Last I checked Mindy was still tucked neatly under the blankets. But the next thing I knew, she was turning on lights and starting the shower. What a poor way to greet the morning, I pondered. It was already 6:45am. And even though I wasn’t going into work, I chose to get up & out of bed since there was no way in the world I was going to fall back asleep with all that noise. It’s just as well. I had a busy day planned and the earlier I got started the more productive it would be. And while it was an early start on a day-off for me, by my calculations, Mindy was about 30 minutes behind her usual shower schedule.
Once I was downstairs I could see that Mindy had already been in the kitchen, apparently taking care of her downstairs morning chores before heading back up for a shower. That explained the seemingly late start.
I cruised through my calisthenics and then my walk with Ykraps. By the time we returned to the house Mindy & Bella were all but out the door. Speaking for myself, it felt terrific not having to hurry. I was perfectly content to lounge in my PJ’s for a spell sipping coffee until it was time to walk Jacob to the bus stop. When that time finally arrived, I stayed in my PJ’s figuring what the heck!
After he was on the bus I headed back home where I spent about an hour sipping coffee and fooling around on the Internet. Around 9:00am I dressed and left for a run. It was a lovely run – the sun shining, birds chirping, and cool autumn temperatures. It seemed like an ideal morning.
My agenda included two major tasks. The first was a prearranged appointment to have the boat winterized at Paul’s Marine set for 1pm. Afterwards, I hoped to get the oil changed in the Trooper. By the time I showered and dressed, it occurred to me that I might have enough time to get an oil change even before picking up the boat. That is what I did. And because I find back tracking wasteful, I chose to try Valvoline Instant Oil Change on Hilliard-Rome Rd (until now, I have been a loyal Bethel Rd Jiffy Lube customer).
They got me in and out quickly. I didn’t even get out of the car. Cool! Still not quite 11am, I had even more time. Rather than show up with my boat too early, I decided to visit the brand new Dick’s Sporting Goods across the street. I was impressed. Their set-up & presentation is awesome - much nicer than their Sawmill Rd store.
I was in there a little longer than perhaps I should’ve been. I didn’t make it to boat storage until 11:40am. Even after making loose arrangements to pick-up my boat this weekend, they had it buried at the back end of the storage building making it impossible to get out on my own. Winter storage is much different than summer. During winter they’re packed in one against another with little, if any, wiggle room. Shit! I had to go to the office where Ed addressed the problem quickly. Fifteen minutes later he dug my boat out from the very back and brought it hitch side. Thanks Ed!
I made it to Paul’s twenty minutes early. Turns out the guys doing the winterizations were at lunch. They gave me a restaurant pager and allowed me to roam the showroom. Good gig! I always enjoy that. I took a couple of pictures and looked at new boats too. They had a couple great deals on their 2007 inventory of Sea Rays. A boat I had admired earlier in the season was marked down by almost 15K! Still, my current boat is paid for, and I like that a whole lot more!
About 45 minutes later I felt a strange vibration in my back pocket. Ahh- the pager! My boat was done. I settled up at the desk and drove back towards Lee’s RV and Boat storage. I returned just before 2pm. I dropped my boat just inside the secured gate after being assured that it would be returned inside momentarily. I then proceeded to pay for the entire winter’s storage minus $25 for the trailer light fixture they broke last winter. Short of stopping by in the next week to make sure that it got stowed properly, I won’t see it again until late April/early May.
Mindy had asked if I could greet Jacob off the school bus at 4pm. This would allow her an opportunity to get a leg up on report cards while still at school. I phoned Mindy as I left storage to let her know that I would. Time was wasting away. My next stop was the Mill Run Saturday’s to get a much needed hair cut. The wait was reported to be about fifteen minutes. Fine. I signed in and went next door to Jack’s Aquarium & Pet Shop. I was hoping to get a small terrarium for Sally the red salamander. In the door I noticed a miniature Schnauzer on display. I played with him/her for a few seconds before moving on to my original intent. I found the perfect terrarium – about a quarter the size of the Anoles’ terrarium. Speaking of our Anoles, I bought them a bag of crickets, too.
Next door at Saturday’s they were finally ready for me. It took all of about ten minutes to wash, cut, and process me out the door. Any notion I had of growing my hair long was now history. The tweener stage is just too painful for me to endure. And besides, I am one handsome devil after hair cut! :)
One last stop before heading home. I headed across the street to Lowe’s to hopefully buy a storage rack to solve for the many cartons of soda that presently line the floor along the western wall of the garage. I spotted a chrome rack 18’ deep the other day that I was certain would be perfect for the new elongated 12-packs. Plus, it should hold several, and perhaps even the beer & water. Aside from fine tuning, this might be the final piece to the garage organization puzzle.
I was in and out of Lowe’s fast already knowing what I wanted and where it was. I was home in plenty of time to intercept Jacob. In fact, I had fifteen minutes to kill. During that time I cleaned up the kitchen and readied the terrarium for Sally. Just as I approached the door with Ykraps and the football, the bus pulled up dropping Jacoby. Great timing! We walked Ykraps together all the while tossing the football as we so often do.
We threw the football even more out back while waiting for Mindy & Bella to arrive home. They landed around 4:30pm. Jimaken showed up not long after to pick-up the kids for his weekend. By 5:10pm they were gone. I took a little siesta both on the deck and then back inside. Mindy worked on report cards. We readied ourselves to leave for Barley’s by 6:45pm. We were scheduled to meet Sean & Rich – both former reports of mine - along with their wives, Allison & Julia.
We arrived before any of our guests. We ordered beers – me a Centennial IPA, and Mindy a Pint of Joe. A few minutes later our guests arrived. We asked for a table/booth.
We hung out with our friends for a solid couple hours all the while enjoying some quality Barley’s food and beer. It was good to see these guys. Sean begins yet another new job as of Monday.
We moved back up to the bar after our friends departed. There we hung with the “regulars” for another good hour. We discussed, among other things, details surrounding our fast approaching February Portland, Oregon ski trip. Only a few details left to confirm before our flights can be booked. We hope to nail those down early next week.
Mindy and I left for home around 10:30pm. We left knowing that we’d most likely return at noon tomorrow to catch the OSU game, which is on the Big Ten Network – not on Time Warner CATV. At home we snuggled but fell asleep quickly – probably before 11:15pm.
Once I was downstairs I could see that Mindy had already been in the kitchen, apparently taking care of her downstairs morning chores before heading back up for a shower. That explained the seemingly late start.
I cruised through my calisthenics and then my walk with Ykraps. By the time we returned to the house Mindy & Bella were all but out the door. Speaking for myself, it felt terrific not having to hurry. I was perfectly content to lounge in my PJ’s for a spell sipping coffee until it was time to walk Jacob to the bus stop. When that time finally arrived, I stayed in my PJ’s figuring what the heck!
After he was on the bus I headed back home where I spent about an hour sipping coffee and fooling around on the Internet. Around 9:00am I dressed and left for a run. It was a lovely run – the sun shining, birds chirping, and cool autumn temperatures. It seemed like an ideal morning.
My agenda included two major tasks. The first was a prearranged appointment to have the boat winterized at Paul’s Marine set for 1pm. Afterwards, I hoped to get the oil changed in the Trooper. By the time I showered and dressed, it occurred to me that I might have enough time to get an oil change even before picking up the boat. That is what I did. And because I find back tracking wasteful, I chose to try Valvoline Instant Oil Change on Hilliard-Rome Rd (until now, I have been a loyal Bethel Rd Jiffy Lube customer).
They got me in and out quickly. I didn’t even get out of the car. Cool! Still not quite 11am, I had even more time. Rather than show up with my boat too early, I decided to visit the brand new Dick’s Sporting Goods across the street. I was impressed. Their set-up & presentation is awesome - much nicer than their Sawmill Rd store.
I was in there a little longer than perhaps I should’ve been. I didn’t make it to boat storage until 11:40am. Even after making loose arrangements to pick-up my boat this weekend, they had it buried at the back end of the storage building making it impossible to get out on my own. Winter storage is much different than summer. During winter they’re packed in one against another with little, if any, wiggle room. Shit! I had to go to the office where Ed addressed the problem quickly. Fifteen minutes later he dug my boat out from the very back and brought it hitch side. Thanks Ed!
I made it to Paul’s twenty minutes early. Turns out the guys doing the winterizations were at lunch. They gave me a restaurant pager and allowed me to roam the showroom. Good gig! I always enjoy that. I took a couple of pictures and looked at new boats too. They had a couple great deals on their 2007 inventory of Sea Rays. A boat I had admired earlier in the season was marked down by almost 15K! Still, my current boat is paid for, and I like that a whole lot more!
About 45 minutes later I felt a strange vibration in my back pocket. Ahh- the pager! My boat was done. I settled up at the desk and drove back towards Lee’s RV and Boat storage. I returned just before 2pm. I dropped my boat just inside the secured gate after being assured that it would be returned inside momentarily. I then proceeded to pay for the entire winter’s storage minus $25 for the trailer light fixture they broke last winter. Short of stopping by in the next week to make sure that it got stowed properly, I won’t see it again until late April/early May.
Mindy had asked if I could greet Jacob off the school bus at 4pm. This would allow her an opportunity to get a leg up on report cards while still at school. I phoned Mindy as I left storage to let her know that I would. Time was wasting away. My next stop was the Mill Run Saturday’s to get a much needed hair cut. The wait was reported to be about fifteen minutes. Fine. I signed in and went next door to Jack’s Aquarium & Pet Shop. I was hoping to get a small terrarium for Sally the red salamander. In the door I noticed a miniature Schnauzer on display. I played with him/her for a few seconds before moving on to my original intent. I found the perfect terrarium – about a quarter the size of the Anoles’ terrarium. Speaking of our Anoles, I bought them a bag of crickets, too.
Next door at Saturday’s they were finally ready for me. It took all of about ten minutes to wash, cut, and process me out the door. Any notion I had of growing my hair long was now history. The tweener stage is just too painful for me to endure. And besides, I am one handsome devil after hair cut! :)
One last stop before heading home. I headed across the street to Lowe’s to hopefully buy a storage rack to solve for the many cartons of soda that presently line the floor along the western wall of the garage. I spotted a chrome rack 18’ deep the other day that I was certain would be perfect for the new elongated 12-packs. Plus, it should hold several, and perhaps even the beer & water. Aside from fine tuning, this might be the final piece to the garage organization puzzle.
I was in and out of Lowe’s fast already knowing what I wanted and where it was. I was home in plenty of time to intercept Jacob. In fact, I had fifteen minutes to kill. During that time I cleaned up the kitchen and readied the terrarium for Sally. Just as I approached the door with Ykraps and the football, the bus pulled up dropping Jacoby. Great timing! We walked Ykraps together all the while tossing the football as we so often do.
We threw the football even more out back while waiting for Mindy & Bella to arrive home. They landed around 4:30pm. Jimaken showed up not long after to pick-up the kids for his weekend. By 5:10pm they were gone. I took a little siesta both on the deck and then back inside. Mindy worked on report cards. We readied ourselves to leave for Barley’s by 6:45pm. We were scheduled to meet Sean & Rich – both former reports of mine - along with their wives, Allison & Julia.
We arrived before any of our guests. We ordered beers – me a Centennial IPA, and Mindy a Pint of Joe. A few minutes later our guests arrived. We asked for a table/booth.
We hung out with our friends for a solid couple hours all the while enjoying some quality Barley’s food and beer. It was good to see these guys. Sean begins yet another new job as of Monday.
We moved back up to the bar after our friends departed. There we hung with the “regulars” for another good hour. We discussed, among other things, details surrounding our fast approaching February Portland, Oregon ski trip. Only a few details left to confirm before our flights can be booked. We hope to nail those down early next week.
Mindy and I left for home around 10:30pm. We left knowing that we’d most likely return at noon tomorrow to catch the OSU game, which is on the Big Ten Network – not on Time Warner CATV. At home we snuggled but fell asleep quickly – probably before 11:15pm.
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