Utils in Bat Country

Wordless Wednesday

And snow it begins

Name Game

Remember how I can't stand Stephanie and Swistle's commentors told me I was crazy for changing it and I said do not care, goodbye Stephanie!

So that's still going on (the name thing, not the being called crazy thing. At least, not by Swistle's commentors. Assuredly, by many other people though, as expected).  Much to the dismay of my mother.

My funny, funny extended family all had themselves a conversation a few weeks prior to Thanksgiving where they decided it would be hilarious if each of them picked out a new name for the place cards whereas mine would say Stephanie.  I'm told tears of laughter flowed during the picking out process. I'm actually pretty impressed by their cleverness.  Golf claps of approval, family.

Thus I was greeted by these at the Thanksgiving table.

How much do I love that Gma named herself Scarlett.  Fabulousness, right there.

And my own forlorn name looking even more despicable next to all the others new names of coolness.

My aunt, fellow romance novel lover, won name of the day with her choice of Sorcha.  Made even better when my cousins said she got it from one of her books.  Hee!  And I love the name and the series it's from so that makes it all the better.  Obviously must refer to her as Sorcha forevermore.

Caaaaaarrrrrr!

Nothing like a Khan reference to start the week off, amirite?

My drive to NJ on Friday was mostly uneventful, save rush hour in Philly.  I hit the outside of the city right at 4pm and went 6 miles over the next 57 minutes. Nothing like navigating downtown rush hour, in the dark, in the rain, the night before a holiday.  My route takes me over the Walt Whitman bridge and as I approached, a big sign flashing "Long delays at WW Bridge, NJ bound to Ben Franklin" heralded my doom. Options were to try and find this new route (in the dark, rain, and traffic) or deal with the delays.  So I dealt with the delays.  Miraculously, that part of the trip was actually pretty zippy.  And then came the fun of getting into the right lane after the exit only peels off but before missing the exit onto my highway.  (In the dark, rain, and traffic).  Nothing wakes you up after a 10 hr drive quite like seeing a space to move over and switching lanes right as the car in front of you slams on their brakes and you look over from the merging to see a taillight 5 inches from your face.  But made it safe, sound and there was east coast pizza waiting for me.

Saturday, UP and I went out to check all my various fluid levels and see how things looked and it made his point of omg you've never had your spark plugs or battery changed ever all the more emphatic when he could vehemently gesticulate towards the relevant auto parts.

Sidenote - did you know you're supposed to regularly wash the engine bay of your car?  While I never actually thought about it, when my hood was popped and UP was gasping over the state of the dirt, my logic went a) it's under the hood and b) aren't there a lot of moving parts that I shouldn't be scouring with a washcloth?  But apparently, I am wrong.  Engine bays should be cleaned.  So I got me a soapy bucket of hot water and a scrubby glove and went to town.  40 minutes and one sparkling engine bay later, UP was appeased. 

He noticed my coolant reservoir was basically empty and said it probably wasn't that big of a deal, when the engine is cold the coolant is in the engine and then when the car is warm, it fills the tank again, you're probably fine bla bla.  All I heard was coolant and empty.  After taking a look at my panic stricken face, he said we would take a run over to Auto Zone and pick some up.  But first!  Into the office to research prices.  I scoffed a bit (shoes, I'll research but a $15 bottle of coolant?) but after checking out the area store prices, we found a rebate at Advanced Auto so off we went.  Yes, Virginia, I do see how 2 minutes of research saved me $9 dollars.  I promise, cross my heart, to research more in the future (am already tasked with sourcing out battery sales since mine is probably reaching the end of its lifespan. Nearly keeled over when I was getting my oil changed before the drive and the girl next to me was being told that in this part of the country batteries only last 4-5 years and mine is going on 5+ but where I would have run out and gotten a battery installed that very day, will do as told and do my due diligence and wait for a sale)

[I totally just stopped writing this for 10 minutes to fill out the rebate paperwork b/c it has to be done w/in 30 days of purchase and if I didn't do it right when I reminded my mind I had said rebate, I'd dig it out of my suitcase next summer when packing for the shore]

Anyway.  So I'm feeling all sorts of proud of myself for learning about my car and asking questions and getting things done.  I even got my first auto repair injury

Am so cool now.

So I was feeling pretty good about everything when I set off yesterday back across the wilds of the Mid-Atlantic.  Was a bit nervous about the storms so decided to skip my annual bfast in Hbg and get as far as possible before the storm and I crossed paths (the mountains of the PA turnpike are not fun in inclement weather). Was trucking along, making pretty good time, had just stopped for gas and was getting ready for the last 160 miles across PA when I glance at the dash.  And what to my wondering eyes should appear?

Maintenance required.  What now?!  You just had maintenance.  Fancy oil change and transmission top off and coolant added.  What do you possibly need?  I, of course, start to hyperventilate because am in the middle of nowhere omg car is going to explode.  Try and call Dad, no answer.  Figure after the weekend he was used to it so called UP and spluttered out everything.  After making sure it was the maintenance required light and not the check engine light, he said it was probably fine, it may be signaling some other higher mileage service that's built in to its computer, temp is fine, no weird noises, keep on going.  Dad called back awhile later and reaffirmed.

(The light has gone on before but usually it blinks at me for a few days when I start the car and then one day just stays on after I start it up.  This is the only time it's ever come on while I've been driving, mocking me, daring me to keep going through the uncharted hills and valleys of Ohio)

They both said the next time I stopped for gas, I could pop the hood and check the oil to make sure there wasn't a leak somewhere and while I may be reveling in my new I know things about vehicles status, I was most definitely not going to start poking around in the middle of some random (and all overcrowded) rest stop hours from anyone coming to save me should I twist something and then oops, that probably wasn't supposed to come off.

I kept going, monitored all the gauges, everything was fine.  Now that I'm back and driving all my normal places, the vise around my ribcage has eased and I'm ignoring it.  (I can see UP shaking his head in disgust).  I'll take it to one of the auto places where they have the fancy diagnostic computer and get it all plugged in to see just what was so important it couldn't wait till today when I was back in the land of 10 minute distances to repair places.

Caaaaarrrrrrr!

Happy Thanksgiving!

From Tass in B'more and S in NJ, a toast to everyone on the Internet.  While Tass prepares her Tofurkey and S delights in the bacon wrapped turkey (oh yes), we wish everyone the most delicious of days.

Bootie review and mini roundup

Why, yes, I am shoe shopping instead of tackling my to do list. What 10 hour drive in the rain, pish. But by the time this goes up, I'll be making good time traversing the million hundreds of miles of turnpike. I've wanted a shearling type bootie since last year.  My brief flirtation with the so disappointing TB boots aside, I've been unwilling to shell out investment sized dollars for trendy sized shoes.  Still. Didn't stop me from bookmarking and spying on all my favored picks hoping for sizable markdowns.

Some of the contenders:

Modcloth Apline Atelier.  Name aside (am a sucker for marketing), way too pricey.

The Zara Crepe Wedge Boot.

Slightly better on price but still.  Too much.

And then, on a quick (they're never quick) trip to Target, I wandered by the shoe section and on an end cap spied these fun things

(They look much cuter in person)

Reasonably comfy, even with the platform (I hate platforms, old holdover from my dance days, I think.)  And for $28, they'll satisfy this trend quite nicely.

Well done, Target!

It's not snow. It's not snow.

It is, however, a giant swath of dark green spreading across my entire 10 hour drive.

At least, that's where weather.com tells me it'll be come my 6am wake up call.

But. It's not snow. It's not ice. It'll be fine. Nothing will stand in my way of Grandma's tortellini soup!

Safe travels to everyone out and about this week.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Movie Memories

I dropped my car off this morning to get the oil changed and tires rotated prior to the big drives on Wed/Sun.  While walking back from the mall to the office, my tired mind was thinking about the movies and I remembered a couple I used to babysit for said they never went to the movies but just bought everything on DVD.  I initially scoffed because that doesn't seem very smart but it actually seems to make a fair amount of sense.

1. Especially if you have kids, no babysitter.

2. With ticket prices as they are, two tickets is equal to if not more than the cost of the dvd.

3. The ability to watch the movie in bed, in pajamas.

And for any movie you watch more than once, you're saving yourself at least a rental cost.

Quite clever, actually.  Of course, these were the ones I later found out fled the state due to tax evasion.

Coat of magic?

There's this coat from Old Navy.  I saw it and loved it and agreed with SP that it was quite Duchess Kate.  Had an online coupon, snagged it for $65.  Not even two weeks later, while the coat was still in its online shipping bag, new and unworn, there was an in-store promotion of 40% off your purchase.  And the coat was already on sale so I rebought it for something like $48.  Now the coat has made it to hanging in my closet, still with tags, still unworn and I get an email that says tomorrow from 12-5 in-store, all adult outerwear is 75% off.  I have no idea if my store even has any in stock but whether it's full price or the online sale price, 75% off mean it'll still be under $48.

Maybe the 3rd time will be the charm?

My big fat Greek..., wait, I'm not Greek

[Though, really, if you swap out the lamb for pasta, essentially the same family dynamics]

I'm pondering some big life decisions but since I am unable to be completely spontaneous, I temporarily soothed the plan and logic loving beast in my brain by sending out an exploratory email, complete with bullet pointed discussion topics, to my aunt and uncle, who play a significant part in the plan.

They write back, say call us later when you're out of work.  I get home, bundle up, and get ready to wander around in the dark with Miss Sassypants so I can have a non-dropped conversation.  We get on the phone and they're all making soup and I hear gma say, oh, hello Stephanie, I thought your letter was so funny.  I'm trying to figure out which letter she's talking about when I realize she's talking about the email... that I didn't send to her.  Wasn't a problem, I didn't care, but that should have alerted me to what was ahead.  Then my uncle says how everyone thought it was hilarious and I'm laughing when I ask, well, who is everyone?  Did you send it to all your friends and relatives?  Nope, just your father.

My. Whatwhonow? My father.  Why would you send it to my father?  Well, before we proceed with the plan, I wanted to make sure he was in the loop and make sure I had his blessing and support. At this point, I'm just trying to figure out exactly when my life became a Nia Vardalos movie.

I was laughing but I was a little annoyed.  And no one could figure out why. So I explained that as a 30 yr old living in 2011, I didn't need the men in my family talking to the other men in my family to determine the course of my life.  Then I went off on some tangent about moving to Nova Scotia regardless of what any of the in charge men thought but that was more for my own enjoyment of the dramatic.  My uncle was a little taken aback that I was having such a reaction and at that point I just gleefully said how much I was looking forward to Thanksgiving.  Oh, the fun that will be had.

[Wasn't so much upset that my father's permission was sought, that part is so ridiculous that I find it funny, more that I - in my tight fisted grip on life - like to control who reads what, when.  Not that I wasn't going to involve my parents in my life plans but I was caught off guard knowing that Dad had read what I sent.  Nothing in there that I was uncomfortable with him seeing but I had to do a quick mental scan and make sure because there are other things influencing this whole process that I wouldn't want him to see in as frank a manner as I might phrase them if I was talking to my aunt]

I hang up with them and immediately call Dad.  He answers and I say "So, I hear that you - as the man and head of household [since I am single and a spinster] - have been approached regarding my future?"  And, smart man, he just starts to laugh.  Ever since I went off to school Dad has always been your life, your decisions so I wasn't worried at all about his possible response to my uncle, but the whole situation was so antiquated that I couldn't resist turning the screws a bit.  Of course Dad was conciliatory and said we all love you and support you and he was just being a good brother-in-law and we all want what's best for you, etc.  Yes, yes, I know.

He'll get his come Christmas dinner.

6, no, 13

On Sunday, C and I had one of our always looked forward to brunch/mall afternoons.  We went into Coach so I could pet the bag that I've been eyeing (the Mini Sophia Satchel - that plum color!)  I had a coupon from them in the mail that expired that day and still some on the gift card from 2+ years ago and I was swaying against pretty purse temptation.  Then the bow bracelet caught my eye and I began flinging myself hither and yon about the store trying to ignore the voice in my head that said buy both.  After much dithering, finally admitted that the bag wasn't big enough to hold the ipad so I wouldn't get a ton of use out of it and needed to let it go.  Took my purchases up to the register and while checking out the associate asked where the bar code was on the card and then another came over and said oh, this expired on the 6th.  To which I completely bewilderedly responded, "it's not the 6th?"  I was thinking oh maybe that was yesterday and today's the 7th?  And C looked at me and very slowly said, it's the 13th.  My mind lost an entire week.  Haven't even been 30 for 3 months and it's already come to this.

But! Like a magical Christmas elf, another associate said they could still honor the discount.

Service like that guarantees repeat business from me.

Well played, Coach.  Well played, indeed.