions for their towing crew to find the vehicle. I also wanted to give them the keys, but they told me to leave them inside the car to be taken away. I then made a stop at Mendelson's to do a little shopping, and to visit my friend Rick, who is part of the family who owns the store. I left with some baby safety things, a new set of headphones for the computer, some old deep-discount software (Quicken Deluxe '99 -- CD only -- for $5; Globalink Power Translator or $10), and filters for the air filter in my bedroom.
Lunch today for the three of us was at the local A&W/Long John Silver's. I had a burger, a piece of fish, and a mug of diet root beer. I think they add vanilla to their root beer to make it taste extra smooth and to help with the foaming. My wife and I talked about going to The Beach Waterpark for the rest of the afternoon, but decided against it due to the anticipated crowd and cost.
After lunch, we came home, and I took a nap. Three of my four cats decided to join me on the bed -- Oreo, Marcus, and Merlin. (It's a king-size bed, so there's plenty of room for myself, the wife, the daughter, and the cats.) They probably think I'm turning into "one of them", since they take naps often. If my schedule allowed, I think I'd nap every day for 1-2 hours in the late afternoon. Ideally, it would be in a hammock outside. But we don't have the space for a hammock, or even a Sky Chair, so the bed is where the napping gets done.
After I woke up, I saw the the car was gone. I hope it was towed away, and no one else made off with it. Dinner was from the Dorothy Lane Market. They have a wonderful prepared-food section. For Rebecca, I got a small piece of Apple Cider Salmon, a twice-baked potato, and green beans amandine. For me, I got some sushi, squid salad, and tabouleh salad.
7 days down; 2 to go. I'm a little ticked at myself for not accomplishing the things at home I wanted to do. Maybe I'll get them done tomorrow or Sunday.
