Meanwhile, back at the home nest...
... it seems Tubby saw fit to wander down to Carlsbad today, and go to LEGOLAND for a visit. Sort of your typical last-minute outting for him, from what I gathered from a brief but painful conversation with him (which is typical). On preparing to leave, he made the usual purchase of LEGO stuff. (Note: It's not LEGOs -- LEGO is a plural.) As a passholder, he gets 10% off purchases, and the Big Store was also offering a buy one keychain, get a second one half off. So he went to the register, drawn not only by the short line, but the cute cashier, Valorie. At the end, the sale rang up the keychains fine, but the register just gave a discount on some items, versus all (which was a noticable difference, as he buys LEGO the way most guys buy tools and beer). He asked the delightful brunette on the matter, and we got it all worked out. (Although independent of this story per se, the guy behind Tubby was quite rude, but manager Jennifer shuffled him off elsewhere). In the end, Tubby figured Valorie needed a smiley FRANK pen as a reward for her patience and calm approach to the situation, as well has having to dealing with Tubby... which is a challenge in and of itself. (And I'm sure she was rather pretty, since he does tend to have an eye for such things.)
::: 05.01.04 @ 03:38 PM Pacific Time [link] :::
Success!
Well, I'm out again in Tripp, South Dakota. We managed to close on the house that is to become my Midwestern Office, and still had time to get a soft-shoe in, and then we were off to lunch. Afterwards, a trip out to Menards and Wal-Mart to get this and that for the place, including a coffee pot. (While I don't drink coffee, others do, and you have to keep the crew happy.) Anyway, a long weekend without having to babysit Tubby and... aw, crap. I didn't hire a sitter; he's probably sitting in the dark, covered in Oreo crumbs, and starring at the test pattern on the TV. Oh well -- at least he's not dead in a ditch somewhere. Or jail. But I guess I'll find out for sure on Monday...
::: 04.30.04 @ 10:51 PM Pacific Time [link] :::
Not all rollercoasters are thrills
So, today was a particular treat. First, I hear about Tubby's day (which is about as fascinating as hearing a play-by-play description of how leaves are floating down the storm drain in the middle of a monsoon). This and that. He got the Expedition's oil changed, and since it was the 10th oil change, it was free. (Mind you, we've only had the car for 15 months, 10 oil changes... you do the math, particularly as we don't go to the same place every time.) But that was okay. The $2 win on the lottery ticket wasn't horrible, but it's hardly going to be enough to get me a nice down jacket so I can finally stop growing my own. Then he reads email and just gets all weird again. Sort of the weird I haven't seen in 18 months weird, a la Sturgis weird. So I'm going to ignore my Weird Pal and go watch a movie. (* Actual level of "pal" varies, but it fit into the sentence nice enough.)
::: 04.28.04 @ 07:47 PM Pacific Time [link] :::
Warm weather, ugh
It's warm. Unusually warm. I guess that's about right for late April, but by virtue of poor planning, I'm still wearing my winter down. I suppose it's time to molt, but it's just too warm for me to be in the mood. But the conventional desk fan keeps me cool in the interim, and I guess when the weather and my hectic schedule cool off, I'lll get around to being so indiscrete as to shed a layer or two.
::: 04.27.04 @ 09:57 PM Pacific Time [link] :::
Portland 1, FrankPals 0
We managed to sightsee in Portland fine, but the meeting of the minds with the prospective FrankPals didn't come to pass; alas, we'll just have to try again in one of our schedules passages through the area again, what with Seattle and other things up yonder drawing a duck near. Anyway, off to the movie theatre...
::: 04.25.04 @ 08:31 AM Pacific Time [link] :::