Saturday, September 20, 2008
Jim Hacker doesn't have a door handle on his front door, and not just because it's uninstalled like ours. The Hackers have a very strange front door. It has three locks (I guess...) and no handle or frame! It's pretty cool actually.
Posted at 2:38:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
I finished watching the whole series except for the final episode where the show turns into Yes, Prime Minister.
Things I learned about so far on Yes, Minister: 1) the Chief Whip, 2) lurking quangos, and 3) Queen Anne brand whisky (now I've noticed that it's Hacker's brand of choice in multiple episodes).
Note that tv.com misspells the name of Episode 20, "The Whisky Priest." They spell it "Whiskey"! It's clearly "whisky" since Queen Anne is scotch whisky. (Also it's correctly spelled that way on the title card for the actual episode.) Yeah, I'm obsessed with whisky vs. whiskey. Also I really like whips. I mean, just the idea of a person being a whip. That is a cool concept/context for the word whip. I think the LC needs a Chief Whip. Knowing what a whip is was handy when Robert came to visit because he mentioned the party whip and I actually sort of knew what he was talking about!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Ak, I have such fear & loathing for autumn. I just do.
Posted at 10:13:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
We went to a new restaurant tonight! (Not ION--shocking!) It was really good except that the service was incredibly snaily because it was very busy but there were only two waitresses. It's a Thai place in South Glastonbury, and the food was very Dara's-esque. Even the mango sticky rice was good! We drove right by the Draghi Farm Store on the way back (waah!).
I made a plan in Publisher to figure out my autumn bag scheme. I didn't really need to, but it was very enjoyable rendering it visually like that, and involving in a way that refreshed my Autumn Aversion-weary brain.
Wowowow. The four fir feet stand is so WOW!! We just finished the final gluebing. It's AMAZING.
Posted at 1:49:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Posted at 7:53:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
At Suder's today, Suder warned me that the place is closing for the season on the 27th or 28th! Noooo!! He also called me "Laura." I am amazed that he remembers my name. What are we going to do when there's no more corn???
Our new door fixtures came today! We've had no door handle on the front door since it was painted. Good way to discourage visitors. Heh heh.
Photo above is of the autumn bag elements so far. The colors are a little more intense than in real life (the end section is magenta, not hot pink, and the real thing has a subtle striped texture/pattern; it's not solid), but yeah. It's going to be pretty ALB-ish. Haven't fully decided on the lining yet.
I've been wearing my snuggly new Milo in Maine fish shirt with my Uptown Consignment skirt with the gigantic orange poppies on it. It's a very good combo (the greens complement each other well), and makes that skirt look autumnal even though I'd never before imagined it as anything but a screamingly summery skirt. Speaking of which, I've been meaning to make a Note to Future Self so I'll remember for next summer: my other new favorite outfit is that same skirt (in summer mode) with my modded-to-fit Uptown pale green patterned "PJ top" (as Dean calls it, because it sort of looks like one). I discovered that they go together right before Portland Pt. Two, and have been wearing the combo lots ever since. It's great because I could never figure out what matched that skirt before, so I hardly ever wore it even though I like it a lot. So, Future Self of Next Summer, wear this!
The problem with Yes, Minister is that, even when you've promised yourself that you're going to stop after this episode--and you're very tired and are all convinced that you're really going to do it this time--when you get to Sir Humphrey's "Yes, Minister" at the end, and the subsequent applause and the surge of themesong, you feel compelled to watch another! It's like an adrenaline rush! It's just plain sinister!
Posted at 2:50:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
Episode 17 was great.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Posted at 5:28:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
I started actively working on my new autumn bag. Step one: imagined it out in my head last night when I should have been falling asleep. Step two: bought two zippers. Yeah, I bought zippers, even though I have a collection of about ten thousand old ones [edit: a few of the ones in that photo are now installed in things or given to my mom]. But none of them were the right color! And zipper color is key. I need good autumn colors here, if this bag is going to embrace autumn. So I brought the scarf with me and held it up to lots of zippers, and I ended up getting a "fuchsia" zipper for the top and a "tango" zipper for the front pocket. Yep, TANGO is the name of the zipper color. It's a nice deep orange.
[Edit: Uh... after I published this post I realized that my new zippers match the ALB stripe at the top of the page almost perfectly. Heh.]
Wow, it pays to investigate/fiddle with one's BC. I fixed my new one so the buckle in the front it's actually an appropriate tightness and it doesn't have a thousand inches of excess belting material sticking out the ends when I cinch it up! It's a huge pain and really difficult to see since it's all black on black, but there are thingies in the back, inside the BC, where you can control how long the belting is in front. It took about five adjustments per side to get it short enough, but it's perfect now, and my only injury was to my constantly injured right index knuckle (every time it heals, I hurt it again opening Tango's door latch). I can't wait to show Dean!
Posted at 1:58:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
[Edit: Here's a picture I took of our two brand new BCs this morning, before I fixed the belting length. Mine's the one on the left. See what an insane amount of belting is hanging out the ends, flopping around?? And the buckle wasn't anywhere near tight--that was just as tight as I could get it without running into the edge of the BC! Now it fits just right.]
[Edit PS: If you happen to be related to me (Wendy), you might recognize that couch. :-)]
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
I washed my special free Milo fish shirt and it fits perfectly, other than the sleeves being slightly too short (just short enough to show off my Mido watch). It's incredibly snuggly.
Posted at 7:52:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
I am tired tonight.
Oh yeah, Actual Good Thing About Autumn, #3: spaghetti squash from Suder's.
I'm on episode 15 of Yes, Minister already. I'm addicted to Yes, Minister.
Grinny GRIN!! There was a surprise Milo in Maine shirt waiting for me when I got up today! It was sent FedEx, and Dean must've found it at the front door and brought it inside. It's long sleeved and this great Atlantic-ocean-in-winter green color, with a white fish on the front! A cod. On the pinned-on Milo in Maine tag is a handwritten "kids' size 12 (this will shrink!)" The Milo in Maine representative dude is so NICE!!! :-) I want to wash it immediately!! It's big now, but I think it will be perfect when it does shrink. It looks terribly cozy, especially with the long skinny sleeves and the snuggly moss color. Good Thing About Autumn #2: long-sleeved Milo in Maine shirt!
Posted at 1:22:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
I showed Dean this new little bulgy muscle I just noticed on my arm.
Posted at 1:49:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
Dean: "Nice! Is that your triceps?"
Me: "I guess so. It must be from the tri-machine."
Me, as an afterthought: "I have one on the other arm, too!"
Monday, September 15, 2008
Our new scuba gear is all ready! (!!) Dean brought it home tonight. It's very cool, and niftily compact. I think the BC hose should be shortened, though. I like the pressure gauge! It's nice and little, and hangs down to just the right length. And my new Wave Jr. BC is nice, all black with silverish accents and a little bit of lime green (just the logos), which matches my snorkel. Anyway, I haven't fully grasped the idea that we actually own our own gear now. I probably won't until we start using it.
Posted at 11:15:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
I went to Lyman's this afternoon to restock the peach supply, and their Asian pears are ripe now! I ate one in the car. Lyman's Asian pears are the best. I mean, Lyman's peaches are the best, but Lyman's Asian pears are the best Asian pears.
Maybe I need to make an "Actual Good Things About Autumn" list again this year. Item 1: Asian pears.
Today's the day the new location of ION Market opened, but I didn't go yet. I'm scared of it! I'm kind of bummed that they moved to a new building, because now I won't walk by the Tibetan Bazaar on the way anymore. Speaking of which, I found my second Tibetan Bazaar cashmere scarf in my closet today (I'd forgotten about its existence), which is very good because I've been thinking I need to make a new bag for autumn, and that it should be like my Tibetan Bazaar scarf Winter Bag and my Ocean Bag (which I've been using pretty much nonstop this summer), but not wintery or oceany. We shall see if this develops. If so, maybe it'll be thing #2 that's good about autumn.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
I did all the awls!
Posted at 10:52:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Guy waxing his plane in the hangar next to ours, gushing over Tango:
Posted at 9:03:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
"This is the nicest Cherokee I've ever seen."
"That's a clean machine... It just gleams."
(And lots more, but my brain is like a sieve.)
Note to future self: don't get so-called cappuccino at Nancy's.
Waxing guy, to Dean after we got back:
"You look happy.... You look like one of the happiest pilots I've seen in a while."
I forgot to post about how crazy I am about the four fir feet! I love how stripey and spindly they look. The proportions make me all giddy!
Posted at 1:04:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
I've reined back my Yes, Minister viewing to 2 per night. [Edit, 9/15: I'm up to episode 12 now!]
Robert's visit was excellent. We had Savage cookies and milk (everyone agreed milk was the proper accompaniment for cookies).
Also, after David's visit I e-mailed Robert and asked him if he remembered the name of the final rock at Turtle Isle. He didn't, but said he was pretty sure that it has a very sinister sounding name. I suggested it could be Alcatraz. (I have no idea whatever what the name was, but Alcatraz is a pretty sinister sounding island, so it seems to fit.) So when he came over, he said he'd been thinking about it quite a bit and that he is almost sure I am right, that the final rock was Alcatraz. Must tell David.
I also showed Robert my coin collection (Robert, in the midst of looking at them all, "I hate coins.") He said "COOL!!!" in a very extreme manner when he saw the one from the German Empire.
Dean got a very nifty new GPS/satellite weather device for Tango, and it also gets XM radio, so we tried it out on the way to and from Nantucket yesterday. The 70s channel had an old Casey Kasem show on, and I got to listen to the end of the Top 40 for the week ending September 13, 1975! The number one song was "Rhinestone Cowboy." :-)
I also wore my Milo in Maine jellyfish shirt all day for the first time. It was excellent. Love LOVE my jelly shirt. Unlike last time, Nan was very uncrowded. The offseason is the greatest! Wonderful Nan, so relaxed and companionable. We had lunch at Even Keel and hounded to the Kerry beach, where we went on a nice nice wander/combing.
I LOVE love hounding on that Nan trail. LOVE. I wore my Oshima beater (snuggly!) and Ugg shoes hounding since it was cool out, and they didn't hurt my toes this time. I also listened to my autumn playlist on my iPod instead of my summer one. It was good, but I am still not welcoming autumn.
Mint chocolate chip ice cream in a warm waffle cone after, from The Juice Bar (complete opposite of our last visit, in July: almost empty!). Me, eating it on the bench across the road: "This is the best ice cream cone ever."
Cat Stats: Total Distance - 13.96 miles; Average Speed - 9.5; Max Speed - 23.3; Time - 1:27'54.
I forgot to put my CatEye back on for a little while after the beach, so a little bit of the mileage might be missing... but it's possible it worked anyway, from inside my bag. Not sure. Last time we went to that beach the distance was 14.78 miles.
