2-28-10 Sunday (The Hooker)

Insurance update: We got the policy in the mail for Victoria insurance that wanted to charge us for the damages on the RV.  We already cancelled and went back to Progressive but Jim spotted an exclusion on the policy.  The awning.  Can you imagine?  We need that like you need beauty creams.  Good thing we didn’t go with them.  Even though the quote is a little lower for Erie insurance, we’re gonna stay with Progressive.  They’ve treated us right thus far.  I just hate to give “You Have No Business Being In The Insurance Business Or Any Kind Of Business That May Require Customer Service” or X for short, the business.  I can’t believe she didn’t mention exclusions when signing us up.  We have to read about this stuff or catch it ourselves?  Shouldn’t the insurance agent compare the policies for us?  I hate her.

Jodi is on her way here from NY.  I think it’s about a 10 hour drive.  Luckily we’ll have all day tomorrow to hang out.

I keep forgetting to tell an old people story.  Allow me to preface this story with an apology.  I don’t mean to speak about “them” like they’re aliens or anything.  I know I’ll be “one of them” some day.  For the purpose of this story, I have to group them together:

Perhaps I’ve grown accustomed to seeing the elderly in the 20 years or so that I’ve lived in Florida.  They’re every where.   A couple of weeks ago I updated my status on Facebook about going grocery shopping.  Friend Glenn warned “this time of day, you are going to have to deal with the "assisted living" people with wheelchairs, canes and general confusions........ just saying”.  I thought about it.  Ummmm, there’s no old people here.  I don’t remember seeing them decrepitly driving on the roads or barely walking in the stores.   Strange.  Later, I asked Jim.  He was stunned to realize it too.  Later I called Tim, told him the story and of course his reply is, “well no, because they all go to Florida.”

That’s the story.  It’s just strange to me.  Maybe it’s stranger to you that I felt the need to share the story?  Anyways, the other night when Jim and I went to Red Robin, Jim spotted a few old people at a table.  “Look, an old people sighting!”  I documented it.

Jim worked on the hot tub wiring while I made salads and breakfast stuff for the week.  And then… it was only after the fact that I was told it’s not a nice thing to create a camera flash while someone is working with electric.  Oooops – sorry.

  

Jodi arrived in her cool new Ford Escape (It freakin’ parks itself).  We sat around the living room watching the Olympic Hockey game.  Late afternoon turned into evening and it was dinner time.  We went into Uptown Charlotte to 1900.  (We’ve been to a different location earlier in the month).  Jim and I shared a HUGE over priced, over proportioned fajita for two.  It wasn’t all that great.  Jodi had Red Snapper that she says was good but a little dry.

Above/Below: There’s a funny story Jodi shared about Trident Tropical Twist gum.  Several times while chewing it, others around her say they smell cat piss.  She told several stories about that.  I Googled it and several people have similar stories on the Facebook fan club page!

The evenings finale was at Crave, The Dessert Bar.  Jodi loved it.   The food, the ambiance and the cool music…  

Above: Garret’s selection:

The Victorian
Three moist layers of rich chocolate cake stuffed with a dark chocolate mousse and
envelope with decadent chocolate butter cream icing

Above: Jodi’s selection

The American
Classic apple pie with a Woodford Reserve® bourbon caramel sauce and Apple jack®
brandy; served with vanilla bean ice cream

Above: Jims’ selection

Caramel Pecan Turtle
Pecan brownie and caramel fudge swirl cheesecake,
topped with caramel turtle pecans and a Chocolate glaze

Let me tell you about the hookahs.  Not hookers.  Crave’s website says “As a destination for meeting and socializing, Crave also offers several different fruit flavors of hookah in the lounge section.”  The hookah is so weird.  Watching people sit around a table and share it is strange.  I think it’s water vapor. 

No, she didn’t do any of it.  Jim and I were scared to buy it because we stopped smoking a year ago and thought this might be a little too close to smoking for us.  Maybe another time.

Once at home, Jim headed for bed.  Some of us had to get up early for work. 

Jodi wants our dog, but Dasher isn’t available.

11-24-08 Monday (Curse of the Mummy)

Earlier this week, I had decided it was time to post the story of how this RV adventure came to be. I finished it this morning. For those of you who want to know the story, click here.


The RV service guys came this morning. Our oven needs a part which is no longer made anymore. They suggest buying a new one. I priced it out to be $600 with install. Once we have the part number, we'll search the Internet for it; I'm sure someone has it. Our extended service contract has a $500 deductible so we'd like to be able to just replace the part. We'll see.


We stopped at a plumbing supply store for the shower faucet rebuild kit we need. After Jim installs it, we'll see if that takes care of the nasty drip, otherwise its back to replacing all the guts.


We managed to salvage the day by going to "The Museum of Idaho". Here we viewed "World of the Pharaohs", presented by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Here's my review: It was $6.00 per adult, so what could I expect? I would have preferred the type of tour that used headphones to walk you through the exhibits. This tour was read, read, read. 2 museum employees were holding a conversation about food and were heard louder than I would have liked. I almost asked them to find a lounge, but refrained. A few times children ran through. Why were children at a museum featuring Egyptian artifacts, I'll never know. A few spelling errors here and there on some display boards but all in all the exhibits were nicely presented by dynasties. The museum also offered other permanent exhibits such as: "Hot Type, Hard Times, 1900-1910" featuring printing press history. "Race for Atomic Power" about EBR1 (mentioned in yesterday's entry) and nuclear power and its history. I didn't take any pictures because 1- I forgot my camera, which is rare 2- No cameras were permitted. Click here to see some photos from the museum's website. The exhibits look the same but I don't think the museum itself is.


The faucet project didn't work out. It still leaks. Luckily, the parts were under $5. I'm not sure what our next route will be. Perhaps the $45.00 part?

We're still on the hunt for the oven part. We got the part number from the repair guy but corporate Magic Chef says the number doesn't work. Jim printed the picture of what we found online so we can confirm with the RV place. If it's sold in an assembly, we found plenty of them online for $95.00.

If we don't get the oven fixed soon, we'll need to eat out on Thanksgiving. Worse things could happen, I know, but I was kinda looking forward to the little turkey breast. We've heard numerous ads for a Thanksgiving buffet at a local hotel. Turkey, ham, prime rib, etc. Sounds good, I just wonder if an all-you-can-eat buffet for Thanksgiving would be for us? If it's too cheap then I'll know they're serving crap quality. Another tell tale sign is if the turkey looks like round slices. Round slices are OK for lunch meat but nothing more. Well, we might have to make a reservation somewhere for our backup plan. We bought a pork tenderloin for one of this weeks meals. Looks like that will have to go into the freezer as well.

6-1-10 Tuesday (The Wait or Weight)

Unfortunately Jim had to work so Mike, Dave and I did a little shopping.  Our first stop was to Ikea.  Mike & Dave had never been to one so this was a unique experience for them.  We were hungry so prior to any shopping, we ate at the on-site restaurant. 

Up next?  Concord Mills Mall.  We walked around, shopped a little.  Browsed.  We even snacked.  I had a child-size Gelato.  It was tasty.

We made it home to meet Jim and then all decided to have Mexican this evening.  Off to the 1900 Mexican Restaurant we went.  Jim and I have taken Jodi here previously.  In fact, we’ve figured out we’ve been there about 3 times.  Here’s what I ate:

 

This was amazingly tasty.  I was extremely happy with my choice. 

For dessert we went to Crave.  I’ve mentioned Crave several times.  We love the dessert and we love the atmosphere.  Jim and I split a peach cobbler while Mike and Dave split a banana fosters cheesecake.  We all enjoyed our desserts but the wait time was horrible.  It took so long – almost an hour – from the time we ordered till the time we got the desserts.  We were told our cobbler takes a long time to bake.  Well, you know what, warn us.  Besides the last time we were there, Jodi got an apple pie dessert and it didn’t take that long.  Poor Jim, we were ready to just settle up on drinks and walk out because it had gotten late.  Jim didn’t get to bed until late.

Here’s a slide show:

 

Here’s how I did for the day:  On the Gelato, I calculated as best I could.  I tried to use the companies information combined with what I could find on the internet.  I found the Ikea Buffalo Wrap on a website which didn’t belong to Ikea so I hope it was right.  Once again, another company with no nutritional values.  That cobbler dessert I had was amazingly high in points.  I should have expected that and maybe only had a quarter of it or none at all.  It’s not a real big deal though.  I only went over a half a point for the day.  I think that’s pretty damned good.

 

 

A fire at that Fire Dept?  Lunch in an empty town.  Cave exploration – breathtaking.  We wait for and watch bats.  This was a great post.  Check it out here.

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9-18-10 Saturday and 9-19-10 Sunday

I worked on Saturday.  Surprising, I know.  We did get to go over to Carl and Tim’s for dinner.  It was good and I actually enjoy the peacefulness of their trailer park.  It’s well treed and for the most part quiet other than the banjos.  The weather has been perfect so sitting out on the broken concrete slab patio is nice.  Jim and I sat in the trailer while they prepared dinner.  They adjusted quickly to the itty bitty tight space very well.  We drank wine.  We socialized.  We ate dinner outside.  We had a great time.  I forgot my damn photo so I wasn’t able to document this historic event!

Sunday we decided to go to Ikea for breakfast and then we’d shop.  We met there at 9:30 but they didn’t open till 10:30.  None of us wanted to wait so we went to Golden Corral up the road.  I must say, they do offer a lot for breakfast.

After breakfast we shopped at various places.  Carl and Tim were looking for recliners.

Above: Big Lots.  It was humorous to see these peopel stuffing a tree into their truck.

We returned to Ikea for Carl & Tim’s virgin shopping trip.  All of the photos below are from our shopping trip:

For dinner we went to 1900 for Mexican.  Tim didn’t much care for his food but we enjoyed each other’s company.  I think.

Above: Tim enjoys the drink special.  Sunrise.

2-7-10 Sunday (Empty Mexican Food)

For a Sunday, it’s odd that we made it to the gym.  It was empty there and we worked out hard.  Chest, back, core and stair master.  I did better this time on the stair master.  I only had to pause once!  Yay for me.   I’m hoping for some good boobilage pain in the next day or so.  You know - no pain, no gain?

We met up with Doug and Bill.  They drove us around various neighborhoods around town.  It was too early for dinner so we all strolled around the South Park mall.  After some shopping, we used a restaurant.com certificate at 1900 Mexican Grill & Restaurant.  We all enjoyed our food and will be back in the future.  Maybe because it was Superbowl Sunday but the place was dead.  We may have been the only ones there at the start of the evening.

  Above: Doug at a mall kiosk surrounded by Israeli women who want to make a sale.

Above: At the restaurant.  Bottom left – clockwise.  Jim, Garret, Bill and Doug.

 

The pets at Doug and Bill’s house.  Above: Moe.  Below: Chloe.

  

Once we called it a night, we came home and I started tomorrow night’s dinner.  I’m making a new crockpot recipe “Mexican Beef Stew”.  I like the ingredients so I’m hoping for the best.  I’ll let you know tomorrow if I think it’s a keeper and then I’ll post the recipe.  One step was to coat the stew meat with flour and brown.  This step didn’t thrill me as I hate to cook as a step of cooking… know what I mean?  Anyway, I got that part done, chopped the onion, combined the other ingredients and into the refrigerator it all went.  Tomorrow morning I’ll get the crock onto the heating element and hope for some magic.  I may serve it on a bed of brown rice.  We’ll see.

With City Walks walking tour cards in hand, we followed self-guiding tours of The Farmer’s Market, Civic Center, etc.  My feet hurt just thinking about it.  One of my favorite photos came from this day – The Painted Ladies.  I snapped so many funny photos on this day as well.  Click on the photo to the left to see for yourself.

10-15-12 Monday (Weekend Alcohol Supporters)

After such an exciting Friday night art post, it’s difficult to top it.  I’m not even gonna try.  With the modern technology of scissors and tape, I put together this photo:

OK, so no scissors and no tape.  More like photofunia.com.  That’s my secret.  Now you know and I’m going to have to kill you.  Please bring your face closer to the screen.

Where was I?  Oh yes, Saturday.  My back was hurting so we decided to skip our trip to Augusta.  I Googled Sciatica stretches and found an online video with some exercises.  I did them and the pain was GONE!  We decided to forgo Augusta anyway.  OK, the shooting pic above distracting and highly annoying.  I’m debating on deleting it but as I type the screen moves up and hides it so it gets about 5% less annoying every 30 seconds or so.  Ummmmm, so back to the stretching.  Here’s the website video I went to just in case you really really want to know. 

For our lunch we went to Mimi’s.  Yum.  Bloody Mary.  Yum.  We did some shopping including a waltz through the local home show.  It wasn’t nearly as large as our usual home show but admission was free so why not?  We did some shopping at Walmart.  Later at dinner time we went to 1900 Mexican Grill and then onto the cheap seats movie theater for “The Dark Knight Rises”.  

The theater was pretty full so we sat in the 3rd row which I hate. The guy behind us got 2 phone calls during the movie, he whispered and said 1 too many words. I made sure to keep looking behind me. What an f-ing idiot.  Sometime or another he and his clan of schmucks left the theater.  Gaggle of geese, herd of deer, clan of schmucks must be right.

Next movie theater rant… babies and toddlers.  Why in the world would you bring an infant to a movie theater?  Then… constantly I have to see you use your phone as a flashlight to check on the “darling sweet child” who is in a carrier on the floor.  I don’t care if you think you’re entitled to see a movie or eat out or whatever.  You had a child, you’re an adult, act like one.   If I wanted to be interrupted by you or your child I would have a) seen  a Disney movie or b) went to Chuck E Cheeses or maybe c) adopted a child.  And… while your child started to cry, you took the child outside you still annoyed the shit out of me with apologies as you squeezed past me with said screaming child and then I still have to contend with your annoying phone light when you squeeze past me yet again and sit back down.  Oh and on a final note, I really really don’t care if you think you somehow deserve to see a movie because you have a family, work so hard, have gray hair, or whatever else.  Rent the movie on Redbox and leave us movie-goers alone. Stay home.

Sunday morning I woke up with mild back pain.  I did that stretch video again and it was GONE! 

We picked up Beth and headed to Alton’s Kitchen for lunch.  We had a Groupon but of course.  The food was good, the Bloody Mary’s were yummy.  Jim had a Mimosa and said he could tell the Orange Juice was fresh squeezed.

On Monday it was back to work.  After work though a bunch of us met up at Fanz for drinks and grub to wish Ja-Nessa and Jason our very best on their move back to Florida.  Jim knew several of my coworkers plus he can strike up conversation with anyone.  We had a great time.  Oh and for those of you who were invited and didn’t show up, of course we talked shit about you so don’t ask.   

Yes, that means I drank Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  Thanks for keeping track.

6-23-14 Monday (New Car(s))

OK, just deal with the boring text.  There’s a lot of great photos in this post!

After our recent trip to Augusta, we unpacked, and settled in.  I decided to look at the Pep Boys receipt.  I was surprised.  They charged for 32 ounces of R134A Freon at 3.25 per ounce = $104.  I thought that seemed high from what I could remember from my automotive biz days.  I went online to Pep Boys and found a 12oz can for $15.  Doing the math… I would need 3 cans = $45 Freon.  $45 vs $104.  I called the store.  I spoke with the service manager.  I asked for a $59 refund.  He turned me down.  I called corporate.  I opened a case.  Someone was to call me in 48 hours.  I called back after 4 days and bitched up a storm.  I was told it was escalated to district manager.  The next day I got a call from the service manager who said he would just give me a refund since no one called me back.  I’m guessing he was told to call me once it escalated to the District Manager.  Be careful out there!  Damn crooks.

Our Mazda 6 lease is up at the end of the month.  The plan was to turn it in and just use our free/clear Jeep.  For trips to Augusta we’d use the Rav4 but those seats kill my back and Jim also feels uncomfortable in it.  We scratched the plan and decided to hunt for a new car.  Jim has been reading his various car magazines and narrowed it down to a new revamped Mazda 6 or a Hyundai Sonata.  Jim sent out various leads to several Mazda and Hyundai dealers via dealership websites.  He laid out the deal we wanted.  Some gave prices and others wanted to see the car.  We have a lease-turn-in inspection report, why do we need to run around down to make a deal?  Anyone who couldn’t accommodate us via emails was crossed off the list.

Getting discouraged, he decided that since we go to Augusta so often, we’d check that area as well.  He filled out an online form for Taylor Hyundai in Augusta and instantly received an out of office email (strange, I know) from Todd Torchia that directed us to David Nabel and Paul Schaefer in his absence.  Funny thing?  I’ve worked with all three of these guys in Florida!  It’s a small world!  The following weekend, the 14th, we were again in Augusta.  We went into Taylor Hyundai, got a great deal and drove away with a 2014 Hyundai Sonata. It’s a pretty blue-silver and seems to change color depending on the lighting or angle. The seats are comfy!  It connects to my phone and streams mp3’s or Pandora.  I love it.

It’s got a back up camera…

Also this week, we picked up the fender.  It looked awesome.  Jim installed it.

During the next week, Jim’s Grandmother, uhhhhh, Grandma, came for a visit.  I won’t reveal her age but she’s up there.  She drove from Fort Myers, FL to Atlanta to see Jim’s brother's family, then some other relatives in the area.  While vacuuming Grandma’s mini van, they discovered the passenger front carpet was wet.  Unsure if it was a water leak, a/c leak, or heater core leak, she made it over to Charlotte to see us. We discovered coolant leaking at the front of the van, under the radiator.  We brought it to the dealer and they diagnosed it as needing a heater core AND a radiator.  $1900.  To fix or not to fix?  After much deliberation, a new vehicle was sought.  Jim did the research.  Grandma is very very short and needed something she can see over and reach the pedals comfortably.  90% of the vehicles out there don’t make the cut for her.  They settled on a Honda CRV.  It’s a great fit for her.

Next trip for Grandma?  A high school class reunion in Pennsylvania.  No, really.  Grandma had some sort of cold and went to the doctor twice while here.  She decided to skip the reunion and just recover.  She’s staying with us longer.

In the meantime, on the weekend of the 21st, my uncle Joe and Joyce fly in from NY to help Joyce’s brother, in Charlotte, with some issues.  We had a full house but had a great time though.  On Monday it was my birthday so the 5 of us went out for Sunday brunch to pre-celebrate with mimosas and Bloody Mary’s.  There were major issues with our orders which resulted in a total visit time of 2 hours!  The manager comp'd all of our meals… we just paid for alcohol. Monday’s actual birthday dinner was at Olive Garden.  Funny, when we walked in, they were singing happy birthday at a table and someone commented on how they were going to tell the server it was my birthday.  When we were seated and the server came over for drink orders, I told him it was my birthday.  I just burst their bubble.  During the visit there, including mine, there were 6 Happy Birthday songs sang by staff at various tables.  I guess the OG is a popular birthday spot?

OK, now to catch you up on photos:

Above: My work wife, Jessica’s Mini Cooper.  I couldn’t stop laughing at the MINI’s HUGE speedometer.  Look at that thing!

Above: Walmart.  This place gives me so much material.

Above: Dasher buried his head during a recent trip.

Above/Below: While at a Mazda dealer, we were waiting for the salesman to work some numbers.  This was the keyboard on his desk.  There, he fixed it!

 

The end.