A long-due post
Ok, it has been a while since I posted last. I haven't even looked to see when I last posted (ok, just checked...September). So, in order of things...
I went to Jiffy Lube in December to get my oil changed. As we sat and sat and sat and sat, watching snowflakes come and go outside, I filled out a form for winning a FL vacation. Typical thing, I figured I wouldn't win. When they finally got the car done, we went back home and didn't think about it. A couple of days later, my car displayed the "low windshield wiper fluid" sign which rather surprised me because JL is usually good about topping fluids. So, we got to work and when I went to put in the fluid, I found the entire top assembly of the pipe leading to the wiper fluid tank OFF! So, we ran to Criswell with a WTF?! and told them what was going on. While we waited for it to get fixed, they asked us if we'd ever had an accident involving the right front panel. Hello, Ms. Deer? Sigh... So, apparently they didn't put it on right when they banged our panel a couple of years back...ah well. But it's fixed now.
In January, Dad turned 80. I'm not sure if it was my youngest or oldest sister, but one of them had the idea of having everyone together at Christmas so we could have a big party for him with the entire family. Well, actually, the party was 2 days after Christmas. Considering that some of us live on the other coast, we ended up actually having everyone show up the day after Christmas, though most of us were actually there by Christmas. Obviously, we picked the best day to come down cause we didn't have any trouble getting down whereas my next-to-oldest sister had to sit in the traffic from hell in 3D to get down the day before we did.
Things kept jumping from being tense to being completely relaxed for those of us staying at my Dad's place. They kept pissing me off and I tried not to take it personally, but I'm sick of being the "you have to take it" one. The "stop whining about past problems" one. They're the ones who've made my life miserable several times. I really want to tell them off, but sometimes I can see that it's not good to dwell. So, for the most part, I kept quiet. However, my next-to-oldest sister has the attitude that she owns the place and fuck that anyone should want the bathroom when she decides she wants it. Including asking me several times how long it would take g_shadowslayer to go to the bathroom. Yo, sis! Chill!!
However, the dinner was very nice, even though our waiter was less than such a fancy place should had. It's really a shame when you don't get the level of service for the amount you're paying. My youngest sister had a brilliant idea for Dad's present - a photoshopped scrapbook with notes from us. It was really well done.
We got snowed in on Christmas and the day after. The coastal storm that hit NYC and Boston hit Williamsburg first. So, had a very white Christmas. Nice. So, when we were about to go home, we had planned to leave much earlier than we actually did. Not knowing how the snow had affected our area, we decided to stop in Fredericksburg and leave from there for home the day after. We weren't in any hurry. So, the next day we drove around my alma mater - Mary Washington College now University. Mein gott! It's 100% larger than it was. I barely recognized the place, though we did eventually find my dorm building. It has its own hospital, for heaven's sake! It's a monster place now.
Back in Williamsburg, I got reintroduced to my sister's kids who are LARP'ing, cosplaying con Geeks!!!! Yay! I'm so proud! And manga fans to boot! The legacy continues...
I won a vacation, actually 2. But it was one of these, "we're going to give you a high-pressure sales talk to sell you something" thing in the Shenandoah valley. Of course, we were adamantly "we're not buying nothing". Yeah, double negatives get you every time. Suffice it to say that we now have a time-share in VA that's actually good for all over the world. Now, maybe I'll get as well-travelled as the rest of the family. They must have researched us or something cause we ended up with the one guy who's played D&D, is an SF fan, etc. etc. And the 1 1/2 hour tour ended up being 3 hours...So, no longer can I fill out the EZ tax form. I'll miss that. But, at least I have something that'll have equity to it.
So, that's about it. A very short version, really.
I went to Jiffy Lube in December to get my oil changed. As we sat and sat and sat and sat, watching snowflakes come and go outside, I filled out a form for winning a FL vacation. Typical thing, I figured I wouldn't win. When they finally got the car done, we went back home and didn't think about it. A couple of days later, my car displayed the "low windshield wiper fluid" sign which rather surprised me because JL is usually good about topping fluids. So, we got to work and when I went to put in the fluid, I found the entire top assembly of the pipe leading to the wiper fluid tank OFF! So, we ran to Criswell with a WTF?! and told them what was going on. While we waited for it to get fixed, they asked us if we'd ever had an accident involving the right front panel. Hello, Ms. Deer? Sigh... So, apparently they didn't put it on right when they banged our panel a couple of years back...ah well. But it's fixed now.
In January, Dad turned 80. I'm not sure if it was my youngest or oldest sister, but one of them had the idea of having everyone together at Christmas so we could have a big party for him with the entire family. Well, actually, the party was 2 days after Christmas. Considering that some of us live on the other coast, we ended up actually having everyone show up the day after Christmas, though most of us were actually there by Christmas. Obviously, we picked the best day to come down cause we didn't have any trouble getting down whereas my next-to-oldest sister had to sit in the traffic from hell in 3D to get down the day before we did.
Things kept jumping from being tense to being completely relaxed for those of us staying at my Dad's place. They kept pissing me off and I tried not to take it personally, but I'm sick of being the "you have to take it" one. The "stop whining about past problems" one. They're the ones who've made my life miserable several times. I really want to tell them off, but sometimes I can see that it's not good to dwell. So, for the most part, I kept quiet. However, my next-to-oldest sister has the attitude that she owns the place and fuck that anyone should want the bathroom when she decides she wants it. Including asking me several times how long it would take g_shadowslayer to go to the bathroom. Yo, sis! Chill!!
However, the dinner was very nice, even though our waiter was less than such a fancy place should had. It's really a shame when you don't get the level of service for the amount you're paying. My youngest sister had a brilliant idea for Dad's present - a photoshopped scrapbook with notes from us. It was really well done.
We got snowed in on Christmas and the day after. The coastal storm that hit NYC and Boston hit Williamsburg first. So, had a very white Christmas. Nice. So, when we were about to go home, we had planned to leave much earlier than we actually did. Not knowing how the snow had affected our area, we decided to stop in Fredericksburg and leave from there for home the day after. We weren't in any hurry. So, the next day we drove around my alma mater - Mary Washington College now University. Mein gott! It's 100% larger than it was. I barely recognized the place, though we did eventually find my dorm building. It has its own hospital, for heaven's sake! It's a monster place now.
Back in Williamsburg, I got reintroduced to my sister's kids who are LARP'ing, cosplaying con Geeks!!!! Yay! I'm so proud! And manga fans to boot! The legacy continues...
I won a vacation, actually 2. But it was one of these, "we're going to give you a high-pressure sales talk to sell you something" thing in the Shenandoah valley. Of course, we were adamantly "we're not buying nothing". Yeah, double negatives get you every time. Suffice it to say that we now have a time-share in VA that's actually good for all over the world. Now, maybe I'll get as well-travelled as the rest of the family. They must have researched us or something cause we ended up with the one guy who's played D&D, is an SF fan, etc. etc. And the 1 1/2 hour tour ended up being 3 hours...So, no longer can I fill out the EZ tax form. I'll miss that. But, at least I have something that'll have equity to it.
So, that's about it. A very short version, really.