Heck Week
Not quite as bad as Hell Week, but still pretty darn trying!
It took me a whole weekend to recover!
Onward!
It started two Saturdays ago, February 21st, though that was mostly pleasant. I attended a LUGOLA meeting
in the wilds of Brea. Not many people showed up but we still had a good time.
Photos, taken with my new Canon camera, can be seen here.
After the meeting, I explored the environs and checked out some Toys'R'Uses I'd never been to before,
looking for deals or older Lego sets to flip on eBay. Didn't find much. I later went to the Lego Store
at the Ontario Mills Mall. Some nifty stuff on discount, but nothing I could pick up.
I took some photos of the Taj Mahal and the big Death Star playset thing Lego released before Christmas.
Said photos, taken with my cellphone unfortunately, are here.
Dinner was at Carl's Jr. and featured a chicken sammich and some onion rings.
I just don't enjoy their burgers anymore. And the fries taste nasty.
Afterwards, I took the long way home and got there without incidents.
Sunday the 22nd was Oscar Day, I was looking forward to going to Auntie selenesue to watch them.
I got all prepped and ready, got into the F(n)ord (St)Ranger, turned the key, and nothing happened.
(Insert long and heartfelt string of French cursing here)
There was power since the lights turned on, but the truck would not turn over, at all.
I had already used up my 4 free AAA calls for the membership year and towing would cost me $60.
I suspected this was somehow connected to the alternator that was replaced recently, so I called Pep Boys,
was pleasantly surprised that their service bays were open on Sundays, and called their towing service
to have the (St)Ranger taken there. Said towing service was $40 and would be added to the repair bill.
Hey, I saved $20 by not using AAA towing, W00T!
So the tow truck came, and I got a ride to Pep Boys. The guys said they could probably fix it today.
By all means, my good chap, get on with it! The starter motor was dead, the one I replaced in June of
last year. ARGH!!! They put a new starter motor in and it was dead too. So they had to order a new one.
So they couldn't fix it until Monday. Double argh!
I called a coworker, lined up a ride with him to work for Monday, then took the bus home.
That felt weird.
I got home and put stuff on eBay to help offset the financial damage these repairs were sure to cause.
I will note at this point that I was still sick, with a nasty cough and intermittent fever and chills.
Also, a toothache had manifested itself on Sunday Night.
This made Monday the 23rd particularly painful, especially since almost everything went wrong.
The important stuff did not go wrong though. My coworker did show up on time and we got to work speedily.
And Pep Boys tracked down the problem to the "positive cable", which goes from battery to starter.
This cable was damaged and overheating. It fried the starter motor. So the cable was replaced, along with
the starter motor, and I had them do an oil change while they were at it, since I never gave the truck one.
The (St)Ranger was ready at lunchtime and my coworker was nice enough to drop me off at Pep Boys.
I paid the scary bill ($380!) thanks to help from a friend and eBay auctions.
Man, I didn't need that, so close to rent-time too!
The rest of the day went by slowly and painfully, plagued with tech problems at work.
I went home and nearly went straight to bed, but I had to eat something, and put stuff on eBay.
So I did, stayed awake for a while, did a shot of NyQuil (NukeKill!), and crashed.
Tuesday the 24th, I is wiped! Can't get out of bed. Called work and left a message in a croaky voice.
I finally got some strength back and went in to work at noon.
I stayed late and got some work done, but cripes, I actually dozed off a couple of times!
Meanwhile, the deadline for renewing the tags on the (St)Ranger was getting closer: Friday the 27th.
I had used part of my tax refund to pay off all the tickets and I needed to make sure the DMV got the memo.
But I was so weak, and I was out of money because of the repairs.
Wednesday the 25th rolls around and I'm still wiped out. This time, the painkillers didn't kick in until
6am, so the toothache robbed me of much deserved sleep. I called in sick in the morning, and came in at 1pm.
My manager is understanding and he can see how messed-up I am from this thing.
I made a sidetrip to the DMV and ascertained everything was hunky-dory. All I needed was for some eBay
buyers to pay for their stuff, and I could renew my tags. Possibly by the next day.
Thursday the 26th and I was feeling better. The coughing had lessened, and I had no fevers.
I was only slightly late for work. At lunch, I went to the DMV and finally got my new tags.
FEB 2010 it says on my license plate now. Gawd, where does the time go?
I still need to get those personalized LOLKZIN plates. :D
Friday the 27th! Wooh! Friday! Feeling mo' better, didn't take NyQuil the night before, got to work on time,
voice was returning to normal. I could definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel.
And they finally got a cake for the February birthdays at work, so I had a slice of cake! OM NOM NOM!
Oh yeah, much better.
Saturday the 28th? Stayed in beeeeeeeeeeeed!!! Spent the day recuperating. Only went out to check the mail.
Talked to ijits on FM, watched a couple of MST3K DVDs (from Volume 16, new out from Shout Factory).
Sunday March 1st: recuperated some more, feeling much better. Actually went out to Trader Joe's to buy food.
Coughing seriously decreased, toothache just a faint ocassional dull throb.
Monday 2nd: Augh! Back to work! But hey, at least I'm cured. The coughing only surfaces due to acid reflex.
I'm still tired though. I go to bed earlier than usual. I should probably have done that all along.
Oh, I think the coworkers dig the Candy Cane Joe-Joe cookies I brought in, and one may even buy his own! :D
Joe-Joes are the Trader Joe's equivalent of Oreos. They're made from natural ingredients and come in several
flavors: chocolate, vanilla, peanut butter and candy cane, which is vanilla with minty bits added.
TJ's are overrun with candy cane Joe-Joes right now at 99 cents for a 1 pound box. Holy crap, cheap!!
Go buy some now! They're minty Oreos without all the nasty crap!
Tuesday 3rd: that was today! Urrrrrrrrrr, work on time. Post office trip at lunch to mail eBay stuff.
Trader Joe's trip to get some food for lunch. Gosh, they have tasty things.
Tech problems at work preventing timely completion of tasks, blargh.
Going home and sitting my butt down to type this, finally.
I'm sure I'm forgetting various things, but that's the way it is.
If I remember, I'll post about it.
I do have a bunch of photos waiting to be turned into Random posts though.
So watch for amusing and/or fail pics!
Ciao bambinos!