It's Monday, Yee Haw

Another week, another couple dollars. There isn't a whole lot to tell everyone today, which is strange because I haven't posted since last Thursday. I do have a few ita (faux plural of item) that you may find interesting.

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Birthdays all Around

This weekend was birthday mayhem.

First, I "celebrated" my sister's birthday a mere four months late, by sending her present along with a curling iron she's been asking me to send for the last few months. It's not that I'm lazy (well, some of it is), but rather that she's in Japan and sending stuff there is slightly more complicated than mailing something inside the country. Plus there's the whole "once you've done it, it's painless" aspect of it, where the first time is the hardest. Oh, let me tell you this story...

When you send international packages, you have to check with USPS policy 123.61 to determine whether you need to fill out the Customs Declaration Form, PS Form 2976. I was sending some light things, so I figured this would not be necessary. As a matter of fact, I could even use the do-it-yourself kiosk any time of day I liked. This is handy when you can only get to the post office every other Friday.

Anyway, I went up to the kiosk the other day, set the package on the scale and started running through all of the menus and questions. Finally, it tells me that I can't use the kiosk because the package exceeds 1 lb. I looked at the scale and the thing weighed in at 1 lb 0.1 oz or, one-tenth of an ounce over the limit, approximately the weight of the saliva on the envelope. Well, I had to go back on my Friday off to go to the desk, ask for and fill out PS Form 2976, and deal with the quasi ornery postal worker.

End result, the package is en route to Japan as I type. Ab, keep yourn eyes peeled.

Second, Saturday was my mother's birthday. I sent her card off to her with plenty of time, but when I called on Saturday she hadn't checked the mail and didn't know if it had arrived yet. Oh well, if it did, it did.

Third, Thursday was the birthday of a woman with whom I run. She's really our ringleader, so we wanted to make a deal out of it. By deal, we were going to go for a birthday run and then eat cake. On Saturday we'd be taking her for another run, then breakfast. The funny part about breakfast on Saturday was that she had to leave to take her kids somewhere, so we all went out and ate without her. We did treat her to a Diet Pepsi and blueberry muffin.

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All Tied Up

I went to good ol' TJ Maxx yesterday in search of a knife. They sometimes sell Wusthof knives, so I check every once in a while to snatch one up while they're there. I didn't find one, but I did find a new shirt and some dope ties. These pups were fancy silk ties that, at full price, would cost more than the shirts they were to adorn. However, thanks to the magic of TJ Maxx, I was able to procure them for under $10 each. Cha ching! Shirt-and-Tie Thursdays will continue without tie repetition.

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Sales Abound

Just a quick note about my trip to the Lee Outlets. At the Saucony store, I scored a kickass running shirt, a pair of socks and a pair of gloves (for my pal One Glove) all for the low, low price of $20. The shirt itself was originally more than that. Sweet!

Then it was off to J Crew to check out their sales. I managed to pick up a dope sweater (okay, it was just a regular wool sweater) for $9. Original retail value: ~$45). Score.

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Mystery Solved

A little while ago I mentioned that I had begun receiving calls from an Anonymous caller. I received another on Saturday and it turned out to be The Red Cross calling to ask me to donate. Usually their calls come through with a Boston area code, but this recent set of calls was anonymous, go figure. Thank God it wasn't the very-soon-to-be-former-co-owner trying to "get in touch". I can do without that mess.

Oh, the funny part about the phone call was that I was wearing my dorky bluetooth headset. I added the adjective 'dorky' to let you know that I don't wear it to be cool, I wear it when I drive. Anyway, I was able to answer the call easily enough, and the conversation part was flawless, but when I went to hang up I couldn't remember how to do it right. By the time I realized that I had merely transferred the call back to the handset I had already ripped off a few family-unfriendly verses of an Eminem song. I can only hope the woman hung up before I started in on that.

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Mortgage Update

Okay, some of you may have heard and some of you may not, but I received a call from Christine at the attorney's office (she's been my liaison to the attorney throughout this long, drawn-out process) Thursday evening. She was calling to let me know that they received the deed and everything was in order to schedule the closing!!!!! She asked if I would be available to meet at their office next Thursday, to which I replied "yes". She asked if 4:00 was good for me, and I responded with "I can be wherever you want, whenever you want." I don't care if I have to fly to Los Angeles on a Wednesday morning, I'll be there. Conveniently I don't have to fly to LA on a Wednesday morning, I just have to drive a few blocks after work on Thursday. I am getting sooooo clooooosssseeee.

When I leave the attorney's office on Thursday, I can only imagine the air will be a little crisper, bus fumes will be a little less pungent, the relative humidity will be a little closer to 50%, dinner after The Thursday Night Run will be both sweet and savory, the feathers in my pillows will be just a little downier, and maybe, just maybe I'll stop clenching my teeth while I sleep.

Of course, my fingers are crossed that nothing goes wrong between now and then. You can never underestimate the potential for disaster an unbalanced woman possesses. A phone call and some fake tears and I could be back to square one with a law suit on my hands. BUT, through the power of positive thinking I am going to all but guarantee that won't happen.

I'm thinking I might take Friday off for a celebratory trip out to Notchview for some xc skiing. Of course I'll have to go by myself, but so be it.

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You heard it here first. Unless that is, you already heard it somewhere else.

Over and Out,
Old Coot