(Old, or maybe we mean Aulde) Happy Christmas MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
101

Busy me! The basement is ready for the attack of the spawn. I even have the fireplace match-ready! And I loaded some toys, etc, in to the plastic drawers before putting them in the trunk of my car. The kids’ car seats are back in my car also. And it’s not even 8AM! Oh, and I loaded the dishwasher with last night’s dirties.

I plan to leave in about an hour, brave whatever awaits me at WalMart, then drop off the drawers, pick up the kids, and come back home. From there, who knows? For now, I need a shower!

102

Morning all. As usual I got up at 6am when I’m not leaving the hotel until 9am at the earliest, stupid brain will not let me sleep in on a travel day. Flying to Charlotte and then home, hopefully arriving at my house by 7:30pm.

Cold here, right at freezing but the snow appears to be gone and no precipitation is in the offing, so except for filling my gas tank it should be a good trip (if the airline co-operates). Will try to keep folks up to date.

Yeas, hugs and good thoughts to everyone.

103

A bit of excitement this morning at God’s Waiting Room. A woman down the hall has apparently lost her grip. She has a caregiver who checks in on her regularly, and this morning the woman tried to escape. . .whatever was deviling her. First she was trying to get into other apartments, then tried to go down the stairs (she uses a walker). Luckily, the caregiver is a woman who is large enough to wrestle anybody into submission. I have a feeling she won’t be living here much longer.

104

I don’t think we’ve ever had ‘bad’ food at Denny’s. Maybe not hot enough sometimes, but not ‘bad’. Dad and I would stop at the one in Saugus when he was bringing me up from San Diego to Lancaster for Summer. (FWIW, the Norm’s I went to was on Lincoln at Colorado in Santa Monica.)

Oh, yasssss! My favourite cocktail. I rarely make shrimpengrits because of the carbs, but I don’t wrap the shrimp. I cook the shrimp in the bacon grease, and then add the bacon back in.

I’m still on vacation, but I logged on for an hour or so because a company didn’t send us their November a/r file until last Friday and I wanted to get it loaded before they send December month-end. I’m back on vacation now.

105

One of the worst breakfasts I ever had was at a Denny’s, but like most chain restaurants, it depends on the management and hired help at that franchise.

106

In the late-'80s, it seemed like I couldn’t go to an IHOP without seeing cockroaches.

107

One of the finest whiskeys I have ever tasted!

108

Even more horrifying is the thought of how many you aren’t seeing.

109

Started Typing: 12:32 PM ET
Clicked Reply: 3:53 PM ET

I spent way too much time today on a stupid fire at work, which wasn’t put out until 2pm. Not my program’s fault (it was a customer thing), but I had to drag my boss into it on his day off. Grrr.

Just 1 more day of work this year… *takes deep breath*

The food at Denny’s on Monday was quite good once it finally arrived – except the sliced bananas in the fruit cup, which looked fine but were crunchy and tasteless and seemed like they needed to be rehydrated or something. All of the hot food was tasty. I hadn’t been to a Denny’s in forever, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

It felt good to work out yesterday, but my trainer and I were the only ones there (in the large personal training space) the whole time: it was creepy AF! :joy: I meant to peek at the main gym floor on my way out and see how many folks were there, but forgot. At least I got a really good parking spot. I expect tomorrow and this weekend to also be quiet, but my trainer and I are both dreading the “new year’s resolution” rush expected to start next week.

My holiday gathering with my BFFs and their son (and his gf) had to be postponed when Wife BFF developed an infection that sent her to the ER: now we’re planning to getting together on Monday. I love the idea of starting the new year with them. Plus, they’re the only people I exchange gifts with and I want mine!! :grin: I’ve been low-key-stressed about Husband BFF’s gift for a couple of weeks now: it’s a signed copy of a book that came out in 1989, which he might already have (there’s less of a chance he has a signed one, but it isn’t totally out of the question). It will be good to just find out already. Heh.

OMG MY CREDIT CARD HAS BEEN COMPROMISED AGAIN! :face_with_symbols_over_mouth: (This also happened in September!!) I just got a call from my credit union’s fraud protection office, asking about an attempted charge they denied: I looked at my account online, and there is nearly $1000 of unauthorized charges from yesterday! The compromise must have happened in MD on Monday, either at Denny’s or the Royal Farms convenience store I stopped at. At least all of the bad charges are to the same place – a deferred payment service I’ve never used – which makes them easier to identify and will hopefully help the case/investigation. But now I have no credit card for the next week, while I wait for a new one to come in the mail. I switched PayPal, iTunes, and Amazon to use my debit card, and that covers 95% of my recurring payments. I just need to talk to the people at the gym before Tuesday’s upcoming charge; I’ll do so in person tomorrow. I need to heartily thank – again – whichever Mumper mentioned three months ago that they use PayPal for as much as possible: it’s sooooo much easier to change that one payment method vs all of the individual stuff I had before!!

Aaaand the dog just pooped in the living room. Quite a bit. Despite repeated trips outside (in the rain). At least she stayed on the waterproof/washable pads, but now I have to clean up and do some laundry. And light a scented candle.

This day is turning out to be way more annoying than necessary… :frowning: I see comfort food and cookies in my near future.

Oh myyyyyy! That sounds wonderful!

Ugh…feel better soon!!

About a year ago I went to hear jazz at a place in DC, seated up front but off to one side, and at one point a very large roach appeared on the stage curtain in front of my table. I’m not afraid of them, but all I could think about for the rest of the show was how many more there must be…and where were they?! :flushed:

110

Good news: I have a new, OEM gas cap for my 2002 YZF-R1.
Bad news: My original (2002) key won’t go into the new lock.

I went to a local locksmith, but they said they couldn’t do anything because of the different patterns. A guy there directed me to a motorcycle shop (Cycle Therapy) that is supposed to work wonders. I went there, but the guy’s taking the week off. I’ll try again next week, but I think I’m going to be stuck having to use two keys. At least I’ll have an OEM Yamaha part instead of the Chinese knock-off.

Got my Christmas bonus deposited, refuelled, and got my oil changed in the Prius.

UPS just dropped off a box, which I assume to be a part for the 1994 XJ600 Seca II. I’ll bring it in after I eat my cheeseburger sandwich.

111

Yep. OEM luggage rack and bolt set (with the original instructions, yet!). Weirdly, the bolt heads are SAE. Ran into that on another bolt, but I don’t remember which one. The bolts do not thread easily. I wonder if the threads are rusty, or if the thieves messed them up when they stole the grab handles and original luggage rack. I’ve ordered a tap-and-die set.

112

Hey, y’all. Been out of town, and I hate trying to check in on a phone. I’m back home after the yearly trip to Maine to visit the folks for x-mas. 7 Hours that way, 8 this way. 8 hours is a long drive, 'specially when it’s raining just below keep the wipers on intermittent low.

I hate to see my folks getting old. They watch Wheel of fortune. My Dad used to be taller than me, no longer. But they get plenty of exercise, my dad goes for a 2-ish hour walk daily, mom does several miles on the stationary bike, they still got all their marbles.

flyboy Did the original rack come with metric bolts? I’d suspect that with a Yamaha. As I’m sure you know, some bolt heads are identical, SAE vs metric, even if the pitch is different. Re-tapping the receiver is usually easier than re-tapping the bolts, in my past experience. I’d suggest finding a clean nut that the new bolt actually goes onto and going from there. Maybe there’s manufacturing gunk (rust proofing, etc) on the bolts and you could just run the new bolts though to clean them.

113

The carrots are my favorite part of the pot roast. Mmmmmmmm.

I hope that you’re feeling better now sari.

Irked, walked the dog and et. Not a whole lot shakin’ here at CasaRoja.

Stay safe and healthy y’all!

114

None of my metric sockets fit the bolt heads. I assume the threads are metric, being from Yamaha, but I don’t know. As I said, the rack is NOS OEM and came with bolts and spacers. My plan is to try a tap in the receiving holes just to make sure I have the right one, then take the corresponding die and make sure it goes easily onto the bolt. I have left one bolt un-tried, so that I am sure I didn’t damage the threads trying to put the rack on. Given that the bolts are Yamaha and the bike is Yamaha, I expected them to go in quite smoothly. To be sure, the original ones had been in there over a quarter of a century and there may be rust; but I want to have everything at-hand to get this done. The new spark plugs came today, and I’ve ordered a clamp light so that I can see on these dark, gloomy, short days.

I received a check from Fidelity Investments, and caught the fe-mailman to send it on to John Hancock to be rolled into my new 401k.

I’m on Stave Three (‘The Second of the Three Spirits’) of A Christmas Carol.

115

The kids have gone home and peace reigns. Daughter took some toys from the basement and we talked about what she’d take and what needs to be gotten gone. We’ll keep a few toys here for them but the basement will soon be less crowded.

FCD is talking pool table…

116

Yepper, that’s just what you need.

117

Waves at everyone. I’ve read all, but have been kinda busy. The Grand Canyon is still grand and the second class train seats are much more comfy than the first class ones.

I ran into a friend who now works at Sharlot Hall Museum, so we got a nice behind-the-scenes tour which impressed the family to no end. We’ve lived in the area for over three decades, of course we are going to know people, LOL!!!

Tomorrow is the Skywalk, lunch overlooking the canyon and then the Meteor Crater. Out of Africa was on the list for Thursday, but we are going to go the the Flagstaff observatory instead. The observatory is a whole lot of walking up the side of the mountain and then up and down a bunch of steep stairs in high altitude. I’m going to suck it up and rent a scooter, it almost killed me 10 years ago, I know I can’t do it now.

FCD should probably think about snooker table, it is larger and heavier and has a much lower retail value. If you are going to bring a white elephant into your home, you need to do it right!

118

Howdy Y’all! We procured provisions and had fried chikin N.O.L.s. I looked around for some recipes for prime rib soup and decided on this one from The Pioneer Woman, except instead of barley, which I am not fond of, I’ll put in some N.O.T. Oh, like I ever follow any recipe exactly! The rest of the day has been for sloth, general overall uselessness, nappage, and day drinkin’.

BooFae hope you’re feelin’ better soonest.

MetalMouse hope your trip home has been sans glitches. I think you should be just about back to nawth Alabammy by now.

VanGo it’s tough to see your parents get old. Been there, done that.

MOOOOOOM is FCD thinkin’ of becomin’ a pool shark in his old age?

119

DH is prowling Amazon for a headphone adapter he needs, and some of the descriptions are “entertaining”. As far as I can tell, some of these start out in one language, then get run through Google Translate through two or three unrelated languages before arriving at English.

I can imagine a path for this that goes something like Cantonese → Albanian → Basque → Swahili → English, as bad as some of the butchering is.

120

I’m BAAACCCCKKKKK… Home safe and more or less sound at my home computer as the house warms up (had the heat down to 62F). I was wrong about the weather in Eastern Kansas, it was wet and sloppy and right at the freezing mark and while I maintained a good speed and there were no incidents that I saw, it wasn’t the greatest drive ever. Then my flight out of Kansas City was late and I only had 40 minutes to connect in Charlotte so of course the flights were about as far apart as you could get them (from Gate A8 to Gate E43 if you’re curious). Dot some power-walking in and made it with time to spare, but didn’t get the meal I was hoping for there, so stopped at Culver’s on the way home and have just assimilated a Double Butter-Burger with Fries, so all is well with the world. Still have to unpack but that is something I can do later. 48F here so after 2 days of wintry weather, nice to be back for a Ali-bama winter.

IIRC, there are sites/people who do that deliberately, just for the fun of it. Hopefully BobB can find what he needs.

JtC, glad you are having fun with the relatives, but Grand Canyon to Meteor Crater is a bit of a haul, IIRC; hope it works for you. And I enjoyed the Flagstaff Observatory too.

FCM, pools tables ain’t cheap; does he (and for that matter, you) enjoy playing or is it just something to fill the space nicely?

flyboy, hope they can get you a second key, know what it feels like to be dependent on just one. Enjoy the improved bike.

Van Go, that’s a long drive (been there, have the aching back to prove it). And yeah, watching folks grow old is always a reminder that one day, we will too. At least they seem to be doing well.

Oopsie, I’ll hopefully be back at my gym tomorrow, will be interested in seeing how many people are there. And best wishes to Wife’s BFF. And :rage: to the credit card thieves, need to check on mine tonight or tomorrow since I had some charges out in the wilds of Kansas.

Haven’t been in an IHOP or a Denny’s in many months, just never a good reason to go there.When I want pancakes there are two other places that are great and when I want sit-down food I have a half-dozen spots I prefer over them.

Cookie, I feel sorry for someone losing it, hope she can get placed somewhere that will be more beneficial for her.

I’m so happy that I can talk to you folks again instead of just posting what I am doing. No plans to be going anywhere soon so I’ll hopefully be good company here for quite some time.