Freed To Do

When you have been consumed with chasing a college basketball team to as far as east of the Hudson River and a Bantam hockey team to Ottawa, Ontario, you find yourself relieved to have a weekend or two to catch up at home. Such was my last few days. I set my mind to accomplish a few things that needed doing.

The weekend kicked into gear Friday night. While my better half caught the latest HBO broadcast (cablecast?) of Sinbad, I tested out the old calf muscle then showered. We asked the lad if he was interested in going to the retreat with us. It is a local restaurant with great fish that we haven't been to in years. The lad was not interested so we compromised and headed out to the Olive Garden.

Saturday morning found me lounging in bed a bit while my wife headed off to Geneva then Ithaca; back to Geneva then home in the evening. Not long after she left, I dragged myself out of bed and headed out to Wegman's for a bagel and orange juice. After that I did some grocery shopping and discovered I had deleted all my check register spreadsheet files from my PDA.

Since I had back-up files at the office, I planned on heading over there after putting the groceries away. First, I stopped at the Hess station near Wegmans to get some coke that was on sale. I figured it would be a good idea to offer to get the son out of the house so I cooked him sausage and eggs with white toast to entice him to get out of bed.

After a quick visit to the office to upload the files I needed, we were off to Dick's and BJ's to check on some blades and to price the bike he wants for his birthday.

Once home, I cleared the crap that was blocking the four-drawer file cabinet I have been keeping in the basement for the last 8 years. I also cleared most of the junk that has accumulated in the front hall to make room for the file cabinet. It took some time to make the switch but I accomplished my mission while watching the Yankees come from behind to beat the Orioles.

I took a brief nap after than then tested the calf again. After showering, I drove the lad out to play laser tag then returned home after gassing up at BJ's and stopping at Wal-mart to price the minidisc players.

I caught up with my lovely bride upon my return home before she took a nap while I watched 12 monkeys. I woke her up at 10:30 so she could drive out to fetch the lad. After the movie, we turned in.

Sunday was yard-work day. The first item on the agenda was the hose spigot. The one we had has been leaking for the past few years and I bought a replacement last year. Sunday was the day I cut the other one out and soldered in the new one. I must have set a new personal record for completing a plumbing project. It was completed in less than a half hour.

Then I went out and de-thatched and raked and fertilized while listening to the Yankees lose to the Orioles. After relaxing while watching Pure Country with the wife, I headed back to Wegmans to buy some steak for dinner. We also had broccoli and garlic toast and salad with sour cream dressing, a recipe I learned from my mother. I bought some fresh mushrooms for the lady of the house and she nuked some spuds to complete the meal.

My mom called near the end of dinner to say hello and inform us that my Uncle was in Strong Memorial Hospital awaiting a liver transplant. My brother's cat ended up dead at the door to his house, soaked and bloody.

After dinner I read a bit and headed back to Wegmans yet again because I had a craving for Oreo cookies.

When I came home, I thought I smelled gas but when I checked the stove, all the knobs were up and down so I figured it was residual from when I turned them on to cook dinner. A couple of them do not light with the igniter and we need to use matches.

As it turned out, there was one burner that was up-and-down like the rest only it was 180 degrees meaning it was on all night. I discovered it in the morning when I woke up to get the paper a little before 6 a.m. I opened the front and back doors to air out the house then crawled back in bed. When I got up to get ready for work a while later, the odor had dissipated and was replaced with a pleasant fresh smell.