(no subject)

I have been a registered voter since I was 18. That's been... a long time now. I have *never* been called for jury duty. My oldest son is 19 and has been a registered voter for just over a year. He has to report to jury duty on Tuesday. I have no idea what consideration they give to college students. He's obligated to report every morning for the next 30 days, which means if they don't let him out of it, he's likely to fail the semester. And just to complicate the timing, I have an interview Tuesday afternoon. So depending on how long it takes him to get excused, he may have a bit of a walk home.

I got my income tax refund today, so tomorrow will be spent playing catch-up. Danny broke his glasses, and Sears is doing a $99 sale, so that will be first on the list. Then I have to find out what store still has ice-melt or rocksalt. The driveway at the house is about 2' thick with slush on top of of a foot (or more) of ice. The Ex got her Jeep hung up on it today and $120 later a tow truck got it pulled out. I tried chopping out the worst of it, but doing it all will take days and my arms would fall off long before I was done. So I'm going to rely on my 20+ years of business experience, and throw some more money at the problem and get some ice-melt or salt to dump on it.

Then I'm going to Borders and getting me a new book or three, a new CD (maybe the new Springsteen; I have a track from it on my playlist on my myspace page), a new magazine or two, and maybe even a ridiculously expensive latte just because.

busy day

Even though I didn't get up early as I intended, I still got a lot done today. Apparently I'm at the age where trying to dig a car out of a snow bank and chopping ice off of a driveway wears me right out. Lots of sleep and a hot shower helped.

We got Danny new glasses, and because his old pair were still under warranty, I got them for sixty dollars instead of ninety-nine. So we (me, the kids and their mom) celebrated the unexpected savings with lunch at the food court.

As we were finishing lunch, I asked Samantha if she still wanted to get her ears pierced. She had asked some time last year if she could for her birthday, and being the good, traditional Dad that I am, I told her it was fine with me, but she had to talk to her mom about it too. However, this was the first her mom was hearing about it, but she didn't mind. I think she was even a little impressed, because she didn't get hers done until she was 13 and was even scared to then, which she told Sam about today. I took Sam to the jewelry kiosk by the food court to pick out some earrings. She wasn't sure what to get, so I suggested her birthstone, which is the garnet. Sam liked that idea, and the earrings they had, so that's what we got. She flinched a little, but that was it. I'll try to remember to bring my camera tomorrow when I go get Brandon so I can take her picture. I have some photo paper around here, I should print a copy for her, too.

After the mall, it was the search for ice melt pellets. Walmart was out, and so was Lowes, but the girls at the paint counter said that the hardware store by the post office has some, so I'm guessing this was popular quest this weekend. And they were right. I got a 40lb bucket, which ought to at least make a dent in the mess, if not easier to chop out the ice. Plus I'll have the Big Kid tomorrow afternoon to help me.

I then dropped the kids and their mom back at the house, went back downtown and hit the grocery store to stock-up on food and stuff for me, and then Borders. I picked-up a copy of Linux Journal, a copy of Coin World, the new Bruce Springsteen disk Magic (although I should stop buying music at Borders, I'm paying way more than I need to), and a book.

I didn't have a book in mind, which is just foolish. There's tons of books out there that I know I want to read. As meticulous as I am about some things, you'd think I'd have a list. But no. I am usually a very good shopper, even spontaneously so. But a book isn't like clothes, there's no "trying it on".

Alan Alda has a new book out, Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself. It must have been out for a while, because it wasn't 20% off like all the new hardbacks are. And at $24.95, I just couldn't do it. I don't know if it's saving the five bucks, or if twenty dollars is some psychological tipping point for me, or if the 20% is enough of a savings that I've completely bought-in to thinking it's a bargain, or what that matters. But I just couldn't get that book at that price.

So I wandered aimlessly through the stacks until I came across Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum. I had heard of him previously, but I have not ever read any of his works. I got this solely on the strength of the blurb on the back, which reminded me terribly of The Difference Engine, even though it's a different author, time period, and subject.

And then I got a decaff gingerbread latte. It was a little bit of heaven in a cup!