I went to the Cleveland Museum of Natural history on Saturday. First time I’ve gone – it was really cool. They had some art by an autistic man that lived in the area as part of their Mystical Creatures exhibit and then the rest of the museum was the regular – and amazing – collection of history. The dinosaurs were neat, the rocks were shiny, and the weight of millions of years was palpable. Really amazing stuff.
For dinner – Melt. A grill cheese place in Cleveland. I got “the dude abides” – and got more than my weekly quota of cheese. It was okay – too many onions for my taste (and by too many, I mean “any”) – but the fries and the atmosphere were good. I don’t think I have enough tattoos to have gotten employment there, but it was fun.
After dinner, Big Fun – a toy and game shop. Pretty much ripe with nostalgia – I could have spent a lot of money in there, but luckily my action figure obsession has died off as I’ve gotten older. I did get a crystal tree that grows when you add dangerous chemicals to a cardboard tree shape – so, that was cool.
On Sunday – went for a 5 mile hike in the Metro Parks. It was a great day for it and the trails had a few people – but not crowded by any means. The ongoing cold/allergy hit me pretty hard a few times, but I trudged on and enjoyed the trip. The waterfalls were neat a usual and except for the distant sound of traffic you could almost forget you’re in the middle of a city.
Today, as I was pulling out of my drive, I heard a rapid ticking sound – like, ticktickticktick – and then my Service light came on. Now, I’m familiar with the Check Engine light – we are old friends and it’s been with me through car repairs and e-checks alike – but Service is new and worrisome. So, I drove extra carefully (whatever that means) to work and made an appointment to have all my money taken away from me. I mean, to have my car worked on. They cautioned me that if they need to do a diagnostic (i.e. hook up my car to a computer and have the computer tell them what’s wrong) they would have to charge me $89. Great.
I stopped off at home after work and changed clothes, then drove to the service place and dropped off my car. It’s only 2.4 miles away, so I just walked home. I made arrangements to get a ride to work tomorrow and we’ll see how it goes. For the record, I need the Service light diagnosed, the brakes glared at, and exhaust quieted.
Wish me, and my bank account, good luck. What’s that smell? Oh, right. Monday.