It's run errands day!
Aug. 4th, 2002 05:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miko2And why anyone would want to read about me running errands is a mystery to me, so I've hidden it all behing this link that you just clicked on!
You did? Oh, so I see your life is even more boring than mine, and you'll read anything put in front of you. Well, on with the story, vapid as it is.
But first! A recap of my exciting adventures from Saturday!
1. I waited all day for my new mattress to come.
2. After it came, I went to Kristin, David, and Ieva's house to game all afternoon and evening.
Wow! That was pretty exciting, wasn't it? Of course, there are a few details I left out... I got up before noon (amazing!) because I was afraid the mattress people would come early and wake me up. Then I got my old mattress and box spring (my GOD were they old!) out into the living room, ready to be taken away.
Then I waited. And waited.
I got a phone call saying the driver was an hour and a half behind. So I took a shower, then waited some more. I worried that maybe they'd come by while I was in the shower, and left already. But of course, I knew they would have left something like "tried to deliver, not home, call this number to reschedule". I mean, I work in transportation, I know how these things work. But still I worried a little.
I did laundry. That was a good thing. I watched baseball. That was a time wasting thing. I tried to move the hard drive from BEAST 1 to BEAST 2. That was a frustrating thing, because I couldn't make it work and because BEAST 2 is in the computer mini-case from Hell. It's like trying to do engine work on a 79 Honda Civic Automatic with Air Conditioning, which is something my family had when I was growing up so I know what a pain it is to work on. Ditto for the case my Bear Computer 200mhz machine is in... it's impossible to work on.
So anyway, back to baseball, watched some Escaflowne, then around 3:40 I decided to call the Bon and ask them what was up. I was just looking for someone to say "they're still on their way", but instead the guy on the other in decided to also remove the $50.00 delivery charge from my bill. Woo! Free delivery and Free removal of my old mattress/boxspring? Yeah baby! That's what I'm talking about!
And I did other things, like take out the trash and break down some of the cardboard boxes in my livingroom that have been there since I bought my 3 desks and 4 bookshelves for the computer room here.
And then they came. It too them less than 2 minutes to bring in the new mattress/boxspring and take away the old ones. I can only imagine what they went through at other people's houses that delayed them by several hours... and I hope they appreciate that I had everything set up and ready for them. ^_^
So I have a new mattress/boxspring. I even had new sheets to put on it. It sits about a foot higher, all told, than my old bed, which is a bit of a problem because I'm near the ceiling already. I hit the ceiling more than once last night... I might want to go with just the mattress, and forget the boxspring. We'll see.
I did say this was about me running errands, didn't I? And so it is.
Sunday was my day to run errands. This is because, during the week, I rarely leave the house early enough to do more than make a quick stop on the way to work, and because, on Saturday, well, I had to sit around all day waiting for my mattress and then I was late for the game.
So I made a big list of things I wanted to do, and I kept adding to it as I thought of things. Then on Sunday, I left the house about 1 pm.
The first thing on my list never materialized. I had some shirts and a jacket that my mom got me for my birthday, and she'd given me the reciept so I could take them back to Fred Meyers if I wanted. I had *thought* this was because the shirts were too small, but on inspection they were all XL which is plenty big, and the designs were fine, and the jacket was fine too... so that's one thing on my list that I didn't actually need to do.
So my First Stop was... Top Ten Toys. They didn't have any Oz bookx, but I bought a soft cuddly horse for my sister, like the one I got for my niece last month. This wasn't something on my list, but it was something I'd been planning to do for a while.
Second Stop: Dreamstrands, my comic book shop. I picked up my comics for the week... including Ranma 1/2 graphic novel 20, Girl Genius graphic novel 1 (the first issue of the comic wasn't great, but I guess I'll give Phil a second chance with the graphic novel). I also wound up borrowing the deluxe boxed edition of Escaflowne the movie from the shop owner... he doesn't like it and is going to sell it, and I expect that I don't like it either, since it differs from the series so much, and since the series is one of the best animated stories out there.
Third Stop: Half Price Books. I was hoping to find some non-Baum Oz books here, but no dice. The only thing they had that wasn't by Baum was "Visitors from Oz" which they had many copies of for $4.95. But I already ordered it online for $4.95 plus almost $4 shipping and handling... doh!
I didn't buy anything at Half Price, so you know I was pretty focused on my objectives. ^_^
Fourth Stop: University Book Store. They also had a hardbound copy of Visitors from Oz. This book sounds intriguing... Oz characters such as Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, and the Cowardly Lion come to Earth (the U.S.) to help restage "The Wizard of Oz" for the 100th anniversary of the publication of the book. Along the way they also run into Alice in Wonderland, and they get mugged in downtown New York... the reviews I've read make it sound like an uneven book that doesn't have the light-hearted flavor of the original series, and clearly they printed up tons of copies that are now being remaindered and sent to used book stores like Half Price... well, I'll see how it is when it shows up. Anything that has Dorothy meeting Alice and then going to New York to star in a musical based on her own adventures is at least worth checking out.
But among a wide variety of Baum books, both about Oz and his other children's books, the U-Dub didn't have any other non-Baum books... quite surprising, I was expecting them to be the one place that did. I wonder, does even Elliot Bay still carry a selection of the others? I need to check that out soon.
So I remained focused on my objectives and... well, wait a second. Shakespeare on cd? Oh, that would be fun to have! I drive an hour to work every day, after all. Hmmm, okay, I'll just pick up Twelfth Night here and... gee, it's on Naxos, the budget Classical label, only $15.98 for a 2-cd rendition of the play. Cool! I bet I can pick up others from them, visit their web site at www.naxos.com and order some more at some point. ^_^
(Now that I pause to look at their web site... it pretty much sucks. But the idea is, I can find a way to collect more Shakespeare on cd, I'm sure. And if Naxos has done more, I can do it cheaply.)
So anyway, I got away from University Bookstore without spending anything more than... wait! What's this? A book on writing titled "Dynamic Characters"? By Nancy Kress, a science fiction author I very much respect? Hmm....
So I remained mostly focused on my objectives and... oh, look, they also have those Discworld graphic novels... NO! NO! Must run out of store now!
... I bought just the Twelfth Night cds and the Dynamic Characters book. And I was very proud of my great display of willpower!
Stop Number... Where Was I? Oh Yes... Fifth Stop: Well, okay, I drove over to Barnes & Noble on the far side of the hill from the U-Dub Bookstore. Not that I ever intended to only hit bookstores, mind you! But I thought that they, at least, might possibly have a non-Baum Oz book.
They did. It was The Wonder City of Oz, by John R. Niel, who illustrated every L. Frank Baum Oz book except the first, many of Baum's non-Oz books, every Ruth Plimply Thompson Oz book (except 2 published in 1972 and 1976), and then wrote three of his own books and illustrated them. He also wrote a fourth book before dying, which was published in 1995 with illustrations by Eric Shanower.
So woo! Finally found a non-Baum Oz book that wasn't "Visitors from Oz". Unfortunately, this is also one of the four or five that I've ordered used via Amazon.com. Doh!
And Barnes & Noble also had "Visitors from Oz". Geez, what is it with this book? Does every bookstore in existance have copies of it? You'd think it was the only Oz book published since Baum died in 1920!
So, excecising more willpower, I left Barnes & Noble empty-handed and moved on to:
Sixth Stop: SIlver Platters! This was mostly a courtesy stop, since I knew they probably still didn't have any copies of "Hem" and they didn't. I also looked for the newest (vol 10?) Cardcaptor Sakura video, but no luck there either. Again, I bought nothing.
Seventh Stop: Northgate Mall. This turned into another courtesy stop, because the thing I wanted from Radio Shack turned out to be more complex and expensive than I had imagined, and therefore moved instantly from my "I think I need this" list to my "I can live without this" list. And Suncoast Video didn't have the Cardcaptor Sakura video I wanted, but I knew that already. Their who Sakura section seems depleated... you'd think someone had bought a bunch of CCS dvds from them in the last week or so.
Oh, that's right. I did. ^_^
Eigth Stop: Fred Meyers. This is, like, really close to Top Ten Toys and Dreamstrand Comics, so you would, like, have to wonder why I didn't stop there earlier and stuff. I guess I can't answer that. But I DID pick up some track lighting, bulbs for said track lighting, a nice new phillip's head screwdriver that I can use to take computers apart and stuff, a new quilted mattress cover for my new bed (the old one had many holes gouged into it by wires that protruded from my old mattress), and a few other things.
In fact, that was at least four things off my list right there. I looked at those featherbed things like Gene likes, but passed on them for today (just what I need... something to make my bed EVEN HIGHER). I also failed to locate a rubber plug for the toilet water tank in the spare bathroom... it was on my list, but it's not like the thing hasn't been broken for about five years. I'll fix it one of these days... all I really need to do is drive up to Sears.
Which brings me to:
Ninth Stop: Have I done enough running around? One of my plans was to pick up some computer stuff. I want a new case to transfer my 200mhz machine into. I think I'd like to buy a bare bones system to play with too. And I need to pick up some new ink cartridges for my printer soon.
But it's Sunday, and many computer shops are closed. It's Hydro Racing Sunday, which prompted me to only drive down into the U-District and then back home... it's just safer that way. ^_^ And mostly I was tired of running around. So my Ninth and Final stop was at Teriyaki Stop, for dinner. And then home, just in time to hear the final hydro race on the radio. Because hydro racing is like rilly important to me and stuph... and anyway I couldn't listen to the Mariners anymore, they were getting beat up.
But I got a lot of things accomplished... it looks like ordering online is the best way to go as far as collecting non-Baum Oz books, although I still need to check out Elliot Bay, and a trip to Powell's in Portland is certainly in order at some point in my future... and as for the cd of Hem, I think I can get that faster ordering online too, although I didn't check Tower Records. And maybe I should order that Card Captor Sakura dvd online as well.
And maybe I should get up early tomorrow and hit a computer store on the way to work. ^_^
You did? Oh, so I see your life is even more boring than mine, and you'll read anything put in front of you. Well, on with the story, vapid as it is.
But first! A recap of my exciting adventures from Saturday!
1. I waited all day for my new mattress to come.
2. After it came, I went to Kristin, David, and Ieva's house to game all afternoon and evening.
Wow! That was pretty exciting, wasn't it? Of course, there are a few details I left out... I got up before noon (amazing!) because I was afraid the mattress people would come early and wake me up. Then I got my old mattress and box spring (my GOD were they old!) out into the living room, ready to be taken away.
Then I waited. And waited.
I got a phone call saying the driver was an hour and a half behind. So I took a shower, then waited some more. I worried that maybe they'd come by while I was in the shower, and left already. But of course, I knew they would have left something like "tried to deliver, not home, call this number to reschedule". I mean, I work in transportation, I know how these things work. But still I worried a little.
I did laundry. That was a good thing. I watched baseball. That was a time wasting thing. I tried to move the hard drive from BEAST 1 to BEAST 2. That was a frustrating thing, because I couldn't make it work and because BEAST 2 is in the computer mini-case from Hell. It's like trying to do engine work on a 79 Honda Civic Automatic with Air Conditioning, which is something my family had when I was growing up so I know what a pain it is to work on. Ditto for the case my Bear Computer 200mhz machine is in... it's impossible to work on.
So anyway, back to baseball, watched some Escaflowne, then around 3:40 I decided to call the Bon and ask them what was up. I was just looking for someone to say "they're still on their way", but instead the guy on the other in decided to also remove the $50.00 delivery charge from my bill. Woo! Free delivery and Free removal of my old mattress/boxspring? Yeah baby! That's what I'm talking about!
And I did other things, like take out the trash and break down some of the cardboard boxes in my livingroom that have been there since I bought my 3 desks and 4 bookshelves for the computer room here.
And then they came. It too them less than 2 minutes to bring in the new mattress/boxspring and take away the old ones. I can only imagine what they went through at other people's houses that delayed them by several hours... and I hope they appreciate that I had everything set up and ready for them. ^_^
So I have a new mattress/boxspring. I even had new sheets to put on it. It sits about a foot higher, all told, than my old bed, which is a bit of a problem because I'm near the ceiling already. I hit the ceiling more than once last night... I might want to go with just the mattress, and forget the boxspring. We'll see.
I did say this was about me running errands, didn't I? And so it is.
Sunday was my day to run errands. This is because, during the week, I rarely leave the house early enough to do more than make a quick stop on the way to work, and because, on Saturday, well, I had to sit around all day waiting for my mattress and then I was late for the game.
So I made a big list of things I wanted to do, and I kept adding to it as I thought of things. Then on Sunday, I left the house about 1 pm.
The first thing on my list never materialized. I had some shirts and a jacket that my mom got me for my birthday, and she'd given me the reciept so I could take them back to Fred Meyers if I wanted. I had *thought* this was because the shirts were too small, but on inspection they were all XL which is plenty big, and the designs were fine, and the jacket was fine too... so that's one thing on my list that I didn't actually need to do.
So my First Stop was... Top Ten Toys. They didn't have any Oz bookx, but I bought a soft cuddly horse for my sister, like the one I got for my niece last month. This wasn't something on my list, but it was something I'd been planning to do for a while.
Second Stop: Dreamstrands, my comic book shop. I picked up my comics for the week... including Ranma 1/2 graphic novel 20, Girl Genius graphic novel 1 (the first issue of the comic wasn't great, but I guess I'll give Phil a second chance with the graphic novel). I also wound up borrowing the deluxe boxed edition of Escaflowne the movie from the shop owner... he doesn't like it and is going to sell it, and I expect that I don't like it either, since it differs from the series so much, and since the series is one of the best animated stories out there.
Third Stop: Half Price Books. I was hoping to find some non-Baum Oz books here, but no dice. The only thing they had that wasn't by Baum was "Visitors from Oz" which they had many copies of for $4.95. But I already ordered it online for $4.95 plus almost $4 shipping and handling... doh!
I didn't buy anything at Half Price, so you know I was pretty focused on my objectives. ^_^
Fourth Stop: University Book Store. They also had a hardbound copy of Visitors from Oz. This book sounds intriguing... Oz characters such as Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, and the Cowardly Lion come to Earth (the U.S.) to help restage "The Wizard of Oz" for the 100th anniversary of the publication of the book. Along the way they also run into Alice in Wonderland, and they get mugged in downtown New York... the reviews I've read make it sound like an uneven book that doesn't have the light-hearted flavor of the original series, and clearly they printed up tons of copies that are now being remaindered and sent to used book stores like Half Price... well, I'll see how it is when it shows up. Anything that has Dorothy meeting Alice and then going to New York to star in a musical based on her own adventures is at least worth checking out.
But among a wide variety of Baum books, both about Oz and his other children's books, the U-Dub didn't have any other non-Baum books... quite surprising, I was expecting them to be the one place that did. I wonder, does even Elliot Bay still carry a selection of the others? I need to check that out soon.
So I remained focused on my objectives and... well, wait a second. Shakespeare on cd? Oh, that would be fun to have! I drive an hour to work every day, after all. Hmmm, okay, I'll just pick up Twelfth Night here and... gee, it's on Naxos, the budget Classical label, only $15.98 for a 2-cd rendition of the play. Cool! I bet I can pick up others from them, visit their web site at www.naxos.com and order some more at some point. ^_^
(Now that I pause to look at their web site... it pretty much sucks. But the idea is, I can find a way to collect more Shakespeare on cd, I'm sure. And if Naxos has done more, I can do it cheaply.)
So anyway, I got away from University Bookstore without spending anything more than... wait! What's this? A book on writing titled "Dynamic Characters"? By Nancy Kress, a science fiction author I very much respect? Hmm....
So I remained mostly focused on my objectives and... oh, look, they also have those Discworld graphic novels... NO! NO! Must run out of store now!
... I bought just the Twelfth Night cds and the Dynamic Characters book. And I was very proud of my great display of willpower!
Stop Number... Where Was I? Oh Yes... Fifth Stop: Well, okay, I drove over to Barnes & Noble on the far side of the hill from the U-Dub Bookstore. Not that I ever intended to only hit bookstores, mind you! But I thought that they, at least, might possibly have a non-Baum Oz book.
They did. It was The Wonder City of Oz, by John R. Niel, who illustrated every L. Frank Baum Oz book except the first, many of Baum's non-Oz books, every Ruth Plimply Thompson Oz book (except 2 published in 1972 and 1976), and then wrote three of his own books and illustrated them. He also wrote a fourth book before dying, which was published in 1995 with illustrations by Eric Shanower.
So woo! Finally found a non-Baum Oz book that wasn't "Visitors from Oz". Unfortunately, this is also one of the four or five that I've ordered used via Amazon.com. Doh!
And Barnes & Noble also had "Visitors from Oz". Geez, what is it with this book? Does every bookstore in existance have copies of it? You'd think it was the only Oz book published since Baum died in 1920!
So, excecising more willpower, I left Barnes & Noble empty-handed and moved on to:
Sixth Stop: SIlver Platters! This was mostly a courtesy stop, since I knew they probably still didn't have any copies of "Hem" and they didn't. I also looked for the newest (vol 10?) Cardcaptor Sakura video, but no luck there either. Again, I bought nothing.
Seventh Stop: Northgate Mall. This turned into another courtesy stop, because the thing I wanted from Radio Shack turned out to be more complex and expensive than I had imagined, and therefore moved instantly from my "I think I need this" list to my "I can live without this" list. And Suncoast Video didn't have the Cardcaptor Sakura video I wanted, but I knew that already. Their who Sakura section seems depleated... you'd think someone had bought a bunch of CCS dvds from them in the last week or so.
Oh, that's right. I did. ^_^
Eigth Stop: Fred Meyers. This is, like, really close to Top Ten Toys and Dreamstrand Comics, so you would, like, have to wonder why I didn't stop there earlier and stuff. I guess I can't answer that. But I DID pick up some track lighting, bulbs for said track lighting, a nice new phillip's head screwdriver that I can use to take computers apart and stuff, a new quilted mattress cover for my new bed (the old one had many holes gouged into it by wires that protruded from my old mattress), and a few other things.
In fact, that was at least four things off my list right there. I looked at those featherbed things like Gene likes, but passed on them for today (just what I need... something to make my bed EVEN HIGHER). I also failed to locate a rubber plug for the toilet water tank in the spare bathroom... it was on my list, but it's not like the thing hasn't been broken for about five years. I'll fix it one of these days... all I really need to do is drive up to Sears.
Which brings me to:
Ninth Stop: Have I done enough running around? One of my plans was to pick up some computer stuff. I want a new case to transfer my 200mhz machine into. I think I'd like to buy a bare bones system to play with too. And I need to pick up some new ink cartridges for my printer soon.
But it's Sunday, and many computer shops are closed. It's Hydro Racing Sunday, which prompted me to only drive down into the U-District and then back home... it's just safer that way. ^_^ And mostly I was tired of running around. So my Ninth and Final stop was at Teriyaki Stop, for dinner. And then home, just in time to hear the final hydro race on the radio. Because hydro racing is like rilly important to me and stuph... and anyway I couldn't listen to the Mariners anymore, they were getting beat up.
But I got a lot of things accomplished... it looks like ordering online is the best way to go as far as collecting non-Baum Oz books, although I still need to check out Elliot Bay, and a trip to Powell's in Portland is certainly in order at some point in my future... and as for the cd of Hem, I think I can get that faster ordering online too, although I didn't check Tower Records. And maybe I should order that Card Captor Sakura dvd online as well.
And maybe I should get up early tomorrow and hit a computer store on the way to work. ^_^
