8 January 2001
Well, despite a lot of things that didn't go quite right, I had an awfully good weekend.
Saturday, Matt and I did a lot of shopping. We went first to Sam's Club, where we looked for the item I'd planned to get Kris for her birthday. They didn't have it. We then saw some software I thought would be fun, but they only had the PC version. Alas. So about the time my healing foot started to ache, we checked out with nothing more than a pack of kleenex. Not even an impulse buy! Astonishing, for a trip to Sam's Club. Though we did consider buying the DVD/VCR they had. But while I was sure Circuit City would allow us to exchange the DVD player my parents gave us for Christmas, I wasn't sure they'd just give us the money. So we left.
As we were looking for our car, we noticed a blue VW Beetle. They're stand-out little cars in any case, but we notice the blue ones especially, because that's what Kris drives. "That looks like Kris' car," Matt said. "It's even got a bike rack." As we got a little closer, "It's... got her license plates." I peered into the windows of the car. "It's got Braz and Kris sitting inside," I told him. We walked over and said hello. We all laughed over the coincidence, and they invited us to join them for dinner when our trek was completed.
After that, we went over to Circuit City to take care of the DVD player. The woman at the exchange counter was fast and efficient. She opened the box to make sure everything was in it, printed us out a credit receipt, and told us to give it to the salesman who helped us with our purchase. Then we walked over to look at the players.
The area was packed with people. Apparently this year was the year for everyone in the area to buy a DVD player. People were swarming all around the displays, comparing models and prices. ("Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout, baby! That right there!") And there were exactly two salesmen helping customers. The other three were standing by the register talking to each other.
Matt and I looked over the display briefly, but didn't see what we were looking for. I headed for the three talkers. To their credit, they shut up as soon as I approached, and one of them offered to help me. I explained what we were looking for. It turns out that they'd sold their floor model (that is, the very last one available) the previous evening. But he was happy to put one on order for us and take our store credit as the down payment. We won't have to pay the difference until we go in to pick it up. Of course, because we were using the exchange credit, the order is still listed as being for my parents, who bought the original. The salesman made a note to call us instead, but we figured we should tell my parents to expect the call, just in case.
After that, my feet were really killing me, so Matt and I stopped at Chik-fil-A to sit down for lunch, and after that to Barnes and Noble, where I could sit down at regular intervals. After browsing for a while and finding less than we expected, we left Barnes and Noble to go to Connecting Point to exchange Matt's scanner for a SCSI-to-Firewire cable.
Okay. If you were going to own a computer store, and for some reason you decided you were only going to be open for three hours on Saturday (and not at all on Sunday) - what three hours would you pick? I think I would pick 11 to 2, but I guess that's just me. Connecting Point was only open from 9 to 12. Since Matt and I didn't even leave Williamsburg until 12, we at least didn't feel bad for not going there first. So the scanner remains unexchanged.
After a fairly brief visit with my parents, we headed over to the Brandt's for dinner. Braz had conceived a desire for calzones. Kris had pulled out her cookbook, and discovered that the dough would take almost three hours to make. Braz, being hungrier than that, had a notion: Why not just use Pillsbury pizza dough?
It was a winner. It's good pizza dough, and it was fun to build our own small calzones. It was especially nice knowing that each of us could have whatever we wanted, without forcing anyone else to conform to our own peculiar tastes.
After dinner, we played Beyond Balderdash, which turned out to be the most fun I've had with a board game in about twenty years. It involves making up answers for obscure words or events, and then guessing which answers are right. With Matt and Braz in the mix, we got some fantastically funny answers. I want to play again soon!
Sunday, Matt and I were back at the Brandt's for lunch. Kris had wanted to go to the movies that day, and we decided to go shopping first, then meet the boys for dinner and the movie. With frequent rests for my aching feet and ankles (I wish it would hurry up and heal!) Kris and I went to Michael's (a craft store) to get supplies for my new crocheting projects, and then to the mall, where we barely avoided the dangers of the Bath and Body Works and stopped in at Fashion Bug so I could buy some pants for work.
The funniest thing about the trip was that Braz had his new cell phone with him, so he and Kris called each other about eight times - the first time before Kris and I were even entirely out of Williamsburg. For at least half of those calls, we were within a few blocks of each other! I found the whole thing to be riotously funny.
Eventually, we met back up for dinner, and then we went to see What Women Want. That turned out to be astonishingly mediocre. The pace was entirely too slow for the boys, and a bit slow even for Kris and I. And the ending was completely unsatisfactory. Too many intertwined threads were left hanging. It suffered from bad writing. There were some touching moments and some good lines - and the acting made the best of a bad script. But it could have been a lot better.
Now I'm at work, anxiously re-loading my Fed-Ex tracking page every few minutes, anticipating my PowerBook. It should be delivered today. Unfortunately, I discovered on Friday that the tracking webpage runs several hours behind what's actually happening. So right now, all I know is that my PowerBook has arrived in Virginia Beach, but if the schedule is anything like Friday's, it should actually already be in Hampton, being loaded on a delivery van. I hope. I've already decided - once it arrives, I'm taking the rest of the day off.
See you tomorrow!
(Oh, by the way: Happy Birthday, Kris!)
Word of the Day:
noop - the tip of the elbow (at least, according to the game Balderdash. Merriam-Webster doesn't have anything to say about it.)
Currently Reading:
- between books
Current Projects:
- anxiously awaiting the PowerBook for setup
- various crochet projects, including placemats, a purse, and an afghan, none of which have actually been started yet.