Twas a tough Christmas season for our store this year. Things were looking good until the Thursday before, when it started to rain. The rain led to a sort of rural Midwestern paranoia regarding "black ice" which left the store empty. Friday the rain turned to snow, and although the final accumulation was less than 1", again the store lay dormant. I was hoping Saturday would make up for the bad weather, but it never really materialized. We did not "make it work."
After closing on my new home on the 15th, I drove back to Iowa (sick) for the family Christmas. In my family, my fellow siblings and I exchange gifts in a kind of white elephant ritual. The game allows us to maintain the illusion of thoughtfulness, while saving everyone a little dough and the hassle of having to actually think about what to buy for each person.
No doubt you have participated in a similar gift exchange, although more likely at work or with buddies than with your kin. Everyone brings one gift (or set of gifts), which are placed in the center of the room. We then draw numbers out of a hat. Family member #1 then picks a gift and opens it. #2 has the option of opening an unopened gift, or stealing the gift from #1. Etc, etc Once all the gifts are open, each person gets another shot at getting the gift they really wanted.
This year, I brought the first season of Monk. My sister-in-law first opened my gift. It was then passed, unwillingly to my brother-in-law. He proceeded to trade it back to me for the Presto pizza cooker I had opened. So I went home with my own present.
For Christmas day, my parents drove to Wisconsin. They brought a couple of gifts for me to open, one of which happened to be the exact pizza maker that had been taken from me at our gathering the weekend before. My mother thought I looked disappointed when it was taken from me. She's very perceptive but slightly off base. The look on my face was one of disappointment, but not at having lost the pizza maker. Instead, I was thinking about how lame it was for me to return home with the very gift I had brought.
Upon reflection, this is perfectly acceptable. I'm probably the only person in my family who would enjoy Monk, and I don't like it enough to buy it for myself. So in a way everything worked out.
And then I found $5.
Also, thanks to my dad, I have a working washer and dryer right here in my basement. Its amazing.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Free at Last
It's my last night in the hotel. By 10:00 tomorrow morning I'll officially be one of those "homeowners" you've often heard about but never really met. Well, I'm here to tell you, dreams really do come true. You can afford a cheap-ass condo in the middle of nowhere. Look. If I can do it...
I've just finished Partly Cloudy Patriot. I like Sarah Vowell, even though I get the impression from reading her books that she's basically an average person who just happened to luck into a pretty rad life. One thing I respect about her, though, is that much of her intellect is obtained directly from primary sources. She doesn't read the cliff notes - even if she has to learn Latin. I've always fancied myself as a sort of jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none kind of guy. I'm the guy who reads encyclopedia articles for depth, perspective, and scope on any given issue. I've often wondered how differently my opinions would have formed had I more often read source material rather than relying on someone else's processed interpretation of the matter at hand. Maybe its something I should revisit.
Who am I kidding. By tomorrow morning, all I'll be able to think about is whether or not that apricot paint really matches the sage window treatments I picked out. Of wondering if my basement is big enough for a pool table. Or attempting to make my furniture seem adequate for filling the extra space.
I've just finished Partly Cloudy Patriot. I like Sarah Vowell, even though I get the impression from reading her books that she's basically an average person who just happened to luck into a pretty rad life. One thing I respect about her, though, is that much of her intellect is obtained directly from primary sources. She doesn't read the cliff notes - even if she has to learn Latin. I've always fancied myself as a sort of jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none kind of guy. I'm the guy who reads encyclopedia articles for depth, perspective, and scope on any given issue. I've often wondered how differently my opinions would have formed had I more often read source material rather than relying on someone else's processed interpretation of the matter at hand. Maybe its something I should revisit.
Who am I kidding. By tomorrow morning, all I'll be able to think about is whether or not that apricot paint really matches the sage window treatments I picked out. Of wondering if my basement is big enough for a pool table. Or attempting to make my furniture seem adequate for filling the extra space.
Monday, December 11, 2006
The Surreal Life
I had to open by myself this morning. The first time at the new store. I managed to successfully shut off the alarm without the cops showing up, but i did forget to disarm the cash room vault before I opened it. Well, at least now I know that the alarm sounds like.
Tonight I went to see For Your Consideration at the London Road 6 cinema. One of the neat things about living in a small town is that its possible to go to a movie and be the only person in the theatre. This was the case tonight. Its hard to tell just how funny this movie is, but I can tell you that it had me laughing out loud - and remember, I was the only human in the entire theatre.
After the movie I headed to one of the OC's many many many gay bars. Just because it was not even 11, and i don't work until 2 tomorrow afternoon. One of the sales associates from my store was at the bar. Now, I have a hard enough time going to bars with the supervisors who work for me, so you can imagine how awkward I felt hanging out with one of the rank and file. On his turf no less. This is one of the drawbacks of small-town living: everyone knows your business.
I kept thinking about how inappropriate it would be for me to be drinking with this guy if I were still in the cities. But here, with so few of "the gays" around, it feels as if I have no choice but to disregard some of the typical rules regarding employee/boss interactions, and just try to have a good time. A cause at which I failed miserably, as its now only 1 and I'm home in bed for the evening.
I'm thinking of having a party at the new pad once I'm settled. You should come, and bring lots 'o friends. I like people with friends.
Tonight I went to see For Your Consideration at the London Road 6 cinema. One of the neat things about living in a small town is that its possible to go to a movie and be the only person in the theatre. This was the case tonight. Its hard to tell just how funny this movie is, but I can tell you that it had me laughing out loud - and remember, I was the only human in the entire theatre.
After the movie I headed to one of the OC's many many many gay bars. Just because it was not even 11, and i don't work until 2 tomorrow afternoon. One of the sales associates from my store was at the bar. Now, I have a hard enough time going to bars with the supervisors who work for me, so you can imagine how awkward I felt hanging out with one of the rank and file. On his turf no less. This is one of the drawbacks of small-town living: everyone knows your business.
I kept thinking about how inappropriate it would be for me to be drinking with this guy if I were still in the cities. But here, with so few of "the gays" around, it feels as if I have no choice but to disregard some of the typical rules regarding employee/boss interactions, and just try to have a good time. A cause at which I failed miserably, as its now only 1 and I'm home in bed for the evening.
I'm thinking of having a party at the new pad once I'm settled. You should come, and bring lots 'o friends. I like people with friends.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Baby its Cold Outside!
Icy cold early December day here. I've just looked and the current temperature in hong kong is a perfect 72 F.
The closing date for the new home looms on the horizon, and as of today I'm still working out the logistics for what is going to be one very busy weekend. Since i get so few weekends off this time of year, I have to squeeze closing on the home, moving my stuff here, driving to Iowa for the family Christmas, and driving back to settle in to the new place all into a small 4-day window. So far the plan is to close and move on Friday. Then drive to Iowa Saturday afternoon, and finally make a quick trip back Sunday evening to unpack and settle in on Monday. Tuesday it's back to work.
In one sense it's amazing that I've managed to score four days off in a row at this time of year. On the other hand, this seems like an unreasonable time frame in which to complete the above tasks.
Now, this El Perro del Mar video can take your mind off my troubles:
The closing date for the new home looms on the horizon, and as of today I'm still working out the logistics for what is going to be one very busy weekend. Since i get so few weekends off this time of year, I have to squeeze closing on the home, moving my stuff here, driving to Iowa for the family Christmas, and driving back to settle in to the new place all into a small 4-day window. So far the plan is to close and move on Friday. Then drive to Iowa Saturday afternoon, and finally make a quick trip back Sunday evening to unpack and settle in on Monday. Tuesday it's back to work.
In one sense it's amazing that I've managed to score four days off in a row at this time of year. On the other hand, this seems like an unreasonable time frame in which to complete the above tasks.
Now, this El Perro del Mar video can take your mind off my troubles:
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Yes Virginia
There is an Indian restaurant in the OC.
I went there for dinner just now in honour of Ben and the Rocks trip. (I figure they're somewhere over Hawaii about now)
My little piece of the far East is called Flavor of India, and it is attached to the Days Inn. Really its more of a conference room than a restaurant, and it took me the better part of two days of Internet research to verify its existence. Even then I had to drive by, and then finally ask the receptionist at the hotel if there was in fact still an Indian restaurant in the building before I got around to enjoying my meal.
All things considered it was pretty tasty - which is important when you have but one option. A little on the salty side, perhaps. Speaking of salty, you should have heard the woman sitting at the only occupied table besides my own. She was sitting with two cardiologists from UWEC, and she herself was presumably an English professor. The kind you would expect to find teaching literature in a town this size.
This woman was ridiculous in her naivety. At one point, she got stuck on something she'd allegedly heard on the radio about how Indian widows are required to give all their inheritance to the children, and then have to "beg on the streets." She was so convinced she was correct about this factoid that, in her ignorant bliss, she actually asked the waiter if this was true. And she kept repeating "begging on the streets" over and over, as if to reinforce just how superior she believed American society to be. He handled her surprisingly well, especially as I couldn't help but laugh at just how inconsiderate this woman was being.
I won't even go in to her comments on the 2006 Indian Telly Awards that was playing on the TV. Let's just say its a good thing Rajasree wasn't around to hear.
I went there for dinner just now in honour of Ben and the Rocks trip. (I figure they're somewhere over Hawaii about now)
My little piece of the far East is called Flavor of India, and it is attached to the Days Inn. Really its more of a conference room than a restaurant, and it took me the better part of two days of Internet research to verify its existence. Even then I had to drive by, and then finally ask the receptionist at the hotel if there was in fact still an Indian restaurant in the building before I got around to enjoying my meal.
All things considered it was pretty tasty - which is important when you have but one option. A little on the salty side, perhaps. Speaking of salty, you should have heard the woman sitting at the only occupied table besides my own. She was sitting with two cardiologists from UWEC, and she herself was presumably an English professor. The kind you would expect to find teaching literature in a town this size.
This woman was ridiculous in her naivety. At one point, she got stuck on something she'd allegedly heard on the radio about how Indian widows are required to give all their inheritance to the children, and then have to "beg on the streets." She was so convinced she was correct about this factoid that, in her ignorant bliss, she actually asked the waiter if this was true. And she kept repeating "begging on the streets" over and over, as if to reinforce just how superior she believed American society to be. He handled her surprisingly well, especially as I couldn't help but laugh at just how inconsiderate this woman was being.
I won't even go in to her comments on the 2006 Indian Telly Awards that was playing on the TV. Let's just say its a good thing Rajasree wasn't around to hear.
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