Last night we went to Boulder after the guys got home from work.
First we went to a Mexican restaurant’s bar for the best margueritas I’ve ever had, then we met Jeff and went and saw Farenheit 9/11 at one of those theatres you can drink in.
(So in Boulder it seems you can drink basically anywhere, but you can’t smoke. It’s a pain in the ass, honestly, but I’m sure all the non- and ex-smokers love the clean air and yes I agree they do have a right to it. Just not in bars, for chrissake. Non-smoking bars are stupid.)
Amy couldn’t make it to drinks or the movie because she had to work. When she called Ron to beg off he said, “WHAT?!? Quit that fuckin’ job!” in a way that totally cracked me up – so much so that I was repeating the quote back to him for the rest of the evening. (You can tell he must get stood up pretty frequently by her job. I told Brett that that’s why I don’t make fifty grand a year.) (Sometimes Brett forgets he’s a slob and asks me why I don’t make lots of money. LOL! He asked me the other day how much I could make if we moved here because he’s all horny to buy property and build on it. I admire him because our current debt load daunts him not one iota; he manifests ways to get things done when he wants them done. It’s cool. Anyway, he was like, “I guess Ron’s girlfriend makes really decent money, could you do what she does?” I replied that I didn’t know what she does exactly but that yes, if I was willing to give up my personal life – which I’m not – I could probably make really good money. He had tried to tell me she “doesn’t work that much”, but I’ve only known the girl a week and she’s been woken up in the middle of the night twice and missed a movie because she had to go to work! And Ron was complaining about her getting calls at three in the morning. So there, Brett: the poor woman’s on call 24/7 and that’s why she makes the big bucks! Brett would so make me quit any job that interfered with his schedule more than once or twice; he gave me all kinds of shit the occasional times I was on call for LISCO or had to take support calls when he wanted me to be doing something else! He’s so funny.)
After the movie, Jeff took off. Ron and Brett and I went to a nearby rooftop restaurant for a late dinner. I was offered yet more booze but I settled for a giant glass of water and a half order of nachos. It was breezy and comfy out; no bugs and no humidity, and I enjoyed the conversation. Ron told us about buying his house and about a concert he went to; it was fun.
After eating we drove home. My ears still don’t like the altitude changes and tend to hurt for five minutes every time I drive back up the mountain. They also tend not to pop on the way down, so my entire evening was one of slightly muffled sounds. Maybe I need tubes in my ears, like they give to little kids? Heh.
I made a joke last night, when Ron said he hoped the weather would be nice this weekend, that it would snow. He laughed and told me to fuck off and said that he really wanted to ride his bike this weekend. Today the heat’s kicked on and it’s overcast and chilly out, with a big fat bank of clouds hanging in the sky. I was kidding about the snowing… or so I’d thought! All week it’s been hot in here (Ron’s living room) by this time of day (because the sun shines straight in), but today I’m glad the laptop is hot and I’m thinking about getting my slippers.
Since I’ve been here, I’ve done about an hour of cleaning every day. Not because I love to clean, but because Brett & I brought three dogs with us and if I don’t clean, Ron’s house will be a giant, filthy hairball when we leave. Ron says he generally hires someone to come clean when he can’t stand it any more; the place is actually really tidy but if I wasn’t sweeping every day there’d be hairballs in every corner! I had to scrub Bindu hair off the corner of the sofa where she rubs her little body as she’s going to hide in the corner! Silly dogs.
The cloudbank I’ve been watching is getting bigger and darker. I’m off to check the weather.
Ciao, babies!
We didn’t leave until nine the next day. We slept in.
Half way through Nebraska, the Jeep decided to get weird. It overheated about five times; we were able to travel about 25 miles in each hour for several hours: stop and fill up the radiator and five one-gallon jugs with water. Get on the Interstate. Drive about 25 miles. Watch radiator fluid spray across the windshield. Pull over. Wait for engine to cool down. Fill up radiator. Limp to next gas station. Repeat.
We weren’t running the A/C and the whole ordeal sucked, although we managed to maintain a pretty good mood throughout. After making a couple of calls to find out if people would be willing to rescue us, the Jeep self-healed and the rest of the journey was trouble-free.
We called Ron and asked him to go rent a trailer so he could come get us if necessary. We called Joe and he said he’d be willing to come get us and tow us all the way to Ron’s! (Ya gotta have friends!) After both guys said yea, the Jeep never overheated again. We had to pay for a trailer we never used, but it was better $40 for an unused trailer than the many more expensive alternatives.
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Brett has some crazy idea about leaving tonight… tomorrow morning, actually… “around two or so.”
“Two? Or so?”
“Yeah.”
“In the morning?!”
“Yeah. Gotta get through Nebraska while it’s dark out, you know.”
Two in the morning?! Jeez!
But I guess it will put us there on Saturday afternoon, a nice time to arrive. I guess. But shit, even guys who go fishing don’t leave ’til like four or five, right?
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I just spent two hours at the car wash cleaning the Jeep. And I didn’t even wash it.
I put money in the vaccuum four times. I bought one of those Armorall sponge packets and a chamois and cleaned the absolute hell out of the dash and console.
You can hardly tell. It’s depressing. The Jeep has an entirely beige interior, so the difference between dirty and clean isn’t much.
Once I’m done with this post, I’m going out to wash the windows. The inside of the windows. Hopefully I can get Brett to wash the outsides, now that we have an outside faucet and a hose.
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Instead of packing, I spent the morning slapping together a rather half-assed set of pages for Grand Orleans Hotel. I’ve been waiting for weeks and weeks for this client to send me content, and of course he finally sent some yesterday!
I told him I’m leaving for two weeks and probably won’t be able to work on it (it depends on if I can find a PC with a DSL or not) and that I’d get something up in the meanwhile. Hopefully it will satisfy.
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I still need to fold laundry, pack, wash the retrievers (they smell so bad), make the bed, do the dishes, bring in those three rugs that have been on the laundry line for most of two weeks, remember phone and PDA and GameBoy chargers, find CDs, buy fuses, remember water, tell Joe how much to feed the cat, find dog leashes (and ideally collars with tags on them), get Brett to organize the tools he’s taking, and load the Jeep. And bathe. And shave my armpits for heaven’s sake.
And it’s six already!
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Not so bad, really, considering that we’re not leaving for eight more hours!
…except that I’ll probably have to sleep for six of them to be able to wake up at two. Snort!
Juni has ported Stardock’s weather icons for WeatherPanel. Get ’em here.
This is Brett’s new schtick. He started it last weekend and hasn’t stopped:
Him: “Muuuuuushlette… know what I’m thinking?”
Me: “What, dear?”
Him: “Bloooooow job.”
Me: “Yeah, right.”
Him: “Know what I’m thinking?”
Me: “What.”
Him: “Bloooooow job.”
Me: “I’m busy.”
Him: “Know what I’m thinking?”
Me: “Yes. Go away!”
Him: “Bloooooow job.”
Me: “Argh!”
Him: “Know what I’m thinking?”
Me: “Have you turned into a three-year-old?!??! Good god, leave me alone you freak of nature!”
Him: “Bloooooow job!”
Me: “You’re driving me nuts!”
Him: “Know what I’m thinking? Know what I’m thinking? Huh?”
Me: “You keep this up you’re never getting another blow job again ever! I am so serious, dude!”
Him: “Mushlette, know what I’m thinking?”
No woman will ever love him. I am so serious.
Mr. Brett just called me to ask me if I was interested in the Telluride Blues and Brews Festival. Government Mule with Gregg Allman? Hot damn, of course I’m interested.
So instead of driving sedately back to Iowa that weekend like responsible adults wishing to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed come a-Monday, we’ll be camping in Telluride and groovin’ through an outdoor music festival. Oh, and the beer too.
I haven’t been to a multi-day outdoor show in… since… well, in a long time. Damn! Possibly since the Grateful Dead in Eugene fifteen + years ago? Egad.
I’ve been to Iowa blues and jazz fests, of course, but that’s not really the same thing as a crunchy pseudo-hippy camping-vibe kinda thang. I hope I have fun, and that I don’t feel all weird or too much the shy, rural Iowan. I lost my crowd legs years ago and no longer love crowds for their own sake the way I once did. (Of course, at that point – the loving crowds point – I was twenty something and hot, so crowds loved me. But now I’m just your basic boring, married. not-so-hot-any-longer type person. Probably I no longer love crowds because they no longer love me for being scantily clad and twenty. Eek! What a horrible thought to have about oneself! Am I that shallow? Snort!)
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My ol’ man’s sold his house and bought himself a motorhome. He’s on his way to South America. Read the first post about his new nomad’s life in Chaos Leaves Town: Hit the Road – Easy. Dad, you’re uber cool dude.
It’s official: I have permission to take time off work and everything: We’re going to Colorado for a week and a half. Maybe two!
Brett’s taking a ‘working vacation,’ and will be taking tools with him. I’m not sure exactly what he’ll be doing, but it’ll be construction. I will have the Jeep and time on my hands to check out the Denver/Boulder area.
We’ll be staying at Ron’s house, and apparently there’s a working hot tub there, so you can bet I’ll be soaking my fat Iowa ass in that pretty frequently! Also, while it’s a Mac there’s still a computer I can use, so I’ll be sure to update the ‘box.
Brett was waxing poetic about a German restaurant not too far from our host’s house, but it really doesn’t sound like much of a vegetarian’s scene. What, kielbasa? Kuchen? Lager? Hmm. I don’t even know what German cuisine is, honestly.
We’ll be driving out, to accommodate the tools. So it’ll be me, hubby, three dogs, a miter saw and stand, a tool belt, some buckets, and a suitcase in the Jeep on the way to Colorado this weekend. I expect the drive to suck, but I’m not really from the driving planet.
I’m so excited! A vacation! Brett’ll get up and go to work in the mornings, so I don’t know what I’ll do with myself… drive around and check things out a little, I expect. Brett said there’s a lot to be said for “just kickin’ it on Ron’s porch admirin’ the view,” so I might do a bit of that.
I’m taking my knitting and doubtless there’ll be a LYS I can check out. Knitting a layette for Kris on a porch in Colorado! How’s that sound for relaxing vacation-type fun! And hot tubbing! And maybe a visit to the casino! And coffee, and veggie restaurants, and being away from home long enough to miss it!
Yay! I’m so excited! Whee!
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