(no subject)
Returned from my friends' annual long weekend in Michigan (near White Cloud, if you must know) in a friend's cottage on a lake. It's usually very nice, good to get away, spend time with friends and relax. Usually. Every so often though we have an off year where no one can get along and everyone gets on each others' nerves.
This year was one of those years. We were sniping at each other before we even got on the highway. Not good.
I say 'we' but really I mean 'they' because the safest, sanest course is just to keep your mouth shut and keep your thoughts to yourself. Eating a lot helps with this. Really.
It's impolite to talk with food in your mouth. That's the only explanation I can think of for how much I ate. Well, that and my the hostess' mom is a great cook who doesn't mind spoiling us with good food as long as we do the washing up.
So it was ok, got some sun, found a few caches, had a fire (with s'mores and salami), finished my book (good but confusing), and missed the tiny window we had for stargazing (there was about an hour of good seeing but it was warmer by the fire so I missed it).
JC (former roomie, now married and living out of state) and I stayed up too late talking when we got home so work was a bit of a trial on Tuesday. I had to drive as it was wet in the morning and the Damn Car was really misbehaving. I didn't have time to take it to the garage before catching my train to attend the monthly social/meetup at Dave & Buster's (they don't get a link because they didn't turn the A/C on in our free room. We should have rebelled and decamped to cooler areas.) There were at least ten new faces and we may have set a new attendance record! Beth came by to say 'hi' and gave some folks free carriage rides! Very nice. We also started planning our annual WindyCon party. This year's theme will be BSG and there are already a bunch of good ideas floating around.
Dropped the car off last night and walked home a couple miles in the drizzle. It wasn't bad actually, Elmhurst is a good walking town.
I realized today when I skated back to pick the car up, it's not so hot for roller blading. It has some pretty old and busted sidewalks and about half the curbs didn't have ramps. I discovered I can jump a little bit in my 'blades, if I have to. The hardest part was dealing with a couple very steep stretches (the 'down' side of railroad crossings), the braking system is good but there's only so much it can do. I need to practice on some hills, steeper than I'm used to but not 'Deathrace 3000' steep.
The Damn Car probably (the mechanic's word) has clogged fuel injectors. He put some engine cleaner in the gas and told me to fill up twice with Shell V-Power and that _might_ solve the problem. I hope so, the car's paid for and is still reliable so it's worth the money for new fuel injectors, provided nothing else goes wrong.
I started reading The Black Swan today and it's ...interesting. Not in the same way I thought it would be though. I haven't decided yet if I'm buying his ideas. Also it's very interesting reading a book that was not only written but apparently copy edited by someone who's first language was not English. There are some strange language choices that are a little distracting.
This weekend should be good, I'll be seeing Stardust, going to a one year old's first birthday party and meeting up with some local geocachers who are welcoming a cacher from Dorset to Chicago.
This year was one of those years. We were sniping at each other before we even got on the highway. Not good.
I say 'we' but really I mean 'they' because the safest, sanest course is just to keep your mouth shut and keep your thoughts to yourself. Eating a lot helps with this. Really.
It's impolite to talk with food in your mouth. That's the only explanation I can think of for how much I ate. Well, that and my the hostess' mom is a great cook who doesn't mind spoiling us with good food as long as we do the washing up.
So it was ok, got some sun, found a few caches, had a fire (with s'mores and salami), finished my book (good but confusing), and missed the tiny window we had for stargazing (there was about an hour of good seeing but it was warmer by the fire so I missed it).
JC (former roomie, now married and living out of state) and I stayed up too late talking when we got home so work was a bit of a trial on Tuesday. I had to drive as it was wet in the morning and the Damn Car was really misbehaving. I didn't have time to take it to the garage before catching my train to attend the monthly social/meetup at Dave & Buster's (they don't get a link because they didn't turn the A/C on in our free room. We should have rebelled and decamped to cooler areas.) There were at least ten new faces and we may have set a new attendance record! Beth came by to say 'hi' and gave some folks free carriage rides! Very nice. We also started planning our annual WindyCon party. This year's theme will be BSG and there are already a bunch of good ideas floating around.
Dropped the car off last night and walked home a couple miles in the drizzle. It wasn't bad actually, Elmhurst is a good walking town.
I realized today when I skated back to pick the car up, it's not so hot for roller blading. It has some pretty old and busted sidewalks and about half the curbs didn't have ramps. I discovered I can jump a little bit in my 'blades, if I have to. The hardest part was dealing with a couple very steep stretches (the 'down' side of railroad crossings), the braking system is good but there's only so much it can do. I need to practice on some hills, steeper than I'm used to but not 'Deathrace 3000' steep.
The Damn Car probably (the mechanic's word) has clogged fuel injectors. He put some engine cleaner in the gas and told me to fill up twice with Shell V-Power and that _might_ solve the problem. I hope so, the car's paid for and is still reliable so it's worth the money for new fuel injectors, provided nothing else goes wrong.
I started reading The Black Swan today and it's ...interesting. Not in the same way I thought it would be though. I haven't decided yet if I'm buying his ideas. Also it's very interesting reading a book that was not only written but apparently copy edited by someone who's first language was not English. There are some strange language choices that are a little distracting.
This weekend should be good, I'll be seeing Stardust, going to a one year old's first birthday party and meeting up with some local geocachers who are welcoming a cacher from Dorset to Chicago.