Not a bad weekend, but not the greatest either.
I Chose Wisely
What I really wanted to do was get up early Saturday morning, go for a bike ride, and then go to my haircut appointment after lunch. However, I didn’t wake up feeling up to the task and the gray skies weren’t exactly beckoning me to come outside, so I stayed inside instead. At least for a little while.
What I did manage to accomplish Saturday morning was to drop off some electronics/styrofoam recycling in Decatur, make a deposit at my bank, and make a stop at Home Depot for the “correct” tubes for the light fixture that was installed on Friday as well as a new light fixture that I will attempt to install myself. Unfortunately the new tubes didn’t solve the problem that I was seeing with the larger tubes, which means that I either have a faulty shop light (which may be the case since I can’t recall when I bought the damn thing), or that the electrician’s work was not entirely correct. It it’s the latter I will have to push to get him back out to fix it. Now that I have an outlet close to the fixture I will probably purchase a new shop light and see if that fixes the issue first. I might even check the polarity of the outlet and stick a multimeter into it to ensure that I am getting 120V to the outlet prior to calling the electrician back out again. I really thought that 2015 was the year I was going to convince myself to like my house again by hiring professionals to fix its problems, but I’m off to a bad start. And this was one of the repairs that I put into the “Easy” column.
On Saturday afternoon I had a choice to make, wash the car or mow the lawn. You probably know that I really don’t care to do either. After consulting the weekend weather forecast and seeing rain on Sunday (boy, were they ever right) I chose to fire up the lawnmower and take it for a spin. I give Briggs & Stratton a lot of credit as the mower’s engine cranked for a sixteenth consecutive year. From the looks of the mower’s front wheels it may be time to replace them however. I probably could have also washed the M6 that day as well, but after driving in rain all day yesterday the benefits of doing so would have been reduced.
Best Buy “Earns” An Extra $20
All I wanted to know was whether the open-box version of the small tv that I was considering buying for $20 more than the brand-new in-the-box version came with its remote control. Just as I was about to approach the Best Buy employee he was asked a question by another customer. I waited patiently as the other customer asked insanely naive questions about the 19″ LED tv she was considering, and then made multiple statements like “Does this model look fuzzier than this model?”. Finally, after five minutes of waiting and not seeing another employee, I decided that my time was worth more than $20 and purchased the in-the-box version of the television. Sometimes I have to just say “Fuck it” and move on.
As I get older and find myself with a little more “disposable” income I make these value judgements more often.
The only reason I was considering saving the $20 buy buying the previously-purchased-and-returned television was because that is what it will cost me to (properly) dispose two televisions — the non-functioning one I hauled back from Florida last week, a 13″ tube television that has not seen action since the days of parties — currently occupying space in the ITP Estate. If I can remove two televisions after purchasing one then I have made progress toward cleaning the house.
I installed the new television yesterday, it looks tiny in the cavity once occupied by the 32″ tube television, but it works. The television is hooked to a stereo receiver that also has a Roku 2 connected to it, so I am now once again able to stream music in my living room.
Memories Of Days Gone By
I met my boss, a former coworker, and a soon-to-be-former coworker for dinner last night at Barcelona Wine Bar in Inman(ish) Park last night. Like the old men three of us are we met at 5pm. We were meeting up because the soon-to-be-former coworker will be moving back to Miami at week’s end. We sat and ate a great meal consisting of multiple rounds of tapas and wine for two hours.
When I arrived home at 7:30pm my street was lined with cars. It reminded me of the olden days when I would throw parties and I felt a bit nostalgic. Apparently the shindig was directly across the street and I have no idea at what time it broke up because I was asleep long before that happened.
Back To Ponce City Market
Tonight I will be attending the Wine & Wireframes: Intro to UX Workshop at General Assembly. You may remember that General Assembly was where the interview with Charles Brewer that I attended was held last Thursday night. I’m looking forward to learning a little more about a computer software development expertise that I don’t currently possess.
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
Friday night Allan & I just grilled some steaks & ate out on the deck, Allan’s parents joined us for conversation about the house renovations, but no food, as they are good catholics & don’t eat meat on fridays during lent.
Saturday we went out to the Arabia Mtn Path trail, decided to park at Murphey Candler school (start of a few hashes over the past couple decades) instead of the Nature Center, as that parking lot was very muddy. Went all the way to the Monastery finally, it was a 29 mile trip with that start location. I’m way out of shape for that hilly path, Spring Tune Up could hurt if I don’t get some more riding in.
Went to a 60th birthday bash for a Parrothead friend Saturday night, it was a great party.
Sunday was a slight hangover day, so Felicia & I watched stupid shit on TV all day.
I thought the Pope okayed eating meat on Friday now, or is it still verboten during Lent? Catholicism never stuck with me…
I need to ride. I need to ride. I need to ride. I need to find time during dry weather too.
JoAnna & I (& Allan, but he doesn’t know it yet) might go ride in Roswell by the river tomorrow after work. If you want to join us. Its not that bad of a ride up 400 just 1 exit.
I’ll think about it since I don’t have German tomorrow. I still need to get the hitch receiver attached to the M6 so that I can transport a bike one of these days as well.
Some of the Lenten rules are eliminated once you turn “a certain age”, but I’m sure Mary and TJ still toe the line.
Saturday was spent in the orafice repairing a switch, then home to unload the pod, and disassemble the playset and load it on a trailer for friends Keith and Katies’ kids. I think it’s more than they can put back together and I’ll get a call, if only because some of it it freaking heavy.
Sunday Debbue’s M&D came to see the house. The odd thing is, they had only rudimantary directions and wandered around a lot. They finally made it to Luthersville and Debbie drove up and led them in. We will have to add a ramp for her dad to get his scooter in the house, but for now he’s impressed with the shop and outside.
This morning as I drove in, there was a car ahead of me on the “dead end” road out of the area. This road has a 90 degree turn near the end which he failed to notice/navigate, and I watch the cars lights bounce and start lighting up the woods! By the time I came by, he had already thrown it in reverse- I would have stopped, but I figure he was either drunk or stupid, and I really didn’t have time!
Georgia Bikes to the Capitol tomorrow!! C’mon Barb, all the cool kids will be there…
-FP
the boss is out of town this whole week, I don’t think I can pretend to be sick tomorrow. but it still could happen………..
Hack, hack…
Why do you say “Inman-ish”? It’s right in the direct center of Inman Park at the Highland/Elizabeth intersection.
I said “ish” because I wasn’t certain if that was still Inman Park or could be considered part of Old Fourth Ward, or there was some other neighborhood moniker that I’d never previously heard. I was covering my ass.