The Haul
So, now that birthday presents have finished filtering in, here's the inventory:
- The Lieutenant Commander found me some Andorian Glow-Ale, in a nice antique looking bottle. I haven't had the chance to try any before, so I am looking forward to sampling it.
- Noelle found me a hat, scarf and glove set in my favorite colors. Wore them back from the karaoke place to the hotel, and from the hotel back to the ship the next day. Got some odd looks from the customs people on my way through, but I'm not worried about it.
- Trish, like she used to way back ago before I joined the fleet, bought me two gifts; First a gag gift to be opened in front of everyone else, the second given to me later after the attention was off me. The gag gift was one of those scary Jesus candles, except instead of Jesus on the front, it was a very poor rendering of Saint Vidicon. This actually amused me a lot, and it will likely get left out on an end table in my quarters. The real gift was a flask, a nice one. Made of platinum and a couple different tints of gold, it was a circuit board design that actually appeared to be a working design. I'll have to play with it in the holodeck to see what its function is.
- Dizi's friend Toby sent a bottle of something that smells and tastes high proof, but the labeling was such that I didn't recognize the language or the origin. It should prove fun to find where this came from, especially since I know he spent nearly a decade wandering the beta quadrant years ago.
- Ma cross stitched me a pillow, with a picture of the Tardis and the serenity prayer on it. I'm torn over what to do with it, because she did a beautiful job on the Tardis, but I think the prayer she selected was intended to be commentary on my alcohol collection and drinking habits, given that it was one favored by Alcoholics Anonymous back in the 20th and 21st centuries.
- I have a dinner "date" with Marla Zhu. She cornered me in the mess after I got off duty from my shift at the end of leave, and I couldn't find a tactful way to plead out of it, but I'm pretty sure she wants it to be a date, even though she said it was for my birthday. She's apparently cooking me something, and I'm expected to show up at her quarters.
- Diz gave me another one of those I heart NY shirts she knows I hate so much. She knows I just recycle them into the replicator, but she gets a giggle over watching my reaction to it, and she made a point to give it to me at karaoke. That said, her real gift was making sure I had fun on my birthday, and giving me an excuse to get away from Ma before she really sent me down in the dumps.
- Sky talking to me again is the best gift she could give me, but after I'd admitted at breakfast after the cast party that I'd lost my sonic screwdriver, she came up with a new one for me. She got me the fourth doctor's version, though I don't think she knew enough to even know there were versions.