Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Second Wave

I'm being invaded again.

This time it's just my mom and dad (Jo and her spawn are staying home)

And there's not much need to entertain them. We'll hang out. We'll eat. We'll talk. We'll read our respective books.

It'll be difficult. But it'll be nice to see them. And at least this time I don't have to share the futon with a kid who's all knees and elbows...

I may not get my home to myself - but at least I'll have the futon all to my own.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Braille Parking

I get more flat tires than anyone I know.

And for someone who only drives (at most) 3,000 miles a year, that's quite a feat.

And I can never blame them on potholes or road rubbish. It's always my own fault. I'm not a bad driver - really I'm not.

In fact, my flats rarely occur when I'm actually driving the car. More often, I come back to where I've parked the thing and find the tire flat (and it's always the same tire)

My flats are never from a nail in the tread or a dented rim or any of the usual suspects. And I can never just get it patched or refilled. I always - ALWAYS - end up buying a new tire.

Because I rip the shit out of the sidewall.

Every time.

And I know how this happens. I parallel park by feel.

How close am I to the car in front of me?
*bump*
There it is!

How close am I to the car behind me?
*bump*
There it is!

How close am I to the curb?
*rubbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb*
Yep! There it is!

It's really a crime. Today's tire only had 6,000 miles on it.

So now it's time to play musical tires again: figure out which two are best and put them on the front...

I still have a leftover tire from the last time I did this and bought two new tires so I'll have that remounted - but now I need to buy a trunk organizer b/c that tire kept my trunk in pretty good order...

Oh well!

Happy Equinox, all!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

King Rebate

Every once in a while, I open my mailbox and find a check or a postcard redeemable for cash.

Since I lack follow-through and almost always fail to mail in the mail-in-rebates for "sale" items I buy, 99 times out of 100 these rebates can be traced back to my dad.

He is the king of the mail-in-rebate. He's able to recoup an awful lot of money this way.

As I said, every so often I find these rebates in MY mailbox - usually because my dad has exceeded the number of rebates he can have delivered to *his* household.

When I collected my mail this morning (I'm bad about collecting it daily) I found not one but TWO rebates - and not the usual piddly $2 or $3 rebates. There was a postcard from Menards for $33 and a check from Budweiser for $15.

The Menards cards are pretty common. But a check from Budweiser? What was that about?

So I called him to find out.

E3: Hi Daddy
Dad: Hi, E3. What's up?
E3: Why am I getting a check for $15 from Budweiser?
Dad: Woooeeeeee!!! You won't believe this deal! I went to the store and they had a deal where if you buy two steaks and a 12-pack of Bud you get $15 back. Steaks were $7.50 each so essentially the steaks were free and you know I'll drink the beer eventually.
E3: But why did you mail it here?
Dad: Well. I bought four! I sent rebates to myself, you, David, and Jo.
E3: Um... So... You bought eight steaks and four cases of beer??
Dad: Yep! Helluva deal!
E3: And you weren't even having a party?

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Paranoia

So my neighbor just called me.

I rarely get calls on my cell phone while I'm at work. I don't get good reception in here and most people email me if they want to get ahold of me.

Seeing that it was my neighbor was sort of like getting that 1am phone call: This can't be good!

As I'm fumbling with the "OK" button I'm getting flashes of my apartment on fire or my cat having leapt through the window screen or a dishwasher mishap on the third floor resulting in flooding through the building.

But no.

The managment company is cleaning the storage area today and anything not inside storage closets will be disposed of. My neighbor's closet is packed to busting. Mine has plenty of space and she just wanted to stash a couple chairs in there for a while and needed the combination to my lock.

Whooo!

Silly me.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

First Fight

Got into my first fight with B on Sunday night.

It was stoopid - as all fights are - and really just amounted to a breakdown in communication.

But it was good. A few things got cleared up and I got to see his fighting style.

It's different from mine.

But that's to be expected.

I now have a better feel for what's in his head (he's not ever gonna be one of those guys who volunteers intimate information) and I can relax a bit about some things that were bothering me.

Of course, we kissed and made up. And then made up again.

:D

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Analysis

So, I've given this a lot of thought. I've pondered it. I've weighed it. I've looked at from every angle imaginable.

And I've come to the conclusion that I over-analyze stuff.

I've also realized something very simple: Men do NOT do this.

Men do not analyze and re-analyze and over-analyze things.

They don't worry about what they're going to say to us and how we might interpret (or mis-interpret) it.

They don't run practice scripts past their friends before sending mundane emails.

They don't re-read our texts and try to find the hidden meaning in "I'll let you know"

Because to a man "I'll let you know" means, simply "I'll let you know"

Go figure.