Friday
Borrowed Katamari Damacy, a game with no killing and nearly no violence. I expected it to be a crappy kiddy game, but was pretty fun. You are this little tiny guy who has a ball that he rolls around. As the ball touches objects, they stick to the ball. As the ball gets bigger it is able to pick up bigger and bigger objects. You start so small that thumb tacks are up to your knees, while you might end a round big enough to pick up a building. It sounds stupid, but I was laughing like a little kid a lot of the time.

Saturday
I spent 1/2 the day waiting for the Mitsubishi dealer to do an oil change on my car, proving that “free” service isn’t really free. After leaving at 3:30 from a 1PM oil change, we went to the mall looking for nothing. I figured that picking up a pair of Vans would kill enough time until dinner, but once I got into the mall I completely lost the urge to purchase. I did go into Radio Shack to see if I could find the one piece that I needed for the laser communicator that I’ve been meaning to build. After making several trips to 3 other radio shacks, I started the conversation with the kid behind the counter with, “I’m going to ask you for a part that you’re not going to have…” which is how I should start all conversations with parts people from now on. Not only did the kid have the part, but he knew where it was AND was nerdy enough to be thoroughly interested in discussing what I was building. He was the proof to the GF that I am not the only nerd on Earth, and I am certainly not the biggest.

When leaving the mall, we came across a kid whose age could still be measured in months, who would jump, then scream, then jump again, then scream again. He was so excited about the jumping that neither I nor the GF could control our laughter. The father was walking behind laughing, too, which was so much better than having him turn a kid’s shear joy into a stressful situation.

Sunday
We packed up our chairs and walked to the beach, grabbing a bagel sandwich and a couple of iced coffees at the Dunky’s on the way. The beach seems to be shrinking, and at high tide the waves crash on the sea wall hard enough to shoot waves up 10 feet onto the pavement. The only spots left were coated with stones, surfers, and kids with elevated hormonal levels. I think there were at least 30 surfers in the water.

Once my skin was adequately irritated with me, we left to hit an overpriced open house, and then went to the bookstore to dump $70 on books. I think the GF’s books are all medical in nature, meant to keep her tear ducts thoroughly moist. Mine were the usual: conspiracy theory and books about loners. When we got home, some movies.

Monday
I Put together the T-shirt transfers for the new Swedish baby and her parents, put them in a shoe box with the tiny vans, and even got them mailed. I can spend hours just picking colors for the simplest of graphics work, so it was slow going. Hopefully, they’ll use some of the designs and send pictures back.

As I was driving home from the post office, I approached a pretty normal looking older guy sitting by himself on a on a bench. If I had the windows up as I approached, I never would’ve heard him yelling to the seagulls about not having any cigars and other unrelated matters.

Posted in Misc.