Doctor Martens and Dill Pickle Cashews

On Thursday, I found out that my clutch was dying (not really a big surprise) and that it would cost nearly $1,000.00 to fix.

On Friday, my glasses broke. They didn't so much break as a screw came loose, but I didn't have a screwdriver small enough to fix it.

Also on Friday, I noticed on iTunes that the B52's had a new cd out (came out last week), 16 years since their previous release. Cindy Wilson is back with the band as well. I listened to some of it on iTunes and was very tempted to download one or two tracks immediately, but instead I decided to go out and buy the cd. I've been pretty good and haven't bought anything new in at least 3 weeks, so even though I'm trying to save money, I figured I could allow myself to buy a cd. Moreover, I'd read on Amazon.com that there was an exclusive deal at Wal-Mart (or so I thought I read) that not only had the cd for $11.98, but it came with a special exclusive limited bonus cd containing 5 live tracks, not available anywhere else, only available while supplies last. That sounded too good to pass up.

Saturday I was running late and decided at the last minute not to stop at Fred Meyers to get my glasses fixed, but I did make a side trip on the way to Writer's Night down to Wal-Mart near the Supermall to get my B52's cd. They didn't have it. I was quite sad, and I kept thinking "I can stop at Silver Platters on the way up and get it," or "I can stop at Fred Meyers in Ballard and get it," but the whole idea was to get the special exclusive extra tracks.

At Writer's Night I discovered that my computer's fan is finally dead. I wrote to MaxData when I got home asking how I could get another fan -- it looks very easy to install, easy access when the back panel is removed, but I'm not sure how easy it is to buy a new fan.

On my way home I decided to stop at Wal-Mart in Renton, because Wal-Marts are open 24 hours, right? Well, some are. The one in Renton is not.

This morning I was planning a trip back up to the Renton Wal-Mart, but first I double-checked what I thought I'd read on Amazon.com. As it turns out, the exclusive bonus disc deal is available at Target, not Walmart. Kinda surprises me that Target has an exclusive deal like that. So I did a search on Taget to find out what the nearest one to me was (I never shop there). There was a Target in Kent, but the map didn't look familiar. I searched on Map Quest where i could expand the map and see more of the surrounding area. I was surprised to realize that the Kent Target was South and East of downtown Kent -- actually, directly North of where I live, in an area I thought of as "unexplored wilderness" because I hadn't gone there before. I could drive there by going down back roads. That sounded like fun.

At some point I decided to wear my Doc Martens. I don't even know what made me think of them. I bought them for a very good price from one of the guys who bought salvage from us when I worked at WOSCA, and then I discovered that they were stiff leather and hurt to wear, so after 1 or 2 days I stopped wearing them. I think skyoxford even asked about buying them from me once, but I didn't want to sell them, and I'm not sure they would have fit him anyway. I just needed to break them in. Doc Martens are legendarily well-made boots, famous because punks in Britain wear them, and I always wanted to keep mine, but for years I did nothing about breaking them in.

So anyway, I wore them today. They're still stiff, and dusty too. They cut into my fat ankles. I'm sure if I work them in they'll feel much better, but for now they're kind of painful to wear. But not wearing them for ten years or so has done nothing to break them in, so I'm going to try to wear them a bit more, just not to work or in situations where I have to keep them on all day.

I made the trip up to Target on 104th in Kent. It was a fun trip through back roads I've never been on, but I didn't get lost. Sadly, they didn't have my B52's cd either, although I could see the tag that said it was on sale for $11.98. I headed North from there, and almost immediately came to the intersection near the Kent Fred Meyers and the large Dollar store, so I knew instantly where I was. I had no idea I could get there driving the back roads like I did.

I drove up to the new Target across from Fry's, and here I found exactly one copy of the B52's cd. The sticker said it was $14.98, but the cardboard tag said it was on sale for $11.98 (just as it had at the other Target), and it did indeed include the bonus 5-song cd that you can't get anywhere else. I wandered the store and picked up some flavored water, some diet Dr. Pepper, and some nuts, including a plastic container of dill pickle-flavored cashews. They're actually pretty good.

I only meant to buy the one cd, but I also saw the Vampire Weekend cd for $9.99, and I couldn't pass that up. Now I'm thinking that I should really try to limit myself to one cd a week at the very most, so maybe I won't open this cd until next week and make it my cd purchase for next week.

My total came to more than I'd expected, and when I checked the receipt I saw that I had indeed been charged $14.98 for the B52's cd. I walked straight over to Customer Service, where the woman behind the counter apparently couldn't find anything about the sale but decided just to refund me the difference anyway.

Having spent some money already, I resisted going into Fry's. I need to buy a laptop cooler pad thingy like jeffreycornish lent me during writer's night, but I need to get my laptop fan fixed first anyway or it won't really matter.

I stopped at Fred Meyers on the way home and got my glasses fixed. It took 30 seconds, and that includes cleaning them.

My car goes back into the shop tomorrow to get the clutch fixed.

It's bright and sunny out. It's a nice day. Last night as I was driving home it was raining, but a lot of cars had snow on them. This afternoon on my back-road drive to Target I passed a school yard with a Snowman still sitting on the front lawn.

(no subject)

( Today's Song: Hot, Pink, Distorted by 50 Foot Wave )