Boo Gas Prices...And the Resultant Excuses
I had him convinced. It's a mere $229 to fly to Denver to see the Twins vs Rockies. I even volunteered to take him to and from the airport. Would he come? Oh no, it'll cost $100 to drive to the airport. So I tried a flight out of Fargo. Only $25 more! Still too much to drive to Fargo.
Whatever. I'll enjoy watching the Twins play at Coors Field. Maybe I'll even bring a date (probably not though 'cause the rules would involve cheering only for the Twins). Plus, there's this great liquor store in Thornton where the beer manager promised to have Zywiec on hand for me. And let's not forget the Colorado Rockies Reusable Grocery Bag giveaway on Saturday night.
And I'm getting me another one of those nifty Aveos that gets 40 miles to the gallon. Seriously, I filled the tank in Burnsville, drove to Shakopee, back to Eden Prairie, to Edina and to the airport and the tank still read full. It's also a total novelty for me to drive one of those things and zip in and out of parking spaces.
My Phone Has Been Hijacked
Last week was employee appreciation week at work. This is generally a good time for free clothing. I scored a hoodie with my name on it - someone said the name part made them feel like they work at Jiffy Lube. I also got a very nice winter jacket with a removable fleece liner that's also very nice and wearable. And since winter will never end, I believe I could wear the whole jacket for the next few months.
Last night I went out and learned a couple things. One: Never, ever let people who can do bad things to your phone (by phone I mean the back end computer stuff) have reason to look up your phone number. Did you know that they can redirect every call to whomever they want? Or that they can make your callback name and number really embarrassing? Two: The bowling alley is a happening place with a lot of smoke and scary hippies. Who knew there were hippies in this town?
Internet Searches
My parents are fairly intelligent people. They understand the web and e-mail, but for whatever reason, internet searching seems beyond them. My dad will call me after spending serious time researching some topic or other and ask me to help him find the answer. Ten seconds later and I have 5 sites detailing what he's looking for. Then he asks what I searched. Ummm...wolf attacks in Minnesota? Not that difficult.
Yesterday, my mother asked me to look into hospice vs. skilled care for my grandmother because she'd spent a lot of time looking and was very confused about the financial aspects. Two minutes after clicking on the first site on my search and I could tell her that A: Skilled Care is not for my grandmother and B: Hospice has zero financial implications. Seriously the FAQ laid out the basic qualifications of hospice and the simplified implications. Instead of Googling "hospice", my mother was on the attorney general's website and somewhere in the chaos that is the Medicare website.
Is it really that difficult to process an internet search? Why make it so difficult on yourself? I don't get it.
Welcome to E's Place: A Likeable Blog
Today is supposed to be the last decent weather day for the foreseeable future so I drove into E Town to get all my shopping done. I didn't deviate from my list at all and still managed to spend over $350. Good thing I haven't yet looked at last month's credit card bill.
When I got home, I decided it was time to change the oil in my truck. Oil and wind do not mix. I think I got more oil on me, the driveway and the tires than I got in the oil pan. Seriously, you should have seen my face. I was covered. On a positive note, oil makes an excellent self-tanner. And the oil, she is changed.
Wanted: One Week of Above Freezing Temperatures
Monday it hit 68 degrees. Yesterday we had a blizzard. And the power went out. I blame the Twins loss on my inability to supervise their play and yell at their suckiness. Wind and snow should go away. Far, far away.
66 Degrees!
Ha. Finally a spring day. And since it's supposed to snow on Tuesday and Wednesday we embrace every last second of it. Yesterday was a bit cooler and windy so instead of taking Gracie for a walk I worked in the garden. My garden is massive. In addition to the main garden, there are also lots of mini-gardens which I have not yet touched - the front is still snow covered. Anyway, after 2 hours of raking, cutting and pulling the massive root systems of weeds, I'm about 1/3 done with the big garden. Next weekend, we buy herbicide. Lots and lots of herbicide.
I was a bit tight in the muscles this morning. So what great idea did I have? Oh yes, Gracie and I went for a 5 mile walk. Then I vacuumed and shampooed my carpets. I also did laundry, created a makeshift clothesline for my sheets (they smell excellent), made caramel rolls (from scratch), gave Gracie a bath, found out Gracie is not so big on water, applied her flea, tick, mosquito repellent stuff, made beef stroganoff, and took a bath. I hurt. A lot. I'm also sunburned in a strange pattern on my neck. Hooray for spring!
On a more sobering note, Sarah posted how much her weekend trip to the wedding cost. I won't do that because calculating the cost would make me cry (and I didn't even pay for airfare). Damn altitude and the resulting inability to get drunk when at sea level. Oh well, I had fun and what's a little money when you can relax and enjoy yourself?
O Snow How I've Missed You
So I have nothing amusing to share. It's snowing, it's cold and the sun decided not to shine today. Also, the damn Twins game is not on Extra Innings tonight. That's 3 days in a row where I've not seen a game on TV. Why do I pay you all that money if you can't show my games, DirecTV? You suck.
I'd really like it to warm up so I can give Gracie a bath (she won't go into any of the bathrooms in my house) and put on the flea, tick and mosquito stuff that arrived while I was gone. She also smells a bit like the kennel. Can spring please arrive soon?
I'm Tired and Wal*Mart Was Closed
I need a vacation. This weekend really took it out of me. I got back to my brother's after the wedding around 2. My phone rang at 9. It was some friends inviting me out to brunch. Happily, I was not hungover so all was good - except for the limited sleep. Is it Friday yet?
I Should Have Left at 5
I checked outside this morning at 3. It seemed we had a little bit of snow. So when my alarm rang, I got up and on the road in a hurry. Delightfully, 5 miles down the freeway, I ran into a roadblock. It seems the road was closed due to "winter weather conditions" to which I call bullshit because the east bound lane appeared to be open. So I kicked in the 4 wheel drive, pulled into the ditch and drove to the next exit to turn around and go back to my exit for the 40 mile "detour" around the closure.
This is the part where you drive really, really fast on icy roads and pray you don't end up in the ditch. Then I hit the fog. Does it never end?
I hate weather.
We've Regressed
Today is April 1st. It is supposed to be warming up. I took Gracie out this morning and noted it was a bit chilly - chillier even than yesterday when we topped out at 20. I came in and looked at the thermometer: -4. What the hell? It is not January.
In road related news, the freeway was indeed open airport-ward today. Going east, it was closed for about 200 miles. Again, not January. Boo weather.
