I'm back!

What a busy day. I had a cable appointment to fix the Internet this morning from 8 am-11 am so I had to be up early. The cable guy showed up a little before 9. He was very tall, perhaps 6'8", and my apartment isn't really made for tall guys, with it's lights on a strand hanging where I go under it but he had to duck. I apologised, but he said his home wasn't set up for height either. :) Anyway, he got it working, doing something outside at the box to make it compensate in terms of signal.

I had taken off from work since theoretically he could have been here till noon. I actually could have made it to the bus stop in time; in fact I did go out but went to the library to take some books back and waved to the bus driver once he started back up. I think he saw me and waited for me until I went up the hill to the library.

I didn't find anything I particularly wanted to read, but I think I may check out their Jim Butcher collection and see if I can get the Dresden Files stories I haven't read yet. On the 17th they're going to have a self-checkout station, which I find intriguing. It's always nice to talk to a real person, but I like self-checkouts, too, (or in the case of Lexington Clinic, check-ins) because they're often faster and you can avoid lines.

After that I caught the bus to Walgreens to pick up a prescription I'd ordered this morning. I was going to eat at Fazoli's, but they weren't open yet. I walked down to Great Harvest Bread and bought a loaf of cranberry white bread and got a slice of walnut bread with some cinnamon butter. Then I walked down to the new Family Dollar, which rather disappointed me. I was amused that there were some thin but otherwise nice blouses for my size in the Bugle Boy brand, which styles itself an all-American company but the shirts plainly stated they were made in places like Botswana and Bangladesh. Hmpf. I went out the the bus stop and waited for the bus. Did I mention that the low today was supposed to be 19 and the high about 35, with a strong wind making it seem worse?

So I was bundled up, but it was really cold, and I did something unwise but fortunately worked out okay. An older black man drove up and asked if I wanted a ride, and I accepted. (Yes, my mother did teach me not to get into cars with strange men, and I probably shouldn't have. It was a lapse in judgment, but he took me down to the transit station in warmth. He had Gospel music on and asked me if I went to church. I said no, and when he pressed the subject I explained (all true) that I used to go to church (mind you, it was a Unitarian-Universalist Church, which he'd probably not recognise as a real church), but with my car down I can't get there and the bus doesn't run out there. Granted, I haven't been to church in years (my ex and his partner go to the UU church, too, so I've avoided it). But it satisfied him. Which is good, just in case he was a serial killer who kill people who say they're Pagan, something I definitely avoided. Anyway, I think he was just trying to do a kindness, and I really appreciate it, even if he was a strange man in a car.

I took the Versailles Road bus out to Garden Springs to the Rusty Scabbard and got a couple of gift certificates (one for Chanukah, one for a belated game master's day--which is in March, I believe). I also picked up a book for a friend. Then I trudged over to what's left of Turfland Mall, having to go all they way around the building because the concourse is closed and there are no stores in the back anymore. I went to Staples and looked around. I picked up some bubble envelopes for future PaperbackSwap mailings. I also looked at the external hard drives. I have one on order from Office Max, but it's been on backorder for 10 days. I called to see if it had shipped, and after a very long wait on hold, I found out that it hadn't, and they couldn't give me a time frame for an exact date to expect it. The other day when I called they said it could be as long as 21 business days. I was going to cancel the order, but the lady checked on some conflicting information and they tracked down that it was no longer on backorder and would be shipping out today, which sounded rather convenient given the fact that I was about to cancel, but hey, as long as I get it within the next few days, I'm happy. It was a better deal than I would have gotten at Staples; the one I bought was a 500GB external drive for $79. The one I was looking at in the store was portable but $129. I have a project requiring that I back up the computer completely and I'd like to spend as little as possible.

Before the call of doom my friend called and asked me to pick up another book from the Scabbard. He thought I was at work and was trying to reach me before I went out. So after I was finished with the other business I trudged back over to the gaming store and got his book. Then I caught the bus, fortunately one going into the transit centre. I took another bus out and stopped by Subway to get some food for both of us and then to Kroger to pick up a few things. By now I had a nice bit of stuff in my library book bag, and bought yet another canvas bag from the grocery store for the food. I went to catch the bus on to my friend's, but there was a pretty bad accident at the intersection with police, a fire truck, and an ambulance, so I had to walk back a little to meet the bus, which was packed.

I finally arrived at my friend's house about 3:40. Now mind you, I'd been out in the weather since 9:30 and was really glad to be able to sit down (my feet and legs were really bothering me) and visit for awhile. I did a few things on the computer and a little bit around the house, but we talked for awhile and we watched a really great Doctor Who episode (David Tennant version) called 'Blink', which was very, very creepy.

About 10:30 I took a cab home. When I brought out a debit card, the driver literally cringed away from it and offered to give me a $1.50 discount and no tip if I had $8 in cash, which I did. I never had that problem before.

Whew. Oh, and this morning I also found out (once I got the phone back, which piggybacks onto the cable) that I had an appointment with my family doctor on Monday, which I totally missed because I haven't been taking my planner around with me lately (it's pretty bulky; next year's has all the same features but is much more streamlined) and I didn't think to get my messages remotely. So I rescheduled for next week.

Anyway, that I was my day. It's back to work tomorrow at both jobs. I've asked for Saturday the 19th off so I can do holiday shopping. I had to do the Chanukah present now because it starts tomorrow night. Monday I'm going to make latkes (both potato and cheese) for him. I also found the perfect 'two-tradition' card for a Jewish-Christian blended home. :)

Hope your day was nice. Tomorrow Santa (and more importantly, at least for me, Santa's horses) are coming to the hospital, and we get to wear jeans. Yay! Of course, I can't wear jeans at the gas station, so I'll have to bring a pair of pants to change into.