What I did on my summer vacation
I didn't end up doing a lot this week, but I was able to be somewhat productive.
Monday: I learned, after my whole car incident in June, that I needed to put *more* money into it. Oh, goody. When I went to get my oil changed, I found out my front struts were cracked and would need replacement. It would also be a minimum 4-hour job, so something where I'd need to drop it off for a while, and definitely not after work. This week easily seemed like the best time to do so. A week beforehand, I made the appointment so they'd know it was coming (i.e., have the parts ready), and Monday morning dad (separately) and I drove out for my 8 AM appointment. It took a few minutes, and the girl helping me out was like, yeah, I need to check and make sure they can do this today... Uh, no seriously, there's a reason I made the appointment last weekend; I can't bring it back until, like, November if you can't fix it today. They all have iPads there and she texted the technicians and found out, yay, we're good to go, and it should be done around noon or 1 PM and I could just come back and pick it up. Well, why don't you just call me when it's done? That way, I'll know. I go outside so dad can take me home, and he's not there. I check my phone and there's a text from him, a minute earlier: Where are you? Oh, I think I know what happened... Did you go to the right Toyota dealership? ...Yeah, he did not. They now have a used car dealership down the road, west of the regular dealership; he ended up there. He realized his mistake before I sent my text, which is how he arrived pretty quickly after I sent it. So now we go home, and I await the call...and I'm waiting...and I'm waiting...and meanwhile mom is texting from work, is it done yet? NO. At 3 PM I call, and no, it's not done yet...the girl was like, oh, I meant to say 4 o'clock, not four hours (meanwhile, I'm the one who mentioned to *her* that I'd been told, by the previous person the last time I'd brought my car in, that it would take at least four hours), so she was like, I'll give you an additional discount off your final price since that's on me. Gee, thanks. Yeah, we got the call right before 5 o'clock that it was done, and of course dad and I were just thrilled to have to go get it in rush hour traffic, but it's done. Phew.
At home, I did do laundry and dishes and things, so it's not like it was a total waste of a day, but this is why I made sure to do my car on Monday and not a band day.
Dad also worked on a house bucket list item: He had somebody come out and give us an estimate on redoing our driveway. This also included adding on a section so we could have extra room to park. Dad was shocked that the estimate was so much lower than he expected--even with the addition. Better, mom gave the go-ahead, so dad called the guy and we should be on the waiting list. It's several weeks long, but the work should be done in a day or two, meaning by the end of the month, we'll likely have a new driveway. (I'm just glad this happened on a day where I'd gotten up early and showered and dressed. This...was not the case every day.)
Tuesday on: Yeah, aside from Monday, the rest of the week is kind of a blur, heh. Tuesday was a chill day since I had nothing going on. Wednesday, I ran a couple errands before heading off to band. I've been low on stamps, so I did that (I got the ice cream scratch-and-sniff ones!), and I was out of sheet protectors, which I use for my music, plus some other things. I was so low that I basically couldn't go to band before buying more. I also bought black ink since I was at the store. I definitely could've bought more stuff, but considering I'd spent close to $950 on my car, I figured only buying what was necessary was the best way to go. Yes, even though it's back-to-school time and lots of things are on sale. If I don't need it imminently, it can wait. It was kind of weird going to band from home, but it worked out. I think Thursday was the day I fixed the hems on several sets of pants; they were falling and looked bad, and they all got washed last weekend, so they're ready to be worn when I go back to work next week. I also cleaned my bathroom for the first time in ages. I literally don't remember the last time I did that, which is sad. Oh, and I also washed one of my winter sweaters, but it took it three days to dry and it smells a little funky, so I'm debating how soon I want to wash the other, bigger sweater. I definitely want to wash it soon, but I may need to wash out my tub first. And today, I cut my hair. It's been so long, my ends have been so bad; I could have done this months ago, to be honest. Yeah, last time I did a purposeful job in cutting my hair was my last real vacation in March 2017; I kind of hacked away at it last year in June, but that wasn't a true, official haircut...and here we are. So, yeah, I needed it.
Dad's big excitement is that he is doing something with the low corner of the yard. He had the idea to take wood from the old deck and create a platform back there. It's where water pools after heavy rains, so it's usually pretty swampy. He has a bunch of drainage rocks from the fence project, so he's been re-situating the rocks so he can pull them to go in the corner, and he already measured and cut the wood to create the platform, and one day he basically set it up like a nice seating area with our old glider and a bunch of flowerpots on it, and mom gave it the go-ahead, so now he's trying to level out the rocks and make it look good and clean the old wood, which was filthy, and what have you. At one point he had the glider facing the corner, and was sitting on it, and the wood was still in place (it's now stacked up against the fence while he deals with the rocks), and it looked like he was waiting in the audience for a performer to come out on this tiny stage. It was cute and pathetic at the same time.
Oh, so a couple funny dad moments this week:
Note that my dad plays guitar, and he and mom went to a friend's house for a picnic/barbecue today.
Dad: I have to remember to bring my ax on Saturday.
Me: ...You're going to play your guitar for everybody?
Dad: No, no, Mike's going to fix the ax I got from my dad. The handle's broken.
...He actually meant an ax, like the kind you swing and chop wood with. Dad, when you're a guitar player, you have to clarify things.
And then today, as we're driving back from the store and we pass this new hotel that's going up on Randall:
Dad (reading sign on building): "My Place"--is that the bar in the hotel?
Dad: That's right, I know you don't like me hanging out in bars.
Me: No, no, I don't want you to end up *behind* bars.
Dad: Ah, okay. *laughs*
(Scarily enough, I've likely been in a bar more recently that he has! This world has gone topsy-turvy.)
Monday: I learned, after my whole car incident in June, that I needed to put *more* money into it. Oh, goody. When I went to get my oil changed, I found out my front struts were cracked and would need replacement. It would also be a minimum 4-hour job, so something where I'd need to drop it off for a while, and definitely not after work. This week easily seemed like the best time to do so. A week beforehand, I made the appointment so they'd know it was coming (i.e., have the parts ready), and Monday morning dad (separately) and I drove out for my 8 AM appointment. It took a few minutes, and the girl helping me out was like, yeah, I need to check and make sure they can do this today... Uh, no seriously, there's a reason I made the appointment last weekend; I can't bring it back until, like, November if you can't fix it today. They all have iPads there and she texted the technicians and found out, yay, we're good to go, and it should be done around noon or 1 PM and I could just come back and pick it up. Well, why don't you just call me when it's done? That way, I'll know. I go outside so dad can take me home, and he's not there. I check my phone and there's a text from him, a minute earlier: Where are you? Oh, I think I know what happened... Did you go to the right Toyota dealership? ...Yeah, he did not. They now have a used car dealership down the road, west of the regular dealership; he ended up there. He realized his mistake before I sent my text, which is how he arrived pretty quickly after I sent it. So now we go home, and I await the call...and I'm waiting...and I'm waiting...and meanwhile mom is texting from work, is it done yet? NO. At 3 PM I call, and no, it's not done yet...the girl was like, oh, I meant to say 4 o'clock, not four hours (meanwhile, I'm the one who mentioned to *her* that I'd been told, by the previous person the last time I'd brought my car in, that it would take at least four hours), so she was like, I'll give you an additional discount off your final price since that's on me. Gee, thanks. Yeah, we got the call right before 5 o'clock that it was done, and of course dad and I were just thrilled to have to go get it in rush hour traffic, but it's done. Phew.
At home, I did do laundry and dishes and things, so it's not like it was a total waste of a day, but this is why I made sure to do my car on Monday and not a band day.
Dad also worked on a house bucket list item: He had somebody come out and give us an estimate on redoing our driveway. This also included adding on a section so we could have extra room to park. Dad was shocked that the estimate was so much lower than he expected--even with the addition. Better, mom gave the go-ahead, so dad called the guy and we should be on the waiting list. It's several weeks long, but the work should be done in a day or two, meaning by the end of the month, we'll likely have a new driveway. (I'm just glad this happened on a day where I'd gotten up early and showered and dressed. This...was not the case every day.)
Tuesday on: Yeah, aside from Monday, the rest of the week is kind of a blur, heh. Tuesday was a chill day since I had nothing going on. Wednesday, I ran a couple errands before heading off to band. I've been low on stamps, so I did that (I got the ice cream scratch-and-sniff ones!), and I was out of sheet protectors, which I use for my music, plus some other things. I was so low that I basically couldn't go to band before buying more. I also bought black ink since I was at the store. I definitely could've bought more stuff, but considering I'd spent close to $950 on my car, I figured only buying what was necessary was the best way to go. Yes, even though it's back-to-school time and lots of things are on sale. If I don't need it imminently, it can wait. It was kind of weird going to band from home, but it worked out. I think Thursday was the day I fixed the hems on several sets of pants; they were falling and looked bad, and they all got washed last weekend, so they're ready to be worn when I go back to work next week. I also cleaned my bathroom for the first time in ages. I literally don't remember the last time I did that, which is sad. Oh, and I also washed one of my winter sweaters, but it took it three days to dry and it smells a little funky, so I'm debating how soon I want to wash the other, bigger sweater. I definitely want to wash it soon, but I may need to wash out my tub first. And today, I cut my hair. It's been so long, my ends have been so bad; I could have done this months ago, to be honest. Yeah, last time I did a purposeful job in cutting my hair was my last real vacation in March 2017; I kind of hacked away at it last year in June, but that wasn't a true, official haircut...and here we are. So, yeah, I needed it.
Dad's big excitement is that he is doing something with the low corner of the yard. He had the idea to take wood from the old deck and create a platform back there. It's where water pools after heavy rains, so it's usually pretty swampy. He has a bunch of drainage rocks from the fence project, so he's been re-situating the rocks so he can pull them to go in the corner, and he already measured and cut the wood to create the platform, and one day he basically set it up like a nice seating area with our old glider and a bunch of flowerpots on it, and mom gave it the go-ahead, so now he's trying to level out the rocks and make it look good and clean the old wood, which was filthy, and what have you. At one point he had the glider facing the corner, and was sitting on it, and the wood was still in place (it's now stacked up against the fence while he deals with the rocks), and it looked like he was waiting in the audience for a performer to come out on this tiny stage. It was cute and pathetic at the same time.
Oh, so a couple funny dad moments this week:
Note that my dad plays guitar, and he and mom went to a friend's house for a picnic/barbecue today.
Dad: I have to remember to bring my ax on Saturday.
Me: ...You're going to play your guitar for everybody?
Dad: No, no, Mike's going to fix the ax I got from my dad. The handle's broken.
...He actually meant an ax, like the kind you swing and chop wood with. Dad, when you're a guitar player, you have to clarify things.
And then today, as we're driving back from the store and we pass this new hotel that's going up on Randall:
Dad (reading sign on building): "My Place"--is that the bar in the hotel?
Dad: That's right, I know you don't like me hanging out in bars.
Me: No, no, I don't want you to end up *behind* bars.
Dad: Ah, okay. *laughs*
(Scarily enough, I've likely been in a bar more recently that he has! This world has gone topsy-turvy.)