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activities
May 08, 2017, 7:38 A.M.
Friday after work, I went home, went out back and cleaned up after B, then spent
the afternoon relaxing and catching up on a little sleep. When Spouse got home, we
immediately tackled the front yard--he mowed it in (a total of 3) stages to get it down
to where he wanted it, because it was so shaggy. I cord wrangled (a big job when he
uses the electric mower, because he steadfastly refuses to listen to reason and persists
in mowing TOWARDS the cord, rather than away from it) and did what trimming I
could, given that even though we have THREE weed-whackers, both battery models
needed new batteries and the plug-in one requires the same cord he was using for
the lawn mower. Still, I was able to get enough juice into one of the batteries to trim
out front.
After we whipped through that, I called for Chinese food and he ran over to pick it
up. After dinner, we jumped on the laundry, cleaned up the kitchen, and did some
assorted housework to get it out of the way. We were both pretty worn out from the
week, and since we had plans for Saturday, we crashed at a fairly early hour.
We were up bright and early on Saturday, for we wanted to stop at the Kwik-Trip for
gas, air, and coffee on our way to Hoffman Estates for the (hyperventilates) 2017
CHICAGO PEN SHOW!!!!!!
We got there about 8:30, so I paid my fee, bought a souvenir coffee mug, and
wandered around visiting the lobby vendors and the ink testing station till the main
hall doors opened.
As I cruised the inside tables, my first actual stop was at Susan Wirth's booth. Said hi
to John, and was chatting with him and he told me I needed to go immediately and
catch Susan's lecture for pen newbies, so I did. And I was really glad, because even
though a lot of what she was saying was stuff I already knew, I still learned a lot. Plus,
she is a delight to listen to. Quirky, funny, quick, smart, and very knowledgeable.
Part of her workshop/lecture thingy was a chance to have her examine your
handwriting using a conventional "round pen" as she called it--ballpoint, rollerball, or
regular FP nib--and then prescribe an italic to suit you. So when I went back out to
the floor, I made a beeline back to her booth and started pen shopping. When she
returned, she took another look at my writing sample and pointed out several pens
that she felt would work for me. I had varying degrees of success as I tried them out,
but soon narrowed it down to two, after eliminating the ones I flat-out could not
afford. One was a 1930s Waterman with the sweetest nib in Christendom--but it was
a very slender pen, and I could not hold it comfortabley. The other was a Bexley
10th Anniversary (2003) pen, which hit the sweet spot of hand comfort, nib
sweetness, and price.
Well, I say price--it was more than I had planned to spend going in, but then again, I
didn't know going in that I was going to buy a custom-ground Italic nib, ground by
Susan herself, no less. I gave myself the vapors spending $165.00 on a pen, but I
made up for it by not buying anything else at the show. Last year I bought three
pens, plus a converter, and probably spent the same amount.
I had a loose set of ideas on what I wanted--possibly a hooded nib, possibly an
antique pen, possibly an antique display case...but you stay loose, and take what
comes your way. Turns out, my "new thing" for my collection hit several notes: first
pen over $100, first Bexley, first custom nib, first italic. So I will take that as good.
After another hour or so of looking around, saying hi to a few people, and deciding
not to buy things, I realized I was done, and needed to get out of the crowd. So I
met Spouse in the lobby and we got out of there. (He had been holding down a sofa
by the lobby television the whole time I was doing my thing.)
We had a little time to kill before meeting his cousin for lunch at a nearby restaurant,
so we nosed around a $5 or less shop, then went to the restaurant and had a beer.
Yes, that's right. I had a beer. It was a raspberry-hibiscus beer. There. That makes
more sense for me, right?
Met the cousin--it was just her, as her husband had an emergency grandpa gig in
Ohio. They have twin grand-daughters, and there was a Daddy-Daughter Dance.
Naturally, he had to fill in so that both girls had an excort! I had a lovely salmon
concotion with spinach on top and broccoli on the side, and a charming visit. Once
we were done, we hugged and promised we'd do it again soon, and Spouse and I
headed out to the nearest Valli Produce store, then took the fastest roads back to
Kenosha. We stopped at Meijer to do the grocery shopping, but by the time we got
home and had everything stowed, we were both pretty played out. We rested for a
little while--he stretched out on his bed and read for a little bit, while I played with
my new pen. Photographed it, used it, posted it on tumblr, you know--as one does.
But after resting, we decided to go out back and tackle the SERIOUS mowing. We
had not had an opportunity to mow in back all spring, what with all the rain. Some
patched back there were over two foot high! But we laid into it. It was cool and
breezy, the grass was dry, and it was a perfect opportunity to get it done. I couldn't
trim, because of the aforementioned battry issues, but the worst of it is dealt with. I
had picked up B's leavings on Friday, so I cleaned up the few messes that were out
there and wrangled cord again. I did a little mowing--but even though Spouse is
more than happy to let me do the mowing when he isn't around, and have it all done
for him by the time he gets home--he cannot stand to watch me do it, and invariably
grabs the mower back and re-does what I just did.
It was rough, and again, it required three to four passes at progressively lower settings
to get it where we wanted. But we got it finished and behind us, which is what we
wanted.
Supper was a cold sandwich on a paper plate, and then I worked on the laundry
some more before bed.
I slept in like a champion on Sunday. Got up about four to give the dog an airing,
but plunged right back into deep sleep for another three hours and woke with the
sun in the sky.
I sectioned grapefruit, and made coffee--Spouse was going to make breakfast but got
derailed by the fact that there were only 3 slices of bacon. So I hauled my but into
the kitchen and made breakfast--some leftover SPAM, the 3 slices of bacon, cold
potatoes, eggs, and a chunk of cheese became a breakfast casserole. Snipped the
bacon into little pieces and fried, it, cubed the potatoes and fried them, cubed the
spam and fried it, then assembled all in a pan, sprinkeld with herbs and shallots,
poured scrambled egg mixture over, and popped it in the oven. While it was
cooking, I did clean-up, and when it was almost done, I put the cheese on top.
Spouse made the toast, and we had a lovely breakfast of fresh grapefruit, breakfast
casserole (a/k/a "crustless quiche", a/k/a "oven omelette"), toast and coffee.
I cleaned the kitchen, and he checked the cars over, then we got cleaned up and ran
out to do a couple of errands. He has decided that I should start using E85 fuel
instead of unleaded--I think my amazing gas mileage was eating him up and he wants
to kneecap it with E85, since I drive a flex-fuel car. So we went to the gas station and
he re-filled with ethanol, then we ran to Fresh Thyme for a few things.
Mainly, empty gelatine capsules. It seems that after all of the trouble we went to to
get him on Lunesta, it is making him feel ill from the horrible taste it leaves on the
way down. So I got a pack of empty caps, and when we got home, I took a pair of
tweezers and put each little white tablet into a capsule and snapped it shut, then put
the capsules into a clean pill bottle. I am hoping that with the nasty-tasting things
sealed up, he can get them down without having to get that awful metallic taste in his
mouth.
After Fresh Thyme, we made a quick stop at ShopKo so I could pick up a new
bathroom rug before heading back home. I haven't bought a new one since the ones
I got for the remodel, so I was due.
Plus, I'm re-purposing the old ones for some of B's favorite spots on the wood
floors. He is getting to the age where he needs a bit of padding and some resistance
when he gets up, and these rugs have a seriously good rubber backing and lay very
flat without moving around. They don't exactly match the decor in the bedrooms,
but that isn't as important as B's comfort and safety--my pooch is my priority.
I washed the old ones up, put the new one down, and finally got my last load of the
weekend into the wash. I wanted to get some other wash done, but I ran out of time
and had to be satisfied--if I want to do anything besides housework on a weekend, I
have to make up my mind that I have to work twice as hard the day before and the
day after, and I will still have to let something slide.
And in the afternoon, just for a change of pace...I may have bought a pen.
And a bottle of ink. Fell down the online rabbit hole, and ordered a Pelikan Stola III,
medium nib, "silber". Just a cheap one, but still my first Pelikan and a step up from a
Pelikano. And since I was ordering it from Seitz-Global, I threw a bottle of Seitz-
Kreuznach ink, in "Pflaumenblau" (Plum Blue). Which, from the picture, looks like a
really nice purple.
Yes, I do have a bit of a problem, why do you ask?
Once Spouse got up from his nap, he made Italian beef in the pressure cooker, and
we beef sandwiches and fries for an early dinner. Desset was one scopp of lemon
gelato apiece. All of which was extreme yum.
And that was our weekend! as the evening wore on, I did my prepping for monday,
and he took one of his sleeping pills and went nighty-night. I myself actually got an
almost decent night's sleep; I woke up a lot, but I mostly got back to sleep after.
Reading: "Kent Knowles: Quahaug" (1914), by Joseph C. Lincoln
A re-read; I've been in the mood for a JCL session for a while.
Listening: Dan Auerbach, The Kinks, Coldplay, Wang Chung. Yeah, I had
the radio on, and they were all over the place.
Inked Up: the same as last time, with the addition of the Bexley 10th
Anniversary, inked up with whatever decent quality black ink Susan uses to ink the
pens she's selling.
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