Who the heck do I think I am?

It's been a busy dang weekend.

Yesterday morning, etakyma and I went to the Museum of Science to take advantage of a Groupon offering the chance to tour Cambridge - by Segway. Segways are totally, totally cool.

And wicked easy to use. Amy had a little trouble just after we left the training paddock, but within a few minutes we were both zooming around like pros. We had a fabulous time with our tour guide (Evan), who was Our Kind of Geek. And there were bits and pieces of Cambridge that I had never really known much about. The tour took in the park that was installed as part of the Big Dig, went down along one of the canals built in Cambridge (which I'd actually been to before, but it was at night and I was actually trying to find a restaurant and had taken a wrong turn), and then down to MIT. It was cool to tootle down to MIT again, though I have to say that my perception of MIT's campus and buildings is forever coloured by participating in Civilite.

We freely admit, though, that the real reason for taking the tour was simply to gain the experience of riding a Segway! Which was SO COOL! And I can now state for the record that Quidditch on Segways would be completely awesome and totally safe.

We also saw a Planetarium show (which was marred only by the rather fractious child next to us, but her mother finally took her out), and then wandered a mere half-mile away to the site of my boss's wife's art show, which was good.

A took a nap and then went home, leaving me to fend for myself for supper. More adventur ensued when I decided to have A Beer with my pizza. I chose (unwisely) to use the bottle opener on my all-purpose kitchen shears and when I had finally pried the cap loose, the beer exploded all over my PJs. I swiftly set the beer down in my kitchen sink (thank goodness I had just washed the dishes) and ran to the bathroom to strip off my now beer-soaked PJs and leave them in the tub to dry before adding them to the laundry. Except that when I go to toss the PJs in the tub? THERE'S A SPIDER IN THERE!!

A big one, too.

Yeah. Well, he was down by the drain, so I dumped the discarded clothes at the other end and proceeded to put on fresh PJs - and shoes. Because gods know, I can't be expected to KILL A SPIDER barefoot (let alone naked)! I grabbed my trusty spider-swatter and thus armed, proceeded to Battlefield: Bathroom. He tried to run into the pile of clothes, but I got him before he was able to hide in their beery folds. Terror! But I prevailed. Then I ate - and drank what was left of the beer. Half a beer is better than none?

That was a pretty full day by itself. But then I added today to yesterday.

NEW GLASSES! Ouch. $500 of new glasses (though that's both regular and a pair of prescription sunglasses). No, they were NOT very expensive frames. In both cases, the lenses were way more expensive than the frames, in fact. And guess what? LensCrafters does not accept EITHER my health insurance OR the vision care insurance I took out expressly because I knew I would be replacing my glasses! Well, I understand that I can submit claims directly to both and see what I get reimbursed. But... PITA. All-around PITA.

And of course, had to spend two hours malling while waiting for the glasses (because sunglasses take two hours, not one). Which is okay - I had a birthday present to shop for and I needed new 'intimates' - but zoicks. Those little errands (plus a couple others) set me back another couple hundred (literally). I was in the mall for 6 hours, altogether! And then I still had to hit Target for a couple other items.

Man, I'm tired.

And broke.

But I do like my new glasses. I especially like being able to see properly.

I just want to go on record: grouchyoldcoot occasionally does very, very good things.

I received my combination birthday/Valentine's/anniversary present today. Yes, he's totally allowed to combine them because they all fall within a fortnight of each other. Especially when he hits it out of the park. Which he did last year with the all-in-one wireless printer. And then again this year.

He sent me a Wii!

Yayz. I called him and was pretty speechless. And crying a little. I'm still chuffed. Wow. Whee! (or Wii!)

I will have to get the balance board, but hey, that's not so bad. And I have Amazon GC's that I haven't used. If I can remember what I did with them.... But I haven't committed them yet and, well. Media goes on sale ALL THE TIME. This stuff doesn't.

Yeah. He's a good boy. Ours may be a really weird and imperfect relationship, but I appreciate him very much when he demonstrates generosity like this. I am excite! (Of course, now that means I must acquire games. And a place to put them. But one step at a time.) It also means once I hook it up (which will be after the weekend because HPEF is in town for our retreat), I should be able to watch Netflix on it. Huzzah! I can multitask while watching movies and TV episodes instantly (instead of having to halt progress on the computer because a movie is playing)!

I have a feeling that the improvement in my quality of life will be significant, between getting the Fit attachments and being able to Netflick and all.

Still need a job, though. But HOORAY for this major lifestyle shift!

(Also, how sad is it that I have no "happy" tags? Hm. I guess I don't post "happy" much. Sorry about that!)

Just when we thought Tim Gunn (of Project Runway) could not be any more perfect, he "gets better":




(I particularly need this stuff because right now it all sucks. The Penguins suck, the work situation sucks and potentially really, really sucks, and there's precious little else to distract me. Fuck y'all, fuckers. I'm watching Sherlock, so there.)

Okay, so I have confirmation that pirates are simply cool.

I went to Masked Ball today and it was great fun. I wore my (just completed!) pirate coat, that I'd actually started for a Halloween costume three years ago, but got derailed when my dad broke my sewing machine. Anyway, I didn't have time to make the shirt, sash, or breeches, but I borrowed a shirt from A (thanks!) and used leggings with my high boots. And I found my old cavalier hat in the spare bedroom at Mom's house. I completed it with two old sashes at the hip.

And there was a young man at the event, I'm going to guess about 9 years old, who was also about half-way to pirate garb. He had the pants, shirt, and boots, anyway. At some point he decided that I was the best because I was dressed as a pirate. He asked if I had the P tattoo, which I explained was only branded on pirates who get caught. He told me that he met Jack Sparrow (at Disneyworld, I assume) and a bunch of other things... then he was looking at my sash and said, "I just need a belt and I'll be a pirate too."

Of course, I took off one of my scarves and tied it around him, pirate-sash style. Yep. I had a friend for the rest of the night. Bouncing from topic to topic, too. "Did you see that there's a live-action Thundercats movie coming out?"

"No, but I think I remember hearing something about it. Which one is your favourite Thundercat - is it Lion-O?"

"Uh... I don't... it's been a long time since I saw it," (he says. He's, like, nine. I bet he's seen it more recently than I have!)

Then he talked about a couple other things I didn't recognize and got around somehow to a live-action (or maybe it was 3D?) Link (as in Legend of Zelda), and how cool it was.

"Oh, well, Link was a snappy dresser," I said.

"Yeah, with that green hat!" he said.

Heh.

Clearly, I hate children. And they obviously can't stand me.

And pirates are cool.

What is it with me and talismanic jewelry?

Two years ago, six months after getting my AEthelmearc escarbuncle ring (with no crappy incorrect Latin!), I lost it.

Yesterday, while hanging up the laundry, one of the horns on my amulet hooked on the edge of the laundry basket, and it yanked off the jump ring. I swear, I didn't hear it land at all. Certainly not on the hard wood floor, or the bookcase, or any of the other items it would have made a noise hitting.

But it's not on the carpet in the open, either.

Dangit. I'm going to have to take that room apart to find it. And of course, it's the room with ALL THE CRAP I throw back there for lack of a better place.

Grr.