Weekend Update
I woke up Friday just in a weird head space and decided that I needed a mental health day. So I took the day off, which very much felt like the right thing to do. I did some reading, did a little puttering around the house, and worked on LinkedIn stuff for myself and for ravena_kade in preparation for getting together on Sunday.
Friday night four of us met up at the Galley Hatch in Hampton, NH to celebrate Walter’s birthday. Over the summer I’d lost my warm fuzzy that I’ve been carrying around in my pocket ever since the funeral. I knew I’d just dropped it somewhere around the door (where I have a little shelf where I toss my keys and the stuff I carry around in my pockets), so I moved the shoe rack and lo and behold, there is was hiding in plain sight on the carpeting. Of course, the fact that it’s the exact same color as the carpeting helped with the hiding. So I’m happy to have that back, as I’ve been carrying that little reminder of Walter around in my pocket since Christmas 2005. I lost it once back in 2007, but found it again, and I knew it would come back to me this time too.
I’m glad I left super early for the drive to Hampton, because traffic was The Suck. What do I expect on a Friday night? I pulled into the parking lot and spotted guy_todd lurking on the porch, waiting for us. Then I looked at the car in front of me looking for a parking space and the license plate said allgudallthetim. We went ahead and got seated before I thought to check my phone and keimel had posted to the Facebook invite that he was running late. Barbara had brought two tote bags full of photos and albums and a couple of Walter’s notebooks from Maine Faire, so we flipped through those and laughed and talked and generally reminisced. OMG, Walter’s high school graduation photos are a HOOT! He’s got such a porn ‘stache. And he’s wearing one of those horrible white polyester leisure suits with two big button flat pockets on the chest. So very 1970s! I wasn’t involved with Maine Faire except as a patron, but Mike and John both worked it, so they were poring over the two leather notebooks where Walter had all his lines, schedules, and scene notes for Maine Faire. I spent my time flipping through the album from Star Trek conventions and events, looking at a bunch of people that I used to know. Including a couple of photos of the Wasband (“Hey look, I used to be married to that guy!”). We sat and ate and laughed until it started to look like the restaurant was getting close to closing down, then we all hugged out in the parking lot and headed home.
Saturday I could either have bummed around at home, or I could have gone out and run errands. They were doing construction outside, so it wasn't exactly quiet. Then the new dog across the way was barking and whining again. I haven’t heard him during the week, so I’m starting to wonder if it belongs to the guy’s kids and is only there on weekends when he has the kids (and of course they leave the damn thing alone because they’re out running around doing stuff….). Then the Irish banshee next door started screeching at her mother (why may deserve it, as she’s an old battleaxe) and I put on pants and headed out the door to run errands.
I ran up to Manchester to do some banking. And decided it had been ages since I’d stuck my head into Fabric Fix. They had about half the stock that I remembered from the last time I was there, and it’s a really teeny store, so I wonder if they’re slowly going out of business again? The guy who owned it retired once and shut down the shop. And then got bored and reopened it. Or at least that’s what I heard. I mean, he could be dead for all I know. And since I can’t remember his name, there’s no way for me to check. Then I hit up Martin’s House of Fabric, and they had a little notice in the front foyer that their owner had died of cancer. Eep! Unhappy news in the world of Manchester fabric stores. *sad face* I snooped their wool selection and picked up some white cotton canvas for a quick and dirty set of colonial stays. Later in the day I hit up Lowes for heavy duty cable ties. I’ve only ever made a corset (Elizabethan) off a kit, so this is going to be a very quick and dirty set of machine sewn stays to experiment with pattern and fit and make the mistakes that I know I’m going to make. So I don’t really give a damn if the materials are accurate or not, I just want something inexpensive to play around with while I’m learning.
I had looked at pattern books the week before at JoAnn’s but couldn’t remember which ones I might already own. I’d checked my list against the pattern stash, and headed back to buy them this weekend. Which was a good thing, as they had Simplicity patterns 5 for $5. So I picked up five (modern) dress and suit patterns that were on my list. And two more of the Vintage Vogue patterns that I’ve been collecting.
I bopped over to Best Buy to look into replacing my netbook (which has become cranky ever since it got damp at Pennsic). They no longer sell netbooks, everyone has gone over to tablets. Bugger. I chatted with the sales kid (seriously, he looked all of sixteen) about how I prefer a keyboard, and he helpfully told me that you can buy a separate keyboard. Um, not the same thing when I have to keep track of two pieces of hardware instead of one. And if you haven’t bought your new computer by now, you’re pretty much screwed because all they have is Windows 8. Microsoft is very much like the Star Trek movies, every other release SUCKS. And we seem to be up to a suck release. I don’t like the fact that the entire operating system is optimized for touchscreens, and yet people are going to be using it on laptops and desktops. From the reviews I’ve read, there are issues on non-touchscreens. It’s going to be interesting when Business starts getting forced onto Windows 8. I expect to hear screaming. At any rate, guess I’m stuck with my old computer for a bit longer. I also browsed the computer backpacks (I need to replace mine) but couldn’t remember how big my laptop was. So I snapped a few photos as reminders for prices and will head back this week and pick one up.
Of course, since I was in the neighborhood, I browsed Barnes and Nobles. The election coverage issues of Time and Newsweek weren’t out yet, so I’ll have to keep an eye out for them this week. Then I hit up Shaw’s for the steadily lengthening list of groceries that Hannaford no longer stocks (MorningStar Farms spicy bean burgers, my flavor of oatmeal, single serve salsa for my lunches, it gets longer all the time!).
When I got home I hit the last couple of boxes of books from my Master Bath that is now a Closet that I’ve been meaning to sort through. A few books are headed towards the dumpster, I filled up a large tote bag to go to the Used Bookstore this week, and I pulled a few things from the bookshelves, and managed to shelve a few old favorites that I won’t be giving up any time soon. I’ve been thinking that (now that I’ve figured out that I need reading glasses) that I should really challenge myself to wade through the To Be Read pile. I figure I can read at least a book a week next year and maybe get 50 books out of the house (I’ve got plenty of titles that I’ve bought because I want to read them, but probably won’t keep them to re-read). I pulled a huge stack of books, which ended up being more than 50. So that got sorted down, and now I have my challenge stack for next year. I need to find them a home. Or maybe they will just live on the side table where they are, so I don’t forget about them. Heck, if I end up taking Christmas week off, I could get a jump start on plowing through them.
I also found a box of papers, including my “memorabilia” folder. There were several funeral programs/obituaries for various people I’ve lost over the years (college roommate, best friend’s mom, my grandfather, my UU minister, etc.) And my athletic letter certificates (ice hockey and crew) and graduation program from Phillips Exeter. And a bunch of other random odds and ends. I found my Shakespeare insult list. Who was I talking about that to the other day? I should probably type that out and post it. It’s a pick one from one from column A, one from Column B mix-and-match your own insult sort of thing.
So between Friday and Saturday, this weekend was a definite “trip down Memory Lane."
Sunday I watched CBS Sunday morning, but didn’t get the election coverage I was hoping for. Oh well. Guess I’m really going to have to track down Time and Newsweek now. Then I drove down to Quincy to visit with ravena_kade. We tidied up her LinkedIn account (she’d imported her resume and it put things in weird places) and talked about the interview she has scheduled for this week. It sounds like a good fit, and I will be sending good thoughts her way all week. *sends good juju* We had dinner at Applebee’s, which was packed. Turns out they were offering free meals to Veterans for Veteran’s day. And yet, they’re one of the companies that has proclaimed that they have to cut hours and staff because they can’t afford Obamacare. Well, if you’re in such financial difficulties, maybe you could find other ways to cut costs. Like not giving away food? But then again, I’m one of those radical people who thinks that if you have to loudly announce how your costs have gone up and OMG you’re going to have to lay people off now? That it’s not really about the costs, and it’s all about loudly shouting about how you’re against taking care of your employees. I’m going to try to stop shopping at stores and restaurants that pull that shit. I’ve already stopped shopping at Wal-Mart. I’ve never eaten at Papa Johns, but it looks like I’m going to have to give up Applebee’s and Olive Garden, as they showed up on the list a FB friend of mine posted this weekend.
We went back to Jennifer’s house and chatted way too late. I finally forced myself to leave around 8:30. I quickly popped into Barnes and Nobles on the way home to return a book I’d bought Saturday (that I already had, d’oh! Damn things hide and the only way to make them stop hiding is to buy them again!) While I was there the woman told me my discount card was going to expire. “I’m aware of that.” I said. And when I got home, I saw that she’d charged me the fee to renew it. Dammit. Not sure if I can get them to take that off my bill or not, since I’ve got this leaning tower of unread books. But I’m going to try after work today.
UPDATE - I got my discount card renewal credited back to me. *whew*
BTW, Kass, the new Her Royal Spyness is out! Picked it up on Saturday.
Friday night four of us met up at the Galley Hatch in Hampton, NH to celebrate Walter’s birthday. Over the summer I’d lost my warm fuzzy that I’ve been carrying around in my pocket ever since the funeral. I knew I’d just dropped it somewhere around the door (where I have a little shelf where I toss my keys and the stuff I carry around in my pockets), so I moved the shoe rack and lo and behold, there is was hiding in plain sight on the carpeting. Of course, the fact that it’s the exact same color as the carpeting helped with the hiding. So I’m happy to have that back, as I’ve been carrying that little reminder of Walter around in my pocket since Christmas 2005. I lost it once back in 2007, but found it again, and I knew it would come back to me this time too.
I’m glad I left super early for the drive to Hampton, because traffic was The Suck. What do I expect on a Friday night? I pulled into the parking lot and spotted guy_todd lurking on the porch, waiting for us. Then I looked at the car in front of me looking for a parking space and the license plate said allgudallthetim. We went ahead and got seated before I thought to check my phone and keimel had posted to the Facebook invite that he was running late. Barbara had brought two tote bags full of photos and albums and a couple of Walter’s notebooks from Maine Faire, so we flipped through those and laughed and talked and generally reminisced. OMG, Walter’s high school graduation photos are a HOOT! He’s got such a porn ‘stache. And he’s wearing one of those horrible white polyester leisure suits with two big button flat pockets on the chest. So very 1970s! I wasn’t involved with Maine Faire except as a patron, but Mike and John both worked it, so they were poring over the two leather notebooks where Walter had all his lines, schedules, and scene notes for Maine Faire. I spent my time flipping through the album from Star Trek conventions and events, looking at a bunch of people that I used to know. Including a couple of photos of the Wasband (“Hey look, I used to be married to that guy!”). We sat and ate and laughed until it started to look like the restaurant was getting close to closing down, then we all hugged out in the parking lot and headed home.
Saturday I could either have bummed around at home, or I could have gone out and run errands. They were doing construction outside, so it wasn't exactly quiet. Then the new dog across the way was barking and whining again. I haven’t heard him during the week, so I’m starting to wonder if it belongs to the guy’s kids and is only there on weekends when he has the kids (and of course they leave the damn thing alone because they’re out running around doing stuff….). Then the Irish banshee next door started screeching at her mother (why may deserve it, as she’s an old battleaxe) and I put on pants and headed out the door to run errands.
I ran up to Manchester to do some banking. And decided it had been ages since I’d stuck my head into Fabric Fix. They had about half the stock that I remembered from the last time I was there, and it’s a really teeny store, so I wonder if they’re slowly going out of business again? The guy who owned it retired once and shut down the shop. And then got bored and reopened it. Or at least that’s what I heard. I mean, he could be dead for all I know. And since I can’t remember his name, there’s no way for me to check. Then I hit up Martin’s House of Fabric, and they had a little notice in the front foyer that their owner had died of cancer. Eep! Unhappy news in the world of Manchester fabric stores. *sad face* I snooped their wool selection and picked up some white cotton canvas for a quick and dirty set of colonial stays. Later in the day I hit up Lowes for heavy duty cable ties. I’ve only ever made a corset (Elizabethan) off a kit, so this is going to be a very quick and dirty set of machine sewn stays to experiment with pattern and fit and make the mistakes that I know I’m going to make. So I don’t really give a damn if the materials are accurate or not, I just want something inexpensive to play around with while I’m learning.
I had looked at pattern books the week before at JoAnn’s but couldn’t remember which ones I might already own. I’d checked my list against the pattern stash, and headed back to buy them this weekend. Which was a good thing, as they had Simplicity patterns 5 for $5. So I picked up five (modern) dress and suit patterns that were on my list. And two more of the Vintage Vogue patterns that I’ve been collecting.
I bopped over to Best Buy to look into replacing my netbook (which has become cranky ever since it got damp at Pennsic). They no longer sell netbooks, everyone has gone over to tablets. Bugger. I chatted with the sales kid (seriously, he looked all of sixteen) about how I prefer a keyboard, and he helpfully told me that you can buy a separate keyboard. Um, not the same thing when I have to keep track of two pieces of hardware instead of one. And if you haven’t bought your new computer by now, you’re pretty much screwed because all they have is Windows 8. Microsoft is very much like the Star Trek movies, every other release SUCKS. And we seem to be up to a suck release. I don’t like the fact that the entire operating system is optimized for touchscreens, and yet people are going to be using it on laptops and desktops. From the reviews I’ve read, there are issues on non-touchscreens. It’s going to be interesting when Business starts getting forced onto Windows 8. I expect to hear screaming. At any rate, guess I’m stuck with my old computer for a bit longer. I also browsed the computer backpacks (I need to replace mine) but couldn’t remember how big my laptop was. So I snapped a few photos as reminders for prices and will head back this week and pick one up.
Of course, since I was in the neighborhood, I browsed Barnes and Nobles. The election coverage issues of Time and Newsweek weren’t out yet, so I’ll have to keep an eye out for them this week. Then I hit up Shaw’s for the steadily lengthening list of groceries that Hannaford no longer stocks (MorningStar Farms spicy bean burgers, my flavor of oatmeal, single serve salsa for my lunches, it gets longer all the time!).
When I got home I hit the last couple of boxes of books from my Master Bath that is now a Closet that I’ve been meaning to sort through. A few books are headed towards the dumpster, I filled up a large tote bag to go to the Used Bookstore this week, and I pulled a few things from the bookshelves, and managed to shelve a few old favorites that I won’t be giving up any time soon. I’ve been thinking that (now that I’ve figured out that I need reading glasses) that I should really challenge myself to wade through the To Be Read pile. I figure I can read at least a book a week next year and maybe get 50 books out of the house (I’ve got plenty of titles that I’ve bought because I want to read them, but probably won’t keep them to re-read). I pulled a huge stack of books, which ended up being more than 50. So that got sorted down, and now I have my challenge stack for next year. I need to find them a home. Or maybe they will just live on the side table where they are, so I don’t forget about them. Heck, if I end up taking Christmas week off, I could get a jump start on plowing through them.
I also found a box of papers, including my “memorabilia” folder. There were several funeral programs/obituaries for various people I’ve lost over the years (college roommate, best friend’s mom, my grandfather, my UU minister, etc.) And my athletic letter certificates (ice hockey and crew) and graduation program from Phillips Exeter. And a bunch of other random odds and ends. I found my Shakespeare insult list. Who was I talking about that to the other day? I should probably type that out and post it. It’s a pick one from one from column A, one from Column B mix-and-match your own insult sort of thing.
So between Friday and Saturday, this weekend was a definite “trip down Memory Lane."
Sunday I watched CBS Sunday morning, but didn’t get the election coverage I was hoping for. Oh well. Guess I’m really going to have to track down Time and Newsweek now. Then I drove down to Quincy to visit with ravena_kade. We tidied up her LinkedIn account (she’d imported her resume and it put things in weird places) and talked about the interview she has scheduled for this week. It sounds like a good fit, and I will be sending good thoughts her way all week. *sends good juju* We had dinner at Applebee’s, which was packed. Turns out they were offering free meals to Veterans for Veteran’s day. And yet, they’re one of the companies that has proclaimed that they have to cut hours and staff because they can’t afford Obamacare. Well, if you’re in such financial difficulties, maybe you could find other ways to cut costs. Like not giving away food? But then again, I’m one of those radical people who thinks that if you have to loudly announce how your costs have gone up and OMG you’re going to have to lay people off now? That it’s not really about the costs, and it’s all about loudly shouting about how you’re against taking care of your employees. I’m going to try to stop shopping at stores and restaurants that pull that shit. I’ve already stopped shopping at Wal-Mart. I’ve never eaten at Papa Johns, but it looks like I’m going to have to give up Applebee’s and Olive Garden, as they showed up on the list a FB friend of mine posted this weekend.
We went back to Jennifer’s house and chatted way too late. I finally forced myself to leave around 8:30. I quickly popped into Barnes and Nobles on the way home to return a book I’d bought Saturday (that I already had, d’oh! Damn things hide and the only way to make them stop hiding is to buy them again!) While I was there the woman told me my discount card was going to expire. “I’m aware of that.” I said. And when I got home, I saw that she’d charged me the fee to renew it. Dammit. Not sure if I can get them to take that off my bill or not, since I’ve got this leaning tower of unread books. But I’m going to try after work today.
UPDATE - I got my discount card renewal credited back to me. *whew*
BTW, Kass, the new Her Royal Spyness is out! Picked it up on Saturday.