Yo Ho Ho...
Am safely in New Jersey, piggybacking on someone's wireless. It might be Al's, but then again, it might not be, because Slick is picking up at least three wireless networks, and I just selected the most likely one. He and D are still asleep, so I can't confirm.
To pick up where I left off, I got the rest of the chocolates dipped, cooling them on parchment paper this time rather than the rack. Worked way better. I got Nero installed, and a bunch of Christmas CDs burned.
The trip down was interesting, in the "may you live in interesting times" curse way. The weather was misting for a good chunk of the CT portion of the trip, but traffic was actually pretty light, what with virtually every car in America parked in a shopping mall parking lot somewhere, and I made excellent time. Usually. The major blot on the journey was the parking lot that was I-95 in New Haven. It took an hour to get from Branford to West Haven, about ten miles. First there was "Emergency Roadwork" going on in East Haven. Now, I know Connecticut is renowned for having bridges fall down, but there is no bridge where they were working, so I can't imagine what the emergency could have been. After that there was an accident in West Haven. Fortunately, it was a minor one, but it was just south of where I-95 and I-91 come together, so there were six lanes shrinking down to one. Joy. (The really nasty accident was the SUV that rolled over on a ramp near Old Lyme, although it didn't really slow traffic down much since it was off the main road. I'm surprised I didn't see more accidents, because folks were driving crazy. Twice I had folks try to enter my lane whilst I was directly beside them.)
After I escaped from New Haven, the weather turned quite nice, with bright sun and unseasonably warm temperatures. I arrived at Al's not long before dinner, so we headed out in search of food. I wound up getting a free meal because there was masking tape in my garlic mashed potatoes. I discovered this when what I initially thought was some potato skin in my forkful of mash resolutely refused to break apart when I tried to chew it. No harm done, and I might not have even mentioned it if our waiter had not arrived a minute later for the usual mid-meal "How is everything?" Free food!
Watched Hoodwinked afterwards, a movie that I'd meant to see, but never got around to. It's laugh out loud hilarious retelling of "Little Red Riding Hood" from the point of view of the police investigation following the whole incident. I especially liked the private detective, a frog named Nick Flippers, who wears a William Powell-esque mustache, and investigates cases accompanied by a little terrier. I'm going to need to own a copy.
Today it's hang out for awhile, then off to baby!sis's for an early dinner (3 p.m.). I spend the night at sis #2's tonight, and then the traditional family Christmas dinner at sis #1's tomorrow, and back on the road home after that.
To pick up where I left off, I got the rest of the chocolates dipped, cooling them on parchment paper this time rather than the rack. Worked way better. I got Nero installed, and a bunch of Christmas CDs burned.
The trip down was interesting, in the "may you live in interesting times" curse way. The weather was misting for a good chunk of the CT portion of the trip, but traffic was actually pretty light, what with virtually every car in America parked in a shopping mall parking lot somewhere, and I made excellent time. Usually. The major blot on the journey was the parking lot that was I-95 in New Haven. It took an hour to get from Branford to West Haven, about ten miles. First there was "Emergency Roadwork" going on in East Haven. Now, I know Connecticut is renowned for having bridges fall down, but there is no bridge where they were working, so I can't imagine what the emergency could have been. After that there was an accident in West Haven. Fortunately, it was a minor one, but it was just south of where I-95 and I-91 come together, so there were six lanes shrinking down to one. Joy. (The really nasty accident was the SUV that rolled over on a ramp near Old Lyme, although it didn't really slow traffic down much since it was off the main road. I'm surprised I didn't see more accidents, because folks were driving crazy. Twice I had folks try to enter my lane whilst I was directly beside them.)
After I escaped from New Haven, the weather turned quite nice, with bright sun and unseasonably warm temperatures. I arrived at Al's not long before dinner, so we headed out in search of food. I wound up getting a free meal because there was masking tape in my garlic mashed potatoes. I discovered this when what I initially thought was some potato skin in my forkful of mash resolutely refused to break apart when I tried to chew it. No harm done, and I might not have even mentioned it if our waiter had not arrived a minute later for the usual mid-meal "How is everything?" Free food!
Watched Hoodwinked afterwards, a movie that I'd meant to see, but never got around to. It's laugh out loud hilarious retelling of "Little Red Riding Hood" from the point of view of the police investigation following the whole incident. I especially liked the private detective, a frog named Nick Flippers, who wears a William Powell-esque mustache, and investigates cases accompanied by a little terrier. I'm going to need to own a copy.
Today it's hang out for awhile, then off to baby!sis's for an early dinner (3 p.m.). I spend the night at sis #2's tonight, and then the traditional family Christmas dinner at sis #1's tomorrow, and back on the road home after that.