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My cell phone battery has been giving me some problems, so I went to radio shack to get a replacement.  I walked in, waited until the clerks stopped talking to each other and acknowledged that I existed, then produced the battery and said  I needed a replacement for my cell phone.   The clerk took the battery as he walked back to the counter and asked what company I was with.  I didn’t understand why that mattered, but I answered him and he replied:

“Before we get you going with a battery, how about we check to see we can get you out of your contract and get you a new phone?”

Well, I give him props for the epic amount of “up-selling” he tried to do, but I raised an eyebrow at him for the attempt and said I just wanted the battery.

Turns out they don’t have it in stock, but they can order it for me – and ship it to my house. I proceed to give him my address and then the phone number – though I told him that it wouldn’t do much good until I had a new battery.

He didn’t get it.

He then asked for my email and I politely told him I would rather not give that out.  He insisted it was for the order confirmation – though I’m pretty sure the receipt he was going to print out would do that job.  I gave him the address and made a silent vow that the first bit of spam I got from them would result in a scathing response.

The battery should be here in a few days, but of course my current battery charged up normally and my phone is fine.

In other brutal news, I had a dentist appointment this morning.  I was once again amazed at the low level of technology they use.  Metal picks, string, grit, water pressure?   Where are the fricking lasers?  Ultrasonics?    My teeth and jaw didn’t hurt beforehand, but they sure did afterward  – and still do this afternoon.    Oh, and I don’t floss enough.

So, short day at work and looking forward to the weekend.  I plan on some serious relaxing – starting right after my swim this afternoon.

So, my car got worked on yesterday and for a car that seemed to generally be running okay, it had a lot wrong with it.  The mechanic cheerfully broke it down for me.

1. Brakes – in terrible, terrible shape.  Pretty much everything that could be wrong with them, was.

2. Exhaust – holes in the pipes, things falling off.

3. Air filter needs replaced.

4. The service light indicated a problem with the daytime running lights – and I had a headlight out as well.

5. Several other things were wrong as well, but by this point I was too numb to pay attention.  Oh, something about rear tires.

Grand total – had I decided to get everything fixed – $2,100

And that’s the point where – if my knees hadn’t thankfully chosen to lock – I would have fallen to the floor.

I recovered and the mechanic and I talked through the repairs into two categories:  Danger to myself and others vs. Annoying.

So, I go the brakes repaired and that was “only”  $770.    I had expected “stop on a dime” kind of results, but they are just “ok”.  Grumble.

I really like my car but I can’t keep throwing money at it.  It’s got 125,000 + miles on it, guess it’s time for me to start looking for a new ride.

In funner news… I went out to dinner with some friends and got some really excellent sushi.   Also had a little seaweed salad and some sticky rice with mango for dessert.  Sort of made up for the car repair bill.

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.

I volunteered to help my friend clear out his gutters and yesterday was the perfect weather for it.    I stopped over after my swim and with ladders, gloves, and a bucket  – we set to work.  He has a small house so it didn’t take too long and we cleared maybe a bucket and a half of debris – including the dirt and leaves that was blocked the downspouts.

Once that was done, he decided that since we had the ladders out, we might as well cut down one of the tree limbs.  I was a little hesitant about this, but helped out as best I could.  But as the limb came down, I couldn’t get out of the way quite quickly enough and got tagged on my leg by the rough edge of the branch. It was very minor and the scratches barely bled, but my friend decided that was enough and we got the yard – and me –  cleaned up.

This is the same friend with the dogs and he has frequently commented about how he’s tired of dog poop.  So, as a joke, I used some brown polymer clay to make very small piles of fake poop and while he was putting away the tools, I snuck into his office and placed them in the small zen sand garden on his desk.

He found them not long after that and I think he was about 50% amused and 50% annoyed. 🙂  I thought it was pretty clever.

I’ve been fighting… something… for a couple of weeks now.  Don’t know if it’s a cold or allergies, but I had several sneezing attacks yesterday that almost knocked me over.  Really annoying.  If it keeps up, I’m headed to the doctor.

It’s been a short number of days, but it still feels like a long week.  I’m hoping today stays quiet and I can coast on through to the weekend.

I had a busy memorial day weekend.   On Saturday, my parents came up for a visit and we checked out my yardwork and went for 2.5 mile hike.  Dad suggested we go to the Akron Zoo so we did that for about an hour and half.    They didn’t stay long, but it was a nice visit.   After they left, I went over to a friend’s house for a bit.  They were having a cook-out, but since I had already eaten I skipped ahead to the dessert.    Which worked out pretty well since I had also already had dessert.

On Sunday, I headed up to half-priced books and then went around town to garden centers with another friend.  I didn’t buy anything and ended up getting sick.  Not sure if it was allergies, a cold, the heat, something I ate, or all of the above, but I was not doing well.  I got home, stripped down to my boxers, and crashed on the floor directly under the ceiling fan until I felt better.

On Monday, I went to a pool party.  Pretty cool crowd and a nice pool.  It was nice to be underwater and not being focused on doing laps.  Plus, the kids that were there thought I was great since I easily functioned as a jungle gym and I didn’t mind being shoved underwater – or stepped on.    It started to thunder so we all headed in and I got out some paper.  Felt a little like the Pied Piper – the kids were entranced and several people remarked that this was the most focused they had ever seen them.  I was a little relieved when it was time to go – as fun as it was, my hands got tired.

Tuesday and back to work.  Busy day, crazy meetings – and when I finally got in my car, it wouldn’t start.  I had left my lights on.  I bemoaned my fate for a moment – then went back in the office.  As luck would have it, my boss was still there and was getting ready to leave.  He drove over to my car and we got it jumped.  Once it was going, I decided to drive around to charge the battery and made my way to a McDonalds and the drive through.  On my way home, the sky opened up into a downpour and as I’m driving along I’m wondering just how much water I’m going to have in my house from the open windows on the second floor.  The rain let up as I pulled in my drive and I found that there was no water in my house at all – the wind must have been in my favor.

I got up early this morning and had an almost leisurely start to my day.  Nice, but I doubt I can do that again with any certainty or regularity.    So, back into work mode for a short week.

I had a little wiring project to do over the weekend – had a broken electrical outlet to replace.  It had been broken before I moved in, but I don’t use that room on the third floor a lot and there wasn’t a rush.

I had a new outlet and cover and a plan.  I plugged my radio into the unbroken outlet, turned it on, and aimed it down the vent.  While in the basement I listened for the music and when it stopped, I would know that I had the right breaker.

Which is quite clever – only had two set-backs.

1. 80% of the breakers were labeled “General Purpose”.  Really, who does that?  Just leaving them blank would have been better – I could have written them in myself once I figured them out.  I had to re-diagram the chart and make several random guesses before I finally found the right one.  The music went quiet and I headed upstairs.

2. The old outlet fell apart in my hands – good that I was replacing it – and I checked the new one to see where the wires would go.  One side had two arrows pointing to two holes – one labeled white and the other black.  It wasn’t the same configuration as the old one had, but I figured that this new one was set up different.  I put the white one in the white hole, the black in the black, and put the outlet back in place and put on the cover.  Back to the basement and flipped the breaker back on  – and it instantly tripped itself.

Swearing, I headed back up to the third floor to investigate.    Turns out I had misread the back of the outlet.  That one side was only for white wires – not Black, but Blanco.

[Insert head-shaking here]

Even with my Sesame Street grasp of Spanish, I should have caught that.  But the lighting wasn’t good and it was cramped work-space.  That’s my story, anyway.

I struggled to get the black wire loose and moved it to the correct position – then plugged the radio in again.  Back to the basement and threw the switch to success and music.  Then back off and back to the 3rd floor to put the outlet back in place and add the cover.  Then back down again to turn it back on – then back up for the clean up.

I got a good workout, replaced the outlet, and tried out some new swear-word combinations.  My minor house projects continue – next up, the ceiling fan on my back porch.

My neighbor with the dogs invited me to head north yesterday evening to Yappy Hour – an event to benefit the Berea ARF (animal rescue fund) [or the BARF as I referred to it mentally].   Actually, that was  prophetic – a couple of the more excited dogs did barf as the event went on.

We were both a little underwhelmed by the event – I think we were expecting more of a street fair and it was just a couple of tents and shops – but it was fun and I think his dogs enjoyed it.   I was in charge of one of them and she wanted to explore every inch of the universe and sniff every butt everywhere.  I kept  her on a tight leash to keep  her out of trouble and for a small dog, that was a lot of work.

The food was sushi and pizza.  The women handing out the sushi – and seaweed salad, which was excellent – saw me pick up a flyer and gave me a $10 off gift card.    The pizza was good too – prompting us to pick up one on the way out of town.

It was nice to get off the beaten path and hang out with some cool people and cool animals – though I think I could have done without the politician that did her little song and dance about the neighborhood and politics.

Being among all the happy pet owners made me think again about getting a pet – right up until we got out of the car and my friend’s dog threw up on the seat.  I took the pizza in and he got the cleaning supplies.

Maybe I need a simpler animal.  Cat, guinea pig… or maybe a fish.

I took myself for a walk this evening, been in kind of a weird mood and needed to clear my head.  Walking usually does it for me, but even after an hour and a half I wasn’t any clearer.  It did help me acknowledge a truth – my previous post was bitchy.  I still stand by what I said, but it was bitchy.

I stopped at the bank and at Dairy Queen to have a highly disappointing ice cream cone – then walked around the park for a while.  I’ve been feeling… well… a bit empty.  Like my emotions are fireworks that quickly fade to leave an empty night sky – or just a vague bit of smoke.  Can’t seem to hold any particular emotion for very long in any direction. Feels weird.

The only one I seem to be able to sustain for any length of time is irritated.  I seem to be increasingly good at that one. Today it was my co-worker, yesterday it was the 7 swimmers that shared my lane at the pool – and the swim team that took up the rest of the pool and crowded us – and the guy at the front desk who cheerfully acknowledged that the swimsuit water extractor was broken, had been broken, and was not going to be fixed anytime soon.

Yeah, I’m all over irritated.  But it doesn’t last.  I had a good evening yesterday and a nice time last weekend, but when left to my own devices, I slide back to zero.  I have no idea if this is normal or not or if I’m just being far too introspective – but I gotta tell you it’s pretty weird from in here.

I’ve got a full day tomorrow of work and then plans in the evening.  I’m hoping I can shake this void-like funk soon.

It’s getting late for me, but I don’t really feel like sleeping yet.  Maybe some games or a little more music before I call it a night.

We have a staff meeting every week on Wednesdays that was originally intended to let us share the projects we are working on so that was can collaborate.

Except that we are all stretched so thin and so busy with our own projects that we don’t have much chance to collaborate.  So, the meetings become a recitation of what we are working on at the moment and pretty much no one cares what the others are working on.

I held out for a long time.  I came prepared with notes and would take notes, diligently paying attention and keeping myself focused on whoever was speaking at the moment and contributing where I could.

I’m still prepared with some notes, but my attention wanders.  I may check my email or do a little work, but enough of my attention is engaged that I can keep up.

Today, while I was giving my report on my tasks, one of my co-workers pulled out a book and started reading.

Really.

I blurred what I was talking about into a comment directed at him to try and get his attention – then finally stopped and called him out on it.  He put the book away and I continued once I found my place again.    A few moments later while I was still talking, he got out the book again and tried to hide it behind the screen of  his laptop.  This time, my boss called him out on it.

What bothered wasn’t that he wasn’t paying attention.  None of us are paying attention to each other in these meetings – it’s just the way it goes.   What bothered me was that he wasn’t even pretending to pay attention.  Just struck me as rude.  After the meeting, he sent me an instant message with a comment that essentially blamed me for being boring.  I fired back that a little courtesy will make the meetings more bearable.  I think he apologized, but the whole conversation was rife with sarcasm that I couldn’t be sure.

I dropped my boss an email before I left for the day suggesting that we re-evaluate the meetings and how they are structured – there has to be a way to accomplish the goals and still engage everyone.

One thing is for certain – I need to take a couple days off.

I headed south for the weekend and my first stop was to visit Jeff’s brother for dinner.   And of course I hit traffic in Columbus.  There was an accident on 270 – which is only to be expected for rush hour.  Then construction split the lanes of traffic right down the middle.  I gritted my teeth, followed the signs, swore several times, and managed to navigate through the mess to reach the restaurant.   Really, who came up with the plan of “Let’s start in the middle of the lanes!”?

Anyway, I actually got to the restaurant before he did – even though he was only minutes away.  There was another traffic accident that he couldn’t avoid between where he works and the restaurant –  so, I busied myself with a little paper folding until he arrived.

We talked for a bit and enjoyed our meals at the bar.  He brought up the apartment deposit and I downplayed that a bit.  I was cranky about that for a while, but I’m pretty much over it.  We talked a little about how his family is doing and had a few sad moments when we talked about Jeff’s car and about taking his ashes to the beach to be scattered from the pier.

I didn’t stay too late since I had another hour to drive so we said our goodbyes and promised to keep in touch.

I continued on my way to my sister’s place to see her and my brother-in-law.  The next day my folks came to visit as well and we all had fun hanging out with my niece – who has named me “untul”.    That’s as close as she can get at the moment to Uncle – and I’ll gladly answer to it.  We had Chipotle for lunch (except for Dad, who strangely doesn’t like it) and just had a nice time together.   I crashed early that night with a bad headache that wanted to be a migraine when it grew up, but was much better the next day.

We had lunch together before we headed out and made some tentative plans for our next visit.

When I got  home, my neighbor was out in his yard and invited me over to his fire pit. We sat back there for a while and talked about the neighborhood.  I went in because it was getting buggy and called it an early night.

It was a good weekend and I had fun – even though it was pretty laid back.  Looking forward to getting back to the pool – I’m at 50 miles for the year so far – and maybe doing a little yard work when I get home.