Yeah, It's Been Awhile

My car is making a slight noise when I'm shifting from 1st into 2nd, and from 2nd into 3rd. Of course the warranty on the repair is expired. I have an appointment for it next Friday. I'm prepared for the possibility that my car might be put out to pasture. At least it's a buyer's market right now. With the sad state of car sales, and my kickass credit scores (the Big 3 credit agencies scored me at 835, 817, and 808), I can get a car at at great price and low interest. We'll see what happens.

We went to Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago for our anniversary. Lots of walking, lots to see. The only pics we have are from the photo booth at the Nascar Cafe (!) at the Sahara. It was great to have 10 days off--very refreshing. Mostly we hung out at the MGM Grand.

Saturday is Valentine's Day. I already told M that I don't want flowers or anything like that (okay, some flowers would be cool--I always like flowers). We eat out so often that going to a restaurant is nothing special. My idea of a great Valentine's Day is that we're gonna watch the NBA All Star game and all the other competitions that are taking place. Rudy Fernandez is in the Slam Dunk contest.

Picadilly Flea Market is tomorrow. Maybe I'll get some cool scores.

Las Vegas

M and I went to Las Vegas last weekend for our anniversary. It was cool; I'm sure we'll go again soon.

Some pointers:

1. You're going to walk A LOT. Our legs were sore for two days afterwards from all the walking we did.

2. Take the monorail. Sure, it's a little spendy, but it more than makes up for the price. You get great views of the Strip, and it stops at most every hotel.

3. The buffet at the Rio is the shit. You can take a free shuttle to it from Paris. The other buffets in town are embarrassing compared to this one. I've never seen a buffet before where they have crab legs and red velvet cake.

4. Ignore how much everything costs and just pony up the money. Las Vegas is like being trapped in a big airport. It's all over-priced, and that's how it is.

5. Buy bottles of booze and cigarettes from somewhere other than a casino. The bottle of Bailey's we bought at a liquor store would have been $10 more if we'd bought it at the casino gift shop.

6. It's hard to tell the Las Vegas hookers from the women trying to look like one. Typical look: Sky-high stilletos, halter mini-dress.

7. You tip for everything. The economy has even hit Vegas. There's a sense of desperation among the service industry. This is the first place where I've been flat-out asked for a tip.

8. You can't get it all done in one trip. We plan to hit downtown next time. We got a lot done in three days, but there's still a lot to explore.

Yay My Day Off

I got my replacement Social Security card today. We tried to go to Comcast to get our digital converter for the bedroom (otherwise we get only channels 2-30). The line was out the door, so that's gonna wait till next Friday as soon as they open.

The Trader Joe's parking lot was a clusterfuck as always. They had this new fondue we're gonna try. I wish a Trader Joes would open downtown. I don't think they'd put the Kiva out of business. I can't imagine their clientele sidling over to Trader Joes. And I hate driving over to Oakway Center.

M picked up this crockpot we've been eyeballing for a year at True Value. It has three different inserts so you can make different size meals. We already have a crockpot, but it's too big. Now we have options. AND it was $20 off. How cool is that?

I got my xmas present from my brother, Jeff:

He also sent me the following CDs: 3Oh!3, GnR--Chinese Democracy, and two Martina Topley-Bird albums. Katie, you'll be getting a copy of the 3Oh!3 the next time I see you.

As soon as the garlic in the oven finishes roasting, I'll prepare the baked brie. Yum! Hopefully I will see the Blazers beat the Hornets tonight. Not sure if Roy will be playing.

Picadilly!

We scored some vinyl finds at the Picadilly Flea Market. Actually, M found a bunch of stuff:

ZZ Top--Tres Hombres
a couple Joe Walsh albums (I'm too lazy to get up from the couch and see)
Joan Jett--Bad Reputation
a Johnnny Cash

I got: B-52s--Whammy and Billy Squier--Don't Say No. I love that Billy Squier album. When I still had Christine the Datsun, Eric and I would rock out to a badly warped cassette of it.

We're listening to the ZZ Top right now, and it's not half bad. They had some good stuff before they became an MTV era novelty act.

P.S. Karma's a bitch, isn't it, OJ?

Christmas Presents

I need to wrap the fam's presents and get them all boxed up to take to Hiron's tomorrow to ship. However, all I feel like doing is watching basketball and sitting on the couch.

I wish I had something good for dessert. I'm already in my pajamas and not going anywhere. At times like these, I think about getting DoCo, but all I want is cookies. I brought home French dips and chips, but neglected getting dessert.

This weekend I have some new music to check out. I bought a couple cds on the Fat Possum label, circa 1997. I've never heard of either artist, but the potential for greatness is high. And I picked up the Electric Apricot--Quest for Festeroo DVD. I knew if I waited long enough, the list price would go down--by twelve bucks!

Getting XMas Done Before Thanksgiving

I hate dealing with shopping during the xmas season. The combo of working retail and shitty weather make me want to be done with it as soon as possible. I probably got 80% of it done today. I got both of M's big presents today while he was at work.

Target first thing in the morning before it got busy. I love how Target has all those packaged "gadgety" gifts at xmas. I found a new manicure kit (since M picked up my cuticle scissors last week and the handle broke in two). I also bought the remote control holder I eyeballed last year and didn't get. Why can't Target have all those cool gifts year-round? I also got all my gifts for my Secret Santa, and I'm pretty happy with my choices. Last year Target had a crockpot with three different sized inserts, but I can't find one anywhere, and now we want one, of course.

Then off to Value Village. I found a couple of shirts, but no pants. I want a pair of dark brown pants, and I am always on the lookout for jeans that fit. No crockpots, and no cast iron skillets either.

I picked up the last of the groceries we need for tomorrow. We're having:
fresh angel hair pasta w/ pesto cream sauce, baked baby carrots, mashed sweet potatoes, salad, and pecan pie. We've got appetizers from Trader Joes to snack on all morning.

Now I'm watching Food Network and coming up with cooking ideas for the weekend. We're trying to cook a lot more instead of eating out. Our food tastes are kinda gourmet and we buy as much organic as possible, so we're not really saving any money by eating at home. Mostly, we're tired of our usual restaurants, it's cold outside, and it's basketball season.

I happened upon what I think is going to be my new favorite Food Network show, Quick Meals With Robin Miller . Everything she made today was super-easy and looked so good!

My friend Gabe is home for Thanksgiving, and we're gonna hang out later. I'm gonna make baked Garlic Mac & Cheese for dinner, and we'll watch the Blazers play the Heat. However, now it's nap time.

Not Much

It's halftime during the Blazers/Kings game. The Blazers are ahead by 4, but I'm not particularly interested since I could give a shit about Sacramento.

Threadless emailed me about their $5 holiday sale. The t-shirt I've been eyeballing was on sale, and now it's mine. Thank you, Gabe and Cory, for telling me about Threadless.

M is at the Immortal Technique show in Portland. I'm not sad that I'm missing it. I need a break from Portland. I prefer to kick it in my pajamas when it's cold outside.

Lazy-Ass Friday

Digital Cable is pretty awesome. Last night I watched two NBA games, Celebrity Rehab, and Food Network until 3am. Needless to say, I don't feel like doing much today.

Grrr! UPS was supposed to deliver my Threadless t-shirt today. As of 6:15am it was "out for delivery." I tracked it at 4pm, and UPS says, "A CORRECT STREET NUMBER IS NEEDED FOR DELIVERY. UPS IS ATTEMPTING TO OBTAIN THIS INFORMATION." AKA: the driver was too lazy to get out of his truck to look for my house, which is directly behind the apartment building in front of it. I've received UPS packages before, so I'm guessing that the usual driver has the day off. I called UPS to tell them my address is correct and behind another building, so now it's supposed to be delivered on Monday. Here's the new tracking message: "A DELIVERY CHANGE REQUEST FOR THIS PACKAGE WILL BE PROCESSED / THE PACKAGE IS BEING HELD FOR FUTURE DELIVERY. UPS WILL ATTEMPT DELIVERY ON THE DATE REQUESTED." And this is why I usually have stuff shipped to work. When M has stuff shipped UPS to our house, he doesn't have problems. And my shirt would've been perfect for Halloween, too.

Tonight I'm going to watch the Blazers game and whatever awesomeness digital cable has to offer. M has a gig tonight with that band, but I'm not going. Tomorrow is the Picadilly Flea Market. The last one (my first) was pretty cool. I plan on going whenever they have one on a Saturday.

Memory Foam Rocks

Friday we bought a memory foam mattress pad for the bed. M and I are orthopedicly challenged--he has a bad shoulder and back, I have lower back, sciatica, wrist and shoulder issues. Our chiropractor recommended the mattress pad. M has a memory foam pillow that he loves, so we figured we'd give it a try. Shop-Ko had them for 60% off.

It wasn't cheap, let me tell you. But it's up there with the best things ever. You truly melt into the bed like quicksand.

Today we went to the Picadilly Flea Market for the first time. I found AC/DC: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap and the Watts/Stax soundrack on vinyl. Then I cleaned the house while M made chili.