18 March 2002

Well, it was an eventful weekend. Well, not really, but there are lots of amusing stories to tell, which is just as good, from a journalling perspective.

Saturday morning, I got up bright and early - around 7:30 - and drove down to K.T. and Kevin's. Why? Because K.T. and I are among the most amazing Neopets geeks in the universe, that's why. Neopets was having a promotion at the children's store Limited Too, selling toys and keychains and other assorted branded merchandise, and also giving away cards with codes on them that would allow you to get special items at the neopets website. (Yes, like pretend items for use at the website, not real things.)

K.T. wanted one of the toys that matches her neopet. I was just along for the ride. (Yeah, right.)

Anyway, Friday night I had called the Limited Too store to find out when they opened. "Nine o'clock" I was told.

So this was our Saturday morning. I followed her down to the mechanic they use, the idea being that she would drop off her car for inspection, and then pick it up after we'd finished our shopping. When we got there, they told her that they don't do drop-offs for inspections - for an inspection, you had to get in your car and wait in a line of cars for the inspection.

We were both mildly stunned at this, but there was no point in arguing the matter. So we left her car there anyway and drove down to the mall. We got to the mall at about 9:15, and walked in to discover that most of the stores weren't open yet. So much for my bright idea of calling to find out when they opened.

We walked down to the other end of the mall (avoiding the mall-walkers, who were giving us dirty looks for strolling) so K.T. could make an appointment for Kevin to get a haircut, and then we strolled back and sat on a bench and talked for a while. The store finally opened at 10, and we beelined for the little Neopets display. K.T. snatched up the toy she wanted, and I looked around at the other stuff.

While we were looking at keychains, a man's arm reached past us for another toy. "My wife would kill me if I didn't get her one of these," he said with an adorably sheepish grin. K.T. and I talked with him for a little while about our astonishing geekiness, but we failed to exchange usernames. Alas.

We wound up each buying a notepad and a keychain in addition to her toy - all of it hideously overpriced, of course, but since I refuse to support the site by letting their sponsors send me junk e-mail, I don't particularly object to buying one or two silly little things.

(Actually, K.T. bought my stuff for me anyway - the store offered her a coupon if her purchase went over a certain amount, so she added my pile to hers in order to top it off. I owe her a dinner or something.)

After we left the mall, we went over to the Bed, Bath, and Beyond so K.T. could exchange some sheets they'd bought a few weeks ago that had ripped up the middle. While we were there, I got a little loopy and bought one of those jars filled with flavored vinegar and stuff... You know the things I'm talking about, I'm sure. This one was filled with lemon slices and cranberries and white wine vinegar, which I use to cook with pretty regularly, so I thought it would be both decorative and useful - a favorite combination. I did buy it expecting to take some grief for it from Matt, though.

After that, I dropped K.T. off back by her car so she could get into the "inspection" line, and I went home. Once I got home, I called her on her cell phone, knowing that she was bored out of her mind. We talked until her cell phone battery died. Then I paid some bills, and took a nap for several hours.

A little while after I woke up, Matt came home. (He'd gotten up when I did, only he went to an ultimate frisbee tournament instead of to the mall.) He was sunburnt, sweaty, and tired, but his team had performed adequately so he was in a good mood. He took a shower, checked his e-mail, and then went for a nap of his own.

I was talking with K.T. online when the doorbell rang. It turned out to be Colleen, Carl, and Richard, who'd been up in Williamsburg for a re-enactment event and wanted to go to dinner. Specifically, Colleen wanted to go to the English pub on the other side of town.

We had no objections, so we piled into our cars and toodled over. Wow, was that an adventure. Matt and I walked in the door, and an older woman wearing a t-shirt and no bra stomped over to us. "How many?"

"Five," we told her.

"Five?"

"Five, please."

"Five? And a child? You're the people who called in?"

"No. Just five adults."

She stomped off again, muttering, "Five..." under her breath, as if the number were an affront to decency.

The proprietor solved the problem for her, pushing two tables together. Shortly after we were seated, the Clan showed up, and the surly woman took our drink orders.

Carl looked over the menu. When she came back with the drinks, he asked politely, "Excuse me, but can you tell me what a 'bisto sauce' is?"

She glared at him. "It's English." And she stomped away again.

It turned out that she was actually the cook, not the wait staff - thank goodness - but that they had no wait staff that evening, leaving her and the proprietor to keep everyone served. But eventually we got food.

At one point, I made a plea for a topic of conversation slightly more intellectual than the current discussion of the bad special effect on the movie playing on the television. Richard shrugged and said, "Leonardo DaVinci."

Carl mis-heard him as saying "Leonardo DiCapprio" and twitted him on having actually moved down the scale of intelligence. After we mocked him for his mistake, he said something about the difference between a pretty young actor and a crusty old inventor, which led Richard to the line, "DaVinci wasn't always old!... Or dead!"

Yup, it was one of those meals.

Wow. I actually played every single one of my characters this weekend. Well, all the active ones, anyway - I didn't dig out Brighteyes, S'ayad'i, or Cha'trez. But I did play Zoya, Tarri, the Scum, and Kevil, all in the space of three nights.

I have this problem with Kevil and the Scum... When I'm playing the Scum, I have to make a conscious effort to keep them from talking like Kevil. But then, playing Kevil last night, I kept forgetting and using contractions. I'm not sure if that's because my mind was elsewhere, or if it's because they're all male, or what. But I've got to watch that. I definitely don't need Kevil to be confused with the Scum... There are those who think he's dubious enough a character as it is.

--Liz